Lost | Elektra and Liam | The Dumping Ground

Four

Before

I knocked on the door of Sally's house. I looked at Charlie who was kicking at the step in front of her. The door opened suddenly. Sally stood before me, her face looking tired but content. There was a comforting light behind her eyes that reassured me instantly. She was happy to see me.

The pair of us worked together to make dinner and once Charlie was safely in bed, I let the tears flow. This was it. Tomorrow, Charlie would be going to her care home. I wouldn't be responsible for her anymore. I loved her. More than anything in the world. But I had to let her go. Otherwise, she would have run away from me. She would have hated me. Just like I hated my parents.

"It's going to be alright," Sally comforted handing me a box of tissues. "It's not easy but you'll get through it. You're doing this for her, you know. She seems like a mature kid, she'll understand."

"She knows I'm going," I replied wiping my tears. "I just hope she doesn't come to hate me."

"I don't think anyone could hate you. It's just unfortunate. You're a kid yourself and well, the timing's not right!"

I smiled sadly. I had to stay strong for Charlie and fight through it. 

"Have you told Mike?"

"Yeah," I lied quickly. "I'm going up to Manchester, Mike's found a place for me to stay till I get myself sorted."

"That's something, then. You just give me a call once you're ready."

I fiddled with my bracelet. Charlie had made it for me out of pasta.

"So... how did you know Mike?" I asked.

I'd never known much about Sally's life in care, but it was clear to me that she'd trusted Mike to look after me after Callie had gone to prison. And she was right to trust him.

"My dad left us. It was really sudden but Mum took care of me. She got really depressed and she was in no fit state to look after me. Mike's care home was nothing like I'd expected. It felt like home.

"It was different to what I'd imagined. I made a friend quite quickly there. Sara. And I'm still friends with her to this day. Even when my mum died she was always there for me."

"How did your mum die?" I asked without thinking.

"She killed herself. But she loved me. She just couldn't cope."

"Sorry..."

"Don't be. I had people around me: Sara, Aaron..."

"Aaron?"

"My ex. Childhood sweethearts, if you like. He got fostered and forgot about me. But we were inseparable."

"Oh..." I breathed, thinking about Liam.

He'd probably moved on by now. Even though what I had with him felt serious, it probably wasn't. That was just life. People moved on and times changed.

Now

Liam was in his room looking through Elektra's book of poems. With a bit of work, he could make them into songs. What was the point?

He'd come a long way from living his splendid life with Jack. A very long way...

Before

Liam had just started to get used to school and life in London. He was in the middle of Year 10. He frequently texted Frank and the others, having regained contact with the DG. Elektra had been fostered and was living in London. He'd tried texting her but she hadn't replied. She'd either changed her phone or moved on. It seemed more likely that she'd changed her phone as she wasn't contacting anyone.