CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX.
AUTHOR'S POV.
In a place so dark that nothing could be seen than thick darkness and the air around was of a calm one which left out a little whisper when it became a little too harsh.
Jacqueline was lying on the floor, looking dead and invisible in the dark.
When voices disturbed him, his eyes snapped open, and the redness in them showed around the place.
He was blinded by the darkness which welcomed him, so he shut his eyes back and groaned on the floor, twisting, "Where am I?" He whispered the question to himself and turned to his side to sit up with great difficulties.
He couldn't.
He tried to move again, but his ears caught a rushing sound. He stopped trying and took his burning eyes to where the sound was coming from.
He strained his eyes, trying to see through the darkness like he should since he was a werewolf and his sight was better at night than the day. However, he couldn't see a thing, no matter his trials.
What was hitting his eyes at that moment was pain, as he relentlessly stressed the eyes.
"Who's there?" He inquired with his voice so little but strict. He had tried so much to sound threatening.
The sound stopped when his voice rang out, and the rushing sound stopped.
Jacqueline remained calm and waited to hear more of the sound to at least, grab what it was, but nothing came. The type of silence which followed his wait was like the thing which made the sound had died like it never existed.
Jacqueline's awareness flickered like a weak flame, barely clinging to existence.
The world around him was a dark, endless void, silent, oppressive, and shallow. And with the sound gone, he could feel the weight of it pressing down on him, sapping the little strength he had.
The ground beneath him was cold and unyielding, and no matter how much he willed himself to move, his body remained motionless, like he was stuck to the ground.
His arms refused to respond, as though they were pinned by some unseen force.
He tried again, straining with all his might to lift even a finger, but it was futile.
Frustration bubbled within him, but it was quickly overtaken by a deep despair.
Not quite a while in the darkness, another set of voices began to echo around him.
His ears again picked up the echo. At first, they were faint, barely distinguishable from the suffocating stillness. But as they grew louder, he picked meaning to them. It was Carl's anguished pleas and Rosalie's tearful cries.
"Jacqueline!" Each called and Jacqueline felt stings building in his eyes.
He whispered their names back like they could hear him, "Rosalie... Carl."
His pain was mixed with the ones he was hearing from the people who were more like his family.
"Jacqueline!" They called again like they could hear his response.
Their words pierced through the darkness in him, each one a dagger to his heart.
"Jacqueline, please... wake up. We need you."
"I'm sorry... I should have done more to protect you."
The agony in their voices was unbearable.
Jacqueline wanted to respond to them, to tell them he could hear them, that he was trying. But his lips wouldn't move, and his voice was swallowed by the void. He was trapped, a prisoner within his own body.
The stings in his eyes overflowed. Tears. Hot and stinging, and for the first time, he voluntarily let them slide down his face.
The sensation was both foreign and grounding, a reminder that he was still alive, capable of feeling and healing, even if he couldn't act. But it wasn't enough.
He wanted to stand up, step away from the dark and move out to tell his family, who wanted his presence, that he was okay, but the strength was not there.
He tried to move again, summoning every ounce of strength he could gather.
His mind screamed at his limbs to obey his will, to push off the floor, to rise, to fight the dizziness off, but his body remained still, lifeless and uncooperative.
The frustration boiled over into a raw, painful cry which escaped from his throat, one that echoed through the void of darkness like the cry of a wounded animal.
Jacqueline sobbed, his tears falling freely now.
He felt weak, powerless, and utterly alone.
Helplessness crushed through him, and for a moment, he wanted to give every one of his trials up, to let the darkness consume him entirely, but then Carl's voice rang out again, clear and filled with emotions.
"We believe in you, Jacqueline. Come back to us, please. I can sense a war coming soon here, they want to war against your pack, Jacqueline, the same pack your ancestors love. Are you going to keep on sleeping there and leaving the enemies to win?
"Also, I feel some people want to rise to claim your throne. I tried to stop them, trust me, I tried, but I think I am not strong enough to fight them off all by myself. I am willing to, but not when you're lying here on this wretched bed, looking dead.
"It fears me to think that I am indirectly taking up your space. I don't want to. I want you to wake up and claim back what's rightfully yours. Is that too high of me to ask, Jacqueline?" And he choked on his sob.
Rosalie's voice followed, softer but no less better, "You're stronger than this. You always have been. I don't want you to prove that to anyone, but me, so prove it to me, Jacqueline. I want to see you fighting every pain off and get up from this bed like a soldier. You're my soldier."
The words lit a tiny spark within Jacqueline, which was faint but persistent.
He clenched his jaw, the tears still streaming uncontrollably down his face. He couldn't let it end here. For Carl, for Rosalie, for everyone who still needed him, his pack.
"I have to keep trying," Jacqueline whispered to himself.
His sobs were reduced, replaced by a fierce, renewed self to break free from his dark bondage.
He closed his eyes, focusing all his energy on that spark. It wasn't much, but it was enough to keep him going, enough to make him believe that he could rise again.
Suddenly, a bright light shone down on him, cutting through the oppressive void and the spark in him bloomed.
He blinked, his eyes straining to adjust to the sudden brightness.
The light grew clearer, and he saw a figure emerging from it. His breath caught when he realized who it was, Jack, his wolf.
'Did he come out of me?' He wondered, 'No wonder I am this weak, and that explains the shallow in me.' He was quick to realise.
Jacqueline raised his tired eyes to stare at Jack, who was standing tall and strong before him, his red eyes glowing calmly down at him. "Jacqueline," The wolf said, his voice steady like a drumset, "it's time to rise. You are needed. We are."
Jacqueline's voice trembled as he spoke. "Jack... I've tried. I've tried so hard, but I can't. I'm too weak."
Jack stepped closer, "Jacqueline. You're stronger than you think. But strength isn't just about muscle and might, even if it is, you have it all. But I want this to be from the heart, about purpose. And you have a purpose."
Jacqueline's brow furrowed. "Purpose? What purpose?"
Jack's eyes softened, though his voice remained firm. "Our beta and our mate. They're in danger. They need us. Rosalie and Carl have risked everything for you, and now it's your turn to fight for them."
Jacqueline's heart ached at the mention of their names. He could still hear their voices, their pleas for him to come back, in the deep of his mind, it was registered there.
"I've tried," He repeated to his wolf in a cracked voice. "I've tried and failed."
"Then try again," Jack said, his tone unwavering. "Fall a hundred times if you must, but always rise one more. Because they believe in you, and I believe in you. But most importantly, you must believe in yourself and know this, 'I will never leave you no matter what. We are in this together."
Jacqueline swallowed hard, the spark within him growing even brighter, lighting the whole place up. He looked into Jack's red eyes and saw not just strength, but sincerity.
Slowly, he nodded. "You're right. I can't give up. Not now."
Jack's lips curled into a grin. "That's the spirit. Now, let's get out of this darkness. We have work to do."
With Jack's words echoing in his heart, Jacqueline braced himself. The weight that had held him down began to lift as he shook everything off himself, soon, he felt the strength to move.
He planted his hands on the ground, the cold surface no longer holding him captive. Slowly but strongly, he pushed himself up, the light growing brighter with each effort.
The void trembled, cracks of light breaking through the darkness.
"Let's get out of here!" Said Jacqueline to Jack.
"That's what I'm talking about." Replied Jack.
Jacqueline, alongside Jack, broke into a run and ran down the endless down way til a dead-end came into sight, and they ran through it.