The Unknown

xxix.

I decided not to tell Jade or Jessie about the letter just yet, folding it neatly into my pocket. But the words were still nagging at me, resounding within my skull. 

Having sufficiently gorged ourselves on leftovers, we sat in my parent's living room for a much-needed rest. A remote in hand, Jessie absentmindedly flipped through channels on the screen that stretched the full length of the north wall. 

With everything I'd been through, television now seemed rather mundane and uninteresting. Combing my fingers through my matted hair, I muttered, "I wonder what everyone else is doing."

"The same as us," Jessie said.

"No, I mean the half who weren't caught," I clarified, staring through the window down the empty, dim street. "I hope they're okay."

Jade's head rolled toward me as she stretched out upside down on the couch. She wore a sly grin, and there was a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Is 'they' a code word for Kyle, Tess?"

Heat immediately rushed to my face. Jessie's glazed eyes tore away from the screen and darted between us in clear confusion. "What do you mean? What about Kyle?"

Jade shot Jessie a knowing smirk. "It's obvious. You'd have to be blind not to realize. She and Kyle are an item."

Jessie frowned. "How can you tell?"

"The way he'd always hover over her—almost protectively. And they were constantly staring at each other with these heavy, meaningful looks. It was totally fascinating to observe, actually—the sophisticated level of nonverbal communication between partners is so—"

"Okay, okay—enough!" I interjected. "You know, I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't talk about me like I'm not—"

"Seriously, though," Jade bit at her lip playfully. "Since we didn't have TV or anything, Shaun and I agreed that you two were the most entertaining thing—"

She dodged as I threw a pillow directly at her face, then erupted with laughter. Jessie joined in but then stopped abruptly, a serious look crossing his face. "I hate to say it, but it'll be hard to ever find them all again," he said. "I mean, if they were smart, they'd just find somewhere new outside the city to settle and live freely. That's what I'd do."

I shook my head slowly.

"What?" Jessie asked.

"They—Kyle, at least—would come looking for us. I'm sure of it," I said. Jessie tried to force a neutral expression, but I could see the doubt in his eyes. 

"And last I saw, Jade," I said pointedly, "Shaun was with Kyle and Rosalie." The three of them had all been absent from the facility, meaning, hopefully, that they'd evaded capture and were alive and safe.

Her smile dropped. She and Shaun had been openly together for a year. "Was he okay? Do you know where they were headed?"

"Oh, so now that you have a stake in it—now everything is all serious—"

She slid off the couch and onto her knees before me. I stared at her. "I'm sorry, Tess. I am eternally grateful that you saved all of us from the clutches of the evil fascist government. But," she paused dramatically, "it will be forever comical to me that you thought you and Kyle were so sneaky—" she had to stop suddenly, overcome with convulsions of laughter.

Jessie straightened, peering into the kitchen. Then he sunk into the couch again, nodding to himself. "She's drunk."

"What?" I exclaimed as Jade rocked with silent laughter on the floor.

"Looks like she raided your parents' liquor cabinet. Left the evidence out on the counter."

I craned my neck, glimpsing my mother's opened bottle of brandy in the kitchen.

"Is a little celebration not in order?" Jade said, followed by a loud hiccup. "We're alive! We're free!"

"Real responsible," Jessie muttered under his breath.

There was a long pause. "I'd be a hypocrite if I criticized her for it," I confessed with an abashed smile.

Jessie turned to face me with great interest. "You don't mean...you got drunk?" He shook his head disapprovingly but said, "I'd like to see that."

Not wanting to reveal any more, I gazed at the screen in silence. Jessie had finally settled on some dull action movie. The protagonist was sprinting through a dark corridor with a gun in hand. I found myself averting my eyes; It reminded me too much of some of the most terrifying moments of my own life.

Then a question shot from my lips before I consciously decided to ask it. "Hey, did you ever meet a guy named Van when we were locked up at the facility?"

Jessie raised an eyebrow. "I never asked for their names..."

"He was a tall and skinny guy, with dark hair."

"I don't think so, Tess. Why?"

I let my head fall back against the couch cushions, feeling tiredness seep into my thoughts. "I don't know. It doesn't matter. Jason killed him, anyway."

Now he turned toward me, listening avidly. "Jason...killed him?"

Jade, who had been sprawled out on the floor, her hair spread around her head like a black halo, shot upright. All playfulness had vanished from her face, replaced by a blank, hollow stare. "You know, Kole opened the bloody door you warned us to stay away from. Morbid curiosity, I guess. Jason was in there crying, Doc looked like he was on his deathbed, and..." She swallowed hard. "And we saw...we saw a body."

"You...did you let Jason out?" I asked hesitantly, unsure if I wanted to know the answer.

"Kole did. They were good friends, remember?" she replied, her words slightly slurred. "Kole couldn't bear to leave him behind, but he was sickened by what he'd done. He told Jason to stay out of our sight, but he could've escaped after us..."

There was a heavy pause as I digested her words. 

"He tried to say it was an accident," I said finally, my incredulity plain in my voice. "How do you manage to accidentally kill someone? And when he turned everyone in, he tried to take me with him." I snorted. "Like I'd find it flattering that he chose me, and then happily betray everyone I care about to go with him."

Neither Jade nor Jessie seemed to know what to say to this. Jessie resumed his channel surfing with an expression of unease, and Jade lay back on the floor again, squinting at the ceiling. 

My drowsiness must have won out, because the next thing I knew, I was jolted awake by a shrill scream in the kitchen, and the sky outside was bright with the blazing midday sun.