Lost Together

Chapter 7

"It's really not your fault, Alma." said Myron reassuringly, as he patted his sister's back, while hugging her.
"It isn't?" Alma looked up at her brother with big tears in her eyes.
"It isn't. I have no idea why Jack said that, but it isn't true, okay?" Myron said and smiled at her.

They were both shocked about Jack's reaction.
That was nothing like him.

Myron looked back into the direction where Jack had disappeared. But it was too dark to see anything.
He knew that Jack wouldn't leave his siblings, though.
Especially not in a dark, wet and cold alley, somewhere in London.
Jack would eventually return to them, since he was alone and they weren't. Which was even more dangerous for him, than it was for Alma and Myron—because they were two and he was only one.

The two just sat there for quite a while, hugging each other. They didn't say a word, they just tried to calm down for a moment.

It started to rain slightly and as soon as they noticed, Myron took off his jacket and put it over him and Alma as a protection.
The rain began to get heavier and Alma and Myron started to wonder more and more when Jack was going to come back.

"I want to go home." Alma finally said, starting to cry again.
"I know." Myron replied.

Then, to the sound of the of the raindrops, both of them fell asleep.

//

Jack wasn't too far away from his siblings, he was just out of sight.

He was leaning against the wall of a building, his arms tightly wrapped around himself and his body shivering.
His eyes were focused on a street lamp at the other end of the alley.

What did I do, he thought to himself and looked back to where his siblings were.

You did the right thing.

The voice made him flinch again.
Jack was shaking even more now.
He didn't know what was happening to him, nor why it was happening.
And whatever it was, he didn't like it at all. Or did he?
But he didn't care about that right now. All that mattered was to calm down and stop panicking. Which was harder than some would think it was.
Jack just had to wait it out and stay there like this until it was over.

These kind of situations happened to him before, but they weren't caused by some strange voice, which only he could hear.
But by—

Your stupid father.

Jack nodded.
Yes, it was true. He always got into these kind of states after his father beat him, or yelled at him.
Sometimes even before that happened, which was also a reason he got punished for.
His little sister never noticed it and, of course, wasn't meant to notice.
Myron only saw it once and tried to forget about it.
Somehow only he was the one to be treated like this, because he couldn't do anything right, wasn't the way his parents wanted him to be—because he was failure.
Then maybe—

Your siblings should feel the same way as you do someday.

Jack rapidly stepped away from the wall.
This was getting too much. This was not how he would want it.

Yes it is.

Even though he hadn't completely calmed down yet, he decided to go back to Alma and Myron. To see if they were okay.

Still shaking, he made his way back to his siblings, along the lonely and dark alley.

Then he saw the two—Alma's head on Myron's shoulder. They were already asleep.
He sat back down on the ground, across from Alma and Myron and looked at them for a few seconds. Myron was talking in his sleep.
Then Jack closed his eyes and tried to sleep too.