I walked back you my tent, having spent another hour and a half around the fire telling humorous tales and just talking about nothing in particular. My body ached slightly in recovery from the hike. Guess I would have to get use to soreness if I was going to be doing this. I rubbed an exceptionally knotted part of my shoulder and winced a little with an inward groan of discomfort and annoyance.
A hand landed on my shoulder causing me to jump in surprise. I spun around, jerking away from the hand, to face Jinxx. I sighed in relief at the sight of him. God, I didn’t even hear him come up behind me.
“Skittish much?” He chuckled softly with a gentle smile.
I shoved him half-heartedly, not really able to muster any real strength at the moment. “Don’t do that to me,” I said with a small groan.
Jinxx’s smile grew and he embraced me in a soft hug. “Sorry Rain didn’t mean to scare you.” I moaned softly in discomfort. Jinxx released me and smiled knowingly.
“So what do what Jinxx?” I asked sounding a more irritated than I was.
“I just need to talk to you for a minute.” Jinxx replied calmly. He turned a little and motioned for me to follow him to an unoccupied tent. I wordlessly complied, my muscles screaming in protest of moving. Jinxx pulled out a chair at the table for me, witch I gratefully took with a small “thank you” to him. He sat in the chair to my left and snapped his fingers. The cluster of candles in the middle of the table lit up, bathing the tent in a warm glow.
I looked at Jinxx wide eyed, earning a smile from him. “I’ll explain later,” he murmured.
I sighed a little and rolled my head a bit to relive the stiffness setting in. “What do you need to talk about?” I inquired.
Jinxx put a hand on my shoulder. “You, Rain. We need to talk about you.” He said coolly and gently.
This couldn’t be good; discussions like this never went well for me. I froze and looked him dead in the eye.
Jinxx seemed to sense my discomfort and gave my shoulder a light, reassuring squeeze. “It’s nothing bad Rain, in fact quite the opposite. I wish to talk discuss my plan on helping you with your schizophrenia, and few other things.”
“What other things?” I asked getting a little worried.
Jinxx smiled a little. “You have a great power, a gift, locked inside you, Rain. It is very strong, a little too strong. Too strong to the point it is threating to break loose. I don’t know exactly what it is, but I sense it is connected to your schizophrenia. If it gets out of hand, it could drive you completely insane—worst case scenario of course.”
My face fell. My life has been full of worst case scenarios, and I don’t think the universe is planning on changing that.
Jinxx gently rubbed my arm. “Now, now, don’t worry. I’m here to make sure that doesn’t happen.” I relaxed a little. Jinxx smiled softly. “I plan on personally handling and watching this to make sure you keep control. I will train you on how to do so.” He scooted a little closer and leaned in a bit. “And this training will help you with your schizophrenic hallucinations… to where it may stop them completely.” He whispered this last part.
My heart skipped a beat. No more visions. No more screaming; no more death; no more blood.
I threw my arms around Jinxx, ignoring the protest from my body. “Thank you,” I whispered, tears coming to my eyes.
Jinxx chuckled softly and lightly hugged me back. “We’ll start tomorrow after breakfast.” He said. He stood, gently pulling me with him. “Now go back to your tent and rest. Tomorrow is going to come pretty damn early.”
I smiled and pulled out of Jinxx’s arms then left the tent to return to my own.