(April '17) Prompt #3 - "I'll make a man out of you." [Archive]

ArtisticVicu

05-01-2017, 06:48 AM

"I'll make a man out of you yet, boy!"

The bellowed words echoed in his head as he raced through the house. He had probably a two minute lead. He just hoped it was enough. He ripped up the loose floorboard in his room that he had stashed all his most prized possessions, shoving them into the sack in his hand. He took off down the stair and around the corner, yanking the stairs to the basement open. He was careless running down the stairs and his food slipped on the second to last step. He caught himself of the rail and kept going. He grabbed a crowbar from the toolkit nearby and shoved it in between the doors to a locked cabinet. He ripped the doors apart. Inside were a few more of his possessions he had not had the opportunity to stash in his room and now they were his once more. Booking it up the stairs, he heard the front door finally give. Not even daring to look at the carnage, he made a mad dash for the back door.

He heard the man right behind him as he took off as fast as he could across the yard and over the back fence, tearing down the driveway and barreling across the street. Miraculously, timing was on his side for there were no cars to hit him or for him to collide with. He was across the street and halfway through the next alleyway before the man was cut off by traffic.

Even then he didn't dare slow down.

An hour later, his lungs were burning and the adrenaline had left him completely, leaving him shaking and unable to really move. But he had to keep going, he had to keep moving. If he stayed still too long, he would be caught and shoved back into that horrible home. He pulled out the slip of paper he has scrawled on between school and the house and looked over the words he had long since memorized.

He came to a stop at a street corner, turning his gaze to the street signs. He took a left.

By the time night fell, he was standing on the porch of a ranch style home on a nice lot. Swallowing down his sudden anxiety about the situation, he knocked on the door.

He didn't have much time to regret his actions as the door was opened not even five seconds later. There, standing on the other side, was a regal man with black, wavy hair and a hooked nose. The man sneered at him and he flinched back, adverting his gaze. Before the man could even reprimand him, he quickly asked, "I'm sorry for disturbing you, sir. Does Rachel Gold live here? She gave me this address and I was hoping that it hadn't been a mistake."

He didn't dare look up. He didn't want to see the utter glee in the man's gaze when said man turned him away with a simple word. He jumped when said man placed a hand on his shoulder. It was heavy, firm, but nothing like the hands that had fallen on his shoulder at home. He looked up at the man, a glare on his face out of defensiveness as his body automatically curled away from the touch. The man didn't let him go but his expression was far more neutral than anything he had ever had directed at him from this man.

"She is currently in the library," the man offered, his voice civil and low. While his initial thought was that the man was doing it for his sake so as not to spook him again, he figured it was actually due to trying to restrain himself from lashing out at him. The man's hand finally left his shoulder as the man turned to close and lock the door. He felt on edge when he heard the lock slide into place. "Take you shoes off and stick them with the others and I will show you where she is at."

He did as he was told, tucking his shoes into the corner as out of the way he could manage, attempting to keep his things to as small of an annoyance as he could manage. The man led him through the home.

Despite his first impression, the ranch style home was actually impressively big and deceptively level. When they entered the library, he knew instantly that this was where Rachel was going to be. The room was in the back of the house and was most likely the same square footage as the house itself. It was massive and impressive and, quite honestly, he just wanted to find a corner out of the way and undisturbed where he could live forever. Screw what everyone thought about him. This was heaven.

"If she hasn't moved, she will be over this way," the man offered, heading into the maze of shelves without hesitation. He hurried to keep up or be lost among the shelves till someone found him. Tempting but he was there for a reason.

They rounded what felt like the hundredth bookcase when they came across Rachel. She was tucked into a window seat, a book on her lap and the table in the area littered with all sorts of things. She glanced up upon their arrival. Her face lit up when she saw him and she quickly shoved the closest thing into the pages of the book. "Harry! What are you doing here?"

"I figured I'd make good use of your address since you gave it to me, how many years ago, now?"

"Two," she chuckled, looking to the man with the hooked nose. "How long can Harry stay?"

"That depends on what his guardians say on the matter," the man spoke, gaze sliding to him. "Do you have a number I can call them at, young Harrison?"

The color drained from his face as he glared at the man. Though his tone had been civil, the way he had spoken the words had been mocking. Rachel seemed to be quick on it as well for she actually stepped forward, almost placing herself completely between him and her guardian. "That is uncalled for and you know it."

Harry stared at Rachel, not sure how to react to that. No one stood up against this man like that, let alone anyone that wanted to live. But it seemed Rachel was a special case because the man returned his attention to Harry and apologized. "Forgive me. It was not my place to judge. I have no quarrel with you staying for a while but I cannot permit your stay to be overly lengthy without your guardian's permission."

The color had yet to return to his face as he shook his head. "I'll just leave when my time's up. No use getting them involved."

He caught Rachel's confused frown but missed her guardian's mirroring expression. The man nodded, clearing the expression from his face. "Dinner will be ready in half an hour." The man turned his attention to Rachel. "Tom will be home in the next fifteen minutes."

Rachel nodded. Her guardian left them be and Harry took a seat on the window seat, letting out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. She sat down next to him but didn't touch. "Let me guess, you've ran away from home."

He looked at her, his fear of the situation finally showing on his face. "Please, you have to get your folks to not call mine. If they call, they'll know where I'm at and I don't want to go back. I can't! Not anymore."

Rachel held up her hands though her calm expression hadn't changed. "I will do what I can but it would be better coming from your lips than mine."

Harry sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I just don't know if I can do that."
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