"So, what did you learn?" Ulrich asked
"Aiden is part of a program by the name of Roman." ,William started," Aiden was a human living in reality before he ran away from his home." William said
"Why'd he run away." Yumi asked
"He couldn't remember why, he said he could have been running away from something or someone." William answered
Everybody glanced at each other before looking back at William.
"He said it was a cold winter's day when he ran, when he stopped to catch his breath these wolves came after him." William said
"Wolves?", Aelita quietly mumbled to herself,"Could have those been the same wolves that came after me?" Aelita thought to herself
"After tripping over a broken tree branch, he fell on unconscious and was almost buried alive.", William said glancing over at Aelita, "The last thing he heard was a little girl yell for her dad."
And just like that, every memory of Aiden came back to Aelita's mind from the first time she ever saw him to the last time he was around. From the time he wasn't even able to stand up by himself all the way to the time he fought off a wolf to protect her. Aiden was like no he is her brother despite being blood related despite being lost somehow he always managed to find his way home.
"I'll be right back." Aelita said before walking to the back.
"So, what happened next?" Odd said mindlessly eating the chips
"Well...you should ask Aelita that question because he stayed with her and her dad for a year before leaving again." William said before taking a sip of water and getting comfortable
"Really?" Everybody asked.
William nodded, "Yup, He said a bad feeling that something was gonna go wrong so he left and got connected with nature. " William said
"Well...did something bad happened? " Ulrich asked.
William stared at him with a blank expressing as if the word "Seriously" was about to grow out of his forehead
"Oh right." Ulrich said rubbing the back of his head
"Where did Einstein go?" William asked.
Everybody looked up from William and realized that Jeremy was gone.
"Aelita...Aelita? " Jeremy called out while he walked down to the basement
"I'm in here." Aelita replied looking at some old photos.
Jeremy walked down the stairs dusting spider webs out of his face. Aelita walked over and guided him through the maze of webs and thick layers of dust.
"What are you doing down here?" Jeremy asked
"You'll see." Aelita answered pushing open a secret door.
"Whose room is this?" Jeremy asked looking around.
The room was covered in dark blue paint with red stripes across the top. Posters of cartoon characters and pro wrestlers hanged from the walls, a few toys were laying on the floor and desk near the TV, and a few clothes were laying around. A game system was on the floor beside the controllers and game boxes.
"It's it obvious by now...it's Aiden's room." Aelita said sitting on the bed.
Jeremy fiddled around with some of the toys and placed some of the clothes back on the counter, "Why is his room down here?" He asked
"He said he liked the isolation but I think it was something else." Aelita said.
"Like what?" Jeremy asked before accidentally knocking over a box.
Jeremy leaned down and started picking up everything up from the floor. Aelita walked over and helped out only to find a red notebook tied down titled Aiden's Aid on the cover in golden letters. The couple came back up front and laid the notebook on the table surrounding it contemplating whether or not to read it.
"Should we read it?" Ulrich asked
"Well, I don't know." Odd said glancing over at Yumi
"Hey don't look at me for the answer, I didn't find it." Yumi replied glancing over at Jeremy
"Well..Aelita?", Jeremy started, "You are the closest to him." He said pushing his glasses on his face
Aelita walked over to William who was still trying to see what was going on, and showed him the journal.
"Do you honestly think he would want us to read it? " Aelita asked
William thought about it for a second,"Yes, I do believe he'd want you to read it. I mean he left it here for a reason...right." William said
Aelita nodded before cutting on the knotted strings that covered the notebook. When she opened the notebook up to the first page it simply said to my true family
December 14, 2001
It's almost my birthday again and I can tell by the way he is drinking now this is gonna be the worse one yet. I don't know why he gets so mad at me on my birthday. Maybe it has something to do with my mom. I never met my mother. My grandmother used to tell me about how pretty she looked and how nice she was before she passed away giving birth to me. When I would tell people about his abuse, they don't believe me. He'd always end his beastly attacks the same way. He'd kick me in my stomach until I cough up blood and I can barely breathe. After that he'd throw an empty beer bottle at my head. I'd dodge it most of the time, but the shattered glass would dig into my open wounds whenever I tried to get up. It would hurt like hell. Last year, he broke my arm and called me the most terrible names. I got tired of his abuse so I ran away. Now I'm staying with a man name Dr. Franz Hopper and his daughter Aelita. Aelita is four years younger than me. She's really nice so is her dad, but I don't know if I should trust them...or anyone for that matter.
While Aelita was reading the journal entry a CD fell out and landed near Jeremy's feet. Jeremy picked it up and sidled in his laptop after a few minutes an audio filed popped up titled Proof. Jeremy was a little nervous about playing the file at first but after a few minutes of thinking it over he decided to play it. The first few seconds it was quiet only a muffled sound in the background.
"AIDEN OPEN THIS DAMN DOOR RIGHT NOW!" A male voice yelled ramming down the door.
There was a light gasp before the door was kicked off the hinges. Sounds of rambling broken wood and shattered glass was heard in the background.
"WHERE ARE YOU?" The male voice yelled finally hunting down his victim
"NO DADDY!" Aiden yelled getting pulled out of the closet
"Get your worthless ass out here NOW."He said pulling Aiden out the closet and throwing him against the wall
Aiden's body landed in the shattered glass while he's father walked closer to him. Aiden gasped lightly slowly removing the pieces of glass that penetrated into his skin and trying to escape his father's wrath.
"You're not going anywhere." The man said pulling Aiden by his leg back into the pit of glass in the middle of the floor
"Not the leather belt please father." Aiden pleaded
The sound of the leather belt hitting Aiden's skin echoed for what felt like lifetimes, the only thing that was louder than that was Aiden's painful cry pleading for his father to end his assault. A moment later the sound had stopped and the sounds of grunting begain as Aiden's dad started kicking him in the stomach region. Almost thirty minutes after that, Aiden crawled on the floor gaining what little air he can take into his sore lungs, coughing with every breath he had taken spitting up blood.
"I have a surprise for you." The man lightly whispered grabbing Aiden's arm and twisting it out of place.
Aiden's scream echoed throughout the entire house. No one could hold back their tears picturing the little boy in so much pain. After three minutes a glass was smashed over Aiden's head, he instantly was knocked on concussions as the room grew silent, expected for the sounds of someone walking away.
"Happy fucking birthday." The man said