Freedom Is The Choice Between Love And Duty

“Jakal...”

He blinked his eyes, the soft voice causing his head to spin.

There was so much pain.

He looked down to see a beautiful face, pale in the fluorescent light.

Why does she look familiar?

He noticed that his hands were wrapped around her neck, was he checking for a pulse?

He couldn’t feel- wait! There, it’s slow, but he was sure he felt it.

Who is this girl?

It hurt to think, his head pulsing in agony.

He slowly released the woman’s neck, gently laying her down.

What had she called out? Jakal?

Was that his name?

Did she know him?

She looks so familiar. Maybe he ran into her at a store?

“Well done, my son.”

He turned to look at the woman who walked in.

Why does he feel the need to cause this woman pain?

And son? He could never think of hurting his own mother.

Ugh, the pain was impossible now, maybe he should stop thinking.

“I was worried you would pull back at the last second, but you pulled through for us.” She knelt beside the unconscious girl.

“What are you talking about?” even his own voice sounded foreign.

“Hmm, it seems you have memory loss. That’s okay, I suppose it’s better that way, though you do seem a little human at the moment, but that might be because you’ve accomplished you objective.”

“What objective?” he had to talk past his dry throat

“To kill her.” She pointed to the girl

“I-I did that?!” he was horrified

“Yes, and you did a very good job. Watching her try to fight you made my day.” She seemed proud

“What do you mean?”

“She didn’t want to hurt you, even when you chocked the life out of her. She always pulled back her hits, never truly hitting you.”

He looked down at the pale girl, wondering why she wouldn’t fight him.

“Why?”

“Hmm?” the woman hummed

“Why wouldn’t she fight me?”

The older lady laughed, “Because she was in love with you. The fool, who would love an animal?”

He felt his heart clinch, even as he saw red at her words, “Animal?”

“Of course, though it didn’t last long, we’ll have to do it again, but I’m sure next time we’ll get it right.”

“Next time?” he gritted through his teeth

“Yes, but first we have to get rid of the girl. It won’t be good if she’s found here.” The lady rose

“Who is she?”

She smiled, making goose bumps travel up and down his body, “Lily Lion, though I believe you referred to her as ‘Princess’.”

The last word had memories shoving through the pain. With each new memory, the pain increased, but he knew one thing for sure:

He just killed the woman he loved.

Shock registered on his mother’s, fore now he could remember just who she was, face. He leapt, his hands now around her neck, squeezing until she passed out just as his father entered the room.

“Now, son, just calm down.” He held his hands out in front of him.

“I’m not your son,” Jakal growled, jumping and squeezing until his father was out as well.
Standing, Jakal lifted Lily up, cradling her as he walked out of the room, stopping to see John in the hallway.

“Move,” Jakal growled

“Look, I don’t want either of us to get hurt, and I really don’t want to end up like mom and dad-”

“Then move,” Jakal interrupted

There must have been something in his voice, but John did as he was told, allowing Jakal to walk past him.

“If you take a left, then two rights, you’ll find the garage.” John yelled down the hall.
Walking fast, Jakal made it to the garage, it was where John said it would be, maybe he’d kill his bother faster then his parents.

Wrenching the door open and ignoring the shrill sound of the small car’s alarm, Jakal gently laid Lily in the passenger seat, reclining the chair so she was comfortable.
He could still feel her soft pulse.

Rushing to the other side, Jakal ripped the wires to the alarm, cutting off the sound and hot wired the car into action.

Soon he was speeding down the deserted road, the fast little car leaving dust in their wake.
He needed to find a phone- oh, what a coincidence, there was a phone hooked up to the car.

Reaching, he lifted the device to his ear and dialed the number he knew by heart.

The ringing made his head ache even more.

“Do you know just what time it is?!” the angry voice on the other end questioned.

Jakal looked to see that it was dark, the moon high in the sky, he must have wakened the man.

“We have a Code Black.” Jakal spoke softly

“What?!” Adrian screamed into the phone, “Where is she?!”

“In the passenger seat, unconscious.”

“Where are you going?! I’m meeting you right now."

“Don’t bother, I’m heading your way, we’ll be there in about thirty minutes.”

“Tell me what happened.” Jakal could hear rustling, what sounded like clothes being thrown around.

“I’ll debrief when we get there.” Jakal placed the phone back where he found it.

~*~

“I want to know what happened, now.”

Jakal had made it to Lily’s home within twenty minutes of his call, breaking all known and unknown traffic laws.

She was currently sleeping in her room, Carmella and their healer with her.

At least her pulse was back up.

Jakal was currently sitting in Adrian’s office, the man pissed.

Jakal would be too, if he was about to know his friend was the one to hurt his sister.

So Jakal told Adrian everything, going through the taking to the leaving.

By the time he was done Adrian looked more leopard then human.

But before the Lord could speak, Jakal rose and walked to the door.

“Don’t worry, I’m leaving. I’ve done enough damage.”

And he walked out the door, striding passed a concerned Carmella as she descended the stairs.

“Jakal?”

He ignored her call, walking to the car and driving away, making a promise to himself.

He would never endanger the woman he loved again.

So he walked out of her life, planning never to return.