Chapter 5

 

Annette sat in the hospital room staring at the frozen clock; horror and confusion were twisted together on her face. She turned to look at Jett's frozen figure, "Je-Jett?" she stuttered. She didn't expect a reply, but she still hoped for one.

She threw her legs over the side of her bed and stood up with a slight wobble. The blood rushed to her head from sitting so long and a flurry of colors blurred her vision.

"Mmmnn," she whined as she rubbed her forehead. "Wait..." her eyes went wide as her sight returned, "Amber...?" she whispered, hoping it wasn't true.

She looked around trying to sense any demonic energy, or just Amber's energy. "Nothing?" she thought to herself.

Annette shifted her weight onto one leg to try and think. Pain coursed through her body and she cringed as she grabbed her right leg and fell back onto her bed.

"Damn it!" she hissed as she tried to get back onto her feet.

After she got to her feet, she sighed and breathed deeply a couple times. "Amber is dead," she whispered to herself, "Then who...?" she looked back at Jett.

Her mind flashed back to her fight with Amber.

Annette's eyes widened in shock, "No...Way..." she picked her hands up and stared at her palms.

"So," she thought to herself, "If I drain someone of their ability completely, it becomes mine?" Annette felt sick with fear. Being the pessimist she was, horrible scenarios began racing through her mind. "What if Enma somehow possessed me?" she thought to herself.

She knew it was very unlikely, but she also believed that one should never say never. It was frightening enough, having the ability to take abilities from others. If Enma ever got that power...and just the fact that Annette was somehow immune to all physical abilities, Jett couldn't turn her to stone, Cyrus couldn't hear her thoughts, and Amber could never freeze her in time. Annette had a sort of 'Get out of jail free' situation when you thought about it.

 But instead of it being a blessing, it was her own personal hell. The Organization's leaders had called her in shortly after she was placed on Jett's team. They told her that she was placed on Jett's team only because Jett had insisted that he'd take responsibility for her.

They held nothing back; the leaders flat out said that Annette was a huge security risk. But, the loophole was that they hypothesized that if her immunity worked on anyone with an ability, it should work on Enma, right? Well, she never took the chance to experiment, so she was hoping their theory was right.

 

She loved working with Jett and Evelyn, she loved protecting the world from the shadows; she truly believed that being a Sensor and a Shade Agent was her purpose in life.

 

Annette shook her head, there was no time to reminisce and worry, she needed to figure out how to control her new ability-she couldn't leave Jett like this forever. So, she crawled in between Jett and the door and prayed that she'd figure out how to unfreeze him, and that when she did, he didn't squish her in his drunken furry.

"Uhhh..." Annette stared at Jett, "Hmm." she placed a hand on his face, nothing. "Uhh...s**t!" she bit her lip, "How did Amber do this?" Annette flicked her fingers at him, nothing, "Unfreeze?" Nothing. She snapped her fingers, nothing. Clapped, nothing. "Abra cadabra?" nothing.

"God damnit!" Annette stomped her foot, "Jeez Amber! Your ability is more stubborn than you!" she waved her hands angrily.

The clock began to tick once more, and Jett continued walking, running into Annette.

"Oww!" Annette yelled as she tried to push Jett back, "Damn it Jett. You're like a steam roller!" Annette rubbed her forehead.

Jett took a few steps back with the most shocked look on his face. He looked at Annette cringing in front of the door, and then he looked back at her empty bed and back to her once more.

He put a hand to his head, "Wow, I didn't think I drank that much," he whispered.

Annette sighed and dropped her hand from her head to take Jett's free hand. "He really looks like he's about to drop," Annette mentally sighed. She led him to her bed and had him sit down. "Jett," she said in a soothing tone, "You didn't drink that much, I'll explain everything tomorrow, but you need to go home. You're still drunk," she took her other hand and gently placed it on the side of his face. "I'll have Evelyn take you back.

Jett still looked confused, but then his facial expression became angry, "I don't need Evelyn to take me home, I'm perfectly alright. Besides, I'm not leaving you, only god knows what Evelyn will do this time."

Annette sighed, "Jett," Annette was really tired and really angry, "You have no right to blame Evelyn, you're not the one that's hurt, I am. And I don't blame Evelyn one bit. I know you're upset about losing Amber, but don't use me as an excuse to play the blame game on Evelyn."

Jett grabbed Annette's hand on his cheek and pulled it down, "I don't care about Amber," he said quietly. He leaned his face towards hers and looked at her with a soft green gaze, and Annette couldn't help but be drawn into his deep emerald-like stare.

Annette felt her heart speed up; she was so close to him that she could feel his breath on her face. Annette snapped out of her trance when she saw Jett's eyelids droop. "Great," she mentally sighed. And seconds later, Jett fell over unconscious-passed out from his drunkenness.

Annette sighed and furrowed her eyebrows in slight annoyance, "Damn drunk," she breathed.

She stood up and strained to get Jett completely onto the bed-after this was accomplished, she covered him up with the blanket.

She sighed again, but this time it was from exhaustion. She dropped into the chair next to the bed, and watched Jett sleepily.

A few minutes later, Annette's doctor walked in. He first looked at Jett passed out on the bed, and then he looked at Annette.

"Your boyfriend is very rude, you know." The doctor spoke quietly, "He storms in here drunk, makes a scene, and then passes out in your bed. Not very considerate either, is he?"

Annette smiled slightly, never taking her eyes off of Jett. "It's just how he is. He hasn't exactly had a decent life."

The doctor pulled up a chair next to Annette's. "Sounds like an interesting story," he sat down and crossed his legs.

"Uhhh..." Annette looked away from Jett, "Don't you have..." she tried not to sound rude, "other patients to take care of?"

The doctor smiled a small wicked smile, "Nope, you're my only patient. We don't get too many injuries that serious here, not many people are that careless."

Annette widened her eyes in shock, "Careless?" she exhaled angrily. "Who do you think you are?" her voice got louder.

The doctor kept quiet with his wicked smile, "Calm down, I'm here for an entertaining story, not a fight."

Annette sighed and laid back in her chair, she was really in no mood to argue.

"Alright," she used two fingers to pinch the bridge of her nose, "I'll give you the short version."

She dropped her hand from her face and sighed, her hazel eyes stared down at her hands in her lap.

"Jett didn't have a very wholesome childhood. His parents were around...but they weren't very attentive." Annette looked back at Jett. "Being love-deprived, he grew up seeking love in probably hundreds of women. But each was a disappointment, each craved lust instead of love. He never admitted it, but each failed attempt at love only dug the knife deeper. He began to hold onto people he thought he could trust, like Evelyn and Amber. He's very..." Annette couldn't think of the right word.

"Clingy?" The doctor offered the word venomously.

Annette shot him a glare, "No." She looked back at Jett, "Possessive. He grew up not having anyone to love him, he spent his life offering his love to anyone that would take it, but no one really wanted it. Until Amber at least. But..." Annette paused again; she didn't want to admit what she thought.

"But once he got the love he wanted, he realized he couldn't force himself to love her back." the doctor spoke without hesitation.

Annette simply nodded. "He feels bad about Amber," she said quietly.

"Doesn't look like that," the doctor said, "He bursts in here like a tornado, with you as his focus. I don't think he's too heartbroken over her." The doctor smirked.

Annette rolled her eyes, "Don't waste your breath on things you know nothing about." Annette was done being nice to him; even if he did save her life, he was still a jerk. "He's drunk and hurt, he's already lost one person today, he was just panicked about losing another. He always blames himself if people get hurt." Her tone declined, she really was exhausted.

"What about the pale one with the pigtails?" the doctor spoke with interest.

Annette shot him another glare, "Evelyn."

"Whatever," the doctor said, "What's her deal? She's so quiet; she just stares out into space most of the time."

Annette frowned, "This guy is asking for a foot up his a*s." Her eyebrow twitched in anger.

"Evelyn probably had the hardest life out of all of us. She was an accident, her mother never meant to have a baby. But her boyfriend got her pregnant, and she tried her best to keep it a secret from him-"

"I thought you said her mom didn't want her." the doctor said suddenly.

"She didn't want her because she wasn't ready to bring a child into the world. She didn't want her child to grow up around her boyfriend, he was a heartless man. Very violent, when he found out that Evelyn's mother was pregnant, he..." Annette swallowed nervously. "He beat her, to try and kill the baby. The only reason he didn't kill Evelyn and her mother was because the neighbor heard her screaming, and knocked her boyfriend out with a lamp."

Annette shifted her weight in the chair to try and stay awake.

"The neighbor, he called the police. The boyfriend was arrested and put in jail, and Evelyn's mother was rushed to the hospital. Evelyn was born 4 months premature. They didn't expect her to live, but somehow, her little heart kept going. Evelyn was in the hospital for 2 months, and in that time, her mother and the neighbor that saved her fell in love. They got married a month after Evelyn was well enough to leave the hospital, everything was great. Evelyn grew up normally, except she was always small for her age.

She eventually found out her dark past, but she took comfort in the fact that she had a mother and-even though he wasn't her biological one- a father that loved her very much. But, years later, when Evelyn was about 13, the man that was her real father was released from jail. He was obsessed with getting revenge, and he hunted Evelyn and her mother down. One night when it was pouring rain, he broke into the house. Evelyn was awake and heard him, she slipped out of her room and ran to her parents' room to warn them, but by the time she had woken her parents up, he was at the door banging on it violently. Her mother threw Evelyn into the bathroom and told her to keep quiet. The man broke in the door, and shot her father, and then he raped her mother, and beat her until she died. All of this, Evelyn watched from the bathroom; the door was cracked and she was hiding in the shower."

Annette stared blankly at the wall, picturing the whole scene in her mind.

"Did they catch him?" the doctor asked, obviously annoyed that Annette kept pausing.

Annette shook her head, "No. After he was done, he set Evelyn's house on fire. Evelyn didn't even try to escape; she was so horrified and depressed. She curled up in the bath tub, and waited to die. The firefighters got there in time though; they found her passed out in the bathtub from all the smoke. They couldn't track down the man because the rain had washed away any evidence outside, the fire had burned all the evidence inside, and Evelyn was too traumatized to speak. She didn't speak for about 3 years, even after they placed her in foster care-she had no relatives. She was moved around from home to home for years, no one wanted her; she was too antisocial and depressing. No one even tried to understand what she was going through." Annette felt her eyes watering. "Jett found her one night. She had run away from the orphanage, she ran to a near park and sat on the swing. It was snowing, and dark-Jett was out on a mission, and he tracked the creature he was following to the park, after he killed it he found her in the swing staring blankly at the snow. She knew he was going to be there, and when he walked up to her, she handed him her scarf from her neck and said, 'You're going wake up with a cold tomorrow morning. When you do, don't drink any milk.' She was completely right," Annette smirked to herself, "He took her back to his place, and sure enough, he woke up with a cold that morning, and when he tried to drink some milk, he found it was rotten. All the milk he had in his fridge was rotten. That's when he figured out Evelyn was able to see the future."

Annette smiled while she looked back to Jett.

"You guys are one big happy family, aren't you?" the doctor said this in a nice tone, which surprised Annette.

She looked at him then nodded, "Yeah."

Annette paused, and then stood up from her chair, "Can I go home?" She stretched her arms up to the ceiling.

"Uh-h, yeah." the doctor replied. "You need help getting your boyfriend out to the car?"

Annette smirked, "That's sweet, but no thanks." She waved her arm and Jett levitated off the bed.

She walked out the door and yelled back, "Thanks for your help; you're not as big of an a*****e as I thought."

She walked out of the hospital and found Evelyn waiting right out front with the car.

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By the time they pulled into the driveway it had begun to rain. Annette had become overly exhausted, and when she finally let go of her mental grip on Jett and covered him with a blanket she nearly collapsed.

But Evelyn, foreseeing this, was right by her side to prop her up. "Thanks Evelyn," Annette panted. Once they were out of Jett's room, Annette spoke, "I'm going to crash out in the living room tonight, you want to keep me company Evelyn?" She offered a smile.

Evelyn simply nodded and let Annette lean on her as she guided her onto the sofa. Then, Evelyn left the room.

Annette picked up the remote and began flipping through channels on the TV. She couldn't help but think about everything that had happened within the last 24 hours. Her thoughts were interrupted when she noticed Evelyn come back into the room and hand her some pills and a glass of water.

"You get 2 pain pills and 1 pill for your nervous system. 2 pain pills every 12 hours and 1 nervous system pill every 24."

Annette took the medication and water, "Thanks Evee." After she swallowed the medicine she looked back at Evelyn, "You should be a doctor Evee. You'd make a much better doctor than that a*s that took care of me."

Evelyn took a seat in the chair across from the sofa.

"You know Evee," Annette's eyes felt like a load of concrete, "You shouldn't be sorry at all, about my leg I mean. It was my choice, not yours. You're far more important to me than my leg, Evee."  And with that, Annette fell into a coma-like sleep.

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Annette slept better that night than she had in awhile-she always did sleep a lot better when it was raining. She slept deeply, and for once her mind was at ease. She was awakened by the sounds of quiet voices.

"How is she?" She heard a male voice, Dante's?

"She's fine, her leg’s screwed up and she's going to be on meds for awhile, but it's not as bad as it could have been." the voice was Jett's.

"Can we see her??" Cyrus, obviously from his energetic tone.

"She's sleeping," Jett replied.

Annette forced herself to open her eyes, "No I'm not," she moaned as she rubbed the sleepiness out of her eyes.

When she opened her eyes, she could see nothing but two powder blue orbs in front of her.

"Annette!" Cyrus wrapped his arms around her neck. "I was so worried! Dante and I rushed over her the minute we heard!"

"Well," she noticed Dante walk into the room, "He actually dragged me down here. I knew you would be fine. You're too stubborn to croak, especially since you still haven't proved you're better than me." She saw Dante smirk, and she returned it with her own smile.

"Don't choke her Cyrus," Jett soon appeared in the room. "I didn't work this hard to keep her alive only to have you kill her."

Cyrus let go of Annette, and Annette scoffed, "Puh-lease. I was the one that had to drag your drunk a*s home."

Annette sat up, and then tried to stand, only to fall back onto the couch from the pain. Jett walked up to her and handed her 2 pills. "Don't even think about going anywhere without these."

Annette snatched the medicine, "I'd rather take the pain than be dependent on these little devils."

"Of course," Jett rolled his eyes but smiled nonetheless.

Evelyn flounced into the room and handed her a glass of water. "Thanks," Annette swallowed the pills then tried to stand up once more. This time, she was successful, but Jett lifted his arms, "Don't push yourself," he warned.

"I need to go to the bathroom," Annette said annoyed, "I think I know how far I can push myself." She pushed past him and trekked down the hall.

Once she was out of sight, Jett grabbed the bridge of his nose and sighed.

Evelyn disappeared into her own room, and Cyrus' phone began to ring. "Yeah?" He answered. "Yeah, okay. I'll be there in 5." He clicked his phone shut and put it back in his pocket. Dante glanced over at him with a questioning look.

Cyrus smiled slightly, "Headquarters, I gotta go." Dante nodded and Cyrus spoke to Jett, "Give Anne my love, kay?" Jett nodded, and Cyrus left through the front door.

Dante sat in the chair across from the sofa, "My, my," he spoke in an amused tone, "Annette sure is a stubborn one. I always wondered how her parents could stand her."

Jett sighed and leaned against the door frame, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "Her parents are dead."

Dante's head shot up, his eyes showed worry and curiosity, "What?"

Jett's dark green eyes trailed down to the floor. "Her parents were murdered when she was 15. Her mother was actually a part of the Organization, and one night, her mother was murdered in her own home, and her father just got caught in the middle I guess. Annette loved and admired her parents very much, if you ask me, she compared herself to them too much. She always aspired to be like them, so she never tolerates weakness in herself-she always has to be the martyr, she always has to push herself too hard so others don't have to. Just like her mom."

"Did you know her mother?" Dante asked.

"A little, I was about 13 when I first joined the Organization. Annette would have been 11 I guess. Her mom was assigned the responsibility of training me. It was more a burden than a responsibility," he smirked to himself, "I was such a brat. I thought I was so great, that I knew everything and didn't need her help. But she was so patient; she worked harder than she had to, all to help me. Annette's so much like her mother, she just can't see it. She puts up with my attitude, and she always tries to protect us-me and Evelyn. Just like her mother...That woman was a saint; I'd love to get my hands on the losers that killed her."

Jett's face tightened in anger.

"Someone had a crush," Dante rolled his eyes.

"No," Jett unclenched his jaw, "She was like a mom, my deadbeat mother was never around, neither was dad. Annette's mom did more for me in a few months than my mother could do for me in a lifetime."

"So now you're protecting her daughter out of respect?" Dante laced his fingers together on his lap.

Jett remained silent for a moment. "That wasn't my plan. We just stumbled over her, part of me wishes we didn't."

"Why?" Dante cocked an eyebrow.

Jett turned his face to look the other way, he had said too much. Thankfully, Annette shuffled back down the hall at that moment.

Jett pushed himself up off the wall, and walked over to Annette.

"Jett," she sighed, "I'm fine-" Jett ignored her and scooped her up in his arms. As he placed her on the couch he said, "For once Annette, don't push yourself." his tone was very tender, causing Annette to feel a little uneasy. "We don't need you killing yourself just yet," he said with a smirk as he sat on the arm of the sofa.

"Hah, hah," Annette rolled her eyes.

Dante stood up, "Well, I've got to be heading out."

Annette put on a fake frown, "Ohh, so soon Dante?"

Dante smirked and grabbed her chin with his fingers, "Yes sweetie. But the minute you get better, hurry back to school so I can get back to beating you. School's no fun without my little challenge." He shook her chin playfully before Annette used her mental ability to knock his hand off. She smiled up at him, "Yeah, yeah. Get out of here and get some ice on your swollen ego."

Dante nodded a goodbye to Jett, and then headed out the door.

A few moments passed, and Jett looked over at Annette, "Sorry about being such a jerk last night." he spoke quietly.

Annette shook her head, "Don't be apologizing to me. You were horrible to Evelyn, go apologize to her." she stuck her thumb down towards Evelyn's room.

Jett followed the direction she was pointing and stood up, he got about four feet before Evelyn appeared in the doorway.

"Apology accepted," she said quietly.

Jett smiled and playfully rubbed Evelyn's head, "Next time I do that, just hit me, kay Evee?"

"I'd gladly take that responsibility!" Annette shouted.

Jett laughed slightly, and then took a deep breath. "Listen," he said, "The rain has finally stopped."

Annette rolled her eyes, "Are you afraid of ruining your hair?"

Jett took his seat back on the arm of the sofa, and Evelyn came to sit on the other side next to Annette.

 

For the first time in awhile, everyone was truly happy together. Even with Amber gone, their family felt whole. It was as if the storm had ended and the sun was finally able to peek through the clouds, throwing its warmth everywhere, and driving out all the shadows of their lives. For a little while at least.

 

Author's Note

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