Salted Caramel Coffee (COMPLETED!)

Chapter Twenty Six} Gämęövęr

     This can't be happening.

     As I sprint toward the staircase, I feel a sharp jolt that makes my entire soul leave my body. I let out a shriek, thinking for a moment that Blaze had somehow escaped her cell, and was trying to catch me.

     For some reason I'm relieved to see that it's just the two guards, their arms wrapped tightly around my wrists. Breathing hard, I look behind their thick frames to see Jansen, her arms crossed defiantly and her chin pointed up into the air. "You didn't think you were going to escape, did you?"

     It feels like the walls are closing in on me, preparing to crush my bones into dust. "N- no, I didn't." I stutter, squirming underneath the guards' grip. "I just need some fresh air, please."

     I'm finally released from my death hold, where it's replaced by a pair of cold, metal handcuffs. "You don't think I've heard that one before?" Jansen scoffs. "You aren't going anywhere."

     My eyes begin to sting, burning with another rise of tears. God, I'm so fucking sick of crying. It would be real nice if I could just go like, one day without becoming a human waterfall, for Christ's sake. I want out. Now.

     "I need James." I struggle to keep my composure, my quivering lip and bloodshot eyes giving it all away. "Please. I need James, now."

     Jansen cocks her head towards the other end of the hall, where James stands a good three feet away from the bars of Blaze's cell. His arms are crossed tightly over his chest, resting atop a white t shirt that's smeared with blood. I wonder if he even thinks about the fact that it's not just Blaze's blood that's on him, but Black's as well. If he does, he doesn't seem to mention it. Maybe I'm the only one that it creeps out.

     The two of them seem to be having a very heated argument. Every time James opens his mouth to say something, Blaze interrupts and shoots back. And whenever Blaze starts to say something, James pushes her words away.

     I wish they'd talk a bit louder. I'm having a very hard time eavesdropping.

     When I see James' face go red, my stomach drops to my toes. In a moment of panic, I step forward to run over and stop him, but a six foot son-of-a-skyscraper grabs me by my hair and tugs me back. "Hold still, Wolfe." The one to my right says. "I wouldn't want anything to... happen to you."

     He taps the spiked club against the side of his leg, raising an eyebrow suggestively. I narrow my eyes, my blood boiling with a billion different emotions at once. "Is that a threat?"

     He glances from the me, to the man on his left, and back again, narrowing his eyes right back. "I believe it was." He snarls. My heart pounds in my ears deafeningly. To keep from exploding into the guards' faces, I count my heart beats one by one.

     One. I slowly turn to face James again, my scarlet-flushed skin matching his. Two.

     They're yelling. Loud. I can't hear them over the ringing in my ears and the blood pumping steadily through my head. Three. Blaze clutches the bars of her cell, screaming incoherently. Her mouth moves in unison with her hands, which shake her bars so much that the floor beneath me practically rattles along with them. Four.

     If I look close enough, I can read her words a they escape her crimson-coated lips. James' too. Five.

     You don't understa-

     No, Blaze. I don't understand. I don't understand how you could- six- just confess like that? We were there for you- Emma was there for you! We took the blame, and you decided to throw away any chance you could've had, and- seven- threw it away. Do you know how long you'll be in the Graveyard for? It could be years!