Book 3: Saving Scars {BoyxBoy}

Chapter 26

It was dark in Jacob's mind. Dark and cold. He kept seeing it over and over, the elevator door opening, Xavier falling. He remembered seeing the chief dead, Emmet down on his knees, two of the three feds unmoving. Then nothing. Everything suddenly went black,and he found himself lying in darkness. He could have sworn his eyes were open, but whenever he turned his head, he would see nothing but black.

Part of him was sure he was dead, and in all honesty, he didn't really mind. Xavier was dead. The monster would never be able to hurt anyone ever again, and yet... he was sad. He'd never see Peter again. As this thought crossed his mind, he heard a voice, a strangely familiar voice, that had his eyes fluttering open.

Looking up, he could see blue sky, and when he looked to the side, he was startled to see that same boy from the orphanage. His curly black hair was shaggy on top of his head, his face smeared with dirt, his deep brown eyes glaring down at Jacob in irritation. He wore a torn black shirt and cargo pants with fraying converse, and it was easy to see the scrapes on both knees through the torn jeans.

"Wake up, brat! We have to keep moving!"

Jacob blinked furiously and sat up as the boy stepped back, leaning down to pick up a small girl. She had the same black hair as her brother, brushed out and cut short, but her eyes were a lovely pale blue. One of her thumbs was in her mouth, her free arm winding around her brother's neck as he propped her against his waist, giving her a smile and kissing her plump cheek before staring at Jacob in frustration.

"Wh-where are we?" he asked as he stood up, and the boy rolled his eyes.

"How should I know? Just start walking," he muttered under his breath as he started to walk, Jacob hurrying after the slightly older boy, "Why do I have to be stuck with some dumb kid? Jeeze."

"Wh-why are you in my dream?" Jacob asked, eyes wide as he stared at his small hands, "I don't understand.... a-am I dead? Why am I seeing this?"

"Quit talking to yourself, it's annoying!" the older boy snapped, and the small girl in his arms pulled her thumb from her mouth, peering over her brother's shoulder at Jacob, who shook his head.

"Who are you? I-I don't remember your names. I don't know what happened to you."

The baby girl just smiled, "Lou."

Jacob stared at her, "That's your name?" he felt a sudden wave of dizziness, and stumbled, gasping, "Yea, that is your name. Your brother called you Lou. Then his name is-," he stopped when his vision began to tunnel, and suddenly he was sitting in a neat, organized building that smelt heavily of soap and cherry cough syrup.

The boy was sitting beside him, baby Lou on his lap, playing with a stuffed animal. They were in neat, new clothes, Jacob realized. The boy's hair had been cut, so his curls weren't bouncing on his head, and he was wearing khaki's and a neat white button-up shirt. Lou was wearing a pretty green dress, her black hair pinned back with small butterfly hair-clips. Looking down, Jacob found he was dressed similarly.

"They're sending us away, you know," Jacob looked over to the boy, who had a solemn expression on his face as he held Lou close, stroking her hair.

"Back to the orphanage?"

The boy shook his head, "Maybe if they knew that's where we came from. No... worse. Foster care."

"What's that?"

"Family's offer to let orphaned kids live in their house, and in return the government pays them," the boy's bottom lip was quivering, "They might take Lou away from me," he whispered, "She's all I have, Jacob, I... if they take her away then I don't know what I'll do."