Hey guys, peeps! It's time for yet another chapter of JOTN. Today, we're getting Bill's first entry and flashback now that he's awoken from his coma. And as stated before, his entry will focus on his little brother. I hope you enjoy!

Warning: Contains flashback of more child abuse... yeah, you get it by now.

Chapter 9: Spare the Rod

After Russell left with his parents, Bill just lied in his bed. He was recounting all the events that went on. He, his brother, and their friends getting kidnapped, being tortured for nearly two weeks, and then getting rescued. But he was stuck asleep for most of that time. When he awoke, he was surprised that he remembered anything at all.

With the blow he received to his head, he was sure some amnesia would happen. But no... he remembered everything.

And now... the boys were safe. But the kidnappers were still at large... that made him wary. He didn't show it out loud, but he was afraid of them possibly finding him and his friends again. That couldn't happen again! They wouldn't be able to handle it...

Thinking about the moments... brought back the actual captivity. Which brought back a memory which he swore would stick in his mind for life...

Bill looked over to his table to see the journal Albert left for him to write in. He grabbed it and looked at the previous entries. He read Russell's, and couldn't help blush. His remembered how his brother stood up for Rudy that day. It was the day they were rescued.

But now, he had to say regarding his brother.

So with a pencil in hand, he turned the page and began to write...

"Dear Journal... I've been in a coma for the past few days, so I haven't been able to write anything down yet. But now that I'm awake, I want to write about a moment from being kidnapped that I don't think I'll ever forget. It involves my brother, Russell..."

Bill had tried and failed, to get his little brother to eat what the people brought him. But Russell just refused it all. The salty oatmeal, the raw meat, everything. He just would not stomach any of it, no matter how much it didn't taste bad. The small boy was insisted that the couple was trying to win them over, so he didn't want to fall for their tricks.

And while Bill admired his brother strong will, he still didn't want him to starve...

Soon, the bowl and plate were near empty, as Bill hoped that Russell would at least eat something. But that's when that man and woman came back down, "Did you boys enjoy your meal?" Gabe asked.

The boys nodded... all except for Russell, who turned away. Gabe was about to take the bowl, before he noticed something, "Hey... why the hell is the bowl still full? Who didn't eat?" He demanded.

All the boys kept silent, but the man was quick to figure out who the unlucky one was just by looking at each and every one of them. Once his eyes laid upon Russell, he growled, "You! Why didn't you eat anything?"

The small child glared at the man, "Because I don't want ANYTHING you have to offer. You think you can try and make us respect you by feeding us and stuff! Well, it's not gonna work on me! Because you're NOT my Dad!"

"Why you little?"

He then grabbed the boy by the shirt collar, startling him. Bill wanted to reach out for his brother, but he knew doing so would not be a smart boy. Bella shook her head, "I see one of our boys want to be bad, Gabey. Let me handle him. I know the perfect punishment for rotten little brats with that attitude."

With that, the man handled Russell to his wife. But the boy wasn't intimidated in the least, "You don't scare me!" He exclaimed.

But Bella just smirked, "Not yet I don't..."

She then unlocked the chains on his ankle, before walking over to a chair (along with some other items from a table), pulling it in front of the rest of the boys. She sat down and forced Russell over her lap. It was then that he and the others were starting to realize what was about to happen. Russell's eyes went wide as he felt his pants being pulled to his knees.

"No! No! Wait! Don't! Don't give me a whoopin'! I'll be good! I'll be good!"

But the woman just chuckled, "Sorry, Russell. But when you're bad, you pay the price."

With that said...

SMACK!

Her hand raised, yet came down just as quick, right down on Russell's bare backside. Bill cringed when he heard the smack, and cringed worse when he heard the loud cry of pain his brother let out. Unfortunately, the small child didn't have time to recover, as another swat peppered him, and another... and another...

SMACK! SMACK! SMACK! SMACK! SMACK! SMACK! SMACK! SMACK! SMACK!

The other boys were too getting uncomfortable watching Russell get tanned badly. Most of them can remember receiving this type of punishment at the hands of their parents when they were younger or knew someone who had. So, seeing it happen to someone else triggered some unpleasant memories.

But for Bill, as he heard every swat, and every cry of pain from Russell, a piece of his heart broke for his brother. He and Russell had only been spanked once each in their lives, but it was only a few swats and that's it. Now, it looked like Bella wasn't going to stop this anytime soon.

He wanted to stop her. To save his brother. But he knew doing so could very well land him in the same position.

As for poor Russell, he was starting to cry as the hand swatted on his bottom harder and harder with every strike. His bottom was starting to become a deep shade of red in only a matter of minutes.

SMACK! SMACK! SMACK! SMACK! SMACK! SMACK! SMACK! SMACK! SMACK!

Five minutes had passed, and Bella was still swatting away. At one point, she switched from her hand to a paddle, and after another five minutes, switched to a belt, which left the worse of it. Bill looked closer and could see that blood was starting to leak from his brother's bottom. His cries of pain became worse. This WHOLE THING was becoming worse!

Bill couldn't take it anymore.

"STOP! You're hurting him!" He said, "Can't you see he's bleeding?!"

Suddenly, Gabe came over to grab him by the throat, "Do you wanna be next, boy?!" he seethed.

The older Cosby boy would have said yes if only this crazy woman to stop assaulting his brother. But the fear of being in that position made him shake his head instead.

"Then you better keep your mouth SHUT and let your Mommy punish your brother!"

The man threw the teenager back onto the floor, as Bella continued to pepper Russell's backside. After ten minutes... she had stopped, shoving the child onto the floor (and unfortunately on his bottom) as she stood up, "Now... are you gonna be a good boy and eat what we feed you?" She asked sinisterly.

Russell was crying hard, but he managed a nod and somber "Y-Y-Y-Y-Yes, M-M-M-Mommy..."

The woman smiled cheerfully, "Good! You wanna grow to be big and strong. So you need to eat."

Gabe then brought the bowl of 'salty oatmeal', "And since you didn't eat it the first time..."

He grabbed Russell and shoved the child's face into the bowl. Bill felt his blood boiling up in rage. These people were seriously hurting his brother, and he couldn't do a thing about it unless he wanted to suffer the same fate. He heard poor Russell gagging and coughing before his face was pulled up, covered in the strange food.

"Let that be a lesson to you mugs!" The man warned the other boys, "Eat what we feed you! If not, then you pay the price! Got it?!"

Again, he received quick nods of understanding. The evil couple was now satisfied as they began to leave, walking up the stairs of the basement, "It's time for sleep, my little angels..." Bella said, blowing a kiss, "We'll see you tomorrow morning..."

With that, they were gone, locking the door in the process.

There was silence, save for Russell's small sobs of pain. Bill immediately grabbed his brother and pulled him closer to where he could hug him, "Are you okay, Rus?" He asked with concern.

"N-N-No..." Was the child's response, "M-M-My butt hurts..."

At that mention, Bill took the chance to look at said butt (his pants were still pulled down) and winced. It was completely red, throbbing, and there were small cuts where blood was leaking. Seeing it only infuriated him more. Not even a day here and those people proved to be monsters in his eyes. He wanted to teach them a thing or two, but for now, all he could do was rub his brother's back soothingly.

"It's... it's gonna be okay, Rus." He assured him, "I don't let those people touch you again... I promise..."

"I hate it here..." Russell whimpered, "I wanna go home!"

"I know. I do too. We all do. But for now, we just have to wait until someone finds us. If we tried to escape, those two would definitely catch us..."

From that night on, the boys tried to get some sleep. The other boys offered to help treat Russell, by cleaning the cuts. Afterward, it was a long and uncomfortable first night of captivity for them.

"Poor Russell was completely in pain. But I was glad it was over. From then on, I vowed to keep my brother safe from that awful couple. And I guess, in the end, it paid off. Well, that's all for now. If I have anything else to say, I'll be here. Sincerely, Bill."

After finishing his entry, Bill closed the journal. To be honest, having to recall that moment hurt. Watching his Russell get his hide tanned, and he couldn't do anything to stop the assault. It was that moment that prompted him to take that blow for Russell on the last day of captivity. What he didn't tell anybody, was in doing so, he had the whooping scene in his mind at the time...

And it was worth it. Russell was doing okay. Not great. But okay. And that was all that mattered to him. He was able to keep his brother from getting any major damage, aside from what he learned was a twisted wrist, but other than that... he was fine...

With that in mind, Bill decided to go to bed finally, happy and content with his good deeds...

The next day...

"No! Not again!" Harold groaned as Donald laughed in triumph. They were playing a game of checkers in the children's room, and right now, Donald was having a winning streak of ten out of twenty.

And that was annoying Harold to no end, "How can someone with 'Dumb' in his name be so good at checkers?" He asked in disbelief.

"It's not a hard game, really..." Was the knitted cap wearing boy's response with a shrug.

"But it's a game full of strategy! Something you lack!"

"What's strategy?"

"Exactly!"

The others couldn't help but laugh at the back and forth. They too were curious of how Donald was good at checkers. But perhaps the dimwitted boy had some hidden depths. Nevertheless, it was funny to see Harold losing his mind over this.

Bill had once again joined his friends and brought back the journal to Albert, who went about reading it while everyone was busy having fun and playing games.

'Dear Journal... I've been in a coma for the past few days, so I haven't been able to write anything down yet. But now that I'm awake, I want to write about a moment from being kidnapped that I don't think I'll ever forget. It involves my brother, Russell...

It was on the night we got kidnapped. Those people fed us this weird looking food, but honestly, it didn't taste bad at all. Russell didn't want to eat any of it, because he didn't want those people to play nice. I admire that he wanted to be strong, but I didn't want my little brother to starve to death. I tried to get him to eat, but he just kept refusing. The man and lady came back, and they quickly figured out that Russell didn't eat, and he sassed them in return.

That's when the woman decided that Russell needed to be punished. And punish him with what had to be the mother of all whoopings. Poor Rus' butt was red and bleeding by the time she was done. I tried to intervene once, but I was shut down and threatened. Although I would have much rather be in Russell's spot, I was too nervous. After the lady was done, the man shoved Russell's face in the bowl, before warning us of what would happen if we didn't eat.

Once they left, I tended to my brother. Poor Russell was completely in pain. But I was glad it was over. From then on, I vowed to keep my brother safe from that awful couple. And I guess, in the end, it paid off. Well, that's all for now. If I have anything else to say, I'll be here. Sincerely, Bill'

Albert had to admit. Both Cosby brothers were strong boys. They were willing to be dealt the worse, no matter the consequences. And Bill wanted to keep his brother safe... and he did in a way.

And now, everyone had written in the journal... all except for Rudy.

Speaking of whom, Albert saw the rich boy just sitting in the corner of the room, staring out the window. He wondered if he was ready to write an entry yet... but judging by how he was yesterday... he probably wasn't.

But still, Albert was determined to get him to write. It would help him... it would help all of them...

So Bill had to witness his brother getting a brutal beating at the hands (and paddle and belt) of Bella, and that was what made him vow to protect them as long as they were stuck in that basement. It came at a heavy price, as we all know, but it was all worth it in the end. Now, Rudy's the only one left who hasn't written in the journal yet. He's still reluctant as of now, but his will come soon. Possibly the next chapter, as there will be a time skip. Until then, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'll see you guys later. And don't forget to review, please. Thank you!