Kids in the Dark

Chapter 46

Ryder's P.O.V

It had been about 5 when Theo returned to our cell, his smooth talking ways still intact. I knew that, to some extent, it was just for show; one of the many walls he's built to hide behind. I watched him closely while the three of us made small talk, noticing how he'd occasionally run a finger over his scars or scrunch up his eyes as if in pain. I made the conscious decision to ask him about what happened when I next got the chance.

The perfect opportunity arose in the loud commotion of the canteen. As the others were making their way over to a table I grabbed Theo by the wrist and pulled him to one side.

"Hey, Theo, can we talk?"

"Sure thing. Go ahead." Theo replied coolly, leaning up against the wall.

"I mean the real Theo, not the voices," I said sternly, wanting at least 5 minutes of the Theo I knew. He clenched his and bit his lip, eyes darting around like a cornered animal. "Please Theo," I said, almost begging. It took a few moments but Theo eventually seemed to snap out of it, his eyes meeting mine.

"What did you want to talk about?" he asked in a low voice, hard to hear over the noise that filled the room.

"About what happened when you spoke to Harry. You seemed kind of out of it. I was worried." I responded looking up at him sadly.

"He just pushed a few-" Theo began but I was quick to cut him off.

"Oh, cut the crap, Theo. I want the truth and nothing but the truth." I said, desperate to find out what had happened.

"He, well, he um asked a lot about the time I spent at Ash Tree," He began, seeming to struggle when finding his words. I nodded, understanding that Theo didn't like to speak about the time he spent in the mental hospital. "And so I sorta cut a long story very short, doing what the voices told me to."

"Theo, you have to fight it," I said stepping closer.

"I know," Theo sighed. "But then he asked how long I'd been clean." Theo's voice morphed into a hiss.

"And?" I asked raising an eyebrow.

"I refused to tell him anymore." He replied plainly.

"Well, Okay. But look, if you're finding any of this hard or it's bothering you, Theo, just talk to me. Don't feel like you have to go through this alone."

"Thanks, Ryder," Theo smiled, taking a step back and turning. "Now, I believe the others are waiting for us." He gestured over to where Adam and the others were closely watching us, occasionally exchanging a few words.

"Hey, guys." I smiled taking a seat next to Marc. There was a chorus of hellos from the others as I began to eat my food; it was utterly uninspiring, to say the least. It consisted of a mystery meat patty between 2 dried out buns, some mushy peas which had an unappealing grey tinge to them, a pile of sloppy jello, and a small bottle of water. I ate it all the same, too hungry to care. Once we'd all finished the light chatter that had come between mouthfuls evolved into a full-blown conversation.

"So, Marc," Charlie began, pointing his plastic fork at his younger brother. "Can you please explain to me why you have green hair?" He asked, referring to the pastel green color of Marc's hair. Marc then laughed slightly before glancing over at me.

"I let Ryder dye it for me," He answered combing his fingers through his hair as if to show off its color. I nodded along, a smile on my face as Marc continued. "We were bored one day so Ryder decided to re-dye his 2 stripes," Marc nodded in my direction, indicating the bold orange and blue that cut through my dark hair. "At the shops, he spotted this green dye and was practically on his knees begging for me to let him dye my hair. So, naturally, I agreed to let him do it."

"It was meant to be like Joker green but you washed it out too early. That's why it's this funny pastel color." I said ruffling Marc's hair up with a laugh.

"And naturally I sat back and let them get on with it. I did offer to use what was left to dye the dog." Theo added, swallowing his last mouthful of water.

"Dog?" Jace asked, a look of confusion flitting across his face.

"Yeah, we kind of adopted this dog," Theo started to explain. "I sorta maybe hit him with the car. Ryder got out to see if it was okay and naturally we decided to keep him." All the others gave us looks of disbelief.

"He was a mountain of fluff and slobber," Marc added in. "It was an Alaskan malamute and Ryder named it Tank." At this the others all looked at me expectantly, eager to hear what I had to share. I quickly became uncomfortable under their gaze, the subject of conversation pulling at my emotions; the memories reminded me just much I missed Tank. I glanced over at Theo for assistance and he gave a small nod of understanding.

"So there you have it, folks," He said, steering the conversation onto a new topic. "That's the story of how we ended up owning a dog."

"That's pretty sweet actually." Adam smiled.

"Yeah, but how did you guys stay under the radar for so long?" Jace then asked leaning forwards.

"It was mostly just luck," I said finally contributing to the conversation. "We called in a few favors here and there. We stayed with your cousin Oliver at one point." I gestured towards Jace who nodded.

"And what'd you do to stay entertained?" Adam asked.

"Well, we played a lot of card games and we got lucky with a few of the places which had gaming consoles. Oh Ryder and I went to get tattoos, he got his lip pierced and there was also a rather intense yet short-lived game of truth or dare." Theo explained.

"Oh, I remember that. I dared you to eat the first bug you saw." Marc laughed.

"And?" Jace and Charlie asked in sync.

"Tasted like crunchy chicken." Theo smiled proudly earning several disgusted looks.

"Still, not as bad as making your own brother skinny dip in a lake which ." couldn't have been more than 2 degrees." I then said which earned me a laugh from Theo who simply smirked at me.

"Sounds like you lot had fun then," Adam said smiling.

"You could say that." Marc grinned at the 3 of us exchanged mischievous glances.

Chapter 46 is here at last. I feel like a terrible person from keeping this from you but I struggled to find the time. I hope you enjoyed it, feel free to leave a comment are hit the vote button. Keep reading my lovely people- Flo