James, as expected, dissapeared today. He was gone when I woke up in the morning, which wasn't surprising. Everyone besides Crystal in the group thought he had run off, not wanting to be caught with us. It was a tiresome day of running errands, such as getting water from the waterfall, eating Ayro's shitty granola bars, trying to find better food, etcetera.
James appeared in in the tent a few minutes after I got back to the tent. Unluckily for me, I happened to be changing when he appeared. I had a bare chest, and my pants were only halfway on.
He stared at me in shock for a second. I was expecting some sort of comment, before I noticed his eye. His right eye was dripping blood. I could almost see the back of his eye sockets. He clutched his eye, looking at me desperatly. I took a roll of medical tape and put some of it over his eye. I wasn't concerned with anything other than his well being. I noticed something in his hand, which utterly shocked me. He was holding his eye, but it was different. It was the same color, but there were no whites in the eyes. The pupil was a slit, like a cat. But that wasn't the only odd thing. It was attatched to a silver chain, like it was a pendant.
"Is that... your eye?" I asked in shock.
He nodded. "I can still see out of the empty socket. My eye had to be removed, because it was infused with another animus. I didn't even know that it could happen, but here I am. I was told that if I wear it like a necklace, I can still harness the extra animus's power."
He looked disgusted even talking about it. He used his fingers to brush some of his hair in front of his eye socket, trying to cover it up. His usual fun, happy-go-lucky aura was gone.
I cleaned the blood off of his hand, and helped him get the pendant into a small box. I then grabbed his hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze and giving him a sad smile. It's not every day that you lose an eye, after all.
"Thanks," choked out
"You're welcome," I responded. He leaned his head on my shoulder. I let go of his hand to put my arm around him, and quietly massage his shoulder.
"You know, even though you killed someone, you really are a great guy," he said. My heart practically stopped for a moment. I'm not a good guy. Quite the opposite of that. I wasn't going to tell him this now, though. James had enough on his plate. Adding my personal problems on top of that is just going to hurt him.
"Alex..." He sighed, "I know I flirt and joke around a lot, but... I want to tell you something, and I don't want to say it too late."
I blinked stupidly at him.
"I have feelings for you."
I was stunned for a moment; at a loss for words. He must have taken my silence as not reciprocating his feelings, because he frowned and got up to leave. When my soul finally renentered my body after that shock, I grabbed his hand and pulled him towards me. He looked surprised.
"I like you too. Like a lot, if it wasn't painfully obvious. I would have asked you out, but I was too worried that you were just messing with me, and didn't want to make things awkward," I said, scratching the nape of my neck. He looked relieved.
He sat back down next to me.
"Took us long enough," He said grinning.
I'd heard those words before. Goddammit, I hadn't thought about him in years, why did the memory have to return now? I clearly remember his face now. He was short and had scarlet red hair, as well has striking gray eyes. I felt horrible. How could I forget? The reason I started killing in the first place. His voice echoed through my head. 'Took us long enough.' I felt a tear slide down my face. There were many good memories tainted by his betrayal. 'Did you really think I liked you? Pathetic. I wasted months on you. I promise you, if you ever get another boyfriend, it'll be out of pity.' I don't remember exactly what happened, but in a few seconds, he was on the floor, blood pooling around him, and a bloody knife in my hand. And I told James. I told him what I did. I explained why I was such a horrible person. I abandoned those who cared and killed the ones who got in my way. As soon as I was done speaking, James did something that surprised me.