Chapter 3

Not three seconds after John knocked on the door, a medium height man in about is 20's answered the door with a terrifyingly mean look on his face that made Jack take a step back.

"Hi Bobby is Evelyn home? This is Jack, your newest addition."

Bobby looked at him giving him a once over and then relaxed and his face looked less fierce.

"Yeah she's here, come on in." Bobby ushered them in, but was unsure of what to do when Jack just hovered on the other side of the entrance.

"Oh just let him come in on his own," John said. "He won't come in if you're standing right there. He'll follow its okay."

Bobby did as the man suggested and led him in to the living room where they both took a seat on the couch. John sat in the middle because who knew that once Jack came in he wouldn't sit by Bobby. Bobby's two younger brothers Angel and Jeremiah sat watching TV. They looked up from what ever show they were watching to direct there attention to the man who was now in there house.

"Hi boys." John said greeting them.

Angel gave Bobby a "Who the fuck is this" look and Jerry had a similar look on his face as well.

"Guys this is my old case worker and he's dropping off a new kid for Ma." Speaking of which the kid hadn't come-. Bobby cut off his train of thought when he saw the kid standing motionlessly by the entrance to the room. He didn't even hear the kid and he sure as hell knows he didn't hear the door shut. Just when did he do that, he thought.

"Jack come in and sit and be sociable." John said with less patience than before. Jack hated it when he told him to be sociable because talking only made things worse for him unless people directly told him to speak. Jack did as he said though and sat as far to the end of the couch as he could.

"Ma!" Bobby yelled causing Jack to jump and flinch slightly. Bobby immediately felt bad for scarring the kid but, it seemed to him that this kid was frightened.

"Right here Bobby." Said an elderly lady as she strolled in to the room. One of the black boys stood up and offered her their seat and she accepted kindly before turning her attention to Jack. Now they were all looking at him and it made him uneasy and he began to shake slightly. It was too crowded. The three large muscular boys were what scarred him the most. They could do a lot of damage to his fragile body and already broken spirit.

Evelyn noticed the boy's extreme nervousness. "Boys why don't you go wash up, lunch will be ready soon." They obviously wanted to stick around to check out the new comer, but they too noticed his nervous shakes and left obediently.

"So Jack, do you have any belongings?" The woman asked kindly. Jack didn't answer her though for fear that saying "no" would make him ungrateful of the only pair of clothes he had now.

"No he doesn't." John answered for him. "I'm sorry he's just shy, I'm sure he'll warm up in no time though."

"I certainly hope so." Evelyn smiled. Jack knew that this house wasn't for real though. None of them were.

John glanced at his watch and jumped up quickly which made Jack flinch. "I totally forgot I have another kid to tend to so if you don't mind the short visit I should really get going.

"No, that's no problem at all; he'll be in safe hands here." Evelyn said to John, but more meant it for Jack who was looking a little more panicky now that John was leaving. Bad things always happened to Jack when John left.

"Oh and I almost forgot. Jack come here." John beckoned him softly. Jack stutter stepped his way there, unsure of what he could wanted. "Jack, I need to show Evelyn your injuries so she can treat them properly. Some of them need to be cared for daily. So I need you to lift your shirt." Jack can't believe what he was hearing. John was the one guy he thought would never try to hurt him. He didn't like the guy, but he had never inflicted pain towards him. Jack ran towards the door but, hit something hard and was bounced backwards and in to a bookshelf near the door causing him immense pain as he huddled in a small ball on the floor. Jack howled and clutched his aching ribs. The doctor said that he had three fractured ribs and that they did all they could for them and that Jack would be on pain medication. They suggested he lie down on his back and just rest, looked like that was turning out well.

"Oh shit!" Bobby said not knowing what was going on completely. He was heading outside to go play hockey, what the hell was the kid doing? So instead of immediately helping the kid like he normally would have in this situation, he stood there in confusion waiting for an explanation.

Pretty soon Evelyn and John ran to the hall where the door was, to find Jack on the floor letting out small pained grunts, obviously trying not to make a single sound from the pain. John bent down to Jack and tried to calm him down so he could feel around and see if he had made his injuries worse by puncturing his lung with a broken rib. It could kill Jack if that were the case, which he very much so hoped it wasn't.

The second that Jack felt a hand touch his aching body he freaked and tried to stand so he could run, but only fell again and again until he just stayed on the ground. His breathing was erratic and the pain was setting in very deep. He saw three figures crowded around him, but was unable to make them out because he was in too much of a panic. Then he suddenly felt a needle puncture his skin. Drugs!!! That was the first thing that entered his mind and he tried to struggle but his body started relaxing on its own and he couldn't move as violently as he wanted to. He could still see and hear and move, but just barely. A wiggle of his finger proved to be difficult. So he just lay there with his eyes pressed shut for fear of what was going to happen. Not soon after shutting his eyes did he pass out from the effect of the drugs.

"What did you just give him?" Evelyn asked in a concerned voice.

"It's what I use when he has a severe anxiety attack. He could've killed himself if he kept thrashing around like that." John explained. He gently turned Jack on his back and started feeling around for any further damage that might have been done. Luckily Jack didn't have any and he wouldn't have to be taken back to the hospital. "Okay I guess now I can show you the injuries of Jack's that need to be tended for." He slowly lifted Jack's shirt to reveal several swelled up spots. Some of the swelling had gashes in them that were stitched shut and that seemed to be bleeding a little. Blood dripped over the boy's frail body. The sight of it made the older mercer sick.

"FUCK!!!" Bobby said as anger rising quickly. "That's a belt isn't it?!" He was yelling now and Angel and Jerry walked in to see what the commotion was. They stopped dead in their tracks when they saw the condition of Jack's body.

"Yes the man had used the buckle side of the belt and it did quite a number on him. His back and a few spots on his legs and arms are also like this. The one on his neck is wrapped up because it was much worse than the others. It's actually not as deep as some of the others, but there was previously a healing burn there and it's pretty much a mess. I should show you so you know how to properly treat it."

Bobby hadn't even noticed the bandages across the boy's neck. Now that he started looking more closely at the kid; he had a cast on his arm stitches across his right eyebrow and his face was slowly showing traces of on coming bruises that hadn't yet colored. This kid had been seriously fucked up!

Bobby helped carry Jack on to the couch where John quickly showed them how to treat a serious of injuries he had. The burns were from the home previous to the home he was just taken from. They didn't get the care they needed and just got worse. They all watched in disgust as John pointed out one injury after another. "I have to go now. I'm warning you though, when Jack wakes up he's probably going to freak out some and he'll need to be controlled". With that John left Jack's pain medication and left.

The Mercer's all sat down in the living room sitting in awed silence for the horror that they had just seen. They were all deep in thought when they heard Jack quietly moan in pain. "Angel, go get his meds off the table for me." Evelyn said as quiet as she could so not to startle Jack. Her attempt failed though and Jack's eyes shot open as confusion and fear filled his eyes. He couldn't remember where he was at first, but then it hit him. He had been drugged! He sat up quickly and motioned to stand, but feeling the pain forced him back down, where he sat in terror.

"Jack sweetie, its okay you're safe here, we only want to help you." Evelyn said softly. Jack couldn't help but let out a cynical snicker accompanied by a sarcastic smile. It made Evelyn and Bobby cringe that such a young child could have such characteristics.

"You drugged me." Jack said very seriously whipping the sarcasm off his face. He was mad now. Jack hardly ever got mad like this. Being drugged angered him greatly. So greatly that he could stare someone flat in the eye and make them turn there gaze. During these times of extreme anger his eyes would go cold and it would be his turn to stare right threw you.

Bobby and Jerry didn't know how to react. Evelyn was slightly frightened by look he was giving her. "No sweetie I did not drug you." Evelyn said in an almost hurt tone. "John just needed you to calm down. You were having an anxiety attack and with the condition you're in you could've hurt your self further."

"And I'm supposed to believe you care if I hurt myself further." Jack said, still holding his deadly gaze.

"Well what reasons could I possibly have to hurt you?"

"You don't need a reason; no one else has needed a reason." Jack's anger was residing only slightly because he did know that John had given him drugs to calm him down before. His anger rebooted when he saw the buffer of the black boys walk in the room holding a small prescription container. Jack stood up quickly and winced as the pain grew more intense. He ignored it though readying himself to run or fight what ever was necessary to avoid more drugs. He hated them, they ruined his life!

Bobby stood up just as quickly ready to stop the kid. "Hey calm down kid."

"Bobby don't talk to him like that." Evelyn scolded, but not raising or harshening her voice.

"Jack I know you're in pain so why are you getting upset again?"

Jack was now giving his death gaze to Angel who was beginning to feel a lil freaked out by the look he was getting.

"You want to give me more drugs. I won't take them." Jack said matter-o-factly.

"Honey, that's your pain medication." Jack was now staring at Evelyn again but with suspicion in his eyes.

"How do I know you're not lying to me?"

"You can look everything over. The bag it came in, the directions, and you've taken some earlier right? So you know what they look like?" Evelyn said trying to get him to believe she was telling the truth. Jack took the bag and container from Angel and looked them over for almost five minutes before he took two like he was supposed too. The pain he was feeling was unimaginable. To top everything off he was exhausted. He had been awake for far long and it was taking an effect on him.

"Jack you want me to show you where your room is so you can sleep?" Jack had an unsure look on his face. He wasn't angry anymore and he was sitting down and no longer holding eye contact, but he was still untrusting to these new people. "There's a lock on the door so no one can come in. No one will try either. You can come out when ever you feel like it." She reassured.

Jack just nodded tiredly.

Evelyn led him up to his room and watched him as he lay on the bed and shut his eyes. The second Evelyn shut the door to his room she heard him get up and lock the door. She knew he would do that, but it made him comfortable enough to get the sleep he lacked. She definitely had her work cut out for her, that's for sure, but she would not give up on Jack. He was just a kid who got the worst of what the world had to offer. She would wait to see how things went when he woke up.