Jack was feeling something odd that day, and usually he felt odd no matter what he did or how he acted, but this oddness that he was feeling was completely different than the norm. He was feeling weightless in a sense that pressure of something he couldn't really understand was lifted off of him and he found himself in a state of bliss. He wouldn't call it happiness, because he knew he was nowhere near close enough to call himself happy, but he definitely enjoyed this state of bliss more than the normal 'feelings' he typically felt from a day to day basis. Jack was sitting on his bead and it was still too early to go get breakfast or even to leave his cabin. He was creepily watching Zack sleep, and there was a look of pain on his face. Jack never found out why Zack and Cody were here and he knew by how the argued at the restaurant it was definitely something bad. However, he admired how strong both of them were for being able to get over it so easily. Jack admitted to himself that he was weak and it would take a long time for him to get over the horrible things that happened to him, and more importantly the horrible things that his parents made him endure. He did realize he needed help and this was practically the best way for him to get this help. He watched Zack as he slept and raised an eyebrow when the young blonde male began to toss and turn in his sleep. It was obvious that he was having a nightmare and Jack knew that he should wake him up, but he was also curious about this secret that he was harboring. He silently watched and listened for anything that would indicate what Zack was dreaming about and why he and his twin brother were brought here in the first place.
Zack was deep in slumber and completely unaware of the stare coming from the young male sitting across from him, and inside his subconscious he felt as if someone was banging a hammer into his skull over and over again. He began to toss and turn more violently as he groaned. Zack began to feel really hot as he tossed off the blanket covering him. He didn't want to remember what he was about to dream about, and he knew that his brother was right. He was denying the events of what happened so desperately that they were eating him up inside. He was having these terrible nightmares and he couldn't imagine what his brother was going through. He saw the images begin to manifest in his mind and he wanted to run away from them, but he knew that he couldn't run away from his problems anymore. He knew he was stronger than that, and he knew that the memories of what happened to him weren't his fault. He couldn't have done anything to prevent the events that proceeded, but he always felt deep down inside of him that he could've done something, because he's the older twin and he's supposed to protect his little brother, but he was too young and too weak at the time to do anything to save anyone and deep down he knew that, but he didn't know if he would ever be ready to accept that realization. He slowly allowed the memories of that one night seep into his thoughts as his dreams become enveloped by the horrific memories of his dark and very personal secret of his past.
Eight year old Zack stood next to his eight year old brother Cody and they were watching their mother pace back and forth in another one of her delusional drug induced rants. Zack wasn't scared of his mother like Cody was, but he knew how dangerous she got when she was tweaked like she was now. She kept on pacing back and forth holding her head complaining about something about not having enough money. Zack's eyes narrowed and pulled his younger twin close as he knew where this was going. Cody had yet been exposed to their drug addicted mother's desperate schemes to get money, and often enough this would include selling Zack as if he were some cheap toy. Their mother turned to them her eyes blood shot from a mixture of drugs and crying, and she smiled wickedly as she looked at Zack and then looked at Cody and then her gaze looked back at Zack. Zack's eyes widened as he realized what she was scheming a shook his head rapidly. He looked back towards his younger brother as he looked up at him with innocent eyes. Zack wanted to cry because the innocence in his eyes would soon be taken because their mother was so addicted to drugs.
Zack watched as his mother pulled out her special phone and dialed a number that he knew too well, and then she went off into a different room and the sounds of the conversation began to echo into the room where Zack and his brother stayed. Zack thought he could run away from her and possibly save his little brother from the awful things that were going to happen. He didn't want his innocence to be taken like they had taken his own. Zack was about to grab his travel bag and head out the door when his mother reentered the room and her eyes widened as she saw her sons or rather what she called them on multiple occasions, 'money bags', trying to escape she quickly stood in front of the door and shook her head. Zack wasn't strong enough to fight his mother especially when she was on drugs, because her strength seemingly increased because of them. Zack hissed and backed up pulling his brother even closer to him. Cody still had no idea what was going on, but based on how Zack was acting it wasn't good. He gently pulled on Zack's shirt as Zack looked down at him figuring that he didn't know anything at all, and he smiled gently as their mother got closer and closer to them.
"Zacky, why are you acting so frightened? I'm your mommy, and I won't hurt you, you know that," Their mother said as she got closer and closer to them still.
"No, I won't let you do this to Cody. You can do this to me all you want, but he's innocent and doesn't deserve this," Zack yelled and his mother didn't like this answer because she stopped for a moment and flipped over one of the side tables and yelled loudly. Zack cursed to himself under his breath because he said something that was meant to stop things, but possibly got himself into more trouble.
"He doesn't deserve this? Do you know all that I do just to put food on the table for you two? To make sure you two are able to go to school? That you two have clothes and other things? You two have to pay your dues, and I don't give a fuck if he's 'innocent' or not, because he needs to pay his dues like you have. Plus, this man is paying three times the usual for the both of you so please shut the hell up, and do as I say! Understand?" Their mother yelled at them, and Zack knew it was pointless to try and argue with her because it was only going to lead to more trouble and possibly him getting physically hurt even before the 'man' got there. He sighed with defeat and nodded slowly as he hung his head. His mother left the room to prepare for her guest to arrive and Cody turned and looked at Zack and he didn't want to explain to him the terrible things that were about to happen, because honestly Cody would hate him forever if he knew this was going to happen and didn't do anything to stop it. Cody's eyes had a mixture of worry and confusion.
"Zack, what's going on? What is she going to do to us? Do we have to kill someone, because I don't want to kill someone," Cody said and Zack smiled at his ignorance and knew that his innocent and ignorance of the real world would disappear tonight and his smile faded causing Cody to touch him gingerly, "Zack are you okay?"
"Yes, I am just fine Cody. No, we're not going to have to kill anyone, that's silly. A man is going to come and we're going to have to do things for him. That's all," Zack said calmly trying to not get him to freak out about the whole situation. Cody looked at him funny and looked deep in thought as he slowly began to wander a bit away before turning around smiling.
"Oh, does this mean we're going to have to act and stuff? Or does this mean we'll have to take pictures and take commands like we're butlers?" Cody said in a whimsical manner as if this was a video game or some cheesy soap opera. Zack chuckled to himself about what Cody said because he was so right, but not in the way he thinks.
"Yes, we're going to have to act, there will be pictures, and we're going to have to take commands," Zack replied sorrowfully as Cody's eyes lit up and Zack really wished that they hadn't. Cody began to get excited and he knew that that excitement would slowly dissipate as the situation would proceed. Zack heard the doorbell ring and his expression dropped as he pulled Cody close to him and he looked confused. Zack made the hand motion to tell him to be quiet as his mother answered the door.
"Joey, what a pleasure to see you again, I haven't seen you in months. How's your son doing? What's his name again? Oh it doesn't matter the boys are in the living room," Their mother said and Joe sauntered in and Zack looked up realizing he hasn't ever seen this man before. He thought that this must be one of his mother's new friends, because he had never met him before. The man walked in and took a look at the twins and smiled before turning to their mother and smiling at her.
"Well Carey, these are the cutest, hottest, sexiest twins I have ever met, and to think such an ugly man was their father. Well, they look like perfect new clients for my organization, but I have to see what they can do. I trust you, but you know it's just business, Carey," Joe spoke and Carey smiled hugging Joey around the waist kissing his cheek. Zack scowled knowing that he would soon to have relations with that disgusting old man, and even more worrisome would be that Cody would be forced to do things as well, and he's just so innocent.
"Oh well, I can set up the special room and get you some condoms if you want-," Carey began before the man cut her off by raising his hand. He obviously had another idea because he pulled out a video camera and shook his head smiling.
"No, that won't be necessary because I don't want them to do things to me. I want them to do things to each other. People will just eat up a pair of twins that don't mind doing things with men and doing things to each other. Actually, a lot of people would pay to just see the two of them go at it," Joe said and Zack's eyes widened because he was already not liking the idea of having to do stuff to this man, but now he had to do that stuff to his own brother? He couldn't do it and he wouldn't do it. He couldn't be the one responsible to taking away his innocence. He couldn't do that to his younger brother. He was supposed to protect his younger brother and not hurt him more. Zack looked up at the man called Joe and somehow Joe knew that Zack wouldn't do it and he smirked kneeling down near the boy, "I know that having to do things to your brother might seem awful, but it'd make your mom really, really happy. I have a son about your age back home, and I know this would hurt him,"
"Do you sell your son too?" Zack asked causing the man's face to distort with anger and he smacked Zack viciously. Cody looked even more confused as to what the hell was going on. He didn't understand what Zack meant by 'selling', but he didn't like it and he pushed the man away and stood in front of Zack. Zack growled and pulled Cody back not wanting him to get involved in this, but Cody wouldn't budge and he stood his ground. Joe smirked and chuckled a bit realizing this would be more challenging than he first thought.
"Alright, you two want to do things the hard way? Then we'll do things the hard way. Don't come cryin' to me when you two get hurt. Now, you two will do as I say and nothing bad will happen to you two," Joe said reaching for Cody who looked absolutely terrified.
Zack awoke in a fright and he was relieved that he wouldn't have to suffer through the memory of what happened next, because he knew what happened next and wasn't ready to accept it. Zack jumped when he saw Jack staring at him and he figured that his screams must've waked Jack up and Jack just sat there watching him sleep. He could tell that Jack was going to do something if it went on for too long, and Zack smiled at him and Jack attempted to smile back. Zack felt sorry for Jack, because whatever he was going through seemed much more severe than what he himself was going through. Zack was about to say something to Jack, but something hit him, something that he hadn't realized in midst of the dream. His eyes widened as he turned to Jack and felt some disdain towards him. He closed his eyes trying to dive back into his memories even though they were extremely painful and he didn't want to go through the emotional pain twice in one day, but this was so important that he couldn't wait. Zack remembered the man's name that started the chain reaction that caused him and his brother to go through the trauma they're now trying to get over. The man's name was Joe and Zack remembered back to last week when Jack's parents broke in and tried to kidnap him. His father's name was Joe and looked exactly like the man from his dream. Zack couldn't believe it and he looked to Jack thinking he probably knew about this. He was so angry at the fact that one of his friend's parents was responsible for everything that happened. He wanted to hit Jack. He wanted to yell at Jack and tell him everything that happened was his fault.
As Zack turned to Jack he looked at Jack's newfound innocent and how vulnerable he was and all the anger that manifested in him suddenly disappeared. He knew that Jack didn't know about what his father did to him, because when they first met he would've recognized them. Zack seemed able to accept this theory, but then he thought that maybe the memory of meeting them was being repressed, and Jack really did know about everything, but wasn't able to remember it. Yet, Zack knew that even if that was the case Jack couldn't be to blame because he was probably going through much more at the time than he did. He was only used by the man and wasn't the man's own son. Zack couldn't imagine all the things that Jack's father did to him. Zack figured that they should get something to eat. He slowly sat up and realized that they would be starting school Monday. The first couple of weeks on the boat are for people to get comfortable with the ship, and then they go to a specialized school and still go to treatment and everything else. Zack didn't like the idea of school, because he had never been the best student, and as much as he didn't want to admit it he thought he was actually retarded. He smiled at Jack and got out of bed slowly.
Jack had been watching the boy sleep for quite a while, and was actually considering waking him up once he started to toss and turn, but he began talking and Jack wanted to get a clue to what he was dreaming about. Jack only heard parts of sentences at the beginning, and to his knowledge he thought Zack was dreaming about his mother and how she was on drugs, but as the dream progressed fear began to rise in Jack as he heard a name that made him freeze. He heard a name that made his body numb and his heart begin to beat faster. He heard his father's name and he wondered why Zack was dreaming about his father. He didn't think that Zack was into older men or men in general. Then he heard Zack yelling his brother's name and how the man named Joe wanted him to do things to his brother. Jack couldn't believe what he was hearing. Did Jack's father play in a part in their life, but that didn't make much sense because as he recalled they were from Boston and he didn't live in Boston. Jack figured that was a reason that his father was gone a lot. Jack didn't want to believe it and he didn't want to accept the fact that his father was one of the reasons his friends were here. He held his head repressing any memories that he might try to remember. He wasn't in the mood to remember anything at the moment.
"Jack, are you okay? Do I need to go get Bobby?" Zack asked and Jack instantly snapped back into reality and shook his head rapidly. He needed to be stronger than this and he couldn't rely on Bobby for whenever he felt sad. He did enjoy clinging on him, but he knew he had to be stronger in certain aspects, "Well, do you want to go get some breakfast?" Zack asked him and he nodded slowly looking at Zack with sorrow, "No coffee, don't worry."
They walked to their normal little café for breakfast and Lilly and Bobby were already there and Lilly was laughing because Bobby just told her the funniest joke. Once Jack got close enough to Bobby he clung to him surprising him and Jack began to cry into Bobby's chest. Bobby instantly glared at Zack who lifted his arms and Bobby realized he didn't do anything to make Jack feel this way. Lilly looked at Jack and figured he was probably still having bad memories of that awful day. She knew how hard it is to get over the fact of killing someone, and especially someone who brought on as much pain as Nathan did to Jack. Lilly didn't even dare touch him, because he would probably retaliate badly. Jack just didn't even want to acknowledge the fact that Zack suffered by the hand of his father, and Jack couldn't believe that he didn't remember ever meeting them before. Zack looked at Jack strangely and he began to get suspicious. He thought that Jack knew something and wasn't saying anything and he narrowed his eyes to the brown haired boy. He didn't believe that this was all a coincidence and he crossed his arms as Cody walked into the café. He saw Jack crying and slowly tried to walk out, but Lilly grabbed his arm and pulled him into the seat next to her. Cody was Jack's friend and all, but whenever he broke down it just made him feel so bad and he hated to cry, especially in front of Zack. He sighed and the waitress came over and they all placed their orders. Jack finally stopped crying and sat in his own seat wiping the tears away. He tried to smile softly and it only stayed there for a second, but everyone knew he was trying.
"Well, I didn't sleep well at all last night. I had the worst nightmare, and I woke Jack up with it. Did I say anything in my sleep? I am known to talk when I have a nightmare," Zack asked with his arms still crossed smirking at Jack and Jack thought to himself that he could lie and say no and Zack wouldn't be able to prove it. Jack decided to lie and shake his head no, "No? Well damn, I must be getting better," Zack said taking a piece of toast and Cody smiled softly.
"That's great to hear Zack. I don't have nightmares. Never have," Bobby said and they all looked shocked and they turned to him with faces of disbelief. Bobby chuckled a bit and realized it is pretty surprising for a person like him to never have a nightmare, "I know it's crazy, but my problems don't affect my sleep."
"Bobby, I have been wondering. You seem pretty normal, why are you here? No offense, but you seem pretty happy and mentally balanced," Lilly asked and Bobby's smile faded and Lilly instantly regretted asking realizing it was probably a bad idea to ask, "It's alright. You don't have to talk about it. I pressed my limits."
"It's no problem," Bobby lied and he looked down at his lap trying not to let down his walls. He always tried to be strong even if it meant bottling up his feelings, but what Lilly said to him kept on swirling around in his head. Bobby repeated what Lilly said to him in his brain. She had told him that he was 'normal' and 'pretty happy', but he knew that he was anything but normal. He didn't want Jack to see him as someone who wasn't weak and couldn't protect him. He promised to protect Jack no matter what.
Jack didn't want to acknowledge the fact that he saw Bobby lower his guard for a moment, because he could tell that Bobby had to be strong for him, but he was tired of getting protected and wanted to do some of the protecting too. He sighed and their food arrived as they began to eat their breakfast quickly, because they had another wonderful session of group therapy. They finished eating and left the café silently, because none of them particularly liked group therapy, and none of them actually thought it was helpful. Jack knew that private therapy would begin in a couple weeks too, and he didn't know if he would be able to talk to a person about his feelings, because he wasn't really good at expressing his feelings. They walked towards the room and Jack noticed that Blaze and Melody haven't been around. He couldn't remember the last time he saw them, but he figured they were probably terrorizing some younger children or causing chaos. He didn't even like the fact that they were in the same group therapy as him, because he didn't think he'd be able to talk about anything with them there, because he knew that they would just criticize and insult him.
As they walked into the room they noticed it was already abuzz with conversation and giggles, and as Jack walked in they all glared at him with a mixture of fear, curiosity, disbelief, and envy. Jack figured that they had heard about what he did the week before. He noticed that Mitsu wasn't in the room and figured she would be still in the infirmary for the injuries that she suffered during her battle with Nathan. Jack was still caught up on how she was so skillful with a sword and wondered if she had to fight before. She seemed like such a quiet and timid girl to him that she wouldn't hurt someone unless she had to. It wasn't his place to speculate on why she was there or why she was so good at fighting with a sword, but he could be there for here if she needed support. He smiled as he took a seat in between Lilly and Bobby, because he felt this was the most comfortable and safe arrangement. Zack sat on the left of Bobby and Cody sat on the right of Lilly so he was completely surrounded by his friends. He watched as Melody walked in followed by Blaze, and Corey followed in a bit after them, and Jack narrowed his eyes, because he looked so familiar to him, but he couldn't put his finger on it, and he sighed giving up his efforts.
"Good morning everyone," Jupiter said as she walked in, and she was wearing a frilly floral print skirt with a black blouse. She was also wearing flats and a rose headband. Jack never understood why she dressed the way she did, but he decided not to question, because it wasn't his place, "This past week was rather crazy, wasn't it? With us going into that emergency mode and the fire sprinklers coming on, and I didn't get the full details of what happen, but only the premise of what happened. Jack, since you were there directly why don't you explain what happened that day to the whole group?" Jupiter asked him and Jack froze burying his face into Bobby's chest and Blaze smirked.
"What's wrong Jacky? Don't want to admit what happened? That your parents wanted you to go back to where you deserve to be? C'mon tell the whole group what you are," Blaze said attempting to instigate an argument and Zack's eye twitched and he crossed his arms.
"Blaze, why won't you shut the hell up? I mean, why do you always have to target Jack? He's emotionally fragile, and this is supposed to be a place of healing not hatred!" Zack yelled and Blaze glared at Zack and smirked again.
"Oh my, I am so sorry Zack. I apologize for what I said," Blaze said sarcastically before chuckling a bit, "Oh please, Jack is just a drama queen who can't handle his shit."
"That's enough Blaze," Jupiter said raising her voice to Blaze and Blaze backed down slowly and reluctantly as if he was only doing it because she was a position of power. She then smiled and turned to Bobby, "Alright Jack, sorry for trying to push you. Bobby since you were also there when it happened, will you please explain what happened?"
"Alright, but let me tell you it isn't very pleasant. So, we were having lunch I think and Jack found out his parents were on board for an experimental treatment and this caused Jack to run away. We then found out that this was a ploy to actually kidnap Jack and so Zack, Cody, and I went to go find Jack and Lilly and Mr. Sacred went to go alert the main officer. Jack's parents got to him before we got there and Jack had a gun pointed at him, and he only had a knife on him. When we arrived I acquired a gun, don't ask me how. I pointed it at Jack's mother demanding Jack's freedom. He told me if I moved an inch I'd shoot him. I was going to make the motion for Cody and Zack to move in, but a larger man had captured them and I was on my own. So, I used my amazing skills of diplomacy to help them smuggle Jack out and wanted to…um….pay for him. Then once Jack came to me I shot the fire sprinkler and bought us some time. Cody and Zack got free and we ran to Mitsu's restaurant for safety. The cops got everyone except the large man and he followed our water trailed and walked into Mitsu's restaurant. Mitsu then went on to engage the man in battle, and that's when Jack shot him. That's what happened and none of it is made up," Bobby said and after he was finished there was an eerie silence in the room as everyone sat in stunned silence of the story. Even Jupiter seemed to be shocked by what happened and she thought that Jack was very brave for doing what he did.
"Well, I wasn't informed of all of that. I must say that must've been a very distressing ordeal for you Jack, and I'm really sorry you had to go through that, but I want you to know what you were very brave to do what you did. I cannot express my disgust and utter disbelief I feel towards your parent's ignorant rationale of thinking they could get away with kidnapping you. I applaud you for being able to stand here before us without breaking down, because if that happened to me I wouldn't be as strong as you are, and I believe this will help you open up to people and possibly even get over some of the things you're feeling," Jupiter said smiling her genuine caring smile at Jack as she clapped a bit for him, and Melody then clapped too, but in a more sarcastic sense.
"Wow, even though that story isn't made up I think its complete bullshit. He's 'strong' for being able to get over some weak shit? Oh give me a fucking break. He isn't strong he ran away instead of fighting. He's a coward if anything. If I was your friend, thank god I'm not, but if I were I would've let them take you, because you aren't worth anything. It pisses me off how you think you're so fucking special and innocent. GET over yourself Jack," Melody said beginning to chuckle loudly and Lilly snapped. She couldn't contain her normal kindness, because Melody had gone too far today and she just needed to be put in her place.
"Melody," Lilly started as she stood up, "I'm tired of the way you're acting towards everyone, and because of some shitty stuff that happened to you, and don't even act like nothing happened to you, because I'd know better than anyone else what you went through. Just because you weren't able to control things then and you felt powerless then doesn't give you the right to terrorize people because you can't get over the fact that you were submissive once," Lilly yelled as Melody's eyes widened and she began shaking a bit as she stood up and Blaze stood next to her.
"What is she talking about Mel?" Blaze asked and Lilly smirked as she stepped forward and crossed her arms smiling wickedly.
"Oh, she didn't tell you? I know Melody. She was one of the girls in my parent's drug ring that was treated as a slave. I met her a couple times and she was nothing but their little sex slave, and they abused her so horribly that she just needs to hit others now so she can forget the times she got hit. Isn't that right, Melody?" Lilly sad and Melody's eyes began to water and she got really, really angry and she balled her hands into a fist and looked down angrily.
"You fucking bitch!" Melody looking up as she stared right into Lilly's eyes, and Lilly stepped back a bit intimidated by the look in her eyes, "I'm going to kill you!" She yelled pulling out a pocket knife and rushing at her, and then something unexpected happened. Jack arose from his seat and dashed forward he span his body so he was perpendicular to the blade as she came closer. Jack then grabbed the girl's wrist and sent his knee upward making a crack sound echo in the room, and then Melody cried out as she felt to the ground gripping her arm and Blaze ran over screaming.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Blaze asked and Jack did something else that shocked everyone he launched a punch that hit Blaze in his jaw making him fall over. Jack then stood over the two staring down at them.
"You people make me sick. Stay the fuck away from my friends, or I swear to god I'll kill you," Jack said and then left the room leaving everyone in a stunned silence.