#jake walker

Everyone stopped. But not him. He couldn’t bring himself to do it.

There had to be a way. There just had to.

“Jake?”

The voice echoed in the cavernous halls of the Rourke Industries archives, and a flick of a switch brought light flooding into the hall where rows upon rows of folders, files and storage of discs and files were kept.

He squinted as he looked up, pushing away his floppy brunette locks until he saw the figure of Aleister in a suit, walking towards him with a worried look carved into his frown. The blond CEO of Rourke Industries paused next to the table Jake had been seated at for god-knows how long now, and he sighed a long, all knowing sigh.

“C’mon, I’ll give you a ride. I’m picking Grace up on the way to Craig and Zahra’s place.”

He frowned, his mind racing to remember why would Aleister know to look for him down here.

His friend saw his perplexed look, and sighed again, running a hand to mess up his perfectly gelled blond locks before he spoke in a patient tone. “We have a dinner party tonight, remember? To celebrate Raj being promoted to sous chef working in Grandina Ramseus?” 

---

He knew why she did it. He knew because he was the same, and he would’ve done the same. But god he wished she didn’t.

“Six years guys! And the first one we didn’t spend at a beach.” Diego made the usual toast, and a ripple of laughter chorused through the group, especially as Aleister laid a palm on Grace’s slightly rounded belly. 

The choice to do the dinner party at Craig and Zahra’s apartment was easy, as their was most central to everyone’s locations, and easy for Michelle and Quinn to get to since they were both still finishing their studies on Hartfeld and remained on campus housing.

“Where’s Varynn?” Sean asked as they all took a swig of their drinks.

“He returned to La Huerta to finalize certain things for the Vaanti and to instate Taari as the new elyshaar.”

“Oh, is he finally old enough?” Quinn exclaimed, excited for he little Vaanti boy who displayed more spirit for his kind then any other they had come across. 

Diego grinned, and nodded, before his eyes turned to Jake, and he sighed again. “Are you at it again?”

“I found him in the archives.” Aleister spoke up, when Jake made no move to respond. “I should revoke the access pass I giv-”

“No!” the pilot immediately shot up in his seat, horrified at the idea. He couldn’t. No. That was his only shot at finding her back. He needed his Serena back.

“Jake, if you don’t be reasonable, we’ll do something about it.”

“Don’t you get it? I’m this close to getting her back.” his whole body was tense as he backed away, not even looking at anyone, a slightly wild look in his eyes. “I’m almost there. I found Rourke’s old plans he used to build La Huerta’s machinery, and his studies on Northbridge, a place called the Prism Dimension. I just... I just have to find Vaanu. He can return Serena to us, I know he can.”

And before anyone else could say anything, Jake dashed out, leaving a pindrop silence within the apartment before Michelle spoke up.

“I... I feel bad for him.”

“I understand,” Sean replied, placing his hand over hers and giving it a tight squeeze. “I think we all do. We all pitched in to help him, but he can’t keep going on like that. I heard he’s even gotten suspended from his job because of how he’s always getting in late and leaving early.”

“What can we do?” Raj muttered.

“I’ll limit his access to the archives.” Aleister finally mentioned. Worried looks were passed around. They knew Jake clung on to his research like it was his final hope, but with how destructive he was being to himself now, it was no longer helping him.

---

“Again, Vaanu?”

“She misses him, Bayu. It’s obvious enough.” the light figure glows with a bright light of happiness when he sees his mate and partner approaching him where he stood observing the swirling blue and white planet. 

“Is there no way we can help her?” Bayu replied, her light glowing with worry. “I feel sad for her. I missed you when you were trapped there.”

“Perhaps.” Vaanu replied, taking his mate’s outstretched palm and tracing his patterns in it. “But the first push has to come from that end.”

---

Sean 09:37PM : Any of you seen Jake?

Michelle 09:38PM: Typing...

Michelle 09:38PM: He sent me a message asking me what was the earliest train to downtown Northbridge.

Aleister 09:41PM: I just checked the system. He hasn’t been in the archives all day. He just left yesterday night. 

Sean 09:41PM: I was calling to see if he wanted to grab a drink after my practice was done today. He hasn’t picked up.

Sean 09:41PM: It’s been 15 minutes.

Raj 09:45PM: I just finished my shift. I’ll go over and check out his apartment.

Diego 09:55PM: Guys, Varynn told us all to head to downtown Northbridge now. Jake’s getting himself in huge trouble.

Zahra 10:02PM: Anyone need a lift? We’re on our way.

---

“What did you see, Varynn?”

In the backseat of the car, Zahra spoke over her shoulder as Craig focused on the wheel, speeding down the highway towards Northbridge. Heavy Friday traffic was making it difficult to make it quicker, but Craig did his best.

“I didn’t.... see anything persay. Just... I heard her.” he paused, and the silence was palpable. Diego slipped a hand into Varynn’s grip and squeezed his boyfriend’s fingers. “I heard Serena. She was panicking. She told me to hurry. And then I saw a building which said ‘Prescott Industries’... and Jake was just staring at it.”

“Have you told them?”

“I sent a location to the group chat two minutes ago. They’re all on their way save for Aleister. He said he’ll-” Diego was cut off when all of their phones buzzed at the same time. Zahra quickly whipped it out to check, and frowned when she saw the picture Aleister just sent of a PNG document.

“Prism Crystals?” she muttered in blank confusion, blinking at the sketches of a pink gem looking object, right next to many articles and diagrams and pictures of tubes. “Liquid prism?” 

“Look, there’s a name. Silas... Prescott. He was unveiling something, and... there’s been an outbreak of the supernatural happening in Northbridge.” Diego muttered, leaning over to let Varynn peek in.

Upon the Vaanti looking at the article however, his eyes widened when he saw the figure of the prism crystal. 

“What is it?” Diego asked in a concerned tone.

“This... gem. Is similar to the Island’s Heart?”

“Wasn’t that what Vaanu said Serena was made from?” Craig spoke up from the wheel.

“And they all come from the same place. This... place called the Prism Dimension, it seems.” Zahra murmured, flicking to the second picture.

“And that’s exactly where Jake is headed.”

---