- Chapter 1 - Prologue: The Place for the Forgotten-
Warnings: crying, bad pasts, mentions of Snyder, the Refuge, death
Third Person POV

"There's a place downtown where not many people go.

Away from the schools.

A place not many people know.

It's a place that a group of kids call home.

The others there being the only family some of them have ever known."

David gripped his brother's hand tightly, running for his life.

Literally.

David hated running, but when it came to situations like this, he had to.

He had to run to keep his brother safe.

There was no way he was letting his brother go to the Refuge.

The place where so many kids were broken and so many kids fear.

No. David could never let his brother go there, ever.

He'd sacrifice his life to save his brother.

"David," it was only now David noticed that Les was crying.

Not just crying; the youngest Jacobs sibling was sobbing.

David stopped in his tracks, his eyes widening. He quickly picked up his brother, holding him against his chest as he turned a corner. David leaned against the wall, balancing Les on his hip as he looked into his eyes.

Les had the same beautiful blue eyes that both David and their mother had.

David gently wiped the tears off of Les' cheeks. "You okay, Les?" he whispered, his eyes soft.

Les let out a half hiccup, half sob mix as he tried to nod his head.

David frowned. "What's up, bud?" he whispered, gently rubbing his back.

"Why- why was he chasing us?" Les whispered, his blue eyes confused.

David sighed. "Cause some people are mean," he mumbled a slightly truthful answer, looking away from Les' eyes.

He wasn't technically wrong; it just wasn't the full reason as to why they were running.

David's eyes caught on something in the dark in front of him. His eyes widened. David quickly put Les down and shoved Les behind him, guarding him.

No one was going near him.

David wouldn't let anyone hurt him.

One of the guy's eyes widened. He quickly put his hands up. "Hey, hey, sorry," he started, trying to show he wasn't a threat. "We were just wondering why you were here, we'd never hurt you unless we have to," he assured David.

David looked down at Les, who was clinging to his leg. He looked back at the guy. "Who are you?" he asked cautiously, still on guard.

The guy pointed to himself. "Specs. Specs Willis," he introduced himself.

Realization dawned on David. "I've seen you in a paper," he whispered, his eyes wide. "You're the kid who's mom passed away from an illness they couldn't figure out," he mumbled, before he could stop himself, thinking hard.

A sad smile appeared on Specs' face. "Yeah... that was my mamma," he whispered. He quickly shook his head. "This is Romeo," he informed them, gesturing to the short boy next to them.

Romeo waved.

David had seen him—her? He didn't know this kid's pronouns—in a paper before as well.

He had been a missing kid; he had run away from the police when his mother was taken away and his father was deceased.

David opened his mouth to speak, but Les got to it first, gasping. "Are you good with love?! Can you help me?!" Les asked excitedly, coming out from behind David. "There's this girl- Sally!- she's a plum!" he swooned.

Romeo chuckles. "Sure, kid," he responded. "But I think big bro is not too sure about Sally." He gestures to David's exasperated face.

Les brushed it off. "He's old and grumpy since he can't find love," he responded, wiping the tears off of his face.

David's jaw dropped in offense. "Lester Anthony Jacobs!" he exclaimed.

Specs and Romeo laughed.

Les brushed it off again.

"Besides, we can't see Sally again." David's voice got quieter, sadder.

Les frowned, turning to look at David.

"We can't go back to school," David continued, his voice getting softer by the second and his eyes fixated on the ground. "They're looking for us..."

"Who?" Specs asked softly, a bit intrigued.

These two didn't look like the type of kids who'd be on the run.

"The police," David mumbled, looking down at Les to avoid looking at Specs and Romeo. "They want to take us to the Refuge."

Specs and Romeo's eyes widened.

"I can't let Les go through that," David said, swallowing hard when he remembered all of the stories he's heard.

Les frowned in confusion. "What?"

David didn't answer.

Romeo bent down in front of Les (but not that much. They're pretty close in height). He smiled warmly. "Just a place where the mean people live," he told him, acting nonchalant about it. "Here, how about I introduce you to my friend Jack?" Romeo asked.

Les beamed. "Sure!" he exclaimed.

David's eyebrows furrowed. "Wait, who said we want to-" he started.

But Romeo already had Les on his back and was walking away.

Specs looked at David. "You two have no home," he stated.

David blinked. Thanks for pointing out the obvious, he thought to himself.

"It's best to go to a safe place for the kids unknown." Specs finished. He turned and started walking away.

David stared at him, his head tilted to the side in confusion. "That rhymed..." he mumbled.

He heard Specs' chuckles from ahead of him. "Congrats, Sherlock, you've noticed my talent with rhyming."

David's eyes widened. "Hey!" he exclaimed. "Don't just call me 'Sherlock' and walk away!" He started jogging after Specs. "And you stole my brother!" David added, throwing his hands up in exasperation.

Specs chuckled again.

982 Words
Fun fact: Sherlock Holmes was originally published in 1892.
(This book takes place around the mid 1900s, maybe earlier.)

Sorry for a semi-crappy start to the book, but hey! I hope you all enjoy it!