Ugh! Sorry for the long wait. Last week was kinda a lazy week for me (These do NOT frequently occur soooo…no worries!). I just really didn't feel like doing much. Anyway, I'm sitting here at my friends computer when it suddenly dawns on me 'Hey! Why not update? You've got nothing better to do.' So here I am…updating….and hoping for more reviews…so I can be happy…)…

Thank you to all those who do review! Your opinions and praise are much appreciated!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 3

Not the Same

"Zack, I need you to tell me everything that has happened to you while you were with those men," Officer Higgs spoke slowly and deliberately as he gently addressed the boy before him.

Zack tensed a little between his mother and father who flanked him on either side of the hospital bed. Cody was perched solidly at his brother's feet.

His cracked and bruised ribs sparked with pain as he leaned forward but he hardly felt it; His body was too used to agony and hunger to really it acknowledge much anymore. His hazel eyes slowly met with each member of his family. First, his mother's tear filled brown ones, his father's tenacious blue ones, and finally, Cody's unswerving greenish blue, ones. Their gazes were unwavering and full of love for him. For the briefest of moments he felt guilt for he did not find himself worthy of their love and loyalty. After all, for two years he was treated like a piece of dirt, like scum, unfit to plague the bottom of a homeless person's tennis shoe.

However, the feeling quickly vanished as Carey gave his hand a warm squeeze. He swallowed (his bruised throat aching slightly) and looked to the officer.

"Leave nothing out Zack,"

He nodded and looked down at his fingers entwined in his mother's. Duncan's hand with the missing digit, surfaced in his mind and he swiftly looked away, a cold sickness filling his gut.

"It's all right, sweetie," Carey murmured as her thumb caressed his hand.

After a minute of deep thinking and painful memories, Zack again looked at the officer and this time opened his mouth to speak and to spill his story.

A Week Later

Boston's familiar downtown scenery flashed past the backseat window of the Mercedes as Zack pressed his forehead to the glass, eagerly drinking it all in. Everything looked as it did the night he ran away, minus the fact that the autumn sun was shining and it wasn't storming. Jack-O-Lanterns adorned door steps and stoops, proclaiming Halloweens approaching presence.

Despite the Halloween décor, everything looked the same, except, thought Cody, not really. Nothing would ever be the same after learning the truth of the living hell Zack, his twin brother, had endured for nearly three years. To find out there was humanity out there that could be so cruel and unjust was startling and unreal. That was the kind of thing you heard on the news. It wasn't the kind of stuff that happened to your typical every day family with nothing extraordinarily special about them.

But it did happen.

Zack jerked in surprise as the slick car glided past the Tipton. The majestic building looked as proud as ever, with its green and gold lettering, and domed roof. He wondered briefly if Maddie still manned the candy counter and if Moseby was still manager and if London had taken over her Daddy's business. A sigh escaped him. There was so much he had missed. A lot could have happened in twenty-nine months.

"Maddie is now attending college in Yale and London is as far as I've heard in France, doing…God, knows what, and Mr. Moseby is still manager," Cody said as if reading Zack's thoughts. He laughed lightly at the startled look on his twin's face.

"Freaky how you do that," Zack remarked, sounding, briefly, like his old self.

"Yeah…," Cody trailed off sadly.

The Tipton was fading from sight but Zack twisted as far as his seat belt allowed and craned his head to watch it disappear against the Massachusetts skyline. He had been looking forward to returning home at the Tipton so he was startled and disappointed when he found they no longer lived within the confines of the hotel or anywhere near the vicinity. The Tipton was the only place that had ever felt like a true home to him.

What was more, he found that Carey was already happily married to that filthy rich lawyer, Harvey Moore A/N: Does anybody know his last name? I sort of made it up on the spot. and they now resided in his mansion. Zack had mixed feelings about his mother getting married during his absence but he wasn't going to worry himself sick over it. No use crying over spilt milk.

"Were nearly there," Carey said softy from the driver's seat as they turned into a woodsy looking neighborhood.

"It's a good thing your father agreed to follow us in his own car cause I don't think we all would have been able to fit in here," she tried to joke but her heart wasn't in it. She was slightly relieved when Cody faked a laugh for her sake. Having her ex-husband staying in the same house as her and her husband was certainly not her idea, but Harvey's. True it was only for the weekend to help Zack settle in and fulfill his role as a good father but still, it was enough for her nerves to be shot.

If only her damn hands would stop shaking!

She was glad Zack was seated in the back because she didn't want him to see how nervous she was. The doctor had advised them to take it slow for awhile and try not to stress him until he was firmly settled, which meant that Zack wouldn't be starting school until after Christmas break. Lucky for him.

"Were here," Cody beat Carey to the catch.

The Mercedes turned down a long, winding tree lined drive. Zack and Cody ripped off their seat belts and normally Carey would have objected but this time she let it slide.

Zack's fast paced breath fogged up the autumn chilled glass and he impatiently wiped it clean again. He didn't want fog obscuring his first glimpse of his new home.

What Zack saw next was not what he had expected and it completely blew his mind. The gasp that escaped him was one of absolute awe.

To be continued..

Sorry to cut it so short. Running out of computer time.

Phew! Am I glad to have Zack out of that hospital. My lack of knowledge in the medical field was embarrassing! Lmao.

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