Hopelessly Broken

33. The Light

Jack's POV

"Sir he isn't responding!"

Devon's eyes slowly closed when he couldn't hold on anymore, and I felt tears come to my eyes. This can't be it!

"Kid, I need you to hold onto my hand. It's the only way." I grabbed onto the man's hand, and suddenly electric blue magic shot from his fingers. I was shocked and confused, but I streamed my energy through his body. "Pull out the knife."

I did as he said, and the blood flowed from the wound as relentless as ever. I saw it begin to close just as I began to feel the familiar headache of magic exertion, and I didn't know how much longer I could hold it. I collapsed just as the hole in Dev's back closed, and my head landed on his shoulder blades. "Shit, are you okay, kid."

"Just used too much magic. I'll be fine." My voice was weak but steady, however that wasn't what unsettled me. "Where's his heartbeat?" I didn't even have enough energy to panic, but he could tell I wanted to.

"I don't know if what we just did will work. He died before we could get the wolfsbane out of his lungs, and I just increased his ability to have a second chance."

"What's that?"

"I got one when I was a teenager. Basically if the heavens decide that you're needed on Earth, they'll send you back. My purpose was to stop them from killing my father, but I don't know what his will be. We just have to hope he has one."

I rolled his body over, and it was haunting me that the light in his eyes was gone. "What did he do to deserve this? They must have known he would sacrifice himself for me; wolfsbane does nothing to a warlock."

"In the end, his kind nature is what cost him. He was an amazing boy, even if I hardly knew him. He forgave me for hurting him so much."

"Stop talking about him in past tense; there's a chance he's going to wake up." Suddenly, gunshots sounded upstairs, and I curled in on myself. Anytime I heard either guns or anything similar, it would send me back to a much worse time.

"Jack run!" My mother was holding off the door with my father, but it wouldn't stay still for long. I was just 4 years old; hardly old enough to have experienced my first boost of magic, but old enough to run away from danger by myself.

"What about you?"

"We'll be fine, Jack. Get out of here!"

I ran away from the scene, and just as I got into my hiding spot, I heard a loud banging sound. "Jamie!"

"Linc, they're after Jack. Keep him safe. I'll be fine."

Suddenly, I was dragged out of the secret compartment of the wall and held up from the ground by an unfamiliar man. My father burst into the room while I swung around balling my eyes out by my collar. "Please don't hurt my son!"

The memory always gets fuzzy here, and I keep getting the sense that there's something important being blocked from me.

"Her life or the boy's." A man aimed a long metal stick between me and my mother, and my mom begged my father to chose my life. I don't know why, but apparently I'm important. Suddenly, electricity cracked up my spine, and the man holding onto me had to drop me from the shock. There were more thunderous booms before my mom held me close to her.

"Shh... It's okay, Jack. Mommy's got you."

When I looked up, everything was stained crimson, and I remember wondering why. My father stood in the center panting, and I began to cry for him. The man smiled at me, and he approached my mother and I.

"I'm never going to let anyone hurt you, Jack."

Suddenly, the door slammed open, and I cringed down into my skin. My body naturally moved to protect Dev's dead one, but I noticed it was unnecessary when my parents ran down the stairs. "Holy shit are you guys okay? We tracked you using Jack's stone."

"We're okay... Devon might not be."

"What happened!?"

I gently moved aside, and I heard my mom gasp loudly. "No! He can't–"

She crawled up to his body, and I saw her try shaking him awake. Her crying only increased when she couldn't find a pulse.

"How did this happen to him."

"It was a wolfsbane infused knife. We tried our best to save him, but we were too late."

I held onto my mom while she cried, and I even saw my father swipe a few tears. We had all grown attached to Dev in the last five weeks or so, and now that he was probably going to die, we were heartbroken. "He was so young. He didn't deserve this."

"He died trying to keep me safe... Just like Maggie. This is my fault." I stood up, but my dad intercepted me.

"We are not doing this again. I'm not going to let you sink into a depressive state; he wouldn't want that."

My mother gently closed his eyes, but I couldn't handle it anymore. I can't stay here anymore; everyone I love always ends up dead! "I'm gonna take a minute outside." Or a day. Or a year. Or a lifetime.

As soon as I reached the outside, I hit the ground running, but I didn't get far before my collar was grabbed. I tried struggling, but I was just pulled into the chest of my father. "You can't just run away from your problems, Jack. Talk to me, and I'll listen to every word you say. I won't interrupt."

"I'm so alone! Every time I think I have someone, they just disappear! Maggie... Dev... It's all my fault!"

"Jack, I know I said I wouldn't interrupt, but Mag died in the war protecting our kind against the demons. It's still going on, but we're the only ones who know about it... A storm is coming, son."

"Devon died for me! The knife wouldn't have even been deadly; they knew he would take it for me. Why else would they have sprinkled it with wolfsbane?"

"That boy had a huge heart with a small amount of places to put it. It was going to happen one day, Jack. It's just a coincidence that it happened so early on. He wants you to be happy, I know it."

"You don't get it. It's like we were meant to meet."

"Jack, it's time that we told you about your destiny. You know the Caronadine?"

"Who doesn't? It's the book that holds all prophecies of the future. Why are you bringing it up."

"You... You're in the Caronadine."

"What!? I know every prophecy in that thing, how can I be in there?"

"There's one that your teachers kept from you for specific reasons. The book was very specific about not telling you until after 16."

"Well what's the prophecy?"

"On his coming of age, a boy bred from the Cashire and Evans family will join together the specieses. Together with the heir of the Half Moon Pack, he will bring peace to the world at long last."

"That's... That's really straightforward."

"I summarized it. At first, we though it was Dan. We didn't know that Ash had a second son. However, when we recognized Devon as their offspring, it made sense. There's a reason his aura is so strange; you're both extremely powerful. Your job is to save the world... No pressure!"