The Agents

Chapter Eleven

*Jaxon's Point of View*

We all stood watching as Jaycee practically ran towards the bathroom. The door slammed behind her, and I heard the lock click in place.

We all stood there for a little while more. None of us really knew what happened. Drake broke the silence "Well, you heard her-"

*CRASH*

The sound sent a wave of terror racing through me as I raced to the bathroom door where the sound had come from.

Drake was talking behind me, telling the recruits to go to the dorms. I heard them running to their dorms and Drake and Taylor followed me. I twisted the door handle, completely forgetting she locked the door.

I pushed Drake and Taylor back a couple of steps before turning and kicking the door as hard as I could.

It flew inwards, the hinges creaking in protest. I ran forward again, sticking my hand out to catch the door before it hit me in the face. I came to a halt, trying to make sense of the scene before me.

Jaycee was rocking back and forth of the ground in a tight ball, her body shaking. The sounds of her sobs echoed around the room. The mirror was in shatters all around the room, some pieces covered in blood.

I carefully walked over to Jaycee and kneeled in front of her. "Jay, what happened? Are you alright?" Worry clouded my voice as I looked at her. My poor Jay... What happened to her while I was gone?

She didn't answer, just stayed in her ball rocking back and forth.

"Let me see your hand Jay," I said. When she didn't move, I gently took hold of her wrist and tried pulling it away from her body. She wouldn't budge though.

After a little more tugging, I got her hand away from her. I carefully held it to inspect it. My stomach churned at the amount of blood oozing out of her knuckles.

"Go get help!" I told Drake and Taylor. Taylor nodded, and she and Drake took off to find Wallace.

"Geez, Jay," I said, watching her break down and desperately wishing I could do something to help her.

Ten minutes later, Jaycee had stopped sobbing uncontrollably. Now she was just sitting with her head resting against her knees. I had tried to get her to say something, but she hadn't uttered a single word. I was still quietly talking to her, attempting to get her to say something, even if it was just to tell me to stop talking.

Crystal came through the door just then, dressed up in fancy clothing. She came to kneel next to me, taking Jaycee's hand from mine and examined it carefully. She tried asking Jaycee something, but Jay just kept sitting still, her shaky breath the only sign of life.

"She hasn't said a single word since she came in here Crystal. She punched the mirror, and I broke down the door to find her sitting like this on the ground, sobbing. She stopped a little while ago, but she hasn't said one word," I spoke softly to Crystal.

Crystal nodded and said, "Very well. Why don't you go get me the first aid kit and then wait outside with Drake and Taylor?" I nodded and stood up, my legs a little stiff from sitting still so long. I walked out of the bathroom, careful of the broken shards of glass. I grabbed the first aid kit from the wall by the exit before carrying it back to Crystal.

Wallace took it from me and laid it on the ground next to Crystal. She then turned to me and said, "We best wait out with the others." I nodded stiffly and she led me to where Drake and Taylor were sitting in some chairs, worried expressions on their faces.

"We sent the recruits to bed. They were a little freaked out, but we convinced them everything was fine," Taylor said, her voice sounding like she was trying to keep control. "Is it?... Is everything okay?" she asked, her voice growing smaller and scared, images of her best friend having a break down probably clouding her mind.

Thoughts of something really bad happening to Jaycee were plaguing me. A person or threat I could handle, but how could I save her from herself? It took me a minute to respond. "I hope so," I said quietly, still lost in my thoughts.

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*Jaycee's Point of View*

"Jaycee, sweetie," Crystal kneeled beside me, gently squeezing my shoulder. "Please look at me." When I didn't move from my tight ball on the bathroom floor, she laid her hand on my cheek and pulled my face up. I resisted, but Crystal was stubborn. I gave up and raised my head up to look Crystal in the eyes.

Her expression was sad, and she looked at me with pain in her own eyes. She hated it when one of us was hurting. We were like her children, and she hated when one of her kids got hurt; physically or mentally. "What happened, Jaycee?" She asked, her voice soft, questioning.

I opened my mouth, trying to tell her that the memory had come back. I tried to explain to her how it had consumed me, taking me back to the past. I tried to explain the all-encompassing fear that comes with the memory whenever it resurfaced. Nothing came out though. I closed my mouth and opened it again, trying to explain myself. Again, no sound came out, and I closed my mouth. I could feel tears start pooling in my already red rimmed eyes and roll down my tear stained cheeks. I settled on just shaking my head.

Crystal understood that I couldn't talk about it. She nodded in understanding before changing the subject. "So, can I take care of your hand now?"

I nodded my consent, and she pulled the big first-aid kit towards her. She opened it up and pulled out gauze, a pair of tweezers, some antibiotic wipes, and a couple of other things that I didn't pay attention to.

She gently took my hand in hers, careful not to aggravate the cuts on my hand. She started with the tweezers, pulling out the shards of glass stuck in various cuts. She was again careful, not that it mattered. I couldn't feel that hand at all.

As I was busy marveling over the fact that I didn't feel any pain from my very clearly injured hand, Crystal was working. When I finally came out of my thoughts, Crystal had already finished with most of the work, including cleaning. All she had left to do was wrap my hand.

She picked up the gauze and slowly wrapped my hand. She started at my cut, bloody knuckles, and worked down to cover my scraped wrist. She finished and tied off the end. Crystal then loaded her supplies back into the first-aid kit, closing it up.

I just kept sitting there, staring at nothing, wrapped up in thoughts and memories.

"Jaycee?" Her soft voice broke me out of my reverie. I looked up to see her looking at me with a gentle expression. "You know you are going to have to tell them now, whatever it is." She didn't ask; she stated it.

I nodded my head slowly, accepting the fact that they needed to know, even if it was something I wished could stay buried forever. Crystal muttered an okay before throwing one more pitying smile at me and heading out the door, first-aid kit in hand.

I stayed sitting with my knees pulled up to my chest and my head resting against my legs on the bathroom floor for a while. I was lost in my thoughts, trying to figure out how I was going to explain to Jaxon, Drake, and Taylor what happened to me.

I watched the light glitter on the pieces of scattered mirror all across the floor as I thought. I vowed to never let anything like what happened that day happen again. I couldn't let anything like that happen again. It was all my fault and I can't change the past, no matter how much I wanted to. So, instead, I promised that no one would ever be in that situation because of me again.

Finally, I realized I couldn't hide in the bathroom forever. They would eventually come in and drag me out.

I stood from my seat on the ground, my legs sore from being in the same position too long. I stretched, my joints popping as I did so. Then, careful of the glass littering the floor, I walked over to the bathroom door. Taking a deep breath, I put my hand on the door handle.

Three years ago, when it happened, I vowed never to speak of it again.

And now, I was about to break that vow. I turned the handle.