Chapter six: Freaking out
1288 Words
The six people surrounding him didn't rush to answer his question. They looked at one another to determine who had the honour of answering him. Jack's curiosity about their friend didn't stop him from thinking about when he got to go home. 'As lovely as these people are,' he said, 'I have had enough adventure to last me a lifetime, and I just want to go home.'
His mother is probably losing her mind with his continued absence. It is just the two of them. He lost his father five years ago. He was a police officer. He died from a gunshot wound during an armed robbery shootout.
Finally, someone decided to answer his question. It was Karline. The purple-haired girl looked in his direction as she started talking. Jack felt shy under her gaze, but he allowed his eyes to rest on her beautiful face as she began her tale.
"We were out yesterday looking for clues to Mammon's lair, but unfortunately, we walked into a sentinel's trap. There were too many of them. We fought as hard as we could. Kurma lost his life trying to save me." As she finished her tale, a cloak of sadness hung over her shoulder, her eyes leaving Jack's confused face to stare at the burning fire at the centre of their circle.
Jack gained no clarity than he did the first time they mentioned the sentinel or this Kurma guy. If this is acting, they were taking it way seriously. I am sorry, guys, but nothing you said here makes any sense.
"Who are these Sentinels? Is this a movie set? Did I walk into you guys shooting a movie about monsters? And where did you get someone that tall to wear the monster's costume?" Jack must admit, it looked pretty real. The sight of that monster nearly gave him a heart attack. Whoever designed that costume did a fantastic job.
Silence followed his multiple questions. He is nervous, and his mouth tends to run free when anxious. Also, these were the questions plaguing his mind that he needed answers to.
He snapped back to reality when peals of laughter rang out around him. The dark boy, Mo Hawk, and the blonde laughed like their heads were about to fall off. Karline and Straw Hat chuckled. Lur was the only one who didn't react.
Jack looked at them and said, "Have you lost your mind?" He was not a comedian, and nothing he said was funny, so why were they laughing?
"What is funny?" he asked cluelessly, looking around the group.
His question generated more laughter from the group.
The blonde even fell to the ground in her laughter. "I told you guys we needed him around. Who knew you could be so funny, Pipesqueak?" The blonde smiled in his direction.
He blushed at her calling him Pipesqueak. "I was not trying to be funny. I just wanted answers to my confusion," he mumbled, then bit into his meat. Even though he was hungry, he didn't have the appetite to eat what was in his hand anymore.
"What is your name?"
The group stopped laughing, and everyone looked at him to answer the dark boy's question.
Even though he had told them his name before, Jack repeated it. "Jack Sparrow," he mumbled.
"And you are from Texas?" There was humour in the dark brown eyes that stared back at him as if it was funny to be from Texas.
Jack nodded.
"Well, Jack, you might be the singular soul on earth that doesn't know that the earth is dying, and we, as the chosen avatars, have been sent to the demon world to find the seven totems and return them to the tree of life."
Jack stared at the dark boy like he had lost his mind. What Earth is he talking about? Yesterday, the world was okay if he remembered correctly, and there was nothing in the news about it dying. If the planet were getting destroyed, all news outlets would carry the news.
If they were trying to mess with him, he would play along. He needs to fall asleep, and this whole nightmare would be over.
"Why is Earth dying?" Jack asked to humour the dark boy, not because he believed anything he just said.
The dark boy shook his head at Jack's ignorance.
"Are you sure you weren't living in the cave rather than in Texas," Mo Hawk drawled, mocking Jack.
"Maybe things are fine in Texas, Zen." The dark boy turned to address the guy wearing a mohawk haircut, his tone teasing.
Zen laughed while Jack blushed. They were making him look stupid.
"Guys, please stop teasing the new guy," Varah scolded the boys and then turned to Jack. "Don't mind them, but it is confusing that you are unaware of what is happening to Earth. It has been five years since the demon invasion of Earth and the disappearance of the totems that sustain the Tree of Life. And before you ask. The tree of life is what sustains all living things on Earth. With the toteEarthne, the tree is gradually dying, and with the tree sick, people are getting sick more than usual, and animals and plants are dying. It would end the world if we do not find the totems and return them to the tree before it dies."
Jack stared at the blonde with a broad expression. He wanted to ask if she was crazy, but that would be rude. Instead, he asked, "Are you high?" His choice was rude, too, but who could blame him? These people were spewing nonsense. Even if he doesn't believe in God, at least he trusts science, and it never said anything about a tree of life being the originator of all living things. Never mind the existence of demons.
Are these lots trying to pull a fast one over him? How long are they going to continue this charade?
"No, honey, I wish I was. It would make this nightmare we signed up for more tolerable."
Jack stared into the blonde's green eyes, searching for something. All that met his stare was sincerity. The blonde wasn't lying. He looked away from her to look at the others. They all had truth in their eyes, even Mo Hawk. His heart leapt to his throat when his eyes landed on the icy blue ones close to him. He did not expect the boy to look at him.
"I am sorry, guys, but I find it difficult to believe your story. You see, where I came from, the Earth is fine, and IEarthn this freakish place because of the video game I bought." Jack's eyes once again welled up with tears. "I am sorry that I continued to let out the waterworks. I do not want this. Whatever this is, I don't want to be part of it. I want to go home. My mother would be worried sick about me. And school? Exams are starting next week, so will I miss them?" Jack started to freak out. He began to experience difficulty breathing. His chest felt tight, and he couldn't get any air in.
He struggled to breathe, which made his panic worse.
"s**t! he is having a panic attack," the dark boy exclaimed as if it was a novel thing.
Jack felt as if he was about to die, that is until icy blue eyes appeared in his line of sight. "Look at me," the blonde ordered coldly, his expression flat. His expression wasn't the best way to calm someone losing his mind, but Jack managed to find comfort in it.
He focused on the boy's handsome face while waiting for his following command.
- Writer
