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"We all live on one side of the knife or the other." Charles had said, and some other things too that Jake had ignored.
But he did hear Charles mention his father which caused him to let his guard down enough and lead to this.
Charles took advantage of Jake's vulnerability. Like usual. And now, the teenager was watching anxiously as Charles yelled in what he assumed was Latin. He wasn't sure. He barely understood the English language, so any foreign one was off the table.
Jake could feel himself slowly dissociating. It was hard to explain, but Jake felt like he was floating. The bed he was sitting on seemed to slowly fade away until he was in complete darkness surrounded by Charles' voice and his own thoughts.
It was peaceful. Nobody was there except him. He could feel his body begin to move, but he couldn't see anything. No matter how heavy his breathing is, his body never showed any signs of rapid breaths.
He was calm?
No, not him.
He's not him.
He's not... In his body?
This is confusing.
Jake's so confused.
The teenager's eyes shot open and he groaned as he sat up slowly. His arms trembled under his body weight until he was up-right enough to take the pressure away from his weak limbs.
The fire around him was atrocious and burned at his skin, but Jake showed no attention to it. In fact, his attention was more focused on the three other teens in front of him.
This was where they should have noticed something was wrong. Jake would have been so relieved to see Devon standing there, safe... But he looked almost bored by his boyfriend's presence.
Unfortunately for Devon, he didn't catch onto it. He was just so glad Jake was safe.
Devon ran to Jake and fell to his knees beside him. Taking a deep inhale (quickly followed by a cough), Devon sighed and looked more content with his other half being safe.
"Guys, we really need to go!" Lexy yelled through the flames that began getting bigger.
Grant was by her side; he was keeping a close eye on her and her friends. In the heat of the moment Lexy wasn't showing it, but she was so thankful for that.
"Come on, Jake." Devon says as he grabs Jake's hand.
Devon stands up and pulls Jake off the floor and down the hallway to Lexy and Grant as the flames expand.
The four took off in a run as floorboards and ceilings around them collapsed and shook. They were scared, and the fire seemed to be chasing them.
After a few minutes, Jake gasps and shakes his head. "Stop. Stop!" He yells, grabbing his knees and hunching over to weeze and cough.
Lexy and Devon were by his sides in seconds, patting his back or holding onto his shoulder and asking him if he was okay.
Clearly not, though. He was sweating from being encased in fire, and was clearly having side effects from all the smoke entering his lungs. They all were.
Jake's head felt fuzzy and he could hear all the smallest sounds around him. He could feel his heart beat in his forehead and it made him nauseous. His stomach turned and felt like it was getting smaller the more he tried to inhale.
But it wasn't Jake.
This wasn't him.
He was perfectly able to breathe, but the others couldn't see that.
Jake opened his eyes as a blue hue slowly began forming in them. He blinked quickly to push away his feelings as he sat up straight, suddenly relaxed and nonchalant.
"I'm fine." Jake says, shrugging Lexy and Devon off before storming off.
Lexy and Devon shared a look of concern and confusion before quickly chasing after Jake. As they got outside where reporters and paramedics were attending to the survivors in the first family, Jake seemed more tense.
Grant quickly left the group, running to where his mother was holding a wet rag to her bleeding temple and trying to wave off tons of reporters who surrounded her as she sat in the open ambulance.
Lexy watched the sweet reunion; the way Grant wrapped his arms around his mom's shoulders, the way she stood up and dropped the rag to hold her son tightly in both her arms, the kisses she left him on his head. Lexy was reminded that they were just a normal family and didn't deserve this.
But then again, no one ever does. Chucky takes innocent people and ruins their lives for no reason. But this time, he'll be gone for good. Lexy knows it.
No one even knows how the fire started, considering the doll version of Chucky is dead, but there's hundreds of ghosts around them who now have a lot of power "thanks" to the medium they invited to help them.
One of them must have done it.
But which one, is the question...
Devon kept a hand pressed onto Jake's shoulder, and slowly turned to his nonchalant boyfriend.
"What happened back there?" He asks.
"What do you mean?"
"You suddenly fainting? You coughing but then acting fine?"
"I am fine, Devon." Jake states.
"You don't seem fine."
"I am. Just drop it." He shrugs Devon's hand off his shoulder and crosses his arms.
A loud scream from inside catches everyone's attention.
"Oh my God... Henry!!" Lexy gasps in realization.
A white dress runs in view and Lexy seems even more shocked, tears being brought to her eyes.
"Caroline!!" She yells, running back into the inflamed building.
Devon watches in horror as Jake runs after her. He tried not to, but his worrying got to him and he ran inside too.
The fire was everywhere and Jake lost his ability to breathe, quickly. He could've sworn he saw people running around, though. That wasn't his friends or the two kids.
But that's when Lexy ran right through him. Jake shivered at the feeling before looking around in surprise. How did she do that?
He turned around and.... Holy fuck...
His dad?
No
No
Nononono
He's dead!!!
But he was also here.
He's surrounded by a blue light and smoke, and he was staring right at Jake.
Jake opens his mouth but no words come out so he closes it again. Unfortunately, he didn't need to speak because Lucas began doing it.
"You disappoint me." He sighs.
"W-What?" Jake stutters, taking a few steps back. He fell, and when he looked back up he was now in his old bedroom, again.
"I mean, you've turned out to be a killer. You know how embarrassing that is?" Lucas asks, "if I was still alive, imagine how it would feel telling people my son is a fucking serial killer!!"
"I'm not-" Jake stutters, his breathing makes it hard to speak.
His dad is gone, but now Charles is here. He's surrounded by white lights; different to his dad's blue. Jake had no time to react before he was pinned to the ground with Charles choking him.
"I told you Jake: we all live on one side of the knife or the other." Charles laughed, his voice strained from all the power he was using to choke Jake. "You're not doing me any justice, yet."
"What are you talking about?" Jake struggled to speak with his airways closed.
"You're not actually in your body, Jake. You're just a spectator." Charles explains, "I'm using it for the greater good and getting the hell out of here!"
"You're lying."
Jake's voice was raspy and fading away. His hands were useless against Charles as he tried to shove him off.
"No, but don't worry. I'm keeping it safe for ya."
As Charles began laughing, Jake let tears fall before asking, "how?"
"You're nothing against the power of the great almighty Damballa!!" Charles yells, tightening his grip of Jake's neck.
"He's against you." Jake said, "you're dying!" Jake's voice cracks.
"No, Jake.." Charles shook his head, "you're dying."
He lifted Jake's head up and smashed their foreheads together, Jake feeling a headache coming on as everything fades to black.
His eyes open, the blue hue in his eyes coming back stronger. They almost match his father's. Jake groans and sits up as the headache increases.
Reaching a hand up to his forehead and pulling it back down, he rolls his eyes when he sees blood on his fingers.
"Well that's fuckin' great..." Jake mutters, a faint accent in his voice that is all too familiar.
Jake goes to stand up, but stumbles and falls back down. He settles for lying on his back and looking up at the crumbling ceiling in the inferno.
"What a fuckin' rush..." He sarcastically groans, feeling his eyes burn as he begins to cough.
Jake's entire body hurts and he has no energy to move, so instead he curls in the fetal position and lays there coughing and sweating as the fire gets worse. His burning eyes close and he's stuck to the floor as he falls unconscious.
Lexy and Devon chase after the person Lexy swears is Caroline. They find a room in the White House surprisingly not encased in fire. They catch their breaths in the clean area before Lexy swings the door open.
"Caroline!!" She yells, seeing her little sister.
Caroline turns around with a Chucky doll in her arm and a knife.
"Stay back, Lexy." She warns, her knife in the air.
"No." Lexy whispers, shaking her head and walking closer, "Caroline please..."
Devon doesn't know what to do. He watches in horror until his eyes scan the room for anything that could help their situation.
"I'm busy, Lexy. Just leave me alone." Caroline says.
"After all this?" Lexy scoffs, "I've been looking for you for a year!" Even though she's trying to yell, her voice stays soft to the younger.
"Did you ever stop to think that maybe I didn't want to be found?" Caroline asks.
"What? Why?!" Lexy asks.
"I'm fine, Lexy. Chucky showed me what it's like to be a bigger man." Caroline smiles, "I've learned a lot."
The knife in Caroline's hand seems to be getting closer to Lexy, and the blonde takes a few steps back from her sister as tears fall from her face.
Devon can't watch the scene in front of him. He feels his heart break for Lexy the more Caroline speaks. He turns his head and physically jumps when he sees Henry cowering in the corner.
Looking back to see if Caroline is distracted, Devon kneels down and waves Henry over. The little boy doesn't hesitate to run into Devon's comforting arms, sobbing quietly.
Devon stays there, holding Henry. He doesn't make any efforts to move. He's afraid if he does, Caroline will do something horrible.
"Caroline, you can't do this to me." Lexy sobs, "I'm your fucking sister!"
"No. You never were. Chucky told me that."
"I don't give a fuck what the delusional little freak told you!!" Lexy finally yells. "He's a liar!"
Caroline swallows the lump in her throat as tears form in her eyes. She holds the knife against Lexy's stomach and stares dead into her eyes.
"Caroline, you don't understand..." Lexy whispers, "you can't trust him."
"How can I trust you?" Caroline asks.
Lexy opens her mouth to speak, but doesn't get a chance when Caroline abruptly pushes the knife into her stomach. Lexy screams in agony as Caroline quickly removes the knife and backs up.
Lexy falls to her knees with her hands on her abdomen. Tears and blood fall down her chin as Lexy's green eyes scan her little sister's face.
"You can believe him all you want, but I want you to never forget who was and always will be there for you..." Lexy whispers before falling over.
Devon let's Henry go to run to his friend. He fell to his knees and grabbed her.
"Lexy!! Lexy, please!" He sobs, lifting her up off the floor so he can cradle her in his arms. "Oh my God, please don't do this to me." Devon begs her.
Caroline runs off with the knife and doll, and Henry joins the two friends. He cries as he holds onto Lexy's arm.
Jake is still in darkness until a loud ringing in his ear brings him back.
"Over here!!"
Jake feels himself being lifted off the floor, but he can't speak or see anything. He's carried away to what Jake assumes is probably outside now that the heat is replaced by a chill.
He slowly comes to his senses enough to hear a bunch of yelling, loud sirens, and quiet footsteps getting louder.
A hand on his shoulder shakes him back to consciousness and a small groan escapes his trembling lips as he rolls over.
He hopes it's Devon or Lexy, but it's actually Grant. The teenage boy is staring at him in fear, a hand pressed firmly on his shoulder.
"Jake... What happened? Are you alright?" Grant asks.
"What do you mean?" Jake asks.
The last thing Jake remembers is passing out upstairs on the floor, and then he saw his dad, and then Chucky was choking him, and now he's here.
"You ran back inside after Lexy, and then Devon followed you gu-" Grant starts.
"Devon and Lexy is still inside?!" Jake yells, sitting up.
Grant takes a step back and Jake begins profusely coughing. Grant gets the attention of a paramedic who runs to Jake's side to get an oxygen mask for him. The paramedic disappears to attend to a screaming Charlotte Collins.
"My brother's inside, too." Grant says, a tear falling down his face.
Grant motions to a distressed Charlotte trying to push officers and fire fighters out of the way while screaming for Henry.
"I don't know what I'd do if I lost him, Jake..." Grant whispers, "I already lost one little brother. I can't lose my other one."
Jake doesn't know what to say. He feels horrible, but he doesn't remember the past half hour, so there's not much he can do even though he wishes there was.
"He's a good kid, you know.." Grant sighs, "there's so much he hasn't done and I'd forever hate myself if he didn't get the chance to do those things."
Grant is seconds away from sobbing, so Jake puts a hand on his shoulder to console him.
"He is a good kid, Grant." Jake nods, "and he'll be just fine."
Grant nods and smiles at Jake, "Lexy's right. You really are amazing."
Jake chuckles and looks down, the realization Devon and Lexy are still inside the building causes him to break down.
Grant sits beside him on the stretcher located inside the ambulance and wraps him in a hug, the two clinging onto each other as if their lives depend on it.
"We got them!!" A voice shouts from inside.
The two teenagers look up to see Devon, Lexy, and Henry all being carried out of the building. Well, Devon is being helped out since he's carrying Henry, but a paramedic is carrying Lexy.
Grant and Jake both get up; Jake ripping the oxygen mask off his face and throwing it aside. They run up to them and Jake pulls Devon in for a kiss.
Devon relaxes instantly, and sets Henry on the ground, and wraps his arms around Jake's shoulders and Jake's hands fall to Devon's sides. They pull apart for air and both cough.
Grant rushes to Lexy's aid seeing her being put on a stretcher. Just as the ambulance doors are about to close, Grant forces them to be opened as he climbs inside so Lexy won't be alone at the hospital.
Charlotte runs up and grabs Henry and holds him while the two sob together. Charlotte holds him as tight as she can as she walks up to Jake and Devon and invites them in for a hug, too.
The two teenagers agree and hug the First Lady and her son as firefighters work to put out the fire around them and escort body bags away.
Grant smiles when he sees the two enter the hospital room holding hands.
"How is she?" Devon asks, raising an eyebrow.
"Better than last week, that's for sure." He says.
Grant opens the door and lets the two follow him in, shutting the door behind them. Lexy is sitting on her bed flipping through a magazine the Hospital gave her.
"That's such bullshit." Lexy rolls her eyes, "if you're going to go to Coachella at least try to dress cute!"
Jake sat down beside her to look at the magazine, cringing at the horribly dressed influencers.
A knock on the door caused them all to turn around as it opened to reveal familiar faces.
"Hey, we got the food." Charlotte smiles.
Henry, who wanted to help his mom by carrying everything, lugged in three big bags of fast food.
"Heyy, there he is!" Grant chuckled, picking Henry up and holding him on his hip.
"Be careful, Grant." Charlotte politely warns, "the doctors still don't want him to be put into situations where breathing is an issue." Charlotte walks over to Lexy.
"Relax mom, I'm sure his lungs are cleaned by now." Grant jokes.
All the kids are still at the hospital with a few treatments to help their lungs be cleared from the horrible amounts of smoke they inhaled.
Fortunately for Jake, his boyfriend is stuck with his "hot smoker voice" for even longer this time, and Jake is doing everything he can to get Devon to talk as much as possible. In a way that's healthy, of course.
"Well, we can't take any chances, can we?" Devon asks, smiling as Henry hands him some M&Ms he got from the vending machine.
"Guess not." Grant sighs.
"I think I'd rather never take chances again." Lexy rolls her eyes.
Jake doesn't respond. His head slowly feels fuzzy again and he looks down at the floor as his eyes turn blue for a few seconds before fading back to his beautiful brown.
He looks up and lets out a deep sigh, shifting uncomfortably.
"Unfortunately, you never know..." He smirks, flinging an arm around Devon's shoulders a little harshly.