章 4: Ch 4. His Doubts Were True
It was the next day and during the hour of lunch that the four boys had met up and began to follow after Jake to leave the orphanage grounds for a while. Having left through one of the doors at the back of the building, the boys ran as fast as they could across one of the windows that was always covered. According to Jake's instructions, once they ran to the tall grass, they had to crouch down and move to the thicket of tall bushes. Once the bush was parted, a hole large enough for an adult to crawl through could be made.
Jake had learned about this when he had caught two of the older boys sneaking out to meet their girlfriends outside through this area. When he had tested it out and gone through, he had found that it led to an alley behind the buildings that were next to the orphanage that was usually empty.
As the boys huddled together in the bush, Jake looked through the branches to make sure the alley was clear before parting it and signaling for everyone to get moving. Once they had exited the bush, Jake climbed the brick wall that separated the alley and what was on the other side.
"Put your left foot here," Jake pointed at the dent in one of the brick walls and instructed, "and then put your right hand here. You see this brick that is a bit out? Step on it with your other foot and then push yourself up to climb, ok?"
The boys nodded before they began to climb with Tyler going first and then Owen, who needed a little bit of help from Kai and Jake to be pushed up. After everyone had climbed over, the boys found themselves to be standing on tall grass and a few feet ahead of them was a metal gate.
"Sheesh, you do all this and still have the energy to clean the toilets after," Owen panted and huffed as he stared at what was still left to cross over. "I think you're my role model now, Jake."
"It's worth it, dude," Jake responded before walking to the metal gate. "We have to walk a little bit more since there's an opening over there." He pointed to the left. And so, they walked for five minutes before arriving at the part of the metal gate where the bars had been cut and pulled to make a person pass through.
"What's up with this gate?" Tyler asked. He had never left the orphanage before and had never wandered off to explore so he wondered why such a gate was placed when there was nothing in sight but trees and grass.
"On the other side is where the houses for the more well-off people live," Jake explained. "You know how our town is more clustered and dirty. The houses on that side are small but you know, whoever owns a house has money. Also, that's where the mayor lives." The boys passed through the opening and then continued walking past a few more trees before arriving to the marketplace. Shops and vendors filled the streets and clients walked around looking and buying around.
Kai was filled with nostalgia as he glanced around at the familiar sight that reminded him of his past home. He wondered if he was still in the same country that he had lived in, but then he remembered that his purpose for coming here today was to confirm something and clear his doubts. Therefore, he was definitely not in his home country, and if his doubts were true, he wasn't even in his original world.
Turning to Jake, he asked, "Where do you see the news?"
Jake who had been answering whatever questions Tyler and Owen had was more than happy to answer him, as if trying to show off how knowledgeable he was. "Aunt Billie's place has a TV that plays the news all day. Or we could go to the café since it has a few computers we could use but that place is almost always full so I remend we don't go there."
"You mean recommend, Jake?" Tyler corrected him which earned him a glare from Jake.
"Yeah, that," Jake grumbled, his face reddening with how he had made himself look stupid. "Anyways, let's go." And he then led them through.
Aunt Billie's bakery was located in the shopping district that was next to the marketplace. The shopping district was where restaurants, clothing stores, barber shops, and such things were located. They had passed the café while going to Aunt Billie's which was located on the other side of the same building.
Walking inside the bakery, Jake cheerfully greeted, "Aunt Billie! Look who's here!"
Kai saw a plump woman that was behind a counter wrapping up an order for a customer look up to notice them. Finishing what she was doing and giving the customer a 'Thank you, have a nice day,' she walked over to them and gave Jake a squeezing hug.
"Oh, you rascal, what brings you here today?" Looking at the three unknown faces, she curiously asked, "Are these your friends?"
"Yes, ma'am, this is Kai, Tyler, and Owen," Jake introduced them to each other and the boys greeted her.
"Nice to meet you boys, I'm Aunt Billie," the woman said. "Would you like anything here?"
Owen gave out a squeaky no even though his eyes kept straying to look at the display of pastries at the counter. Tyler and Kai both shook their heads. "We won't be able to today, ma'am," Tyler said.
Jake, however, looked at Aunt Billie with a pitiful expression and asked, "Aunt Billie, do you think you can make an exception for us today?"
Aunt Billie sighed, "Rascal, you said that last week as well but fine, just for today." As Jake went with her to the counter to order and pay, the rest took a seat at one of the tables. Besides them, there were three other people inside seated at a table next to a cart which had a small TV that resembled a box on top. The boys had sat a distance where they could still hear the news and see what was being shown.
Jake came back with a bag in his hands. "There's four cookies, one for each of us."
"How much did you pay?" Owen hesitantly asked which earned him a light slap on the knee underneath the table from Tyler.
"Don't worry about it," Jake reassured him with a smile, sliding the bag closer to them after having picked out a cookie which Kai noticed was the smallest. "Let's just enjoy the moment now before we have to clean the bathrooms together this week."
Kai asked, "Do you think they already finished showing the news?"
"I don't know, but they usually announce the most important news repeatedly throughout the day and week. Let's just wait a while," Jake responded while munching on the cookie.
"By the way, Kai," Owen spoke through his chewing, "are you feeling better? Are your memories coming back?"
Kai thought for a while before replying. "I'm feeling better but my memories haven't come back at all." He thought it was better to say that he couldn't remember anything as he didn't have any of the previous boy's memories therefore he didn't know how this child previously acted. It would be suspicious if he did say he was beginning to remember and then realize that the way he was acting now wasn't the same as the boy, although he could use the excuse that he was maturing. But for a ten year old, the change would be too quick and noticeable.
For the meantime, his quiet and calm behavior could be attributed to the fact that he was still getting to know these people again since he didn't remember them therefore making him look cautious. It was a good excuse.
Tyler asked him with concern, "Is the medicine not working?"
"I guess not," he replied. Mrs. Emma had picked up his medicine last week and Kai had to take it under her watchful eyes every day.
"At least it's great that your body and mind still subconsciously remember us," Tyler said and the rest nodded. Kai let out a soft 'Yeah.'
"Now to the news that has been keeping us in suspense these past few weeks," the voice sounded from the small box on the cart and everyone turned to look in its' direction, "the investigation regarding the Lysander's missing eldest son, Blake Lysander, has now concluded. Officials have confirmed the body to be him which has left the family distraught. They say that he was kidnapped and the culprit was none other than the president and CEO of Limray Group..." The screen switched to show a man in handcuffs being flanked by police officers on his side as they led him to their vehicle. People snapped pictures with their cameras and the reporters were raining questions on him.
Kai's attention remained transfixed on the screen when it proceeded to show live footage of a dark-haired man holding a press conference. The man spoke, the area around his eyes red, "My family and I are so devasted, words can't even describe the pain we're feeling." He choked a little before shakily continuing, "My dear Blake was such a lovable child and to know that we couldn't be with him in his final moments breaks me. How scared he must've felt before... passing. I do not understand why that man did such a thing to my son but do know that from now on," his voice turned firm and his eyes became cold, "extra measures will be taken to protect Ruth and my remaining child, Felix."
Once he heard the name, Kai felt as if the air had been knocked out of him and he felt his body turn to stone when he saw the man walk away from the mics to stand next to a woman and a little boy. Wrapping his arms protectively around his wife and son, they began to walk towards the exit of the room. As the cameras zoomed in on them, the little boy turned to look behind him.
The boy's eyes were clear, his hair was a light brown, and his name was Felix... Felix Lysander. The male protagonist of his sister's story.
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