Jayla Blaze
-Daughter of the Ghost Rider-
Featuring - Johnny Blaze
-The Ghost Rider-
Interacting with: Each other
"...""...""...""...""Jay Jay, please say something. I can hear your silence over the radio and it's making me uneasy!"Shifting in her seat on the passenger side of her own
car, Jayla tucked the toe of her boot behind the hell of the opposite one, twisting her torso as to give her father her back even further,
really making an effort to look out the window as the scenery passed them by.
"...""Jayla... Please..."The softer tone her father was taking with her nearly broke her heart. Despite everything the two of them had been through over the last few years, despite the fact that he had kept his identity as The Ghost Rider secret from her, only to get caught up in the thick of it all and forever changing her life as she became the second Ghost Rider, despite her wanting to spend more time with him only to get shot down because he wanted her safe, despite him having to post bail on her a handful of times for the trouble she managed to land herself in with school and illegal street racing, despite her mother being kidnapped (and possibly killed) by the Devil himself... despite everything... she still loved him. And she would always love him. She couldn't just keep ignoring him the way she had been once he had decided for her that taking her to the academy was the best thing for her. Not because he couldn't teach her about her powers himself. Not because he felt like she needed a better education. But because he felt it was the safest place for her to be.
"There's nothing to say, dad. I'm getting dropped off at the babysitters, I'm to be a good kid, and I'll see you again soon. And then maybe we could go out for ice cream."The dry sarcasm in her voice did not go unnoticed by her father, who gave her a sideways glance before sighing. She got that from him. Most everything about her, actually, came from him, except maybe her nose. She had her mother's nose. His gut clenched at her memory. For months, now, she had been gone. Not a word from the bastard that took her and only a thin line of hope that he might return her unscathed once the job was finished.
"...you know I'm doing this for you. I can't have you out there right now. It's too risky.""Dad! I'm cursed, same as you. I can't get hurt! This fucki-""Jayla! That's enough!" Her father's stern voice cut through her like wet tissue, and Jayla relaxed her tensing body back down into her leather seat, now looking forward but slouched and with her arms crossed over her chest.
"While yes, I want you safe, this is beyond that. I need your mother to remain safe, too. I can't-""-You can't have me fucking things up." There was a silence between the two of them. They had, had this argument plenty of times before. He thought her incapable of doing anything right. He thought her too inexperienced, too unpredictable. She was nothing but a liability and he didn't trust her - not when it came to her mother.
"I've been dealing with Mephisto for many years now-" There was a squeak from a covered cage in the back seat.
"Shut up! He wasn't talking about you!""-he's capable of so much. Jay Jay, I don't know what he's going to do to your mother, if he hasn't already. And I don't want to even think about it. Just trust me that I'll do this the right way and bring her back to us. After this is all over, I'll help you out, okay? But let me just do this...""He chose me for a reason, dad! He wants me to help you get this guy! He didn't just-""-he chose wrong." His words stung, and Jayla was vaguely aware of tears that were starting to prick at the corners of her eyes. As much as she hated being cursed into the Ghost Rider job, she hated not being amount to anything in her father's eyes even more.
"...he chose wrong... at this current time..." Johnny then reiterated, after realizing that he had misspoken.
"...we're here..." Jayla had no problems in changing the subject. She wasn't going to have this argument with him. Not again. She couldn't take it.
The two drove in silence as they approached the campus, the only sound being the static of the radio signal lost long ago and the occasional bump Johnny's motorcycle wheels would sound when hitting a rock or some other small debris. It was the easiest way to travel - both head up to the academy in Jayla's car with Johnny's bike being towed from behind in a small trailer, and then Johnny take the bike back, leaving Jayla her car. He had his hesitations about leaving her car to begin with, not certain if she wouldn't just take off the moment he did... he just hoped that by doing so, he was showing her that he
did trust her.
The moment they were parked, Jayla got out rather hastily and slammed the door shut. Her fingers dug into her back pocket where a bent (and obviously used) packet of cigarettes resided. Pulling them out, she was quick to procure a cancer stick and perch it between her lips, lighting it with just a finger and took in the heavy smoke.
Johnny, after ensuring that the car was properly parked and off, began the process of unloading the backseat of Jayla's things and setting them to the side - a few suitcases and the covered cage where Jayla's bat had settled himself back down to sleep.
"...Do you want me to walk you in?""No. I've got it." she replied quickly, but made no urgent move to get going.
Sighing, and running his hand through his hair, Johnny went through the same habit of reaching to his back pocket, pulling out a cigarette, and lighting it with the tip of his finger. Although they were on opposite sides of the car and couldn't properly see one another, they both took in a drag, blew it out, and sighed.
Keeping the cigarette between his practiced lips, Johnny, after a few moments, picked up her things and carried them over to her side of the car, setting them by her feet.
"I'll be in touch as much as I can. But I need you to at least give this place a try. What- what is this? How do you plan to make a good impression like that?" With hands free, Johnny plucked the cigarette from his daughter's mouth and tossed it aside. Jayla's eyes, in that precise moment, made their Penance Stare look like a fucking joke.
"I love you, Jay Jay. This will all be over soon." He brushed away the dark hair covering one side of his daughters face and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead. Jayla felt almost forced to wrap her arms around her father in a tight hug, pressing the side of her face into his chest. He was being such an ass lately, but she couldn't deny that she loved him too. But she wasn't about to say it. She was still angry...
Pulling herself away after a few moments, she wiped her sleeve across her face, collecting any stray liquid that might have escaped and snatched her keys from her father's grasp.
"Yeah... whatever." Grabbing her things, stacking the smaller suitcase on the larger one and holding the cage in the other hand, Jayla headed towards the school where she would be spending quite a bit of time, it seemed. She almost forgot to even notice that there were so many others all around her - each with their own story as to how and why they were there. She didn't know any of these people - their parents, perhaps, but only in story. And she... she was perhaps the same to them. Did anyone even know that Ghost Rider had a kid? Hell... she didn't even know herself until just recently.
God she missed living out in the country...