Jalph: Run Away with Me?

Chapter 3

Jack’s POV

That night the nightmares get worse. The screams are louder, the breeze turns into wind that slams against me. The worst part is that my vision is clear, as clear as glass. I see the blood, so much blood. It just surrounds me like bees around honey. I wake up a bit. Still not fully awake, I walk down the stairs to the front door of the house, that’s the last thing I remember.

Ralph’s POV

When I walk down stairs I grab a bowl and fill it with milk and cereal. I turn on the radio to hear the morning update. I retreat back toward the kitchen and lean against the counter, eating my small breakfast. “Good Morning London. This is Thomas Westergreen with some breaking news,” announces the host. “ Last night many residents in the Big Ben area have reports of a young man walking down their street in the middle of the night chanting something that sounded like a war cry. Later the boy was arrested and taken to Bennet’s Insane Asylum for further examination. The boy was later identified by the authorities as Jack Merridew.” I drop my bowl in a large smash. The ceramic bowl shatters into tiny pieces. I use my foot to sweep the pieces under the counter. I sit down on the chair in the family room. I sit there stunned. I grab my book bag and walk out the door, completely forgetting that I'm not dressed in proper uniform.

 

Jack’s POV

I sit in the waiting room of the “hospital,” or at least that’s what the employee called it. I know I'm in a place where they send looney people. My mother is talking to the middle-aged woman at the front desk. I sit there for what seems like ages. When they are finally done talking, my mother walks up to me, on the verge of tears. She hugs me for a long time and says into my ear, “I love you, I hope you know that.” Before I can question what's happening she is walking away. I stand there for a bit until a nurse comes up to me and rests her hand on my shoulder. I immediately pull away from her touch.

"My name is Daisy. I know you don't want to talk to me but I've been assigned your personal nurse. Don't think of me as a doctor trying to examine you, think of me as consultant or a friend," she says to me. I'll never think of you as a friend. She walks me to a room in the back. When I walk into the room, I notice that the walls are made of metal and there is a metal table in the middle of the room. "I'm not crazy you know," I tell the nurse. "We don't know that for sure yet," she says with a wink. She sits down, so I do too. "Your mother tells me that you went to an all-boys school for most of your life," Daisy says. “Yeah, that's right'" I say sourly. "She also mentioned that-um, you were stranded on an inhabited island when you were 12 years old," She says with a pitiful look on her face. “Tell me about that.” “I don’t really want to talk about it,” I tell her. “Well then,” she starts. “This is going to make my life much more harder.”

 

Ralph’s POV

Its been a month since I last saw Jack Merridew. There have been rumors that he’s gone completely nuts, but I don’t believe them. Jack would never go completely insane. I know him enough to know that some nightmares would never bother Jack. Ever since they took Jack away I’ve been thinking, plotting. I need to get Jack out of Bennet. I just don’t know how. I need to talk to him. I need to talk to him about what happened on the island. I need to ask what drove him to do such savage things.

 

That day I decide that I’m going to visit him. After school I walk to the place. I got the address out of the phone book. I walk up to a rusted old gate that reads Bennet’s Insane Asylum. Below there is a barely readable sign that says ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK. I walk up to the big wooden doors, scared to see what’s inside.

 

Jack’s POV

“What?! He is perfectly fine! Now you’re telling me he has to stay another month?!” My mum yells at Daisy. “Well he is dangerous,” Daisy says in almost a whisper. “What do you mean? My son has never hurt a fly!” I look down at the floor, not saying a word. “Umm-we should talk about this in the other room.” Daisy gives my mother that same pitiful look. I look up as she leads my mother in to the huge metal room.

 

I sit in the waiting room for a while until I hear the shuffling of feet down the hall. I stand up and see who it is, Ralph. He stops in front of me at looks down. “Hullo,” he says as friendly as possible. “What are you doing here?” I say in the most unfriendly way possible. “I'm here to see if you’re completely looney,” he says with a smirk. I stand up so our faces are only inches apart. “What did you say?” I ask him. He steps back and says, “Listen, I need to talk to you.” He grabs my arm and pulls me into an empty hallway. “On the island, why did you hate me so much?” I laugh in his face. “You came here to ask me why I hated you?” I roll my eyes. “It’s not like that!” he says, pushing me back. I push him even harder so he falls to the floor. “Get out!” I yell.

 

At that point the middle-aged woman at the desk turns onto the hallway. “Excuse me, young man...,” she says to Ralph. “What?!” he replies rudely, which is not like him. “You know you’re not allowed to be talking to the boy, he is dangerous,” she informs him. “I don’t care how dangerous he is!” Ralph yells back. “Dont make me call the police!” “Call the bloody police, what are they going to do? Arrest me?!” Ralph yells, clearly at the breaking point. “Yes actually, they can,” she says with a devilish grin as she picks up the telephone. “Run!” I shout. “What?” Ralph asks. “RUN!” As we run outside I think What now?

 

Ralph’s POV

I have no idea where we are going. We've just been running through the London streets for ten minutes. We finally stop. “Ralph,” Jack is out of breath. “Where do we go?” “I don’t know—” “Wait!” I reply. “Wait what?” he says. “The cottage! We still own the cottage!” “What cottage?” Jack says with a confused look. “My family owns a cottage up in those hills!” I shout pointing to the green hills in the distance. “Okay, let’s go.”

I don’t know how long it takes us to get to the hills, but no more than a day. When we get to the cottage I open the door and take in the familiar sight. “Um Ralph,” Jack says timidly. “I just wanted to say thanks, for everything.” I'm surprised that when he finishes talking he gives me a hug. Emboldened by the hug, I  say, “I know now why I had to find you again.” “Why?” asks Jack. “Because you bring me back there, back to the island.” Jack, full of shame, starts to protest, “Ralph, it was a different time…I” I stop him, “No, not that part, the beginning,” I say, searching for recognition in Jack’s eyes. “When we were ‘explorers.’” “Yes,” Jack replies. “Explorers.” Then he takes my hand in his and practically whispers, “Explorers, hand in hand.” The warm feeling returns and washes away the horror I had been carrying for so long. Finally, the beast was dead.