8 Days, 8 Letters; Spot Conlon

Light in the Darkness

Song: Lavender's Blue (dilly dilly) from Cinderella

A/N: Hello everyone! I hope you've all had a great day and enjoy the next chapter of 8 Days, 8 Letters

Present Day: July 1899

Jaime's POV

I was in a dimly lit hall. I saw a small light flickering at the end.

"Hello?" I called. "Is anyone there?"

I kept walking down the hall. It was cold and eerie. Something's not right. I ended up at the end of the hall. There was a small table with a lantern on it.

I grabbed the lantern and continued making my way down the hall. I ended up at a door with another flickering light above it. I reached the door knob with a shaky hand. The door creaked and I was in a cold, dark room.

I saw a figure staring out the window at the opposite end of the room. I walked towards him, standing near him.

"Hello?" I asked.

The boy looked at me. He looked very familiar but it was hard to see who it was.

"Who are you's?" I asked.

"An old friend," he smiled.

I lifted the lantern and saw Ace standing in front of me. He had cuts and bruises on his face. His face looked pale likely from starvation, but not too different from the last time I saw them

"Ace? But you's- What are you's doing here? Where are we?" I stuttered.

"The Refuge. You's should know how I's got here. You're da reason we're here in the first place." He said, smiling in a sadistic way.

"We?"

He motioned behind me and I saw multiple figures standing around us. I lifted the lanterns. I saw newsies from Brooklyn, Manhattan, and some of the other burroughs that I had seen or heard get sent here. But one stood out in particular. A tall, lanky boy with a crutch who was struggling to stand.

"Crutchy?"

He looked up at me with sad eyes. His face was covered in dark bruises and dried blood. He wasn't wearing his typical crooked smile. He didn't smile at all.

"Why did you's put me here Books?" He asked.

"Crutch- I's never meant for that to happen. Any of this to happen. You's guys have to believe me."

"Why didn't you's save me?"

"I'm sorry Crutch. I's tried, I's tried," I cried.

I woke up to Spot shaking me awake. I wiped the sweat and tears off my face.

"Books. What's wrong?" he asked.

I looked at him and tried to put on a straight face.

"Nothin', go back to sleep Spot," I mumbled, laying back down, turning away from him.

He put his finger under my chin and turned my head towards him. His hand crept up and wiped a tear off my cheek.

"I's can tell when something's wrong, Books."

I turned to face towards him.

"It was just a bad dream. Nothing to worry about."