Daughter of the Refuge

Chapter Ten

Going back in time peeps to the end of her and Jojo's talk, in case of confusion. 

Trigger warning: there is a lot of mention of blood and a dead body. 

"Cassandra's waitin' fah me," she said. "I should go." 

And she walked away.

Samantha sucked in a deep breath as she stepped through the doors of the Lodging House. The entrance was completely empty, a silence filling the air, one that was nearly as loud as any storm would have been. 

She dropped to her knees as she allowed the tears to fall from her eyes, staining the floor with her pain. If she could go back and redo the last hour, she would take back every word she had said to Jojo. 

Watching his reaction was like watching a sunset. One minute there's a beautiful expression filled with light and hope and the next it's erased with darkness and a cold feeling of loneliness. Her words had done exactly what she wanted them to do, but she had never expected it to hurt her as bad as it did. 

Even through the pain, Samantha still knew that she had done the right thing, even if she had done it in the wrong way. Cassandra was right. When Jojo learned the truth he wouldn't understand that she was trying to protect him. And that was why she needed to stop him from digging for the answers. Because if Snyder got ahold of Jojo, Samantha would never forgive herself. 

She ran a hand over her cheeks, trying to wipe away the tears that were spilling from her eyes, but they only seemed to fall faster. 

"Is sorry," she whispered, pressing a hand to her chest as if that would relieve the pain that she felt. "Yous didn't deserve any a dis."

She nearly jumped when she heard footsteps walk across the floor above her head and she stood up, wiping away her tears. She made her way to the bathroom on the bottom level and washed her face with cold water before glancing at her reflection in the dirty mirror. 

"What am I doin'?" She questioned, but her thoughts were halted when a bang ripped through the air, causing the girl to jump. A long silence followed it before two more bangs sounded. Her ears recognized the sound immediately. Gun shots. 

She made her way back to where the rest of the newsies were situated, and found them in complete chaos as everyone was trying to figure out what was going on. Just as she was about to tell everyone to shut up for a minute's silence to think, Jack entered the room, his presence alone drawing the endless noise to a halt. 

"What's goin' on, Jack?" Specs voiced the question that was swirling in everyone's minds. 

"Is everyone 'ere?" A few heads turned, counting the number of people present.

"Jojo's gone," a tall blond that Samantha didn't recognize piped up.

"He's on da porch," she said. 

"You can go Tommy Boy." A few minutes passed as they waited for the two return, mostly filled by everyone questioning Jack. 

"Jojo," Jack sighed in relief when Jojo and the other boy, Tommy Boy, stumbled into the room. "Is that everyone?"

"Mush's gone," Samantha gasped, looking around for the younger boy. 

"Kid Blink," Jack snapped. "Do yous know where he is?"

"He went tah Harlem. Said he'd be back in an hour."

"How long ago was dat?" Kid Blink winced as he glanced at the clock.

"'Bout two hours ago."

"Specs, Race, Albert, and Finch, you guys come with me. Everyone else stays 'ere. Crutchie and Henry, yous're in charge."