Author's Note: I'm going to try updating this story more frequently, and I'm considering stopping my other story so I can handle this one. If I do this, I will have to stop updating this story for Winter Break and such, but I will not abandon in. Don't worry! Anyway, this chapter will probably have a lot of dialogue and will unfold the plan of our characters. It's pretty much a relationship 180. We go from Roger and Jack to Jack and Ralph.

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Chapter Five Part II

A grungy mix of drying blood and cigarette smoke seeped into Ralph's sore throat, burning the already bright red inside. He sat up with a startle only to realize his was completely covered by another moist body. "What are you doing…?" Ralph asked lamely for he was not aware of Jack's bravery and true intention a few hours ago. "Relax, I didn't do anything. It's just something I learned from a friend, okay?" Ralph's pale eyes followed Jack's dripping hand to the ash tray at the bedside, which had grown a field of crushed cigarette butts.

"That's disgusting," Ralph groaned with a distasteful frown on his face. Jack just stared down at him, no answer. "Oh, and if you're trying to heal that wound," Ralph began, pointing to where Roger's teeth had preyed upon, "Or THOSE ones," he added, now pointing to the twin slashes of freshly drawn blood that lay between Jack's wrist and elbow, "You shouldn't be swallowing smoke." Twitching slightly at Ralph's judgment, his guardian found no way to cover up what had gone on. So shameful! I bet he already knows… "Are you gonna flat out tell me or do I have to drag it out of you?"

Struggling to get up, Ralph rested his back against the sturdy headboard, pushing out an exasperated breath to show how sheer movement had become too much for him. "I know when I've been dragged into something that isn't in my favor. Start talking." The sudden unkind glare reflecting in Ralph's eyes made Jack even more self conscious. He couldn't speak a word with Ralph's inquisitive words and cold stares. "You're easier to talk to when you're sleeping," he commented while getting to his feet and pointing to the mahogany chest at the other corner of the room. "You should find some of my old pajamas in there…they'll fit you better."

"And where are you going Jack? Looking for a kitchen knife?" That one comment froze the bleeding youth in his tracks, his hand slamming into the wall. How does he know…? It would seem Jack's secret had been found out, but Ralph's only reason for the question was from what he had heard, or thought to have heard during his rest. Please…die…now… The three words kept repeating in his mind, never letting him forget who Jack REALLY was. Go ahead and try to kill me. I knew you could never change… He continued to watch the red head until he had disappeared beyond the kitchen doors.

I've gotta get out of here… Though it took a grueling few minutes, Ralph was able to get his feet stably placed on the ground. "Ge…ez…" Passed a mumble through his lips while his eyes struggled to pick one door out of the many he was seeing before him. The room would not halt its movement, daring him to attempt escape. It was almost a too perfectly played out plan and Ralph had stumbled right into it. Disbelief crossed the feverish face as the tense tapping of a knife against a counter drummed within his ears. Oh lord…Oh God! A rush in the veins, it was coming back again. It was glazing over the aqua stained in Ralph's eyes. He was the hunted, their prey. You cannot escape the darkness. Embrace it. Let yourself embrace the bloodshed! FEEL IT!

Though his eyes were wider than ever, all the young boy could see was darkness. A faint yet menacing voice echoed along the walls of his mind as if to draw him in. "I'm still close to you as always. Watching over you. I'm still in control, even after they've died! Until you all die, I'll be here! Join me Ralph!" The dripping pig's head moved closer and closer into Ralph's sights as it had during their first meeting. "Not…not you! NO! I'm done with these dreams! I FINISHED WITH YOU!" The drip drop of blood kissed Ralph's lips with a foreshadowing warning. "If you want a life to live, then return to me. COME BACK!"

"COME BACK! RALPH COME BACK!" A dry moan responded to the voice calling him back into the light. Jack desperately jolted the collapsed boy whose eyes slowly returned to their center, darting in wild panic. The pain slightly receded with a cold compress's chilling hold on his flesh. "Why won't you listen to me?" Jack scolded gently with one grunt when lifting the once again incapacitated blonde. What was he screaming about? The bed sighed with Ralph's added weight while Jack threw a random pair of pajamas in his direction, his back turned in respect.

The flannel's slip against Ralph's damp skin kept the room from complete silence, for neither one nor the other wanted to be the first to speak. Every now and then, a hoarse cough shook Ralph's hands and Jack would turn slightly, only to return to staring at the wall as soon as Ralph recovered. A game of suspicion. Someone had to break…"Can you at least tell me…why I need to die?"

Ralph tapped two of his fingers on the cold compress, his eyes keeping with Jack's back. "Why do you need to kill me?" The question was asked in a silent tone, so silent that Jack barely heard it. Possibly because he was astounded that Ralph hadn't noticed what he'd thought. "There's no point hiding it from you," sighed Jack as he slumped beside Ralph on the bed's edge, giving a little space. The red head made sure no eye contact was possible because he already had a lump of guilt building in his throat, and looking into Ralph's building distrust would make the feeling grow twice as large. "Do you remember five years ago…at the trial for Simon and Piggy's murders?"

"What about it?" The past was clawing its way to the surface, Ralph could feel it. "You spoke out against Roger and I. The speech you gave was said to have moved the entire courtroom to tears, much to our dismay. The two of us, as well as several of our past followers, were sent to rehabilitation centers. We spent our years among others who'd committed heinous crimes. Everyday…I was forced to listen to sob stories and lectures about the 'real' world. Everyday, I dressed and lived within white. That color became so disgusting. Life itself was hell on earth. I wanted to do anything I could to escape it."

Now the lump was being passed. Ralph knew every detail of his speech in the courtroom five years ago. It was talked about much thereafter, and was still played often in his dreams. HIS speech was what sealed the fated envelope. He sent Jack to that vile living. No wonder he wants me dead… "My mind…" Ralph's daydreaming caused him to miss the last statement, forcing Jack to repeat it. "I lost my mind…I couldn't hold myself together and pieces were flying out. I needed an escape, anything."

A deep swallow could be heard between the two as Jack lifted his forearms before their vision. Jagged scars cut a tale into his skin; the two freshly drawn ones adding color to the past markings. The now apprehensive Ralph tried averting his eyes, only to find the even more painful expression on the choir boy's face was harder to lay eyes on. "I know it's a sin to cut oneself, but what more could I do? Before long, it was even more than death I wanted. I wanted everything horrible in the world to be hurled at me at the very same time. I needed pain and torture because those fools made me believe I deserved it."

"Jack…I'm s…" "No…Sorry isn't the thing Ralph. You did the right thing, but the world…they did the wrong thing by treating young men in such a way. They knew what I did, and many were so against me, they went along in so called ignorance. They knew I'd stolen a knife and splattered my own walls with my wrist's blood…It had to have been premeditated…they wanted me dead."

Dead. The world wanted Jack dead and Ralph living. What could he say? Jack's story wasn't even finished, but Ralph was already absorbing an extreme dose of guilt. "How close were you to dying?" He questioned with slight hesitation in his tone. Jack's answer was surprisingly immediate. "One night…it just all seemed to flow out. I stared at the white ceiling…I was almost gone, but that's when he found me." "…Roger?" "Roger…"

Deep breathes were heard from both ends as if the tension was cementing a wall for them during the explanation. Roger, the most heart stopping word in the sentence. "He bandaged me up with wraps he'd stolen since he…knew about how frequently I'd been self mutilating. He ever stole food for me since I needed my strength. The only part of my body I could move for weeks was my lips. Our reunion was much more than I thought it would be. He'd just sit and speak to me for hours, since I never responded. That hellhole robbed me of any words I'd known to speak or wanted to speak. Roger gave life back to me…"

Roger was never that compassionate…Never… "I know what you're probably thinking Ralph," Jack added in a quieter tone, drawing his knees into his chest tightly. "He wasn't the violent and cold hearted person we knew then…or now. It would seem that he'd been treated better. He was seen as a victim of my influence; therefore, he was loved and pitied. At first, I was angered that he was treated better than me, especially considering he acted against Piggy alone, but he got into my skin. He even taught me violin. He said it was the closest thing to actual cutting…the motion of the bow…"

"I don't understand. What does this have to do with my death?" Ralph interrupted, partially impatient as Jack reminisced. "You were brought up often and he hated you as much as I did. That's when I found the monster's heart. He grew evil as time passed within the white walls, and he was only playing a role so he could escape. He told me of his plan. He wanted to get out and find you…He wanted your life ruined then destroyed." "You went for it…?" The single nod Jack assured Ralph it was true. He was hated and they BOTH wanted him dead.

"I wanted to please Roger any way I could. I began building the choir boy persona all over again, volunteering at the church beside our institution for everything I could. In no time at all, we were said to have been 'cured' and we were able to take our victorious leave. Ever since that time, Roger has showed his true self…" That must be the Roger that we knew way back when… "Roger had amazing connections and the next thing I knew, we were hiding ourselves in the closest church in relation to yours and watching your every move." Every move?

"You…!" Ralph suddenly sprung to his feet, dizzying himself into a stumble. "You…were so…" His sentence muffled into Jack's bare chest as he fell into the welcoming elder. "I know… and I didn't want to continue. Somewhere along the line, religion brought me back to who I was and I wanted to part from the plan, but Roger…when I told him…he showed his beast like behavior and…" His wounded arms pressed Ralph closer in hopes for small comfort as Jack's pale face began matching the color of his hair in shame. "He made sure I knew never to speak against him again…He abused me physically for the first of many times…"

"I'm not sure I get…" "He raped me…That's when my entire personality, the one I'd gained on the island and the one after my 'institutionalizing' vanished. I'd been dominated and he planned on keeping me that way. My strength disappeared and I turned into this frail choir boy you see before you…I'm just a body to be used for his pleasures and his plan and he'll never let me forget that." Ralph's hand had crept its way up to the bite wound left behind, and he immediately knew who left it. "But now that you're telling me this, aren't you in trouble? You said he has connections and has been staking me out. How do you know he's gone?"

Ralph could feel the slow dragging breath that hung between Jack's lips as he thought for a moment. I must have made him forget...It's my fault this entire thing happened anyway… "Well damn…I guess I'm once again the leader of all our misfortunes, huh?" Ralph joked in an attempt to play off the cheerless tone Jack had taken, but it was useless. Jack just remained holding tight, his arms shaking slightly while blood began slowing its flow at a painful rate. "I'll die if that's what will get you out of Roger's way. When it comes down to me living and you being with that idiot, I'd rather I died. I always hated Roger anyway…Okay?"

THUMP! The only sound Ralph heard before opening his eyes to the ceiling, the pressure of Jack's now sweating body melting him into the warm sheets. "NO! No more pity! Not from you Ralph! I just…need your help," mumbled Jack almost unconsciously. The small chains holding their crosses ground together as Ralph's flesh peeked out from the top of the loose clothing. He's actually asking me for help...He really does want to change…"What do you want me to do…? Our plan's countering his, if that's what you're thinking…and we're both in danger," Ralph added, possibly to ignore the sexual tension building with each drop of sweat on Jack's chest. "Right now…Just don't talk. It doesn't help. Just…"

Another sentence lost within an unexpected kiss, a heated kiss. Ralph widened his blue eyes, sinking further into the blankets in sudden shyness. Something's…going to… "I don't get you Jack…What do you want me to do? Say it…You want my help…now say it…" "Right now…" What am I doing..? "Right now, just receive God's gift from me. Just let me give you myself for now, just take it. Not the Jack who slaughtered pigs and covered himself in blood…and not the Jack who works as a puppet for a sadistic psychopath…Just let the lonely choir boy find someone in you for now…please…" Take me as I am now…

"J…Jack," Ralph whispered almost breathlessly as he was carried away in the words played in his ear. He swallowed clearly, no guilt trailing his new anxiety. His arms rested fully against Jack's back as he pressed closer. Ralph forcefully shut his eyes for a moment, shaking his eyelids as he was taken into another kiss. "I'll…h...help you…" The last word spoken before intensity overcame the fever. Breaths became short and hot, pain subsided by passion. Jack…I feel…you…

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Author's Note: Wow, what an end! I know it's only chapter five, but I think this fit in perfectly. We see a lot of vulnerability to both Ralph and Jack in this chapter and it seems a bit weird, but I needed to portray them differently in this chapter to show how much they've changed. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I pray for a faster update!