Author's note: I have a busy couple of days ahead of me so I really wanted to get this chapter out before that, therefore I apologize if it seems rushed and also for any potential mistakes.

CHAPTER 19

As the evening came, Neal was still ignoring Mozzie and Mozzie was still ignoring the suit which left poor Mrs. Suit caught in the middle of it all.
All the tension between them made it hard to enjoy the movie they had decided to watch and even if it was a funny film, no one was laughing.
When bedtime came along, Neal refused to go to bed and insisted on staying up with them.
After some debating between the adults they let the kid win, none of them up for dealing with a tantrum especially when Mozzie wouldn't be able to help.
Of course, the four-year-old only lasted a couple of minutes before he dozed off on the sofa and when it was time for Mozzie to go to bed, the younger brother was carried upstairs.

Mozzie was rudely woken up by someone shaking him and he groaned loudly.
"Stop"
He mumbled but the shaking didn't stop, instead whoever was shaking him started to shake him even more violently and this time he reached out and pushed whoever it was away from him.
It was silent for a couple of seconds and Mozzie started to drift back to sleep but then a familiar whimper caused him to wake up completely.
When he opened his eyes he was met by complete darkness which he realized was the reason behind the rude awakening.
He reached out for the lamp that stood on the bedside table and pressed the button but nothing happened.
Just to be sure he pressed the button several times, on off on off on off, but the room remained dark.
Neal had started to cry by now and was rocking back and forth while his teddy was pressed tightly against his chest.
Mozzie looked over at the window and realized that the street lights that normally shone into the room had gone dark as well, meaning that this seemed to be a power outage and not just a problem with their lamp which would make this so much harder.
His brother suddenly shrieked and Mozzie saw a dark figure on the floor.
For a second he assumed the worse, that their uncle was coming for the and he had somehow cut the power to make it easier to grab them, but then he felt something wet against the back of his hand.

"It's okay, it's just Satchmo."

Mozzie said as the dog continued to lick his hand but his words did nothing to calm the younger one down, he was still scared of the dog after all and right now it was two of his fears combined.

"Mozzie help."

Neal suddenly said, his voice shaking, and Mozzie was reminded of when Keller had locked Neal in that closet and Mozzie hadn't been able to do anything to help him, he had just been forced to stand there and listen to his brother's crying.
This time however there was help just down the hall, the adults would hopefully have flashlights, but he couldn't go to them and leave Neal alone in the darkness and trying to get Neal to walk in the dark would be tough.
Satchmo let out a soft bark as if he could read Mozzie's thoughts and wanted to remind him that he was there.

"Go get them, boy."

Satchmo didn't need to be told twice, he immediately ran out of their room and into the master bedroom.
Mozzie reached out and pulled the crying four-year-old into his arms as he heard the dog bark and then voices.
Some rummaging was heard before finally a light was seen in the hallway and soon the light reached their room.

"Are you boys okay?"
"Yeah, Neal's just afraid of the dark."

He reminded them even if they knew about his fear already.

"Hey, kid look. It's not dark anymore."

Neal slowly lifted his head from Mozzie's shoulder and looked around the room.
While Neal was looking at the illuminated room, the adults were whispering with each other, Mozzie tried to hear what they said but could only pick up one word or two.

"Neal, why don't you come with me?"

Mrs. Suit asked and Neal hesitated for a second before he got up from the bed and walked towards the flashlights.
The two of them went downstairs while the suit stayed.

"Why don't you grab your pillow and blanket?"

He asked and Mozzie did it while silently questioning why.
It wasn't until they got some extra blankets from a closet that he realized what they were doing.

"Are we building a pillow-fort?"
"Elizabeth thought it would be cozy and it might help Neal relax."

Mozzie nodded and he felt some childish excitement over it.
He could remember building pillow-forts with his mom all the time before she got sick.
They went downstairs and with the help of the kitchen chairs they managed to build a pillow-fort that would fit all of them.
When they were finished, Mrs. Suit and Neal came out from the kitchen carrying four cups of hot chocolate.

Elizabeth had been right when she thought that the pillow-fort would be cozy.
The fort was illuminated by the two flashlights and a couple of candles that Elizabeth had placed in a safe place.
They had all fit, even if it was a tight fit, and even Satchmo had somehow managed to find some space by their legs.
The suit was telling them stories about things that had happened at his work while his wife told them stories that she knew would embarrass her husband, for example how he had put her under surveillance to make sure that she wasn't seeing anyone else.
Eventually Neal had calmed down and was fighting against sleep.

"Maybe it's time for us to go back to bed?"

Mrs. Suit suggested but Neal shook his head and stubbornly tried to keep his eyes open.
He was intent on staying awake even if he had light all around him, he was probably terrified to fall asleep and wake up in darkness again.
Neal was known to let a bad experience affect him greatly, for example how one bad experience with a street dog had left him completely terrified of dogs.
Mrs. Suit looked at him, silently asking him for help but Mozzie just shrugged.
They would just have to wait until he couldn't fight against the sleep any longer.
She was silent for a while before she seemed to come up with an idea.
Mrs. Suit was started to sing softly and Mozzie was surprised.
She sounded like an angel and both him and the suit looked at her, mesmerized, while she sang "Hush little baby" and ran her fingers through Neal's brown curls.
Despite his stubbornness it didn't take long before he couldn't keep his eyes open and by the time Elizabeth finished singing "Rockabye baby", the four-year-old was fast asleep.
The adults started to quietly discuss whether they should move the kid upstairs or if they should let him sleep in the fort, eventually deciding on the latter to avoid accidentally waking him up.
Mozzie decided to stay in the fort as well, so that if Neal would wake up he wouldn't be alone.
The adults started to leave but Mozzie gently grabbed Mrs. Suit's wrist.

"Elizabeth."

He said, too tired to use the nickname he had given her.

"Yes, sweetie?"
"Could you sing for me too?"

He felt his cheeks flush, feeling embarrassed over being so childish.
Mozzie thought that lullabies was for babies and little kids like Neal but her singing had reminded him so much of his mother.
He remembered lying on the couch with his head in his mother's lap and she had ran her fingers through his hair with one hand while the other arm was holding baby Neal and she had sung them both to sleep.

"Of course."

She answered and whispered something to the suit who nodded and then left.
Mrs. Suit got back by his side and started to sing while Mozzie put his arm around his brother.
It only took him a couple of minutes before he fell asleep.

The next day, all the tension was gone and Neal had stopped ignoring Mozzie and Mozzie had stopped ignoring the suit.
In the afternoon they decided to go grocery shopping and also buy a flashlight that they could have in their room in case there would be another power outage.
They were all in a good mood and the boys happily ran around.
The adults sent them to pick up different things and they happily complied, competing to see who could pick up their thing first.
Neal was sent to pick up ketchup while Mozzie was sent to pick up some cereal and they both ran off.
Mozzie was so intent on getting the cereal before Neal got the ketchup that he almost ran right into an employee.

"I'm so sorry."

He said before looking up at the employee, freezing when he recognized the face.
He had only seen the man one or two times but he knew that it was one of his uncle's companions.
Mozzie was just about to back away when the man grabbed him and before he had the chance to yell, a large sweaty hand was placed over his mouth.
He did his best to break free but the man held him in an iron grip.
Suddenly Mozzie spotted a familiar figure at the end of the aisle.
Neal stood there, frozen in place with a ketchup bottle in hand.
The man seemed to spot him too because he called out for Neal, trying to get him to go over to them but luckily Neal was too smart for that.
Instead the four-year-old started to scream at the top of his lungs, hoping to attract attention.
The man panicked and before Mozzie knew it, he was picked up and carried through a "staff only" door.
Mozzie tried to look over the man's shoulder, hoping to see the suit following them.