Make a wish.

20|The worst dinner.

September 16, 1977. 10:46 p.m.

It had been more than twenty-four hours since Vance Hopper was saved from being kidnapped and Finney feels steps ahead of Grabber and it felt so good that he could cry with happiness. Only Bruce was missing and then everything would end. Robin was aware that he was in danger.

Everything would be fine...

So Finney can't help it and he breaks down crying under the covers. Both happiness and relief, after all, he was only two steps away from saving everyone, from everyone being happy with their families and friends, no one's parents having to attend their son's funeral.

Vance was the biggest obstacle in the equation, since Finney didn't see any way to get close to him, but for some strange reason, Bruce managed to get close to Vance and thanks to that, Vance was saved and there was a great possibility that the same thing would happen with Bruce, after all, there was no reason for Bruce to come home alone.

How they would bring Grabber to justice, well... that was a problem they would solve later, for now, he didn't have anything to worry about.

So, relieved and hopeful, Finney falls into a deep sleep with tears drying on his cheeks.

July 27, 1978.

Bruce Yamada doesn't know how long it's been since the last time Grabber slammed the door wrong, but after what happened the first time, he didn't want to try again. He still had trouble walking because of his broken ankle.

"I have to find a way out..."

Bruce sobs and gets up from the dirty mattress, limps into the small hallway where the filthy toilet was, and pulls on the light cord. He kneels on the floor and removes the rug that covered a large hole in the floor.

"It works in the comics... it has to work here, please..."

So Bruce begins to dig with his hands, ignoring the pain of scratching the ground with his nails and not caring about hurting his fingers, he only had in mind to escape somehow. Making a hole to escape did not seem to be the best idea or the most logical, but he did not know what else to do and this was better than nothing.

Bruce wasn't getting his hopes up, because if pinball Vance couldn't get away, why could he? But he still wanted to try.

"The police haven't come the three times before, they won't come with me... I'm alone..." Bruce mutters, his teary eyes fixed on his dirty hands digging into the dirt.

When the lights in the other room come on, Bruce jumps off the floor, plugs the hole, and rushes to wash his hands in the toilet. If Grabber finds out, he'd do worse than when he went upstairs.

Bruce doesn't want to see Grabber, he hesitates to walk, but if he doesn't want Grabber to discover the well, then he had to hurry out of there and divert attention.

"Oh, there you are... for a moment I thought you ran away," Grabber laughs at his joke and Bruce winces. "I brought you dinner and I thought we could have dinner together, what do you think?"

Grabber's smile only makes him gag, but Bruce swallows hard and staggers to sit on the mattress, as far away from Grabber as possible. The man notices him and moves closer until his shoulders touch.

"Come on, eat, I made you something special to make you feel better. I'm so sorry I can't take you to a hospital, but I'll take care of this sore ankle after dinner."

Grabber puts his hand on Bruce's thigh and the boy can hardly hold back a sob.

For the first time there was no scrambled egg to eat, instead it was a piece of meat with vegetables and fried potatoes. Almost like it's his last dinner before Grabber kills him or worse...

Bruce feels without appetite, but he forces himself to eat, he hadn't had anything in his stomach for days and seeing such an appetizing dish should be incredible, but fear, nausea and the desire to cry did not allow him to savor the best food in more one week.

Grabber's hand felt heavier with each passing second.

Bruce was tempted to break the soda bottle and slit his throat, but the thought fades so quickly how shows up.

This was definitely the worst dinner in the world, but Bruce takes more time than necessary to chew and swallow the meat, because that way, maybe he could delay whatever Grabber had planned for the end of dinner a bit.

Grabber takes the plate from him after Bruce's fifth bite and gets up from the mattress.

"Now, that ankle."

Grabber kneels in front of the boy and pulls his pants up to his knee, looking at the swollen red and yellow ankle.

"Don't worry, you'll feel better in a bit, honey."

Grabber's fake sweet tone and friendliness almost causes Bruce to throw up on him.

Grabber places an ice pack on Bruce's ankle and massages Bruce's calf, murmuring words of comfort, as if he hadn't hurt the boy who was on the verge of tears.

"You feel better?" Grabber asks, slowly moving his hand up Bruce's leg as massaged it.

"Y-yes..." Bruce lies.

"If you behave like the good boy that you are, maybe I can give you more things. Good children deserve a reward."

Grabber stands up and smiles, taking Bruce by the chin.

"Don't you think you deserve a reward for being so good lately?"

Grabber's hand caresses Bruce's cheek, then runs his fingers through the boy's messy, dirty hair. Bruce stands rigid in his place, silently shedding tears, too scared to even blink, but then Grabber sniffs at his hair and kisses his head. Bruce notices himself throwing up after Grabber insults him and pushes him to the ground, smashing his face into the vomit.

"I was rewarding you for being good, and you pay me back like that? I was wrong, you're just a spoiled kid who needs to be disciplined." Grabber yells, rubbing Bruce's face into the vomit on the floor.

Grabber lets go and removes his belt, but this time, Bruce doesn't get hit with it...

September 17, 1977.

Gwen didn't expect to have a good day being Monday and with the heavy rain, but despite the fact that she should get used to finding his brother crying, this time she felt differently and she didn't hesitate before running to Finney's side.

Finney doesn't explain what's going on, but Gwen knows it's not a good thing and she doesn't need an explanation, because that would only hurt Finney more. She hugs his broken brother into her arms and whispers words of comfort, because it's all she can offer. She can't control Finney's dreams and she knows that his brother had one, because it's only of them that Finney wakes up crying and terrified.

That the dreams stop for a while, it only meant that they would return with more force than the last time.

If the day wasn't so horrible, Gwen would call Robin so Finney would have an extra set of arms to cuddle with, but she knows that Robin will come regardless of the rain if she finds out that Finney wasn't well. She wasn't going to let it happen, Finney wouldn't want it either.

So Gwen stands silent with her devastated brother in her arms, with her own tears in her eyes and an empty feeling in her stomach.