Jack

I stood there, in rabid rage, and in complete disbandment. WHY IN THE HELL DID ELIN HAVE A PICTURE OF MY FATHER IN HER BACK POCKET?

“Brady,” Elin choked, brimming with excitement. She seemed nervous, but happy. “Once again, does Jack stare? Does he go into trances? Does he spend a lot of time outdoors? Do slight earthquakes or natural, elemental things happen when he’s around you?” Her words were rushed and hard to break.

“Uh,” Brady answered, dumbly. He glanced at me from the side of his eyes, wondering if he was going to be hit. “Jack couldn’t keep a plant alive worth his life. I remember this one time, he bought roses for one of his dates, and he accidentally watered them with Round Up, so—-”

“Brady, if you don’t shut up---”

“Shutting up.”

“You have your father’s eyes,” Elin cut in, holding up a picture of my dad. “Emotionless. Gray. Your hair’s a little darker than I imagined it though...Did your father ever tell you about...The Hourglass?”

“He mentioned something like that. Then profusely refused an MRI and EKG.” I lifted my chin a bit, my brow clouded. My arms were crossed tightly against my chest, and Sarge was reeling protectively against my legs, although he wasn’t quite sure what he was defending me from.

“Well,” Elin chided carefully...too carefully. “My...mother is Erin. My dad’s Eli. And, and E-Ember’s parents are Dana and Alex.” There was a moment of silence, as we all filed in this information. Finally I broke into a grin and threw my arms out to the sides, no longer tense. Seeing my posture and expression, Elin let out a breath of air and broke into a similar smile, letting out a nervous chuckle. Ember was smiling too now, and the two girls exchanged nervous glances. Brady and Sarge remained in utter confusion.

“Well, this is great,” I said smoothly with a lighter, happier tone.

“You’re telling me,” Elin agreed.

“Now,” I continued, still with a light heart. “I can find and locate your parents and deliver you to them, then be on my way.”

Ember and Elin’s expressions collapsed, their joy short-lived. Brady turned towards me, to speak. “Jack, we can’t.”

“Oh? Why’s that, Brady?”

“Because I believe them.”

“I guess I can deliver you to your parents too.”

“WHY ARE YOU REJECTING THIS?” Ember exploded, her fists clenched. Brady, Elin, Sarge, and I were stunned by the little girl’s sudden animosity. Her eyes sliced into mine, like knives. “A FREAK OF NATURE ALMOST KILLED YOU, I ELECTROCUTED HER OFF YOUR CAR WITH MY BARE HANDS, YOU’RE SEEING FLASHES OF THE FUTURE—-OR SOMETHING——AND BRADY...BRADY EVEN BELIEVES IT!”

“Hey now,” Brady warned, waving a finger at the angry little grunt, slightly insulted.

“Okay,” I muttered, a tad bit angry again. “Maybe I don’t believe it because IT’S NOT REAL. THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS THE HOURGLASS AND YOUR PARENTS ARE BRAINWASHING YOU. THEY WERE TERRORISTS. READ THE GODDAMN ARTICLE!” I violently began digging around in my pants pockets until I came up with the old newspaper clip Annie Hawthorn had almost shoved down my throat just days before. As it fluttered to the ground at Ember’s feet, I turned to Elin, “And YOU! You’re the craziest of them all! You’re displaying obsessive behavior not only over me, but over my family, and that’s a violation to privacy—-NO MATTER WHAT AGE. AND BRADY, THERE IS NO WAY IN HELL I’M SHARING A TENT WITH YOU TONIGHT. I DON’T TRUST YOU WITH MY EYES CLOSED.”

“THAT’S GOOD THEN,” Brady hollered back, finally ticked off enough to fight back, just inches from my face. “BECAUSE TONIGHT, YOU’RE GOING TO NEED TO SLEEP WITH THEM OPEN IF YOU’RE PLANNING ON NOT WAKING UP FACE DOWN IN A RIVER TOMORROW MORNING!"

“ENOUGH!!!” Elin screamed, cutting all of us off. Brady and I glared at each other for another split second before our eyes reluctantly tore away from each other and back onto Elin. She was cradled gently in Ember’s arms, which looked awkward since Ember was a little shorter than she was. Tears were streaming down her face, and I wasn’t sure if it was because the kid was upset or just plain pissed off. Still, she swallowed and continued. “Fine. If you don’t want to help us...then I can’t make you.”

Elin spun around, storming away toward the girl’s tent that Brady had only built up forty minutes before. Ember shot a quick glare at me before she raced to trail Elin back to the tent as well, reaching out to touch her arm as they walked. Brady, Sarge, and I watched their retreating backs, before Brady turned to me again and muttered, “Nice going, Dr.Daniels.” He turned away then, and jogged slightly to catch up to the two girls and offer comfort.

Bitterly, I turned to Sarge. I knelt down to him slowly, squatting to reach his eye level. Sarge met my gaze, his ears twitching. “At least you’re on my side.” His tail slowly began to wag, as I brought a hand up to scratch his head. I licked my lips, realizing I had a headache. “Well. Looks like we’ll be sleeping in the car tonight.”