Dark as the Night

46

A/N: One of James's theme songs is "Hello Alone" by Anberlin. I feel like it probably describes a lot of his adolescence after his parents died and Liam didn't come home right away. Give it a listen while you read this chapter and let me know in the comments what you think!

-Evie

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The screaming and gunshots played over and over in James's head. Angry noise downstairs melded with the angry noise echoing in his dreams. More yelling. More voices pleading and arguing. The people were different this time, though.

James opened his eyes as he recognized Sensei's and Mr. Adohi's voices. He stood up from his bed and crept down the stairs on scared, wobbly legs. It was just a dream. A dream caused by an argument in the council meeting, like how he used to have dreams of spiders crawling on him when Liam tickled him in his sleep.

He stopped short when he realized it was dark. It was night and council meetings weren't held at night unless there was an emergency. He peaked into the council room.

"IT'S MY FAULT THAT THIS HAPPENED!" Adam Adohi raged. His face was pale but his neck was red, and his normally long hair fell down around his face in a messy tangle. "They were so stupid to protect me. I can't risk this happening again." He shoved both hands into his hair and squeezed his eyes shut, tears slipping out of the corners.

James understood why his hair was such a mess as he watched Tai's dad pace around the room like a cat in a cage.

A loud bang startled James and he jumped then turned his attention to the man who'd just slammed his hands onto the table. David Graham's eyes were also red and wet and his face was splotchy. His voice was rough with suppressed fury and grief when he spoke.

"So what are you going to do? Turn yourself in? What good would that do now? We've lost both our mayors, and that little boy has lost his parents on top of his older brother. If you turn yourself in, we'll lose another councilor and you'll be leaving two boys as orphans!"

Orphan. The word churned in James's belly like a ball of magma, and he felt it climbing his throat to erupt. The heat began to consume him, rising up his back and his neck as he tried to swallow it all back down. No, he screamed in his head. No no no no they didn't die. They can't be dead.

But deep inside, down in the burning ache in his chest, he knew it was true. He knew it hadn't been a dream.

"So what would you have me do?" Mr. Adohi's voice was quiet and hoarse. He let out a constricted, anguished noise that sounded like his raw throat couldn't decide if it was choking or sobbing.

"Repent," Sensei replied, firmly. "Make up for it the best you can. You can't give that boy back his parents, but you can give him a place to live and take care of him until we can locate Liam. You took his parents away, so be a parent."

He paused and there was some murmuring between him and the other councilors, who James just noticed were bunched together at the other side of the table. Some were looking at papers; others were staring at the two men in front of them. No one seemed to have noticed him.

"We'll leave the mayor position open for now, until we can get a hold of Liam. If we can't find him or he refuses to come home, we'll vote for a new mayor," Sensei finished.

Mr. Adohi slumped into the chair behind him and covered his face with his hands, wiping them downward. He tried to speak, made another strangled noise, swallowed hard. "What about the bod- a funeral? Who will take care of their funeral?" He looked like an old man and his voice was so low and deep that James almost didn't catch the words. But he did, and they sent the magma churning again.

"I will," a woman replied – the camp healer, Wanda. "I'll also notify Leila about what happened. Should we call her back as well?"

"No," Graham Sensei answered. "She needs to finish her education so she can take over for you. Make sure you stress that to her. The camp will continue to pay for her to finish her Bachelor's degree, but I don't think we'll be able to cover further than that. Frank and Marianne were paying her tuition out of their own savings and we don't have a right to take anything more from that. It needs to be saved for James now."

There was a long pause as everyone processed what had been said. A gentle clicking noise told James that someone was typing everything in to the council's meeting notes.

"I can't do this," Mr. Adohi whispered. He looked up at Sensei and said, his voice broken and lost, "I can't look James in the eyes knowing I took his parents from him."

James willed the churning in his stomach to stop then stepped into the room. He wiped the tears that were streaming down his face, and knocked his glasses askew – they had gotten bent when he fainted earlier. His face reddened at the memory. He needed to be a man from now on, and men didn't faint. He stood up as straight and tall as he could.

"You have to look at me," he spoke, his voice cracking. He paused to swallow down the burn in his throat. Everyone whirled around to gape at him. He ignored them and stared straight at Adam.

"You have to look at me every day. My parents died fighting, so you have to fight too. And-" he looked down briefly as he repressed a sob then looked back up, glaring through his misty, off-kilter glasses. "My parents weren't stupid. Don't ever say that again. If they thought it was important to protect you, then you need to think so too. I don't know why those men wanted you, but if you turn yourself in, then my parents died for nothing. And if they died for nothing, then I'll have to hate you." James ground out the last sentence, but his voice cracked again on the final two words. He took his glasses off and wiped his eyes, never looking away from the man now towering over him.

Adam knelt down and looked into James's green eyes, feverishly bright with pain and determination. He wept as he put his hands on the boy's shoulders. "I know," he gasped out. "I know, James. You're so strong; so much stronger than I am. Teach me to be a better man. Come live with Taiomah and me until Liam comes home."

Loneliness swelled through James like a tidal wave of burning-freezing water. "Liam isn't ever coming home," he replied on a sob, his small body shaking under the weight of his despair.

Adam wrapped his arms around the boy in front of him and squeezed, his huge hand grabbing the back of James's head. Conviction replaced the fear and grief that had laced his voice. "Then stay with us forever. I won't let you be without a family. Ever."