The Heroes

Chapter 13

"So it all started when I was a boy. I grew up in an orphanage, and none of us were really that close with one another. Until Fenn came. The first friend I ever had. He and I just instantly.. clicked. And we grew really close, really fast. I think we were both around.. thirteen? When he joined us. We were quite young. But yeah, we grew really close really quick. We would only really talk to each other, unless we had no choice in the matter. And, we knew we wanted to be friends forever. Thinking back, we we're so naive. I can't believe I ever let myself believe that 'forever' nonsense. So, yeah, basically, we decided we wouldn't let ourselves be adopted unless someone adopted both of us. But, that was never going to happen, obviously. Nobody wanted two teenage boys.

"After a while, this man seemed to take an interest in me. He would come and visit the orphanage most days, and I often saw him just watching me. After a while, he asked if he could take me on a walk. A lot of people do that before adopting a child, so they can get to know them better. I don't think he knew about my promise with Fenn, or he just didn't care, but either way Fenn was never allowed to come on these walks with us. But yeah, we started going on walks quite regularly. Once or twice a week, sometimes more. After a few weeks of this, about a month maybe, he started acting kinda sketchy whenever we were alone together. I didn't notice it at first, but eventually I realised, and it was weird. But, when I told the people who worked at the orphanage, they wouldn't believe me. They said he was too nice to do such a thing, that I was just touch starved from not having parents and I was overreacting.  After a couple weeks of this I tried to bring it up with him and tell him he was making me uncomfortable, but he brushed it off. He said the exact same rubbish as the orphanage- that I was 'overreacting' because I was just 'touch starved' blah blah blah. I don't remember most of it. But I do remember him dragging me down an alley, and- and assaulting me. Yeah, I remember that.

"And, this time, I didn't even try to tell people. I didn't think they would have believed me, and it wasn't something I wanted to have to think about. But yeah, that broke me inside. After that I just became cold as stone, emotionless. I wasn't myself, but nobody except Fenn even noticed. And I wasn't going to tell him what was wrong, he wouldn't understand. I kept on seeing that man after that, we kept going on walks. Fenn would of asked why. But he didn't get it- he grew up with a family. He had a family, until they all died in some sort of freak accident and he came to our orphanage. He never spoke much about it, I still don't know exactly what happened. But me, see I was desperate for love. I was desperate to have a family. I would have done anything. It was my dream. But Fenn didn't understand.

"A few months after all of that, that man said he wanted to adopt me. I was too scared to say no, and nobody knew about what had happened. And Fenn- well, Fenn thought I'd abandoned him. He thought I'd forgotten our promise and left him there. And, not long after I'd left, there was a freak accident at the orphanage. A fire. Everyone was killed. Including Fenn. And, it's all my fault. I could have convinced this man to let him come with me, I could have gotten him out of there. But I didn't, because I was too scared.

"Oh, and for the other thing. My full name is Alexander. And Fenn- well, Fenn always used to call me Alex."