5 Something in his Eyes

____Julie____

"Hey, Jayden!"Jayden turned to me but went back to what he was doing. Since he still ignoring me, I thought of something else to say to him.

"Aren't you afraid?You always sit at that edge."I said still looking at the words he writes.

"You just say that I always sit on this edge so that means I got used to it.And I've told you,I will not die.I can't die."he said coldly and continued writing.

"Then she lost her sight as she looks forward to the afterlife..." I whispered as I read every word he wrote. Jayden turned to me for a moment and looked back at his journal.

"What a weird decoration on your head." He commented as he shook his head when he saw what I was wearing on my head. I just ignored what he said and took a deep breath. "Oh, you've noticed."I thought that it would look good on me. I guess that abnormal man don’t think the same. Psh.

"Of course, I noticed. It looks like you've attended a 'ribbon-cutting' event.Take home the ribbon then wear it on your head."I raised my eyebrows because of his teasing."Did I hear you right? Are you making jokes now?"he averted his gaze and distanced himself from me.

"Go home, ribbon head. The weather is cold so you might get sick, Simon needs you--"

"Okay,okay.Before that, aren't you cold? The breeze is like an ice! I know you’re cold but it doesn’t matter to you as long as you’ll not die."he just looked at me badly and went down from his seat.He put away his belongings so I took the chance to look at his journal.

"And there she sees the paradise..."

"HEY!"he shouted at me after I read the new sentence he had just written.

"Is it Simon that made you come here?" he asked and closed his journal. I shook my head and smiled sparingly.

"No, I brought myself here."

"No, ribbon—woman. Did Simon talked to you and made you come here so you can pissed me off?" even though his voice was stagnant, the annoyance in his eyes could not avoid me. Does this one have mood swings?

"I told you already. I brought myself here,no one asked me to go here,okay?" Of course, I can lie. For the sake of humanity, psh. Although, he does not looked satisfied to my answer, he chose not to utter any word anymore. "You are a one great liar, woman. I hope you get out of my sight now." The smile disappeared from my lips as the tone of his voice turned cold.

Uh-oh.

"Jayden--"

"You heard me once,don't make me repeat it again.You're so noisy,one more word and you will be flying back to where you came from."

I did not expect him to insult me today. I was used to it but for the first time, I understood where the ignorance of the person in front of me comes from.

He is not angry with me, but with the situation.

"I'll leave you with your thoughts then."I turned my back on him and before I left, I said the words I hoped would relieve him.

"Goodnight, Jayden. Just remember to talk to me when needed. It is better to express your frustrations to someone you don't fully know, right?" before I left I looked at him again.

"But atleast,I made you go down from there."and I showed him my most annoying smile. "We'll stick with you until you finally learn how to live."I winked at him and marched away from there.

------

"What happened?"that was Simon's first remark when I returned to the mansion. We are here now in his room and waiting for Jayden to return. Since I came back here, he has not yet returned and it looks like he has not left the hospital yet.

"I guess let's not bother him anymore because I also know the feeling when you want to be alone but someone naughty is bothering you."I said.

"Yeah, I think so too."

Simon leaned back in his bed and sighed."Well, that's expected. Ignorance can't be taken off from Jayden. He must be like that even before I was born."he said and shook his head.

Did I hear him right? Even before what? So... oh,geez.

"Wait, can I ask you something?"he became a bit serious. "Of course, fire away."I stopped for a moment because I am hesitating whether I would ask this or what.

I may not expect what he may answer but I know Simon knows the answer best.

I cleared my throat and asked the question that has been bothering me for days."How old Jayden is? You say he must been like that before you are born so... he is not the same generation as ours?" there was a moment of silence until Simon burst out laughing.

"Did I say something funny?" I raised an eyebrow as I waited for him to finish laughing.Finally he stopped after a minute and confronted me.

"Hey, Julie. If you're thinking that Jayden is as old as my father, you're thinking wrong. Jayden is as old as your descendants!"

"What?!"

"He's 354 years old."he just uttered bluntly.

Then it hits me.

Sh*t, my head is spinning again.

No,not this time...

My vision got fuzzy and the next thing I remember was that I'm lying on the cold floor and heard Simon's scream.

-----

"Hey, this is the second time she fainted because of you. Show her some care."Even before I opened my eyes, I could hear Simon lecturing Jayden.

I opened my eyes and the faces of two people arguing. "You brought her here, you take care of her." I just laughed in my mind as I continued to listen to Simon's lectures to Jayden. But Jayden seems to have had enough.“And who the hell told you to tell her my age, you freaking idiot! Of course, she will pass out!”

The two of them glanced at me and I saw Jayden avert his gaze the moment our eyes met.

"Wait, she still sees you?"I looked at Simon. I did not know why it was amazing to know that I can still see Jayden.

"She's not fully conscious.She shouldn't be seeing you, man."I got up from my bed and checked where I was.

"You take me here at my uncle's hospital?" Jayden shrugged before he took his seat.

"Simon got a hard time taking you to exclusive hospital so we decided to take you to the nearest."I notice Jayden avoiding eye contacts now. Seriously, what's the matter with him?

"Don't worry, Julie. We took care of the hospital bills so all you have to do is to rest." Simon broke off the weird atmosphere between me and Jayden. Because of what he did, I became a bit comfortable because he just kept talking and talking until we had fun because of Simon’s silliness.

"But something's bothering me," Simon said. He raised his index finger and pointed at me."How can you still see Jayden when you just suddenly gain your consciousness? You can't have a strong feeling of happiness when you're subconscious, do you think?" I turned to Jayden and he looked puzzled as I am.

"Come to think of it. You never lose sight of him ever since so maybe others will--"

"Stop it, Simon. You're becoming delusional. Julie is not the other people so stop spurting that my life will get normal again."he said firmly before leaving the room

I turned to Simon and just shrugged his shoulders.

He said 'again.' So his life was normal back then...but what happened?

I was lost in my thoughts when Simon snapped his fingers at me. "Don't think too much, Juls. Take time to rest." then he gave me his reassuring smile.

***

There is a room at the end of the road Jayden is walking to. He stopped on his track and took a glance at every detail of the door. He even made his hand travel to the furnish of the wooden door until his hand reached the doorknob. He twisted it and pushed the door as it opened. Before he knew it, he entered the room without hesitation.

It's pitch black inside and after a while, a luminous light started to appear. Jayden stood there frozen and not able to move a muscle.

Then the light flashes that made Jayden close his eyes. The memories of his past flash before his eyes and those were the dark moments of his life.

"I love you." Then he felt the soft lips of the woman he longed for many years. The sky was dark and the moon was the only thing that gave them light. They are in the middle of the forest and they are trying to steal some seconds to rest their heart from hatred.

Jayden didn't move and savor the moment with the one he loves.

He had his answer in between their sweet kisses.

Then another memory flashes but he is in another setting...

The falling of the leaves seems like autumn. The atmosphere is so eerie, he find himself catching his breath. The hat almost covered his face and Jayden is not bothered by it. Actually, he meant to cover his face.

After several shouts he heard from the crowd, Jayden started to run again. He must get out of there before anyone sees him.

Then the third memory flashes.

He heard a shot coming from the gun of the man he was hiding from. But the bullet didn't land on any part of his body. After a shot comes another shot. The shots almost sound infinite but when the gun stopped firing bullets, he saw the bodies of the people who sacrificed their lives for him.

He didn't move--- no, he can't move. Tears flow from his eyes while he caress the face of the woman he cherished the most.

Her hand is now cold and she isn't smiling anymore.

Jayden looked at the silhouette of the man as it walked towards the end of the street. There are no people who he can ask for help because all of them were afraid after they heard the sound of the gunshots.

After seconds, he realized the lives he lost and shouted the names of his loved ones.

It was getting dark and Jayden just woke up to the loud noise coming from the kitchen.

***

"JULIE!" he heard Simon shouted and he ran to where it was. Jayden saw two people in the kitchen struggling to put out the fire coming from the burnt utensils.

Everything happened so quickly and the fire spread to almost half of the kitchen. Jayden could do nothing but shout at the people around him.He tried to pick up the fire extinguisher in their room but he realized something.

***

"I can act like a normal human but I can't let anyone notice my presence or else I will disappear like bubbles."Jayden simply explains to little Simon as it builds a sand castle.

"Why it should be that way? Can't you have some fun?"the child asked innocently and Jayden just pinched his nose.

"Of course I can have some fun too! I'll just have to make sure that no one is around, right?"

***

Half an hour passed and the fire was extinguished, the fire that consumed Simon's entire kitchen and storage area.

Julie just stared at Jayden who was sulking in the corner.

"Can I ask you a question again, Simon?" Simon just nodded and wiped his nose, which was covered with dust."Why Jayden doesn't disappear when we can see him? When we noticed his presence? When we can see him act normal?" Julie couldn't help but ask especially since it had been bothering her for a few days. She was about to give up and accept that Simon could not answer her question when he suddenly spoke.

"That's why we can't let go of you. Actually, before we met you... I can only hear and feel Jayden. I don't see him. I'm only know his facial features based on the description he always said to me. Sometimes, it becomes exaggerated that goes into arrogance."

So,for the past 200 years or something...I'm the first who saw Jayden? Julie asked herself.

"I saw Jayden for the first time after he came home, telling me that he met a woman who saw him on the rooftop of the hospital. Then we are still figuring out why you are seeing him until now. We thought it was only for 'near-death' people.It is only a hunch for us if really ecstatic people only can see him."

The information she got is too much for her to handle for a few seconds so Julie thought of clearing her mind for a while because it was still a bit chaotic back there.

Even before she could get to the garden at the back of the mansion, she was frozen and does not know what to feel what she just saw.

Did I see Jayden crying? There was something in his eyes.