Hey everyone! I really seem to have a lot of trouble with this chapter for some odd reason… I had to rewrite it two times just to get it to this point! But anyways things are slowly starting to calm down for me, or at least they seem to be, and hopefully I can try to put up part of a new story soon! Enjoy and review!
*I do not own the rights to any of the characters in this story except the OCs, everyone else belongs to Square Enix*
I couldn't believe I found him. He looked so innocent even passed out and wounded as he was. I watched his face distort in pain for a moment, making me realize I needed to get him somewhere safe and warm. I knew I couldn't take him back to mom and I also knew dahlia would throw a fit for dragging blood into the diner. My only other option was Mallory's and knowing her pansy of a husband, he will be throwing a fit like a school girl. Sighing in frustration, I wrapped the blanket back around him and lifted him bridal style. He must have been less than 20 pounds, maybe 25 soaking wet, as I felt I hadn't lifted anything. He gave a pained groan along with a few tears when I held him closer to warm him up some.
"Don't worry, you're safe now."I whispered.
A frail looking hand covered in blood clutched at my chest in a way one would in agony. This strengthened my choice as I started to run to Mal's house just to set him at ease.
Even though she was only 2 blocks away from the diner, I was rather winded as I kicked the door violently. I could feel the brunette shivering and his breath getting more ragged as it felt like the temperature had dropped below freezing since I left the diner. Realizing I had my coat and jeans while the brunette only had a blanket; I kicked the door again to where I thought it would break if I had hit it any harder. I was about to kick it once more when Mallory swung it open. The look on her face did not seem very happy as my petite sister glared what should have been my death at me. Just by her bath robe and hair one could tell she had been sleeping moments ago.
"Riku, do you hav-"She yelled before realizing I was carrying an injured person in my tiring arms.
"Get him to the guest room; I'll get Marly and the first aid kit."
She ushered me in with no questions as I rushed to the guest room. I carefully laid him down, his hand still clutching at my shirt to where I had to pry it off of me. I laid my coat on the desk chair as I watched the brunette stir for a moment, but it was only to let out hoarse cries of pain. Marly and Mal both appeared with the medical kit in tow. Mal had me remove him from the blanket as to place him on a clean linen sheet she was placing on the bed. This was went I realized the brunette had no clothing, making my mind jump to the idea that he was raped and beaten by whoever that person was that took off from the alley. Once laid back on the bed, Mal examined him as delicately as she could without hurting him further.
"Marly, go get one of my nightgowns. He has too many open wounds for regular clothes." She ordered.
We both looked at her as if she had lost her sanity (well, what's left of it) but the iron glare she was casting at him said otherwise. Her husband scurried off on orders and Mal called me closer to help with cleaning him up and treating his wounds. He was covered in countless cuts, some with glass and dirt in them, his feet being the worst. He had bruises all over him too, old and new. I had started cleaning what looked to be a bloodied burn on his chest when sis gasped at the site of his glass riddled hand.
"Where in darkness did you find him?"
"In an alley 2 blocks from the diner. I saw some guy run out of there when I noticed him; he must have been the one to do this to him." I answered.
"Thank Shiva you did, he wouldn't have lasted long out there with all these wounds. Some of these cuts look like they may even be infected."
As she said this, I had washed most of the blood off the burn to see it was shaped like a heart. It looked like it was made out of two oddly spiraled pieces and horridly inflamed. This perplexed me as it seemed like what one would mark live stock with. I kept dwelling on this thought as I started to cover it with gauze. Marly had returned at this point with an ankle length navy blue nightgown with silver trim. Once Mal had finished cleaning and bandaging the last of his wounds, she had me assist her in putting the gown on him. Mal had me pick him up once more as to get rid of the now bloodied linen sheet and made me place him under the grey covers of the bed. As I put him down, his face was no longer contorted in pain but was calm, almost as if he was dreaming something peaceful. I subconsciously smoothed out his unruly spiky hair, but stopped when I heard Marly cough and Mal make an 'awwww' sound. I stopped and glared at them, Marly leaving the room looking like a puppy with its tail between its legs. Mal had the blue blanket in her arms along with the sheet, looking closely at the blanket.
"I'll go try to get the blood out of this, see if there is anything that could help us figure out who he is."
I nodded as I sat down in the desk chair and just stared at the brunette I knew nothing about. There was something that was compelling me to watch and protect him, I just couldn't figure out why.
I ended up not sleeping that night. I had left the room after staring for an hour and tried to occupy myself with chores and books Mal always kept around the house. Even though I busied myself, I was constantly checking on the brunette. I was finishing up the laundry when I heard Marly leave, followed by Mal's sing-song voice making a little tune in the kitchen. I checked on the brunette one last time before going into the kitchen and calling Dahlia. Surprisingly it didn't have to lie to her as to why I wasn't coming into work today. She ended up putting me on vacation for a week, making me try my hardest not to let my grin flood into my voice. Hanging up, mal was walking back in with a bit of spring in her step that was normally not there. I would have thought she was on drugs but then I remembered how mom was like when she was pregnant and just laughed.
"Morning Riku! You're up rather early, need me to take you to work today?"She greeted.
Thankfully during my running about the house to busy myself I had started the coffee machine, becoming aware I would need it to keep up with Mal's upbeat behavior. Pouring myself a cup, I explained to her my call to work and how I was now on vacation.
"I go back in a week from today. Good timing too, I don't think our guest will be ready to tell us what happened for at least 3."
Her cheery smile faded some but she understood my reasons. I don't think she would leave an abandoned teenage boy that looked to have been brutalized alone for work. She seemed to be pulling ingredients out to make pancakes as she was starting to remind me of mom on one of her bad days.
"Oh, okay then… That blanket you found him in is clean now. Go check on him."
I could tell she was extremely disconnected as she spoke and just followed orders. I picked up the blue blanket on my way upstairs and hoped the brunette hadn't tried to leave since I last checked on him.
I carefully opened the guest room door and stepped in on light feet. I gave a sigh of relief he was still sound asleep and not trying to climb out the window or something. Trying my best to be silent, I worked my way over to the bed to see its occupant curled up asleep and hugging a pillow to his chest. He looked adorable even with the bruises and bandages. Wait, did I just call him adorable? I think not sleeping is getting to me. Still, even in his battered state I couldn't help to smile when I looked at his face. Without even thinking, I moved my hand to brush some of his brown bangs out of his face. I froze as bright blue eyes slowly opened. He looked dazed as he groaned in his semi-conscious state. They suddenly flew wide, realizing his surroundings. He screamed as he pushed me away, startling me. I wasn't expecting a shove and toppled over onto the floor. He had scrambled out of the bed and curled up in the corner farthest from me. Mal had rushed up the stairs at this point and was in a panic of her own at the sight before her. I stood slowly and turned to the brunette to feel my heart squeeze at the sight of him. Never in my life had I seen someone as terrified as the brunette was in that moment. I felt so miserable at the sight of his frail being curled up with such innocent blue eyes crying so hard. Slowly, I walked a few steps closer to him, holding the blanket out to him. I felt my heart break as he looked as if he was taking a defensive position at me being so close. Did he really think I was going to strike him? I held concern and rage on my face as I carefully wrapped the blanket around him. He gave a cry and started to hit me but stopped and stared wide eyed at me when I stepped back. His eyes were full of tears and confusion as Mal drew closer. He squirmed back further into the corner and pulled the blanket tight around himself.
"It's okay, we won't hurt you. It's safe here."She assured.
She reached a fair skinned hand out to him, both of us hoping he would realize we weren't going to hurt him. He coiled away again, but I noticed he moved more in my direction and away from the door. A thought crossed my mind and I took a rather big risk. I moved slightly closer and got on my knees as to make myself eye level with him. He looked at me with those sad, scared eyes and I just couldn't take it anymore. I pulled him into a gentle yet firm hug as he froze for a moment. I could hear a whine in his throat but I rocked him slightly as I did my best to calm him.
"Shhh, Mallory is just trying to help you." I whispered.
He was shaking but his whine was gone at this point. I felt a small hand reach and clutch my shirt just as he did when I first found him. I carefully took hold of that hand, remembering Mal removed glass and a rusty nail from the palm. Being as gentle as possible, I picked up his bandaged hand and made sure he was looking at our hands. He was shaking more as I saw there were small spots of blood on the bandages. He moved his fingers some, his face looking scared and confused at the bandages.
"See? Mallory helped make your hand better." I smiled.
Sis looked over as well with a smile, this seeming to comfort the brunette more. He looked from me, to sis, then to his hand. My heart swelled as the tiniest of smiles, faint as it was, crossed his lips. He had stopped shaking as I picked him up and set him back on the bed. He looked at the both of us as we stood before him. Mal had her wide cheery smile, though it seemed to frighten the brunette some. He pulled his fluffy blanket closer around him as sis finally spoke again.
"Well…I'm going to go make us all some breakfast. Do you like pancakes?" She asked.
She was looking at the brunette with her steely eyes as his features lit up at the mention of food. I chuckled as Mal nodded.
"Riku's gonna take a look at your wounds before you eat okay?"
The brunette didn't seem to understand what she said but stared at his bandaged feet instead. I furrowed my brows at this while I listened subconsciously to Mall humming down the hall. He looked back at me scared as I grabbed the medical kit and pulled it close to the bed. He curled up and seemed to disappear into the fluffy blue blanket like I wound when I was around five years old. I gently removed the part covering his face and looked into those scared blue eyes. I removed the bandage on his cheek, his whole being shaking once more with his features terrified.
"Shhh, I'm changing your bandages so you can get better. You wanna get better don't you?" I informed.
He nodded his head slowly, his face still showing he was scared and confused as to what was going on. I made sure to keep my actions gentle as I covered his cheek with a fresh bandage and moved on to his arms. His face held too much confusion to be normal as I started to wash some of the cuts out.
"Can you tell me your name?" I asked.
His face looked cautious but at the same time there was an undertone of joy to his features. This confused me until he took one of his hands and gestured to the name "Sora" embroidered in red into the corner of the blanket. I smiled as I finished with the bandages on his feet.
"Can you talk Sora?"
His eyes lit up at the mention of his name but he shook his head "no" at the question. I frowned at this for a moment but went back to smiling as I stood away some.
"Well Sora, we'll just have to teach you. Ready for some breakfast?"
His face lit up like a sparkler at my question. I was as if he had never been treated kindly, though it wouldn't surprise me with the way I found him. He nodded to the food and tried to stand, but I made him sit back down when I saw his face scrunch up in pain.
"You had glass in your feet and it hurt them pretty bad. I'll carry you downstairs okay?" I stated.
I could see tears bubble up in the corners of his eyes from the pain as he agreed to my offer. Quickly, I picked him up so he could place his arms around my neck. He instantly latched his hands onto my shoulders as he shook. I smiled down at him as to assure him it was okay before leaving the room to meet Mal in the kitchen for breakfast.