Page 116 of Locke 2

But Jem wouldn’t let the doctor know there were tears building behind his eyes. That he was thinking of Locke, and only Locke when he was going to meet his end. He bled so much; he didn’t know how much of this shit was left in him. The world was dizzy, and he was going to pass out. It would probably be best he did pass out before the bullet fired into his skull.

“Sorry, Max,” he murmured faintly, cracking his eyes open once to look at the grey sky. “I’m so fucking sorry—”

A bullet fired through the air, and he jolted, waiting for the world to stop existing around him.

He waited and waited.

He hadn’t breathed.

Not even when he heard the body falling to the ground before him.

Jem didn’t move. He didn’t think this was really happening. There was such a stillness. He’d never understood that expression about the world standing still, but the world truly stood still in that very long moment.

Footsteps sounded out, moving toward him.

He still didn’t let a breath in.

Not until the black suit clouded his vision and dropped to his side.

Jem shouldn’t have been surprised.

All along, the masterful hunter, Locke, was hunting the hunter that was hunting Jem.

“Jem,” Locke spoke, anguished.

Jem focused his eyes on the face staring back at him. Tears fell from his eyes. He tried to speak, but nothing came out. There was so much he wanted to say, and he needed to hurry up, because he was dying.

“I’m sorry, Max,” he choked out. “I’m so fucking sorry for it all. Forgive me. Fucking forgive me.”

Locke’s hands came around Jem’s face, holding him. He ran his fingers along Jem’s cheeks, soothing him. “You have nothing to be sorry for.”

“I do…I wanted to help that boy because I thought of him as you,” Jem stuttered out. “You needed someone to save you.”

Locke’s eyes rimmed red as he peered intently at Jem. He dropped down closer, whispering, “But you did save me, Jem. You rescued me from the hole.”

Jem’s being shook. Sobs wracked his body. But warmth covered him whole. Locke held him like a brother, whispering the same words.

“You rescued me, Jem, so hang in there. I’m going to get you out of here. Hang in there.”

“You did,” another voice spoke from behind them. Conor was here. They were both here. They had searched for him. Him. Jem. A misery upon their lives. A stain that didn’t deserve a second look. Conor’s voice was choked up. “Hang in there, Jem.”

“How…” Jem rasped. “How’d you find me…”

Locke’s lips spread in a dark smile. “If it bleeds, I can track it.”

Jem tried to smile, but his chest ached. “Kali…”

Locke nodded, his voice tight with longing. “Tell me where she is.”

Forty-Nine

Kali

Imay have been sharing the hole with Lenny, but there was another dark presence. I felt its energy. It played tricks on my brain. It made me want to scream to end the silence because the silence down here was unlike any kind of silence I’d ever experienced.

Insidious, the energy pressed against me, rousing my crazy, bringing forward the horrors of my past. It said, “You want to come home? Here, let me help you.”

I shut my eyes to escape it.

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