Here's the update that Guest was so adamantly requesting :) The end is a bit graphic, but you can skip it if you'd like. It's just explaining something implied in a previous chapter.

It was dark. Even darker than the Refuge. Maybe even scarier. It was empty. Dark. Cold. Empty. Scary. He could still hear Snyder's voice. It was the only thing keeping him company. Just the constant reminder of who he really was.

You're weak, boy.

You're nothing. You will always be nothing.

You will always be a street rat, homeless. A nobody.

Jack curled up and cried.

So you're cryin', now boy? What the fuck is wrong with you?

You piece of shit!

Jack knew it was his voice. It was the same growl that had haunted him since he was five-years-old. Now it was the thing that kept him from going completely insane in the empty, black void. Snyder's voice laughed at the ironicness of it all.

I'm the only thing standing between you and death. Your life is in my hands. It's up to me if you live or die.

You are nothing. Always nothing.

Just stop fighting.

And Jack wanted to. He was ready to give up. Everything Snyder was saying was true. He was weak. He was nothing. He had nothing. He could do nothing. He wanted to be done. But another voice had broken through Snyder's hold on him. This one was different, kinder.

Jack, I ain't gonna hurt ya.

You'se okay. You'se gonna be okay.

Ya gotta keep fightin', Jack.

Wake up. Please wake up.

Snyder's voice was still there but quieter, pushed to the background. New voices filled the void instead. Jack's tears dried as the voices pushed back the pressure that had been weighing him down. He was still stuck in the black, but the voices kept him afloat.

C'mon Jack.

Ya promised ya'd never leave us. Wake up.

Please.

I love you, Jack.

Every once and awhile, Snyder's voice was there, but it was mostly forced from the storm of voices that surrounded him. It made him feel safe for the first time in a long time. It was still dark, but the original eeriness had disappeared. A light had appeared in the black void. The voices urged him towards it. As he got closer and closer, the voices seemed to get quieter and Jack felt he was on the verge of breaking. But, he was too scared to be left alone in formless wasteland, too scared of the light disappearing and Snyder catching up to him again. So he crawled forward, hoping to feel safe again. He finally reached the light and it filled his vision.

Jack opened his eyes. His vision was blurry and he blinked a couple of times. It cleared up within a couple of seconds, but Jack had to push his long, stringy hair out of his eyes in order to see anything. He pushed the brown hair to the side, and glanced around the room he was in. It was dimly lit though he recognized it as the backstage of Medda's theater. He had spent a lot of time in the back room, mostly hiding from people though sometimes it was just to get away.

Then he saw a boy at the door. The backwards cap and the crutch under his arm immediately identified the boy.

"C-Crutchie," he whispered. Jack's voice was rough and hoarse and hurt his throat, so he was sure his brother hadn't heard him. But Crutchie's hand paused on the doorknob and he slowly turned around. A look of shock covered his features as he made eye contact with Jack.

"Jack?" he whispered, eyes still wide in disbelief. He rushed forward and collapsed next to the bed. "Jack. Jack. You'se awake." Jack nodded and opened his mouth to reply, but a coughing fit overtook his body. He whimpered as the coughs racked his ribs and sore wounds. Crutchie placed a hand on his shoulder, hoping to calm the older boy. The coughing subsided as the door slowly opened.

"That better not be you coughing, Crutchie. I don't know if I can deal with you bein' sick right now," a tired voice said as Race entered the room. He was facing the ground as he pushed open the door with his foot. He set down one of the glasses in his hand on a table then reached out to hand Crutchie his glass. "Here ya—" The glass hit the ground and shattered into tiny pieces.

"J-Jack," he stuttered, his eyes full of shock. "He's awake?" Race looked to Crutchie for confirmation that he wasn't crazy and the younger boy nodded. "You'se awake," he whispered, breathlessly. The glass crunched as he stepped over it and through the puddle to join Crutchie by Jack's bed. A small smile appeared on Jack's face and he slowly reached his arm around Race. He pulled his little brother forward and pressed a kiss to his head.

"I'se back," he whispered. His eyes grew heavy all of a sudden and he let his arm fall limp off the bed. "I think… I think I'se gonna go back to sleep."

"Alright Jack," he heard someone say just before his eyes closed again.

When he opened his eyes again, Race and Crutchie were still there. This time, they were joined by Medda. "Hey… M-Miss Medda," he whispered.

"Hey, kid," she responded, in the same soft tone. Race was crouched beside the bed, still drinking his water. Jack coughed and reached out to relieve Race of his glass. Crutchie laughed as Race sputtered. Medda helped Jack sit up as he took a long gulp of the cool water.

"You can't drink that," Race said with a smile to make it obvious he was joking. Jack didn't end up drinking much of it anyways. In his hastiness, Jack started to choke and most of the water ended up on his shirt. When spit and mucus and water finally stopped dripping from his lips, he asked the question that had been pressing him.

"How long…" he paused and took a drop breath. "How long was I out?"

"Two hours," Race unhelpfully replied, and Jack's shot him a glare. Jack knew he had to have unconscious for awhile, longer than two hours, long enough for his bruises to fade and his cuts to stop bleeding. Then, Medda gave him a true answer. "Two weeks."

Jack's eyes widened, and he could feel his breath quickening. "T-two weeks… two weeks?" he whispered over and over again. It wasn't long before he couldn't breathe at all. His lungs wouldn't cooperate. "I can't breathe… I-I c-c-can't breathe."

"Jack," Miss Medda said, but Jack wasn't listening. He couldn't. His vision started to get clouded and black spots danced in front of his eyes. "Jack!" Medda shouted and he turned towards the older woman. "Jack, focus on me. Take a deep breath. In… and out." She demonstrated, holding Jack's hand. "Take a deep breath, Jack. Just focus on me." And Jack did. His breathing was still erratic, but his vision cleared as he got more air.

"Ya scared us," Crutchie said.

"Sorry," Jack replied, his voice noticeably rougher.

"Stop apologizin'," Race said. "Whatcha got ta' be sorry for? What matters now it you'se gonna be okay." Jack nodded and a gentle smile graced his face.

"We're all gonna be okay," he said. For the first time in a while, there was a smile on the face of everyone in the room. "What happened?" he asked. "I don't remember how I got here."

"We broke ya out. It took a long time, a week. Romeo and Elmer baited Snyder and we, uh, Spot, Specs, and me, got ya out."

"Alright," Jack said then quickly continued, desperate to change the subject. "Where are the rest of the boys?"

"They're safe, Jack," Medda assured him. "Specs is watchin' them at the lodging house."

"Good… good. I think I need to… get some more sleep," Jack said, and he once again fell unconscious.

"Jack… Jack. Kelly!"

Jack knew the man in front of him wanted him to look at him, but he couldn't. He was too focused on the guards that were stripping his shirt off and the knife that glittered in the dim light. Jack was forced to the ground by the guards. His back was still bleeding and raw and he whimpered as it was harshly slammed into the cool ground. He could feel the cool metal of the knife kiss his skin as it was slowly run across his chest. He was left relatively unharmed besides a few shallow nicks.

"Now Jack," Snyder growled, "you've escaped here three times now. Of course I never admitted you escaped the other two times because that looks bad on me and I know you were always too scared to talk about it."

"So w-why d'ya admit it the last time?" Jack said, the cold and his injuries making him slightly stutter in his attempt to make a snarky comment.

Snyder scoffed. "Ya rode out with the governor, boy. Everybody noticed it. Ya made the fuckin' front page, and… ya humiliated me. But you belong to me now. And everybody's gonna know it." Then, suddenly, the knife was plunged into his chest. A choked sob escaped his mouth and he fought to keep himself from crying. Snyder moved the knife in a twisted fashion down the boy's chest leaving behind deep cuts. He lifted the knife for a second, just long enough to give Jack a spark of hope, and then slammed it back down again. The knife easily pierced his skin and blood welled up in the cuts. "Ya want to see it?" Snyder crooned as Jack fought to keep tears back. The guards pushed him up and Jack glanced down at his chest, now adorned with a roughly carved S-N.

"W-what are ya doin' ta' me?" Jack screamed, fear shaking his voice. Normally, he would never let Snyder see his fear, but this was different. This was new and terrifying.

"C'mon Jack," Snyder said, ignoring him. "What's next? S-N… What's next, boy?!" Jack stayed stubbornly silent. Snyder sighed and another cut was made along Jack's ribs. This one was small and shallow, made more to hurt than anything else. "What next?" Snyder asked again and was met with the same silence. It took six more cuts before Jack finally broke.

"Y," he whispered with tears burning his eyes. Snyder nodded, an evil smile twisting his face into that of a demon, and the knife sliced through his skin next to the other letters.

"And then…" Snyder said and was rewarded with a small sob. It only took four cuts this time before Jack whispered the next letter. And ten more shallow cuts later, Snyder's name was carved into Jack's chest. Blood covered his entire torso and tears were now streaming full force. As Snyder and the guards left, he pulled himself across the ground and retrieved his shirt. Jack winced and cried out as he pulled it tightly around the bleeding cuts. Eventually, he succumbed to the blood loss and…

Jack woke up, screaming loud enough for the whole theater to hear.

A/N: Hope y'all enjoyed. Let me know what you thought. Next chapter, we will be getting back to plot.