The sun brings me comfort

Chapter 3: Return Of The Outsiders

He stared at the window as he frowned licking his dry lips before taking a small sip from the water in his small plastic cup. His father never came back after giving him his food so he still kept his cup holding on as long as possible as he treasured the small gift of having the cup filled to the brim for the first time in so long.

Everything he could get extra was a small gift and he felt so relieved knowing his father hadn't mentioned being caught so it meant he didn't find out. It had been 5 nights since the fearful morning that he nearly wetted himself in fear when his father came that night to hand him his food but his father had not uttered a word about the incident or even told him that he was going to be moved or killed.

To say he was wasn't relieved would be a lie but it didn't stop the fear that his father could come in at any second telling him he found out. The wait was a slow torture even if the hope returned that he wouldn't find out with the way he even gave him more water for the morning now.

He let out a sigh digging his toes against the warm floor where the sun was shining on and for a small second he forgot about the fear and was hit with longing of the sun he saw for a mere few seconds. After the incident he had more time to think of the way the sky looked clearer and the light poured in more letting his heart flutter in happiness.

The people outside might not be good but the sun on the outside looked like something he had never seen before, something that looked so warm and comforting almost like a hug enveloping him completely which he had never felt before but a feeling faint in recognising made him remember gentle arms around him but it was just a distant memory he had and it felt like a dream or something of his imagination.

Maybe his father was softer when he was a baby....

He sank his teeth into the inside of his cheek shoving the thought out of his mind not wanting to yearn for something he might have never had and he looked up at the window. He wondered if his father would perhaps open the window once in a while to allow the warmer rays of light to enter his room.

It would be a really big gift he wanted but he wondered since he had been good for so long and never asked for more if that would work. The window could open, it could be opened pretty easily and if he just had the height plus a chair then he could be able to access it himself to give himself enough sunshine daily and close it when the sun went down or when someone came near it. He would listen to any rules of the window, he believed he would.

The outside boys also weren't mean or didn't immediately try to kill him and they especially didn't bring anyone with them to kill him. Perhaps his father meant the adult outside people would harm him since it looked as if the younger ones were scared of him just as much as he was scared of them. If that were the case then the fear losened around his chest thinking of the boy he saw. Their conversation before also didn't seem harmful except the other people they talked about who would seemingly punish them if they got caught which made him think it was perhaps the adults outside they were speaking of.

He sighed as he closed his eyes to try and shake off the thoughts again since it was no help for himself to try and figure out if they were good or bad since thinking of it made him curious and curiousity never made things better. It ended it bruises and no food and that was the last thing he wanted because he really did want to be good.

Shifting his legs to sit more comfortably he took a small sip of his water before he placed the cup on the floor next to him gently to not spill a single drop. The corners of his mouth tilted slightly upwards seeing as there was no spill but the moment was quickly broken when the silence was disturbed by something he hadn't heard since the window was slammed shut.

He held down his gasp as he turned his head towards the window again and he fought the urge to crawl into the shadows with the voices coming closer again but still muffled by the window.

"I swear I saw someone looking at me! It wasn't my imagination" The first voice that was barely clear but he could recognise it as the boy who saw him and who shut the window after opening it accidently.

"You are just playing with me again because I made fun of you screaming. I'm sorry for laughing but I just think that it was a shadow" The other was was just as familiar and he knew both voices belonged to the boys that were outside the window.

They were back? Why were they back?

He frowned as he pulled his knees to his chest shifting a bit more out of the sunlight to blend in a bit more with the shadows. Just because they didn't harm him the first time didn't mean he was going to take chances that they won't tell an adult of seeing him. Maybe they were just scared the first time and wouldn't be the second time which could go so wrong if they found him to be a threat.

"Why would I come back here if I was lying? You know better than anyone I am scared to be caught by Mr Cha but I am sure of what I saw and I won't let it go"

He felt his heart speed up and the knot form in his stomach at the words that sounded an alarm in his mind. Maybe the younger boy were just as harmful but the adults but he just didn't see him correctly and would hurt him after. The curiousity and the awe felt like poison dripping down his tongue as he kept his mouth shut that twisted downwards and he quickly moved out of the direct sunlight and into the darkest corner of the room hoping the thing he hated the most would no conceal him from the danger looming closer and closer.

The time slowed as he watched the window slowly open and the voices became muffled in his head from the boys before he locked his limbs to stay in one place as his eyes were shot wide open in fear of missing the slightest move of the boys.

Light poured more into the room as the window slowly inched more and more open until he could see the familair features of the boy he had seen before coming in sight again with his mouth curved downwards.

"I just hope this won't get us killed Jiminie" He heard a voice behind the boy peaking through the window and his heart sped up wanting to move further back even if he couldn't but he just couldn't move with the way his body was locked in fear.

"I feel like our roles has been switched since last time...seriously though Tae I promise that...." The boy, 'Jiminie', stopped speaking and it was as if it hit him finally that his eyes weren't locked on wondering eyes but on eyes looking directly at his own.

He could see the colour slowly draining of his glowing skin and his heart beated in slow painful beats with a cold icy shiver that ran down his spine when the silence that echoed in the room felt too eary on the outside. It made his heart drop to his stomach.

It felt like the cold walls caging him even more and the seconds that got dragged out even longer made his skin prickle painfully from the stiffness of his position but it felt like water rushed through his ears when he accidently knocked over his cup which set off the boy's voice.

"Who are you?"