I’ll jump on the angst bandwagon for prompts 2 and 8 with Jack and Race 👀
So I’m so sorry this took so long, I completely forgot about that list I made, but in case anyone is wondering, the angst list of starter prompts I made can be found here!
TW: Blood, child abuse, imprisonment, open ended, dog mauling, language
2. Everything hurts!”
8. “That’s a lot of blood…”
“Jackie! Jackie, I’m here! I’m right here… oh God… Fuck, that’s a lot of blood…”
The words barely registered in Jack’s brain. For a moment, he was blissfully unaware of everything. His brain shut off for a moment, letting him wander around in the great big nothingness before everything came crashing back down on his shoulders. He was always supposed to be the calm one, the one that made the bad go away. That’s what he used to say. “Close your eyes, kid. You can open them when all the bad’s gone away…” It was all just bullshit. The bad never left. The bad followed them everywhere because Jack Kelly was always destined for destruction.
Jack Kelly was cursed with chaos.
This was supposed to be their new start. Things never worked out like Jack planned. He should’ve known that by now. Even after everything they’d done, they couldn’t be free.
“Everything hurts!” Jack whimpered, feeling pathetic and weak. The voice above him belonged to the only person Jack had ever needed to protect. The voice above him belonged to his little brother, the only family Jack had, as far as he was concerned. Everyone else could go to hell, he didn’t care. All he cared about was that kid.
“I know! I know, but we’re gonna get you help,” Race promised shakily. “We made it, Jackie, we made it out…” he all but sobbed. “You gotta stay with me, huh?”
The air was getting thinner and Jack wondered just how far they’d made it, if they’d made it to the train, if they’d even made it out of the yard. He couldn’t remember. His brain was too fogged up. “Why does it hurt?” he asked, unable to keep his voice steady enough to pretend he was fine. It’s what he’d always done before. When he was beat or when he was breaking, he’d make sure to put on a happy shitshow for his baby brother because he couldn’t stand it when that boy was scared. Right now, though, Jack couldn’t convince himself that he was scared out of his own mind.
Trembling fingers were running through his hair. “I-it was the dogs…” that precious voice whispered.
Oh. The dogs. Jack had always thought he’d loved dogs. Rex and Fazz were guard dogs, not so much protecting the place. More like, they were there to keep the people inside from getting out. They were there to keep Jack and Race inside.
Somewhere deep down in his brain, Jack could remember a whirlwind of things. All of it had happened within five minutes. It had to happen within five minutes. Jack was getting his brother out of that place before anyone figured out they were gone in the first place. Five minutes. That was all the time they had between going to their room and bed check. Five minutes, down to the second for Jack to smuggle a bag out for the both of them, crawl through vents and jump the fence.
The dogs ruined their chance at escape.
Jack had planned for that, at least he thought he had. Two years of planning a mere five minutes and he thought he’d accounted for every small detail. He’d been so thorough, he’d thought of everything. The pills. He’d puked up the pills and he’d made Race do the same for weeks. They had to be awake. They had to be able to run. Jack had stolen two pairs of shoes, actual shoes. He’d stolen money out of the pockets of other men. He’d made a bag out of the sheets from his own bed and packed the little things that they had and he’d made sure the hallway would be empty all the way to the front door.
He’d stolen meat, raw meat from the kitchen, it was supposed to distract the dogs so they could climb the fence, it was supposed to work.
The hand that smoothed back his hair was trembling. “Please don’ leave me… Jackie, please don’t leave me here…” His little brother wasn’t supposed to be scared. Jack was desperate to see him, desperate to hold him. He fought a losing battle to get his eyes open, only to catch a blurry glimpse of the only person he loved in the world before the darkness came for him. He barely heard the shouts and the footsteps coming towards them and he couldn’t even beg. It only hurt him more to hear his brother do just that. “No! No, we made it out! Don’t take us back! Please! Somebody help! Somebody help us!” That’s when Jack gave into the dark oblivion.
Jack had planned for everything. Still, everything fell apart. Because Jack was born to be a failure.
It must’ve only been a minute when Jack woke up. He knew it had only been a moment. “Racer?” he asked, trying to shoot up and run. That’s what he had to do. He had to get up. They had to run. They had to get to the train that would take them to Santa Fe.
But he couldn’t move.
“Shshshshshhhhh, you’re safe now, child. Back home at The Refuge…”
And just like that it was over. Thoughts of freedom began to slip away and Jack could only feel sick. “Where’s my brother?” he dared to ask, trying to rip at his wrists that he already knew were restrained. In fact, his whole body was trapped beneath relentless leather straps. His ankles, his wrists, his chest, even his forehead. He wasn’t going anywhere and they wanted him to know that. “Where’s Race?” He meant for it to sound demanding, like he wasn’t caving without an answer, but all that came out was a pained whimper as a damp cloth was gently dabbed over his bare chest.
“Tyler James Kelly is in very capable hands, young one. Just relax,” the person coaxed. Still, Jack tried to get up again. “I’m sure our young Tyler James is being well managed and reminded of his place…” Jack was definitely going to be sick. “After what happened, we could only leave him with the best of the best. Mr. Snyder will take good care of him.”
The tremors in Jack’s hands were going wild. Panic clawed up through his throat and he let out a sob. “Fuck you!” he screamed, yanking desperately at the bonds that held him down, ignoring the pain that spiked throughout his body. The adrenaline wouldn’t last long. When Jack forced his eyes open, he saw a head of silver hair and a hand coming towards his neck with a syringe. “No! Let me go!”
“Shhhhh…” the man hushed as the drug was released into his system. “You’re safe now, James. Just relax and let us take care of you.”
Without much of a conscious decision, Jack began to do just that, tears running down his face as the realization dawned on him. There was no way out of this web.
“Close your eyes, dear boy. You can open them when we take all the bad things away…”
Ran over and tried to bite me as I was walking home from the grocery store, and ran away when I looked at it as a Man. Do you know what the woman said to her dog?
"Did he hurt you?"
I hope that dog is killed or permanently chained when outside.
No, I called the police and reported the vicious evil dog. I hope they do something. I don't know what they do in the world about dogs while they also try to worship them. We shall see. I can file a lawsuit for small claims, at the very least.
Just because I am not afraid of dogs doesn't mean I will let them bite me. Just because I can kill a dog with one kick, doesn't mean that's how I want to solve the problem.
