Static

Hi loves!

This chapter fought me every step of the way.

I'm still not 100% pleased with it, but I hope you enjoy it!

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The room is empty when she wakes.

The sheets are rumpled, the beds unmade.

The space beside her still warm.

She sits up, her fingers subconsciously lifting to fiddle nervously with her necklace.

Her breath catches as she feels the bare skin there.

Gone.

It is a chilling reminder.

Glancing around the room, she searches for signs of life.

The old television screen is filled with static, the buzzing noise filling the room.

She lays there for a moment.

Still.

Staring, unseeing, at the stucco ceiling above her.

The world seems to fade around her, the hum of the static enveloping her.

She floats, weightless.

Numb for the first time in weeks.

A man's voice sounds from outside.

Enid sits up in alarm, her heartrate picking up.

Fear sprouting like vines, crawling up her spine and clutching at her throat.

Was it them?

She is both terrified and hopeful that it is.

A shadow passes by the window and she reaches for something to use as a weapon.

All she can find is the ancient copy of the bible resting on the bedside table.

The voice grows louder, anger sharpening the inflictions.

Slipping out of bed, she slides over to the window.

Holding her breath as she peeks through the curtains.

A sigh of relief leaves her as she recognizes Jake's messy hair and lanky build.

Dropping the religious text on the bed, she pulls open the motel door.

The movement causing a blast of air that swirls through her curls.

She is suddenly reminded of her newly shortened hair.

Jake's back is to her, his phone pressed to his ear.

The sun is bright on the parking lot below.

The smell of hot tarmac and something artificially sweet thick in the air.

Christmas in Georgia was a strange thing.

"No, please-" His voice is low, frantic.

Whoever is on the other end seems to cut him off, his shoulders sinking in defeat.

"Yeah, yeah. Fine. Tomorrow. Just don't..." Jake trails off, turning slightly.

His eyes widen as he notices her standing in the doorway.

Confusion swells inside her.

Ending the call, he pulls on a smile.

"Hey, Enid. Sleep okay?" His voice is back to normal, any signs of distress gone.

"Yes, thanks. Are you okay?" Her eyes trail down to the phone clutched tightly in his fist.

His gaze follows her own, swallowing as he loosens his grip on the device.

"Yeah, sorry about that. It was my parents, they're a little pissed I haven't come home for Christmas break yet." He smiles sheepishly.

Enid worries her lip, guilt renewing inside her.

She had felt terrible asking Emilia to help her.

Guilt had nearly eaten her alive when Emilia explained she didn't have a license, but that Jake would be happy to drive them anywhere she wanted.

Here she was, pulling two innocent people into her mess.

"I'm so sorry for dragging you into this. I feel so bad-" Her apology is cut off by him shaking his head.

His hands moving as through to wave off her concern.

"Don't feel bad. This is a million times better than being home with my parents and their suffocating expectations. Only thing that makes going home bearable is seeing my little brother. And the fulyl stocked fridge." He grins.

She laughs, the feeling strange after the devastation of the past two days.

It sounds strange to her ears.

"Well, I'm still so grateful for your help." She leans against the doorframe.

Jake waves away her words again.

He study her for a moment, something she cannot name in his eyes.

"You know, it's funny. I knew on that first day of classes when we met that you were going to be important." He crosses his arms across his chest, leaning against the railing.

Her eyebrows furrow.

"What do you mean?" She is perplexed.

He rubs at the scruffy patch of hair on his chin.

"I don't know how to explain it. I mean, I thought you were really cute, but it wasn't that. I didn't expect you to really mean anything to me, especially once I got to know Emilia. But you just seem... important, I guess. Like you're meant for something big." Jake shrugs.

Enid watches as he tugs a hand through his disheveled hair.

"Don't get me wrong, though- I'm not into you or anything. I really like Emilia. I just meant like- I don't know. I'm bad with words. I just think you have a big future ahead of you and I hope that everything sorts out for you." He stumbles to clarify his previous words.

Enid cracks a grin.

"Thank you, I think. And I'm glad you found Emilia. She really likes you, too." She wrinkles her nose playfully.

His smile widens, every bit the classic American boy she had first seen him as.

How far they had come since that first day.

When she was just a nervous girl on her first day of classes and he was an overly confident boy.

How unaware she had been then.

Of all that was waiting for her.

Of them.

A bittersweet pang echoes in the caverns of her heart.

"I don't deserve her, but I sure as hell am grateful for her." His words drag her from her thoughts.

Something in her softens.

"Speaking of, where is Emilia?" She turns to look down the walkway.

Jake sighs, leaning down to pick up a bag she hadn't noticed before.

"Bathroom still, I'd bet. She started vomiting about an hour ago, so I ran out to get some medicine. It's a relatively light case of food poisoning, I think." He winces.

Her mouth opens in shock.

Enid cannot believe she slept through that.

Dreaming of them seemed to pull her deep into the unconscious.

She turns to head back inside when Jake clears his throat.

Turning back, she watches that same unnamable emotion burn in his eyes.

"I um- I'm sorry, Enid. I don't really know what happened, but it clearly was pretty bad. So, I'm sorry for what you're going through. For everything." He drops his gaze to the ground.

Her fingers reach up, brushing at the naked expanse of her neck again.

"It's not your fault but thank you. Let's go check on Emilia." She tilts her head back.

She's tired of thinking about it.

Thinking about them.

Leading the way back into the motel room, Enid knocks at the bathroom door.

"Hey, Emilia, you okay?" She asks gently through the cheap wood.

There is the sound of a flush before the door swings open.

Emilia is knelt before the toilet, her usually tan skin flushed with pallor.

She rests her sweaty cheek on the porcelain seat and gives Enid a pitiful smile.

"I'm never eating Kung Pao chicken ever again." Her voice is scratchy.

Enid helps her up from the tiled floor, guiding her back into the bed.

As she returns to the bathroom to get a wet towel, she hears Jake soothing her.

Helping her take the medicine.

Enid smiles at them as she lays the cool towel across her feverish forehead.

Something Fiona had always done when she was sick growing up.

"I'll be okay in an hour and we can hit the road." Emilia mumbles out as her eyelids flutter.

Enid smooths her hair down, shushing her softly.

"No, no. We're not leaving until you feel all better." She says firmly.

Emilia blinks up at her.

"But we've got to get to Florida. Get you to your dad's friend." Her words slur.

That was the plan.

One of her father's partners, Harry, had worked for Witness Protection Program.

His visit was one of the shorter stints, but she knew he'd help her.

If she could find him.

All she remembered was that he lived in Orlando, somewhere that was five minutes to Disney World.

He used to always ruffle her hair, promising her that she could visit him one summer.

That he'd get them tickets to all the amusement parks.

That hadn't ever happened, but now she was in need of a much different kind of ticket.

"He'll still be there tomorrow. Now get some sleep." Enid watches as her friend slips into a dream.

Jake offers to run out and get a few groceries.

Time stretches slowly, minutes marked by the movement of the sunlight drifting across the room.

She spends the majority of the day helping Emilia back and forth between the bathroom and the bed.

Holding her hair and rubbing her back soothingly as she emptied her stomach over and over again.

Assisting Jake as he spoon-fed her some soup.

It wasn't until that night that she figured it out.

Laying awake, staring up into the darkness.

The static of the television buzzing, buzzing.

Colorful lights from the neon signs outside peaking through the crack in the blinds.

Stretching across the ceiling above her.

Blue. Pink. Green. Orange. Red.

The question had been bothering her all day, tugging at her nerves.

The static sharpens.

It hits her, knocking the wind out of her.

She realizes what the look in Jake's eyes was.

Guilt.

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Uh oh, what do you think Jake is up to?

Hope you all are staying safe and healthy as always!

Updates weekly.

Comments fill my heart with joy.

All my love, Sappho ✴