Hardy Boys - Lead Me To Myself

The Truth

Danny stared at the ceiling of his room, the stipple pattern stretching out before his vision, leading his mind into the seemingly never ending maze that was his thoughts. It had been hours since he spoke with the boy - Joe - and he had scarcely left his room since. Luther had returned with fresh clothes and decided to bring another plate of food to their prisoner, freeing Danny from having to face the boy again.

But what the boy had said still stuck with Danny. He couldn't stop thinking about it. Joe had seemed to know him. He talked as though they had been lifelong friends. He seemed to care. It kind of felt nice to be cared about, but Danny couldn't let his guard down.

'You know I hate eggs.' The boy had said with a puzzled look. The statement seemed so casual, as if it would have been said at a family dinner when he was offered a dish he did not approve of. The boy seemed so relaxed, considering his situation.

This Joe didn't seem like the type of guy who would try to take advantage of an amnesiac, but people could do cruel things when they get desperate. Could the boy be trusted?

'I want answers, Frank!... Why haven't you come home?'

That name - Frank - had struck Danny somewhere. His heart jumped to attention when his ears heard that name. He must have known it. Everything Joe said had sounded more true and felt more right than this entire life that Danny had gotten to know. Could he be living a lie? Was it true that this boy was his brother as he had said?

Then where was he? Where was his "brother" when Danny awoke, confused and frightened? Where was he when Danny needed someone to hug him close and tell him that everything was going to be okay? Where was he when Danny needed someone to do what a brother was supposed to do? Where was he when Danny needed to find himself? If Joe had once been his brother then he was too late now! He hadn't come on time to save him.

'Have you really yourself?' Asked a voice in the back of Danny's mind. It was his own voice, scrutinizing his thoughts and arguing with himself. 'Perhaps he isn't too late, after all.'

What was he saying? Was he seriously thinking he might join this kid's side? Danny couldn't do that, even if he wanted to. Denis would surely have him beaten, or killed, or both!

'...don't ever let them take away who you are, Frank.'

Those words, those eyes when those words were said. Danny had never felt quite so close to finding himself as he had been when Joe said those words. Danny looked at him and could see those very eyes flash through his mind like a slideshow running on fast-forward. Each vision that passed through Danny's mind carried a memory of its own, but when he tried to grasp them, they slipped just beyond his reach and faded into oblivion.

Then it was over. Danny was back in that basement, faced with a choice: he could take the risk and free this boy, hoping to be reunited with his memories along the way, or he could obey orders and avoid the consequence of ending up buried in a shallow grave or tossed in the sea as fish food. Danny had made his choice. He wanted badly to believe Joe that this wasn't who he is and that he had a family out there, but Danny was so afraid to die. He was so alone and the thought of facing something so big on his own was more than he could handle.

Danny just hoped that he wouldn't end up regretting his choice.

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