3 - Jacks

                                    

                                          
He had been throwing things in the fire for almost an hour now. He had violently tossed books and pieces of parchment into the hearth, watching with unwavering attention as the growing flames made them twist and shrink, until they completely disappeared into the fire.  
It didn't matter, though. He could destroy all the things he wanted, and it wouldn't make a difference.
Nothing Jacks did could make him ease the anger that pounded along with the furious beating of his heart. Nothing he did could fill up the hollow sensation that had settled in the middle of his chest. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't bring himself to accept that leaving her behind was the right choice.  
But he knew it was. 
She would finally be safe. She would finally get the happy ending she had dreamed of for so long. And most importantly, she would be alive. That was all that mattered to him—and it had been for a long time now.
And yet, Jacks almost couldn't bear the pain he felt every time he thought of never seeing her again. Something inside him ached at prospect of not being able to touch her, make her blush or hear her laughter ever again. He felt as though he couldn't breathe.
Evangeline.
Her name echoed nonstop in his head, as if he was hopelessly trying to call out for her through the magic bond that connected their minds.
Evangeline.
It was no use. He knew that they were too far away from each other for her to hear him.
Evangeline, he thought anyway, weaker this time. And as it should, there was no response. Nothing but endless silence. 
The Prince of Hearts felt something liquid and hot stream down his cheeks, and soon he saw the blood dripping on the floor. For a moment, Jacks stood still, watching as the red tears fell and gathered in a big puddle before the fireplace.
He felt helpless and pathetic—and he hated it.
With the back of his hand, Jacks wiped away his tears, shaking his head in contempt.
Suddenly, the doors to his chambers in the vampire lair swung open. Jacks turned his head immediately and watched as Castor rudely barged in the room. 
"Oh please," Jacks sneered, turning towards the hearth to conceal his face. "Would you mind knocking?"
Although Jacks couldn't see him, he was sure Castor was frowning.
"Jacks—" He paused, and the Fate heard him take a deep breath. "I didn't really expect to find you here."
"Is that so?" Jacks drawled, staring at the curvy black glass clock atop the mantel. 
Behind him, the doors were closed with unnecessary force. Jacks could hear and feel Castor getting closer.
"Yes. I was pretty sure you would be gone by now," he said, and silence followed his words as if he was coming to some conclusion.  "Although I imagine I wouldn't remember you and Evangeline the way I do now if you had already used the stones."
Jacks humorlessly laughed. He wasn't planning on telling Castor the truth just yet. Or ever.
Jacks was still debating what to do with his life. He didn't really have good options.
"I can't believe you think I'd leave without even saying goodbye," he mocked, finally turning to face his friend. 
The vampire huffed. There had been hundreds of years since the last time Jacks had seen his face without the helmet. What he saw managed to be both familiar and foreign in a way that made Jacks uncomfortable. Only his eyes remained the same—green and endless, deadly and misleading. Now, however, they were surprisingly unsteady.
That wasn't what made Jacks pause, though. As the Fate raked his eyes over the vampire's face, something inside of him twitched. 
In a second, he was standing before his friend. "You're dripping blood on the floor, Castor," Jacks said slowly, his voice tensing up with every word. 
Castor reached up to wipe the blood that was running down his fangs and chin. He looked at his red-stained fingers before staring at a spot on the floor, close to where Jacks had been standing a moment ago. "It seems I'm not the only one."
Jacks exhaled heavily through his nostrils, fisting the collar of Castor's leather armor with his hands and bringing their faces close to one another.
"Who is it from?"
The vampire quickly gave a step back, breaking free from Jacks's death grip and putting some distance between them. "Calm down, Jacks," he said, breathing hard and casting him an unreadable look. He cleared his throat. "After my mother removed my helmet, I was. . . well, very hungry, as you might imagine. I didn't have much time to talk to my family or think about anything else, really. Especially because the sun would rise soon. I had to feed. . . That was all I could think about. When I got out, both you and Evangeline were gone."
Jacks's throat tightened at the memory of Castor losing control and ripping open Evangeline's skin the first time they'd opened the Valory Arch. He felt sick, and had to remind himself he had fixed that—after the Fate had used the stones to go back in Time, he'd stopped Evangeline from dying. 
She was alive. She was safe.
A few hours had passed since he had convinced Evangeline to leave the Valory and then, once she was safe, left Wolf Hall. And even though he could still feel her going lifeless in his arms, he knew she was alright now. 
I wish our story could have had another ending, she had said to him, her gray eyes a mixture of pain and hope.
I don't want a different ending. I just want you to leave, Jacks had answered, hating the way she had flinched at the bite in his words.
It was all he could do not to give in and do what she wanted.
That was all he wanted to do.
"This blood," Castor continued, looking down at his fingers "belongs to people I ran into on the way here."
"People," Jacks said simply.
The vampire set his jaw, and it was almost as if he were ashamed. As he looked away, his eyes caught the light from the flames still burning in the hearth. "Yes. People." 
For a moment, there was silence, but it wasn't a comfortable one. 
At last, Castor crossed his arms over his broad chest and said, "Aurora told me to tell you she wants to see you soon."
Jacks lifted one eyebrow. "I thought you said you hadn't had any time to actually talk to them."
Castor shrugged, although his body seemed a little stiff.
"My mother wouldn't let me go at first. She made me stay long enough to listen to what she had to say. She was very worried. About you, Jacks."
Jacks's shoulders immediately tensed.
"What did she say?" the Fate asked, even though he had a feeling he already knew the answer.
That is not a small mistake to fix. If you do this, Time will take something equally valuable from you, Honora Valor had warned him.
"She sounded very confused. She didn't really seem to understand why she was saying that. It didn't make any sense to me, since she hasn't seen you in centuries—"
"Castor," Jacks rudely interrupted him. "What did Honora say?"
Castor looked him in the eye and sighed. "She told me the price is too high for you, even if you can't realize that yet. But there is no escaping now. You'll pay it anyway."
Castor kept looking at him as if he expected Jacks to come up with explanations for Honora's words. The Prince of Hearts did not offer him any.
There is nothing of equal value to me, Jacks had said. He hadn't lie. No matter how high the price, the Fate would pay it.
He would do anything  when it came to protecting Evangeline.