Chapter six peoples.

DISCLAIMER: This chapter contains graphic descriptions of violence against children, drug use, and swearing. But again, lots of violence and one scene that was really hard to write but i felt it neccassary for the story.

I dont own any of the Mercers but if i did i would wrap Jack in cotton wool to protect him from the evils of the world and from my imagination.

Oh and btw, my reviewers, all of you...i've been having a bit of an emotional week of late, getting upset over some personal things in my life andyour reviews, genuinely, brighten up my whole day, some make me get teary eyed, some make me grin like aloon, some make me laugh out loud. Y'all cant even know the affect you're having on me, thank you thank you thank you.xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

So R+R

PS: dont hate me for doing this to Jack.

Jack was lying on the floor of his room, listening at the door. Something was different, wrong, in the house.

Normally by this point, Amelia had knocked on his door asking him to come down to dinner, but he hadn't heard anything from her since the arrival of some one new several hours before. Jack flicked his hand a little, swinging the pen knife into his palm. He unlocked the door quietly and stepped out into the hallway. There was a cold feel to the house. Usually, there was some kind of noise, music, or the oven running, but Jack couldn't hear anything, and if not for the fact that he knew no cars had left, he would almost say he was alone in the house.

He heard a thump and tensed involuntarily, but no sound followed so he hesitantly stepped towards the top of the stairs. He listened carefully, hoping he would hear something that would give him some idea of what was going on. There was a sound like some one moving around, and what could have been a faint laugh, but nothing else. Jack snuck down the stairs, leaning forward to see if he could see anything. There was a jacket on the hook by the door. Jack didn't recognise it, and as he leaned close to examine it he caught a whiff of cigarette smoke and alcohol. The smell conjured up terrifying memories and Jack stepped back away from it hurriedly.

He edged toward the kitchen and heard another thump, this one followed by a slow dragging sound and he felt the fear he was fighting to repress flowed up through him in an unstoppable wave. He bit his own lip hard enough that he broke the skin and took another step forward. Slowly, agonizingly slowly, he made it to the kitchen door. He knelt and listened under the door. Amelia was laughing quietly, lethargically as a male, presumably the owner of the jacket, rumbled something in a bass voice that Jack felt in his chest more than heard.

There was a rank, acrid smell coming from the kitchen that Jack vaguely recognised but couldn't name and he headed toward the back of the house, the dining room, so he could use the other entrance to the kitchen to get a better idea of what was happening.

He snuck through the house, through the dining room and crouched beside the arch shaped entrance to the kitchen. He peered in. Amelia was sort of, sprawled in her chair, her legs stretched out in front of her, her back bent awkwardly so she almost lay in the seat of the chair. She had a belt looped tightly around one arm.

The guy, Jack didn't know his name, was sitting across from her in a similar position, sliding his feet slowly on the floor, making the dragging sound that Jack kept hearing. He was nodding his head slowly as if he was tired and Jack could just make out some kind of…something on the table. He frowned, squinted, but he couldn't make it out. "You're right Vern" Amelia said, giving the bog man a name "I...I needed this, I needed to relax" her voice was slow, heavy, and with a churn of fear, Jack recognised the slurring of inebriation in her voice. He suppressed a whimper and crawled backwards through the dining room. He snuck back out into the hall and headed for the back door if the house, but found it locked with a heavy duty security lock that he wouldn't be able to pick. He crept to the front, but the house was essentially sealed. Jack cast around for a phone before he realised the only phone was in the kitchen.

He felt the tears, the fear well up and clenched his teeth in frustration. He crept back up the stairs and into his room, resetting his traps and pulling the blade out on the pen knife. Jack began to weep but fought to hold it together as he took up his usual spot beneath the window, hiccoughing as he tried to quiet his own crying.

Angel was staring at the phone, his eyes troubled, his face creased into a frown.

"What's the matter?" Diane asked, walking into the kitchen.

"Amelia promised Jack he could phone us…he hasn't yet" he told her.

"It's been what, four days since you had lunch?" Diane asked, not condescendingly, just genuinely curious.

"Three as of this morning…I mean when he didn't phone us that day it was odd but this…there's something wrong" he Angel gave her a worried look.

Diane chewed her lip, her face sympathetic. "So what, you three are on shifts?" she asked.

"Yeah…I watch the phone and do my work, while Bobby and Jerry do…homework, what ever they need to do, then we switch…" Angel shrugged.

"How long have you been there?" Diane, who wore simple cotton pyjamas, stood beside the fridge.

"I don't know, a few hours…Jerry has some huge presentation to prepare and Bobby's…dealin with some business stuff" Angel rubbed his eyes.

"You want a sandwich?" Diane asked brightly, despite the late hour.

Angel looked over at her, his face breaking into a weak, grateful smile "That would be great…actually why am I making you do it, I'm in here, I can make it" he moved to slide off his stool.

Diane held a hand up "No I can, I'm making myself one anyway, plus I've seen how you make sandwiches" she snickered.

"You got something to say!" Angel asked mock aggressively.

"Yeah, your sandwiches look like you made the thing then put a grenade in it" Diane laughed.

Angel grinned at her and nodded "That is, unfortunately, very true" he admitted.

He slid off his stool any way and stretched his legs, pushing his chest and stomach out until something in his back popped and he groaned in appreciation.

"What's that?" Diane nodded toward the open notebook and dog eared novel Angel had on the counter in front of him.

"Uh, Miss Harrison's English homework" he rubbed his eyes again, fetching both himself and Diane a soda from the fridge as Diane began to make the sandwiches.

"Oh Damn" Diane muttered "Oh well, I wasn't really planning on sleeping tonight any way" she shrugged.

"It's not that bad once you get into it" Angel assured her.

"Lord of the flies though…I kind of like the idea behind it…no parents" Diane said, her voice just a little sad.

Angel gave a tiny nod "If you have the wrong kind of parents, yeah" he agreed "But we got Ma" he said simply.

"You're lucky…you know, I haven't been here that long but I already feel like what ever it is she does is working" Diane told him.

"Yeah it kinda sneaks up on you" Angel chuckled, looking anxiously at the still silent phone.

"Hey, he'll call" Diane said, noticing the look "Let me ask you some thing, and I'm not bitching you out, I'm just curious" She dug a bag of potato chips and shook a share of chips out onto both their plates "Evelyn makes it her life's mission to…help kids, save them, from their parents, from themselves…I mean she's famous for straightening out some of the worst juvenile delinquents in Detroit" she set Angels plate down beside his books and took a seat across from him. "But you three…even Jerry…hell, you four, cause I'm gonna include Jack…you still get into trouble, you steal and fight and get arrested…why?" she frowned, and as she had promised, her tone was not judgemental, but genuinely curious.

Angel shook his head "Well…okay…I'm not saying you didn't have it hard because I know you did but like, you're mom and dad, as shitty as it was for them to abandon you, they where other wise nice, honest people right?" Angel asked.

Diane thought about it then nodded "Yeah, they where bastards but they didn't break the law" she admitted.

"Well, our parents did. Jerry's mama was a ho' he didn't know his dad cause the guy was one of his mom's customers…Jerry learned when he was three that sometimes stealin shit was the only way he was gonna get fed, ya know? I mean his mama was at heart a good person, she never exposed him to like, her johns, never put him in danger but he had to steal and fight to survive and her learned it's the easiest way sometimes. My dad was the same, he was a hustler, I do it know" Angel told her.

"A hustler?" Diane frowned.

"A pool shark…amongst other things….basically I fake out like I suck at pool, or basketball or hockey, con some one into letting me in a game for money, so the other guys think they're playin against some loser and are gonna walk away cash in hand, then as I play I just…get lucky" he raised his eyebrows at her.

"Does it work?" Diane asked, impressed.

"Shit yeah" he smiled "My dad taught me to hustle when I was…six or seven…I was turning over a hell of a profit. But he was pretty violent too, that's how come they took me away" he took a bite of the sandwich, thanking Diane with his mouth full "And Bobby…Bobby had it real hard…his mom and dad where fucking ass holes…he had to steal and shake kids down and kick ass just to stay alive….now its like, what he's used to…its all he knows…and we all got a lot of, anger issues" he said.

"That's putting it lightly" Diane raised an eyebrow.

"We don't do it to spite Ma…its just how we get shit done" he shrugged again.

Diane nodded "Fair enough. I was just wondering is all" she smiled.

"How about you? You think Ma's help will last?" he asked her.

"I'd like to say yes…but I'm not sure…I mean, I have my problems, the drinking mainly…but since my first few weeks here, I haven't had a drink, and I haven't wanted too…its sort of like, when you're living here, you're in this bubble, and its so easy to behave, and to feel safe…I'm just worried that when I leave the house, I'll leave that protective bubble and I'll be tempted again" she wrinkled her nose "if that makes sense" she gave Angel an apologetic look.

Angel gave her a small smile and a nod "That's why we're so worried about Jack…when he's in the house we feel like he's just one of us, but now with him being…out in the real world I guess…we feel like he's made out of crystal, and the slightest knock could shatter him. When he's here we can protect him, Ma can protect him…out there…he's all alone" he cut off suddenly, hearing a yell from upstairs.

"Stay by the phone?" he asked, and Diane nodded.

Angel ran up the stairs and saw Bobby looming over Li, his face twisted into an angry snarl "I'm telling you right now kid, you go in that room and I'll kick your ass" Bobby yelled into Li's face.

"He's not coming back, I'm sick of being in the attic, I'm claiming his room!" Li yelled back.

Bobby raised his fist to hit Li but Angel rushed forward and grabbed Bobby, pulling him backwards "What the hell!" he asked of them both.

"This little shit was in Jack's room, he seems to think he has some right to it!" Bobby snapped.

"He's. Not. Here" Li said slowly.

Bobby went for him again and Angel only just held his brother back. "Li, the rooms off limits" Angel told Li, his back to the boy as he wrangled with Bobby.

"Why!" Li growled and Angel rounded on him.

"Because I said so you little shit now fuck off" he hissed.

Li balked and stormed off, yelping as Bobby took a swipe at him as he passed.

Bobby silently fumed but let Angel escort him down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"Everything alright?" Diane asked nervously, eyeing the walking volcano that was Bobby.

"Yeah, just stuff about Jack's room" Angel muttered, slumping into his seat.

"Anything I can do?" Diane asked.

"Maybe go talk to Li?" Angel asked "He cant have Jack's room, that's final, but Bobby might have roughed him up a little, and I snapped at him" he explained.

Diane, who had finished her sandwich, took a bag of marshmallows from the cupboard and went upstairs.

"Ma will be back soon" Angel observed.

"Angel this aint right, he aint called" Bobby said, his anger seeming to drain out of him all of a sudden.

"I know man…maybe…maybe he's out or something she might be taking him to…the park" Angel lied to reassure himself as well as Bobby.

"No. I have a bad feeling" Bobby shook his head, "I want Maria to call around at the house, or give us the address so we can go over" he stated.

"Right. Then maybe she can give us a million dollars each" Angel scoffed.

"I'm serious Angel" Bobby turned to face him.

"So am I" Angel stated "Maria wouldn't give you that address any more than she would give you her house keys and a list of all her valuables" he raised an eyebrow.

"Well if she wont let us check it out, she can do it" Bobby shrugged.

"She did the two week check the day before we had lunch with them" Jerry sighed as he walked into the room "She wont do one again without a reason too"

"She has a reason!" Bobby snapped "No ones heard from him!"

"We haven't heard from him. Bobby I hate this as much as you do but for all we know Maria sees them every day. She has no reason to think anything is wrong"

Jack was shaking violently as he stood in the den in Amelia's house. There where half a dozen people sitting around, slouching on the sofa's, in the armchairs, some even just laying on the floor. Amelia was laying on her stomach on the second sofa, mumbling incoherently in her drugged up state. It had been like this for days. Hours after Jack had first discovered Amelia getting high with her junkie dealer boyfriend, the other people had begun arriving and had been at the house, and using, ever since. Every now and then one of them would get up and staggeringly get more food, or more drugs. Jack had been watching from up stairs. He hadn't eaten in several days. He hadn't left the house; he wasn't yet a regular face in his new school, so he kne he hadn't been missed. He hadn't dared take a shower and he knew he smelled bad but he couldn't work up enough emotion that wasn't fear to care. He had ventured downstairs after several hours of silence and stumbled upon the mess that was the den. Jack was so scared he thought he might pee in his pants but he didn't, he simply began to back up, heading for the kitchen. For the phone. He wasn't as alert as he had been in the past, his fear, rarely, clouding his judgement.

He didn't check before he walked into the kitchen and saw Vern sitting at the table, counting out baggies of what Jack could guess, was heroin.

"Hi there" Vern said, his voice actually friendly "you must be Jack" he smiled at Jack and Jack was reminded of a shark he had seen in a movie once.

Jack stared open mouthed and tried to think of a way to escape. "Amelia tells me you're a little nervous around new people" Vern carefully turned in his chair, holding his hands out to show Jack they where empty.

Jack's mind went into survival mode as his fear all but overrode his cognitive functions. He found he could see more of the kitchen, see the knives in the block on the counter, see the doorway to the dining room. In his head he could map out the exact route he would need to take to get from where he stood, either by backtracking and booking for the stairs, or by trying to go past Vern.

"Well listen Jack, I'm not a stranger, I'm a very good friend of your aunt Amelia's" Vern stated.

"You're giving her drugs" Jack whispered hoarsely.

Vern nodded slowly "I'm helping her calm down…like a psychiatrist would" he 'corrected'.

"No" Jack shook his head.

"Hey, she didn't have to take the stuff I gave her kid, I gave her a choice" Vern shrugged "Now why don't you come here" he said, and something in his tone made the fear Jack was barely controlling redouble its efforts to over power him.

If he had had anything in his stomach we would have been sick.

"What?" his voice came out in a strangled choke.

"Come here. Let me see you better" Vern gave that shark smile again and licked his lips.

"Fuck you" Jack hissed.

Vern tilted his head to one side and raised his eyebrows. He rose from his chair and Jack bolted back through the door, hearing Vern yell after him. He ran up the stairs and into his room, slamming the door closed as he heard Vern thumping up the stairs behind him. He locked the door and moved around to the side of the desk, pushing as hard as he could. The effort left him dizzy but he moved the desk in front of the door as Vern began pounding on the door, yelling to be let in.

Jack picked up his chair and ran to the window, swinging the chair as hard as he could. The glass pane shattered, but didn't break, and Jack swung again, screaming with the effort as Vern hammered on the door. Once again, the glass cracked, so Jack dumped the chair and simply began punching at the window, ignoring the pain as the glass cut his hands. He heard a cracking sound behind him and spared a glance at the door, whimpering as he saw the wood around the lock beginning to break under Vern's efforts.

There was a solid sounding thump and the lock gave. The door opened and the desk slid forward a few inches. With jerks and shoved, the door began to slide open and Jack, his hands shaking, folded out the blade from his pen knife and crawled under the bed as Vern walked into the room.

Jack listened intently as Vern's heavy boots stomped across the hard wood floor, and when it sounded like Vern was standing near the window, Jack crawled out on the other side, near the door, and made a run for it. Vern simply ran over the bed, landing beside Jack, his long legs carrying him to the door in two easy strides. He stood between Jack and the door. Jack pulled up short and the knife fell from his hand, clattering to the floor.

"Now like I said" Vern took a step toward Jack, peeling off his own jacket and pushing the door closed behind him "Let me get a look at you"

"Maria please!" Bobby was yelling into the phone "Just go over there, do one of those….spot checks! Make sure he's okay, with your own eyes!" he pleaded.

Evelyn, having just gotten back home from visiting with an elderly, invalid neighbour, walked into the question, shooting questioning glances at Jerry and Angel.

"We haven't heard from Jack yet and we got a bad feeling" Angel said by way of explanation.

Evelyn gave a curt nod and took the phone from Bobby's hand "Maria, its Evelyn…yeah, we're just worried, could you please just run over there and check up on them?" she asked kindly.

There was a pause "Thank you" Evelyn smiled "You'll get them to call? That's great…I'm sure everything's fine, we just want to be sure" she said into the phone.

She hung up the phone and looked around at the boys "Okay? She'll take a while to get there because she has other kids to deal with first bur she will go. Alright?" she asked.

"Thanks Ma" The boys said in unison.

She pulled the three of them into a hug "I'm worried too but you have to be more diplomatic about this stuff…plus if we pester her too often Amelia might decide we can never visit with Jack" she squeezed them then released them "We just need to know when to back off"

Amelia raised her head groggily as she heard Vern yelling and a noise she could only describe as a shriek.

She rolled off the couch and struggled to her feet, waiting for her head to clear for a second before she walked toward the stairs. Vern was storming down them, dragging Jack by the arm, shaking the boy roughly. He literally tossed Jack into the corner like an old sack as Amelia held up her hands "Whoah, what the fuck is going on!" She snapped angrily.

"That little bastard stabbed me!" Vern spat.

Amelia looked at the small wound on Vern's arm, the over at Jack who had pulled himself up to a sitting position and was huddled in the corner, one hand hugging his knees, the other holding the pen knife out in front of him, the blade wavering through the air. Jack was visibly shaking and his eyes had gone wide and blank. He was staring into space and Amelia bet whatever he was seeing wasn't in the room with him.

"Did you do something to him?" Amelia frowned.

Vern ignored the question and shoved past her, taking a step toward Jack.

Jack, while seeming some what unaware of his surroundings, reacted instantly, scrambling to his feet even as he spat blood and ran into the kitchen. Amelia and Vern followed in time to see Jack grabbing a larger knife from the block on the counter.

"Aw shit!" Amelia growled, "Vern get him!" she snapped.

Vern rushed Jack and Jack grabbed a plate from old ones on the table and threw it at Vern. Vern cursed as the plate smashed at his feet and Jack gave a screaming growl as he backed away from Vern.

Amelia went around the other side of the table but Jack spotted her and began yelling at the top of his lungs, screaming and shouting incoherently.

Amelia ducked toward him and he swung the knife at her, turning his body to do so, giving Vern the opportunity to swoop in behind him and scoop him up, grabbing the hand Jack held the knife in and squeezing it until Jack let go. Jack, as Vern had grabbed him had begun screaming at an even higher pitch than Amelia would have thought possible and he fought like a demon, kicking his legs, twisting his back, even reaching backwards in a way that had to be painful, to claw at Vern's face. Vern twisted Jack and slammed him down on top of the table, clamping one hand over Jack's mouth. It muffled the noise somewhat but not much, and Jack still fought as Vern tried to hold him still.

Some of Amelia's junkie friends had been stirred from their stupor by the commotion and stood in the door way, bleary eyed and pissed "What the fuck!" one of them asked "Cant you shut him up!"

Amelia ran a hand through her greasy her "That old bitch talked to him at her place" she told them.

"So do that" Vern growled "Hey, a little help!" he glared at one of the junkies, a blonde man.

"What do you want me to do?" the guy asked, stepping forward.

Amelia leaned over Jack "Hush now Jackie boy" she whispered.

Jack redoubled his efforts, his eyes murderous over Vern's hand.

"Rex help me!" Vern barked and the blond junkie reached out and took Jack's arms, holding them together over Jack's chest as Vern kept one hand on Jack's mouth and pressed the other over Jack's stomach, trying to stop Jack from arching his back and twisting around.

"Cant you give him like…a pill" the other junkie, a crew cutted woman asked.

"Hey can we give him a hit?" Amelia asked Vern.

Vern nodded "do it" he snarled.

Amelia found the paraphernalia to make up a needle and got to it, preparing the shot as quickly as she could while Rex and Vern struggled to hold Jack.

"How much should I give him?" she called out.

"How the fuck should I know? Enough to put him asleep…the same as you would take to get buzzed" Vern guessed.

Amelia nodded and prepped the needle, flicking it to dispel any air bubbles.

Vern used one hand to simple tear away part of Jack's sleeve.

Jack saw Amelia with the needle and even behind Vern' hand, his scream was uncomfortably loud. Vern yelped and pulled his hand away from Jack's mouth with some difficulty as Jack had taken a bite out of Vern's palm. Vern smacked Jack across the face, but Jack's adrenaline was pumping too much and he seemed to barely feel the hit. He screamed curses at Amelia as Vern clamped his hand over Jack's mouth once again, using his other hand to squeeze Jack's arm to raise a vein.

Amelia pulled his arm toward her and slapped it a little. Jack's eyes where wide as he shrieked behind Vern's hand and Amelia stuck the needle into his vein, depressing the plunger.

The effect was almost instantaneous. Jack's eyes widened again, then fluttered. His screaming ceased almost instantly and he slumped on the table and his eyes grew blank, half closed, fixed unseeingly on Amelia's face. Vern released his hold on Jack and quickly lit a cigarette, chuckling cruelly as Rex raised Jack's limp hand and dropped it again.

"That did it" Vern snickered.

"Little fucker is wasted" Rex leaned close to Jack's face as Jack took slow, shallow breaths.

"You think it was too much?" Amelia asked, prepping herself another hit.

"No, he's just riding the high" Vern shook his head "Hey watch" he puffed on his cigarette until the end glowed red then pressed the tip to the skin on Jack's arm.

Jack didn't even blink as his skin burned.

"Shit!" Rex laughed, pinching Jack's arm hard enough to leave a bruise.

Amelia ignored them as they burned and pinched the limp boy, concentrating on her own hit. "I wanna go back in the den" she told Vern as Vern used Jack's own small knife to make cuts on the back of Jack's hand.

"Fix me one" Vern nodded to the needle she was preparing.

"Fix your fucking own" Amelia sneered.

She put a cap on the syringe and stuck it in her pocket as Rex and Vern began to make up more needles.

Amelia leaned over Jack's near lifeless form. His skin had gone grey and his lips where an odd shade of blue. She slapped his face hard enough to leave a red handprint.

"hey, fucker?" she shouted into his face. She chuckled "You're so fucked up! Hey, what would you say if I said…lemme see….oh, if I said I was gonna send you back to your dad!" she snickered cruelly, slapping him again.

"Amelia come one already" Vern snapped, carrying many of the baggies out of the kitchen "You probably gave him too much you know, kid weighs less than a fucking fart, he's probably ODing" Vern yelled back.

Amelia picked up Jack's arm and shook it so his hand dangled lifelessly. She slammed his arm down hard on the edge of the table and felt one of the bones under her hand snap. Jack simply wheezed for breath. Amelia rolled her eyes and walked out of the kitchen, heading back to the den, leaving Jack alone in the kitchen.

He took another slow breath and managed to twitch his head, blinking once, twice.

Some echo of adrenalin, some driving force over came the pain, the weakness in his body, and Jack managed to slide off the table. He was fading fast, he could feel it with every beat of his heart but he had a mission. The utter determination enabled him to reach the phone on the wall. Ordinarily it was less than two feet from the table, but on this day, some one had moved it an eternity away and Jack had to slump, zombie like toward it. When he got to it, he found one of his hands wouldn't work and used the other one to lift the phone off the cradle and drop it to the ground. He used the same hand to dial a number then simply lay down on the ground, his head resting near the phone.

The ringing tone seemed to go on forever and Jack felt his tenuous grip slipping as the tugging darkness began to pull him under. There was a click and a voice answered "Evelyn Mercer speaking?"

"Ma" Jack whispered silently.

"Hello? Who's there?" Evelyn was saying.

"Ma!" Jack tried again.

"If some ones there can you let me know? Hello?" Evelyn, sounding worried, said.

"Ma…Ma…Ma" Jack repeated the word, his voice growing just a little stronger with each attempt "Ma…ma…mom…mom…mommy, mommy" Jack gasped "mommy"

"Jack!" Evelyn yelled into the phone, her voice high with alarm and fear "oh god, Jackie, Maria's on her way, she'll be there soon, hold on baby" Evelyn's voice grew thick with emotion and Jack could faintly hear voices in the background beginning to yell as Evelyn spoke into the phone "Mommy's here baby, talk to me, talk to me Jackie, I'm here, keep talking to me, don't stop talking to me" Evelyn was screaming into the phone now.

Jack felt the blackness win and as he slid into the dark he gasped once more

"Mommy"