Enzyme
The All-Powerful Enzyme!
Jackson McCarthy
Jackson felt Blake's fingertips brush against and tightly squeeze his hand. He acknowledged her action with a faint smile but returned his attention to the two men. After Jackson confirmed that they would head back immediately, the two men held a doleful expression and then walked off to their parked vehicle. Jackson stood still momentarily after they left as if his mind had been put in neutral. There was a strange feeling of uncertainty, and he almost couldn't bring himself to part from the carnival, which had emitted calmness and joy only a few moments prior. Jackson looked back to Blake once more, as if an unspoken agreement had been formed. Taking her hand lightly, he led her back to his Cresta.
The ride back from the Temple Bar Square had been subconsciously silent. The pressure to perform with James out of the loop was beginning to settle on his shoulders. They had spoken of the hierarchy in the past and who would take James' place, but it was always followed by banter and laughter. No one saw this day coming. Jackson nervously pressed his scarred knuckles against his lips as he drove. His blank eyes blankly scanned the road, apparently put on auto-pilot as the cogs in his head spun with ferocity.
The gloom from the morning still lingered over the Porter estate. It had now been shimmied off of grief of death to the uncertainty of the future. Jackson parked the car in his usual spot, the roaring engine settling to a low murmur. As his hand reached for the door handle, he hesitated. He sat back into his leather seat as if a rubber band had yanked him back.
He knew what had to be done, but the voice in the back of his head urged him to savor every moment before he was forced to step through those doors. His eyes fell to Blake, whom he could only thank for patiently sitting in his passenger seat as he drove in suspended silence. He shrugged lightly, shaking his head. "I don't know what to do," he shamefully admitted
Bellz (Blake)