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“9-1-1, what’s your emergency?”
“Help, you need to save my mom.”
“Okay, it’s gonna be alright. My name’s Sue, what’s yours?”
“It’s Theo, please help her.”
“Okay, Theo, it’s going to be alright. What happened to your mom?”
“M-my dad, he’s really angry. I-I think he hit my mom.”
“Alright, Theo, can you tell me where you are right now? Are you at home?”
“Ye-yeah, we’re at home.”
“Okay, that’s good. Do you know your address?”
“N-no, only the number. 17.”
“That’s okay, you're doing really well. You said your dad is downstairs, where are you right now?”
“I’m in my room. Are you sending someone to help my mom? That’s what you do, right, you send people that can help.”
“That’s right, Theo, I’m going to send some people, but I need to make sure you’re safe while we figure out where you live. Now, can you tell me anything about the roads around your house? Maybe something you can see outside, what school do you go to?”
“O-okay, I, uh, I go to Hollanders Grammar School, and we have a big playground right outside our house. I can see it through my window.”
“That’s great, Theo, that helps a lot. I’m getting someone to come to you now. Can you tell me whether there is anyone else in your house with you? Siblings?”
“N-no, it’s just me and my paren-”
“Theo? Theo, are you still there? Theo, listen to me, you can’t go downstairs no matter how noisy they get. I know you worried about your mum, but I need you to stay in your room, okay. That’s how you can best help your mum right now.”
“I’m scared.”
“It’s going to be okay, the police will be there soon. Theo, don’t answer your dad, okay, I need you to stay where you are. Can you get somewhere in your room that’s hidden? Under your bed, in a closet?”
“But, what if mummy needs my help? Daddy sounds really angry.”
“It’s okay to be worried, but you don’t need to go down to help her. That’s what the emergency responders do. Your job right now is to stay safe. Keep your door closed and stay away from it. Can you do that for me?”
“O-okay, I’m in my closet.”
“Okay, good, Theo. That’s good. Stay there for now, and keep the phone with you.”
“I-I can’t hear my mum anymore…”
“Okay, Theo. I hear you. Stay right where you are. You don’t need to find your mom; the police are just around the corner. Can you hear your dad anywhere in the house right now?”
“It’s so quiet… wait, I-I think he’s coming upstairs. I can hear footsteps.”
“Theo! Where are you, you little brat? Come out, come out wherever you are!”
“Don’t answer him, Theo. Stay where you are. Theo?”
“Theo? I need you to listen carefully. Just make one small sound if he’s in your bedroom right now, you don’t need to speak.”
“Hmm.”
“It’s okay, Theo, I need you to stay really quiet right now. The police are right outside your door.”
“There you are, you little brat. What the fuck is this? Who are you calling, you little shit!”
“Sir, this is 911. Police are currently outside your house about to enter. I need you to put the phone down and step away from Theo.”
“I don’t need this shit. We are fine here. The boy is just being dramatic, aren’t you, brat?”
The call has been disconnected.
[-]
Theo wakes with his bones screaming from injuries healed long ago. His lungs are hammering like he’s just run a marathon, faster and faster as shivers run down his spine at the echoes of his dad’s voice still drifting through his head.
The aches keep him in the nightmare even as it fades from his memory, hiding in the back of his mind till his body drags him back under the pull of sleep.
Theo reaches a shaky hand out of the cocoon of blanks he unconsciously wrapped himself into during the night and flicks the light of his bedside lamp on. The light helps a bit. He lets his eyes drift across the room, taking in how much this place differs from his home. The lack of photos, different walls, and new clothes draped over every surface possible. The lock on his door.
It helps.
He’s not at home anymore. His dad is locked away. His mother is…
He’s with the Blevins now. Sue and Don.
Deep breaths. Don’t cry. Don’t cry. Don’t-
It only takes three steps from his bed to get to the door. A further four steps and he’s in the bathroom, curled over and hurling last night's dinner into the toilet. The tears he’s been fighting since he woke stream down his cheeks as he fights between sobs and gags.
A hand rests on his back, rubbing up and down. Another holds his hair back from falling over his face.
“It’s okay, let it out,” Sue, his new guardian, is crouched on the floor next to him.
She keeps muttering soft words as Theo slowly calms down. His small body slumps against Sue’s, letting out soft sniffles until eventually he settles against her. Small shivers continue to run through his body, but they’re shorter, less frequent.
Another person enters the room, but Theo doesn’t look up. He doesn’t have the energy.
“Got some water for the kid, there's crackers in his room for when he can stomach them.”
There's a glass of water pressed to Thoe’s lips, and it takes way more effort than it should to take a few small sips before he’s turning his head away. Thankfully, the glass is removed, and he can drop his head back down.
“Is he gonna be alright?”
“Yeah, I think it was just a nightmare. I’ll let him settle for a second, then we can try and get him to his room or the couch.”
Fifteen minutes, three more dry heaves, and a quick assisted rinse off later, Theo finds himself walking down the hall from his room to the lounge room couch. Sue’s arm is around his shoulder, half guiding him and half holding him up.
She'd asked if he wanted to stay in his room, but Theo had shut her down instantly with a shake of his head. It might not be his room from home, but he's not too keen on falling asleep and having another nightmare.
They reach the couch, and Sue sets him up with the TV remote and a blanket. It’s soft and comfy, but he really wants his jacket. The one with the Spider-Man webs, bleached along the back, that his mom had made him. He wants her close; he’s barely taken it off since he’d gotten here.
Don must have known, or he willed it into existence, because there he stands; the plate of crackers originally set in Theo’s room and his jacket draped over Don’s arm.
Theo can only muster a small thanks as Don hands him the jumper. Sue helps him into it as Don leaves the crackers on the table. With a small pat on his shoulder as Theo gets settled against the armrest of the couch, Sue and Don leave him be.
They don’t go back to their room, only to the kitchen. They never go back to bed after Theo has a nightmare; they always stay awake.
Selfishly, Theo is happy they stay up. He doesn’t want to be a burden, and the reason they’re tired for the rest of the day, but he also doesn’t want to be left alone.
He flicks the TV onto a random channel with the remote placed next to him by Sue, before wrapping his arms around his stomach.
That's when he notices it. There’s something in the pocket of his jacket. Two somethings. Two somethings he didn’t put there because he hates having anything in his jacket pockets.
Theo slips them out of his pocket. One is a key chain with three different, silver, brand-new-looking keys. The other is a slip of paper.
We want you here, no strings attached. You don’t need to be anything but the beautiful soul you are. We will protect you and care for you for as long as you’ll have us.
Theo slides the keys back into his pocket and clutches the note tight to his chest. Even after all his crying earlier, a few tears manage to slip down his face.