The Truth

Chapter 17

-Jack-

Fighting back took every ounce of courage and strength I have. The whole time I just wanted to curl into a ball and let them do what they wanted to me, but Cindy was there and I couldn't let them hurt her...I also wanted to impress her a bit. When I got up, though, the room started spinning and I couldn't see anything.

"Dizzy...." I manage to say and collapse in Cindy's arms.

When I wake up, we're back in the park where we all met. We came full circle. I'm about to say something when I hear Blake and Cindy arguing behind the bench I'm laying on. I close my eyes again and listen.

"Let's just ditch him here. He's still asleep, we can be long gone by the time he realizes we're gone." I hear Blake say angrily.

"No, we need him. He's gotten us through every tough situation we've been in so far."

"Are you sure that's it? Maybe it's just his pretty face holding you back." Blake's jealousy is clear in his voice and I can tell Cindy's affection towards me hasn't gone unnoticed by him. I can almost see Cindy blushing.

"Don't be ridiculous." she mutters.

"That's it, I knew it!!!" Blake yells. "We're leaving him here. Right where we found him." he talks about me like I'm a dog of some sort.

"Then I'm staying too. You leave but Jack and I are going to find Charles together." she huffs and I hear her walk away. He groans and runs after.

I finally open my eyes and look around. Their backs are to me as they're facing the reflection pool.

Jerk. He was ready to abandon you. I think to myself. My head pounds but I manage to stand up. Producing a bit of water on my hands, I splash my face and my neck. The water immediately dries, but I still feel refreshed and ready for anything. Which is good, because "anything" came right at that moment.

Three girls around 5, 4, and 7 years old come running up to me, terror in their eyes.

"Please, help us!"

"He's following us!"

"He's going to hurt us." she whispers. I kneel down and they run into my arms.

"Where is he? Who is he?" I ask them. I can feel them shaking and I hug them tighter.

"We need to get somewhere safe." the oldest one sobs and without thinking I lift them up and leave the park. I feel a twinge of guilt leaving Cindy and Blake, but then I realize how eager he was to get rid of me.

I take the girls to the old building I showed Blake and Cindy the day we met, and bring them into the basement. I set them down and they hide in the corner.

"It's okay, we're safe here. Now tell me everything." I say. They explain how their parents died a few years ago and they've been living with their aunt ever since.

"Normally she lets us do whatever we want so we go to our grandma's house a few blocks down." the older girl says. "One day, on our way over there, we met a man..." she begins to cry and I hold her.

"Shh, it's okay, you'll be okay. What did he do?" I ask and she calms down enough to talk.

"He tricked us. He told us he cared about us and that we we're special and that he knew what we were going through. And he kidnapped us." she sobbed and I pulled the three of them in my arms and they cried until they fell asleep. I held them and thought about what to do. Take them back to their aunts of course, but she obviously wasn't concerned for their safety. Maybe their grandma is, though. After a few hours they wake up and tell me that neither their aunt or their grandma has noticed them missing.

"How do you know?" I ask.

"When we escaped, we ran by their houses, looked for signs of missing children, everything. They didn't report anything. I think they're glad we're gone." she says. I'm suprised at how smart she is for being so little.

"Do you have any other relatives?" I ask and they shake their little heads. "Why did you decide to trust me?" I ask and the youngest girl reaches into her pocket, pulling out a photograph.

"We figured you were an enemy of the mean man. I stole this when we left and we decided to find you." she hands me the photo and I nearly drop it. It's a picture of me from a few years ago when I was nearly dying of starvation. I'm breaking into a grocery store, looking around for any sign of people. He drew an big red X across my face. Whoever this is has been after me for a long time.

"You're right, he is mean." I say and pocket the picture.

"Will you take us with you? Please?" they beg. I know for a fact that I can't lead three innocent children to Zarathos. But I have to keep them safe, and they're safest with me. I know they've never really had parents and I don't know the first thing about good parents but Cindy and Blake might. There's only one thing to do.

"Alright." I sigh and they hug me. "I have friends that can help protect you ok? But we're on a journey." I try to make it sound exciting and it works. They look at me wide-eyed and smile. "Yoy have to do everything we tell you, ok? If I say hide, you hide. If I say run, you run." I order and they nod. "Let's go." I say and we head back to the park.