take me to church (emily prentiss)

3. twenty two

AN: hey guys!

so it's an exciting chapter today for both books! i'm very happy we're here because it means the arc will be officially over very very soon!

there aren't many TWs today either!

TW:
mentions of torture and injuries
mentions of vomit and blood
mentions of corpses

i hope you guys enjoy and see you next monday! <3

•

"i can't save us, my atlantis, we fall." - atlantis, seafret

•

Ziggy Roberts was nine years old today, if Elliot Milner was to be believed, and he had just locked his aunt Delilah in a basement with her serial killer father. The guilt was almost crushing as he raced upstairs and onto the ground floor of the cabin, eyes darting around for Sparky the dog, for a way out.

The windows were all boarded up, and so were the front and back doors. The fireplace was unboarded, now, but Ziggy was not fitting up that chimney and out. He didn't do more than glance at the destroyed furniture, or the shrine dedicated to Delilah in the corner.

He did, however, see a packet of matches on the dingy kitchen side. He grabbed them, skidding across the dirty floor and dropping to his knees in front of the fireplace. He grabbed the broken wooden panels on the floor, shoving them all in the fireplace and striking a match, throwing it onto the wood.

He used all the matches in the packet, only half of them staying lit, but it did the job. The wood started burning, and the smoke would come out of the top. He could lead the others back to help Delilah, this way, make sure that she would be found even if he wasn't.

They'd see the smoke, and they'd follow it.

Ziggy got to his feet, freezing when he came face to face with the large black mutt Elliot had. Sparky, which was a shitty name for a terrifying dog, tilted his head as he studied Ziggy. He wasn't growling like he had upon their previous meetings, but Ziggy didn't trust him.

"Go outside," Ziggy said, voice shaking. "Outside? You wanna go outside?"

Elliot said Sparky had to go outside constantly, so, if he went out, Ziggy could follow him out into the world again.

Sparky barked, almost hopping on the spot before he raced through the dingy cabin. Ziggy stumbled after him, tripping over stray clothes and blood stained bandages and beer bottles until Sparky disappeared behind a set of rickety stairs, darting out of the cabin through a dog door barely big enough for the lanky dog.

Ziggy scrambled through after him, recoiling as the glints of moonlight above him burned his eyes and the rough ground scraped his palms in his haste to get to his feet. He squinted up, eyes darting over the stars until he spotted the largest one in the sky.

He had to follow that one. That was the North Star. That would take him home.

Ziggy took off through the trees, stumbling over roots he couldn't see, body already aching from this much exercise after being in that basement for eighteen days. Ziggy's knees gave out from under him as he tripped over another root, arms barely catching his face from landing in a puddle of dirty water.