#oc general ernest monroe

[tea-potato-gt]

A Borrower at the End of the World part 8

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Word count: 2700ish

***

Now…

The Brig consisted of several dark jail cells. Each contained two wooden beds, a sink, and a filthy toilet.

The soldiers placed both children inside the same cell, locked the door, and left. 

It was a dark, dusty cell. The only light came from the little lamp in the corner on the other side of the bars. The only window was above the wooden beds. It had no glass, just metal bars, allowing the chill from the night air to enter the room. If the kids stood on the wooden bed they could see out to the street, which was at the same level with their window. One of the kids could stick their arms out and grab tuffs of grass or dirt.

Once Briar was sure the soldiers were gone, he popped his head out of Jace’s bag, only to quickly realize he was suspended high above the ground with no safety net. The soldier carrying Jace’s bag put it on a hook directly across the jail cell that held the kids. They had a clear view of each other. 

“Jace? Layla? Are you hurt?” Briar yelled across the chasm to the cell that trapped the kids. Briar never wanted to see another person he cared about locked up. Now he saw both children behind bars, it made his anger boil and he became sick to his stomach.

“That bastard twisted my arm,” Jace grunted as he tested the limits of how high he could lift it and flexed his tender muscles. “Still hurts, but nothing permanent.”

Briar turned to the little girl, hugging herself in the darkness. “Layla, are you alright?”

Layla just stood there, silent tears streamed down her face and she shook her head. She was shivering, the boys couldn’t tell if it was from the cold or fear. Or both. Briar and Jace locked eyes. 

Just like I showed you. Briar nodded. 

Jace bent down and checked Layla for injuries. He stretched her arms out and bent it slightly, watching for resistance or pain. He turned her head and checked under her shirt for any injuries. 

Briar spent weeks teaching the kids how to check each other for injuries. He taught them first aid, like how to stop bleeding or how to set a broken bone with two sticks and a shirt. Briar had to guide the pair through it with only his voice and using an old doll as an example. Briar couldn’t ever hope to administer first aid to either child himself, given their drastic size differences. A single cut on one of them could produce more blood than he had in his entire body.

“She’s fine, just a couple of scratches.” Jace finally said. 

“If you’re not hurt then why are you crying?”

“I’m scared, Briar.” Layla pressed her round face into the bars. Tears streamed down her cheeks. She stuck her hands and arms through the bars in a futile attempt to reach the borrower.

“I know, sweetheart, it’s gonna be alright. We’ll figure a way out of this.” Briar wanted nothing more than to close the gap between them and comfort her. Have her hold him close to her chest, tell her everything would be alright, but this wasn’t the time for flowery talk. He needed to take action and figure a way out of this nightmare.

Jace pressed himself against the metal door. It was made of thick, rusted metal that he couldn’t dream of opening without a key. “M-maybe you can pick the lock?” Jace sounded hopeful. “You told us once you opened a locked rat trap your cousin was in.”

“Yes, but that took hours,” Briar rubbed his hands over his face. “I doubt we’ll be given the luxury of time before those Beans come back.”

The Borrower spat the word ‘bean’ with complete and utter disgust. He said it in a way that made Jace very uncomfortable.

Briar had never thought highly of beans, but after watching the way these particular ones treated Layla and Jace, it brought forth the ire and pain felt by generations of borrowers before him. 

“Do you have any better ideas, boss?”

“No.” Briar sighed. “Maybe… Maybe I could climb down, get a better idea of what to do. Get a lay of the land.” He grabbed his borrower bag and wrapped his rat skinned cloak around his neck. 

“Please hurry,” Layla whined.

“Alright, I’m coming, sweet girl.” Briar took out the ‘rope’ (string) attached to his waist, tied it to the broken backpack zipper, let the string drop to the ground, and tugged on the knot to ensure it was secured.

Then he jumped up and over the zipper of the bag. And began his descent down the string. Hand over hand and scooting and squeezing with his thighs. Nearly half a century of practice allowed the borrower to safely scale down a dozen story (to him) drop. 

The distinct sound of jingling keys turning at the brig door sounded as loud as an explosion to Briar's ears. Alarm bells screamed at him: A bean is coming.

Briar and Jace cursed at the same time.

Creeaaaak. 

Too late. Both the children and Briar froze.

The borrower had only made it halfway down the string. He couldn’t climb back up into the backpack without being spotted. And dropping had its own risks, but staying still was probably the worst option. Indecision might seal Briar’s fate. The three prayed the new beans wouldn’t spot the little man swinging in mid air.  

The children’s eyes were locked on the man standing at the door. He was intimidating, even by Bean standards. He was huge, very tall, and very muscular. Wearing a heavily decorated uniform with several stars and badges across the shoulders and chest. He took up most of the door frame and had to duck a little to enter the Brig. Close behind him followed Colonel Johansen. 

Oh, joy. 

“Good evening, children.” The new man spoke in a deep voice that, though soft, commanded respect. Jace couldn’t get a good look at his features because of how tall he was. No matter how close or far he got from the lamp light, his face seemed to always be swallowed by shadow. At his side, he carried a black briefcase. “I am the General.”

Neither child spoke as the General made his way towards their cell, his heavy combat boots thumped on the ground. 

“My men tell me, you put up quite the fight while they brought you here.” The General stood before the cell, he studied Jace with dark eyes, looking for something. “Now, I’m very curious. How did two children survive alone in a town crawling with Razors, for three years? Hm?” 

Jace stood up straighter, trying to appear bigger than he really was. Over the years of hunting and borrowing, Jace had gained some muscle, not enough to be useful in hand to hand combat against this brick wall of a man. 

“I would very much like to know who helped you… and where they are hiding, right now.” The General bent down to the level of the kids. When his eyes landed on little Layla, she felt herself shrivel up under his intense gaze. The aura that came from this man made the air thick and unbearable. Alarm bells were ringing inside her head to run away. 

Jace stepped in front of his sister, blocking her from view. The teen glared at the General, a clear sign: No. Not her. Don’t you even look at her.

The General’s jaw ticked, “I’d be careful who you aim that glare at, son.” Only the man’s cold eyes moved to meet Jace’s. 

Jace pulled Layla closer as they backed away from the bars and the men standing on the other side. Even though there was still a row of solid metal between the children and the General (and the Colonel), he knew that could change very quickly with the turn of a key.  

“Not much of a talker, ey?” The General set his heavy suitcase down with a thud. “That’s fine. I can work with that.” He began to fiddle with the locks on the side of the briefcase. 

Elsewhere in the room, Briar swung in mid air. Still caught between a rock and a hard place. Or Two beans and the floor.

He was desperately trying to figure out what to do. Right now, he was still halfway down the rope. Two giant beans were between Briar and the children. Briar could only see the General’s back, he was so large it blocked the kids from view. And the other bean, the Colonel was standing a ways away from the cell, but still watching the intimidating display the General put on. 

Normally, Briar wouldn’t want any bean to ever even look at the kids, the very thought set his anger ablaze. But now was not the time to tell off giants and curse their entire bloodlines. Now he needed to get down as quickly as possible and hide. If he was out of sight he might think of a proper plan to get them all out. Right now, being exposed, his fight or flight was in overdrive and he couldn't really think properly.

After much deliberation, he realized his only choice would be to have a controlled free fall down the string till he got to the ground and could hide in the shadows. Easier said than done.

The beans are distracted now is not the time to get scared, Briar scolded himself. On the count of three. One. two. Three—

Briar let go of the string, except for his left hand, which he used in an attempt to at least control the speed of his descent. His stomach did flips as the ground came up faster than he would have liked. As he got closer, he began to squeeze the string with his left hand, causing terrible, painful rope burns on his palm and fingers. 

Even though Briar slowed down a little, he still hit the ground harder than intended. He involuntarily let out a soft cry of pain as he made impact. His world spun dizzyingly. Maybe he still had his mild concussion from hitting his head and blacking out earlier that day. Ugh.

The General’s ears perked up at the soft sound. A sound most beans would ignore, but this man was not like most beans. The giant's hair stood on end, something wasn’t right. His shoulders tensed and he began to turn around. 

“W-WHAT!” Jace started loudly to gain the General’s attention, he didn’t know what Briar was doing, since the General blocked the small man from view, but Jace knew he had to keep the men's attention. “What are you going to do to us?” The teen eventually gained control of his volume as he continued talking, but his voice still shook. 

“Ah, so you can speak.” The General’s tone of voice sounded amused, but one look at the man’s face made it clear he was anything but. “Well, that entirely depends on you and how cooperative you will be.”

The General took out a set of metal keys jingling at his hip. He placed a rusted metal key in the door to the cell that held the children. The man turned the key with deliberate slowness. 

Briar quickly got to his feet and ran. Or limped, might have be more accurate. Ugh. Everything hurts. 

Briar rushed into shadows. In the dark he was safe. He avoided running out into the middle of the hallway, deciding to instead stick close to the wall. He made it pretty far into the darkness of when–

BANG.

Layla shrieked and covered her ears as the loud sound of a gunshot echoed through the small space.  

The Colonel held a smoking gun aimed at the floor, “Damned rats.”

“What did you do?!” Jace yelled. He pressed himself against the bars, desperate to see if Briar was hurt or worse.

The bullet hole in the floor still had a bit of smoke rising from it. He has to be okay, Jace thought frantically, we just got him back! 

“Missed.” The Colonel sighed as he reholstered his pistol.

The relief Jace felt was almost palpable.

The General watched the boy with great interest. 

Briar scurried back on his hands and knees and easily slipped between the bars of the cell next to the kid’s. His heart pounded and his chest heaved, That Bastard-of-a-Bean just tried to shoot me?! 

Briar got up on his shaking feet, his mind continued to race as he ran to the wall that borders the kid’s cell. He just had to find a crack or a weak point to get to the other side. 

What the hell is wrong with that idiot Colonel?! Shooting a gun in such an enclosed space! That bullet could have ricocheted and really hurt someone! He could have hurt Jace or Layla?!

There! In the corner, a drain connecting the two cells. It was three inches high, short for even the borrower, but not impossible. He ducked down and pushed his way through the wall. 

See kids, THIS is why I hate beans! They always shoot first and ask questions later. Well, good luck asking me questions if I’m DEAD!

When Briar emerged on the other side of the wall, his heart stopped. Three pairs of long legs rose up like thick tree trunks. Those trunk eventually led up to torsos, arms and heads of three beans who didn't know that Briar was in the cell with them. That in itself was concerning, but the real problem came when those legs started moving unpredictably. The borrower could easily be knocked down by a heavy footstep or crushed under a shoe. Leaving nothing more than a stain on the floor to be forgotten by time. 

The General opened the briefcase he brought into the cell. Briar could hear the metal tools clinking in his hands. 

The case held several instruments of torture. Carefully curated and chosen by the General to be used to get information. He pulled out a metal clamp, it looked like a crude a nutcracker. It still had dried blood caked on from its last unfortunate victim. One good squeeze of this contraption could easily break the fingers on a grown bean. If the General got his hands on a borrower, Briar could easily be snapped in half. He gulped at the thought of this painful, horrible end. 

Then his mind switched back to the danger that currently faced the children.it pissed him off, the way this bean tried to purposefully intimidate Jace and Layla. The General was letting his intimidating stature and muscular build do most of the work.

The kids had an intense fear of this unpredictable entity before them, threatening them. Fear began to consume the pair to the point they both were shaking.

What does this bean gain from torchering two children?! What could be so important out there that this man would hurt Jace or Layla over it?! No amount of information in the world is more important than them! Briar’s face grew hot as anger festered in his chest. If the borrower wasn’t afraid himself, he would march over there and give this General guy a piece of his mind. (In fact, if they were the same size, Briar probably would’ve given the General a good kick in the teeth.)

“Last chance, son,” The General took a frighteningly slow step towards the children, steadily clicking the contraption in his fist as he walked into the dim light. Jace stepped back, pulling Layla closer. She whimpered. “Tell me. Who are the people who helped you?” The man spoke slowly, putting emphasis on every word as he bent down to the level of the kids, “And where are they hiding?”

Neither child moved. Or spoke. Or dared to breathe. 

What could they possibly say to this man?

If they told the truth— that they had been living with a man the size of a hand for the past three years. That is man taught them how to survive out in the wilderness— The General would either not believe them and think they were making up creatures called borrowers, and they were stalling or hiding the truth. That path would just lead them back to where they are now, but locked in a cell with a much angrier man. 

Or worse, the General would believe the children and try to hunt Briar down. The number one rule of living with a borrower: Never reveal the secret to anyone. 

“Still not talking, eh?” The General cracked his knuckles and took a deep, steadying breath. He held up his instrument towards the light and watched as the rusted metal glint with such fascination, before coldly bringing his eyes back to Jace. “Well, you can’t make an omelet without breaking a few eggs.”

Jace’s eyes went wide and all the air seemed to be sucked out of the room. His heart sank, but not from fear of what waa about to happen right then. A memory of a man pinged in his mind. A man he used to know a long, long time ago.  

Time slowed down as Jace looked at the General’s face. Even in partial shadow he recognized him. That fraise. That voice. The intimidation. His face. Jace knew this man all too well.

Jace’s voice shook as he spoke. He didn’t know it at the time, but his life, his sister’s life and Briar’s life would change with one word:

“F-father?”

***

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[tea-potato-gt]

A Borrower at the End of the World part 9

Word count: 800ish

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***

Now…

“F-father?”

Jace spoke the word into existence, but he still couldn’t believe his own eyes.

The General was stunned into silence. For once, he had nothing to say. 

Jace hesitantly continued, “Is your name… Ernest Monroe?”

The General looked at the kids. Really looked at them. The red hair was reminiscent of a long lost love. Patches of freckles. Cute button noses, exact replica of her’s. And those eyes, deep brown that matched his own. 

“You, what is your mother’s name?” The General commanded of the boy. 

“Amanda. Her name was Amanda.”

The General felt faint, his hands quickly lost feeling. He dropped the finger crusher, which clattered to the ground. If he wasn’t already kneeling, his legs probably would have buckled under him.

“Jason?” The General spoke in a hushed whisper, afraid to speak the name of the child he had long believed to be dead and gone. 

Jace nodded. 

The previously stoic man began to lose his composure as his face quickly morphed and aged. Years of sadness, loss and hope crashed into him all at once. He looked at Jace like he was seeing a ghost. 

“Is that…” The General hesitated as he peered behind Jace to the child clinging to the boy's leg. The man’s mouth went dry. “Is that Layla?”

The little girl peeked out from behind her brother’s waist. When she made eye contact with the man, she promptly hid behind her brother again. The General’s breath was taken away, she was the spitting image of her mother, but she had his eyes. He remembered the day she was born. The day her big brown eyes finally took in the world around her for the first time. He hadn’t seen her since she was a toddler… She’s so big now.

The General got his feet, he once again was towering over the children due to his height, but it wasn’t intimidating. His posture seemed unsure as he stepped closer to the kids. The man reached out with a shaking hand, his eyes wide as if worried the kids would suddenly disappear right before his eyes if he so much as blinked. He tapped Jace’s shoulder.

The man’s touch felt like a bolt of lightning though Jace's entire body. This didn’t feel real. It didn’t feel right. 

The General looked down at the little girl, who was once again peeking out at him.

She's as old as Jason was when I left…

The General placed a hand on her head. She didn’t pull back this time. The man let out a shaking breath. The boy was real, he was truly standing there. The girl was real too, her red hair was soft, and she turned her head to look directly up at him. 

His heart beat quickly as he took a child in each arm and pulled them into a fierce, desperate hug. Both children hesitated.

Layla was nervous. A big man she didn’t know or recognize held her tightly to his chest. He knew her name. How? She didn’t like this, but she was too scared to resist. Then she looked to her brother, Jace heaved a shaky sigh into the man's shoulder and wrapped his arms around the General's neck, returning the hug. 

Layla was even more confused. Jace called this man ‘father,’ but she didn’t have a father. At least not a birth father. He left when she was two and she had no memory of him or what he looked like. The only idea she had of his appearance came from the old picture Jace carried around in his borrowing bag. The man hugging her didn’t really look like the man in the picture. Well, maybe if she squinted? He kind of looked like what she imagined her birth father to look like. 

This emotional rollercoaster of the day left Layla feeling empty. She didn’t move. Didn't speak. Didn’t cry. She didn’t return the hug. She just stood there, letting it happen. 

Down on the floor, both too far and too near, stood a little borrower watching this display. Too many emotions raced through such a small body. It was hard for Briar to remain still and silent while hidden in the shadows. 

Briar couldn’t explain it, but something unpleasant settled in his chest at the sight of this bean wrapping his arms fully around both children. It sat heavy like a lump on his heart that made his chest tighten. It was uncomfortable and irritating. Briar’s foot began to twitch and his breathing became ragged. 

And when the General kissed both kids on the forehead, that lump began to fester and grow unbearably hot.

Briar didn’t just not like this. 

He hated this. 

***

Bit of a shorter chapter, pls forgive me. But hey, now we know the kid’s full names! Jason and Layla Monroe!

***

I’m still going to keep writing as planned. I have this whole story mapped out with the constant flash forwards and flash backs till we get back to the first chapter. I wrote it this way so the chapters could compliment and parallel each other. (At least I hope it’s doing that.) I also wrote it like this to keep my interest. Sometimes I only want to write for the past and other times the 'now.' Though how long it will take to be written is a bit of a mystery even to me. 🫠🫡

***

Thanks for reading! Next post is on Friday!

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A Borrower at the End of the World part 13: Family Portrait

Word Count: 1900ish

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***

Now…

“Let me show you to your rooms.” The General stood up and began walking out of the kitchen without looking back to check if the kids were following him. The kids quickly got to their feet, Jace muttered an apology to Briar for the rough ride as he ran after General Monroe. The kids followed the man up a grand staircase, several crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling high above them. 

They walked down the hall and entered a bedroom. The entire room was painted white, including the bed frame, desk and drawers. There was one bed in the corner by the window, white curtains hung on either side. There was dust on the desk and floor. It looked like the room had never been used before.

“This is where Layla will stay.” Said the General. “My room is next door, in case you need me.” He looked down to the girl who stood by her brother. She scooted closer to Jace, but nodded.

Soon, Colonel Johansen followed them upstairs with Jace’s bag and handed it to General Monroe. “Had a couple of knives and canned food from the outside. I left them in your office.” He eyed the kids from the other side of the door. “Lots of trash too at the bottom of the bag, looked like the boy was making doll house furniture for his sister.” Though, the Colonel didn’t seem too convinced of his own deductions. 

Jace and Layla and Briar stiffened. In one of the pockets lay a bunch of furniture Briar fashioned out of trash for himself. They kept the furniture in Jace’s bag because Briar had grown weary of needing to constantly make new chairs and beds every new place they moved. Jace just offered to keep them in his bag to travel with. It’s not like it would take up too much space, Jace argued and Briar conceded. Though he was very irritated by that remark, Briar knew he was small and thus so were his things, but he still didn’t like to draw attention to it. 

The General took the bag, “Very good, Johansen. You are dismissed.”

The Colonel gave a curt nod. He briefly glared at the kids and left. Those left in the bedroom remained silent till they distantly heard the front door slam closed. 

The General opened Jace’s bag without asking permission. Jace stiffened, thanking his lucky stars Briar wasn’t still in that bag, but instead safely in his pocket. The teen was very concious of the small weight against his leg, every time Briar moved or twitched, Jace felt it.

When opening the bag the first thing the General saw was a brown teddy bear looking back at him. Or at least partially looking back at him, since the bear only had one eye. He gently pulled it out and into the dim light. It had several stitches in various places after being lovingly played with for years. The General recognized this bear. 

He knelt down next to Layla, she froze. When he was on his knees he was still taller than the little girl. He grabbed her small hand and placed the bear in it, “I can’t believe you still have this. I remember when I gave this to you.”

Layla looked at her bear, Mr. Ursa, he smiled back neither confirming nor denying what the General just said. She didn’t remember when she got this bear. She’d always had it, as long as she could remember. It had been her constant companion, other than her brother after the world got scary. 

“Yeah, it was the day you left.” Jace remarked. 

The General’s jaw ticked, “I didn’t leave, Jason.” The return of that icy glare to the man’s face caught Jace off guard. “I was deployed.”

On Briar’s part, he felt the sudden ridged posture from the boy and the cold tone of voice the General quickly adopted. 

This was definitely a tender subject for both involved. Jace never talked about his father and Briar never pushed him. Neither of their pasts really mattered. Who they were and the lives they lived before the world ended didn’t matter. What was important was the now, who they were and what they chose to do with the time given to them. 

Briar gave one swift jab into Jace’s leg to tell him to knock it off. One poke usually meant a negative reaction from the borrower, “no’s” and “stop.” 

You never want to pick a fight with a bean bigger than you and you definitely never wanna piss one off, Briar advised once a year or so ago. 

Jace got the message and quickly corrected course. “I-I’m sorry, sir.”

The General’s features drifted back into his calmer shape, “It’s alright, Jason.” He nodded and returned his attention to the bag. At the bottom he found something made of hard wood and glass, he carefully pulled it out. What he held in his hand made the General lose his breath, he had to sit on the ground next to where Layla stood. Or he might have fallen over.

The glass was cracked and had a bit of water damage, but the picture within was still in relatively good condition given the circumstances. 

The picture showed five beans, in a time long since past. Three adults and two young children.

***

Ironically, if Briar stepped next the the frame, all the people looked Borrower size compared to him. 

A snapshot of a time before Briar had even met the kids.

When Briar first saw this picture he almost didn’t recognize Layla and Jace. He had seen photos before, and had a vague understanding of how cameras worked, but he never paid them any mind as he borrowed from a bean house. It never occurred to him that the people encapsulated inside the frame were real.

The two children in the picture looked like warped images of the Jace and Layla he knew today. Briar could tell it was the kids, but their faces were off, large eyes, chubby cheeks and smaller bodied. They were frozen in time. So much hope for the future in their eyes. A life before the world went to hell. 

A life before Briar ever came into the picture. 

If the human world hadn’t ended, would Briar have ever met these kids? What would their lives have been like? Briar tried not to think about things like that, life was just the way it was, there was no point in wondering what might have been.

But then he keeps thinking, Layla and Jace would still be in school. Jace would probably write a novel and Layla might open a bakery or something, she loves sweets after all. 

And where would I be? Stuck traversing the walls in some random bean’s house, hating every moment of staying in the darkness. Hidden from the sun and the outside world, all in the name of staying safe?

Even as a child, Briar hated living like everyday might be his last, surviving from one day to another. Staying out of sight and ensuring he left no trace of his existence. So many borrowers have died without ever living. So many borrowers never left their homes, including some of Briar’s own family. Being born and dying in the same place. 

Since living with these bean kids, Briar had seen more of the world than any borrower could ever dream of. Traveling such long distances was easy. He didn’t have to waste a week of planning for a trip and maybe another week of actual travel, instead it took a day of walking by Bean pace.

These two dumb bean kids had given the borrower so much, he was living a life free of fear and out of darkness of the walls.

***

The General studied the picture with great interest. He recognized each figure, especially the tall man glaring back at him. This picture was taken before all the scars that marred his face and body today. Ernest Monroe didn’t have a pleasant expression on his face, though at the time the photo was taken he wasn’t exactly happy. He wore his military uniform, decorated with badges of honor and rank. He stood tall, at attention, looking directly into the camera. 

The General’s eyes wandered to Little Layla, at the age of two, clinging to her mother’s neck. The girl’s bright red hair was put up in two little pig tails on either side of her head. She had a big smile that showed most of her baby teeth. 

Their Mother, Amanda, was standing in a side profile as she held her daughter in her arms. She had long red hair that matched her two kids, but she had green eyes. She had a stray lock of hair in front of her face, the General caressed the photo as if attempting to push that stray hair from her otherwise perfect features. She smiled back at him with a knowing glint in her eyes.

To the right of Amanda was the kid’s maternal Grandmother, Helen, she was definitely old. (Older than Briar had seen any Borrower get to. It was rare for Borrowers to grow old, most dying in some horrific way too young. If Briar was honest, he never thought he’d make it past 25, but here he was sitting at 44 winters under his belt.)

Between Amanda and Ernest was little Jace, though only reaching waist height compared to his parents, stood tall. He was imitating his father’s erect stance. Hands behind his back. Chin up. Eyes forward starting directly into the camera. The only difference, Jace wore a smile across his face that showed the large gap in his front teeth. 

***

Jace mentioned to Briar this picture was taken right before their father left. It has been over six years since they had last seen their father. Jace was 8 while Layla was 2. Now Layla was 8 and Jace was 14. Too many years of pain had gone by in their father’s absence. Jace remembered he’d ask his mother when their father would come home. She’d always say soon. Three years of active service and three years of apocalyptic hell. No matter what they had hoped, their father had to be dead. Along with their mother and grandmother.

This was the last picture they all took together as a family. Probably the only existing photo left and Jace carried it around everywhere they went. 

***

The General spent quite a very long time taking in every detail of the photo, memorizing it. Without looking up the General spoke softly, “Tell me Jason, What became of your mother?”

Jace froze and looked to his sister, he still hadn’t officially told her what happened to their mom. But Layla wasn’t stupid, she had long since given up on making Jace leave notes to their mom on where to find them. It had been three years since they got separated. She didn’t know what happened, but she felt in her gut her mommy wasn’t coming back. 

Jace cleared his throat, “C-can we discuss this somewhere else.” He gestured to his sister with his eyes, hoping the General would get his meaning. 

“Ah, yes of course. Let me show you to your room Jason.” The man turned to Layla, “You’ll stay here tonight, the bathroom is down the hall first door on your right. There are clean towels in the closet.” He kissed the top of the head, “Good night.” He stood and left the room, once again expecting Jace to follow.

Jace gave his sister a rushed goodnight as he chased after the General, Briar was just along for the ride, leaving the 8 year old all alone in the big room.

Layla didn’t say anything. There was nothing to say. She hadn’t said a single word since they left the Brig. She stood there alone, in an unfamiliar room, unsure of what to do. She held Mr. Ursa close. She didn’t want to be by all herself.

She wished Briar was with her…

***

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