Infected

38 - Facing the Past

Another week or so passed before Tommy was ready to step back into the home he had practically grown up in. Jack and Gab waited, but the three knew they couldn't wait forever. Now the couple along with the reunited twins stood at the front of the elegant house. Tommy could feel the shadow of it looming over him.

"Are you sure I can be here," Ranboo said, shifting from foot to foot.

"There's no reason you shouldn't," Jack said, unlocking the front door.

"Okay, thank you," Ranboo said.

"You're part of the family," Gab said, "whether as Ranboo or Aaron, you have as much right to be here as me or Tommy."

"Huh," Tommy said, only hearing his name.

"You ready for this," Jack said, looking back at him before opening the door.

"I don't know if I ever will be," He admitted, taking a shaking breath as Jack opened the door for what felt like years.

The other three went in, marveling at the elegance of the house. Tommy stood right outside, willing his feet to move. This had to happen at one point or another. Eventually he did move, following Jack inside the house. Tommy remained silent as he stepped through the door. He looked around, still seeing remnants of the last time he had been here. A pain seemed to spike up his arm as he remembered the fight, his desperation to escape. He rubbed the arm, soon noticing the pain wasn't actually there. Tommy found Gab and Jack in the doorway of his room. No. His closet. He knew what it really was now, a place to keep him trapped.

"He lived out of here," Gab said, a sadness in her voice.

"No wonder he wanted to keep a ton of my old things," Jack said, "There's barely anything in here."

"I wish we had found him sooner," She said.

"Maybe things would have been different if I had moved to Republic City with my sister," He said.

"Not much you can do now," Tommy said, making both of them jump.

"Where'd you come from, kid," Jack exclaimed, he just shrugged. "Don't scare me like that. How much did you hear?"

"Just a bit," He said, "Can I have the keys? Also there's a loose floorboard in there, feel free to check that for me."

"Yeah," Jack handed the pair of keys to him, "Are you okay? You seem to be doing a lot better than earlier."

"Who knows," Tommy said. He went back to the kitchen, pulling out the emergency flashlight they kept, then retraced the steps he took nearly a month ago. His hands started to tremble and he tightened his grip on the keys, feeling the cold metal press into his skin.

Tommy came upon the same room Clay had brought him to, he turned the knock to find it had never been locked, feeling a rush of heat when he opened it. The light switch proved faulty and he turned on the flashlight. His eyes widened. The room was tiny. It must have been at the far end of the house and contained a sleeping bag, a stack of books, and a large water heater. Had he been locked in here he would have suffered from not only claustrophobia but possible overheating.

"Hey," Tommy jumped as a hand touched his shoulder and he spun around ready to fight whoever it was. "Oh sorry." It was Ranboo.

"Don- don't do that," Tommy said, trying to catch his breath, "Wha-what did you want?"

"Just to see if you wanted me to check out some rooms with you," They said, "Jack told me you had the keys and many of the rooms I've tried have been locked."

"He could be a bit...paranoid," Tommy said, but he knew better. It was to keep him from finding out something he wasn't supposed to know.

"It seems like a lot more than paranoia," Ranboo said, trying to get him to laugh. "Uh, lead the way."