Jason's eyes were nothing but at empty stare as he gazed across the stage absent mindedly. The windian was sitting in the auditorium during lunch, something that he had been doing for the past few school days now. Leaning up against the curtain, guitar in lap, his fingers blankly plucked over the strings as their random music filled the empty room around him. Jason's mind was a million miles away from his music right now, not like that was any different. In fact, there were a lot of things that were still the same about Jason.

Jason still hadn't been able to get to sleep last night, not like that was any different. The Presence had been there, a little stronger then before. Not like that was any different. Every few nights it seemed like the the Presence was slowly getting stronger and stronger as it haunted the windian.

There was another thing that wasn't different about Jason, and that was the Red Bird. It was still there, and it was still fighting to get out.

However, there was still something very different about Jason Burnhart. Where his thoughts were currently, what power the Presence had managed to use against Jason last night, and the Red Bird, they were all very different because of something that had happened just yesterday after school.

What the fuck are you doing here, Burnhart? Sitting around with your guitar in your lap, hanging out at school like it's still the same old day for you. Fuck, it's not the same, it's never going to be the same again, Burnhart, so why the hell do you keep trying to ignore it? The windian continued to strum absently as the words ran through his head. You can't ignore it. You couldn't before, and you certainly can't now. That Bird is a part of you, and you can't hold it in, no matter what spells you put on it, and you can't fight it, no matter how hard you try. As if to back up that very train of thought, Jason could suddenly feel the Red Bird grow restless inside of him and the windian had to stop in his strumming, closing his eyes as he concentrated on getting the demon to settle back down. It had never been this hard to hold the Red Bird back, atleast not since the barrier that Jim had put on it. There was once before, when Jason had first received the Bird, that the creature had been so over powering that no matter how hard he fought he couldn't hold it back. It wasn't like that now. He had to put a lot of strain into keeping it back, but it was still possible for Jason to fight the Bird.

It's just that sometimes he didn't chose too.

Like yesterday, he didn't chose to fight it.

In fact, he had just lost control over it all together. Not once did he attempt to fight the Bird as it yearned to break free.

That was one of the biggest mistakes Jason felt he had ever made in his life.

Yesterday, after the fight after school had broken out between Justin and Janet and he had gotten involved, Jason had left school grounds in such a rage that he could feel the Bird pulsating through his blood. He had hoped to calm it down, to calm himself down as he headed to the elementary school to pick up Britney. However, it hadn't worked like that, and in the end Jason had lost control of the Bird. The demon had finally broken free of it's barrier, and the consiquences had been too much for Jason, so he didn't try to fight the Bird. He simply gave in and let it take him over.

The windian let out a sigh as the feeling of the demon slowly subsided in him, and once again he went back to strumming on his guitar. Jason couldn't stop thinking about what had happened yesterday. He knew that eventually he would have to tell Ray. He knew that eventually other people would start to notice something that had happened. He also knew that now it wasn't worth fighting the demon. Every fucking thing I ever fought for, every fucking thing, it's gone now... The windian rubbed his eyes and leaned up against the stage curtain with an empty sigh. My old home, Mom, my friends... they're all fucking gone now. There's nothing left of the old me. Jason rubbed his left hand a moment before strumming a few more notes on the guitar.

You could just give up now, Burnhart. That's all you'd have to do. Leave this school, leave the Bendrel's, leave Windia, let the demon out. You wouldn't have to worry anymore. You wouldn't have to fight.

But Jason Burnhart was a fighter. A feeling of anger shot through him as Jason listened to the voice inside of his head, to his own thoughts that seemed to flow against him. Yes, he could just give up, he could just give in, but every time he had done that, every time he hadn't trying to fight, he had always lost something.

But now there's nothing left to lose, Burnhart. What the fuck are you going to lose now if you run?

Jason stopped his strumming and glanced up, staring out across the empty auditorium. What was there? Was there anything left? If there really was nothing left to lose, then why did he keep wanting to fight? What was there left to fight for? There's Britney... That little dragon? Fuck it, Burnhart, so what about her? What's so special about the fucking dragon? I told her I'd keep her safe. I can't keep her safe if I run. So that's it then, huh Burnhart? You going to keep fighting this hell you call a life because of one little dragon? Oh, that's real smart. Stay around with her, maybe she'll just end up dying too. Everyone else has. Brandon did, your mom did, Menolly did, and you know who else did? I'll tell you...

The sound of an off pitch guitar note startled the windian out of his thoughts and he closed his eyes in concentration again as he felt the Red Bird building up inside of him. Maybe it was right, the voice that spoke to him. Maybe it was better if he just left, but still, he wasn't ready to give up that quickly. I won't leave Britney behind, and that is fucking that. Jason attempted to stop his wandering mind by turning his thoughts towards his music as he plucked at the strings again. Slowly, the windian began to work out a tune and sang quietly.

"I never thought I'd die alone
I laughed the loudest, who'd have known?
I traced the chord back to the wall
No wonder it was never plugged in at all
I took my time
I've hurried up
The choice was mine, I didn't think enough.
I'm too depressed to go on
You'll be sorry when I'm gone."

He paused in his singing, continuing to play the tune quietly. The windian began to think back to how things were, before the Red Bird, before he had left with Ray and the others, and before WINGS had broken up. He thought back to Chad and David, when they had run around as the Windian Trio. He even thought back to when Troy was alive, how he had hated the man so much. He thought about all of it, and in all honesty, he missed every single part of it. Fuck, dealing with Troy is better then dealing with this Bird any day. I'd put up with Janet and Candice in the WINGS all over again for David and Chad... shit, I'd even go back to beating the shit out of Ray if it meant Brandon was alive again... But he didn't have the choice to go back to any of that. The windian let out a sigh as he went back to singing.

"I never conquered, rarely came
Sixteen just held such better days
Days when I still felt alive
We couldn't wait to get outside
The world was watching
Hate to try
The tour was over, we'd survived
I couldn't wait 'till I got home
To pass the time in my room alone."

It was easy enough, all he had to do was leave it all behind. You could leave everything, Burnhart, start over, give in to the Bird. You could lose all of your pain, all of your memories. Why do you always try to fight it, Burnhart? Why the fuck do you fight wars you can't win? I'll fight if I wan't to fight. The windian let out another sigh. Because maybe if I fight, then I'll find out that there's still something worth fighting for.

"I never conquered, rarely came
Tomorrow holds such better days
Days when I can still feel alive
When I can't wait to get outside
The world watching
The time goes by
The tour is over, I've survived
I can't wait 'till I get home
To pass the time in my room alone."

So that's it, is it Burnhart? You'll give up on everything, but you'll still fight the Red Bird. The Bird can take all it wants from me, but I'm not going to let it win. That's fine, Burnhart. See, the Bird's a fighter, just like you, so it likes a good challenge...