NOVEL NEXT Chapter 34
Jason had only been to the mall’s food court a handful of times before. He had never been the type to just go and hang out in the mall during weekends like a lot of his classmates. Hayden was the same, which is why Jason found it kind of strange that he requested to meet here of all places. Jason’s suspicions were deepened once they spotted his best friend seated in the center of the eating area. Hayden looked terrible. There were deep bags under his eyes and he looked thinner than Jason remembered. Hayden’s smile seemed strained and forced as they approached.
“Hey man!” Hayden said a little too loudly. “I’m glad to see you’re okay.”
Out of the corner of Jason’s eye, he saw Jessica’s eyes narrow.
I guess I’m not the only one who thinks he’s acting strangely. Jason thought to himself.
“Yeah, what about you Hayden? Are you doing okay?” Jason sat down across from his friend.
“I’m good. I’m good. Just worried, you know?” Hayden bobbed his head and laughed awkwardly. “A-about you. I haven’t heard from you in a while. I thought… Maybe…”
His sentence drifted off and his gaze lingered on Jessica for a moment.
“You said you had information for Jason.” Jessica folded her arms across her chest.
Jason could tell from her tone of voice that she didn’t appreciate what Hayden was implying. That Jessica had something to do with Jason’s disappearance. The silver haired fencer remained standing next to the table.
“Uh, right.” Hayden reached down and lifted a backpack onto the table.
“I went by your house after… Well, anyway I snuck in and took that hard drive out.” Hayden pulled out a stack of papers and began to sort through them. “I remembered everything you said about deals being made to demons and I used that to narrow down the options.”
Jason watched Hayden’s hands as he spoke. They were shaking.
“It took a lot of work, but I think I found a place you can go and get this thing fixed.” Hayden slid a printed off map across the table to him.
Jason snagged the paper and looked it over.
“Just across town?” Jason reeled back. “How can it be that convenient?”
Hayden clasped his hands together and let out another awkward chuckle.
“I guess we just lucked out. If the information on the hard drive is to be believed, that’s where the… deal maker will be.”
“Thanks. This is…” Jason paused as he noticed sweat building on Hayden’s forehead. “You sure you’re okay?”
Hayden smiled and nodded. His movements were too large. Too unnatural. It did little to soothe Jason’s worry.
“Y-yeah. I’m fine. You should probably get going.” Hayden glanced around.
Jason did as well, trying to spot whatever Hayden was so nervous about, but he couldn’t see anything in the crowds around them.
“We should go.” Jessica tugged on Jason’s shoulder.
He glanced up at her and found she was just as on edge as he was feeling. Jason stood from the table.
“Jason.” Hayden blurted out causing him to pause.
Jason lifted an eyebrow. “What?”
Hayden cleared his throat, glanced around at their surroundings, and leaned forward.
“Do you remember how we first became friends?” He asked quietly.
Jason nodded. “You knocked me out in gym class and carried me to the nurse’s office.”
“That’s right.” Hayden gripped the edge of the table with a bit too much force. “There’s something you don’t remember about that incident. You were still kind of out of it, but we weren’t alone-”
Hayden’s phone began to ring and he froze in place. What little color remained in Hayden’s face faded. He stood from the table and began to frantically shove the papers into his bag.
“Sorry. I’ve got to go.”
“Hayden, wait!” Jason tried to grab his arm but Hayden pulled away too quickly. “What is going on?”
“Go to the street I marked for you.” Hayden’s shaking hand pointed at the paper in Jason’s hand as he walked away. “Look for the red door.”
Jason wanted to chase after his friend, but Jessica’s hand reached out and held him back.
Jason turned on her angrily. “He’s in trouble. I’ve got to help him. I don’t know what’s going on with him but it’s obviously my fault.”
“We can’t worry about that now.” Jessica pointed to a second floor walkway that overlooked the food court.
Jason followed her finger and spotted an individual watching them. Jason’s heart forgot how to function for a few moments as recognition hit his brain. Her red nightgown had been replaced by a green baggy long sleeved shirt and purple leggings. Her hair was an absolute mess. The red highlights twisting through the rest of her black hair. Her face was a void of emotions. Her amber eyes seemed to glow a little as they locked onto Jason.
“Courtney…”
Jessica pulled Jason quickly in the opposite direction.
“Hurry!”
Her shout broke the stillness on both Jason and Courtney. Fast as a bullet, the girl above them sprinted to the left towards the nearest staircase. Jason turned and followed Jessica as they began to weave through the massive mall crowd.
“I need to know this now.” Jessica called back as they ran. “Do you want me to kill her?”
Jason was stunned. Fortunately he had the presence of mind to keep running, but the unexpected question caught him completely off guard.
“No!” He finally answered.
Jessica grit her teeth. “I thought you’d say that. I have to be honest Jason, I really want to and not just because she’s chasing us right now.”
The pair reached an exit that spilled out into a large parking garage. After taking a moment to survey their surroundings, Jessica spotted a distant exit and raced off towards it. Jason was only a few steps behind.
“I feel so angry when others get close to you. I want to hurt them.” Jessica explained grimly. “I’ve never actually thought about my feelings, or where they come from before now.”
She glanced back at Jason with blushing cheeks. “I want to be the kind of girl you want to be with. If what you’re saying is true and you can fix this. Fix me. Then I want to help.”
Jason was amazed.
“Thank you.” he huffed out.
Jessica was much better at controlling her breathing than Jason was. Even after all of this running she was still able to speak normally.
“I say that, but I might be the one who needs help.” Jessica skidded to a stop.
Jason nearly collided with her. He glanced up and saw that Courtney had appeared in the parking garage entrance.
“Stop me if I go too far.” Jessica clenched her fists and stepped forward. “Because I really want to kill this brat.”
Courtney didn’t react. At least, not emotionally. Her right hand flicked something out of her sleeve and she dashed forward.
“She’s got a knife!” Jason called out just as the two collided.
Jessica didn’t have her sword on her. While that might have comforted Jason earlier, it worried him now. Jessica threw her torso backwards, avoiding the blade by inches. Her left fist made contact with the side of Courtney’s head, but given the awkward pose she had to put her body into, the fist didn’t land with much power.
I’m not going to be a bystander this time. Jason vowed to himself and lept forward.
Jessica was trying with all of her might to avoid Courtney’s knife. Despite her best efforts, the silver haired fencer still received several nasty cuts across her arms. Courtney was locked onto Jessica, which made Jason’s tackle all the more effective. A sharp pain exploded below his left rib. Jason cried out and fell backwards, the tip of Courtney’s blade coming free in the process. Courtney’s expression flickered with momentary concern before she was set upon by an angered Jessica. His childhood friend stomped the blade from Courtney’s hand. It slid away across the cement. While her foot kept Courtney in place, Jessica’s left hand grabbed the front of Courtney’s shirt and the right hand slammed into her face. Jessica lifted a fist high into the air, angry red color seeping into her normally violet eyes.
“Jessica!”
Jason’s shout caused her to pause mid strike. She looked up at him with narrow eyes. A car horn suddenly blasted behind the fighting trio. A car had pulled up during the scuffle and the driver bolted out of his car.
“What’s going on?” The stranger shouted. “I’m calling the cops!”
Jason stumbled to his feet and grabbed Jessica by the shoulder. The pair darted away from the scene as quickly as they could. They made it out of the parking garage and onto a mostly empty sidewalk.
We need to get across town. Jason realized his hands were empty and frantically patted his pockets.
“Oh no!” Jason smacked his own head. “I dropped the map somewhere back in the garage.”
“We can’t go back.” Jessica winced at her cut up arms. “I know roughly where the map was pointing. I can get us there. More importantly, how badly are you hurt?”
“It hurts but I don't think it’s very deep.” Jason placed a hand against the bloodied wound.
Jessica bit her lip. “Should we get it looked at?”
Jason shook his head. “We can do it after. We’d be held for questioning and the others can’t afford to wait that long.”
Jessica sighed and pointed further down the street. “There’s a bus stop nearby that should take us where we need to go. We should hurry, Courtney probably won’t be down for very long.”
Jason nodded and the pair dashed off.
