Please Don't Make Me Cry... Part 2

[Chase*]

((Continued from Please Don't Make Me Cry, I'm Just Like You- Part 1))

Jack sighed reluctantly as he walked behind Mai, following the river, against the currant. He stared up at her, the black hair bouncing every so often from her back, sweat beginning to leave its mark on her skin. He could feel himself beginning to sweat, though whether it was from fear, or that they'd been walking for nearly a day he wasn't sure. Jack stared into the water, watching it go past him, the opposite way. For a moment he thought he should follow the river. Mai… she didn't seem like herself. This game was getting to her, and the usual sarcastic comments wouldn't pull her out of it.

She always kept her hand on that sword. After a certain time, after he stared long enough, he would see the metal of the blade slip slowly out, enough to catch the light, then slip back inside the sheath. He had been thinking about it since they left the botanical garden, whether or not she was going to be okay.

Signs pointed to no. He slowed his steps, and tiredly wiped away the sweat drops from his forehead. Finally stopping, he watched her form begin to slow when she failed to hear his footsteps crunch the leaves. She turned to him and he shut his eyes for a moment, letting the exhaustion sweep over him.

"Can we rest?"

She didn't answer for a moment.

"That's fine," she said quietly, and slid down on the bark of a tree until she plopped down onto the ground. Her head tilted back on the trunk and she shut her eyes, breathing heavy.

Jack kneeled down next to the water, letting his fingers touch the chilling water one by one. He let his head rest on one of his shoulders as he stared into the water for a moment, then he turned just a little to glance at Mai. She was still leaning against the tree, still with a conflicted look on her face, but at least it softened.

Maybe that's all she needed. Rest. He returned his gaze to the river and kept it there, contemplating their journey. They'd been lucky so far, almost three days and they hadn't been so much as hurt. Maybe Mai had been right to suggest they lay low, stay away from others. It seemed logical. Yet something in his gut made him nervous around her now, even though she was supposed to be his closest friend.

He turned around to try to talk to her and blinked a couple times when she wasn't where he last saw her. In fact, she wasn't anywhere in sight.

"Mai?!"

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She felt her heart pounding against her ribcage, each time becoming more forceful. Mai began to wring the strap of her duffle bag between her hands, the sweat starting to pour down, cold on her skin. Her lips couldn't stop trembling at first, and she opened her eyes to see Jack's back was turned. Trembling hands left the straps and pushed against the ground to lift her unsteady body. At first her vision blurred as she stumbled behind the plant life, following the path up further against the currant, her body taking over, each part convulsing in a wave. Mai gasped and crashed onto her knees, mouth open and face pinched in pain, biting a piece of her tongue off as she tried to open her eyes and focus.

The pills. She needed to take them. Nearly three days without them, they were causing her to suffer from withdrawal. Her trembling hands struggled with the zipper to the bag, and when she finally was able to grasp the bottle, in both hands, she sent the cap flying with her thumbs. Tipping the bottle towards her mouth, she swallowed nearly a quarter of what was left in the bottle, and chucked the bottle back into the bag before she collapsed on her back.

Little by little the convulsing slowed, and she could barely move. Her breathing slowed down and she stared up into the trees, a dark canopy paired with the night. She closed her eyes slowly, wanting to rest and let the drugs take effect, forgetting how many she may have taken.

"Oh my god…"

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He wasn't sure he could believe his own eyes when he saw her pull out the bottle of pills, fixated on them like they were a divine gift from heaven, and pouring about 5 or so capsules into her mouth. Jack felt two things pretty strongly that moment.

One was guilt, something that he could've—no, should've—seen and stopped, long before they were placed in a situation like this. At this point, seeing her like this, seeing her body ragged and weak because of her own doing, made him rethink a lot of things in the mere moments he watched her.

"Oh my god…" he finally said to her, keeping his distance, "Why?"

Jack was processing all the information in this one frame, the pills, the scenery, her body lying there, weakened. And the pieces fell together almost immediately after he questioned her.

Kim was reported to have died of an accidental suicide, a mixture of pills that brought about a fatal effect.

His eyes widened, the part that didn't want to believe it getting smaller as he began to step away from her still body. Mai suddenly lifted her head and tilted it sideways, blood seeping between her teeth as she tried to lift herself on her elbows. Her eyes were glazed over, staring at Jack like he was nothing. Like he wasn't even her best friend.

Ohh,
You humor me today,
Calling me out to play,
With your telescope eyes, metal teeth,
I can't be seen with you, you see



"It was you," he cried, still backing away, "It was you who fucking killed her, and I stood up for you! I fucking told everyone you couldn't have done it, but you did! You killed her, you fucking murderer!"

Please don't make me cry,
Please don't make me cry,
I'm just like you I know you know,
I'm just like you so leave me alone

Fearing for his own life, and unable to even look at the frail figure that he once thought to be his friend, Jack ran.

((Continued Elsewhere))