Hybrid

Chapter 8: Secrets, Truths, And Secrets Again

I can't believe this. I can't fucking believe this. 

"Jason, wait!" Ari yelled as I left the kitchen.

I felt the warmth that I had felt from the start of the game leave me, making me a bit chilly. The tips of my fingers and toes felt as if I had been in the cold for hours. "Mom? Jole?" I walked up the stairs, hearing Ari get out of her chair at the table. "Guys?"

"Jason, wait, please!" Ari cried desperately, grabbing the back of my shirt. 

I looked back at her and felt my right eye heat up. I could see the red glow on her face. "Ari. All of this pain I caused Amy was because of me." 

"No, It wasn't, It was me." She didn't let go. She was sobbing, her red eyes now puffy from crying. "Listen to me, please." 

I pulled away from her, walking up the stairs. I took a left to my mother's room, seeing her door cracked. I heard crying and walked faster, "Amy?" I walked in to see Amy sitting alone on my mother's bed, facing the window. "Amy..." I put a hand on her shoulder and she flinched.

"Jason." She looked up at me and it was Ari. 

I backed away. "This isn't okay. This... this isn't fair. Stop." I left the room and closed the door, turning to the hallway only to see Ari standing there.

"Jason! Let me explain!" She had anger in her voice now, but tears were still streaming down her face. "I know I screwed up, but--" 

I couldn't take it. I knew it was wrong, but I pushed her. Hard. She flew towards my room, her eyes wide with surprise. Before she hit anything, she disappeared. Immediately, I felt something push me forward, making me land face-first onto the ground. It didn't hurt, but it definitely pissed me off. I flipped over to see Ari standing over me, her hair in front of her face, only her glowing red eyes visible through it. 

"Really? You want to do this?" She whispered but for some reason, it sounded loud enough to burst an eardrum. I could hear her heart beating. It was getting faster and faster. She was going to do something she didn't want to do. Wait, was that my heartbeat? "Fine." She grabbed me by my shirt and I was frozen. Suddenly, we were in the air, falling. I felt the wind pushing against my back, the snow clinging to Ari's hair as it was blown back, her red, rage-filled eyes glowing brightly in the night air.  "AFTER THIS, YOU'RE GOING TO LISTEN TO WHAT I HAVE TO SAY."

I was pissed. She doesn't get to do this. She doesn't get to tell me that I'll listen, especially after what she had just told me that she'd done. "FUCK OFF!" I growled, gripping her shirt and twisting us in the air.  I planted my feet on her stomach and kicked off hard. She plummeted towards the ground, flipping unnaturally. I, on the other hand, went up. I paused for a moment and am reminded of that weightless feeling you get when going downhill on a rollercoaster. I started to fall again. I don't care. I fall for about three seconds and land on one knee, palms pressed to the ground. I stood up and realized that my knee, foot, and hands were in the ground. I pulled them out of the broken cement, feeling nothing. Maybe I was in shock? 

"HEY, ASSHOLE!" I turn to be immediately tackled to the ground by Ari, going approximately mach three. She grabbed my shoulders and slammed them into the ground as I struggled to get up. I felt the cement encase my body. "I GET THAT YOU'RE PISSED--" I covered my body in my armor and pushed against her. She winced in pain and sobbed harder gritting her teeth. "JASON PLEASE, YOU'RE HURTING ME!"