The boy who loved to write

Chapter 8

Leo woke up to a mouthful of dirt. At first he couldn't tell which way was up and which way was down, but then the image started to clear. Bright lights seemed to swarm all around him and loud noises, some of which he had never heard before, reached his ears.

Soon loud voices tunnelled him back to reality. A woman about his mum's age was dragging him off the road.

"You, young man, are going to the cops," She shouted at him in the ear, "It's people like you that are the reason for so many innocent deaths." Now Leo was really confused, what had he done wrong?

"I am sorry ma'am, but I think you have the wrong child, I would never cause death!" Leo stumbled upon his words, very worn out from his trek through the forest.

"Tell that to the officers." The lady shoved him into the grip of stronger hands and he felt himself being dragged into a car.

******************************************************************************************

Leo had never been in a car before and figured that it was a strange punishment as he had always dreamt to be in one. He jumped for joy when he heard a loud wail turn on and blue lights brighten on the roof.

"What fun, hey, who are you and where are you taking me? Are we in a city? Where did you get a car? Are you here to rescue me from the forest?" Thousands of questions tumbled out of Leo's mouth, only to be met by silence from the people surrounding him. From all the excitement, he finally had time to look at his companions properly. There were three other people, each of them wearing blue and white suits.

He looked around and suddenly sat upright. "Umm, sorry to bother you, but have you seen a fawn around here?"

The man to his right gave him an odd expression and once again turned the other way and said nothing. Leo started to get nervous. Even though he had never been in a car before, he preferred Stanley as a ride. It didn't feel right and reaching to open the door, to see where he was, found that his hands were bounded in chains.

Glancing at his 'partners' pocket he read a label on a dark shape: Taser Gun

His heart skipped a beat. Leo did not know what a taser was, but he sure knew about guns, his father had brought one on his expedition.

He started to say what Tony had taught him in situations like this. "Ok guys, I know you are kidnapping me and I just wanted to warn you that my mother and father are both head of the police. If I were you, I would let me out right now before you are all found out." Leo felt proud of himself as the men gave quizzical expressions, as if thinking about it. Unexpectedly, they started to laugh.

"Hey kid, we are the police, and you are being arrested for falling asleep in the middle of the road." One of them replied.

Suddenly everything clicked into place, the bright lights, the angry woman, everything. Stanley must have wandered into the middle of the road and ran away at the sight of headlights! That explains why Leo had been lying on the floor when he woke up. Someone probably found him and called the police.

This information hit him with such force that he blacked out and his head fell right next to the police's taser gun.

*****************************************************************************************

Once again he was awoken to bright lights staring at him in the face. People were murmuring and running around in white coats.

"Can you tell me what is happening," Leo asked, frightened. Well that was what he meant to say but to his surprise, it came out as, "Yan ou yell ee whoot apeni..."

The nearest person came towards and muttered something to the others. A tall man wearing a surgical mask and gloves stepped to the front. "It's okay boy, we have taken the taser bolt out of your head and you should be able to speak in the next few weeks," he said, as if talking about some boring and unexciting news. It was more than just news to Leo, he sat up, ignoring a pain in his neck. "Uo sau wa de lah?" Complete gibberish came out of his mouth and he just sat there in disbelief.

It must have taken Leo hours to take the news in. He never knew a boy like him could get into so much trouble! He tried to look on the bright side and imagined himself at home in front of an open fire... it seemed like heaven compared to what he'd been through these past days. At least he was in a city, which meant he could catch a bus up to his town.

The hospital overlooked skyscrapers. Thousands of them all cramped into one small area. He didn't get why people wanted to go to the city so much, it was house after house after house. One particularly dirty building sat right next to the hospital. It looked as if it was swarming with ants but with closer inspection, children were running around in a paved garden. He felt bad for them, where was all the nature? Surely no child would bare to live here?

It was at that moment that a woman opened the door, closely followed by two middle aged men.

"Young man," The woman started, "We have no record of you anywhere, and your DNE tests show you were born illegally. This means that, if you had parents, which we do not think you do, they would go to jail and you would be sent to an orphanage. Luckily for you, these kind men have agreed to take you on as there son. I am sure you will fit in rather well as they already have another adopted kid called Lucas, who we believe is your age." The lady asked someone to grab a wheelchair and soon Leo was whisked away in the back of a van with his 'parents'.

He could only do one thing, scream.