Scorching white pain shot up his hand as he felt his nail being pulled out of his finger. The sudden heave of ache ripped open a scream, and he screamed like he never had before as the rush of blood pooled against his palm. The figure in front of him smiled eerily before he knelt next to him and whispered in his ear. “See this you little prick,” he said as he showed Cody his bloody finger nail, “If you tell anyone what you just witnessed, I can promise that you would have wished that I had killed you right here.”

Cody’s eyes widened as he stared at the fingernail shoved inches before his face. He was too shocked and frightened to reply. “It’s my nail. Oh god, that hurt like a bitch.” Cody squeezed his eyes closed for a second.

“Why is this happening? Jeez, I must have the devil’s own luck. Why couldn’t I have just passed by and pretended not to notice? Oh god, I can’t believe it. Curiosity really does kill the cat.” The impatient man felt a prick of annoyance at the boy’s lack of response and gripped his hair painfully. He lifted his head back, so the boy had no chance of looking anywhere but at him. The man had dark orbs, almost pitch black. There were scars running down the side of his neck and his hair was jet black, shaped and styled with gel. The man’s glare spiked fear through his soul as he struggled to hold back a whimper from escaping his lips.

“Ye-yeah I got it. I won’t tell any-anyone” Cody exclaimed, his words stuttering and stammering with fear.

“Ohhh…I know you won’t,” he said amusingly as he grabbed something from behind him, “But just in case you forget or... “accidently” slip up,” he flipped Cody onto his stomach and a sudden strong wind gushed loudly as something thin and hard slashed sadistically against Cody’s back. Cody screeched with anguish and his lungs immediately collapsed. It felt like he was drowning.

The man continued lacerating his back repeatedly. Hot tears drowned his eyes and began to pour down his cheeks. His skin was on fire; his back was searing with agony as he felt each flicker of pain which teared dreadfully against his back over and over and over again

The torture continued until the pain became too overwhelming for him, his eyes rolled back instinctively, and he began to slip into unconsciousness. The man must have noticed the struggle to escape dissipate and his body beginning to go limp because the inflictions came to an abrupt stop. Cody’s mind was on the brink of consciousness before his hair was pulled back violently from the cement and he felt a warm breath near his ear. “I’ll make sure you’ll never forget.”

Cody jolted awake from the nightmare. His eyes were wild and alarmed before he yanked his hands out roughly from under the blanket to inspect them. Although he knew that he was no where near the scene, the flashback was very real and that was enough to keep his paranoia alive. His hands made their way to his face and felt dry tear stains as fresh ones continued slipping down his face. His hands quickly wiped away the tears and then pulled the blanket off his trembling body; He was drenched in sweat and his legs were still shaking.

He felt his lungs begging for air, so he took a handful of large breaths to calm down his racing heart before looking around the room. All the workers had gone home and left a couple of lights on, so it wasn’t pitch black. Peering to the sides, he noticed that most of the beds were taken and many were sleeping peacefully.

Cody let out shaky breath. He was relieved that he didn’t scream out during his nightmare. It took a lot of self-control to stay quiet but through the many years of sleeping near the dark-shadowed cracks withered between the city’s mask of glory, it did not take long to master.

Cody wiped away the tears filling up his eyes with his sleeve profusely until his face began to redden. He then settled back onto the bed and pulled the warm sheet over his quivering frame. Snuggling deeper into the thin blanket, he whimpered sadly as he fisted the sheets into his palms. He wanted to scream, punch something, cry out until he had no more tears to shed but he knew it wouldn’t do any good. If anything, his outbursts will only draw attention to the demon’s in his closet.

Taking a deep long breath, he felt the pain numb within his spirit, the feelings of anguish and loneliness piled upon one another in heaps, but he kept a tight and sturdy lock on those emotions. The only way he can cope with this life is by not confronting it. Not confronting it makes the pain less real, it makes his reality less scary and allows himself to live life a minute at a time. Push it down, lock it up, and keep fighting for the freedom that he craved so deeply, he could feel it in his veins.

The same girl reappeared again.

“Claire. I think it’s Claire. Or maybe it was Clara…. No, it was definitely Claire.” Cody watched her as she walked through the doors. She wore dark jeans, a blue hoodie and a pair of purple converse. But he wasn’t particularly intrigued by her clothes, it didn’t stand out as much as her smile. No, none of that even compared to her crazy contagious smile. She always wore a cheerful face, one that can instantly light up any room. Her smile blossomed with love and always met her sparkling eyes as she greeted the volunteers and visitors, and everyone replied with either a warm smile or a hello.

She had a warm and infectious smile that was unprecedented. He knew that for sure. He couldn’t remember the last time he had worn a smile that touched his eyes and he never thought he would until his soul was met with his last breath of misery. Yesterday was a first in a long time.

Claire approached him with two plates filled with a variety of snacks. There were croissants, fruits, chips, bacon and toast. Claire met his gaze and smiled sheepishly, “Well, I wasn’t really sure what you were into, so I got a bit of everything just in case.” She handed him the plate and when he took it into his lap, she sat down on the floor in front of him.

She picked up a croissant and bit into it with content before putting it back and trying the other foods on her plate. Cody also munched on his chocolate croissant but began to feel a sudden awkwardness. “Am I supposed to say something? Does she expect me to start the conversation? How should I start? Hey Claire, how’s life? C’mon Cody that’s the blandest phrase in the universe. Maybe I should introduce myself?”

Claire noticed how tense Cody was so she placed her plate on the floor beside her and angled to face him. She swallowed down the remaining croissant before starting, “You know the funniest thing happened today. Well... it was kind of terrifying but depends on who you’re talking to. But anyways, at school, there was this speaker that came to talk to us about reptiles. He had the strongest accent that made everything super hard to understand, but that isn’t the point. So, he said that the first time he ever saw a snake was behind a glass window. Or so he thought. He didn’t know that it was one those open exhibitions where the snakes were everywhere.

As the story continued, Cody felt the tension on his shoulder wash away. He felt a tug at his lips and without a conscious thought, his lips cracked an honest smile. One that met his eyes and showed off his teeth for a second time.

“---and he had nightmares about snakes climbing up his legs for several days afterwards. You know you’d think that someone who experienced that sort of trauma would never be an expert on reptiles, but he said that after that experience, he had never felt more alive,” Claire laughed loudly.

Cody chuckled softly under his breath.

After finishing the rest of her day’s experience, she raised both her arms and did a quick stretch before getting up and brushing the non-existent dust off her jeans. Then, with her empty plate tucked under her arm, she began to walk back to the kitchen.

Cody bit his inner cheeks nervously as he watched her start to head off to the kitchen. He wanted to reach out and grab her wrist. He wanted to tell her thank you for making him smile; for giving him something to laugh about. He also wanted to tell her to stay.

He was too slow to grab her wrist and could only let his fingertips brush against the side of her palm. Claire suddenly stopped in her tracks and glanced back at the boy. She didn’t say anything, wanting him to continue. Cody immediately snapped back his hand and gripped the sheets lightly before tilting his head and their eyes connected. She had a soft expression and her hazel eyes glistened with genuine curiosity.

“Cody. My name’s Cody.”

“Cody,” she repeated back to herself. Then she formed an excited grin before sitting down beside him and reaching out her hand. “Well Cody, it’s nice to meet you. I really hope you will be sticking around because I have a feeling we will become great friends.”

For some odd reason, her voice exuded an ineffable energy that settled comfortably in his stomach. His mind slowly processed her words and noticed, in particular, that her determined yet good-natured tone made them sound less like an assumption but more of a fact.

This time, Cody greeted her back. He reached out his hand and clasped it gently, but she gave a firm grip before getting up and leaving him alone with a strange warmth spreading across his fingers.