"Hey Jack, do you want to help decorate?" Hailey asks.
Her question brings me out of my concentration and I take notice that Jack had joined us. He shakes his head no, taking a seat nearby.
"Amy kicked you out for some fresh air huh?" Wade guesses. Jack shakes his head in a yes motion before he reaches forward and fiddles with one of the decorations in front of him. He has bags under his eyes and his skin was looking kinda clammy. I was certain if it wasn't for everyone force feeding him, he probably would have lost a few pounds.
It pained me to see him so hurt.
"Has Amy given you any good news about Mark?" Hailey asks. Jack mutters some words and then makes a motion with his hand.
I have no idea what he said.
"He said that Amy believes Mark is doing better than he was but he is healing at an incredibly slow rate. The strain on his body is not good either." Wade elaborates. Angie makes her way into our decorating area and takes a seat next to Jack. She was holding a book, "Jack, could you give me a hand with something?" Her voice is tender and it seems to pull him out of his dissociation. He nods his head slightly.
She opens the book, "I found this in one of the shops and I was trying to decide where these should go." She holds up photos. Curious, I make my way over to look. She has pictures from the last few days of everyone being happy and excited.
"Where'd you get the camera?"
"I found it." Angie answers, making a small motion to shoo me away. I step away from the table and just watch from afar.
"Could you help me put together a photo album?" She smiles softly.
Jack tilts his head and grabs a photo, "I guess so." He frowns in concentration.
"I'm trying to keep his mind off of his upsetting situation." Angie let's me know with Wade's help. "Also I wanted it to be a wedding gift for when we can put together their dream wedding."
That's nice of you to do. I turn away from them and go back to my decorations.
"A heavenly light appeared before people to what??" Hailey questions.
"The villagers were trapped in blinding snow, unable to find shelter in the storm. Afraid they were going to die, some cried out to the heavens for help; the heavens answered with warm lights bright enough to see for miles allowing them to find shelter." I recall from history class. Hailey wandered over to help me with my decorations, "Do you think if we ask for help, the heavens will answer??"
I merely shrug, "Your guess is as good as mine." I didn't really want to get into beliefs and different religions. I usually sit on the fences anyway, not sure which way to lean.
"Wow Jack, you have quite the eye!" Angie smiles as she picks up the photo album, flipping through the pages that Jack just got done with. Jack lays his head down on the table, letting out a heavy sigh, "I don't know if I want to celebrate anything."
I felt bad. Mark was shot during our escape plan. We both insisted that we save them, but maybe I should have left Jack behind? He wouldn't have been used as a tool against Mark.
"C-can I help?"
The small voice breaks me from my muddled thoughts and I look around and then down at the tugging on my clothes. It's Bob's little one.
"Of course." I smile warmly before handing the little boy an extra streamer, "Do you think you could hang that in a super special place?" His eyes light up with the thought of being in charge of something special. He grips the streamer with his tiny hands and nods his head furiously, swiftly making his way away from us.
"You sure have a way with kids." Angie smiles as she watches the little one run by. I laugh a bit, "Oh, not really. I'm not completely a fan of children."
"Really?" She sounds surprised.
"I never really had time to deal with kids," I recall my musical career.
"How come?"
"Well I was a musician, I housed a lot of important musical instruments and pages of music in my house. Kids would probably run a muck and just make a mess of the place." I grabbed my decorations and went to finally hang them. Hailey follows to help me.
"What about now?" Angie asks.
"Now what??" I didn't understand her question.
"About kids now?" She elaborates on her question. I stand on a chair and grab some nails to hang the decorations.
I thought about her question and then just shrugged. I didn't know how to answer her. I didn't really lean either way with kids.
"So what day does the festival start?" Hailey breaks up the small silence. She's on another chair, hanging the other side of the decoration I was working on.
"I think it starts tomorrow night." I glanced outside to see the sun was still shining.
"Ooh! How exciting!" She moves her body in a way that looks like she's trying to do an excited dance.
"Ethan, do you drink?" I hear Wade ask.
I drank a little bit, why?
"I thought for the festivities, we could all relax with a nice cold drink so I went to the store to get some alcohol." He answers and I tilt my head a bit.
I guess if we are responsible about it, it should be fine.

The celebration came with a blink of an eye. Bob had started a controlled bonfire, in the middle of a clearing.
The kids were shuffling around in their own little group as most of the adults just gathered around the fire to get comfortable. Wade had passed out the drinks and it was rolling into a smooth evening. Felix takes a swig from his beer bottle, staring intensely at the fire in the middle of the circle.
"Am I old enough to drink?" Hailey asks as she takes a seat next to her father. Felix glances at her, slightly raising an eyebrow at her, "Depends on how old you are."
"I'm 20. At least I think? If Andrew was being honest about my birthday." She replies. Wade reaches down into the cooler and then tosses a bottle her way, "You can try but if you don't like it, don't waste it." She catches the bottle and has her father pop the top off for her. She brings it close to her face before she jerks her head back, "You guys drink this stuff?? It stinks."
"It all depends on the person. I drink it just to loosen up a little bit." Bob states.
We all watch as she brings the bottle to her lips and tilts it back to take a taste.
"Ugh! Ew!" She spits out what she didn't swallow, "It's disgusting!" Felix slaps his leg, letting out a howling laughter at her reaction, "Definitely your momma's girl!" She hands the bottle to her father, who takes it from her and sets it to the side. "I don't understand the appeal??" Hailey says, making faces at the lingering taste in her mouth. Felix can't get any words out as he's completely overtaken with laughter. He wipes away tears that start down his face, "That is the funniest reaction I've seen in a long time!"
I didn't realize he was capable of anything but a harsh glare.
I hear Bob and Wade stifle a few chuckles and I smile lightly.
"Again, depends on the person." Bob starts, "Some drink for fun, some drink to relax, some drink during hard times."
Felix begins wheezing, trying hard to catch his breath from his sudden laughter. I can't help but also laugh.
"Hoo boy," Felix takes in a deep breath "That reminds me of a frat party." He wipes some more tears away and then clears his throat, "I had only been to small high school parties so this was new on a lot of levels. I was friends with this one kid who said that he was a champion at chugging beer, which as many of you know is a good way to issue a challenge in a frat party." He looks around at us as he tells his story, "Anyways, it comes to his turn and they get the funnel all ready, he starts to chug, getting maybe one third of the beer down before he pulls back. He starts complaining that they aren't holding the funnel right and making it harder for him. Right at the same time, this hot chick walks by him, keep in mind he looks paler than the moon, she accidentally bumps into him and he turns to confront her for it. He says one word and then he vomits all over the poor girl!" Felix starts chuckling again, "It was the girl he had been crushing on the whole night!" The laughter that had subsided earlier, comes back at full force. "Awe dude, that sucks for him." Wade laughs, "I saw a girl do the exact same thing in high school, claimed she could hold her liquor and didn't even get one beer down before she vomited all over the star quarterback!"
"I remember that!" Bob recalls, lightly smacking Wade's shoulder, "I was stuck at the designated driver, luckily it wasn't my car that ended up smelling like vomit after that party."
Tyler makes his way over to join the party. He sits down next to me.
"Beer?" Wade offers.
He shakes his head no, "I'm not a huge drinker, thanks anyways."
"Yeah, no problem." Wade shrugs.
Angie walks over to the group, clapping her hands lightly to gather our attention, "Guys, the children have something that they want to share with you. They have been working on it for a while." The group quietly mutters 'okays' or 'yeah alright' and we collectively shift to look in the direction of the children. Angie waves the children over and they seem extremely happy as they line up and a little girl walks forward slightly. She fiddles with her shirt, "We w-wanted to thank you for h-helping us so we came up with a little song and dance." She stutters through the words. She steps back in line and Angie counts them in before some begin the song. In all honesty, they couldn't harmonize very well. It hurt my ears, but I plastered a smile on my face at their efforts. Some of the kids break away and begin a roughly practiced dance number as a couple of them walk over and shower us with flower petals and leaves. After a painstakingly few minutes, the children come back together and finish the song; collectively we clap our hands and cheer for them. Bob's son makes his way over after the kids separate from each other to go back to playing their games. "Did you see me Daddy??"
"I saw you, you did so well!" Bob praises him, ruffling his hair. A woman I don't recognize makes her way over and collects the little boy, "I think it's past your bedtime." She has short dark hair that settles at her shoulders. She's wearing a sort of blouse shirt and a pair of jeans. She's no taller than Hailey.
"But I want to stay up with Dad." The young one whines, rubbing his sleepy eyes. Bob chuckles lightly but raises his hands to take his son, "I can watch him Mandi."
"Are you sure?" She questions.
"Yeah, he's not going to bother anyone. We're just telling stories anyway." Bob reassures her. She glances around before she sighs, "Alright, alright but just this once." She sets her boy back on his feet. He jumps around, cheering happily. Mandi excuses herself to help Angie round up the other children and send them to bed.
"When are we going to see the lights that everyone talks about?" Bob's son asks him. Bob glances up at the sky. It had been dark for a few hours and the moon was hanging lowly in the sky surrounded by beautiful stars.
"I don't actually know when we will see the lights, it might be soon but it also might be a few hours from now." He answers honestly. I thought about the question but I can't recall going over the time that the lights showed up in the history lesson. Also it was years ago, there could be more that I just can't remember about it. Jack shuffles in his chair, every so often looking back to where Mark is laying. He looks nervous.
"Jack, you okay?" Wade pats his leg to gain his attention. Jack looks at Wade and then looks down into the fire, "Sorry, I'm not trying to bum the party." "Do you want a drink? Maybe relax?" Wade offers him a drink. Jack looks at it for a few seconds before he snatches it from Wade and downs it.
"Woah! Easy!" Bob calls out.
Jack then throws the empty bottle into the fire and shrugs his shoulders, "Eh, quit your whining. I'm Irish, drinkin' in our blood. You'll all tap out long before I do." He motions to Wade to give him another bottle. Wade, reluctant, gives him another bottle. Jack chugs that one as well.

"Maybe that's enough for you." I state.
Jack was very intoxicated. He leans way over in his seat, pointing at me, "I'm not fucking drunk!" The experimental testing must have messed up his tolerance for alcohol.
I raised my hand, "Don't get snappy, I didn't say you were."
"You were thinking it!" Jack points at me, squinting as if he's having a hard time making out my form from everything else around him.
"Just relax, we all know that you can out drink us." I try to ease his conscience.
He smirks at my words and then leans back in his chair. His gaze drifts down to the fire and then his expression softens.
"...it's tragic."
"What is?" Felix asks him, intrigued.
"Death." Jack doesn't lift his gaze.
"Yeah, it is." Felix agrees.
"It's tragic especially by one's own hands. To snuff out someone's life without a second thought. To watch it fade from their eyes. To watch their movements slow until they cease. The screams make my head ache and keep me awake at night." He shifts his gaze to his hands that he holds out in front of him, they shake slightly.
Felix makes a 'tch' sound; his glare returning to his face, "You shouldn't dwell on it." He takes a swig.
Jack raises his gaze to Felix, suddenly matching his icy glare, "And becomes heartless like you?"
Felix coughs slightly, choking on his drink, "Excuse me?"
"You heard me." Jack snarls.
"I'm not heartless." Felix grumbles, obviously trying to get Jack to drop the pointless argument.
"Clearly." Jack snarks at him.
"Don't listen to him, he's not in his right mind." I can barely make out Bob's whisper above the crackling fire.
Felix shifts in his seat, biting his tongue.
But Jack took Felix's silence as admitting he was right, "See, I was right."
"Alright that's it!" Felix stands abruptly, knocking his chair over and smashing his beer bottle on the ground, "You wanna go!?"
"Yeah I do!" Jack stands, wobbly.
"What is your problem!" Felix makes his way over to Jack, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt, jerking him close to his face.
"You're the problem!" Jack shouts back.
"That doesn't answer anything!"
Jack takes in a heavy breath, "What happened to you man, we used to be best friends! Now all you do is hurl insults at me! And tempt me with the loss of my wings!"
I barely caught the shift in Felix's glare.
"Huh! Are you too good to give me a proper answer!" Jack is full on shouting at Felix, who just slowly lets go of Jack's collar. Jack shoves Felix back now that he had been released, "Answer me dammit!"
"Jack, enough." Hailey makes her way over trying to place herself between them. Jack's glare doesn't leave Felix, ignoring Hailey, "What happened."
"Leave it alone Jack." Felix hisses.
"No! I'm tired of you treating me this way!" Jack is howling at this point.
Hailey grabs his arm, pulling him back to separate them. Jack jerks out of her grasp, "Let go of me!" He gets in her face, "This is none of your fucking business!" Felix takes steps forward, jerking Hailey away from Jack, getting up in his face again, "Don't you cuss at my daughter!"
"I can cuss at whoever the fuck I want!" He spits.
"You need to cool your head." Felix speaks softer, trying to deescalate the fight. Jack staggers a bit, he's panting, "I want an answer." He's slightly quieter.
"It doesn't matter." Felix shakes his head.
"It does matter!" Jack raises his voice, crackling at the extent of his shouting.
"Why? Why does it matter to you so much?" Felix asks.
Jack seems to be stunned by this question, "What do you mean why? Why wouldn't it matter to me? We used to be so close and suddenly you just distanced yourself." He becomes quieter again. He wipes away the tears that begin to slip down his face.
Felix closes his eyes briefly before he turns away from Jack to look at the fire.
"Why?" Jack presses.
"Just stop." Felix grumbles.
"Why??"
"Quit."
"I just want to know!"
"Because what was I supposed to do!" Felix snaps, turning back to Jack.
"Watch you guys get taken away to never be seen again! I already lost Maria! I wasn't going to sit by and lose you as well!" He's huffing and glares at Jack. It wasn't his normal icy glare, but one that seemed to be full of fire.
"B-but?" Jack mutters.
"I couldn't stand the possibility of losing my best friend!" It's Felix's turn to shout, spit flings from his mouth.
"As the years go by, I realized I made a fool of myself, but it was too late. I broke our friendship, what was the point of trying to come back?"
"...I would have understood, Felix, I would have taken you back with open arms." Jack replies. Felix looks as if he had just been slapped across the face. He swallows and then turns back to the fire. It becomes eerily silent.
Jack wobbles on his feet, struggling against his drunken nature. Felix turns away from the group and walks off into the dark woods nearby.
"Jack, why don't you take a seat?" Wade stands and offers him his hand.
Jack just stares where Felix had stomped off to and then looks at Wade, "I'm tired."
"I'll take you back to bed." Wade steadies the smaller man and begins to escort him back to the makeshift medical ward.