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T h e   H o l l o w s   I n
O U R  F R E E D O M
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I glanced over at Jameson, seeing him already piecing together a plan.

"Call Jace," he announced suddenly. I frowned, "tell him you're about to die."

I did a double-take, my fingers twitching as they hovered over the call button. "Wait, what?"

Then Jameson threw his leg into action, kicking the door with such force that the wooden barricade caved in, making it easy for him to then smash himself into the double doors.

One singular armed man stormed up to the entrance. Jameson scrambled to his feet, before running out towards him.

"Jameson!" I screamed. "Remember they always have at least one bullet!" But he wasn't listening.

Crap.

"Alexi?"

I recognised the voice.
And that wasn't a good thing.

I span around, seeing the figure dart out from the shadows. But the sound of grunts tore me away.

As I turned, I saw the armed man recognise Jace as a threat, throwing Jameson to the floor—who seemed to go down without much effort at all.

The man outstretched his arm, not even spotting me as I stood off to the side. Realising what he was going to do, I threw myself into the air, ignoring Jameson's shouts as he too jumped.

And then the gun shot went off.

I went stumbling into the wall, catching myself before I smashed my face into the wall.

I could feel someone's arms around me, trying to stabilise me. Then they said something weird. "You weren't shot, Alexi."

I furrowed my eyebrows, looking up to see the heavens had opened. Well, not exactly. But I was gazing up at Jace.

Then, like the true Guardian I was, I figured out what Jameson's plan was.

Jace was the bait. I was meant to be the rescued lamb. And Jameson did all the work, shoving the gunman to the floor so that the bullet didn't actually hit me.

"–what is wrong with you?" He yelled at me, breaking me out of my thoughts. I blinked, feeling puzzled as I realised what had just transpired.

Jace still held onto me.
Even though my body shook with anger. Well, I thought it was anger.

"You nearly got him killed!" I yelled back, eyes wide in disbelief.

Jameson swore under his breath. "He was the bait. I just didn't know that you were stupid enough to fall for it too!"

The anger boiled up in me, sending me through a frenzy. So I lunged for Jameson.

When all efforts were stumped, I realised there was a problem. Jace.

I span around. "Jace, if you don't let me beat the holy crap out of this impertinent fool then I will make sure that your Jace Junior never sees the light of day ever again." I spat, taking out my anger on him.

But Jace didn't even flinch. Instead, he just held me, just staring down at me. I didn't realise what he was doing until I felt my breathing return to it's normality. He was distracting me with those galactic eyes. He was trying to hypnotise me with his mere presence.

And Jameson had walked away.

I watched as he disappeared, not really caring much at all.

I turned to face Jace, who still held onto me. I looked up at him, not quite believing how he had just managed that level of control. I think Jace was just as surprised—or maybe more.

"Thank you." I whispered, watching him blink and come to terms with his new powers. He smiled, nodded, and let go of me.

I felt as the warmth disappeared, but whilst I was trying very hard not to show this, Jace started to frown at something behind me.

I followed his glance, finding several pieces of crumpled up paper on the floor.

"What are these?" I thought aloud, bending down to to pick each one up.

"I'm not sure. Maybe Jameson dropped them." Jace suggested as I rose, frowning down at the folded notes.

I scoffed. "I'm not sure you know Jameson very well. He's not really a pen and paper type."

I cautiously unfolded the notes, only meaning to see who they belonged to. Though, no one would probably believe that those were my intentions; I was, after all, the snooping type.

Well, how else am I supposed to find out stuff?

"Actually, I do think that Jameson often makes lists, or other forms of note taking." Jace informed me, which I pulled a face at.

"I thought the therapy sessions were confidential." I said, unfolding the last crease and recognising the handwriting immediately.

"They are, you should keep in mind that it's my job to observe people." When I didn't respond, my eyes running over the note, he kept talking. "I think it's to get all of his thoughts out and onto a physical document, either to remember them for later or because he can't deal with them all in his head at once–" I could feel him staring at me, "–you've noticed something; what is it?" He asks.

I exhaled. Folding the note back up and holding them all close to my chest. "I know what these are."

Jace appeared puzzled, but when I started walking, he swallowed any questions he might've had before and began to run after me.

"You know," he spoke up, "I'm also a fan of note-taking," I gave him side-eye, even if I loved the fact that I was getting to know him better.

"I didn't really think Jameson was that type, to be honest." I admitted, hurrying down the corridor. We were tight on time. Especially now that the hospital has a gaping hole in its wall.

"It's hard to spot. But there are signs. I guess he's just not as dedicated to his notes as other people are. I know for me that it's hard to start or finish a day without making notes, or lists." He explained, which I strongly disagreed with; notes are boring. Just get on with it.

"I know that you can't really relate—there are signs of that too." He told me.

I glanced at him, "like what?" I asked, almost losing concentration as I stared at his perfectly arranged dark brown hair.

He smiled. "You can just see it in your impulsive choices."

I raised an eyebrow at him, expecting a lecture on how I should think through all my actions—you know, the boring stuff.

"No, let me explain." I turned away, walking in a perfectly straight line. He explained anyway. "Your actions don't fall into any kind of order, which makes it easy for you to rearrange consistently. You're good at thinking on the spot, where some people would need a list, or at least a mental one. Though, I think maybe that you'll struggle when making the bad choices that can't be undone or rearranged, because you thought impulsively."

I stared at him for a few moments. "Did you just psychoanalyse me?" I asked, at a loss for words at his findings on me; I wasn't quite sure what to think of them.

It was Jace's turn to pull a face. "I don't do everything in correlation to my career, you know."

I was about to ask what other things he does, if he, apparently, doesn't always carry out psychoanalysis' on people. I didn't have a chance though, as it was then that I spotted Jameson.

I sped up.

"You dropped something." I said, meeting him outside the door to our new meeting room.

He stared at my hand, which held the folded sheets of paper. Tentatively, as if he knew what they would contain, he picked them up.

I watched him unfold the first note as I waited for Jace, who apparently didn't care about catching up to Jameson.

I could've tapped my foot impatiently, could've rolled my eyes at his excessive need to keep me waiting.

Instead, I watched him walk. I think my eyes glazed over for a moment.

He had an aura about him, it was dangerous but so safe. I watched as his fingers twitched every so often, clutching into his fists. I think it was because I was staring at him. Which was cute. His hair caught the light a few times, and I saw the brown colour which mine so desperately needed. And I think I melted when he got close enough that I could see his enchanting eyes.

He stared down at me once he had arrived.

"Are we going in?" He asked, his voice just as charming as the rest of him.

I blinked.
Are we ever.

I hummed, twisting the handle as I turned to see Jameson completely absorbed in the notes. I smiled, and then pushed the door open.

And the sight in front of me was both glorious and eery at the same time.

Sky was awake, looking like the angel she was, shimmering under a light that flickered. And she sat opposite her mother.

She didn't know who she was.
But I did.
And Elle did.

Elle knew that Sky was her daughter.
And she couldn't even look at her.

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That kinda rude

Anyone else watching Love Island??

Just imagine the characters on it lmao

Okay but Skyson would be Jack and Dani 300%

Who would be Loyal Georgia lmaooo

Anywho, that's not my book, so yeah

Thoughts on Lexi and Jace now?
Thoughts on Jameson's 'plan' to use Jace as bait??
Thoughts ON SKY OMGGG Y'ALL SHE ALIVE ??
okay and thoughts on Elle? Like c'mon she alive now you can talk

The end

Thank you

-for tuning in to question time

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Next update: Friday 13th 😈
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CHAPTER TWELVE SPOILER:

The team bathe in glory before setting off once more, the mission commencing again.

Our antagonist learns that you can put someone up on a pedestal, but that doesn't mean to say that, one day, they won't fall off.