Breaking Point

4- Night 1 11:33 p.m.

We just stare at each other. Tears are in our eyes. Oh my God, oh crap, I'm thinking over and over again. This is happening. What's going on? I have too many questions. 
        "Jack? Is it you?" I can only nod. Tony's face is blurred. Wetness is streaming down my cheeks. He's so young.
        "Hey, Anthony," I say. Then we're hugging each other. We're crying a bit (but I don't like saying that I'm crying. Yet, I've found my brother. Screw my preferences).
        "Anthony," I say, "do you want to join me? There's another girl with me."
        "Yes," Anthony says immediately.
        "But, Anthony. My new name is Dusk." He looks at me, confused. "We can talk about it later. Right now, we gotta get you safe." He takes my hand. His is cold and small. We walk to the tree. "I'm gonna hoist you up and climb until you see a girl. She's Jenna. Tell her you're with Dusk, okay?"
        "Okay," Anthony replies happily. I press my lips to his head.
        "Get ready to jump," I say. Anthony leaps. I grab his feet and push him up. I grunt and pain shoots up my left arm. Anthony is finally in the tree. I drop my arms to let the pain wear down a bit. Then, I jump. I pull myself up. I'm panting at the top.
        "Hello, Anthony," I hear Jenna say. "I'm Jenna. So Dusk is your older brother?"
        "Yep." He pauses. "But his real name is-"
        "Hey, Jenna. Anthony." I smile at them in the dark. "Anthony, we can share my sleeping bag. You can rest a bit." We set him up on the other side of me. I don't want to let him out of my sight. After another hour, Jenna's turn to watch comes. I slip next to Anthony and then I am fast asleep.

"Jackson, don't go," my mom pleads. I ignore her pleas and push past her up the stairs. "I can't lose both of my children in one hour." She grabs my arm. I shove her off.
        "Leave me alone!" I yell. I run to my room and slam the door and lock it. I'm crying. I didn't want to leave; I had to. I'm throwing things in bags. My mother is sobbing and yelling for me to stay. I write a note for her and my father, who's at work. I unlock the door and run out the bathroom exit. I sprint down the stairs.
        "Jackson!" my mother screams. I look at her, both our eyes are filled with tears.
        I open the door. I say, almost whispering, "Goodbye, Mom." Then I'm gone.

I wake with a start. I'm crying in my sleep? WTF? I think. I wipe away my tears. Jenna is staring at me. Crap.
        "Are you okay?" she asks slowly.
        "I'm fine," I snap. My words are harsher than I'd meant them to be. Jenna turns around sharply. I sigh. "Look, Jenna, I'm sorry. It wasn't anything, I swear."
        "It was a dream," she whispers. "You were having a dream about Before." I freeze. What should I say?
        "Yeah... Do you have them too?" Jenna doesn't reply. "You do, don't you?" She gives a microscopic nod. We don't speak for a long time.
        "What was your dream about?" Jenna says suddenly yet quietly.
        "Nothing," I say quickly.
        "If you tell me yours, I'll tell you one of mine," she says. I sigh.
        "You can't talk about this with anyone. Okay?" I demand. Jenna nods.
        "Whenever you're ready." I take a deep breath. I feel like I should be completely honest with her.
        "When I was ten," I start, "Anthony was three. He was playing on our driveway. Then, a man in all black and a hat covering his face came up to me and said, 'Hey, kid. What's you name?' I remember it clearly. Those exact words. Then, Anthony screamed and I turned to see what was going on, but he was gone. I looked at the guy in black but he had disappeared too.
        "I went to my house and packed my bags. My mom begged me to stay, and I wanted to. But I couldn't." I shrug. I don't want to talk about my trip on the road. "I ran away." She doesn't speak or meet my eyes.
        "Okay. I keep all my promises. Um, so, I'll tell you about how I landed myself in a cell.
        "I'd ran away when I was fourteen. I had an abusive family and they would punish me for the smallest things. I'd finally had enough. I packed up and ran. I hid in the trees. I knew sooner or later, I was going to get caught or something, so I found a guy named Andre. He was so kind and handsome, to be honest with you. He was also eighteen. We protected each other for almost a year. We knew each other well. I found out that my parents had put out a missing notice for me. Andre and I had to be more careful then. We were going into town together to get food, but someone noticed us. They called over a security guard. When the first shot was fired, I knew my parents didn't want me back; they wanted me dead. We ran. Then Andre fell to the ground with a gunshot in the back and the head. I knew he was dead. I was so heartbroken I surrendered and pleaded with the officers to keep me alive but keep me in jail. They broke, and that's how I ended up in the cell." Jenna had loosely folded her hands in her lap. She didn't look at me.
        "Oh. Jenna, I'm so sorry." I didn't know what else to say.
        "It's not your fault," she says. I can hear the slightest tremor in her voice. We don't talk. I watch the trees with her silently until the sun breaks the horizon.