AllFreeNovel
Share Us
* * *
Back in my room, we make sure that everything is packed. When I told Luna to pack supplies, she definitely went above and beyond what I expected. There are enough supplies here to last the gang a very long time. That makes me smile. The gang. I’m going to be able to see them soon. I’m going to go home.
But before I get carried away, I force myself to stop thinking about that. I need to be focused. I can’t allow myself to hope. Hope is what gets people killed.
“I’m impressed, Lu,” I tell her, and she beams with pride. “Everyone is going to be so thankful for this stuff. Thank you.”
“Pfft, it was nothing. I mean you guys are taking me in, it’s the least I can do to make myself feel useful.” I have never even thought about that till now; her living with the gang. I mean I always assumed that it was going to happen, but now a small part of me is nervous to see how they are going to react to having another mouth to feed.
“They’re going to be so excited to meet you!” I say, knowing that it’s not a complete lie. They will be excited, or at least that’s what I’m telling myself. “Have I told you about them before?”
“When you were younger you mentioned them a little bit,”
“Right, well they’re great. They’re going to love you.” I smile, and she smiles back.
“I’m sorry about earlier this morning, by the way.” She says after a while. “Sometimes when I spill stuff, Hugo-” she pauses and takes a deep breath, “He can get mad sometimes and…he…sometimes he doesn’t know how to control his anger-” she stops to compose herself, but I don’t need her to say anymore.
I know exactly what she was about to say, and it makes me sick. How can a boy hurt his own sister? She sees the look on my face and quickly adds, “He does it because he loves me. He’s trying to teach me, to help me. With Dad working so much and Mum in hospital, he has a lot of responsibility to-”
“No, Luna. Don’t you dare make excuses for his behaviour. If he is hurting you, no matter what is going on in his life, or no matter what you do, that is no excuse to hurt someone. I am so sorry that he’s done that to you. And I will make sure that he pays for his actions.”
“Emerson, really. It’s fine.”
“Luna, this is not fine. Brothers are meant to look after their sisters, not hurt them.” I hear a knock at the door, and yell “come in,” without bother checking who it could be.
The person opens the door, and it turns out to just be Jasper. I smile at him, “I see you two are getting along well.” He looks around the room and everything happens all at once. I see his eyes scan over Hugo’s shirt that I am still wearing for some stupid reason, then over the bandages and food on the bed and the disregarded backpacks on the floor, and then back into my eyes.
And just like that he turns back around and slams the door behind him. “Great,” I curse under my breath. “Wait here,” I tell Luna as I throw off the button-down shirt and pull on a shirt from my cupboard. I can’t believe that I could be so stupid. I should have asked to see who was at the door. I should have packed away the stuff before letting someone in. I should have not let this happen. I slip on my shoes, and I hurriedly race out the door knowing that I need to find Jasper but having no idea what I’m going to say to him when I do.
Chapter 35 - Emerson Clarke
He is heading towards the elevator, which I would consider a pretty smart move since he knows how reluctant I would be to get in one. But he doesn’t know that when I have a goal; all my fears come second.
He steps in and tells the doors to shut, looking at anything but me as he does it. I slip in between the closing doors just in time and I lean over to catch my breath. I should have thought this through, because now that I’m here I have no idea what to say.
Luckily, I don’t have to because he starts the conversation for me, “I see you and Luna are getting along well.” He repeats through gritted teeth.
“Jasper, I-”
“I’ve known for years that she’s wanted to escape, you know. In a place like this, the walls talk to you. You hear whispers. But I never told anyone about it because I knew that deep down, I had the same desire as well. The desire for freedom.”
“Well, you could come with us-” I suggest, and he laughs. It isn’t the laugh I’m used to though, it’s something much eviler and more twisted.
“And hang out with your little gang of friends? Oh, I’m sure that they’d love that. Hayden especially.” He spits out the last sentence like the thought of it disgusts him.
“Jasper, what’s gotten into you?” I ask. I can tell by the way he stands that something has happened. This is not the same person who left waffles on my bed and surprised me with my childhood best friend a week before. No, this Jasper is something that I’ve never seen before. His brown eyes are cold and calculating. His mouth is a thin line across his face. His jaw is hard and unmoving.
“Really? What’s gotten into me?” He shakes his head, “The truth, Waffles. About me, about Dad and Rebecca, and Annabelle. The truth about you.” He goes silent like he knows something that I don’t. “How long were you planning this?”
“A week,” I admit. There’s no point hiding it now.
“And were you ever going to tell me or were you just going to leave without any word or warning.”
“I DON’T KNOW, JASPER!” I shout, suddenly angry that he thinks he has the right to know what I’m doing. “Okay, I don’t know what I was thinking. I don’t know what I’m doing. All I know is that Luna is so desperate to get out of here, and I am going to help her. And you can either help us or you can mind your own business.” I take a deep breath and try to calm myself. “I don’t understand why you care anyway.” I say under my breath.
He laughs again, “Really?” his voice softens slightly. “You really have no idea why I care? I thought you were smarter than that.”
Before I have time to process his words, the elevator door opens, and a middle-aged man walks in. He looks between the two of us and I realise how awkward it must be for him. Jasper and I are standing on opposite sides of the elevator, facing each other in a standoff.
