HIS STRANGE BOY

Chapter: 7.

*****

Having just woken up from a rather disturbing nightmare, Jamie opened his eyes groaning from discomfort, he felt squeezed in a manner that every single bone in his body cried from the pain. He tried stretching but his head hit the hardwood instead causing the young man to scream in agony. Eyes fully opened he was greeted by a blanket of darkness, his body ached as his brain tried to remember where he was and what he was doing or had done. 

He remembered having eaten dinner and then dropping dead before he made it into his bed. 

"Holy--" he whispered, looking around frantically. He didn't get to bed last night, he had fallen to the ground and somehow during the night, he crept under the bed. No wonder he was in so much pain. Slowly but carefully he slithered on his stomach all the way out from that cursed space he had slept in all night and once again he was met with more darkness as there was not a single light turned on in the bedroom. 

Where are the guys?

He wondered, gently sitting up in bed, he stretched his stiff muscles and immediately regretted the action as pain shot up straight to his brain. He thought he heard a sound but it was gone before he could even listen to it. It didn't take another second when he heard the switch click and he was bathed in light. 

With squinted eyes, vision blurred, he thought he saw a thin shadow standing behind the dining table. He tried to make out what it was but the light was too bright and his eyes hadn't adjusted to the sudden change. The figure moved and Jamie's eyes stayed glued to it until it made its appearance known.

It wasn't a shadow.

It was a boy.

Maybe about ten years or younger. 

"Who are you?" Jamie asked confused. Remembering he wasn't alone he threw a glance at the bed next to him but it was empty. 

Where in hell did Mike and Tommy go? 

The boy was standing before him, with deep brown eyes burning into the depths of his greens. He didn't say a single word, he just stood there and watched him intently. 

"Hello…" Jamie smiled at the strange-looking boy. He was skinny, with dirty brown hair and pale skin, he wore neat white pants but he was shirtless and his flat stomach looked so thin he could make out the curves his rib bones made on his stomach. 

"You have to run!" The boy whispered one at a time as if the words were thought out carefully before being spoken. 

"Run?" Jamie questioned suspiciously. Something isn't right here, he could feel it in his bones. 

"Come, I will take you." He stretched one slender hand and Jamie reluctantly took it, he stood and instantly moaned painfully as the movement caused his bones to stretch and his muscles tied into knots. 

"Where are my friends?" He asked the boy who led him with ease into the bathroom and shut the door behind them. 

Didn't he say he would take him out of there?

Jamie met the boy's pale face and forced a smile, the boy, however, didn't return his smile rather he pulled his hands away and walked towards a red curtain Jamie hadn't noticed was there the previous night. Behind the curtain was a small door big enough to take the boy and he wondered how he was supposed to fit into that little dark space. 

"Come…" the boy gestured for him to go first.

"I can't fit in there," Jamie whispered back. 

"Try, bend down and crawl." The boy frowned. 

Jamie didn't like that look on his face so he rushed back into the bedroom and grabbed his phone, returning to the bathroom, the boy was still standing in the same position he left him wearing the same frown on his face. Jamie ignored him and switched on the phone's flashlight, then he went on his knees and crawled into the tiny space. Once inside it doesn't seem so bad but it was as uncomfortable as waking up under the bed and since his body was yet to recover from that event it didn't help as he was squeezed into another.

"Are you coming?" He asked the boy and he motioned for him to keep going which he did. After crawling a few feet into the tiny space the boy crawled in behind him. "Shouldn't you be taking the lead? I don't even know where we are going." He muttered under his breath. 

"Keep moving, don't stop." Was the only reply he got from the boy. 

"Ok, I can't do this anymore." Jamie stopped and the boy's head ran into his butt. "Sorry." He whispered but got no response. "Please, tell me where we are going or at least where my friends are?" He tried turning around but the space was too narrow and he couldn't move, so he just stayed put. 

"Captured all of them." He said rather too softly as if he felt pity for them.

"Captured??" Jamie yelled. 

"Shhh." He shushed him and Jamie quieted down. "My uncle Charlie captured them." 

"Why?" 

"They are sinners." 

"What?" Jamie could literally feel his heart hammering in his chest. There was not enough air to breathe in that little space and he was starting to sweat profusely.

"It is what they do, Nora helps him bring sinners and they kill them to keep the city clean." The boy tried to explain as if it was common knowledge.

"That is just sick. Who does that?" Jamie could not believe what he was hearing.

"Every stranger that comes to the house is a sinner and they are left for dead." 

"Why wasn't I taken with them?" 

"They didn't find you. I was in the room and I saw your leg from under the bed when they carried your friends out, I quickly shoved your feet back in and stood there protecting you until they left, but Nora came back and asked me to wait until you get back, they believed you didn't sleep in your bed and it is true, you did not, but, they didn't know you were in the room, they thought you left or fell asleep someplace around the house so they asked that I wait on your return while they go in search of you around the house and once I see you I have to click the red button to alert them at once." Those were the longest words spoken by the boy and he panted as if he had run a race. 

It took a while for Jamie to process all he had said and once his words settled enough for him to understand them clearly, he felt his eyes bulging right out of their sockets in pure horror. 

"Fuck!" 

"Keep going, I have to get you out of here." 

"No, I can't leave without my friends, I need to find them." 

"You can't find them and you can't help them, not by yourself. Everyone in the house is looking for you and if they find you, you will be dead." The boy shoved him by the ass cursing Jamie to almost fall on his face.

"If all you have said is true then why are you helping me?" 

"I haven't seen a sinner up close before so after they left, I went on my knees and peeped under the bed, I saw your sleeping face and...I was happy."

"Happy?" Jamie asked, his face twisted into that of distraught. 

"Yes, you looked very peaceful, no different from everyone else but you are very handsome..." The last words were whispered and Jamie didn't know how to respond to them.

"How old are you?" He asked. 

"Thirteen, going on fourteen." 

"Whoa, I thought you would be ten or even lower, you're so small." Jamie didn't press anymore, maybe he doesn't eat well or he is just a very short boy he concluded. 

"Can we go?" The boy asked and Jamie agreed with a nod of his head and began crawling again. 

"Where does this passageway lead?" 

"To the Blue River." 

"River?" 

"Don't panic, it is not very deep. You can walk on it and you don't have to swim." 

"How did you know this?" 

"I like to explore around the house and that is how I discovered all the hidden doors and secrets of this house." 

"You know, last night I took a walk around the house and I went down this hallway that seemed rather too cold. The place gave out all the negative vibes and I think your uncle lives there or something." 

"You went down there?" There was a shock in his voice when he asked that.

"Yes." 

"How far did you go?" 

"As far as the door that was your uncle's room or whatever it was. I heard him and Nora talking in there but I ran before they came out and then I got back into the room and ate and--" Jamie paused and gasped. "They drugged our foods didn't they?" 

"They did and if you had gone any farther than that door, you would have seen the Red doors that they kept sinners locked in and also where they murder them." 

"Jesus Christ!" Jamie cried out. "Are you saying that my friends are locked up there and awaiting death?" 

"Yes...please go." He pleaded.

"And what do you mean by 'Sinners' you keep calling us that."

"There are laws in Sincity and if you don't abide by them, you are a sinner and the penalty is death."

"Who made these laws? They seem like a total maniac to me."

"Maybe." The boy murmured.

"Why do you think my friends are sinners?"

"Men don't love men and women don't love women." It was obvious the little boy doesn't believe this himself but having been brought up with such a mentality he didn't know any better.

"Do you think this is right?"

"I don't know." He whispered.

"I hate this place," Jamie muttered under his breath. Now, he understood better the reason behind everything. If his friends had listened to him, they all would have left last night, even though that was a big maybe. They couldn't have escaped since they don't even remember which way they came in.

Silence prevailed as they went deeper and deeper into the dreaded dark hole. With one hand gripping onto his phone tightly and knees burning from the hard floor they crawled on, Jamie wondered what his friends would be doing now, whether they were even still alive, how long it has been since they took them, and how in hell he was supposed to get out of this city.

"How do I find my way out of this city when I get to the River?" 

"That is for you to figure out, I can only lead you to the River and no matter what happens, please don't come back here." 

"Wouldn't they know you helped me escape?"

"I can bear the consequences if they found out." 

"Why would you do that for me?" 

"Because...I like you." 

Again, Jaime was dumbfounded, he couldn't find the right answer to such a declaration, so he kept quiet. 

"What about this number on my wrist?" 

"Only a D.A knows how to get rid of them and even if my family doesn't find you, the D.A can track you with that number, and no matter where you are they will catch up to you." 

Jamie laughed drily. "Then what is the use of escaping?" 

"Anything can happen outside, you may find luck and stay alive but whatever happens, do not trust anyone from this city you will be safer that way." 

"This is just great...ow!" His head bumped into a wall. "Well, end of the road," Jamie grunted rolling his eyes. "So much for River Blue."

"Push it!" 

"Push what?" Jamie frowned. 

"The door." 

"What door? My head hit a dead end." 

"Use your light." The boy shook his head. 

Jamie pointed the light to the wall and it turned out it wasn't a wall after all. The boy was right; it was the same red-colored tiny door as from the beginning. How long have they even crawled? It seemed like it lasted forever. With the light on the door, Jamie could make out a handle and he pushed it and stumbled out into an open space and down the River, he made flapping motions with his hands as he got wet but the boy was right, it wasn't deep at all and after much struggles, he was able to stand on bent legs while peeking into the hole that was the door from which he came out. 

"Are you coming?" He asked the boy who was still on both knees and hands trapped inside that tiny space, it looked hurtful to be in that position. 

"No, this is where my journey ends but yours continues." He eyed him and his face stretched into a boyish grin that made him look adorable. 

"Thank you." Jamie appreciated his kindness. 

"Promise me you will stay alive." 

Jamie met his wet eyes and smiled warmly. "I will try." He offered his hand for a shake and the boy took it. 

"That will do for now." He smiled as they shook hands, with his little palm in Jamie's big one, the boy cried silently, "Charlie Clayton's House." He whispered. 

"If I find help, I promise to come back for you." 

After a long moment of silence, the boy smiled as tears streamed down his face. "That would be nice but save yourself first don't worry about me, as long as you stay alive, that is enough, then I know that this moment didn't go to waste." 

Taking a closer look at the boy, Jamie saw he wasn't so bad, maybe living with a bunch of psychos has affected him in some way but he was still a boy, a very innocent one at that and one he was certain would love to live a life just like every other normal teenage boy. 

"What is your name?" 

"Boiy." 

"Boy?" Jamie asked. 

He laughed, "it is spelled. B.O.I.Y." 

"Sounds like Boy." Jamie laughed with him.

"Take care." Before he could reply to that, the red door closed and Jamie was left all alone with no direction or place to go. 

After standing out there for what seemed like forever he decided to walk towards his left-hand side, with the water almost reaching his knees, he made his way into nowhere. Fingers crossed, he hoped he finds help and comes back for his friends before it is too late. 

More especially for, Boiy.