The lost triplets

chapter 64

It had been a few days since they told their family they were abused.

Rafael had excused his younger children from school until they were ready to go back.

The triplets had repeatedly said they were fine but everyone could see they weren't.
Marco was pretending to be okay and he was fooling everyone except for Skye and James. Alex still didn't like Marco so he didn't pay any attention to him but if he had then he would see.

The triplets had been victims for 10 years, but Marco also was a victim even if it was just for a few days.

He had fooled his family for 10 years. They knew now what he had been through when he and Skye got taken but he was yet to reveal what truly happened the day he was kidnapped.

Nico was an emotional mess, he kept trying to make the triplets happy by suggesting activities. Some times they agreed just to shut him up other times they found themselves shutting themselves out.

After the truth was revealed. Alex had ended the conversation preventing them from saying anything else.
"Well we just thought we should tell you, we'll be in one of our rooms" and the three had left and gone to James' room.

Today would mark three days since they found out and James was realising they wouldn't hurt them.

He loved Skye and Alex, and would give his life for them however he always felt useless.
Alex was always their protector.
Skye was their main target and James could barely protect her. He did his best. He just wasn't strong enough.

He knew all this was something he should probably tell the therapist which the three had found out they already had one waiting for when they were ready. Rafael had arranged it when Alex attacked Marco, he wanted the boy to see a therapist for his anger and figured he'd have the option for Skye and James too. But the three were never ready to talk.
So therapy was there for when they were ready.

It was still quite early in the morning so he knew although Alex was probably aware and Skye definitely was, he didn't want to disturb them. He hated being the weak one.

He found himself getting ready for the day and quietly heading downstairs. He needed fresh air.  (See 'the house' chapter , outside seating area 2nd from the last for picture reference)

As he sat staring at the outside pool he wondered what life would have been like if they weren't kidnapped. Would he be more like his older brothers who had similar personalities.
They all were athletic and intelligent.

He felt like he would never live up to their standards.

"You're up early"

He turned and saw Leo who looked like he had just come from the gym.

"I couldn't sleep" James said.

There was no point hiding anything now. They all knew.

"What's on your mind" Leo asked sitting down next to his youngest brother.

"I lied. I don't want Alex and Skye to ever find out" he whispered.

"They won't hear anything from me" Leo reassured.

"So when Alex was out doing stuff, it was down to me to protect Skye and myself. I struggled to do it and sometimes Skye would pass out. When that happened they would sometimes take me out of the basement" James admitted.

"What did they do" Leo asked.

James was taken back by how cold and harsh Leo's voice was. Leo was struggling to stay calm, he hated knowing how his siblings were treated and for now he couldn't do a thing.

"It was another dark room, pitch black, they must have recorded Skyes screams at some point because i had to listen to her scream not knowing where I was, or where she was. The first time I thought she was actually being hurt but I soon realised it was a recording of her and not  being able to see anything, all my senses gone accept being able to hear her. It made me feel weak and useless" he admitted.

Leo really wanted to kill them but instead he pulled James into a hug. A tight hug, a silent promise that he was safe.

"I'm not like any of you. I'm weak and pathetic" he continued.

Leo was about to tell him that he wasn't but James continued so Leo decided to just keep hugging him and listening to everything James had to say.

"I have no special talents. I'm just plain. Rafael and Lorenzo own companies, you are becoming a lawyer, Marco and Nico are really into sports, even Alex loves football. Im not intelligent and I'm not a fan of sports"

"There's more to life than sports.  And you are very intelligent James, you just lack confidence in your answers. Dad and Lorenzo wouldn't want you to know this but on your school entry test you got alot more correct but you crossed out the anwsers so it couldn't be marked . You don't need to be good at sports or intelligent, you are only 14 and have plenty of time to figure out what you want to do" Leo told him.

"But I won't ever be able to be as good as any of you if I'm not " James said.

"You like science right and you're pretty good at it now so just imagine how good you will be once you finish high school. You're a child James and you deserve the childhood you were deprived of for so long"

"But I never want to be weak again " James said.

"You have us now. Nothing will ever happen to you "

"You've just come from the gym right?" James asked.

Leo nodded.

"Can you teach me how to to defend myself. Those self defense lessons you and Marco taught us didn't last long. Maybe they could continue. I just want to be strong for them"

"If that's what you want" Leo said.

"But can you not tell Skye and Alex I asked for them. I don't want to seem weak "

"I won't tell them anything but James you're not weak. You are one of the strongest people I know. You have faced so much and you came out of it. You never gave up. I love you so much and I'm so proud of you for being brave enough to tell me " Leo told him.

The two simply sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes, James had a smile on his face after hearing Leo's words.

"Can you tell me what it was like before we were taken " he asked looking at Leo with a hopeful look.

"Well you were all almost always together. We got to spend time with you seperately but it was rare. My fondest memory of just us was when I read to you. The three of you shared a room back then. Alex and Skye demanded the classic children's stories which I'd happily tell them. They both fell asleep to them. But you James , you stayed awake. You would ask for a more interesting book, I would make up interesting stories, you were never content with them however one day you saw me reading my school books and you were fascinated by them. So after Alex and Skye were asleep I'd read to you my school books, you especially loved the science ones. You helped me with my science project, we built a model volcano, you loved watching the reaction that made the fake lava spill from it. I was always interested in law so when I read law books for fun, you'd make me read them to you too"

Leo had a smile on his face as he recalled a memory.

"That sounds like a nice memory" James said wishing that they had never been taken.
The fact that Leo had read a different book just for him made him feel special. He was his own person too.

"I do have to study today but if you'd like we could read together?" Leo offered hoping he would agree.

"Id like that" he agreed making Leo smile.

The triplets may have been triplets but their family always treated them as individuals when they were young and this was no different.

Leo was a law student, after finding out about the abuse he made sure to check certain laws and find loop holes. He couldn't find any loop holes to certain things but he certainly would make everyone who hurt his siblings pay.