TMI meets TID

21: Will

I woke up the next morning, to still find myself in the chair beside Jem's bed in the infirmary. I looked over at Tessa, who was slumped in the chair fast asleep. I looked down at Jem only to see he was not there.

I felt a sinking feeling drown me. It's already happened, but it couldn't have. My Parabatai rune would have faded.

"Tessa wake up." I said quickly and she woke up.

"Jem's gone." She whispered looking down at the bed.

"Yes, but he isn't dead. My Parabatai rune hasn't faded yet." I said and she looked confused.

We both got up and found everyone in the dining room eating breakfast.

"Where's Jem." Tessa and I said at the exact same time.

Charlotte got up and walked up to us, and led us to a different room. We all sat down on chairs and finally Charlotte spoke.

" While you both were sleeping, Jem woke up in a frenzy. He was panicking, he didn't want to die like any normal human being. He told us to call the Silent Brothers." She said nervously and very sadly.

"So they can do what?" I demanded.

"So they could turn him into a silent brother." Charlotte blurted out with tears streaming down her face.

I froze. Jem becoming a Silent Brother? It was almost worse than him dying. I don't know that I could live with the fact that he was alive, but I couldn't go see him.

"Will we ever get to see him?" Tessa chokes out.

Charlotte shakes her head. "And even if we did he'd be very different."

Tessa lets out a sob and runs out of room. I am still too stunned to go after her. I feel myself moving towards the door and out of the Institute, and I run.

I'm not sure where I'm running to, but I just have to get away. Away from everything. I throw myself against the wall of the nearest alley way, and cry. I cry hard. I punch the wall and kick the ground out of anger. Jem didn't deserve this, no one does.

Jem was the light in my world. He made everyday of the pain of running away from my family more bearable. He was always there for me, and never let me down. Tired from my tantrum I weakly sat down against the wall, and that's when I felt it.

The tearing pain coming from my heart, where my Parabatai rune lay. It was the someone was cutting my chest open. I shouted in pain, as the rune faded from my skin. After about five minutes the pain subsided, and I looked down at the rune.

It was not black anymore. It was a white faded color, like any other used rune would look like. I was happy to see that it hadn't disappeared completely. Then I realized something.

They were performing the Silent Brother, at this very moment. A thousand things raced through my mind. What if Jem didn't make it? What if something went wrong, and he turned into Forsaken?

I sat against the wall for about another hour just thinking. Then I decided to walk back to the Institute, I needed to find Tessa. Only she would know what I felt like right now.