Pay the Price

Chapter 5- Searching for Christopher

"Alright, everyone, Christopher ran into the forest in that direction." Elizabeth pointed to where she was talking about. "Delilah, Connor, and Myrah are grouped together and finding him. Bryson and Larisa are paired, and just went after him. We all are either going to pair up or go in trios, except Grayson and Ophelia, and go look for him." She declared.

"What if he runs away?" Lillian asked, apprehensive since he had already fled twice. "He's a really fast runner."

"He's running off adrenaline, and adrenaline wears off. His ankle is also very injured. Just be calm, don't scream, and try to keep quiet. That's mostly directed at Malena. However, don't sneak up on him. Make your presence known to him, and slowly walk to him. Tell him who you are." Elizabeth directed. "Alright, let's go."

Seeing as there were already two groups out in the forest, the chances of finding Christopher was slightly increased. Connor sighed, trying to think about what he'd do in his brother's place, but the truth was that he didn't even know how Christopher behaved. All he had observed was that Christopher would be excellent at Hide N' Seek.

Myrah was wavering in the heat, and she looked almost sick. Delilah helped her sit in the shade of a tree by a small, clear pond. Connor tested the cleanliness of the pond, which he learned how to do from an advanced science program he was in, then drenched his hand. He held his hand to his sister's forehead, hoping to cool her head down.

"I know we want to find Christopher really badly, but we need to get Myrah home." Delilah said, doing the same thing as Connor, putting her hand to the back of her younger sister's neck. "We need to eat something. Judging by the position of the sun, it's almost midday."

Connor agreed, but they had to wait until Myrah was well enough to get up. It was either that, or carrying her, and Myrah despised being carried anywhere for any reason. She'd rather wait.

Footsteps caught their attention, and they got their hopes up thinking it was Christopher. But it was just their uncle Bryson and aunty Larisa. Larisa stuck close to her husband, evidentially calming down from some sort of an anxiety attack. They didn't notice their nieces and nephew, but that was because they kept silent.

"How does a boy with a probably broken ankle run so fast?" They heard their uncle ask, which, Connor couldn't even lie, impressed him a bit. He couldn't even walk down stairs with a mildly sprained ankle, and he was an athlete, but his brother could sprint up hills with a fracture or breakage, and he was all skin and bones.

"Connor, I think you should keep looking for Chris." Delilah told him, helping Myrah stand. "He may go to you more willingly than anyone else." When Connor gave a confused expression, Myrah spoke.

"The second he recognised your face yesterday, he clung onto you like a koala. He barely let you let him go." She murmured. "He wouldn't do the same for us. Keep looking for him. We'll be fine."

He listened, going to follow their aunty and uncle so he wasn't alone in such a dangerous place. Myrah and Delilah made their way back to town, where the former was taken to a doctor. As for Delilah, it was her and her husband, Carlos. So, she decided to go to a person who could help them find a home.

She went to the Salvador residence, knocking on the door, where a man, Julio Salvador answered.

"Good day, Delilah." He smiled. "What brings you here?" He questioned, and his daughter, Raelene, walked up behind him to see who was there. She smiled at Delilah.

"Our house was burned down. Do you know if there is any empty homes for us to live in for the time being?"

~

Everyone searched and called for Christopher, who was hiding out of fear of being harmed. He didn't recognise any of their voices, except Connor's, so he didn't know if Maria' voice was also in the crowd. In the moment, even to the evening, he was the family's priority. They wanted to find him, bring him home, give him food, a room, warm clothing, and the love and care he hadn't gotten for years.

Malena and Hernando weren't as frantic as the rest of the family. Both out of anger because of the reality of the situation, and guilt because everything Connor and Myrah said was right. They legally abandoned Christopher, and he ran because of them.

Connor was the only one in the entire family who didn't stop to rest, eat food, or drink water. His determination to find his lost brother outweighed any of those necessities in his mind. He didn't even realise how close his brother actually was to him. All he had to do was look up.

His brother, Christopher, was hiding in a tree. It was a good hiding place, and he could take the pressure off of his foot, which was getting progressively worse.

As for Christopher, he was looking down at his family. He wanted to jump down and go to them, but he still didn't know if the Zandailias' were out there, looking for him. He was getting a headache as well from his half blurry vision. It was different if he was in a pitch-black room, but it was light out.

He watched as Bryson and Larisa tried to comfort Connor, who was losing more and more hope as more time went on without his brother in sight. All he'd ever wanted was for someone to love him and care for him like his aunty and uncle were for his brother. He hadn't had a form of affection in ten years, albeit from actions or words. Tears pricked his eyes, running down his face as he watched the scene.

Eventually, he realised that his face was wet with tears, so he quickly wiped at his face, sniffling lightly. He didn't want to cry until he had a pillow to cry into. That caught Connor's attention, and he looked upwards, spotting the brother he was searching for, and his eyes lit up.

"Chris." He whispered, then walked to the base of the tree. "Come here, Chris. Can I check your ankle?" He held out his arms, prepared to catch his brother who was clearly in a too injured state to climb down. "I promise I will catch you."

Bryson and Larisa looked up, gasping as they saw their nephew in the tree. Hesitantly, Christopher sat on the branch, prepared to slip down, but he hesitated. There was a possibility he wouldn't be caught. There was a possibility they'd hurt him. There was a possibility Maria was near.

But his brother was the one there. His brother spent so much time looking for him, he was the one who went out of his way to discover what happened to Christopher, he was the one who tried everything he could to make sure Christopher's identity remained hidden for as long as possible.

Ultimately, Christopher jumped down, wincing as he was caught by his brother. Connor slowly lowered Christopher onto the ground, quickly checking his ankle to see the severity of the injury. But Christopher just wanted to be hugged, not checked on.

"Oh my gosh." Larisa whispered, patting Christopher down to see if he'd react to any other injuries. If he did, they'd have to be checked. If he didn't, then they were on the road to healing. As for Bryson, he was checking Christopher's eyes.

"Ow." He murmured, curling against the tree to get away from them. His throat throbbed from speaking, but the swelling was almost gone. Connor stood behind his brother, hoisting him up into a standing position, testing to see how well he could walk forward.

"Goodness," Bryson murmured, helping his nephew to the lake so he could dip his swollen foot into the cool water. Christopher's foot was held there for a while, Connor held him up, and eventually Christopher started kicking up water.

Larisa chuckled lightly as her nephew messed around with the water, amused as he found entertainment in kicking water around. Unfortunately, his fun was short-lived as he had to be taken home as soon as possible for him to get rest and food.

"Alright, that should soothe the swelling temporarily. Hospital staff will give proper remedies to heal it in no time." Connor stated. "I'll get you to a doctor as soon as possible, but right now, we just need to get you home and out of the cold."

Christopher froze in place. He hadn't faced his family in years. He didn't know if he could do it. He froze and refused to move from where he stood. He wouldn't be able to walk properly anyway.

He couldn't go home. He was too worried to go home. He and his family would be in horrible danger if he did. But when Connor physically began carrying Christopher, he had no reason but to live with the fact he had to go home.