First off guys, sorry this is sucha short chapter, but there's a reason for it! I wanted this to be the last chapter, but I figured you guys deserved a bit of warning so this is just the second to last one. Beware!
The days seemed to pass in a flash, much to Altair's discontent. Every day he would find something new for the boys to do, spending what little money he had saved to make these last few days count. Altair's friends had pitched in here and there, helping them along, which Altair appreciated dearly. He finally fully understood just how nice it was to have friends and family that actually cared about him.
But as the time went by, Friday loomed nearer and nearer. Altair dreaded the day with a fiery passion because he knew that that bastard Sofian would take away his boys. It wasn't right. How could he do that? What right did he have to judge Altair's worthiness? But no matter how unjust Altair thought it was, there was nothing he could do. That fact was hard to accept. Altair hadn't even thought, didn't want to think about what he would do afterwards. The idea of having any sort of life without his brothers was painful, so he avoided considering it.
Today was Thursday, the last day before everything goes to hell. But there was no last hurray, no big send off Altair had for the boys. Today they just stayed inside and played video games. It was casual enough, but a heavy weight hung in the air, an impending doom that was near impossible to ignore. Even the little boys became fidgety and uncomfortable.
That night they had nachos for dinner. It was a loud affair of crinkling bags and breaking chips as everyone wanted to make their own plate of the cheesy goodness. By the time they were done the kitchen was a wreck and no one felt inclined to clean it up so they just went back to the couch and continued playing.
It wasn't until well past bedtime, a time that had lost all meaning in the past week, that Altair decided he should remind the boys of the upcoming separation.
"So, you guys remember what tomorrow is?" he started awkwardly.
"Isn't tomorrow Friday!" Desmond called. He had been learning the days of the week in school.
"Yeah," Altair agreed, ruffling Desmond's hair for his accomplishment. "But do you guys know what's happening tomorrow?"
By the look on Ezio and Connor's grim faces, they knew.
"Sofian's gonna come and..." Altair found the words surprisingly hard to choke out. "Take you to a better home, like we talked about a few days ago."
"But I like this home." Clay said.
"I know you do, but...Sofian thinks it would be best." Altair swallowed hard around the lump in his throat.
"Fuck Sofian." Ezio said fiercely.
Altair gave the oldest of his brothers a glare. "What did I say about language?" he reprimanded.
"I don't care, that guy has no right!" Ezio continued.
"Why can't we decide where we want to stay?" Connor jumped in.
"Looks, guys, it just doesn't work that way." Altair tried to control the quickly spiraling conversation. "I just wanted to remind you guys so you'd be prepared. Tomorrow you're gonna have to pack your things and be ready by two."
None of the boys looked happy about it. Altair had always thought of them as little children, but he was forced to realize that they were all old enough to understand what was happening and grieve appropriately. Altair wondered, not for the first time, why their parents had decided to have so many children.
The five of them slept on the couch together again that night. None of them wanted to waste what very little time they had left. They all curled up closely around Altair who had become their rock through the whole experience. Altair in turn wrapped his arms around them like he'd never let go. If only fate were so kind.
It was late into the night when Altair was awoken by a kick to the guts. The air whooshed out of him and pain blossomed in his stomach. Altair opened his eyes and looked around for the offender. Connor was curled up next to him, his limbs slightly spaztastically twitching and shaking. He gave a little whimper and curled in closer to Altair. The big brother wrapped a comforting arm around him and stroked his hair. But in the end it didn't work and Connor woke from his nightmare with a gasp, terrified eyes looking frantically around.
"Hey, hey, it's okay, it was just a dream." Altair was immediately soothing. Somewhere in the back of his mind he registered that he sounded just like their mother did when they'd come running to her after a nightmare.
Connor hugged Altair tightly, his body trembling slightly. Altair continued to stroke his hair and murmur comforting words. After he had calmed, Altair pulled him back slightly.
"What was you dream about?" he asked.
"I dreamt...that Sofian came and...and he took us away. I said I didn't want to go, but he didn't listen to me. He...turned into a demon with big wings and claws and picked us all up. He killed you and flew away with us." Connor relayed the story, still seeming shaken from it.
Altair wanted to say that it was alright and none of that would happen because it was just a bad dream, but he couldn't, because it was going to happen. Sofian was going to take them away and was going to be killing Altair in a sense.
"It...Don't worry, Sofian won't turn into a demon." Altair said.
It wasn't much of a reassurance, but Connor snuggled back down and managed to return to sleep within his nest of siblings. Altair also fell asleep a while later, wondering if Sofian would turn into a demon.
