Chapter 12.

Lucas, still devastated by what had happened to his brother, had been unsuccessfully trying to get to sleep for hours. Whenever he did get to sleep, he had been awoken by nightmares about the times he had heard his real parents arguing. In the end, Lucas had managed to cry himself into a restless sleep.

Flashback into the dream.

Lucas came running down the stairs as happily as can be, but suddenly stops when he reaches the kitchen. He can hear angry voices, shouting at each other, both sound so familiar but Lucas just can't place where he's heard the voice before. One of the voices is of his mum, the other is a male. The voices have stopped now and the radio has been switched on, very loudly. Then there was a huge thud, as something heavy hit the floor inside the kitchen.

'Mum must have dropped something; I've got to help her!' Lucas thought to himself as he reached towards the door handle.

 Closer and closer he drew nearer and nearer now. Twisting the silver sphere that was the door handle, and about the same height as his shoulder, Lucas opened the door and peeked in. Nothing, could prepare him for what he was about to see.

"Mummy?" Lucas cried in a hesitant voice, before looking around the kitchen in frozen shock.

There was blood everywhere, over the counter, the wooden stools, the kitchen floor, but the worst of this was on his beloved mother. That was the last thing he saw before he was knocked flying into the kitchen by a hand on his shoulder, knocking him into the counter, unconscious.

End Flashback.

"NNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!" Lucas cried out into the night. He awoke suddenly and looked around, suddenly scared. It was three in the morning. Curling up into a ball on his bed, Lucas cried. He couldn't remember what he had dreamed about, but the fear never left… It was the same fear that lurked around him, taunting him and pleading with him not to say a word during the day. Lucas could hear Baz's footsteps on the landing and enter his room.

    "Lucas?" The man whispered. He could hear the youth crying and trying to unsuccessfully muffle it with the duvet cover. He crept over to the bed and sat on it, soothingly rubbing the boy's shoulder. Lucas had his back towards the elder man, but rolled around as he felt gentle, massaging hands on his back. Baz pulled Lucas into a gentle, but comforting hug.

    "What's up?" Baz comforted. "Come on, you know you trust me, can't you?" Silence was his only reply. "You know you're gonna have to start talking a bit more than screaming fit, I'm are getting really worried about you."

    Lucas sniffed, as he felt the comfort and warmth around him and some of the fear eased away. Things he had never had before in that house Lucas had taken to calling it. Baz felt the youngster's fear relax and put him back down into bed, tucking the covers around him. The elder man began to softly hum a lullaby that Lucas's mum used to sing to him when he was little and watched as he gradually drifted off to sleep.

'Until tomorrow night,' Baz thought to himself, before he exited the room and he too fell fast asleep.

***

    In the morning, Lucas still wasn't speaking and what was even more worrying was that he wasn't eating either.

   "Come on, Lucas. You've got to eat something- you'll go hungry later!" Baz tried to persuade Lucas. Only silence greeted Baz. "Well, if that's the way you want to act, fine by me." Baz watched the wary youngster's reaction. "But don't expect me to watch you slowly fade away into nothing." He had Lucas's attention now. "You're gonna have to start talking sooner or later, so it might as well be now. So talk."

   Baz stood with his hands on hips, staring at the child who had lowered his gaze onto the table. Baz sat on the chair next to him and, placing a hand under his chin, he gently made Lucas look into his eyes. Lucas resisted at first, before he gazed into his trusted friends eyes.

    "It's gonna be all right, they can't hurt you- I promise." Baz calmly told him.

    Lucas turned away rebelliously and looked out into the garden; his eyes grew faraway and distant. The pair sat in silence for a while, watching and waiting.

    "I hated it in that house. Hated it. I thought everyone had forgotten about me, sitting all alone in the dark wondering, was this the day I'm going to die?" Lucas finally spoke, controlling every word he said. Baz didn't interrupt him; just let him do the talking. "I kept on wondering why nobody came for me, why they let him 'punish' me." Lucas became slightly hysterical. "He called it punishment, but it was really torture. And when I see his face and it's all twisted up and angry like, I just remember him hitting me over and over again, wanting it to stop… But it didn't stop... It just kept on coming. Once he even got a gun and put a pillow over my mouth. He left it there until I could see all these dots in front of my eyes and…And that's when he lifted the pillow away from my head. I was short of breath, so I was gasping for air and he shoved the gun in my mouth and put the pillow over my head again…He was going to kill me…He was…" Lucas's voice faded away and began to cry hysterically. He was surprised to see that Baz was crying too. He asked Baz why he was crying.

    "No one should have been what you've been through. I'm surprised you don't hate me. I would if I were you. But you are really brave and we can get through this. Together. One step at a time." Baz comforted Lucas.

    Lucas looked up, tears still wet on his face. This time the look Lucas gave wasn't rebellious, but one of hope. Hope that he might have actually found some way out of the pit of raw emotions and fear that were buried so deep inside him, even Lucas was having difficulty finding where the pain ended and fear began. Hope shone brightly through Lucas's eyes and in that moment, Baz knew Lucas would be all right in time.