Fox Trott (First Book of the Shadow Series)

Chapter 24: Coming Clean

          Alex turned to Jacek sharply, "Wait... What?!"

          Jacek continued breathing heavily as if he were having a full on panic attack, "You're hearing the same voices I'm hearing." When Alex continued to stare at him wordlessly, he continued, "This girl has been talking to me for a week or so now. She says she needs help and then there's screams in the background and she gets really scared... I keep seeing this dark cell with stone floors. I think she's trying to get us to help her..." He trailed off again.

          Alex narrowed his eyes, "You're seeing where she is...? How many powers do you have?" The suspicion in Alex's chest got heavier as Jacek looked away from him.

          "That doesn't matter... The only thing that does matter right now is that we find her."

         Alex grew angry as he heard Jacek's words, "Um, what about Ashlie? We are not just going to leave her at the Venor because we're sharing the same god damn nightmares."

         Jacek sighed, "No, we're not just going to abandon Ashlie. I think she may be stuck in the Venor with whomever is calling for help."

          Alex tilted his head and narrowed his eyes, more questions flooding his head than ever before, "Jacek...?"

         "What?" His words were vacant of emotion.

        "Have you been in the Venor before?"

          Jacek's eyes grew wide and he seemed to tense, "What... what makes you think...?"

         Alex glared harshly, knowing the answer just from the way he was acting, "You know how to get there, you have more powers than any person I've ever known to exist, and your claiming you know two totally different people you've never met are stuck in the Venor."

          Jacek bowed his head, "I'd... rather not talk about it, alright?"

       "Too bad. You've been lying this whole trip and it's time to speak up." Alex's voice was surprisingly demanding as he took one step closer to Jacek.

         Jacek only looked up at him and sighed heavily, "It's a long story..."

       "Better stop stalling then."

        Jacek looked away into the woods, checking around them as if he were afraid someone might overhear them in the vacant forest around them. His eyes met with a yellow canary sitting on a branch as it sang softly. He spoke with his back to Alex and his attention on the bird, "I... don't remember much of my childhood. After the house burnt down I was left alone. My parents died in the fire according to the news... I was born a mix between a Fire-Born and a Changer, but neither of my parents had powers. I was taken away from my home and brought to the Venor... They didn't treat me like I thought they would. The Seekers fed me, and the other people there taught me how to use my powers properly. They got stronger over a few years. That's when Gynesis approached me with an offer... He told me he could make me the strongest person alive, so long as I worked for him and him alone." Jacek turned to face Alex with a guilty look in his eyes.

       Alex took a step away from Jacek, "You're not STILL working for them, are you?" there was an accusing glare behind his eyes.

      Jacek raised his hands in defense, "No, it's not like that! I stopped working for them years ago. After he gave me more powers, he sent me to find more duel powered people, probably hoping they'd make a significant change to his little throne and make him stronger. But I decided to go against him instead. I told them to run, directing them to places where they could be safe from the Seekers. When he found out about it..." His voice went quiet as a small shiver passed through his spine.

         "What happened?" Alex pushed him on eagerly, hoping to find out what Gynesis could be doing to Ashlie. If not, then whatever was going on with the strange woman in their dreams.

          "He put me in this strange cellar area I didn't even know existed. He forced me to feed these creatures that were so scared they would cry in fear whenever I opened the cage. I fed them the parts of other monsters and people because it's what Gynesis told me to do... After about a week, Gynesis left the door open without realizing it and I escaped. It was then that I found Ignus lost in this exact forest. I've been running from those damned Seekers ever since I betrayed them..."

        Alex fell silently into thought, staring at the road as his mind processed the words. He looked up to meet Jacek's worried gaze, "I'm sorry."

         Jacek shook his head, "Don't be sorry. It's just the way my life turned out to be... if I dwelled on the horrors of the past I'd never have a good future." He chuckled sadly, looking down at his shoes.

         Alex sighed and walked back to the truck, sitting on the red hood as he had done for half a month now, "Is that how you knew about me and Ashlie?"

          Jacek nodded and sat next to Alex, avoiding all eye contact with him, "You two were known as the twins who could have ruled the world. Gynesis was afraid you both had the same powers, and sent so many Seekers to find you that everyone fought for the job... just to approach you."

        "Wait, do you mean you thought we were both Changers and Fire-Born?"

        "We did. Twins are the ones who tend to have the mixed powers, and a Fire-Changer is the most common one. But come to find out, Ashlie can be burned and you can't understand animals. So of course, we were wrong."

          Alex looked at Jacek with another question on his tongue, "Does that mean you had a twin?"

         Jacek nodded sadly, "I did. She died soon after we were born. Her name was Jacklyn. I was Jack, but when Gynesis took me in, he changed my name, claiming it was no longer the one the world needed to recognize me as. I took it with pride and tried to forget about the past. But as you can see, I failed miserably." He chuckled, trying to make the situation seem less dark than it already was.

          Alex smiled a bit for the first time in a very long time, "Seems we're not so different."

         Jacek looked at Alex and smiled a bit, "What makes you say that?"

         "Well, we're both running from idiots that think forgive and forget can actually help change what they've done..." They both laughed a bit, "We've both done bad in order to do good, we've both lost our parents, and in the end, it falls to us to change things we have no power over."

          Jacek turned away, a smile still on his face, "You're not wrong..."

          Silence bloomed between the two. Unlike what was normal for them, the comfort of the silence made them both relax.

          They sat there, listening to the birds with a strange sense of peace.

          After the sun had rose into the center of the sky, Jacek's voice gracefully broke through the silence, "Do you think we can start over, Alexander?"

        Alex smiled wider, holding out is hand for Jacek to shake without a spark of hesitation, "Hi, my name is Alexander Night."

        Jacek turned to face him again, a bit surprised that he had agreed, but gladly shaking his hand and looking him in the eyes, "You can call me Jack."