Wrong Place, Wrong Time

Chapter 28

***Hey, guys! Just wanted to thank you all for 4.2K reads and 339 votes <3 That's much better than INK was doing while I was writing it LOL

Also, you know when you have ghost readers, and it kind of freaks you out? By "ghost readers", I mean readers who never comment and never vote. So if you're a ghost reader and want to identify yourself, you can comment here 😁

The funny thing is, the most serious ghost readers won't do that :P I'm sure I'll still have forty-ish views per chapter or more that I can't assign to anyone (even after I account for readers viewing the same chapter multiple times). So I just want to thank you for scaring me LOL I will always wonder about you guys.

Oh, and there's also a chapter here, so I should probably get to that :)***

***(Jay's POV)***

It's the afternoon two days later, and Nya and I are just hanging out in the room she's sharing with Seliel.

That's when Zane comes down, announcing, "We've arrived at the Dark Island."

Nya looks up from her spot reading next to me, closing her book with a snap. "We'll be on deck in a moment."

"Excellent," Zane smiles. "I am pleased to complete this mission with you, my friends."

As Zane leaves, I lean over and give Nya a hug. "Are you good?"

"I'm fine." She bites her bottom lip. "You?"

"I'm a little worried about Lloyd and Cole," I confess. "At least Kai's with us, but we never learned what happened to Lloyd after Nadakhan got to him. And Cole's currently under hospital observation, since he's basically in a coma right now. I think Zane said he was asleep, but he's not waking up." I sigh, nuzzling her hair.

"I know it's hard for you," she says softly, placing her own arms around me and hugging me tightly. The gesture fills me with warmth.

I exhale as comfort fills the pit of my stomach. "Thanks for understanding, Nya. And you know you can talk to me if something's bothering you." I revel in her closeness and the fortitude she helps give me.

I personally think it's been amazing to have Nya as my girlfriend for two days, even though she's seemed kind of reserved. It probably has to do with Kai, given that he's not in the best mental state right now. She doesn't need to tell me what's wrong for me to put things together in my mind.

She wiggles against me, and I remember that I turned her book-reading into a cuddling session. I giggle, removing my arms from around her. "Sorry."

"You're fine." She gently smiles back, grabbing her shoes from the spot beside the loveseat – yes, my dad really did furnish this place with a loveseat. I didn't even know what a loveseat was called until Nya explained it to me.

"Are you ready to get this Dark Island thing over with?" I ask, reluctantly rising and grabbing my own shoes.

"Why wouldn't I be?" she frowns. "Our team and Kai have been wished into comas or craziness or who knows what by an evil Djinn. And we need to destroy that machine Pythor's making before something horrible happens to you. Pythor wants all of us gone, but you, especially. You're the only one who can stop his invention if he completes it – you're the only one who can get near that much electricity at once."

"See, those are the very reasons why I don't want to leave this ship," I sigh. "Any number of horrible things could happen to us! I don't want to die, and I can't lose you, either! Or anyone on the team, for that matter."