Date: Sun, 9 Jun 2013 11:08:17 +1200 From: bob charles Subject: Washed Up (Gay / Young friends) chapter 6 Washed Up. Disclaimer: Warning: this story contains sexual content, contact between young boys, and other themes that may offend. If the subject matter offends you, is not to your tastes, or if you are under legal age for your area, then find something else to read. In the following story all names and events are completely fictional. Although I may mention a specific location, place, or person any resemblance to said people, location, or places is completely unintentional. Chapter 6: Mum pulls into the picnic area. It isn't a lot to look at. It is just a few trees and a couple of wooden picnic tables, but it is tidy with no rubbish anywhere. There is a little dirt track through the middle of it which cars use to access the area as it loops back to the road. Otherwise there really isn't anything here, there are no toilets or anything, but it is just a rest area so you can't really expect a lot. I am starting to feel suffocated at not being able to vent my frustrations. My breathing is shallow and weak, and my body is trembling from built up aggression and adrenalin. I have to get out of the car and fast. I undo my seatbelt and open the car door. Mum has to slam on the breaks when she hears the door open, sending the car skidding to a stop, leaving a trail of dust which quickly envelopes the car. I jump out as soon as I have the door open, but thankfully for my sake mum has stopped the car in time so I don't hurt myself. I run, and run. I want to get as far away from everyone as possible. I jump a wire fence at the back of the picnic area and into the neighbouring farm. Once I clear the fence I run through the grassy pasture. I climb a little hill and run down the other side, almost stumbling and taking a fall a couple of times, due to the uneven ground. But I keep running trying to put as much distance between me and my former life as possible. I really am trying to run away from my past as I'm sick of the way it keeps ruling my life. ************ I just keep running. I want something to punch and kick to relieve my frustrations and anger, but there is nothing around other than cows, dirt or that wire fence that borders the paddock. I want to run away from everything horrible that has happened in my life. But it just seems to keep following me. Quickly I realise that I don't want to leave someone behind. I can't run away from Callum, as I care too much about him, and he needs me. I stop running and collapse in a heap feeling disillusioned and demoralised. I curl up in a ball and burst out crying. It is all too hard, and I can't take it anymore. I want Callum to run away with me, but I know that we will not survive for very long. My mind is in tatters as I try to find an answer to my problems. The only answer that I can come up with is the latest cause of my depression, but I miss him so much. I need him back in my life, and I'm pretty sure he needs me. Callum quickly takes off after me as I clear the wire fence. Sarah surprisingly follows her youngest brother as she is concerned for my safety and wellbeing. After what mum has just told her she knows Callum will be fine. It is me that she is worried about, and she is willing to compromise her own safety to ensure that I'm alright. They just keep running in the direction they have seen me travel in, and eventually they catch up. They both look really worried when the see me curled up in a ball, hugging myself. "Pierre come back, I need you." I shout at the top of my voice. I know it is useless, but it at least makes me feel a little better. I am still bawling my eyes out so haven't seen either Callum or Sarah turn up. I think that my prayers have been answered when I feel someone latch onto me. "Pierre you came back." I sob, and cling to him. I hold him as tightly as I can so that he can't get away again. My mind is a mess, meaning it doesn't pick up on the fact that the sensations are all wrong for it to be who I think it is. "Sorry Josh, it's just me Callum." The high pitch voice of my brother says soothingly. I just cry even harder. I love my brother and I am glad that he is here for me, but I really want Pierre. I need Pierre is more the point, as with him everything seems to fix itself. All my problems melt into oblivion when he is around. I need him, I really do. "Who is Pierre?" A voice that I haven't expected asks me. I know it is my sister, but I am not sure whether to answer her or not. I am no longer angry, no that mood has gone. I am depressed, deep in the depths of hell, depressed. It is so dark that I don't think I will ever find a way out, not without guidance and the only person who can help me isn't anywhere to be seen. "Look Josh, I am very sorry for everything that I have ever said bad to you. I really didn't know what you had gone through. I now wish that I had read the symptoms earlier, so that I could have tried to stop it. I am truly sorry. But who is Pierre as I really do want to know?" Sarah says. I know there is no use in ignoring her, as I am going to have to rely on her to get me back to the car. I cave in and decide to answer her question. It is going to take all the remaining strength that I've got, but I know there is no other way out of it. "He is my boyfriend." I cry, as tears pour from my eyes creating little salty rivers down my cheeks. I am extremely worried about how she is going to react to this information but she can't really do any more damage than she already has, so that's why I decided to tell her. Sarah looks completely shocked at my answer. She never expected that sort of answer, especially from her twelve year old brother. It is something that she isn't sure what to think about, as she has never considered how she would react if she ever found out that one of her brothers is gay. It is something that she never considered, and for a long time she didn't give a shit about me anyway, so if I had told her earlier today then her reaction would be a whole lot different. Now she doesn't know what to think, as things have changed so much. She does the right thing and doesn't say anything bad or derogatory about me being gay. She knows I have been through too much to start up about that, and for some strange reason she doesn't feel like she wants to mock me anymore. "What happened to him? Where is he?" Sarah asks inquisitively. Callum gives her a concerned look as he knows that I am not going to handle this too well. He is struggling to contain his emotions as he too remembers that day. Callum misses Pierre almost as much as I do, and the thought of what happened tears his little heart apart again. Callum starts to weep as his mind does the same as mine, and returns to that horrible day. *** Pierre has been staying with us for the best part of a month and a half. We haven't heard anything from immigration in all that time, which we thought was odd. We have been constantly pestering mum about the adoption papers, until the day she told us that she had signed them. We are still head over heels in love with each other, and still sneaking behind mum's back to show it. It has become harder to get quality alone time, as we have started back at school, which for the first time in ages I am actually concentrating at. We are in the same class, and Pierre helps me heaps with trying to catch up. But I am a long, long way behind, so it is going to take a really long time to get to the level that I should be at. Currently I should be back in year 5, instead of the year 8 work that I am trying to do. It is hard, real hard, but Pierre guides me along as best as he can and I am slowly starting to make some in-roads. It is quite funny as I recall the looks we received on that first day of school. The kids are all very timid of me and try to avoid me as best as they can, but seeing a new kid at school who is walking beside me makes them all scared and concerned for his safety. Quite a few kids have tried to befriend me in the time I have been attending, but I shut them all out. A couple of kids I snapped at rather viscously, after they made repeated attempts to become my friend. I really didn't want any friends at the time, so I shunned everybody. I had shut everyone out of my life at that stage, and the last thing that I wanted was a friend at school. So when the kids all see the new kid so close to me at school, they all expect the worst. Callum has run off to his group of friends as we enter the school grounds, and has to explain to his friends who the new kid is and what he is doing with me. Callum just tells them that we have become friends after I had saved his life. They seem to buy his story, and let us be in peace. Pierre is a bit disconcerted with all the strange attention he seems to be getting. It is almost like the kids want to rush up and greet him, but they look a bit scared. I have to explain to him why they are like that. Pierre gives me a disappointed look knowing how I have treated the kids, but at the same time he does understand why. But anyway I'm digressing, and trying to avoid the point. It is a fine Saturday morning. The weather is warm and humid as per usual for this time of year. We have all been out for a surf, and are heading back for some food. The first thing we notice as we climb the sand dunes, and overlook our house is a black V8 Holden Commodore parked in the driveway. I don't think too much of it as we quite often see these sorts of cars in the driveway. They are commonly used by government agencies, and as we are under witness protection we get regular visits by government agents. So I really am not too concerned seeing the car in the drive. This time it is a bit different, but I fail to pick up on the vibe. There are two officials dressed up in their usual business attire, and they are standing outside talking to mum. It is like they are waiting for something, or someone. Usually when we get our visits they talk to mum inside, and privately, so as to not cause us kids any undue stress. So seeing them all outside makes me a little bit worried, but I still don't think too much of it. What is the worst thing they could be here for, as if dad escaped then we will just have to move. I'm not too concerned about that unless dad is nearby, and I really can't think of any other reason why they would be here, so I presume it has something to do with dad. Mum has an upset look on her face which was also flushed red, like she has been fighting or something. But deep down in my gut something seems a little put on by mum. It doesn't matter at the time as I am more concerned with what the bad news is. If we have to move again then I know we are going to have to rush, so I just want to get it all out of the way. We descend down the sand dunes, with all of us dragging our feet. Pierre and Callum both have nervous looks on their faces, as they can sense that we aren't going to get any good news. Callum automatically presumes the same as I do, and that something has happened and we have to move again in a hurry. Pierre isn't sure what to make of it. The officials don't help thing either, as their normally composed demeanour shows a touch of nervousness. It is like they are anxious about something, which starts to give me goose bumps, as I know they have really bad news to tell us. If they didn't then they wouldn't look nervous in the slightest, so that little hint tells me something is really wrong. "Right you three, take your boards back to the garage and put on some shirts. Pierre these two gentlemen want to talk to you. Josh and Callum I want you to come inside with me, as I have some important stuff to tell you." Mum tells us as we finally reach the group of adults' gathered outside our house. `Like fuck' I think to myself. I am not going to leave Pierre alone with these guys. Any news they have for Pierre, they will have to say in front of me too. He has not received any good news from government agents since he has been in the country, so I know that this will be no different. I have to be here to support him, and if need be I will try to protect him. We do as we are told to a certain extent, as we head to the garage. I put our boards on the rack and then set about trying to find my tee shirt. We all have only been wearing board shorts out in the surf, and we have left our shirts scattered around the garage. Pierre pulls on a yellow printed tee shirt over his blue boardies, which has white pictures of palm trees scattered around them. Callum puts on a cream lightweight cotton shirt, and buttons it up. He has plain black board shorts on, and the result actually makes him look pretty smart. I have orange boardies with grey sides, and pull on a white tee shirt with a surf design on the back. Callum then heads off to meet me inside. I follow Pierre out to the officials, and when Callum notices I am not going inside with him, he quickly runs to catch up with us. There is no way that he is going inside if I am not. So we all wander around to meet with the government officials. They look even more worried now, as mum has promised them that she will get us out of the way to make things easier for them. I am not going to let that happen, as if it's anything important then I need to know too. "Josh, Callum, inside now!" Mum screams at us from the house. Callum turns and is about to go, but again notices that I am ignoring mum so does so himself. She realises that I'm not going to listen so comes out to get me. "Get fucked. I'm going to stay with Pierre until these guys' have gone." I yell back. Mum comes over and takes hold of my arm, and tries to drag me back to the house. I resist as much as I can, but she is slowly winning. Callum has given up his fight and rushes off inside before he gets into trouble. I know that with the way mum is acting that something terrible is about to happen, so I struggle more to try to stay with Pierre. "Come on Pierre you have to come with us." One of the government officials tells him. Pierre starts to follow them unsure as to what is happening. In his gut he feels that something isn't right, but he tries to ignore it. Normally under the circumstances the government officials will be physically escorting the person to the car, to ensure that they follow them. But they are dealing with a young kid so they just let him walk on his own, as they explain the situation to him. They really don't believe he will put up any resistance, so are a bit casual about the whole thing. "We got in contact with your uncle. He lives in Vichy, some place in the Massif Central region of France. He has agreed to take custody of you, so we are going to have to escort you to the airport. Unfortunately we do have to deport you. We will be handing you over to some French child services agents at the airport and they will look after you from there." One of the officials says. The lead official now wishes that they weren't so casual about the whole thing, as Pierre tries to make a break for it. Pierre is in a panic. He heart is pumping hard, and his breathing is erratic. He doesn't want to go back to France, as he wants to stay with me. He tries desperately to run back towards me, and for a moment thinks he is going to make it. The officials quickly take control of the situation, as they chase Pierre down and grab hold of a shoulder each. They have to forcibly take him to the waiting sedan. "Josh help me!" Pierre screams to me. He is still fighting as hard as he can to try and get away. Tears are streaming down his cheeks with the realisation that he isn't going to get his way. He feels hopeless with the whole situation, as he isn't strong enough to be able to fight off these guys. I hear it all, every word that is said. It fires me up more, and I struggle harder and harder against mum. I have to break free from her clutches. But the more I struggle the tighter her grip becomes. I can feel my heart getting ripped apart into little pieces and then jumped on and mashed as deep into the ground as possible, as if it isn't anything important. I can see a similar look of pain in Pierre's eyes. "Pierre don't go!" I scream out to him in the same fashion as he is to me, but no one else seems to listen or even care. This can't be happening. How on earth can my mother just let them take him away from me? The whole world around me starts to crumble as I watch them bundle Pierre into the backseat of the sedan. Moments later the car is reversing out of the drive, and taking my love out of my life. I collapse onto my knees trying to reach out for him, just hoping that by some miracle he will leap into them, but it is all in vain. Tears are streaming from my eyes creating big rivers of salty water down my cheeks. I have never been in so much pain as this, as in comparison everything that has happened in my life is totally insignificant compared to what has just gone down. "I'm sorry Josh, but there was really nothing I could do. It's probably for the best anyway." Mum says to me. Her voice is gentle and sweet. But to me it sounds sarcastic and patronising. I really don't know how she can make light of the situation, I really don't. "How the fuck can this be for the best. This is the single worst thing that YOU have allowed to happen in my life, bar none." I say completely irritated and dejected. I also mean every word that I have said. Yet again she has failed me, but this is the worst one of all. I hate her for it, I really do. "Oh, um... well for starters you can now go back to being the straight little boy that you were before he turned you gay." Mum says. She had actually only meant to think it, but the words come out of her mouth loud and clear. I really don't know why she has decided that now was a good time to even say such a thing, but she has, and I completely lose it. "Fuck you bitch. I told you before that I was fucking gay before he showed up. You are the most useless fucking mother in the world. Fuck you, I really fucking hate you and hope I never see your fucking face again!" I scream and run off. I have no idea where I want to go, but know that I have to get away from her, before I do something stupid like smack her face in. I am that pissed off with her that I actually think that I will hit her if I stay around any longer. For my own sanity I have to go, as it will drive me crazy if I do hit her, as much as the fucking bitch deserves it. "What the fuck mum? How could you say such a stupid thing? Also how the fuck could you let them take away the best thing to happen to Josh? You really are a fucking bitch and I hate you for it." Callum yells at mum. He is bawling his eyes out the whole time he says it. He then runs off trying to catch me. He has been upset the whole time too, as he really likes Pierre. Pierre has been like a brother to him, and he was so much fun too. `What the hell have I done? Even Callum hates me for it.' Mum thinks to herself. She collapses to her knees as she comes to the conclusion that she has now made the biggest mistake in her life. Yet again she knows that she will just have to live with it, as there is nothing that she can do about it now. But a part of her is secretly pleased, as I no longer have a boyfriend. But it isn't enough consolation for her at that moment because we both hate her for it, and she starts to bawl her eyes out. I run over the sand dunes and onto the beach. I decide to head north and run all the way along the beach till I get to the rocks. I scramble my way along the rocks to the rock shelf at the end of the headland. I slip numerous times, and do well not to break my ankle as I get it wedged between two rocks whilst trying to take a step. By the time I make it to the rock shelf I am pretty cut up, but I don't care. I run all the way to the end of the shelf before I collapse to the ground again. I sit there hugging my knees and crying. My head feels heavy so I lower it into my arms as I continue to weep. My mind is all fuzzy, and things are starting to look very black. I feel all alone, and I feel that no one cares about me. I have been depressed lots of times before, but this is by far the worst I have ever felt. I feel like getting up and jumping into the sea and letting it carry my body away. I am at the end of my tether and there isn't going to be a bright light at the end of the tunnel. Without Pierre my life is over, as I just can't bear to live without him. He means everything to me, and I feel lost and isolated without him. I suddenly feel a warm and loving embrace. It isn't Pierre I know that, as the sensations aren't the same. It is more a brotherly love, so I know it is Callum. I don't look at him, as I don't want him to see me this way. But I can tell that Callum needs my loving embrace as well, as he seems to be trembling, and I can hear him sobbing. I lift my head to look at him, and he looks as distraught as how I feel. I never thought about what the impact of Pierre getting taken away, will have on him. I reach out a pull him to me, and embrace him as tight as I can. "Is he ever coming back?" Callum sobs. It wrenches my heart apart even more, as I can't answer his question how I would like to, not without lying. I really don't want to upset him further, as neither of us can handle that. It is the most upset I have ever seen Callum, which says a lot given everything he has been through and witnessed before. "I don't know. I really hope so, but probably not." I sob back. It is the only honest answer I can think of, without breaking his little heart even more. It still breaks my heart as I know the reality is that we won't see him again, not unless some miracle happens but that seems unlikely. We just hug and comfort each other on the rock shelf for the rest of the day. We are both too miserable to do anything. The depression I am feeling has killed my appetite, so I am not feeling hungry. Callum is a mess. He really did like Pierre more than I realise, so he feels as bad as I do. We both really don't want to go home, as neither of us want to face up to the dragon lady. Both of us are feeling too much hatred towards mum at the moment, to make going home a good idea. Time just continues to pass us by, as if we don't even exist. The sun is getting really low in the west, and it is now getting really dark. There is still a lot of heat in the air, and no wind at all. I suggest to Callum that we stay here the night, as it is now too dark and treacherous to try and climb back over the rocks. The sense of relief on Callum's face is evident. He doesn't want to struggle across the rocks in the dark, but he also really doesn't want to see mum again today. He is almost at the stage where he doesn't ever want to see mum again. I have to agree with him on that one, as I will be perfectly happy if that bitch just dropped out of our lives. The sun disappears over the horizon and it quickly goes pitch black, until the twinkling of stars start to make their presence known. There is no moon, as it is at the new moon stage of its cycle. We both lie down on the rock shelf, and try to make ourselves comfortable. I snuggle up as close to my little brother as possible to ensure that he doesn't get cold. We both try to sleep and forget about the horrible day we have had. Without Pierre snuggled up next to me, my mind starts playing up again. I am transported back into my bedroom in West Auckland, with dad standing naked at the door. As per usual I am paralysed in fear and shaking uncontrollably. I can't move or do anything. I am sweating like a pig, and suddenly get a warm wet sensation around my crotch. The distinctive ammonia smell gives it away, but I am still paralysed in fear. I still can't do anything, and feel sorry for Callum who is now soaking in my piss. I had done so well when Pierre was here, as I haven't wet myself at night in the whole time he was living with us. The day he leaves, and straight away I return back to how I was before he showed up in my life. I start to cry again at the thought. Somehow Callum sleeps right through my ordeal. He doesn't even wake when I piss on him. In fact he sleeps like an angel all the way through to the morning. I don't think that I even got a minutes sleep all night. I keep getting the same night terror every time I close my eyes. If it wasn't for the fact I had emptied my bladder when I had the first night terror, then I think I would have pissed myself again. As it is I am almost sure that I feel a small trickle of piss escape every time I see dad, but I am too soaked to really know whether I have pissed myself again, or not. Mum is worried as hell and hasn't slept all night. She is on the verge of panicking and calling the cops to find us. I have runaway plenty of times, but I am always home just after dark. But what concerns her more is that Callum hasn't come back either. She can't believe that I would allow him to stay out all night unless something terrible has happened. Waves of guilt are again washing over her, making her emotions more of a wreck than they were before. She manages to think straight enough not to jump to conclusions just yet, as she figures that she had better give us till tonight to get back, before she rings the police. The sun has just broken the horizon to the east, and is casting a bright orange glow on everything its light touches. Callum is starting to stir as the bright light shines into his eyes. I have to squint to be able to see his cute face. His eyes start to flicker, before they cracked open just a touch. He starts to sit up, as his mind wakes as well, and he takes a big long stretch to iron out the kinks in his body. There was a wet sensation all over him, and he brushes his body to see if he really is wet, or whether his mind is just playing tricks on him. A strong ammonia smell starts to waft up his nostrils as he moves, so he immediately knows that the wet feeling is piss. But his crotch isn't particularly wet, so he hasn't pissed himself. "Shit. Josh did you have an accident again?" Callum asks. His voice sounds a mixture of peeved as well as upset. He isn't upset at being pissed on, he is sad knowing that I am having problems again. But he is still waking up and his mind and voice box aren't communicating properly, which results in the mixture of tones his says it in. He really doesn't mean to upset me, as he really isn't angry with me, it just comes out all wrong due to still waking. "I'm so... I'm sorry... I... I couldn't help it... it sort of just happened." I say and burst out crying. Lack of sleep, and being in a deep depression have my emotions and mind in tatters. I also flush red, embarrassed at having pissed on my brother as he slept during the night. I am really ashamed at myself, as I am supposed to be the big brother. But yet he doesn't wet himself, and I do. Maybe it should be Callum who is the big brother as I'm just a little baby. I desperately need Pierre back, as I know that I'm just going to get worse. "It's alright Josh. I know that you can't help it. If you hadn't stuck up for me against dad then I would probably be wetting the bed too. I only have you to thank for dad never hurting me, but I feel really bad that he hurt you instead." Callum replies. He has woken up properly now so his sincere voice actually sounds that way. He gives me a huge loving hug as he says all this. I have to hug him back, as what he has said means the world to me. I just wish that he wouldn't feel bad about dad having hurt me instead of him, as I would still have it no other way. I wanted to protect him, and I got beaten as a result but I still accomplished my goal, so for that I am happy. We sit there in our embrace for ages. We are both crying heavily on each other's shoulders. The emotions from the previous day are still raw, and strong. We really don't want to do anything at this point in time. It just feels like it would be disrespectful to Pierre if we forgot about him and had some fun. Fun, that is the last thing on our minds. It is something I have pretty much forgotten about entirely. I can't even remember what fun feels like, my depression is that bad. I notice at one point that there is a tiny little tent in Callum's pants, so I know what he needs to do. "Callum, you need to take a piss. We can't have you piss yourself as well." I tell my little brother sincerely. I then gently pinch the tip of his little stiffie to stress my point, causing him to jump a little. "Hey cut that out... um... can you do it for me, as I don't want you to ever let me go ever again." Callum says to me. He looks a little sheepish as he says it, but I understand. He is afraid that I will try and run away again, and leave him behind. I have tried to plenty of times, but in the end always go back home for one simple reason. I can't just ditch my little brother like that. I always went back home because he was there, no other reason but Callum. In fact I think that I would be dead by now if Callum wasn't in my life, as he is the main reason I have always had for living. "OK, stand up!" I demand. I can't believe that I have just agreed to this, but he is my brother, so I don't really see anything wrong with it. I still wash him anyway, so helping him take a leak isn't anything worse than that. Callum stands up and takes my hand. He tries to pull me up, but in the end it is easier for me to stand up unassisted. Once I am up I stand behind Callum and lead him to the edge of the shelf. I then yank his shorts to his knees, exposing his cute little 1 ¼ inch stiffie to the world. As per usual his foreskin has retracted enough to just see his glistening pink coloured acorn shaped glans protruding out the end of his dick. "Can you hold it too? I can't pee unless it's getting held." Callum asks in a quiet sheepish voice. He is red in the face at asking me to do this for him, as he knows that he should be doing it himself. He just loves the way I touch him, and I haven't bathed him in a little while, so he is missing my gentle loving touch. This way he can get my loving touch back, although he knows it won't be as good as it is in the bath. I release a big sigh, unable to believe that I am going to do this for him. My hands are a little shaky as I reach in front of him and take hold of his hot hard stiffie. I pull his foreskin right back, completely exposing his cute little pink glands. He then lets rip. I can feel his dick inflate a little more as the torrent of watery clear piss erupts from his pee slit. It feels kind of cool the way it inflates like that. Callum lets out a huge sigh of relief as he feels the pressure on his bladder start to ease. I keep hold of his dick as he emptied his bladder. As the pressure from his bladder eases the swelling of his little member eases, until I am left holding his soft ¾ inch dick which is still dribbling out piss. I shake the remaining drops off, and then pull his shorts back up much to Callum's disappointment. "Thank you so much. That felt kinda cool having you hold my dickie while I took a wee wee." Callum says. He smiles at me, which is the first smile I have seen from him since we got out of the surf yesterday. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside seeing him smile again. Still standing behind him I reach around him, and give him a big hug. "Can I do that for you one day?" Callum asks. His voice is quiet as a mouse. He flushes red again at having asked that. I give him a warm smile. "We will see." I say to him. It pretty much means that I won't let him, but implies that I will at least consider it. I don't want to disappoint, or upset him. So I figure I will sit on the fence with my answer and hope he forgets. I know there is nothing behind his request other than it allowing him to show how much I mean to him, but it is still one of those things I am a little uncomfortable with. We sit back down on the rock shelf with our legs dangling over the edge. I have Callum sitting in front of me, pretty much on my lap. I wrap my arms around him, as we just sit there looking out over the Pacific Ocean. I feel comfortable having Callum with me, but it still isn't the same as Pierre. My thoughts quickly returned to my love, as I wonder where he is in the world now. I am not sure how long it will take him to get back to France. So is he still on the plane, or is he now with his uncle? It doesn't really matter. All I know is he is halfway across the world, and nowhere near me. My emotions are again taking control as I weep while I am lost in my thoughts. I instinctively hug Callum tighter fearing that he will disappear on me too. All I can think about is all the bad stuff, and as hard as I try the good stuff that has happened seems to no longer exist. I am bawling my eyes out now, and Callum is doing the same. He knows what I am thinking about, which leads him to think the same things. It is just so hard for my little brother, as he really feels like he has lost a brother. "Do you think we can get mum to take us to France?" Callum asks. His words are a little hard to understand because he is still crying heavily. It really tears me up seeing him so upset. I feel like I have failed to protect him by allowing Pierre to go. What makes it even worse is I feel hopeless to be able to fix it. It is all out of my hands, and I am going to have to rely on others. "I wish! She won't take us, as she doesn't like him because he's gay." I reply. I hear Callum sob even more after I say that. I know he has come to the same realisation as I have, which is unless mum changes her mind on the whole gay thing then we aren't going to see Pierre ever again. It is a gut wrenching conclusion, but we both know it is true. "What about the money you got from... um... court? We could go by ourselves." Callum suggests hopefully. I love the commitment he has at trying to think of a way for us to see Pierre again, but it does make it all the more harder on both of us. I have already looked at each possibility, and written them all off. Now I am going to have to write them off for Callum too, and that upsets me further. I hate telling Callum that he can't have something that he so desperately wants, as it really makes me feel like more of a failure to him. "No Callum, it was a good thought though. Mum put the money into a trust account which I can't access without her until I'm 18. Anyway we would still need mum to get us a passport so that we would be allowed to go to France. I'm really sorry that I have failed to keep Pierre with us, but there really is nothing that I can do." I tell Callum. We both cry even harder as I say it. I hate the fact that we have to now rely on that fucking bitch to be able to see Pierre again. I just know that it isn't going to happen. "Joshy, don't blame yourself. There wasn't anything that you could do. It was all mummies fault, not yours." Callum whimpers to me. I hug him tighter again, almost squeezing the wind out of him. We continued to just sit there for ages. I still have my arms around my little brother who was still sitting on my lap. The sun is getting higher and higher in the sky. The silky smooth water is starting to get a bit choppy, as the sea breeze picks up in strength. We are both completely dry after a while, but I can still smell the strong smell of ammonia every time Callum shifts his position slightly. "Come on let's get washed up in the sea, as we both smell of piss." I tell Callum. I start to release him, but he just grabs hold of my arms to prevent me letting go. He isn't ready yet, and to be honest neither am I. I know that I will never be ready, but we are going to have to get cleaned up eventually as we can't just sit here forever. "I know you don't want me to let you go, but you're going to have to eventually. We can't stay here forever." I say to Callum in a sincere voice. He is still very reluctant to let go of my arms. It is really heart breaking to see him this way, and I am starting to get angry with mum again. There is nothing that I can do about it, and that is still the worst part. "We are not going back after we clean up." Callum finally says. It is more of a demand than anything, and his voice reflects that. He releases my hands, now allowing me to stop hugging him, but I don't as I want him to see some sense. I know that I really don't want to go back home, but it is getting to the stage where I know that we will have to, as it has been well over twenty four hours since either of us last had anything to eat. "Callum, I know you don't want to see mum. I don't either. But we have to go home because I don't want you to starve to death. You know how much you mean to me, and I will still do everything that I can to keep you safe. Even if it means that we have to go home." I tell Callum. I hear a sniffle from him as he starts to cry again. He knows I am right but still isn't ready for it. "OK, but I'm not going back straight away. We will need to let our clothes dry first." Callum replies. I think that he will come up with any excuse to prolong going home, and I don't blame him for that. The most important thing at this stage is getting cleaned up, and then I will try to get him home and fed. "Oh, alright! We will clean our clothes and lay them out to dry before we clean ourselves. But as soon as our clothes are dry we will go home, as I need you to have something to eat." I tell my brother. I feel his chest rise and fall quite dramatically, as he releases a big sigh. He also shudders at the thought of going home, but he doesn't argue about it. I feel sorry for him, as I know that it isn't really a good idea at this stage, but I really need him to eat. Neither of us have any money to buy any food, so it really is our only option. I release him from my hug, and scoot out from under him. I then stand up and pull his light frame up with me. I can tell that he isn't going to help in the slightest, because he really doesn't want to go home so will do anything to prolong it. I am going to have to do everything, not that I am really in the mood either, but he is my brother after all. I strip his shirt off his smooth muscular frame, before pull down his pants, once again exposing his cute little dickie to the world. This is where I can see the obvious influence that Pierre has played in Callum's life, as before we met him there would have been no way Callum would have let me strip him, especially while he is outside. Before I set out rinsing the piss from Callum's clothes, I have to remove mine. I strip pretty quickly and then go back to the edge of the shelf. I lie face down on the rock and reach over the edge. Thankfully the shelf isn't too high above the waterline, and I am able to reach it from this position. I thoroughly rinse out the clothes, while constantly sniffing them to ensure all the urine has been flushed out. Once satisfied they are clean, I stand back up and lay the clothes out on the rock to dry. Callum is still standing in the same place as I have left him whilst I cleaned out our clothes. He is looking very glum, and I can tell that he is on the verge of bawling his eyes out all over again. The loss of Pierre has cut him up a lot more than I ever realised, and for once I am probably handling it better than him. I don't know how, it must be that I am falling back into the strong bigger brother role, but I am feeling even worse than he looks. It really is hard, and seeing Callum that way just makes things even harder on me. "Well are you going to get in the water to clean yourself, or will I have to push you in?" I ask Callum. I try to say it in a joking voice, but it doesn't really come out that way. Callum just shrugs his shoulders, as he really doesn't care either way. He would have preferred not to be thinking about going home at all. I go over and wrap my arms around him again, while I am again standing behind him. I feels a bit strange as I have never hugged Callum like this while we were both naked, except in the bath, but it still feels like I am doing what a big brother should be doing. "Josh, how do you do it? I mean going back home every time you ran away. I just don't know whether I can go through with it. I don't want to see mum ever again! That bitch has ruined both of our lives." Callum mumbles to me. He starts to cry again, as his emotions takes control of him. I pull him as close to me as I can, and hug him tighter. I don't know how to answer this, as there is only ever one reason for me ever going back home and that is Callum, but I can't use that as he is with me. I need to try to convince him that it is the right thing to do, and that is what makes it worse as I really don't know how to do it. "To be honest Callum, the only reason I always came back home was because you were there. If it wasn't for you I never would have gone back. It is the reason we need to go back today, as I have vowed to protect you, and I know that I can't do that out here. There are too many things that are out of my control if we stay away from home, and I don't want you getting hurt." I answer to Callum as I finally work out what to say. I am completely honest with him, as it is the only way that I could really think of to answer his question. He now seems to understand why I think we need to go home, but he is still reluctant to do anything. "Oh... I still don't want to go back. I know we have to, but I can't bring myself around to do it." Callum mutters. He turns around to face me, and latches onto me for dear life while burying his head in my shoulder as he cries even harder. I am in tears again too, as seeing him so upset is taking its toll on me. Not to mention that I am still feeling very cut up at losing Pierre. It really is the most unbearable situation I have ever been in, and I don't know as to how much more of this I can take. I have to try to stay brave for Callum, but it is getting exceedingly difficult to do. "I know it's hard, but we both have to do it. We have to try to live our life as normally as possible, or else mum wins in the end." I sob to Callum. I feel his head nod, as he understands what I mean. We stay embraced like that for a while, as neither of us want to let the other go. We both also need to shake our misery as much as possible, which is really an impossible task but we still try. It is Callum who releases me from the hug first, which sort of surprises me, as he is the reason we started hugging again in the first place. I can tell that he still isn't ready to go home, but he is trying to force himself to see the sense in it. I am having second thoughts about it, but I am too worried about Callum not to go through with it. I can't let him starve to death just because we are angry at mum, as that will make me feel even worse. It is hard enough on me seeing Callum so upset with everything, and I am feeling really guilty for allowing it to happen. I know that Callum doesn't blame me in the slightest, but it doesn't help with how I feel about it. My whole mission in life is to keep him safe and happy and I feel that I have let him down. "Well let's get cleaned up... then we can think bout... um... well you know what you think we should do." Callum stutters. He then releases me completely, and shrugs himself free from my grasp before jumping into the ocean. Once I finally snap back into reality and realise that Callum has already jumped into the water, I follow suit. The water is gorgeously warm, much warmer than what is normal for any time of year. It is just a pity that neither of us really enjoys it, like we should have been. All we do in the water is rinse off our bodies, trying to remove all my dried up piss. I sort of want to try and force Callum to have some fun, but every time that I consider it, I am overcome by guilt. I just can't bring myself to have fun knowing Pierre isn't here to enjoy it too. Callum is thinking the same thing. It is strange for the little boy as usually being in the sea is something that he really enjoys, but today it just feels like a chore. He knows that he has to just continue to live his life like nothing has happened, but he just can't do it. He feels like he has just lost a brother, and that he will never get to see him again, so having fun just feels wrong. He has never felt this way before, as whenever something bad has happened I have still been around for him. This time even though I am still around, it feels like he has lost half his family. We only spend about ten minutes in the water before we climb back onto the rock shelf. Even with how warm the water is Callum still has his usual problem, as his tiny little balls have contracted right up into his warm body. Callum is far too depressed to care, and it is only me who is able to see him like that anyway. We lie down on the shelf, and let the sun dry our bodies for us. After a while the warmth of the sun has made Callum's balls come back out to say hello, but neither of us notice. Once we have dried off we get back into our clothes. Callum is really starting to look scared, and he is on the verge of panicking. He really doesn't want to face mum. I hug him again trying to ease his fears, but with the way he holds me as tight as he can I know that I am not succeeding. I try to pull us apart so that we can start to make our way back, but it is impossible as Callum refuses to let me go. I put my hand up the back of his shirt and start to stroke his back. I feel him start to relax, but he still won't relinquish the hold he has on me. "Come on Callum, I know you don't want to, but we have to." I say to him after a while. I know that it is starting to get late in the afternoon now, as the sun is getting significantly lower in the sky. Callum is still reluctant to release his grip on me, but slowly he does let me go. Once he has finally removed his arms from me, I take his fragile little hand and hold it. We walk back along the rock shelf towards town holding hands. I want Callum to know that I am going to go with him, and that I am not going to run away from him again. He holds my hand as tight as he can, as he is still scared that I might try to ditch him, but mainly because he is scared about going back. Somehow we manage to walk all the way along the shelf, and scramble across the rocks without releasing each other's hand. It is a long and arduous journey which is made even worse by our reluctance to go back home. But eventually we make it back to the beach, by this stage the sun is getting very low in the sky meaning we have probably about another hour before it gets dark. Once back on the beach our walking doesn't increase in pace, no it slows down further instead. I can feel Callum starting to try and pull me in the opposite direction, so I hold his hand tighter and continue in the same direction. He fights with me for a couple of minutes but he relinquishes his struggle knowing I am not going to cave in. We are getting so close to home, now I can see the sand dune that we usually use to check the surf from. My stomach is in knots, and I am actually starting to feel physically ill at the realisation that I am going through with this, and shortly I will be facing my mother. Callum is all green in the face, and he is holding his stomach. I know that he is feeling the same way, but I am not going to give in. I know that he is starving, as I know that my body is telling me the same thing. Well it would be telling me that I'm hungry, if I let it. Then the worst thing happens, and we nearly both end up running back to the rock shelf. Mum has been really worried all day. She didn't think that we would stay away this long. She is nervous and agitated. She just can't sit still. She spends the whole day going up the sand dunes and looking down the beach, then walking back across our yard to the road, to see if we are coming that way. Every so often she walks down the road and loops back home via the beach to see if she can see any sign of us. It is getting really late in the day and she is now really considering ringing the police, but first she thinks that she better take one last look. You know just encase. She has just climbs the sand dunes, and can see two little figures heading along the beach. She rubs her eyes to make sure that she is actually seeing what she thinks she is seeing. It is mum that we see, and she comes running down the sand dunes towards us. Callum really starts to panic, and is fighting as hard as he can to get away. I don't know why but I just won't let him. I really want to run away again too, but something inside me tells me `no,' and that this is the best thing to do. So I hold Callum a tight as I can, preventing him from running. He eventually gives up the fight, but collapses to the sand and starts crying all over again. He is a wreck, and just can't control his emotions. It cuts me up again, as I hate seeing him so upset. It is completely devastating to me. I pull him back up off the sand and hug him tightly, by this time mum has made it over to us. She is red in the face, and sweating from the run. She has a relieved look on her face, as she comes over and latches onto both of us in a hug. "Fuck off you bitch! I don't want to see you again." Callum screams. It surprises the hell out of both mum and I. Mum had been expecting that response, but from me, not Callum. She is now really starting to realise just how much Pierre means to Callum as well as me, but she can't do anything about it now as it is all too late. "I'm really sorry, I really am. But once Pierre's uncle decided that he wanted custody I really had no option but to let him go. Please you have to believe me. I am really sorry." Mum says, as she burst into tears. I had expected this from mum, but I am still too pissed off with her. I had decided before we even started to head home that I am going to give her the silent treatment, and I am sticking to my guns. Callum latches onto me tighter, he still can't bring himself to accept mums apology, let alone believe what she has told him. Callum doesn't say anything back to her, as he hates confrontation because it always leads to fighting. This is the reason I am so surprised that he talked to mum the way he did, as it really is out of character for him. It is the first time I have ever heard Callum talk to anyone is such a tone, and it sort of scared me. Seeing how uncomfortable Callum is with mum being around I shrug off her hug, and quickly lead Callum back to the house. It is a huge battle especially trying to get Callum over the sand dunes, and to make matters worse mum tries to help. She just doesn't get the point that neither of us want to see her. Each time she tries to help it just makes things worse, as Callum resists more and more. I am at the point of snapping at mum, but I know that will only upset Callum further, so I just can't do it. It really is a lose - lose situation. Eventually I manage to get Callum over the dunes and into the house. I lead him through the house to our room and sit him down on his bed. Mum has followed us all the way trying to help. But I think that she is finally starting to get the point, when neither of us even looks at her. We make sure that we have our backs to her all the time, well when it is possible. Once I have Callum settled I barge my way past mum and out to the kitchen. Mum takes that as the final hint and leaves the room. I think she is really upset with the way we have shunned her, but we don't care in the slightest. I can smell food, so check the oven. Mum has cooked us tea, and left it in the oven at a low heat, to keep it warm. I grab a couple of tea towels and take them out of the oven. I take out some cutlery before carrying the plates through to our room one plate at a time. We are breaking mum's rules by eating in our bedroom, but neither of us care. We eat our food in silence. I don't think either of us realised quite how famished we were, as our plates are completely empty within minutes. The food is horrible, worse than usual but we are far too hungry to care. Once Callum has finished he puts his plate on the floor and curls himself up on the bed. I get off my bed and pick his plate up, then place both of our plates on Callum's drawers. There is no way that I am going to risk walking into mum by taking the plates through to the kitchen. I then go over to my own drawers to grab a diaper, as I don't want to take the risk of wetting the bed. I quickly change and hop into my own bed, and pull up my sheet. I am just about asleep when I feel Callum slip into bed beside me. He cuddles up to me and promptly falls asleep. It doesn't take me long to follow him. My sleep doesn't last long, as Callum's comfort just isn't enough to prevent my night terrors. I relive the horrible event which has plagued my life, all over again. There is nothing I can do, as per usual I am completely paralyzed in fear. I am really glad that I have put on the diaper, as I feel my body relinquish control to the terror. The only thing that my body will allow me to do is cry, and cry I do. I sort of hope that it will wake Callum up so that he can comfort me, but he is such a deep sleeper that I know that it isn't going to happen. It sort of makes me happy not waking Callum as I know how much he needs to sleep, but I long for someone to comfort me in my time of need. I spend the rest of the night wrestling with my mind. I am trying to think about something happy like the good times I have had with Pierre, but it doesn't work. Dad just stands in the doorway all night with that hideous huge stiffie standing out. By the morning I am shaking uncontrollably and I am drenched in sweat. At least this time I haven't pissed on my brother, but I only have my diaper to thank for that. I am back to where I was before Pierre had come into my life, and again I get no sleep. I am feeling all washed out and drained, and really wish that a miracle will come around and make me happy again. The sun has started to rise, casting a blue light through our room. It sort of reflects the mood which we are feeling. With the sun rising dad disappears and I am finally able to move again. I am feeling so tired that I am considering trying to get some sleep, but that idea is short lived when I feel Callum start to stir. I look down to my cute little blonde haired brother and watch him wake up. His short stubby nose starts to twitch like it is itchy or something. His eyelids start to flutter as he tries to wrench them open. It takes a good five minutes before he finally opens his eyes properly. His blue eyes have lost their sparkle. In fact they seem to have lost all their lustre. Instead they look all sad and lonely, which makes me feel the same way. Again I start to feel guilty, as I have failed to protect him from the horrible world. I know it isn't something that I can control in the slightest, but I still feel guilty about it. My heart melts when Callum looks up to me and I see his thin dull red lips try to produce a smile. It is a very weak smile, but a smile all the same. It hurts to see him so depressed, so seeing him attempt to smile means that he is going in the right direction. I want to see him bouncing off the walls with excitement all over again, as when he is happy, life is bearable. But I know it isn't going to be a quick fix to bring Callum back to life, a smile is a good start though. "Thank you for letting me sleep with you. I needed your company, or I would have cried all night. I still really miss Pierre... How do I make the pain go away?" Callum asks in a croaky voice, as he is still in the process in waking up. I feel a stinging in my eyes from the salty tears welling up in them, after hearing him say that. He really upset me with his admission. I mean I know he is feeling that way, but to hear him actually say it is so hard to take. "If I knew how to make the pain go, then I would be a lot happier myself. It will eventually fade, but don't make the same mistakes that I have. I want you to try to live your life as normally as possible, and don't shut everyone out. Trust me it is hard but you can get through it, because you are so much stronger than I am." I tell Callum. I then embrace him in a hug, as we both cry again. We stay in our room all day comforting each other. Mum tries to come in and see us, but we give her the cold shoulder each time. It feels so strange giving her the silent treatment for once, as I'm so used to yelling at her, and letting her know how I feel, that this feels wrong. But I think it is working, as each time she comes in, the look of guilt on her face becomes more and more evident. I don't feel guilty about how we are treating her, and I don't think Callum is either. We both fully believed that she has bought all this on herself. The longer the day wears on, the more Callum seems to come back. Slowly he starts to smile properly again, and the sparkle is slowly returning to his eyes. The problem is as he recovers from his depression, I feel like I am falling headfirst, deeper into mine. I have achieved what I needed to, by bringing Callum back to his normal chirpy self, that my mind finally has the chance to finally take over. By the end of the day I feel like a thick black fog has engulfed me. The only times we leave the room all day is to shower, and eat. After my shower I can't be bothered getting changed, so when I leave the room I just wrap my towel around my waist. Mum doesn't look very impressed about me walking around virtually naked but she bites her tongue. I couldn't give a shit about what she thinks anyway. Callum does get changed as he doesn't want another encounter with mum, especially after having been caught a while ago. The longer the day goes on, the less I leave the room, but Callum takes my place by leaving the room more often as he comes out of his depression. By dinner time I refuse to leave the room again, so Callum has to get our dinner for us. We have tea again in our room again, much to mum's disgust but again she doesn't say anything about it. She just sneaks in and gets our dirty dishes at some stage during the night. Between my deep depression, and my night terrors I have the worst night in my life. The image of dad is made even worse by the black fog that surrounds me. It seems to be much more real, almost as if I am back at where it all began. I even feel the agonizing pain all over again, but dad never moves from the doorway. I swear that I can feel the blood pouring from my body, but I quickly realised what the wet sensation that I am feeling, really is. It is a horrible night and it just seems to drag on and on. At some stage I think that I hear the phone ringing which I think is really strange, as the phone has never rung during my terrors before. "Josh, Callum wake up. We have to get ready to go, and quick!" Mum shouts as she crashes through the door and turns on the light. Her face looks white as a ghost, and her eyes have a scared and petrified look to them. I know she has just been given some terrible news. The noise she makes as she smashes into the room snaps me out of my night terror instantly, but I am still shaking and drenched in sweat. "What... what the hell... I mean what happened." Callum stutters as he tries to wake up. His eyes are still half closed, as the bright light has a blinding effect on him. As his eyes slowly adjust to the light he opens them fully. He stretches out, and then tries to rub the sleep from his eyes. "I just had a call from witness protection. It's your dad... he's... he's escaped, we have to get ready to go quick." Mum says. My body trembles even worse now, and I can feel the fear trying to take over. If I don't get out of bed quick then I will be stuck. Callum hides under his covers. He can't handle it, as it is the second piece of terrible news that he has been given in too shorter time. Mum rushes over to Callum and pulls him out of bed. She stands him up and hugs him. Tears are streaming down both of their cheeks as the situation is not what they had wanted. She whispers to Callum to hurry up and get showered and changed, and then just to grab anything that he feels is important. We are going to leave everything else behind. Mum then comes over and pulls me out of bed. I am a lot harder for her to get out, as my body has become paralysed with fear all over again. Mum knows why I am so hard to get up, as she knows what I go through each night. It makes her cry even harder, seeing me paralysed like that. Once she has got me out of bed, she then tells me to give Callum a hand and to get myself ready. She gives me a quick hug too, but I don't hug her back. It is all her fault all of this is happening anyway. Callum is still anchored in the same spot that mum had left him in, and he is now shaking uncontrollably. I go up to him and get behind him. Placing my hands on his shoulder and gently push him to get him moving, and then guide him through to the bathroom, stopping only to get a couple of towels from the linen closet. Once in the bathroom I start the shower running and adjust the temperature. Callum still hasn't moved a muscle so I know that I am going to have to strip him too. I quickly rip off my diaper and throw it in the rubbish, then proceeded to strip Callum. I pull his summer pyjama top up and over his head. Callum does help by lifting his arms to make it easier. I dump his top on the floor and then start on his PJ shorts. I am not too surprised to see them tented up. I know that I should have taken him to the toilet first, but hey we aren't going to be using the shower here again, so I figure he can just pee in there. I pull down his PJ shorts exposing his cute little 1 ¼ inch stiffie, again his pink glans are exposed out the end of his foreskin. I am always fascinated by the way it points out at a 90 degree angle, which sort of makes it look a little longer. He steps out of his shorts and I help him to get under the torrent of warm water gushing from the showerhead. Once he is under the steady stream of water I tell him to take a piss. Wow the river of piss that erupts from the pee slit in his dick, easily matches that coming from the shower. I am starting to wonder whether he had taken a piss at all yesterday. His piss seems to last forever. But as it slowly fades to a dribble his stiffie slowly deflates back to its normal soft size. Once Callum has finished taking a leak, he starts shaking again. I quickly embrace him in a cuddle and stroke his stomach. He is terrified as I can see it in his eyes. This is the first time that we have had a real threat from dad since they put him back in prison. In fact it has been so long since dad has tried anything that we had almost forgotten the threat he is. Now everything seems to have caught up with us, and my little brother isn't coping with it one little bit. "What will he do to us if he catches us?" Callum asks. His voice is a bit squeaky and it is wavering from the overwhelming fear his is feeling. He just can't get back in control of his emotions and is starting to tremble even worse now. The colour has drained from his face, and he is struggling to hold back the tears. I hug him tighter, but it does little to calm him. "Look you don't have anything to worry about. I won't let dad lay a finger on you, so you will be perfectly safe. You should know that I wouldn't let that arsehole hurt you, now stop worrying about it." I reply sincerely to my brother. He knows that I won't let dad do anything to him, but that isn't what his problem is. "I know that you won't let dad hurt me. But I don't... I don't want... I don't want to see you get hurt again. It's just so hard... coz I can still see all those other beatings dad gave you... I can't make the images go away." Callum blubbers. He then fully loses control of his emotions and bawls his eyes out. I am dumbstruck as I have never thought about the effect my beatings has had on him. I thought that I was protecting him, but in some ways I think it just hurts him more. I squeeze the life out of him with my hug, as I try to hug him as tight as possible. He starts to splutter which makes me realise that I am probably hugging him too tightly, as I ease back just a little. I give my cute little brother a kiss on his forehead, to reinforce how much I love him. "Look you don't have anything to worry about. Dad won't find us, witness protection will..." "Josh, stop telling me what you think that I want to hear. I want you to promise me that if dad finds us that you will run away, and take me with you. I couldn't bear to see you get hurt again... I've seen you get... get hurt too many times... I don't want you to fight with dad... I want you to promise me that you will run. Promise me!" Callum interrupts almost screaming at me. His emotions are shot to pieces, and he is still crying heavily. He is really scared of dad, but not because dad might hurt him. No, he was worried about me instead. I start to cry along with him. "I promise that we will run away if dad finds us." I sob to Callum, who promptly turns around and hugs me back. "Thank you." Callum replies to me. It is all that he wants to hear. We stand for a while longer hugging each other with the warm water from the shower still cascading over our naked bodies. I give Callum another peck on the forehead, and then release him from my embrace. He knows that we had better get a move on, so he lets me go as well. I grab the soap and lather my brother up. I got the usual reaction from him when I clean his little dickie. Callum giggles a little seeing his 1 ¼ inch stiffie, which causes me to smile. I am so glad to hear his childish laugh that it really does warm my heart to hear it. He seems to be coming right, albeit slowly. But as they say good things take time. I finish soaping Callum up, and proceed to clean myself whilst he rinses off. Once he is clean he hops out of the shower and dries off, before scurrying back to our room to get changed. I have now finished rinsing off and turn off the shower before hopping out. I grab the spare towel and thoroughly dry my glistening clean body. I wrap the towel around my waist and head to my room to change. Callum has already changed and left, by the time I have made it to our room. Without him in there I am suddenly overcome by a deep dark feeling of loneliness. My depression is taking control again, now that I have nothing more important to concentrate on. I take my time getting changed before I look around trying to decide what I want to take. I go over to my desk and open the draw. I rummage through the drawer to see if there is anything important in there, and that's when I come across the article again. *** "Shit... what the... where am I?" I ask no one in particular. I think I have just blinked, as I tell Sarah about what happened to Pierre. But I am not still out in the field, and my eyes are still too out of focus to work out where I am. "You're back in the car. You feel asleep while trying to tell me what happened to Pierre. Callum had to finish the story for you, before we both carried you back to the car." My sister explains to me. I am a bit surprised to hear that I had fallen asleep, as that doesn't happen often enough. But what catches me off guard the most is that my sister actually helped me. It is a miracle, one that I never thought I would ever see. My eyes were now starting to focus again and I can see the interior of the car to reinforce what my sister has told me. It is now that I also realise that my little brother is clinging onto me. Now that I am awake again, Callum clings onto me even tighter. I have scared him all over again, and he wants to make sure that I won't run off without him again. He has his head buried on my shoulder, which feels a little damp. It is now that I realise that he is crying. Waves of guilt swamp me, and I hug Callum into me more. I have let him down again and it is tearing me apart. "I'm sorry Callum. I didn't mean to run off without you." I sob. "I know, but you had... you had me worried. I don't want you to get hurt anymore. Please don't do that again." Callum sobs to me. He doesn't lift his head off my shoulder so his words are a bit muffled. I start to stroke his back as he sobs harder. I have really scared him this time, and with everything else that has gone on he is at the end of his tether. Pierre getting taken away, then us having to move, and not to mention all the incidents with me, have all taken their toll on the young boy. He is almost at breaking point, and I just keep pushing him closer to it. I try to comfort him as best as I can, but too much has happened. It is going to be a long hard slog to get Callum out of the deep dark hole that he is in. but I will do everything that I can to get him out. I know how hard it is, as I have been trying to dig my way out of that same hole. But the more that I dig the deeper I seem to get. I am just hoping that I can at least pull Callum out, even if I get stuck in my hole even longer. Sarah has been watching from the front passenger's side seat. She really can't believe how close we are, but it doesn't ease her concerns at all. After having heard about Pierre and having seen the toll him leaving has taken on both of us, she is really worried about our wellbeing. The thing that worries her most is from hearing that severe depression can lead to a mental breakdown, and she can see the early signs of it, in both of us. She genuinely wants to help us, but knows that she will have to rebuild our trust first. Mum on the other hand doesn't seem to notice how bad we are in the slightest. She has been so used to seeing me this way that it is nothing new to her. She also looks like she is pissed off about something, which makes her care less about how we are feeling. She can be really selfish when things don't go her way, and that is half the problem I have with her. I just sit there with Callum clinging to me tightly. I am now looking out the window trying to get my bearings. It is almost dark outside which doesn't help me to work out where we are. We are just passing through a little town called Motonui. It is little more than a blot on the landscape, and I have never heard of the place before. So I am completely lost, with no idea what region we are even in. We just seem to be continuously following the black ribbon of asphalt, going wherever it takes us. We all sit in silence. The silence is eerie and tense, as everyone is just too scared to say anything from fear of upsetting someone. Callum is still clinging to me, and his head is still buried into my shoulder. I am starting to wonder whether he is awake or not. There seems to be light appearing in the distance, which I am hoping will give me a chance to work out where we are. The answer comes shortly after I notice the distant aura of light, as we pass a big green sign. The sign tells me that there is a turnoff to a town called Waitara, coming up. Under that it says New Plymouth 16km. Finally I know where we are and where we are heading. We are in the Taranaki region, and I am a little disappointed. As it is dark I have no chance of seeing the magnificent standalone cone shaped mountain that is Mt Taranaki. I have seen loads of pictures of it, but have never seen it in person. I am actually sort of hoping that we are moving to New Plymouth, as it's a really good surf city. The whole of the region is famous for its surf breaks, so it would be wicked to live here. As we are cruising under the yellow glow from the sodium streetlights on the Waitara bypass, I notice something that I hadn't before. Ahead of us is a black Holden Commodore, and behind us we are being followed by a grey Ford Falcon. We seem to be travelling in convoy, which would explain why mum hasn't told us where we are going, as she doesn't know herself. The other cars are part of the witness protection unit that has been assigned to us. I had thought that it was a bit strange that we were travelling on our own, but I now realise that we haven't been. We have been under close watch from our protection agents. I feel a bit embarrassed and ashamed as I realise that they have had to put up with all my antics. But it is short lived as these guys know everything about me, and they have been informed of all the potential reactions they are likely to encounter from me. It does leave me wondering how they manage to stick with us, as we have taken a couple of detours which won't have been on their agenda. Somehow they must have known where mum needs to go, so she must somehow be in contact with them. I have grown to like the agents who have been assigned to look after us. They have never judged me over what I have been through. Instead they have treated me like a normal kid, despite my constant outbursts. But they haven't done it in a patronizing sort of way. No, they have treated with the sort of respect that any kid deserves. They have almost become like proper fathers to me, as I know that they will protect me to the hilt. Yes I am aware that it is their job, but I almost get the feeling that they will do it anyway. It is dark again now that we have completely passed Waitara, but the lights of New Plymouth can now be seen illuminating the sky. The closer we get to the city the brighter the aura over the city becomes. All of a sudden the darkness disappears completely and is replaced by bright yellow streetlights. We have just entered Bell Block the eastern most suburb of New Plymouth. We followed the main drag through the suburbs heading towards the city centre. At one point we strike a Y intersection, with the road going off to the left heading towards the city centre, and the other veering off towards the suburbs of Fitzroy and East End. The black Holden takes the right and we follow heading into Fitzroy, the most famous beachside suburb in the city. I am actually starting to feel excited as it means that we are most likely going to be living here. My excitement grows as we turn off the main road and start to wind our way through the suburban streets. Even Callum has lifted his head up, and starts to smile, as he even knows where we are. We pull up in front of a pretty modern looking house. It is clad with weatherboards and is painted an off white colour. It has a red colour steel roof, complete with chimney for the cold winter days. The property is surrounded by a medium height solid concrete fence which has been painted in a cream colour. Off to the side of the house is an internal access garage. It looks huge, almost as big as the previous house we had been living in. It is a steel double garage which has been painted in the same colour as the house. The driveway and pathway have matching blue cast iron gates. In front of the house the yard is pretty basic as most of it is nicely manicured lawn, but there are a couple of little planter boxes on each side of the path leading up to the front door. Inside the planter boxes are a various assortment of pretty looking flowers', which actually look healthy. Well at least until mum starts to look after them, as she really isn't a gardener. The house is about halfway down a small cul-de-sac which has a little roundabout at the end to allow you to turn around safely. Most of the houses on the street are pretty new, with a couple of older almost colonial style buildings in between. All the houses and yards are well maintained, and beam out the pride the owners have for them. The street is lined with evergreen trees which just add to the beautiful safe look of the area. I like the look of the place, but I think that I still prefer the old place up at Taupo Bay. We park on the side of the road in-between the two government cars. The agents get out, and do a thorough search of the area to make sure it is clear. Then they come over to our car and open the doors. They then make us all get out, and escort us into the house. Their guns are drawn and held in a ready to shoot position the whole time. This is all new to me as when we came into the program dad was already back in jail, so they were a lot more casual about it then. Now that he has escaped again, they are on full alert, and it makes me feel a little nervous. Once we are safely in the house the two agents from the grey ford leave and take up their position at the end of the street. They will stay there guarding the only access into the street until they are relieved with a fresh set of agents. The only people who will be allowed into the street are the other residents. Anyone else will have to go through a whole lot of crap, similar to that at some border crossings in the world. The remaining two agents now holster their weapons and lead us through the hall and into the lounge which is the first door on the right as you enter the house. Between the hall and the lounge I don't get a good feel about the place. Real estate agents would call it light, bright and airy, but I would call it bland, sterile and dull. It doesn't have any character to it, unlike the older house we had been living in. There are none of those fancy looking mouldings skirting the ceilings and the floors, no, there is just no character at all. Like our previous place this one is fully furnished. The furnishings are like the house, chic, modern, but have no character. But it is comfortable, pretty big, but most importantly it feels safe. The walls are all painted in a cream sort of off white colour. On the walls hang four paintings, which are hideous modern abstract pictures, which I personally hate. The lounge has two lazy boy armchairs, and a huge four person couch, all made of leather and a light tan sort of colour. The seating surrounds a glass top coffee table, which looks really nice with its wooden frame. There is a full entertainment system complete with 73" TV. In one corner is a modern design bookcase painted white, but it is full of books some of which look interesting. In the other is a modern looking fireplace. Other than that there is very little to fill such a large room. There is a large entranceway in one of the walls which leads through to the kitchen - diner. There is a huge rectangular dining room table made from Mahogany. It looks pretty wicked. It is surrounded by six matching Oak chairs, and there is still plenty of space to add more if you need to. On the far side of the table is a breakfast bar, which is adjoined to a large modern kitchen. The bench tops are all white, made from some cheap laminate product most likely. The cupboards are the same laminate product as the bench top, but they actually have a bit of colour to them, a dull yellow, but it is better than no colour at all. The kitchen is fitted with the most modern of kitchen appliances, as you would expect. But yet again there is no wow factor to the place, which makes me appreciate the cosy little cottage we had been living in before, even more. One of the remaining two agents takes his place at the entrance to the hall, while the other takes a seat in an armchair along with mum. The agent in the chair starts to explain all what we are going to need to know, as well as briefing us on the latest with dad. No news on that front, he seems to have vanished off the face of the world. The agent then hands mum a completely new set of documentation, you know ID, birth certificates, etc. We find out that even though we are under high alert we are still expected to go to school, and continue life as normally as possible. The difference this time is that we will have agents monitoring us every time we leave the house. The only real change for Callum and me is that our last name has now been changed to Baker. ************ Comments are always welcome at (pennywise3636@gmail.com). Please keep all comments clean. If possible please kick in a few bucks at the Nifty Website, to keep it up and running. The site puts in a lot of effort and work so that we all have a place to come and contribute or read some fine stories.