𝙇𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝘼𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙔𝙤𝙪 | ᵀᴮᴾ

12: Brother 1/2

~Day three in the basement~

Finney sat on the floor near the other room, staring at the phone. Rosita was tired but didn't want to sleep. The door unlocked loudly, causing Finney to rush over to Rosita and stand next to the phone. Rosita moved as much as she could to look at the Grabber. He had a tray. Like the one he gave her and Robin.

"I made you some breakfast." The Grabber said.

"What did you put in that?" Finney asked. "Salt and pepper." He replied with a laugh. "Oh, eat it, don't eat it." He sat the tray on the floor. "You're already down here. What do I need to drug you for?" He walked out and closed the door, but he didn't lock it. Finney looked at Rosita.

"Is there something in that?" He asked. She shook her head lightly. Finney walked over to where the tray was but passed it and slowly opened the door. Finney gasped and whipped around. He walked over to the phone and picked it up. "Hello?" He said. "Why not?" Finney turned around and walked towards the door but stopped.

He began to do what he did yesterday. Talk to himself. Or that's what he was doing in Rosita's mind. "You're Billy Showalter." Finney said, naming another victim of the Grabber's. His call continued till it stopped. "Hello?" Finney said. "Hello?" He repeated. He hung up the phone.

Finney pondered for a minute before walking over to the door. He opened it and began slowly walking up the stairs.

Rosita tried to warn him, but her voice was still gone, and her body was numb. All she could do was watch helplessly from the mattress.

Finney then changed his mind and went back downstairs and closed the door. He fell to his knees and took a few bites of the eggs and a sip of one of the sodas before picking up the tray and bringing it to Rosita. She shook her head.

"Rosita, you really do need this more than I do." Finney said. He grabbed the other soda and raised it to her lips. She took a sip, and it felt nice on her throat but also hurt due to the carbonation. She used all the energy left in her body to grab some of the eggs.

Finney ate less than half of the eggs and drank all his soda. "You can have the rest of this. I'm gonna continue what I was doing yesterday." Rosita looked at him curiously. "I'm digging a hole." Rosita then looked at him confused. "Bruce said to." Rosita didn't believe him but went along with it and nodded.

Finney walked over to Rosita with his hands cupped with something in it. "Here." He said to Rosita. She looked in his hands and was confused. "Okay, this is water from the tank of the toilet. You can drink this or risk not having your voice back." Rosita thought of a comment but couldn't say it, so she gave into Finney's gross water and drank it. She was disgusted, but it helped calm the pain in her throat.

Rosita woke up to Finney using a cable to climb up to the window. She watched as he stuck his hand through the top of the grate, trying to open the window. The grate gave way and broke off the window, causing Finney to fall to the ground. Her eyes widened. He looked at her. "I'm okay." He said. She nodded. At some point, Finney went back to digging the hole, and Rosita looked at the window. It was brighter now since the grate blocked most of the sun.

Finney sat at the end of the bed, looking at the door. The light came on, and he laid down on Rosita's chest, and they both pretended to be asleep.

"I know you're not sleeping." The Grabber said in a sing-song voice. Finney and Rosita opened their eyes. Finney sat up. "I'm starving." Finney said. "Tell me your name." The Grabber told Finney. "Why do you care?" He asked. "I usually don't." The Grabber replied. "I find out eventually in the paper. They always print a nice, big photo with all the details I could ever want. All the things you boys lie about." He looked at Rosita. "Minus you."

"What's different this time?" "Oh... Oh, it's complicated. It's... too complicated. Everything's different. Nothing's going right." The Grabber told them. "You could let us go." Finney said. "I'm thinking about it. I promise I won't tell anyone. You can blindfold us, drop us off on the street. We'll walk home." "Well, tell me your name." "Taylor." Finney lied. "Taylor Mullen." The Grabber sighed then threw the tray to the side. It clattered loudly on the ground.

"I was really starting to like you, Finney. I almost let you go." The Grabber turned around and left. He closed the door but left it unlocked again.

Finney approached the door to open it when something caught his attention. He turned around and walked to the phone and picked it up. "Hello?" He said. "Bruce? Billy- Paperboy?"

Rosita still didn't believe he was talking to anyone. She thought he had gone crazy from being in the basement. It must affect everyone differently. Finney put the phone down and hung it up.

He had walked over and cleaned up the eggs the Grabber had thrown on the floor.

Finney ended up falling asleep, and Rosita stroked his hair. Her voice came back but as a whisper.

"I'll look after you." Rosita whispered to a sleeping Finney. She smiled softly.

He reminded her of Robin in some ways. Finney was Robin's best friend, after all.

He also reminded her of Christina. She sees Finney almost as her son. And she's proud of that.

To see him as a friend, a son, and a brother.

Though we don't share the same blood
You're my brother, and I love you that's the truth