Back To Our Roots, Book One

CVII. RUN!

Wes threw the rock, hitting a tree. Nick's family immediately looked that way– except Aaron.

Wes grabbed Nick's hand, both of them running across the yard to the street behind the station.

They could hear someone running after them but didn't look back.

Running down the street, Wes gathered sense of his surroundings. That's when he realized that he recognized the street.

"Nick, you see the gray house up there? Run into it. The door's unlocked."

"I– what?" Nick asked, but Wes couldn't answer.

"Just trust me!"

So Nick bolted ahead, running into the house. Wes stepped aside, unnoticed as Aaron followed him in.

Then he slipped into the backyard, hopping through the window he knew to be broken that lead to the basement. He'd done it countless times before.

Except this time, the basement wasn't empty.

The man he recognized as the one he had seen with David earlier looked at him strangely. "You know there's a front door, right?"

"Yes. Two people just entered using it. One's my friend, running from his abusive parents. The other is his brother, who's a fucking asshole and has hurt him as well. His parents went to court for the charge of child abuse, but they won. Now he's all beaten up because they found out about it, so he ran to the police station but it was closed. Nobody has quicker access to the authorities than you do."

The man nodded, being able to receive all the information at once from experience.

Wes headed up the stairs as he did his thing, silently pushing open the door a crack.

"–cornered, there's nowhere to run now."

He silently started to video with his phone, in case Nick's injuries weren't enough.

"Why are you on their side? They hurt you too!"

"Do you know why we didn't find you immediately? They were too busy getting mad at me! If you're back with them, they'll focus it all on you again!"

"And if they're in jail, they can't do it to either of us!"

"Yeah, but then I'd be in juvie! You're going to go back there, and I'm going to bring you back."

It took all of Wes's self control to not chuck his phone at the boy's head. He was rather glad he didn't have any siblings, if this was how they acted.

"What, you think they'll never hurt you again? They've done it once, they'll do it again! They aren't reasonable people, Aaron! They don't have a sense of justice!"

"Everyone has a sense of justice!"

"You clearly don't! And if you do, it's fucked up!"

"You don't get it, do you? I don't care if they hit you as long as I'm safe!"

"I always thought I was the fucked up one in this family. But no, it's you."

"I don't care what you think! You're going back there if I have to drag you!"

"No, I'm–" Nick paused, looking past Aaron.

Wes silently ended the recording and lowered his phone.

They were here.