The dresser I could reach, but the key was a bit beyond my reach. I frantically looked around the room and found what I was looking for; sticking out the bottom of the bed was an umbrella. I grabbed it and walked back to the dresser. I put the tip of the umbrella on the key and pushed down on it and then pulled. The key landed next to my foot. I sat back down and unlocked the hand cuffs. I grabbed the clothes Justin had pulled out of Ryan's closet for me to wear and put them back on. I then opened the bedroom door. My heart was pounding, I felt like I was in the middle of a bad horror movie, like Freddy Kruger was about to walk around the corner. Then again, Mr. Josh was just as bad.

I walked up to the front door. I turned the knob and opened the door, running down the steps. When I got to the bottom I froze, there lying on the floor naked in a pool of blood was my mother. As tears filled my eyes I stumbled back up the stairs. At the top of the stairs I ran into Ryan and I fell to the floor sobbing. He picked me up and quickly carried me back to his room. He sat me on the bed and started rummaging around the room, until he had a packed suitcase sitting on the bed. He pulled me up by the arm and hurried me out the front door. Ryan put me in the car and locked the doors. In a few minutes he came back out with his suitcase and stuck it in the trunk. As he was getting in the car Justin's car was coming down the road.

"Lay down Jack so he can't see you!" Ryan shouted, but it was too late. Justin put his car in the front of the drive way. "Shit," I heard him mumble. Ryan locked all the doors as Justin came up to the car and knocked on the window.

"Ryan, open this door now!" Ryan unlocked the door and got out of the car, and stared at Justin.

"Yes?"

"Where do you think your going?"

"I'm going away for awhile."

"Then leave the kid."

"No."

"Why?"

"I need the kid on the trip."

"Where are you going?"

"His father's funeral, they're having it up north where the rest of the family is buried."

"I'll come too."

"Fine, now can we go?"

"Let me pack then I'll be ready."

"Clean up your mess while you're at it," said Ryan, pointing at my mother.

About an hour later Mr. Sone came out of the house with a suitcase. He got in his car and pulled away from the drive way, allowing Ryan to get out and lead the way. We got to the airport and Ryan whipped out two tickets to Detroit, Michigan. I wondered why my parents were being buried there. Ryan and I got on our flight leaving Mr. Sone at the gate, as he had no ticket. Mr. Sone was pissed as we walked away but Ryan didn't care so neither did I. When we got on the plane and found our seats Ryan lost it. I don't know how long he had been holding in whatever it was he was holding in, but it must have been a long time. Ryan cried in his hands for half the flight before he excused himself to the bathroom. A flight attendant approached me with worried eyes.

"Is that guy alright?" she asked carefully, as if she feared him. All in all she probably should fear him, in fact I should too but I didn't.

"Yeah, he's fine," I said smiling sadly. "We are going to Detroit to bury someone close to him."

"Oh my!" she gasped. "Poor man, if either of you need something just let me know." I nodded and she moved on. Ryan came out of the bathroom a couple of minutes later and sat back down next to me.

"Are you ok?" I asked quietly, he looked down at me and nodded.

"Yeah, I'm alright." He was quiet the rest of the flight. Ryan didn't speak until we got out of the airport and he hailed a cab. He told the man to take us to the best hotel there. We ended up at some hotel called the Atheneum. It was really nice and ideally located in Greek Town, the heart of Detroit's thriving arts, entertainment, sports and dining district. Although I doubted I would actually see any of it, the area was still nice. I remembered seeing that they earned the AAA Four-Diamond award for 15 consecutive years, even if I didn't know what that was, it still sounded impressive. Our suite was enormous and plushy, fitted in style for the comfort of corporate and casual travelers. It also had a skyline view and an indulgent marble bathroom with a deep soaking tub.

"You hungry Jackie?" Ryan asked, making me jump as I got out of the tub. I stumbled into his chest. Ryan laughed and picked me up. He carried me over and set me down on the bed, then laid down next to me.

"Yeah, a little I guess." He pressed his ear to my stomach and listened to it growl.

"Sounds like more than a little," he chuckled. I smiled a little, wondering how long it would last.

Not long in my mind considering the man killed my family.

I knew I should be scared, I should be running, banging on doors for help, but as much as I knew I should, I couldn't. I needed him; I couldn't stand to be to far away from him for long. As sick as it sounded, I cared for him.

"Come on slow poke!" he said, pushing me out the door.

We ate at the Mosaic, famous for its food from all around the world. It was delicious, and we laughed a lot. I couldn't believe myself; here I was sitting in front of the man who had destroyed my life laughing. I had lost it; I didn't know what was wrong, I just knew something up there in my head had broken. I was officially crazy.

A week passed and I couldn't stand it anymore. I approached Ryan that night, praying he wouldn't get mad. I crawled onto the bed and put my head to his chest. He started stroking my arm reading his book.

"Ryan?" I ask quietly, he hadn't made me call him master since we got here.

"Hmm?" he replied, not hiding the boredom in his voice.

"What are we doing here?" That made him look at me, but it wasn't the angry look I had expected, instead it was a soft, puzzling look.

"What do you mean?" he asked, putting his book down and drawing me closer.

"What are we doing here, you know in Detroit? Are we gonna live here? Is my dad's funeral really gonna be here? Are we hiding from something? What? What is our purpose here?" he chuckled and ruffled up my hair.

"For someone so small you sure do have a lot of questions." I smiled meekly. "Well first, we might live here, I like it here. Two, no, none of your family is going to be buried here; I just needed an excuse to get rid of Justin. Three, no, I'm not hiding anymore; I'm here to put you in a safe place while I sort things out. Our purpose here, love bug, is to tie up loose ends and start new." I looked up at him and frowned. "What now?" I wanted to ask him what he was going to sort out, and who it was with and why it had started, but I didn't.

Instead I said, "I want strawberries," he smiled down at me and winked.

"Coming right up baby."

The next morning was a strange one. A lot of things happened, some of which I can barley remember. I remember guys in ski masks breaking our door down, and I remember them splattering Ryan's brains all over the hotel room. I remember being groped by one man in a ski mask; I remember being pulled from the hotel with a gun pressed to my back and a car, and the drugged cloth that was held to my face. How I got here, in this dark damp cellar, I may never know. As I woke up a man in the corner of the room walked over to me. He crouched down next to me.

"Sleep well cutie?" he asked, stroking my cheek. I smacked his hand away and he laughed. He grabbed my hair, pulling it back sharply to make me cry out. The man beat and cut me, torturing me until he stuck a gun under my chin.

"Try it again you little whore." I started shaking. How many times would this happen to me? How many times would I be subjected to do what people want in order to stay alive?

"What do you want?" I asked quietly. He grinned.

"Thing every man wants when he takes a little whore from its pimp," he laughed.

I tried to squirm away from him but he pulled me back roughly. He kissed me and started taking off my pants, when it happened. There was a series of loud crashes and screams from upstairs. The man shoved me away from him and ran up stairs. I curled my self into a ball, waiting for the next set of men to come and get me.

Come they did, but they were not the men I was expecting.

I was scooped up into a man's arms.

I tried to push away but then he said, "Calm down kiddo, its ok, i'm a police officer, your safe now."

I tried to fight against the darkness taking over, but ended up surrendering myself to the black void awaiting me.

Beeping was all I heard as I woke. I opened my eyes and found myself in the hospital. I tried to sit up but couldn't due to the sharp pain in my chest. It hurt so bad it made my eyes water. The door to the room opened and closed as the police officer from the house came into view. He sat in the chair next to me and smiled.

"I'm Officer Walker but you can call me Steve," he said, holding his hand out for me to shake. "So how do you fe--" he was cut off by the door opening and closing again. A man in a suit came in, and walked up to me. The police officer pulled him to the side, and they mumbled for a while. The man in the suit then walked up to me again and sat in the chair that Steve had sat in, and Steve stood against the wall.

"Hello Jack, I'm Thomas but you can call me Tom," he said. "I'm here about your parents, because they're .... gone, and they meant to leave you with your godfathers but can't now and you have no other living relatives--" I cut him off with tearful eyes as I was reminded of the still fresh wounds.

Steve pulled the man up by his arm and pushed him out the room. He came back and sat next to me.

"Sorry kid. What the man was trying to say is that you have no choice now but to go into foster care." I laid there staring at him, willing to wake up from this dream and believe it was the truth at the same time. The police man handed me some files.

"Here, look through them and pick one you like. They will visit and hopefully they like you too."

Tears fell from my eyes as I took the files. Steve gave me a sad look then got up and left. I looked through the files and cried when I opened one that had a son that looked like Josh. I threw the files to the ground and screamed. Steve came back in and looked at me worried.

"What's wrong, are you in pain?" I didn't answer, I wasn't sure I could. I was slightly positive that someone had removed my ability to talk.

"I'm sorry," he picked up the files and said "did you find one?" I didn't answer; I just turned away from him.

"How about I pick?" he asked softly. "Do The Scott's sound ok?" I still didn't answer. I wanted him to go away. My heart was aching with the most severe pain I had ever felt. I wasn't sure if it ached because I wanted my life back, or my family or even for Ryan, I just knew it ached.

"I'll arrange a visit ASAP. In the mean time, you probably need some rest."

A nurse came in minutes later to give me some pain killers. She also explained what they had done. She said I got my x-rays done and had to get stitches in many places, including twenty-two in my arm, and five on my legs. Two cuts needed six stitches, two cuts had thirteen, and a huge one needed thirty-seven. I had one on my chest that had twenty-six and one on my side from the bottom of my arm pit to the top of my thigh with two hundred fifty-nine stitches. I was covered in bandages that were extremely itchy. After the nurse gave me my drugs I fell into a deep sleep.

I woke up sometime later when a doctor came in with my X-rays.

"Well Jack, it seems you have broken three ribs and have a broken collar bone." He seemed to be waiting for some sort of reaction, but I didn't have one.

"No surgery though," he said calmly, "just a corset brace for your ribs and a sling for your arm to stop it from moving to let the collar bone grow back normally." I stared at him. "We need you to stay here for a day or two to make sure putting you back in the busy world won't put you in pain." When I still said nothing and I didn't react, he left to get me a brace and sling. A little while later Steve came back in to talk to me.

"Hey kid, one of the Scott's is free and is coming down to meet you." I didn't bother reacting to this either, I felt so dead inside and I couldn't explain it.

"His name's Jason," he said "he's the 16 year old. The rest of the family will come tomorrow because it'll be Saturday and they'll have time to come then." I turned my head as my eyes teared up; he was the boy who looked like Josh.

"Jason will be here in thirty minutes." He didn't leave, just sat there waiting for a reaction that wouldn't come. The doctor returned with the brace and sling. He helped me get them on and let me get up and walk to see if the brace helped. It was painful but I was sure after a goodnight sleep it would be easier. There was a knock at the door as I was settling back in bed. Steve got up and answered the door. A teenager about 6" with black and navy blue hair dressed in all black walked in. He shook hands with Steve and the doctor and they left. The kid turned around and came over to me sitting in the chair by my bed.

"Hey, I'm Jason, you're Jack right?" I nodded. He was the first person to get a reaction from me. He looked so much like Josh I wanted to cry. He smiled at me, so I smiled back. Then we just sat there not really sure what to do or say.

"Um.... so, uh…well I have to admit when my parents told me about the whole foster thing I was less than thrilled."

"Oh," was all I could manage to choke out.

"Oh, don't take it the wrong way," he said quickly, "the reason I didn't like it was the fear of having an older brother or sister. I really didn't like the idea of being the younger kid in the family, but my parents assured me that the reason for signing up to be foster parents was to help kids younger than me."

"So now you want a foster kid?"

"Yeah, I think it will be cool and I really want a little brother, so when I got the call today I was completely thrilled, I knew that it would be awesome."

"How?"

"How what?"

"How do you know it's going to be awesome?"

"I just know, you seem like a cool kid."

"Ok, so what's next?"

"I uh… tell me about you, tell me why you picked our family, tell me anything."

"Um…I don't know, I am 13 and I love video games." I said, skipping the whole why I picked his family. Suddenly I wanted to talk to this boy.

"I'm 16, so what kind of video games do you like?"

"I love racing games like Need for Speed, and stuff."

"I like racing games but I like games that have sniper shooting in them better."

"Do you have a game system?"

"Yeah, I just got a Xbox."

"Awesome, are you into sports?"

"Not really, the only time I watch sports is if a friend of mine has a game or my dad is watching football and I'm bored stiff," he said, making me smile.

"Oh, so what do you like to do?"

"I paint, I love art, and I'm in a band."

"Cool, how often do you paint and what are you in your band?"

"I paint everyday for like, as long as I can, and i'm the drummer in my band."

"Cool, you have to show me some of you paintings, and let me listen to your band."

"No doubt. So how bout you?"

"Well, I want to play soccer on some sort of team."

"If you get on a team I won't miss a game."

"Cool. Oh, and I used to be the guitarist in my school jazz band."

"Awesome, how good are you?"

"Pretty good, why?"

"The guitarist in our band is moving so we have been looking for a new guitarist." Jason replied. Talking to him was so normal even in an anti-normal situation like this, and I couldn't stop.

"Oh."

"You should totally try out!"

"Oh, I don't know."

"Come on dude, chicks love the guitarist."

"I thought they like dark haired emo kid drummers." I teased.

"They do, but I'm gay, so I don't care."

"Oh, you're gay?"

"Yeah, hope you don't mind."

"Well I don't, I've just never met a gay kid before." After I said that Jason busted out laughing and I did too.

"Well, I am glad to be the first gay kid you have ever met." He said smiling at me, and I smiled back. We talked for forever about anything and everything. We talked until they told us that visiting hours were over. Jason said that he would see me tomorrow and that I had nothing to worry about. He said his parents would love me. After he left Steve came back in.

"He was here for a while, so I'm guessing things went well?" He asked, sitting in the chair next to the bed. "Is he everything you hoped for?"

"I don't know, I don't think I really knew what to expect, but I do like him. He is really sweet and is into a lot of things I'm into. I just hope his parents like me."

"This is going to sound weird, but what's not to like?"

"Um, I don't know, maybe all the stitches that will turn to scars."

"Jack, they aren't going to care what you look like, or how badly injured you are. They're only going to care about what's on the inside. I've only known you for a few hours and I would take you. Now get some sleep kiddo." He stood up and left the room. I turned in the bed until I was as comfortable as I could get, and let sleep take me.

I was woken up the next morning by the sun shining brightly through the window. I would have gone back to sleep but my stomach said otherwise. I pressed the call button and a nurse rushed in.

"Yes, Mr. Porter?" she asked, making me giggle. I stopped when I saw her stern face.

"Can I please have something to eat?" she smiled and left the room. Not long after she returned with a container of cereal, a milk carton, and some apple juice. I thanked her and she left. As she left Steve entered the room. He came and sat next to me and watched me eat. When I was done he decided to speak.

"So, how did you sleep?" he asked.

"Fine, I mean I've slept better, but considering the amount of pain I'm in, I slept well." I said, grimacing.

"Well they're here," he said, making me choke on the apple juice the nurse had just brought me.

"How long have they been waiting?" I asked.

"Don't worry, not that long. Would you like to meet the rest of them?" I nodded my head and he opened the door to a family of three. There was Jason; he was wearing all black, tight black jeans, and black button up shirt, a white and black checkered belt, and a crimson red tie. After him were his parents, the man was tall, he had brown hair and had on glasses. He was wearing a light brown sweater vest with a white shirt underneath. The woman was thin with blonde hair; she was wearing a red overcoat and skirt with a black under shirt.

"Jack, this is Mr. and Mrs. Scott, I think I will leave you guys alone." Mrs. Scott took the place of Steve, and held my hand. I looked up at her and she smiled.

"My name is Nancy, and my husband's name is Walter."

"I'm Jack," I replied to her and she smiled.

"We know, Jason couldn't stop talking about you last night at dinner," she laughed. I looked over at Jason and he smiled at me. "Jason, could you leave us alone for a little while?" Jason nodded and left. "Honey, we need to ask you some question that may seem rude but we need to ask them. Ok?"

"Yes." I said looking down.

"Honey, what can you tell me about were you came from, what happened?" I looked at her suddenly scared. She squeezed my hand and I calmed down. "Never mind, we can do this later." I nodded and they left to find a doctor to see if they could take me home yet.

When we got to their house I was exhausted, what had happened over these few weeks had really taken its toll on me. Jason showed me to my room and I collapsed on my bed. I slept horribly, twisting and turning due to the nightmare I was having. I woke up with a start, sweat making my clothes stick to me. It was only 6 pm.

I exchanged my clothes for new, non-soaked ones, and quietly crept up the stairs. The house was really quiet except for the low hum of a television. As I reached the top I saw Jason spread out on the couch. I walked toward him quietly; although I had clicked instantly with him, I was still nervous. He looked up from the television when he heard me approaching, and smiled.

"Sleep well?" he asked. I shook my head. I was standing in the middle of the room, the hard wood floors freezing my bare feet. He frowned, "why not?"

"I uh, had a nightmare." I said, quietly embarrassed of myself.

"You want to talk about it?" he asked. I shook my head, tears threatening to spill over. His frown deepened "You want to come sit with me?" I stared at him for a while; he smiled and patted the spot next to him. Jason turned back to the television. I supposed he was trying to make me feel more comfortable by not staring at me. It worked, and I sat next to him. I was as stiff as could be, but he didn't seem to mind. In fact, the less attention he paid to me, the more comfortable I felt. Soon I was snuggled up to his side with his arm around me. I was really comfortable and fell asleep again. This time I slept better, no nightmares or scary memories, just a peaceful sleep.

I woke up again at around 8 pm starving. Jason was gone. I looked around the house frantic and couldn't find him. I broke down crying, scared that he had abandoned me. About half way through said break down, the back door opened and in walks Jason carrying some bags of food. I ran to him, clinging to his shirt. He put the bags down and wrapped his arms around my waist, letting me cry. When I was done, he lifted my head up with his finger and gave me a puzzled look.

"Was I gone that long?" he asked, placing his hand on the side of my head, gently stroking my cheek with his thumb. I didn't say anything, I simply dropped my hands from his shirt and backed away realizing how childish I had been. He reached out to me again and I just turned away and went back to the couch. He came and sat next to me, handing me some food. Jason grabbed the remote and flipped though the channels. He didn't talk about what happened and I was glad, I didn't really want to talk about it because I really didn't know what had happened, or why I had reacted the way I did. When we finished dinner we threw away our trash and we went our separate ways to bed.

I changed into pajamas, which consisted of a pair of plaid pants and a black tank top, and got into bed. About fifteen minutes later, I realized getting to sleep was an impossible act without someone with me. I had grown so use to having Ryan with me, that now I couldn't stand an empty bed.

I tossed and turned until about 2 o'clock in the morning when I realized I couldn't take it anymore and got up. I crept through the house with little to no noise. I made it up the stairs and to Jason's room. I opened the door which creaked loudly and closed it behind me. Jason was in bed, covers pulled tightly to his chin, sleeping with his bedside lamp on. I crept toward him, slightly scared of waking him up. When I reached his sleeping form I shook him slightly.

"Jason?" I whispered. Jason's eyes fluttered open and landed on me.

"Jack?" he asked tiredly. "What's wrong?"

"I can't sleep, I'm scared to be by myself," I mumbled, embarrassed once more by my childlike behavior. Jason lifted his head off the pillow and looked at me strangely. Then he let his head fall back to the pillow and lifted up his covers.

"Get on in here," he said tiredly. I hesitated for a moment, realizing that he was only in his boxers, but I saw his arm lowering itself back to the bed and jumped in. Jason covered us back up and pulled me tightly to his bare chest. He reached over me and turned out the light. Not but ten minutes later I heard his breathing even out and knew he had fallen back to sleep. I tried to relax in his arms and succeeded. About five minutes after him, I too fell asleep. I woke in the morning to the sound of yelling.

"What the hell is this?" I shot up in bed, followed by Jason. There in his doorway was his dad bright red with anger. His father stomped up to us, throwing back the covers of the bed and letting the cold air touch our bare skin. He grabbed me by the shirt and yanked me out of bed slamming me up against the wall. I looked over to Jason to see a horror stricken look stuck to his face. "You haven't been here more than a day and you're already trying to put moves on my son you sick whore!" he screamed into my face.

When Jason saw me tearing up he took action. He jumped out of bed and shoved his father aside. I wrapped my arms tightly around his chest and he put his arms just as tightly around my shoulders. His father got up, bright red now.

"Dad stop, Jack just came up to my room when he got scared last night. Leave him alone!" Jason cried, but that just made him madder.

"Oh really?" he screamed, "and just what had you so frighten that you crawled your slutty little ass into my son's bed!"

"Don't talk to him like that!" Jason yelled back, making his dad even angrier. Walter back handed Jason so hard that he fell to the floor. I knelt down next to him to see if he was ok, just to be roughly pulled to my feet by Walter. I didn't understand why he was so mad, but he was. Walter pulled me all the way back down stairs to my bedroom where he tossed me away from him and locked the door. He approached me and I crawled as far back as the wall would let me. He pulled me up to my feet, then sat down on the bed, and drew me over his knees and pulled down my pajama pants. The heat in my backside quickly built as Walter set up a fierce rhythm of stinging swats, and when the pain became too much, I surrendered myself to the tears, and Walter slowed.

"Why were you in bed with my son?" he asked in a soothing voice.

"Because… I'm a whore… S-sir," I hiccupped, tears still falling onto the floor below.

"What makes you a whore?" Walter asked, spanking me in an almost gentle way now.

"I let men have their way with me," I sobbed. Walter stopped spanking and began rubbing my back.

"Is that so?" he asked in a malicious voice.

"Yes," I whispered. Walter began moving his hand lower and lower until he was rubbing my still sore ass. Walter took two fingers and inserted them in my hole; I cried out at the sudden intrusion but was quickly silenced when he hit my prostate. I gasped and he chuckled.

"You like this don't you, my little faggot whore?" he asked soothingly. All I could do is moan and mewl at the attack to my prostate. Walter laughed again, then threw me onto my back on my bed.

"No, please, I'm not…"I couldn't finish my sentence, as he slapped me across the cheek, hard.

"Let's get one thing straight, faggot," he growled, as he loomed over me, "this isn't a request. You can either stop fighting and give me what I want, or you can try to fight me and I'll take it from you. It's your choice."

And take he did. I fought back valiantly, but he was much stronger than me. After a few blows to the stomach, I was sobbing, wishing for the pain to stop. I barely noticed as he roughly jerked down my pants, but after he plunged in with no lube except his own spit and with no preparation, I howled in agony.

"Keep your fuckin' mouth shut, bitch," he hissed. "You get me caught, and you'll regret it." He reached down and pulled his sock off of his foot and shoved it in my mouth.

He quickly had his way with me, and laid next to me. He stroked my back and whispered in my ear.

"You are such a whore Jack, a worthless whore that no one will take in and no one will love like I do, and yet you disrespect me by getting in bed with my son."

"Sorry…" I said quietly.

"Shh…" hushed Walter. "I forgive you, but if I ever catch you in bed with my son, or anyone else, I will kill you. Do you understand?" I nodded, "Good boy Jackie," Walter said.

"I only want to help you become what you were destined to be, a whore, but you make it difficult when you don't listen. You are not ready to be with more men, right now let me teach you, prepare you. Then you can be the slut you always wanted to be."

I looked up at Walter, he hurt me; I should run, I should fight, but I couldn't.

"Thank you sir, I won't disobey you again." I said, fighting to keep my eyes open. The spanking, fucking, and crying had wiped me out.

"You're welcome my little whore," Walter whispered, standing and removing himself from my room, allowing me to fall back to sleep.

Just thought I would try to explain to the confused, Ryan is Mr. Josh's first name and Justin is Mr. Sone's First name

Ryan is dead, he was killed by some gang members he came back to patch things up with. I know it gets super confusing when Jack starts to care for the man, but Jack cant help it he both hates and is intrigued by the dangerous man. Ryan himself is a very complex person, he's a little psychotic and has massive mood swings, and in his own sick twisted way, he really loves Jack

Jacks family is all dead

Walter is mad because he knows Jason is gay and doesn't know how to handle it and he kinda walks off the deep end when he finds Jack and Jason in the same bed. It was completely innocent, but Walter takes it the wrong way, and kinda looses it with Jack.

Hope that cleared some stuff up