Jett
What the hell was I thinking?! Of course it was a trap, I had just been stupid enough to believe that maybe- just maybe- Ayre had decided to put all of our differences aside and come to her senses. Damn. Shows how right I was. I cursed myself repeatedly through gritted teeth.
The searing pain in my arm made me feel bitter and vulnerable. Even as a feathered wing, I could still see a deep and jagged wound, moonlight shining on the surface of the deep crimson blood. I clenched my teeth together even tighter as the wind bit at every part of my body, threatening to rip out my jet-black feathers. It wasn't long until I could take it no longer; I could feel myself losing concentration and becoming woozy from the loos of so much blood. Seconds, maybe minutes passed. Then I was falling, falling, good as dead by now. What did it matter anymore?
Before I had the chance to even surrender to the cold and merciless night, I felt myself regaining a sharp awareness of my surroundings, slowly, but surely. I swerved sharply out of the way, moments before flying straight into a low-hanging branch of a pine tree, my heart rate accelerating; my breathing quickened, coming out in short, shallows bursts, due to this sudden onset of power. Where the hell was it coming from?! It certainly wasn't something I was capable of doing on my own at the moment.
Suddenly, it hit me like that pine branch nearly did. Racquel She coud augment people's powers, right? Then where was she? I squinted my eyes in the dim light, searching for some sign of the eighth digit. You idiot, how are you supposed to see a girl with black hair at this time of night, I realized. She had to be close enough to see me, right? Maybe her compact mirror would reflect the moon or something. I honestly had no idea.
All I knew at this point was that camp was still nowhere to be seen, and it was once again becoming more and more difficult for me to fly. Directly beneath me, I spotted a small patch of un-forested ground, covered with lush inviting grass. Gratefully, I descended rapidly from my place in the air, and transformed back into my regular human form at the same moment that I collapsed onto the ground, panting. Screw Fox. I wiped beads of sweat off of my face with my good arm and pushed my mussed hair back up off of my forehead, all the time fueling my anger towards the seventh Digit and confusion towards the second.
I even chanced a glance at my injured arm. Blood was still leaking out of the gash, which must have been extremely deep to be oozing so much. Cautiously, I flexed. A spasm of pain shot down my spine as the destroyed muscles in my arm protested. Frustrated and cold, I let out an exasperated sigh and pressed the palm of my hand into my eyes.
I looked down at my ruined shirt, bloody and soaked in places with sweat. With my good arm, I lifted the top button to my mouth so I could unfasten it with my teeth and tongue. I had gotten half of the torn shirt undone using this technique when, a couple of feet in front of me, I heard a twig snap under the tread of someone's foot.
"I like a man who's good with his mouth."
My head jerked upward, and I found myself looking into the lustful violet eyes of Racquel. I knew I should have felt anger and annoyance at the sight of her smirking face, but I had had most of my emotions sapped out of me, along with most of my remaining energy. I smiled wearily up at her, and she surprised me by returning a warmer one to me.
A bit speechless at this completely out-of-character act from the eighth Digit, I narrowed my eyebrows and looked down at my hands. "You saved my life," I mumbled gruffly."... Thank you." So f*cking vunerable. I hated myself for it.
The girl knelt down in front of me and pulled the button of my shirt out of my head as I moved it back up to my mouth. "Here. Let me... Let me help you with that," she murmured. Her fingers had every button unclasped quicker than I could have done in my current state.
I noticed her eyes flicker hungrily down to my bare stomach, but they didn't stay there for long. It was becoming apparent that she was trying to stay (or rather, get) on my good side. Not that I even had one.
Racquel softly tugged the shirt off of my arms, cringing as it brushed against the wound, blood blossoming in a circle onto the fabric. For a moment, I thought her only reason for taking off my shirt was so she could see me half naked at a time when I wouldn't have the strength to protest, but I soon realized that she wasn't even looking at me.
Her eyes were staring blankly at a piece of paper that must have fallen out of my shirt pocket. Ayre's note. The purple irises betrayed none of Racquel's emotions, but instead remained stony. Racquel handed the note back to me, then sat down stiffly at my side and began to wrap the shirt around my bloody arm as a makeshift bandage.
I met her eyes with mine as soon as she finished. "... Thanks... Racquel." The words sounded strange coming from me, and I could hardly believe that the situation called for them.
The Digit patted my knee tenderly and smiled to herself. "I'm not going to ask you what happened, if you were wondering."
"Ayre told me-"
I was cut off my Racquel, who was now gazing intensely at me, violet fire dancing in her eyes. "I don't care. Since the day we got here, Ayre has done nothing but break you. You don't deserve that. I don't want to hear about her anymore," she pleaded with me. "I want... I want..." Her hand found its way up to my chest, and she pushed me back slowly until I was lying flat on my back in the grass. "You," she breathed, her breath tickling my face.
Then, all at once, her lips were working steadily against mine, and her hands were pressing against both sides of my face, pulling me up towards her. And as much as I regretted it, I found myself kissing her right back, my hand finding a place on the back of her neck where I could easily push her closer to me. But it was not out of love that I kissed her. It was out of hurt, confusion, and anger at everything that was happening to me. I am so messed up, I thought bitterly as Racquel's tongue intertwined with mine. Remorse stabbed me in the heart as I nipped the eighth Digit's lip between my teeth, as I had only done once before. With Ayre. Just as I was about to push Racquel away, she stopped abruptly, eyes widened in horror at something behind me.
"What's wron-"
"You. Poisonous. SLUT." An extremely familiar voice spoke, cold yet disbelieving at the same time. My heart leaped.
Racquel stood up quickly and backed away from me, shaking her head, hands up in a sort of surrender. "Ayre! Ayre, I-"
"Shut up! Leave! NOW!" Ayre roared at her, voice hoarse.
And just like that, the purple-eyed Digit was gone. I, on the other hand, was not so lucky. Stammering for words that I could not find, I backed myself up against the trunk of a tree, too weak to stand up.
Tears leaked out of Ayre's eyes and rolled down her cheeks, disappearing into her hair. "Jett," she sobbed softly, her watery black eyes searching my face for some kind of explanation. "Jett, how could you? After all we've been through?"
Furious, I jumped to my feet, ignoring the searing pain in my arm. "Don't you DARE pull that on me. Don't you f*cking dare." My voice shook. "That note?! What the f*ck was that?! Did me a fat lot of good, it did. Really. Thanks." I motioned angrily to my bandage. "Next time you want me killed, why don't you do it yourself instead of getting your stupid boyfriend to do it for you! I mean what else was I. Supposed. To do?! It's not like you even care about me!" The minute the words escaped my mouth, I wanted to take them back.
Ayre's bottom lip trembled. "W-what are you saying, J-Jett? I didn't s-say a w-w-word! I didn't even know Fox was-"
"Sure you didn't. And I didn't just make out with Racquel."
It began to rain.
The pink-haired Digit visibly blanched. "J-Jett, I didn't- it's nothing!" She began crying in earnest now, half sobbing her next words at me. "P-p-please Jett! S-stop! I love you. Please." She grabbed my face in both her hands and pressed her lips against my lips, cheeks, neck, jaw. Everywhere she could reach, trying to rise some kind of similar emotion out of me. "Jett, Jett, I love you," she choked out in between each and every kiss. "Please believe me. Please. I love you so much." Her fingers raked through my sopping hair.
I stood motionless, taking everything in. Every part of me wanted to grab Ayre and love her like she was loving me. Like nothing had ever happened. Like nothing mattered anymore. I was becoming damaged beyond repair.
"Jett. Please. Please believe me," she repeated helplessly, searching my eyes with hers.
I took in the sight of her. Everything about her was beautiful. Yes Ayre. I believe you. I love you too. You know that. I parted my lips to speak:
"I don't know what to believe in anymore."
And I turned my back. I walked away from her.
-------------
Please don't hate me.
ANGST.
