Losing You Terrifies Me

Chapter 42

Walter had long ago given up on being found by Morgan in their game of hide and seek. Normally Morgan had Applesauce to help him look and Applesauce made the game go a bit quicker, but Alana had taken to the vet for a checkup.

So now, instead of being found, and he hadn't even picked that difficult of a place to hide, he sat in the cold and slightly muddy dirt and let his finger drag through it until the brown was caked around and under his index fingernail. He was about to give himself up and go find Morgan when some hushed voices caught his attention. His movements stopped and he leaned up against the corner of the house he was hiding behind, pretending like he didn't exist in hopes that they wouldn't notice him.

It wouldn't have been that big of an issue, but they had mentioned him. Not by name of course, he doubted that any of the staff knew his name, but who else could that strange older boy be?

"His dad just up and left?" a deep voice asked before there was a rumbling laugh. "Pathetic."

"That just makes our job easier, doesn't it?" another voice asked. This one sent a chill through Walter, reminding him of Mark Hamill's Joker voice. Raspy and sing-songy. "No man in the house. We could handle a couple of kids and the women."

"That wedding ring the bitch is wearing is enough to get us out of debt," the deeper voice expounded, causing Walter's mouth to go dry. He nearly wanted to lean around the wall to see who they were, but couldn't bring himself to unfreeze his body. "Could you imagine what we could do with the whole house?"

Walter blinked blankly ahead, mind completely trapped in the conversation, so much so that he almost didn't notice Morgan rounding the corner of the house. The boy's face lit up as he saw Walter and Walter jumped up, grabbing Morgan and dragging the boy down and into the mud. Walter's hand clapped over Morgan's mouth and he put the muddied finger to his lips to tell Morgan to be silent.

Morgan gave a confused look with brows furrowed over his blue eyes. Walter didn't remove his hand though. He kept it firmly over Morgan's mouth and focused back on the conversation that Morgan had hopefully not interrupted.

"-dinner."

"No one would hear a thing," the deep voice chuckled. "We're so far away from everyone and they have that meat processor in that barn. Easy clean up. The pigs can have them after that."

"Tonight?"

"Too soon," the other argued. "We need to scout out the house a bit more."

"Fine. I'll get my hands on some-"

"Shut the fuck up and get back to work," another voice ordered, this one sterner. "We have to finish shoveling out the pig pens."

"Fuck that shit," the raspier one groaned.

Walter's focus was torn away from the conversation once more as Morgan tried to pry his hand away with a muffled groan. Walter's gaze sharpened and he shook his head, once more placing his index finger to his lips to try to silence the boy. Morgan nodded with desperate eyes and Walter let his hand fall away, leaving Morgan's skin flushed in a perfect handprint.

"Go back to the house," Walter more mouthed than whispered. "We need to find your moms."

Morgan gave another unsure nod and got to his feet, the legs of his pants coated in mud. Walter followed, guiding Morgan the opposite way of the voices. Once inside of the house, Walter closed and locked the door behind them, though what good it would do, he wasn't sure, but it helped settle him just slightly.

"Come on," he muttered, taking Morgan's hand and dragging him through the house.

"Wally, you're getting the floor dirty," Morgan whined, pulling at Walter's hand. "Mom will get mad-"