Chapter 3, Part II

First of all, thank you for reading until this point. I would also like to give a shout-out to my new readers in Romania and France! Remember, any feedback counts!!

-Zach
P.S. The book has passed the 65,500 mark and well on the way to completion. A few kinks have to be fixed before the next run- through, but it's looking really bright, people!

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He heard footsteps coming to his bed.

Ah well. Might as well not pretend to sleep. 
As he Sat up and put his hat on, he felt a little calmer when he remembered what the boy’s name was.

He used to be called Jane, and with a name like that you better be ready to defend yourself. You see, it was supposed to be" John", but the person who wrote the name on the certificate must have been so tired that day that he thought, for a second, that he was actually a girl, so he wrote Jane instead. He came in a few years ago as a small boy for his size, almost David’s height –and he wasn’t so tall either- but the story came too. How it happened David didn't know, but soon everyone knew about it, including him. Yet the last person who made the joke wound up with a broken arm and a mouthful of dirt. From then on, no one said a word. The anger must have swelled up so much that the hot air caused him to grow a few more inches over everyone else.

This same boy was quietly marching toward David, with a mix of sleep deprivation and with the short temper that came easily when no adults were around. And the rest of the boys were up too.

“Hello, Spotty face." He tried to sound scary, but came off as mean. The rest of the boys snickered.

Yet David felt cool and collected amidst the shivers of fear, something very unusual of him. It felt weird, like a warm breeze flew throughout his body.

“H-Hello John,” he whispered. “Is there something wrong?"

“Yes. Your screaming has kept me up for two days already. I know it was you that made all that noise last night and you were too stupid to know not to do that.”

 “Okay. So what else do you want me to do, besides not scream?"

 “Well, you have to ask me what to do? Now why would you need me to tell you to shut up? Maybe you should stop screaming for your mum.”

No one ever admits that they missed their old homes.

“And stop acting like such a freak, you freckled smut! You already are one!” The rest of the boys laughed as all of the confidence spilled from the freckled boy’s face faster than rain off of a roof.

“In fact, let’s see your hair.” He grabbed for David’s hat.

“No! Stop! Please! Don’t-“

Too late. John yanked off his hat and tossed it across the room, to another accomplice. David immediately leapt for it, rushing with shame and embarrassment while trying to keep his head covered with the other hand.

“Give me back my hat! Please stop!”

All of the other boys laughed at him as he ran between the two boys at the front of the room.

David tried in desperation to get his hat back, while more tears streamed down his face.

“Please. Just give me back my hat.” Then one of the other boys pushed him to the ground, as other boys surrounded him in an overwhelming circle.

 “Well, now, you little git. You know what, fellas? I don’t think it’s about the hat. Yeah, David, I think you miss your daddy. Or maybe your mummy!”

Everyone began to point and laugh at him, loud enough to wake even the deepest sleepers in the room. He must have had supernatural strength to hold back sobs.

Then it happened.

Somehow, he found some courage, some force to help him stand for himself. He looked up at him, his wide eyes red, narrowed and wet from tears.

“I… never knew… my Mum. Unlike YOU.” The crowd fell into a hush and John into a different mood.

“Did they not just leave you here for no reason…Jane?” 

“How dare you,” John said between clenched teeth. David awoke from the rush and realized what he said. His body shook with panic as tears of fright welled up in his eyes.

“I ought to give you a better reason to scream right now!” He cracked the knuckles of his fist. David gulped even harder as he tried to crawl away. The rest of the boys looked on.

Then someone else spoke up, in a loud, indignant, deep voice.

“Wait! Don’t hurt him!”  

It was George! Nathan wasn’t too far behind him.

 “Why would you beat him up now, when there will be marks on his face tomorrow?” George asked as he snatched the hat from one of the other boys and tossed it back to the victim.

“What happens next if he even decides to snitch on you to the Nuns?” George spoke softly and like a negotiator, to David’s confusion.

Yet this method seemed to work. In the light of the streetlamps outside, David saw a calmer change in John’s body language.

“Yeah, that’s a good point…” he whispered.

“So why not push off the fight until tomorrow? I’m sure he won’t scream again,” George whispered.

Then John made up his mind.

“Tomorrow…I’ll make you scream tomorrow…”

Oh, Thank G-d, David thought as he exhaled deeply while the circle dissipated.

John walked away and quickly went back to bed while the three of them stayed on the floor, the smallest one bent over his hat, now with new wrinkles.

“Thank you so much,” David whispered. “But I guess the ‘no fight at all’ option was out of the question…” He clearly grew a smug smirk on the side of his mouth.

George caught the sarcasm as he helped David up. “Hey, I only just saved your life.”

“Besides,” Nathan interjected as he put the hat on David’s head, “He’ll probably be more tired tomorrow.”

That seemed to make it all feel better. Time just seemed to pause as the three of them sat together in a broken circle, the two bigger boys a sort of security for the third. He wondered if grown-ups had to deal with protecting themselves like he needed to. [Maybe they weren’t so bad if they never fought with each other.] Maybe if he was able to grow a little taller, he wouldn’t have to deal with these things.

“You had the same dream again, didn’t you?”

David turned to George, the height difference made him look like a tower.

“Yeah…”

“The ledge, the thoughts, the hand through the wall, all of that the same?”

“There’s more.”

“So there’s more huh? Why didn’t you tell-?”

“Because of Sister Agnes, remember? She came in while I was telling you?”

Nathan looked confused. “Um, where was I during this?”

“Oh yeah… By the way, do you want to know what happened next, after you left to Mass?”

“Wait, what else was there in the dream? It was so good until then.”

“Oh, yeah, sorry I left you up there. What happened?”

“Don’t worry, everything is fine (chuckle). She only made me go to mass in my pajamas. Said it would build character. It was pretty embarrassing.” David grimaced at the thought.

“That’s why some of the others snickered at you.”

“Yeah. They tried to needle me about it, but I took care of that.”

“Yikes,” David whispered. “What happened next?”

“I snuck back upstairs to change into the uniform. Thankfully no one noticed. So what parts are new?”

“Well,” David continued with the same hesitation as before. “After the hand comes out, I guess I- I don’t know why but- they told me to jump-”

“Who?”

“Wait, what hand?” Nathan had a look of confusion all over his face.

“A hand broke through the brick wall of the tower, reaching for him.”

“The same guy telling him to jump?”

“No. Someone else.”

“Who?”

“That’s what I’m asking, Nathan.”

“Okay, so who was it, David?”

“I don’t know. It wasn’t a voice I could recognize.”

“So it told you to jump?”

“Yes. I don’t know why, but I just listened.”

“Well, that’s nothing new. You jumped before. Then what?”

“So I’m falling...”

“Yeah…”

“And falling…”

“Okay, you can stop being dramatic.”

“Nathan, honestly. I fell for a long time.”

“Couldn’t be so long, especially from that tower. It would have felt a lot shorter, especially when it isn’t real, and especially when you smack the floor-”

 “But then I flew.”

Then there’s silence. George looked to Nathan after taken slightly aback. They were expecting for David to wake up before he landed.

“You flew… Right. Are you sure?”

“Do I look like I’m sure?”

“Absolutely not. You still look clueless.”

“Then you’d be right. I-I’m not so sure but I think I was…”

“Everyone falls in their dreams, David. That’s nothing new. Some wake before they die, while others think they fly away. Do you have any idea how many times I dreamt of flying out of here and back to the gang I belonged to? Since the first day I was locked up in here. What about you Nathan? Same thing?”

“I never like admitting it but yeah, I do. They never end well.”

“Yeah. You fall and wake up when you’re about to hit the ground, right?”

“Yes.”

“George, please. I really did fly. I felt it before I landed.”

“So would I. How are you so sure?”

“I don’t know. Every time I feel like I am, I wake up. I scream when I’m falling.”

“I see,” He whispered, scratching his head. “So why are you dreaming about this, over the past couple of days? And why are those screams so loud? No one else screams in their dreams.”

“I have no idea, and certainly hope that it doesn’t get any worse. Next I’ll be screaming Bloody Maries and wake up the Nuns.” They couldn’t help but chuckle at the idea.

“George,” He began to ask. “Why do you think I’ve been dreaming about these things?  Does it have anything to do with where I came from?"

"I don't know," George said.

“Why are you thinking about that, David?”

“I’m not sure. I realized that I didn’t know much about where I came from. Sister Deborah didn’t tell me anything. Just that I came from a garden.”

"Well, believe me, if possible I would tell you what it meant. Maybe it's just you." He realized he said the wrong thing as David yawned.

"Yeah... It's always me that’s got to be different. Look at everybody," he said, pointing at the many dark shades of hair, including George and Nathan.

“No one else has such bright hair or these spots. Why am I the one who screams in his crazy dreams, if you’re dreaming the same thing? Why am I the one that has to stay?"

"Again, I just don't know. Nothing’s changed since yesterday,” George replied."

“But I can assure you, you won’t be here forever. There’s always a way.”

“Yeah… and I think I got it.”

“Exactly- wait, you found a way out?”

“Yep, I know just what to do.”

“David, why haven’t you tried that before? You’ve been here longer, so you know this place.”

“Well, I guess I was just so scared of leaving. I would be all alone out there. What about you? You came from there.”

“Yeah, but…I don’t know. What was your plan?”

“We escape at recess. Sneak around the Nuns and exit through one of the doors in the Church.”

“Won’t that be too risky? There are Nuns everywhere. And the Head Priest-”

“He won’t be there.”

“What do you mean-”

“He walks to another Church to meet with a Cardinal. Sister Deborah told me once.”

“She seems to be the only nice Nun in this whole place, doesn’t she?”

“So what, Nathan? The plan is as good as it gets. We escape through the Church at a side door! It’s good enough for me. I just don’t know why I didn’t think of this sooner.”

“That’s because you never thought about escaping, did you? What do you say, David?”

He stared down at the ground, shifting around as though his pajamas became itchy.

“I…don’t know if I…well…I just don’t think that…”

“That what? Why are you so afraid?”

“David’s never been out there before, have you?” Nathan looked back to David with inquisitive eyes.

“Well, yes but… a long time ago.”

“Oh, come on. It will be much better than this David. Trust me, I have friends out there. They can take care of us.”

“Yeah…m-me too,” Nathan interjected, “Come on David. We’ve been out there before. It’s not as scary as you’ve been told.”

“I… I don’t know if I want to…”

Nathan couldn’t understand what the problem was.

“Look, if you stay here, you’re going to stay forever, right? Don’t you remember what you told us last night? You wouldn’t want to stay here if it means being that.”

You can say that again.

“And we won’t have to deal with John either.”

Really? I never thought of that. David looked back at him with wider eyes, flashing his hazel eyes in full color, as if mesmerized.

“So, when recess is called, we’ll sneak behind the Nuns, through the catacombs-”

Nathan interrupted, “Ooh, right. Good idea.”

“-and through the Church’s back side door to freedom. Okay?”

He quickly thought about the whole situation. He’d miss the fight. He wouldn’t have to grow up to be a priest. Better yet, he wouldn’t have to see John again! He could only think of one thing to say:

“Okay, I guess.”

Nathan shook a joyful fist.

“Then it’s settled. We’ll be leaving tomorrow. I’m going to miss the beds. They were the only soft things in this place.”

“I miss the outside more than anything. I can’t wait to see Oliver, Johnny and Willy again. We’ll get right back to what we do best.”

Only David seemed less happy at the decision to leave. After quick “good-nights” to each other, the other two quickly leapt into bed to catch as much sleep as they could. David, on the other hand, walked to the large window and took another look outside.

Tall flats blocked out half of the view, while large clouds covered the other part. He had seen stars over London before, but now the world outside was painted with the light from the streetlight and nearby windows. The street looked so empty at this time of night. The world was asleep again, while he sat in the protection of the orphanage. Soon, he would be out there and he wasn’t sure what to think. On the one hand, he wouldn’t have to look for anyone to save him this time. On the other hand, he wouldn’t be protected anymore; he would have to follow Nathan and George forever if he wanted to survive. He had only heard bad things about the world outside. He didn’t want to die out there, but then again he would in here.

So even though he realized he had nothing to lose, he still didn’t want tomorrow to come. He never felt so scared in his life.