Promise

Chapter 3 - the kid

   They reach the station in a while and Zayne carried the child out. "When we go in, a lady will take you. She'll bring you to a room and ask you some questions, is that okay?" He asked the child. He nodded, still not speaking at all. Zayne wondered if he really was going to be okay as he walked in.

     "Do you want me to put you down?" Zayne asked as the lady approached them. Gripping onto him tighter, the child nods. Was Zayne suppose to put him down or not, the child didn't seem to want to let go. Zayne sighed as he tried to put him on the ground. "Come on, she's waiting for you. I'll go find you later okay?" Zayne tried to persuade him.

     He reluctantly let go of Zayne and stood beside him. The lady approached him and started to explain to him what was going to happen. Zayne had to go, he had a meeting to go to. He reached for the child and ruffled his hair. "Listen to her okay." He said as he turned and left. He got his arm bandaged up, it wasn't as bad as he thought it would be. Just that some of his muscles were torn and their arrangement were a bit off, nothing that big to him. He did get an earful though. 

     Then he made his way to the meeting room, swallowing some painkillers on the way. Everyone was there already. "Let me explain first before you start with your questions." Zayne said and they started the meeting. He explained what happened after they were forced out of the warehouse, excluding the fact that he was in a lot pain. Then they went over what was going to happen in five days. As the guy requested, Zayne would be going into the warehouse himself but the rest of them would be outside.

     After they were done, Zayne dismissed them. Zayne got Noah to stay for a while. He asked him how the child was doing. "Well, not good. I mean the doctors checked him and he's physically healthy but he won't say a word to anyone." Noah reported. Zayne nodded, maybe he should go visit him.

     "Where are they keeping him." He asked and Noah brought him over. They stopped by the front desk and Zayne grabbed a bunch of sweets. "Hey...you're okay right?" Noah asked, he had seen the gash earlier on but didn't say anything. Zayne smiled and reassured him. Noah has always been the kind to worry, but that's what made them such good friends.

     Then Noah opened the door to the child's room and Zayne walked in. He was curled up in a corner again, hugging his legs to his chest and he had head resting on his knees. Zayne called out to him as he approached, he also noticed the fresh set of clothes that was on the chair. The child didn't have any reaction, he didn't recognise Zayne's voice.

     Zayne moved over to him and squatted down in front of the child, a small distance away. "Hey, I came to find you, you didn't forget me so soon did you?" Zayne said with a gentle voice, trying to cheer the child up. He peeked up at Zayne then lifted his head. His eyes didn't look as dull as they were before.

     Squished between his legs and his chest, Zayne saw his jacket and a soft toy. Zayne thought the officers would have taken the jacket away, maybe it's a good thing they didn't. "What is its name?" Zayne asked with a smile. The child was confused, he didn't know what Zayne was talking about. "Your stuffed toy. What's its name?" Zayne repeated his question, sensing the child confusion. Hopefully he will say something this time.

     "Benjamin." The child replied softly, almost whispering. He didn't think adults would involve themselves in things like that, all the ones he knew didn't. Zayne was glad he was being responsive. "Benjamin, nice name. And what about your name?" Zayne asked and the child shrugged. He doesn't have one. Zayne hummed in thought.

      "Well, let's find you a name then. How does Jack sound." Zayne suggested. The child never thought of this before, getting a name for himself. He was excited but Jack sounded horrible, he didn't like it. He shook his head. "No? Okay, what about Perry." The child shakes his head again. Perry sounded even worse than Jack. Zayne paused for a moment and put some thought into his next suggestion.