And here we are again. Two days in a row? At least this quarantine has something positive...
Longer chapter and back to Jack.
I don't normally do this, but I had so many lovely comments, I'm going to answer them this chapter!
Keys (guest): Thank you! I hope this chapter meets your expectations!
Guest (March 17): Here you go! I know, the quarantine is hard, but we'll get through it together, yeah?
Erster394 (guest): Thank you! Love you too! *hugs*
Countess Eliza: Snyder is 100% a jerk and Katherine and Jack are adorable. Not even necessarily as a couple, just in general!
Guests (March 18): Here's your chapter! Hope you like it!
Enjoy!
TW: Abuse
~TH~
Jack smiled, looking at his painting. He was proud of it, and felt a sense of accomplishment that he hadn't really felt in a while. He had finished the red, white, and blue background and he was working on an eagle breaking out of its cage. Patriotic, right? It wasn't quite finished, but it was time to go. They'd hopefully be pleased with the progress he'd made.
Jack took a picture of it, proof that he had done it. Maybe he should take it with him? No, he didn't want to mess it up.
Now was the tricky part. Snyder had texted him earlier and told him that he had to stay home tonight. Apparently one of the neighbours had seen him crawling out the window and decided it was their duty to tell Snyder. Where were they when Jack screamed and begged for Snyder to stop? Apparently not paying attention.
It didn't matter, he was sneaking out. He'd promised them he'd meet them. He wasn't going to let them down.
The door swung open and Jack spun around. He pulled the headphones off of his head, watching Snyder, one foot out the window.
"I've been calling for you, boy." He sneered, advancing. He stopped when he saw Jack at the window, "I thought I told you to stay inside tonight!"
Jack didn't answer, holding his breath. He could make a run for it. That was his best option. Snyder was already angry, delaying the punishment wouldn't hurt anything.
"What's this?" Snyder moved towards the painting.
Jack panicked. He'd forgotten to put it away. He extracted himself from the window and took a couple of steps forward. "I-it's for school."
"You're painting for school? What are you, kindergarteners?"
"No, sir, it's for a school project. I'm doing the illustration part."
The man raised his eyebrows, a dark glint in his eyes. "Really now. And who's doing the other parts?"
Jack froze. Mistake. He had made a mistake.
"You've been talking to people!"
"Only for school. I promise, Mr Snyder, if I refused to do the project they'd suspect something. We don't even talk that much. Just at school." He had backed up into the corner, trying to put distance between himself and his angry guardian. Snyder growled, grabbing the painting and snapping it over his knee.
"Is that where you were going? Off to see your little friends!"
Yes.
"No! No, I wasn't-"
Jack was grabbed by the arm, his headphones were yanked from off his neck, the small phone still dangling at the end. The device was thrown on the bed and Jack was being pulled out of the room. He was being pulled towards-
No. Please no. Please. Give me a beating, I can take that, but please no.
"Mr Snyder, Mr Snyder please, I promise, I won't tell 'em nothin'. Just please, d-don't." He couldn't breathe.
Snyder turned around and sent a punch flying, landing directly on Jack's eye. The boy gasped, using his free hand to touch it before being pulled along.
A door was opened leading to a small closet. "We'll make sure of that." His back slammed against the wall as he watched Snyder. "If you won't obey me and stay inside, I'll have to make sure you don't leave!"
The door slammed, sending Jack into blackness. He couldn't breathe. It was so small. He knew from experience that there wasn't even enough room to sit down right. He closed his eyes tightly, trying to imagine himself anywhere but there.
There was a small amount of light coming from under the door, but he knew once the sun went down, it would be completely dark. He tried to control his breathing. He stood there, silently trying to reign in his fears. Eventually, his legs couldn't support him anymore. Between standing in one position and the terror he was feeling he felt so tired.
He turned sideways, parallel to the door, and sat down. His knees were pulled up to his chest, the only way he could fit inside the small closet. He leaned his forehead against his knees. He hated this. He hated the small blackness. He hated not being able to move.
He knew better than to make any noises. That would just get him in more trouble. He hadn't been put in the closet in a long time. Snyder seemed to enjoy taking out his frustrations on him. But the closet had to be one of the worst punishments.
I was supposed to meet them.
The thought hit him suddenly, knocking the air from his lungs. He was missing his meeting right now. And his project was destroyed.
Nonononononono
He banged his head against his knees, letting the dull pain keep him from spiralling. It felt like everything kept falling apart. Life was getting more and more stressful, life was getting harder to deal with. He was sick of it. Sick of it all.
Breathe. Breathe. Breathe. BREATHE.
He had no clue how long he was going to be trapped in the tiny box, but any time was too long.
~N~
The door swung open, light streaming in. Jack gasped and slammed his eyes shut. Despite the hours of being left in the dark, a throbbing had begun in his head a few hours before. He hadn't slept at all. It was too cramped. Too suffocating. He had spent most of the night trying to keep breathing and not freak out or make any noise that would draw attention to himself.
Jack was grabbed by the arm and pulled up. His legs gave out under him as he tried to stand. He still couldn't bear to open his eyes. He felt himself being pulled, almost dragged away and just allowed it to happen. Snyder threw him forward and Jack was barely able to catch himself. He blinked his eyes open and squinted up at the man.
"You learn your lesson, boy?"
Jack wasn't even sure what lesson he was supposed to be learning. "Yes, sir." He choked out anyway.
"Good. Get to school."
Jack flinched when the door shut. He took a moment to gather himself. His head was killing him and his eye was throbbing. Eventually, he made it to his bed where he grabbed his phone. It had several missed texts from David and Katherine. They were going to hate him. He glanced at the time and panicked. School starter in fifteen minutes!
He grabbed the concealer and applied it the best that he could. It still didn't cover his eye, but it would help some.
Knowing he was going to be late, he grabbed his bag and went out the window.
~N~
Jack leaned his head down on the table. His headache hadn't gone away. He had tried to paint, but everything was so bright. The lights were on and the door was open. Despite the pain, he couldn't bear to be trapped in darkness. Again.
"Jack?"
Jack pushed himself to his feet in a panic, knocking the chair over in the process. His head started spinning and he had to grab the table to keep from falling. He took a couple of deep breaths before opening his eyes
"Oh, uh, hey Race," he said as if the boy hadn't just seen him nearly collapse.
"What was that?!"
"Nothin', I've jus' got a headache. It's nothin'."
Race laughed, "Yeah, sure."
"Sorry, I should be workin'." Would he be mad? Would he tell Medda? Would she report him? He had been sleeping in class more. He never really meant to, but ever since he lost his study hall it had been harder to stay awake. No one had reported him yet that he knew of. He hoped it would stay that way.
Race shook his head, "No, no, just, just sit back down before you fall over."
Jack hesitantly righted the chair and sat back down.
"What happened to your eye?"
Why was this kid so nosy?
"I walked into a door. Wasn't pain' attention."
"Sure."
He sighed, "Race,"
"No, it's fine. I'm not going to make you tell me anything. Just…" He trailed off. "Just be careful."
Jack wasn't sure what that meant. He didn't seem to buy the story… but maybe?
"You're coming over tomorrow night."
His head snapped up, "I'm what?"
"Coming over. We're getting pizza and going to my brother's house. He said I could bring a friend, I chose you."
Jack didn't know what to think. He was being offered free food. That was always a plus. But if Snyder found out… he probably wouldn't even notice, right? And why would Race choose him? The kid had to have other friends, why him? He wasn't anything special.
"I don't… we'll see."
He wasn't sure, but he thought Race's face lit up a little.
"Okay, I'll leave you to sleep. Do you want me to turn the light off?"
"No!"
Race raised his eyebrows, but didn't respond. "Okay, just… don't… just try not to walk into any more doors."
Jack took a deep breath and laid his head back down on the table.
~N~
"Oh, look, he decided to show up."
Jack tensed as he entered the library. He had thought that, maybe, they had been warming up to him. Katherine had been nice the day before in the hallway, but he knew he ruined it with not showing up last night. "I know, sorry about that. Something… came up."
David remained silent, but Katherine continued to go off. "I see you've gotten into another fight. The least you could do is cover it up."
His hand flew to his eyes, "W-what do you mean?"
"I'm just saying, if you're going to wear makeup, might as well put it to good use."
"Katherine!"
Jack felt himself begin to panic. "Why, why would you say that?"
Katherine's expression didn't change, but David looked apologetic. "I needed lead, and you left your bag here-"
"So you went through my stuff!" He knew he probably sounded angry, but he was scared. They had found out. That was one of his biggest secrets. It sounded like she had pieced together why. Davey's dad was a cop…. What if he told?
He needed out, out now. Katherine might have been talking, but he couldn't hear. He couldn't breathe. His bag was in his hand and he ran. David was calling after him. He couldn't do this. Not today. Not when everything was going on.
The bathroom. The bathroom was safe.
The door swung shut behind him. He couldn't breathe. He ducked into a stall, shutting the door and sliding the metal bar over.
He couldn't breathe. This couldn't be happening. He slid to the floor, his back against the wall.
"Nononononono," He pulled his hands over his ears and squeezed his eyes shut. This couldn't happen. She had found out. She had to have found out.
The bathroom door opened and when Jack opened his eyes, he saw a pair of red converse outside the stall.
"Jack?"
It was Race. Why was he here?
"Hey, Jack, buddy, open the door. Please?"
He couldn't move even if he wanted to. He was frozen. Frozen in place while the world spiralled out of control.
Jack watched numbly while the metal bar was moved from the wrong side. The door swung open and Race was standing in front of him.
"Jack, can you hear me?"
He drew in a shuddering breath, but didn't answer.
"Okay, Kelly, let's-"
Nononono, not that name. Only Snyder called him that. His eyes snapped shut and his breathing became harder to control.
"Okay, okay, Jack, Jack, Jacky."
He stopped, that name. He liked that name. Crutchie called him that. He felt himself unfold slightly from his curled position.
"Good, good. Everything is going to be fine, okay, Jacky? No one is going to hurt ya. Just breathe."
And he did. He breathed. He breathed with Race. It was easier when he could hear the slow deep breaths, when he could see someone else's chest rise and fall in an almost mesmerizing rhythm. He calmed down a lot faster than he normally did. And he liked it. He liked someone being there with him. It was the one thing his frazzled mind really picked up on.
"There you go, Jack. See? Everything is fine."
Jack nodded, he didn't know why he nodded, but he did. He was okay for the moment. He was not in the closet. He was not trapped with Snyder. He was not being yelled at or hit or anything. He was okay.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
No. He wanted to get out. He needed to get out.
He stood up and pushed past Race, who protested, but was ignored. He moved to leave, but was blocked by Spot who was standing in front of the door.
Spot looked at him for a minute. Jack just stood there unsure of what to do. Then the older boy sighed and moved out of the way.
Jack walked out the bathroom door and right out the nearest exit.
~TH~
Have I mentioned that I'm claustrophobic? There was actually a time in my life where I could not be in a room if the door was shut. When I got over that there was another couple of years where the door could not be locked. Now so long as I'm not trapped and have a means of escape I'm fine.
Anyway.
Sorry about that, mini ramble.
Poor Jack. He can not catch a break. At least Race is there to help. Not that Jack wants help.
I don't think Jack knows what he wants lol.
And why is Jack so afraid of people finding out? Shouldn't he want to get Snyder caught? Why is he protecting him?
Be sure to leave any thoughts or theories on anything that's happened so far!
Next chapter will be shorter and from a new POV.
Until then!
God bless and stay safe!
Jamie
