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TROUBLE CHAPTER 9

The boys’ captors looked down upon their prisoners with evil glints to their eyes. Howie gulped, as A.J. instinctively drew Kevin closer to him, to protect him. Kevin just looked straight at the captors with weak defiance. “Have a nice ride?” One of them asked. The other captors howled with laughter, and A.J. growled deep in his throat.

“Cut it out Aje,” Kevin said worriedly from the floor, his eyes opening wide. He gripped A.J.’s arm sternly. He didn’t want A.J. to get hurt. A.J. obediently stopped, but turned his face away from the captors in anger.

“Ahh…Good Morning!”

“Viper,” Howie spat angrily.

“Yes it’s me, did you have a nice ride up here-OH! Mr. Richardson, you’re awake? How’s your head?” Viper inquired with a pleased grin.

“Just fine thank you,” Kevin replied with sticky sweet venom in his voice. Viper’s eyes narrowed. He nodded to one of the guards to his left. The guard grinned evilly and approached the SUV. The boys instinctively shrank away. Howie wasn’t fast enough, and the guard grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and roughly pulled him from the back of the SUV, throwing him to the ground, outside. Howie’s body made a thudding noise and he gave a cry of pain.

“Howie!” A.J. called. He glanced up and saw the guards moving towards Kevin. Instinct to protect his “brother” kicked in. He lashed out, with his food catching the guard in the jaw. The guard stumbled backwards clutching his jaw. The rest of the guards howled in laughter as two more approached the SUV. One grabbed A.J. before he could strike the guard again, and the second grabbed Kevin and pulled the older boy from A.J.’s grasp. Kevin was thrown out of the SUV the same way as Howie, but Kevin’s body only made the same thud. Kevin’s cry came out only as a dull gasping noise as his fatigue prevented any other noise. A.J. was thrown out the same way. He grunted, before shoving his tired body to a crawling position. A.J. immediately crawled over to Kevin and checked on him.

“Kev?” he whispered rolling him over.

“I’m fine,” he said through gritted teeth, his eyes closed. Viper laughed loudly, bringing all the boys from their thoughts. A.J. shot him a deadly look.

“Well boys have a nice journey up to our facility…and take a good look around outside, because it’s the last time you’ll see the outside for a long. Long. Time.”

Viper walked away and got into a car, while the other guards who were left behind turned to the boys. “Stand up,” one of them ordered. Howie and A.J. obediently stood up, but Kevin found that he was too weak to do it on his own. Kevin struggled to his knees before collapsing.

A.J. shot a look at Howie before leaning down and dragging Kevin’s larger form to his feet. “C’mon Kev,” he said gently, holding Kevin’s weight on his body. Kevin looked at him gratefully.

“Thanks Aje,” he said softly.

Howie turned and looped Kevin’s other arm onto his own shoulder, taking the other half of the weight. Kevin sighed in relief as A.J. and Howie turned back towards the guards. The guard turned and walked away. Howie and A.J. followed with Kevin limping between them. They walked on and on for what seemed like forever. Finally, a building came into view, and the boys weren’t sure if they should sigh in relief or gulp in fear.

A.J. shifted Kevin’s weight nervously on his shoulder as Howie looked at the ground. They walked for another five minutes before they finally reached the building. As they reached the door to the building, Howie felt himself being pulled away from his friends. He cried out in outrage as he heard similar shocking cries from behind him.

“Please! Let me stay with Kevin! He can’t walk!” A.J. was pleading while he was being dragged away. Kevin watched as A.J. was dragged away. He felt himself teetering and caught himself on the wall next to him before he could fall.

A.J. struggled to stay with Kevin as Howie did the same. Howie shoved against his guard. “Please don’t split us up!” Howie pleaded. Howie’s guard had enough of his pleads and shoved him up against the wall closest to them. Howie felt the air being forced from his lungs as he grunted, and his head smacked brutally against the wall. Howie immediately felt blood oozing from above his eyes but ignored it for the moment dragging air back into his lungs.

A.J.’s guard did the same, hitting A.J.’s head on the wall. A.J. cried out before lowering his head to attempt to clear the stars in front of his eyes. “A.J.!” he heard Kevin yell in alarm. A.J. opened his eyes immediately knowing that Kevin thought he was knocked out. He felt something running down his chin and turned his attention to the floor to see blood dripping slowly from his face. Concentrating, he found his lip was throbbing. He licked his lip before hissing in pain.

A.J. heard Kevin begin to struggle feebly with his guard. A.J. smiled to himself before lifting his head, licking his lip again. He made brief eye contact with Kevin letting him know he was fine, before he turned his attention back to his guard.

A.J. opened his mouth to plead again, but the guard beat him to speaking. “Alright, it’s obvious, your eldest can’t walk on his own; therefore ONE of you may stay with him to assist.”

Howie turned to look at A.J. before giving him a small smile and a nod. A.J. smiled back. Then A.J. turned to look the guard in the eye. “I’ll stay,” A.J. whispered.

“Very well,” the guard said nodding to Howie’s guard who violently pulled Howie away from the wall. Howie put up little resistance as he was dragged off down the hall. He was taken not too far down the rows of doors before he came to a specialized one. The door was thrown open and Howie was tossed carelessly inside.

Howie cried out angrily as he hit the pavement, catching himself on his palms. He heard someone behind him before he recognized that someone’s voice. “Howie?”



Meanwhile, A.J.’s guard released him and nodded over to Kevin. “Go ahead,” he grunted. Kevin was leaning against the wall. He looked at A.J. weakly as A.J. approached wiping the blood away from his lip and chin.

“You alright?” Kevin asked quietly.

“Ya, I’ll live.” A.J. mumbled licking his split lip. “Shall we?” he joked before looping Kevin’s arm around his shoulders so the eldest could lean on him.

Kevin laughed at A.J.’s attempt at a joke “Thanks,” he murmured.

“I owe you Kev, it’s no problem…so let’s just take it real slow alright?” Kevin nodded at him as A.J. took a small step forward, positioning Kevin so that all of Kevin’s weight was on his shoulders. A.J. could feel the guards’ presences behind them and walked carefully towards wherever their destination might have been.

They approached a cell with it’s door open and A.J.’s steps faltered. Were they gonna be split up? He felt Kevin stiffen next to him and knew he was thinking the same thing. To their relief, the guards walked ahead of them to the open door and gestured inside. “Here ya go boys…the others are in there as well,” the guard pointed.

Kevin took a deep breath, gripping his sore midsection before hobbling inside with A.J. Once inside, he raised his head at a choked gasp and saw his youngest, his baby “brother”. All of his previous injuries were forgotten. He quickly took his arm from A.J.’s shoulders and hurried to his youngest “brother” embracing him with relief.


**Flash Back to Present**


“And, so…” Kevin finished.

“Voila, here we are,” A.J. said softly.

Nick and Brian stared in disbelief. “Wow,” they both said together. Kevin and A.J. nodded. Kevin looked pained as he remembered the past, and A.J. still looked guilty. Brian noticed it immediately.

“Hey Bone, don’t you even think that you were the reason Kevin got hurt,” Brian ordered.

“But…”

“But nothing Bone, it was Viper, not you…had you been silent, he still would have beat the crap out of one of you,” Nick replied.

“You think?” A.J. asked insecure.

“I know,” Nick replied. A.J. smiled.

“Okay then, I won’t think about it anymore,” he decided.

“Good,” Kevin said, rising to lay down on another cot, “now if you don’t mind, I think I will rest…” he hesitated before continuing, “wake me when Howie returns…and Nick?”

“Yes?”

“Get some sleep, I know you didn’t sleep when you were alone, so get some now.”

A.J. snickered as Nick shot Brian a deadly look. “What?” Brian asked innocently sending A.J. and Kevin into fresh snickers.