Chapter 23 of The Other Side

Chapter  23: DECISION

Julietta had left a while ago, still sobbing for her lost Alex. I couldn’t console her as well as I had wished; only throw an arm over her shoulder, and imagine the grief she felt.
“Alice? Alice, if you’re there…” Jared’s voice disappeared as fast as it had sounded.
I shoved myself off the hard wooden floor and wearily forced my legs over to the misty globe.
“Jared?” I asked quietly, trying to look through the thick mist. When I looked, the mist didn’t go. It surrounded the globe, disabling me to see those trapped inside. “Jared, are you alright?”
“Oh, Alice,” he breathed, but it sounded so far away. “Where are you? Have you met Julietta and Min and Nadia? Tell me you’re safe.”
“I’m okay, I’m okay,” I assured him. “You’re the one trapped in a globe.”
He laughed once, but even not seeing him, I could tell it was fake. For an instant, not thinking, my hand rose to touch the Mist, but Jared spoke again.
“I miss you, Alice,” he said quietly. “You’ve no idea.”
“It won’t be for long,” I told both him and myself. “Is Sadie okay?”
“She’s sleeping, but she’s been talking in her sleep. She misses Ace, and I think she feels vulnerable without him.”
I felt vulnerable without Jared, but I wasn’t going to let him know how confused and indecisive I felt now. Half of me begged to jump right into the globe, to hold Jared and know that, even for a second, we’d be together. The other half, the reasonable half, told me to be patient and calm.
“I love you,” Jared said finally, breaking the silence. “I want you to know that.”
“Don’t say it like that,” I whimpered.
“Like what?”
“Like – Like it’s the last time you’ll ever say it.” The words shook, as if they were afraid to be heard aloud.
“But it might be, Alice. This is the Redan we’re talking about. I’ve escaped once, and they won’t let it happen again,” he said, and his voice turned determined. “And you’re not coming to get me.”
“What are you talking about, Jared? Of course I’m coming to get you. I won’t let them rip us apart.”
“No, Alice, don’t you see?”
“See what?” I yawned, and realized that it must’ve been really late, or really early.
“That it’s exactly what the Redan want - for you to come here, and try to save me.”
I caught on then, despite the incredibly slow rate my brain was working at. “Oh. Oh. Jared, no,” I started to blubber. “But I’m not l-leaving you there. What are you even thinking? I’ll get to you, and that’s that.”
He sighed. “I know what you’re like – stubborn – but even you should see the stupidity in this.”
“Love makes people do stupid things,” I retorted sadly.
He laughed once. “Alice… Alice, I want you to go back to the Tower.”
“No way.”
“Please, please, Alice. You said you don’t want us to be ripped apart, right?”
“Yes…” I answered hesitantly, not knowing where this was going.
“If you come here, they will get you. They will rip us apart.”
“But, Jared,” I whined like a child, “After hearing about… about Julietta and Alex… I don’t want to be away from you.”
I had an idea, but I knew he’d not even consider it. Did I have to tell him, though? I chewed on my lip, and heard faint footsteps. If I touched the Mist now, the girls would eventually figure out what I did, and it wouldn't take long for them to get over me, would it? They just met me. Well, Nadia, Min and Julietta. Pix and Lita would be sad, but they'd already lived for many, many years, and it shouldn't take that long to get over a mere human like me.
“Jared, I’ll see you soon,” I said confidently.
“What? Where are you going? Alice, no, I just got to talk to you!”
I smiled a small smile. “I won’t be gone for long.”
As my fingertips hovered just above the mist, the door creaked open.
“Alice?!”
I felt the Mist tingle through my fingers, and along my arms.
“I need to do this, Julietta,” I said honestly. “You must know how I feel.”
“No! STOP!” she demanded, dropping the silver platter with mugs on it.
They clattered to the floor as she leapt forward, but her face held a look of defeat.
“Goodbye, Julietta. Thank you.”