There's No Such Thing As Happy Endings - Book Three of the Why I Run Series

Chapter Twenty-Two

Point of View: Logan, First Person
Timeline: Present Day

It took all of my self-control - on second thought, perhaps more like all of my self-restraint - to not race forward and yank Patton away from the topaz gem, and the undeniable danger that was sure to follow.  I held my breath, wincing as I watched Patton reach out with both hands and gently clamp his hands around it.

Instantly we were surrounded by blinding white light that was so bright I was forced to look away, blinking dark dots out of my vision.  I blinked several times before I could make out much of anything.

When I could see entirely again, my eyes immediately landed on Patton, who was lying on the floor - wincing and cradling his wrist.

“Patton!” I cried out, stumbling to his side and knees hitting the dark wooden floor harshly but for the moment I ignored my own pain.  “Are you okay?! Y-You just dropped,” I managed, my voice sounding more shaken than I appreciated.

Patton - thankfully - didn’t look hurt (other than his wrist) and he almost seemed a little shocked.  It was only then when I realized just how close I had gotten, I was close enough to see the tiny light brown sparkles in his eyes, the almost impossible to see freckles across the bridge of his nose and cheeks -

I jumped back, breathing a little harder than normal and trying to control the slight tremble in my fingertips.

“U-Uh, yeah, I’m okay,” Patton finally responded, seeming slightly distracted.

“M-Morality?”

Patton’s face scrunched up, confused, as he spun a little to look behind him.

Oh my god.

In my concern for Patton, I hadn’t noticed the other side in the room.

The side, like Patton, was sprawled out on the floor, cream-colored sweater rumpled and crooked revealing the bright yellow t-shirt underneath.  His off-white colored glasses were half-off his face and his purple bangs were falling messily over his eyes, but clearly not intentionally.

“Morality? Is - Is that you?” The side asked Patton, cautiously, cheeks turning a dark pink.  His voice was soft and shy, and he leaned forward slightly, taking a moment to fix his glasses.  He blinked a couple times, waiting for Patton to answer.

“Pax?” Patton asked, jumping to his feet only to kneel down right next to him and I ignored the slight twang of hurt that rippled through me.  “Are you okay, kiddo?”

“I - I’m Loyalty… I’m Thomas Sanders’s Loyalty,” Pax repeated, a small smile stretching across his face.  “I remember.”

Patton could only grin, a bright bubbly smile as he helped Pax to his feet.  “Owie,” he muttered after a moment, cradling his wrist.

“Let me see,” I reached out for his hand.

“No, it’s fine, it was so silly of me, I just landed on it when I fell, it doesn't even hurt,” Patton insisted, thought he winced immediately afterward.  “Well, it doesn't hurt that bad," he corrected, mumbling.

Taking matters into my own hand, I grabbed Patton's wrist, gently to make sure not to hurt him.

After a minute of inspection, I came to a verdict.  "It doesn't appear to be anything major.  Just be careful, the pain should die down in an hour or so," I diagnosed.

Patton just nodded, pulling his hand back.

Meanwhile, Pax dusted his hands off on his off-white jeans and adjusted his sweater sleeves, rolling them up to his elbows.

Pax smiled.  “Where’s Will?”

Patton and I shared an uneasy look.

“Is he out already? Where is he?”  Pax’s smile slipped at our face.  “Guys?”

“I’m so sorry,” I started, taking over.  “But we don’t know who you’re talking about.  And anyhow, you are the first side to be… broken out,” I gestured expansively to all the other floating gems.

Thankfully Pax seemed to be able to keep his emotions under wraps for the moment.  “My husband, Will,” Pax elaborated, voice level and calm. “He - ” Pax cut himself off with a gasp, jogging towards the door.  His footsteps trailed off at a large, dark green emerald gem, fairly close to the door. “Here he is, I just know it,” Pax smiled softly at us.

Sparks, who had been quiet the entire time, slowly slid tentatively out of the shadows, curiously sniffing the air.  She padded over towards Pax - breaking what was started to become awkward silence.  Pax, on seeing the hellhound pup, instinctively flinched a little, seemingly frozen in place.  But quickly he realized that Sparks was just curious and had no intention to harm him.  He leaned down, softly petting her head. Sparks seemed to enjoy that, her black tail wagging and she started licking Pax’s hand enthusiastically, sending him into a fit of giggles.

But as quickly as she started she suddenly stopped, running over to me - pawing at my shoes and whimpering.  She nudged my leg hard, nearly sending me to the floor.

“Sparks,” I chastised, slightly annoyed, but also confused.  “Sparks!” I yelped in surprised as she continued to nearly knock me over.

“What’s wrong, girl?” Patton interfered, whistling a little to get her attention.  “Sparks! Come ‘ere girl! Come ‘ere!”

Abruptly, loud static filled my ears and I jumped a little in shock, wincing and raising my hands to cover my ears but unfortunately it didn’t help much - if anything, it made things worse.  I couldn’t hear anything over the static. It was too much, too much. I took a dizzy step backwards, not sure what to do. Was it Pax? Was he the one doing this to me?

I could see Patton standing a foot in front of me, his hands on my shoulder which quite frankly was the only reason I hadn’t fallen yet.  I could see him trying to talk to me but all I could hear was static, static, static…

“I - I tried to speak, but it was almost like I short-circuited and I couldn’t say anything at all, I couldn’t hear anything except for the static that continued to get louder and louder…

I - I could barely… barely think, that static was so loud - it - it was almost like something was - was blocking me…

Blocking me…

Someone… ugh… s-someone... who would - agh - try and - and -

Deceit.

“Thomas,” I tried to say.  I couldn’t hear myself so I had no idea if I was saying anything that was remotely intelligible.  “Something's… wrong.”

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HALLO MY SWEET, LOYAL LOVES, OH HOW I'VE MISSED YOU <3
ITS BEEN TOO FREAKIN LONG