Chapter 15 REDEMPTION II

• It felt like Friday was never coming for the friends who were anxious to see their male best friend brought back to fit their description of 'normal state'. Well, it finally came, just as planned the day before, Elena and Vanessa were absent and just like Aires was expecting, the demon in Jason would do everything to impersonate him at a hundred percent, he came to cheer her up by keeping her company until the hour struck for the meeting when his job to apprehend Aires, was cutout for him.
• When the time had finally come, Aires noticed his switch from brown pupil to red in an almost unnoticeable haste, she knew she had to make her move. There in the corner where they had been sitting alone for nearly fifteen minutes to digest their breakfast at least a little before training session in preparation for the upcoming inter-schools event, Aires decided to speak to his heart, by so doing she had the hope of connecting with him, earning his trust and weakening his hardened heart. She cupped his right hand and slowly slipped her fingers in between the spaces provided by his, her heart commenced beating like that of an athlete who had just won a thousand-meter race three seconds ago, or the superhero Flash after covering a thirty zillion mile's journey, nevertheless, with her other free hand she held his chin forcing their eyes to meet. For a split-second it felt like there was nobody in this world but them, for Aires, all she could see was the person within, her male friend she had missed so much, but for the being in control, his moment of glory had come, "I have her right where I want her" was its thought. "I have to go for a meeting" he said to her when their faces were just 'tinytres' away. Tinytres is Aires' way of describing millimeters instead of using the word " millimeters ", she made it up in third grade when her teacher asked her to define ' millimeters ' impromptu, that's a whole story on its own. Anyways, her eyes got teary as her companion told her he was leaving, "Ouch Jason you're so dumb!" she said, even though she was trying to lure him into feeling something, his eyes were hardened, and she realized there was no getting by, so she had to come up with something, the way she sounded while saying 'you're so dumb' and the look on her face caused him to giggle "what did I do?" He replied, his eyes escaped to the right corners, making her notice the direction he was gazing, her lips "what did I do?" He said in a flirty way trying to toy with her mind not knowing they were both playing the same game "I want to say something I've been meaning to say in a long time but I think it's either inappropriate or I'm just a freakin' coward and you're acting dumb like you always do, it's absurd, for once listen to my heart not my mouth dummy" she blurted without a pause, after a moment's reflection she realized she had told her caged friend 'I'm in love with you' in a billion different ways whilst with the same words she had fully convinced the demon in control. He just looked at her blankly, unsure of what to do, shyness wrapped all its feathers around Aires like a chicken shielding her chicks, the tears around her eyes began tracing their way down her cheeks as she stood up to run towards the washroom, but he grabbed her by the hand and commanded her to look at him. Aires couldn't get herself to look at him, and he wouldn't let her go, "I feel the same way too, but I don't know how to admit it to you, I'm the coward and not you Aires-" 'what is he saying' she asked herself in her thoughts, she faked a broad smile and lifted up her eyes to look at him only to receive the other part of the story "but" he continued "I can't be with you, the thing is" he lowered his brows gently to shown disappointment "I'm in love with someone else, I love her much more than I do you, and I would prefer we remain friends so that I don't lose her" "Ooh!" She mumbled "O-kay uhm.... Whew" "I'm sorry Aires" he apologized "It's alright, we're good" she assured with a smile trying to make it sound like everything was okay, but deep inside, despite knowing that she wasn't talking to Jason, the words 'I'm in love with someone else' cut her deeper than any sword could, "What is her name?" She inquired, "Perry" he answered much quicker than she expected, "it's Perry" he hammered, within her laughter escaped her lips because she finally had a reason to believe he or it, was a lunatic. If there was one thing she knew very well about Jason, it was that he would date Satan if Perry was the last person on this planet. He released her and informed her it was time for him to go, "Wait" she begged, "Aires" "Please Jason, can you just do one thing with me, please?" "Okay, what is it?" he questioned, at this point she knew he would agree to any request from her, so she went ahead to lay her cards down "Can we go out after your meeting, please?" "You're joking right?" "Please, you know it's the first time and I promise it will be the last time I'll ever ask you to do something as crazy as this, come on please? Do it for a best friend whose dreams of being with her best friend has been shuttered, and she wants to recover before Elena and Vanessa tease her till death..." "Okay fine" he agreed, he had been wanting an opportunity to kill her before the end of the day and Aires just brought herself. She hugged him super tightly, but that wouldn't last for long as Perry with a frown on her face shouted his name, "I'm sorry, I was on my way, this was just a goodbye" he chickened out and quickly run after the leader of the Enlightener's Club.
• Aires had been alone for nearly fifteen minutes when she felt someone prick her ear, she looked over to see Jason standing behind her, the meeting was finally over and the level of excitement in him could be seen drawn on his face. "So where are we headed?" He asked her, as they commenced their walk towards the security guard, Jason jogged ahead of her to communicate with the guard and managed to persuade him to allow them out of the school. He informed him that Mr. Stawicki had asked him go buy a ball for the school's football team, claiming the other two were being reserved for the games. Aires had poured the liquid ketamine into a drinking bottle she was holding in hand and had to find a way to get Jason to drink water out of it before the journey continued. Opposite the school was a mini shop which sold snacks, if you're new you'd think it is owned by the school due to how about ninety percent of the students buy from the vendor. "My tummy hurts, lemme get some water here" Aires lied, her feet made no attempts to follow through with what hers echoed, a well calculated bate for Jason to be a good Samaritan "lemme help you" he walked towards the shop and bought a bottle of water instead of two, Aires smiled, it was as if the heavens were routing for her, she took the bottle from him and unsealed it, then she asked him to take her bottle from her hand, she then half-filled her bottle which Jason was holding and made a joke which she meant indirectly, "since you brought it why not drink some but from my bottle, and as my gift to you cos I have nothing of yours to remember you with, so you get to keep my bottle, that way I'll be thinking about it everyday cos it's my favorite bottle, Dad got it for me before he died" he laughed and agreed, then he drunk the water "I don't know if you told me but if you did then I think I have forgotten where we're headed" he said as he gulped the water down his throat, a sigh of relief escaped Aires' lips, she took a deep breathe before answering his question "The place Mom and I will be moving to next Saturday, it's really nice, there's no one around and the place is really quiet, a serene environment to live-" she paused, a thought of wanting the ketamine to digest much faster before they got the destination rushed into her mind "today is a Friday, the last person to get to the junction is a rotten egg" they took to their heels and fortunately for them they got a bus Immediately they reached the junction with Aires taking the title "rotten egg". Getting themselves the two seats in the front, Jason looked at and tapped her nose, she felt really shy and was almost blushed to death when the driver asked "are you two a couple ?" Aires oinked, "Him? Noooo" she said, "I wouldn't date a rotten egg" Jason teased, the two kept talking and laughing, they didn't realize where they had gotten to when the bus stopped until the driver interrupted them again saying "Can the lovebirds who are not a couple get out of my car please? This is Gilmore street" the laughter seized from Jason's side, as the words sailed through his mind, he shook his head to the tiredness he had began to feel and rested an arm on Aires' shoulder "sorry I feel a little tired" he explained, "it's alright, look over there" Aires pointed to the white build right across the street "there's our destination, you can take a nap, Mom's not around, she gave me the keys cos I told her I'd show you guys my new home so you can help us with moving" somehow Aires had become the most calculated liar on the planet, she held his hand over her shoulder and walked as gently as she could try to delay as much as possible. Three meters to the door he looked at her with dreamy eyed and called her name, but she was too busy to answer him, so she kept walking. For the second time he called her name and as she looked into his eyes she for the first time in almost three weeks, saw something was different about his eyes, they looked at her in a way the real Jason does every time, "Jason! Jason! " Exclaimed, Aires, hiding her excitement was next to impossible, but she had forgotten the demon still was somewhere within, just when the door opened, and she screamed "Elena, he's back!" blowing up their cover, his eyes switch to red, indicating who is back in control, he held her neck, squeezed her neck and began dragging her into the room, "Let her go" Elena ordered as she noticed Aires' veins reveal themselves in huge sizes, "Come on Elena, it's me, beloved Jason" he mocked, as he kept on squeezing Aires' neck, "you...monst..." Aires struggled to speak out but could not get her words out as she was slowly running out of breathe, "where are your fluke abilities huh? I thought you were the Chosen One Aires, you're nothing but a mess, you're weak, pathetic, nothing but a fragile little speck, your kind is everything wrong with this planet and that is why everything on this planet must be restructured first by destruction, start with you and you" for a moment Aires thought he had given her the chance to defend herself when he released his grip on her neck, but he spread his palm at her and without a finger touching even a hair on Aires' head, Aires was sent high-flying and finally landed on the hardest part of the couch with her head. "Vanessa, now!" Elena screamed, at her words a cobra came out of nowhere, wrapped itself around Jason's neck and began to squeeze it tight. He tried to free himself by grabbing its head but that was an idea he later regretted, it sunk its teeth right above his wrist causing him to scream, meanwhile Elena had just finished pep talking herself "you can do it Ellie", she mimicked a circle in midair with her hands and pushed it at him with all her might, "that ought to have done it" she said,