𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 ❂ j. kline

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞

DEAR JACK,
Please stay by my side.
Only you can help me continue to fight.
Inside, theres still a part of me that's human.
Not that long before I can make it all right.
Today, however, is not that day.

❂

JACK'S MOTIVE TO LEAVE HAD BEEN PERSISTENT. This had begun a heated discussion between him and Mary, attempting to convince her that he and Rose were capable of handling the Michael situation themselves. On the other hand, Rose had kept to herself as she had listened to the back and forth.

Her arms were crossed tightly across her chest as her eyes shifted back and forth to who had been speaking before she caught sight of another. There had been an attempt to ignore it, but Kevin Tran fidgeting with his fingers as he kept glancing her way had been more than distracting.

Uncrossing her arms, she let out a sigh of annoyance as she approached him. "What are you looking at?"

Instantly, Kevin's eyes fell to the floor in fear. "I-I was just..." Licking his lips, he slowly looked up to her, "Were you serious about us? Or, uh, I should say your Kevin. From your world. I had a girlfriend?"

Rose narrowed her eyes at him, unsure whether to laugh in a mocking manner, or allow her anger to fuel up. He was not the Kevin she knew, and did not understand his clear interest in the girlfriend concept. "Sure. In a way. Guess that really is the only way you'll be able to get a girlfriend."

His mouth opened to respond, surprised by how rude she had been. Of course he told himself demon, but that did not help him understand the concept of any version of him liking her. "How long have you been dating?"

There was a moment of hesitation. There had been a pit in her stomach she was unsure she could fully understand. In a way, she wondered if it was exactly how she would've felt— or should have felt— when he asked such a question. Pushing it to the side, she looked away. "He's dead."

A small huff of air escaped his lips in disbelief and utter shock. "I'm dead?"

"Not you you. A version of you. Who cares anyways? This universe me died and I'm not making a big deal out of it." Looking him over as he whispered fearful things to himself, she rolled her eyes. "If you're so worried about dying, consider not hanging out with Michael. He's the reason you'll die."

"I-I'm sorry."

"Then stop having a meltdown."

Meeting her eyes, Kevin shook his head. "I'm sorry you lost him... or me... or us. I don't know. Wrapping my head around alternate universes is a concept school had never prepared me for. I-I can accept angels and prophets, but you? You shouldn't be here. You should be dead. But Michael, he left me here for you as if you'd feel anything. I-I don't like you, but Michael just wants you to accept that I'm that same person. It-it's unreasonable! It's crazy!"

"Sounds like a last-ditch attempt to stop us." Rose shook her head as a moment of care had crossed her mind. "You mean nothing to him. He knew you could die here, but he just wanted to end this. You should come with us. We could keep you safe and still end it."

"No," he whispered in a shaky breath. Taking several steps back from her, he picked at the dried blood on his hand. "No, I can't come with you. He'd find me."

Rose furrowed her brows as she tried to take a step toward him, only for him to back away. "Hey, I said we'd protect you. Relax."

"No, we can't go. None of us." Allowing his shaky hands to reach up, he pulled at his sweatshirt. With a sharp tug, he had torn it open and revealing a sigil carved on his chest. It didn't take long for Rose to realize that it was one that acted as a bomb, killing all of them that stood around the room. "Michael, he told me to wait for Bobby and all of you to be together— I can't. He wanted you to see," Kevin said through a shaky voice.

"Whatever Michael said, he was lying," Mary said cautiously. Slowly approaching, she laid a hand on Roses shoulder to move her away.

"No!" He yelled before Mary could take another step, "Michael says that when I get to heaven— when he gets me into heaven— I'll get to see my mom again," he cried out, his voice breaking with almost every word.

Shaking her head, Mary had tried to reason with him. "I've been to heaven. And what's there, it's just memories. Nothings real."

Tears welling up in his eyes, Kevin felt his emotions pour out before he could consider them. "I don't care! You don't understand. You don't know the things I've done! I just want this to be over."

"Your spell won't kill me," Jack said calmly.

"Michael doesn't want to kill you. He wants to break you. He said for me to tell you, even if you win, you still lose. Both of you."

"Kevin, don't do this," Rose warned.

"I'm not your Kevin," he said through tears. With a small huff of air, he looked to her with a shake of his head. There was no going back, and there was no leaving. "I'm sorry," he whispered to the group. Slamming his hand down onto his chest, the whole room lit with a white glow. One that would wipe them out in an instant.

Trying to take a stand in front of the group to block them into safety, Rose felt the wave blast hit her hard. Once the power had vanished, Rose blinked away the bright light, turning behind her only to find the burnt bodies of the ones she had tried to save.

Following around the room, she saw Jack crouched over Mary, holding on tightly, protecting her. Both turned to her in surprise as she held her mouth open, "I-I really tried to save them. I promise."

"We know. It's okay," Mary said gently as she started to stand up, "It's okay." Mary had held her hands out cautiously as Rose's eyes traveled across the dead bodies before her. Still, she had wanted to prevent her from looking to a body that she did not deserve to see die again.

The moment Mary had stood between Rose and Kevin, she was pushed to the side as Rose wanted to see. Slowly making her way towards his fallen body, she was quiet, showing no sign of emotion. At her feet, Kevin Tran had laid before her, dead once again and she told herself she felt nothing. But there had been a pain that she didn't know had hurt her.

As Mary came behind her, she felt a hand placed on her back. "Come on," Mary whispered. "It's not him."

Rose tried to turn her attention away, but it felt near impossible. "I-I know." Confusion swept over her as she processed what had happened. "I asked him to come with and he chose to die instead." Looking to Mary, she felt herself frowning. "I tried to save him too and I couldn't."

Mary had gone quiet which had been unlike her. She hadn't been sure what to say. Especially to someone that could no longer handle human emotions any longer. Rose had been a demon and had felt bad for losing people, and Mary was unsure if there was anyway she could explain that it wasn't her fault.

Approaching slowly, Jack had kept her eyes shifting across the room of bodies. "It's my fault. I said I'd protect them."

Rose turned to him, finding a question that she hoped he could answer. "If we can't save them, then what's the point?"

His eyes had turned up to her, uncertain himself. "I don't know," he admitted quietly. However, when Rose had reached out, taking his hand in hers, he looked down at them intertwined in confusion. He tore his eyes off of her long enough to look to her in question. Yet, his question was answered the moment he saw a small smile start to come to her lips. As long as they all had one another, they could still win. There was always a point to it all, they just had to find it together.