Outside in the dead silence of a cold autumn's night is no place for a child.
But Todd was no longer a child.
Any innocence he might still of had was violently ripped away from him that night. The screams of his dearest beloved mother still rung clearly in his mind and the image of her lifeless, blood-drenched body taunted his every attempted thought.
Todd still was unsure of everything that occurred that evening and as much as he tried his mind couldn't make any sense of it, as if it didn't want to. He felt his whole life was a blur, the only thing he was sure of was that his mother was dead. A painful truth he didn't want to accept.
His body shivered but not because of the cold, his breath was heavy. He leaned back against a tombstone the hung dauntingly over his small frame. He remembered running for a long time, he didn't know, or care for that matter, where he was going. All that mattered was he was far away from the house he called a home for so long. He must have went into a graveyard so that he could rest but he didn't really remember doing so.
Todd was used to feeling alone, he had been that way for so long, but this - this was a new kind of alone. One that he couldn't bare. All he wanted was for someone to hug him to pat his head and tell him everything was going to be alright. But he knew no one was there and that no one cared about him. He knew this all too well.
He could hear the sounds of sirens as they drove past his hiding place to the place where his mother drew her last breath. In his mind he knew it was useless, he knew they wouldn't catch the killer and they wouldn't save his mother but in his heart he had a little gleam of faith.
His heart beated so loudly he was unable to hear the sound of his tears running down his face and staining his rosey cheeks. He took a deep breath and put his arms around himself to simulate a hug from another being. He did everything to try and calm himself but nothing worked. This feeling inside of him right now was one he knew, even as a small, fragile child, he knew he could never shake off.
In the distance he heard the sound of tires screeching and moments later heard the sound of a car door slamming shut. Todd wanted to run away just then, for the fear of someone coming to take him away to a foster home or perhaps worse...
Despite his efforts he couldn't get his body to co-operate with him and he stayed huddled on the ground. He could hear footsteps walking through the graveyard, looking for him. He tried his hardest to disappear, hoping the darkness of the night would swallow him up. But it didn't, and he was found.
A tall lanky silhouette made it's way swiftly to Todd's hiding place. Todd instantly knew who it was. The person drew close and fell to his knees in front of Todd and the other person reached out his thin, bony fingers to touch Todd's shoulders. Through tears, Todd looked into the piercing eyes of the one person he never thought he would seek refuge in and somehow was given the urge to smile. Todd couldn't think of any words to say at that instance, no word he knew could explain his feeling.
No light shined on Todd or the other person, though it was not an unnerving darkness. Through Todd's eyes the other person was only a dark blur but still something that made him feel safe and protected and when that same dark blur rapped his cold, lanky arms around Todd and pulled him close, he felt hidden, as if, now, no one could ever find him and almost as if his whole existence was erased from the minds of the people that ever hurt him, Todd felt like no one could ever hurt him ever again. After that Todd only remembered hearing the sad and deep voice of his savior whisper to him.
"I'm so sorry."
A/N: I'm sad to say that my computer crashed not long ago and it took with it all the writing I had saved. So, two finished chapters of Subterfuge and half a chapter of Best Safety Lies In Fear. If you are a writer yourself, you know that re-writing something is very unpleasant and unenjoyable. Of course I will get around writing those chapters over and putting them up. But because, I know, I've already made all of you wait so long I thought I'd throw you guys a short one shot.
I quite like this little thing, I hope you do too. I tried to make it not completely blunt and obvious so that you, the reader, could make your own interpretation of it. Tell me what you think, lovelies.