Page 77 of Jinxed

The sloth nudges Jinx out of the way, and Jinx steps backwards from her.

>>Lacey, she’s right. We have to leave.

‘I’m so sorry, Jinx,’ I whisper to him. Slick crawls up on to my shoulder and raises one of his small,beetle legs, in solidarity.

Pardem approaches Monica, climbing up on to her lap with his painstakingly deliberate movements, his arms wrapping around her neck in a slow, loving embrace. As he leashes to her, her demeanour changes again. The tension in her shoulders slips away and she sinks into the cushioned back of the armchair, her muscles relaxing. A small smile creeps on to her lips, andI can’t deny it – she looks peaceful. Serene. But the light is gone.

Jinx leaps up into my arms.

>>So that is my creator?

I squeeze his body tightly.She might have built your body, but Jinx... I think the point of all this is thatyoucreated you. Through your choices, your decisions.

Jinx rolls his spine and arches his back in my arms. I carry him out of the perfect house, down the perfectpathway, towards the Hollywood suburban dream that his creator is trapped in. He purrs softly, but I know that it’s not me who needs comforting, but him. I hold him close, stroking him.

I can’t just leave her here... it’s terrible. Moncha needs Monica Chan.

>>We won’t let Eric Smith take over. We’ll figure it out.

But how? I don’t know if I’m capable. I’m just a teenager. I’m not a superhero. I’m not special. I’m just me.

>>Lucky for you, I am special. We will do it together.

Suddenly, Slick beeps and flashes wildly. I look down at his carapace and see that he’s flagged Moncha security guards approaching.

We’d better move, Jinx.

He doesn’t reply, but he doesn’t wriggle out of my arms either – which I take to be a good sign. I run out of the creepy fake suburb, the movie-set idealof perfect happiness.

Jinx directs me to the quickest route outside, using an unmarked exit that means we don’t have to go through the main atrium. But instead of following his directions to Mr Baird’s car, where I know Tobias and my teammates are waiting, I turn and head in another direction, down a narrow alleyway running behind the building. Relying on my memory, I try and orient myself inthe streets. Slick beeps in my ear, but this time – I ignore him.

>>Where are we going?asks Jinx.

Don’t you remember this place?

I turn the corner and we arrive at the park where Jinx and I saw the wild cats. I place him down gently on the floor. Then he hears the first meow, and his ears prick up to attention.

‘This is what you want, isn’t it, Jinx? To find your place in the world. You canlive here and you don’t have to belong to anyone.’

It’s more than that. It wouldn’t be right to take Jinx to BRIGHTSPRK, to force him to help me save Monica, or even to bring him home with me. He’s my entire world, but that doesn’t give me the right to decide what’s best for him. He needs to make that decision all on his own.

I don’t want a friend I have to force to be with me. Friendship isabout choice, not obligation.

I know that now.

My heart feels as if it is ripping in two, but I summon some courage. ‘Go,’ I say. ‘Be free.’

I don’t know if it’s the right decision. But it’s what feels right to me.

I’m not starting out a campaign for Monica’s freedom by keeping my baku on a leash against his will.

More than my baku. My friend.

>>I love you Lacey, he says.

Without a secondpause, Jinx runs away from me and my heart lurches. Then he stops at the gate to the park, his head cocked to one side, ears perked up into triangles. My heart swells at the sight of him, his tail gently swaying from side to side in the breeze.

‘I love you too,’ I whisper. ‘Go. Be free...’

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