Confrontation

Sometimes talking to the least likely person makes you feel better.

CONFRONTATION

Jack shuffled through the books in his closet, sorting out the library books from the ones he had borrowed from Tom. He had to return them to their respective owners before leaving Town, which wasn’t very long from today. Markus had faxed his father the day before to inform them he had found a buyer for him; it was apparently a five member family of vampires, one of the three families Markus had mentioned. One of them would be visiting Town in a day to personally verify if the blood samples given by Markus really did belong to him and if the guy was satisfied he would leave with him to Noctis on the same night, so he supposed he might as well start packing.

He had already packed two sets of tee shirts, a Jacket, a pair of jeans and some pyjamas and apart from toiletries, a few books and the pen his father had gifted him, his baggage consisted almost nothing else. It was a very light luggage to carry, especially for one who might not be coming home at all, but he wondered what else he would need. He had always been the kind to avoid excess baggage, fewer things meant fewer responsibilities. But that wasn’t the only reason, deep down there was also the grim knowledge that he would not survive the ordeal. From what he had researched about blood slaves on the internet and libraries, the kind of people who became Blood Slaves were usually the ones who owed something to the vampires and were not capable of paying it back or the ones who needed a huge sum in a short period of time, but were ineligible for loan. These people were usually blood slaves for a period of time during which their blood would be drained long enough to cover the financial needs, but after which they would be free. It was almost like leasing a property. But his case was different, he knew with an indefeasible certainty that with the kind of debt his father had amassed they would have to and will drain every single drop of his blood to pay it back, there would be no return for him. Most like him, who became Bloods Slaves for life were either criminals sentenced to death or the mentally ill brought through illegal trade and most of them lived only as long as a week, at most a month, within which pernicious anaemia would set in leading to multiple organ failures. So yeah, he needn’t bother with the luggage.

He gave a small dry laugh, amazed at the indifference with which he was regarding his doom to decide his packing! Was it normal to be so unfeeling? Shouldn’t he panic, he wondered?

Well it wasn’t as though he wasn’t bothered by it at all, there was a nagging feeling of grief and even fear tugging at the edges of his consciousness, but he firmly refused to think about it. Because it would just open the floodgates, the floodgate of emotions he had locked, forcing himself to accept the unfairness of what was happening to him. Because nobody could be blamed for this situation nobody could fight for him, not even himself.

He sighed, well what the Hell? If he was gonna die, he was gonna die. So he might as well do so without torturing himself. He had just thrown the last set of Tom’s books to a carton when he heard the door opening behind him.

He turned to see Paul standing on the doorway.

“Hey Jack” he said entering the room.

“He Paul, what’s up?”

“Well mom said you were packing for TUSAR and asked me to look around your room to see if I might need anything you’re leaving behind”

“I see…”

Leaving for TUSAR huh? Well his mom sure was smart, but Paul probably wouldn’t have believed it if it had not been for the carefully arranged sleepover at Sam’s on the night of Markus’s visit.

“Well see anything you like?” he asked, now putting all the library books in his bag, he would return them this afternoon.

“Not yet, but I’m looking around…” he said eyeing wistfully at the posters of the many hockey players that filled the walls. Paul was just beginning to get into hockey, and was trying for a place at the middle school hockey team, Jack and Tom were already in the high school hockey team and had had gone till the finals of the Town hockey championships. They had not won though.

“You sure wanna leave these behind?” he asked pointing at them.

“Well yeah, I don’t wanna be carrying too much.”

“I see…well I’ll take Jackson’s” he said beginning to peel it off the wall.... “And Simon’s too”

“Okay” Jack said peeling the other one and rolling it.

“So anything else you need?”

“Hmmm...Let me see...” he said now rummaging through his sports gear. He finally dug out his hockey stick.

“Hey why is this still here? Aren’t you gonna take it?” he asked pulling it out...

“Well I don’t think I’ll have time for hockey in TUSAR...you know with studying and all...” he said shrugging; though he couldn’t help but avoid his eyes.

“Really?” Paul raised his eyebrows skeptically…”You don’t mind if I take it?”

“Well if you want too…” Jack said shrugging again.

“It seems like you’re leaving most of your things behind” he said walking over to his closet and opening it. Jack watched nervously as he inspected his almost full wardrobe.

“And seriously all your clothes are here!”

He opened Jacks backpack and saw the minimal amount of possessions that had been packed. He frowned, a line of doubt appearing on his forehead.

”You’re hardly carrying anything” he said gesturing at it….” it’s almost as if you’re not gonna stay for even a month…You really passed TUSAR didn’t you? Or did you lie to us all?”

“Aww come on Paul, can’t a guy travel the way he wants? What’s your problem?”

“Well if you leave behind your entire set of cloths, mom’s gonna ask me to wear them and I don’t even like your choice of colours, its plain and drab and outright dumb” Paul said, his jaw arched in an effort to mimic a look of disgust.

Well it was true that his mom always tried saving money by asking them to reuse stuff, most off his own cloths were cheap and worn out. But that was when his dad’s business wasn’t going well, now that they were gonna get a lot of money from this whole Blood Slave business she probably wouldn’t ask Paul to wear used cloths.

“Well you needn’t worry your short chubby self over it as they probably won’t fit you anyway” Jack said with an impish grin. Teasing Paul would be one of the few things he would miss in the not so distant future. 

“Shut up Jack” Paul said...” I’m gonna make it to the hockey team, so you probably won’t even recognise me when I visit you at TUSAR next term”

“Ohhh....so you are gonna wear some dumb costume?”

“Yeah...a Jack Kiersted one”

At this Jack went and messed up Paul’s hair, which Paul tried to replicate while simultaneously pushing Jack off, an unsuccessful endeavour due to his height. At last he pushed Jack away and they both ended up panting and laughing. Though in Jack’s case it was a dark reminder of the things he was to miss.

“Hey Paul...”Jack said at last...”All the best or making it to the team”

Paul smiled softly, which kinda made him look mature and somehow that looked very wrong.

“Thanks Jack...” he said and asked for no reason at all asked “Are you gonna be alright Jack?” He himself wasn’t sure why he asked that strange question all of a sudden, but watching Jack’s lanky frame with his messy black hair and his strange yellow eyes which seemed…well,  just strange (even for strange yellow eyes), it just seemed important to ask.

“Huh?” Jack said surprised...

“You’ll be fine won’t you?” he asked again, but feeling slightly stupid this time.

“Yeah...sure...”he nodded, he was afraid if he said anymore his voice might give him away.

 “You want anything else?” he asked quietly.

“Huh...No that’ll be fine Jack...if I want something else I’ll come back later on when you’re gone...Thanks again” he said and picking up the posters and hockey stick, left the room, leaving Jack all alone in the room with the things and memories he was soon to abandon.

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Jack sat absently kicking up the dirt from one of the swings in Town Park. Though they were shaded by a huge banyan tree that grew to the side of the park, it still was a very hot afternoon. His shirt struck to his skin from the sweat and the streets were deserted in the scorching heat. But he wasn’t complaining at the sun; there would be no sun at Noctis.

He had been on the way from returning the library books, and had stopped by at the park. There would be no one home now except his mom, Paul would be gone for hockey practice and his dad would be at his office, he didn’t much fancy being alone at home.

“Jack....” he heard a small voice behind...

He turned and saw Laurine standing behind. His heart sank. God not now!!

“What’s it Laurine?” he asked.

“You...you’re going away aren’t you”

“Yeah... I’m going off to TUS-!”

“No!” she cried cutting him off...”You’re not going there...I know...”

“What are you taking about Laurine?” he asked surprised and a bit nervous. How could she have known?

“I saw Markus that day...he visited your house didn’t he?”

“Yeah...he did. He had business with my dad”

“No!” she cried again shaking her head and making her gaudy pink bangs flap about her round face...”I was watching from my window. I saw your silhouette; Markus used some sort of knife on your hand”

“What are you talking about?” he asked again trying to sound irritated, though his heart had skipped a beat.

“You can’t lie to me Jack” she said firmly…”Something happened didn’t it? It’s about your dad’s business isn’t it?” her hands clutched the tight black dress she wore. Jack could see why Tom and many other boys at school thought her attractive, with a tall slim frame, and a perfect figure with a thin waist and full breasts she would easily make a man look twice. He would have found her attractive too if she was a bit simpler (and quieter), if she didn’t keep trying to impose her views on everyone, always believing she was right and in some unseen way superior to everyone, like the Queen of some invisible Kingdom, and just wasn’t so plain exhausting to be with. Honestly sometimes being with her was like walking against the wind in a storm, she would drain away and wear out your strength like an acid that dissolves anything it comes into contact with until it exists as nothing but part of itself.

“You’re crazy Laurine” he said and abruptly getting up and began to walk away.

“No, Stop” she cried running after him and coming to a stop in front of him.

“Outta the way, Laurine” he said beginning to get angry now.

“No” she said firmly blocking his path. Jack rolled his eyes; well what else did he expect? He started walking around her when she caught his arm. He was beginning to shove her off when she said softly…

“Jack I know you hate me. You always have”

Jack looked up surprised at the soft tone of her voice and confused as to how to react to such an abrupt statement, but if she was gonna appeal to his pity he wasn’t gonna let it happen.

“So?” he asked in icy tones. A single tear slid down her pale cheek, Jack stared at her surprised, she was crying?

“I’ll go away….I won’t bother you…” she said softly again.

Jack blinked, Laurine almost never talked this way; he watched as yet another tear slid down her cheeks.

“Just tell me what’s happening? I won’t bother you, I promise… I just wanna know….so I can prepare myself…” she continued quietly.

Jack raised his eyebrows. Prepare herself? Why the hell should she prepare herself? It was not as though they were in a relationship or anything.

“I won’t stop you whatever it is that you are going to do” she said again…” I just want to know. So I won’t wonder what happened to you when you leave Town...”`

Still he wondered how to react.  Was this some kind of trap? He had never even imagined a comprehending version of Laurine could exist, she had always been officious and demanding, which had given him the excuse to brush her off as exasperating, but now as she stood before him, blocking his escape, there being not so much as a tremor in her features, he wondered if could indeed come up with a convincing lie. If he didn’t tell her the truth she would never believe him, but then again Laurine never believed anything unless it was the answer she wanted to hear, still either way she would destroy his remaining few days of peace in Town.

In that case he really didn’t have a choice, if she was smart enough to realize he wasn’t going to TUSAR, she was probably smart enough to see through any lie he might come up with.

Besides it was suffocating… holding it all up…his parents had asked him to not tell this to Paul or Sara until the “right time” and he himself wasn’t ready to face Tom yet, but keeping it all to himself, pretending to ignore the harrowing look of pity and guilt in his parents eyes was building up such a level of tension inside him that the air itself seemed to be choking him. 

So as he watched Laurine’s unrelenting face, her lips pursed in concentration, his resolve wavered just a tiny bit…She would perhaps seem like an unlikely choice to open his heart but he knew he could tell her…because she would be the only person who wouldn’t pity him.

Yes….in spite of all her “love” for him, losing him would only make her feel sorry for herself at losing him and angry at him for leaving, and right now he very much needed that anger, or even hatred for pity would only remind him of the unfairness and brutality of what was to happen to him, because watching the horror of your fate mirrored in someone’s eyes would unconsciously assert it in your own making even an allowable fate unbearable.

Of course the fact that she might tell this to Tom bothered him, but he supposed it was better for Tom to hear it from someone other than himself. Taking a deep breath he took the leap.

“I’m gonna be a Blood Slave Laurine” he said and mentally prepared himself for the outburst.

It didn’t come.

She just stood there, a strange smile on her lips. Jack blinked surprised, expecting her reaction to change, for her to shout or say something or atleast burst into tears as she often did to attract attention. But she didn’t, she just stood there a tiny smile on her lips, watching him with the clear blue eyes of hers. And somehow seeing the calmness in those eyes was even more unnerving, even more uncomfortable than seeing even pity on them.

“I thought so” she said

“Huh?” Jack asked confused…

“Yes…you’re that kind of a person Jack, empathetic, that’s what you are and that’s what I like about you. If your dad got into trouble, you wouldn’t just abandon him”

Jack watched dumbstruck. Laurine was usually the kind of person who would immediately start something unpleasant.

Watching Jack’s expression Laurine laughed; a cross between a laugh and a sob, at the almost idiotic look of surprise in the face of the boy she had liked since grad school. Her breath hitched in her throat, she held it painfully afraid of breaking down, because then Jack would be mad, he would leave and she would lose perhaps the one last chance she had of talking to him before he would leave Town forever.

She smiled, a small and desolate smile; she didn’t know why she tortured herself over a boy who held nothing for her. Yes, Jack had always thought of her as shallow (and although she hated to admit it dumb ) which was attributable to her own behaviour around him her desperate attempts to attract his attention and demanding it from him.

But ever since she had known him it had held a power over her, like a drop of ink that had fallen on a pure white fabric, no matter how small it was, it was impossible to ignore.

She wondered how it had all started, how the drop had even fallen. At first it had been his eyes; the golden orbs that even when looking away seemed to be seeking you out, attacking you, their single gaze seeming to pierce through your deepest secrets, their colour itself never meant for a human. Most of the kids at school had been either uneasy or outright pissed about it in spite of Jack’s many failed explanations that the colour meant nothing.

Then not long after the girls started realizing how cool the colour was, and the colour along with a body trained with years of hockey practice had made him kinda popular. But Jack had been too goal driven, too absorbed in physics and hockey and TUSAR to care. Eventually any girl who had ever had a crush on him had moved on, found other guys who didn’t look so dashing but gave them the attention they needed.  

She wondered why she hadn’t…At first it had been just the looks and the eyes…but then as the years passed, she had begun noticing him more and more as a person. And although the way she behaved around him never conveyed this, she had understood him, his flaws, his problems, his obsession with TUSAR, his passion for hockey, the way he had plunged a heated test-tube in water to see if it would crack in their first chemistry lab or had kept a Gecko as pet, feeding it with mosquitoes he and Tom caught or had worked on two part time jobs to save up  money to  buy branded sports shoes for the hockey tournament or how he had given Tom his only set of geometry gear for exam when Tom had forgotten to bring his along(Jack had done all his diagrams messily with rulers and freehand)….all these incidents had happened over the course of almost 6 years and had made her develop a sense of care for him that was too deep to allow her to move on… which was unfortunate, as this fate that was to befall him was crashing her, breaking her down like a shattered mirror.

“Oh Jack, how I love you” she said her voice cracking….”How I wish I could take your place….but I can’t…oh, Jack are you gonna die?”

Jack blinked, there was an awkward pause. Oh Laurine why do you always have to be so blunt? He sighed.

“It’s Okay Laurine….If it’s gonna happen, it’s gonna happen”

“Jack…” she gasped no longer able to hold back her tears…”How can you be so accepting?” she said taking his hand in hers, ordinarily he would have snatched it back, but right now he didn’t think it would be proper.

“What other choice have I got?” he said quietly, her tears were bringing home to him the reality of what was going to happen to him, something he did not what to acknowledge yet.

“You just get on with your life Ok?” he continued…”Get into college if you can….and find someone who’ll really care for you okay?

She nodded and said:

“You’re brave Jack…I’m not happy for you but I’m proud of you”

He nodded and smiled at her.  

She put her arms around him in an awkward embrace, for a moment he stood still, too surprised to react, wondering if maybe he should push her back, then returned it, slowly, a bit hesitantly, talking to her had made him feel lighter and she had surprised him by accepting his decision with a difinite calmness, to his own amazement he felt a tiny sense of respect for her.

So they stood there gently holding each other, her head resting on his chest listening to the rise and fall of his breathing, but for Jack there was no passion or love or even friendship in their embrace, just shared companionship, in the knowledge that they were both holding someone they would never see again.

Then he gently pulled back, nodded and started walking away.

“Jack” she called after him, he froze what now?

“Thank you” she said….”Thank you for being honest with me”

He nodded; he was about to leave when something struck him.

“Hey Laurine….Can you keep quiet about this? Don’t tell to anyone yet, especially Tom”

She nodded.

He already knew she probably wouldn’t keep her promise, that she also knew he didn’t expect her to or even want her to, but this way she would atleast keep from exaggerating and making it seem ten times worse to Tom.

“Goodbye Laurine” he said and started walking off.

Out of the corner of his eyes he could see her sinking on to her knees, sobbing.

 

Author's Note

So thats it, don't know if you liked it or not, but if you've taken time to read it, take some time to tell me how it was.