Forgotten childhood memories

He smiled at the thought of her running after rainbows to find a pot of gold. Not because he found it stupid, no because it would probably had been something he wanted to do if he was a normal kid. She then spoke about the bed he was in, feeling her eyes on him, but he couldn't really open his, that was how tired he was. "I like beds ... At least my own; It never feels like my body hurts if I just lay still," he said. What a sad thing for a child to say, but it was his reality. His wheezing had gone down quite a lot, now only a faint raspy sound to his voice was left and something that felt like it was rattling at the back of his throat. "And in dreams I can be whoever I want, run how fast I want - Sometimes even fly," he said, opening one eye, turning his face to look at her with a tired smile. "Am I boring you?" the sound of genuine worry in his voice. He was just exhausted from the day, and yet he felt sad to think that she wouldn't be there when he woke up.

"I bet you know a lot of things I don't know about; Like how you built that boat," he smiled, feeling her touch his hand. She liked doing that, didn't she? Touching him even though it was pure curiosity, it was one that he didn't mind. "You know, this bed is pretty big ... Do you want to lay on it with me?" he asked. They were kids. Innocent and sweet even if they hadn't had the easiest life, they both seemed to have bonded over today's events. He reached down, grabbing her hand gently, pulling at it a little as if to say come on up already.
He hoped she did and when she in fact did, he would turn off the lights and turn on a small night light that showed small stars above them as if they were outside. "I'm sorry if I fall asleep ... Pills," he said in a small sigh, closing his eyes as he just laid there with her. He eventually fell asleep after fighting it for what felt like ages. He just hated thinking that he would wake up and she wouldn't be there, having bonded with her already.

Eugene smiled as he eventually fell asleep too. The bath had really helped so he slept well for once. He woke once he felt the bed shift, but kept still. He could hear her move around, and for some reason he really liked that. "You know ... you could always bring your stuff here," he said in a tired voice. He still needed more rest, but if she was leaving he wanted to see her off. Moving, he sat up, his arms shaking a little from pushing himself up. Looking at her he smiled. She was really pretty in his eyes, but that was perhaps more linked to the fact that she had treated him nicely.
Getting up, he took a few steps without his cane, reaching her and taking her hand in his. "Come stay here with me ... You never have to be cold, dirty or hungry ever again ... And we can sleep together every night," he said. He had finally gotten a friend, and she was about to leave. He couldn't have that, not when he knew she didn't even have a bed. "Please," he said, his legs shaking q little from the lack of support, but he wanted to show her how serious he was about all of this.

Wouldn't like having her? But she was the first person to treat him like a normal kid. How would he ever get tired of that? She stepped back, making his legs shake, still holding her hand as he was terrified of letting go. Like she would've been just some imaginary friend. "Is it because of my sickness? I promise you it's not contagious," he pleaded. How many times had he not been teased with that? Told to stay away so that the other kids wouldn't get sick. He saw her lip quiver, taking a final step forward, almost falling in to her arms as he embraced her. His whole body was shaking at this point, but he just held her. "If you can't stay, then swear you'll come by every day," he whispered. He hated how lonely he was, but with her around it felt so much better.

She helped them to the floor, and he was shaking a little, sitting in her arms because he couldn't do much else. She held out her pinky and he nodded, not even hesitating to wrap his own pinky around hers, squeezing slightly, "And I pinky swear that I'll be here when you come by. That we'll be friends from now on until forever," he said. For him all he truly wanted was a friend. One he could share his secrets with and play with. A person that wasn't his father that he could tell things to, test out ideas and just learn from mistakes. He didn't even care if she only came here to get something to eat, he just couldn't bear the loneliness anymore. Smiling at her, they let go of one another's fingers at the same time as they counted down. Neither of them seemed to want to be the first to let go anyways. "Thank you," he said, looking at her with a smile, reaching his tiny hands up to rub off her tears if a few had fallen. He was frail, and many doctors had insisted that he should've died by now, but he was still keeping on. And he was sure that if Jane came by every day, he would have a reason to fight and get stronger.

First thing tomorrow. He was already looking forward to it. He was helped back on the bed, nodding as she told him to keep the boat safe, "I'll be sure to tell Captain Bottles of our arrangement," he said. Watching her go made him feel sad, but she had promised to come back. And so he would wait for her to return.
Once she stepped out of the door, Dexter was there, sorting through some papers. He didn't seem surprised that she had slept here, but he was surprised that she wasn't trying to sneak out. "Wait there just one second, young lady," he said, disappearing in to the kitchen shortly before he returned with a small bag for her. "Some food and your clothes cleaned," he explained, leaning down to be face to face with her as he handed her the bag. "And a small surprise for later," he said. It was nothing special, just a chocolate bar, and he didn't doubt that she would probably eat that first. If she took the bag he would stand back up, nodding, "you better be on your way." Not wanting to keep her here for any longer than she needed. He could understand it would take time before she would come to trust them, but with this gesture she would hopefully know that she could always come here for whatever she needed.

Eugene and Jane saw each other every day from then on. Inventing and trying out new contraptions. He helped with her designs and she helped with his prototypes. It was a match made in heaven. At the end of every day, Dexter gave her a bag with food and her clothes cleaned from the day before. He seemed happy that his son had someone to play with, and not only that, extend his visions and mind. Eugene was a clever boy, and he had to be with his body so weak. Winter was getting closer, and it meant that the young boy couldn't be outside much of the time. He was afraid. Afraid that Jane would see just how weak he was and would decide not to come back. But then she came and all his worries disappeared. He was starting to grow fond of her, and with it he felt stronger. He was sitting by the fire, fidgeting with his cane as he so usually did, trying to implement something better in to it. His father was in his studies, not to be disturbed until he returned. He had the boat that Jane had given him by his side, having attached a small motor to it so it could steer around when it was in water. He longed for spring already, but for now he was happy that he had Jane.
Though one day everything went wrong. Eugene had woken up with a fever, and Dexter had him rushed to the hospital. There was problems with his medication, and the snow had fallen heavy on the ground. That day was the first day that Eugene wouldn't be home to play with Jane. Then there was a second day, and a day thereafter where the house stood empty as if they had left it. Dexter only returned once in a while, one of those times to retrieve the boy's boat, but his cane had been left behind. If Jane were to enter she would feel how empty it was without them in it. How it was a mess and all things seemed to have either been packed up in a hurry or left to rot. Dexter had to decide, and fast. A special hospital in America was a place that could offer him and Eugene the treatment the young boy needed. And so they took it, leaving without a trace.

Coming by every day was Jane's highlight of the day. She brought any creation she was working on, hearing his ideas to improve it and looking at what he had been working on as well. Even if he wasnt the strongest physically, she had to admit that he made up for it in other ways like his extreme smarts. Jane almost felt as if she couldnt keep up. The months got colder and Jane had luckily gained a bit of weight from a consistent diet, not looking as malnourished and skinny as she had in the beginning.
But it was one snowy day where she arrived at the same time as almost, only to discover that the house was completely empty. She thought that maybe they were busy with some experiment. Eugene would have said if they had to do something important, so there was no logical reason for them to be gone.
But when she arrived on the seventh day to smell the leftover food rotting, she realized that she had been abandoned. She curled up, sitting on his bed with her arms around her legs. "No one wants to stick around forever for a weird girl like you." a voice said in her mind, but it sounded so real behind her that she turned in an instant. "That's not true!" she yelled back, gritting her teeth a little. "Eugene is different." she mumbled, feeling her eyes water. But it was like she couldnt even believe it. The boat was nowhere. It was the sign. He was just not coming back.
She tried to distract herself, picking up a paper of something that they had been working on, but she didnt even know how to read! She just stared at the paper, her hands shaking with anger before she ripped it up, screaming in a tantrum as she kicked her feet around on the floor, ruining more papers, tearing apart whatever she could get her hands on. "Liar! Liar liar liar liar! LIAR!" she screamed, tears streaming down her face, drooling a bit from the fury that she couldnt seem to control. She quickly scrambled to her feet just to leave. She didnt want to stay here another second, this place was just a sour reminder now.

Days turned to weeks. Weeks turned to months. Months turned to years. Eugene had gotten older, and though his body was still weak, his brain had only gotten better. Back when they had left Churchill Dexter had sent for someone to see if they could find Jane, but the little rascal hadn't been to trace. However he hadn't told Eugene much about what had happened back then. The young boy, soon to be a man, still suffered with his lung. But having gone through a lot of medication, they seemed to have landed on something that made him stable for now. Or that was the hope anyways. Dexter's business took him back to Churchill, and as they were setting up in a new house in South he looked around. Dexter still kept young. Perhaps because of his experimental substances. He hadn't dared using any of it on Eugene yet, wanting to make sure that the solution wouldn't just drush the boy's last lung.
Eugene was unpacking in his new room, finding the boat, he moved over to sit down on his bed. Holding it in his hands he moved Captain Bottle's arm up, poking his hand as if to give him a high five. Why was he doing this after all these years? Perhaps because it made him think of a time where he hadn't been lonely. A happier time where he had had a friend that came by every day. Looking up his gaze moved to the window. He hoped she was out there still. He so badly wanted to find her, show her all the things he had invented and how she had inspired him on days where he had felt breathing was too much work to even stand up.
"I have a business meeting later ... I'm trying to set up a truce with Samuel Prideux, letting me have access to some of my old files," he said. Eugene frowned, looking at his father. He looked like he was getting more desperate to find a cure, but Eugene was alive still, despite all odds. Sure he had had a few close calls, but he was alright now. "I don't think you should do it; we can figure it out on our own," he said, not really old enough to remember Samuel as much more than a tall shadow threatening in the background. He was the reason why they had to take up refuge in the Blocks back then. Dexter sighed, moving over closer, seeing the boat in his hand. His son was just as lonely as he had always been, and he thought perhaps that was the curse of a genius. "I've been blessed to have you for 19 years now; I want you to have a chance at a real life where you don't have to worry about being sick," he said, and that was final.

It wasnt often that people from the past suddenly decided to crawl up from their hiding. And even less when they had been hiding so well that Samuel might as well have thought that they were dead. Dexter had meant a lot to the daemon, which wasnt something that was usual. It was in fact so unusual that he had to admit that being left had made him sour. Even more when Eilish had disappeared following Kaiya's death and Dexter's son had gotten sick. It had just been a huge loss all around and Samuel wasnt the type who took kindly to those.
He sat in his office, looking through some papers. He kept his eyes on the underground, having men measure the trades, figure out what people were longing for. Everyone down there wanted a sort of drug. Some chose pills or substances, other got it from the company of other people. It didnt matter. A knock sounded on his door and his secretary announced Dexter's arrival. The daemon frowned a little before he told her to send him in. He placed down a paper keeping his hand over it. It was a list over delinquents of the Blocks, possible subjects, people of interest. Anyone that could and would be used for some sort of gain. "Hello, old friend." he greeted him coldly with a small smile over his lips.

Dexter arrived and frankly he felt like a dog returning to it's master. He was greeted politely before he was sent in to Samuel's office. "Hello," he said, brushing some of his black hair back. Eugene had inherited a lot of his mother's beautiful features, except the eyes. Dexter had always been told he had eyes as cold as ice, but when he looked at Kaiya that ice turned to water. He sat down when he was gestured to do so, holding a briefcase that he placed next to the chair leg on the ground. "It truly has been a long time," he said, "almost twenty years." But he wasn't going to bore Samuel when he knew the daemon didn't spare time for nostalgia. Instead he picked up his briefcase, sliding out a piece of paper. It was an old contract made between them, one that secured Dexter's livelihood as long as he returned to work for Samuel. "I'm here to offer my service once again." The years hadn't been too harsh on the human man that Dexter was. Even so, he had aged while Samuel had remained the same. "But I would like to add something to my contract, as I am allowed to according to §16," he said. There weren't room for loopholes in Samuel's contracts, so everything was written out rather finite. "It's about ... My son."

"Yes twenty years." Samuel repeated with a dry tone, not really wanting to reminisce on the past that much. It was behind him now, he only looked ahead, focusing on his work rather than feelings and bonds, all that was just liabilities to his work. He looked at the briefcase as the other man pulled it up, narrowing his eyes slightly. It was such an old contract but it was meant to last a lifetime. "Your service?" he asked with a raised brow. It only meant one thing but Samuel didnt say anything about that. The addition made him wave his hand as if he just wanted him to get on with it. Everyone always wanted something. Though the mention of the human's son made Samuel frown a bit. "He's still alive?" he asked. That was peculiar. He didnt think that the boy would last this long. "How?"

Dexter knew it was displaying his weakness to let Samuel know about Eugene, but he would have to find out eventually. He nodded, the kid was still alive and quite grown at this point, the how part of the question made him sigh. "All Kaiya ever told me was how she wanted to see me as the father of her child," quite the romantic gesture for a woman who had had such a terrible childhood herself, but to him it had meant she loved him more than just her partner. She saw him as family, and that was a love that he had felt so strongly when he was with her. "And to put it simply, the gods didn't bless me with the best temper - you know this," once in a fit Dexter had ruined a whole section of his lab, getting cuts all over his hands and face from the glass breaking. "But that boy saved me ... As soon as I held him in my arms I knew that I would have to save him as well." It was perhaps noble, but Dexter didn't see it as such. He was a scientist at the bottom of it all, so perhaps Eugene was more akin to a guinea pig when he was smaller. But as the boy had grown, Dexter had found all the parts of Kaiya in him that he missed so dearly.
"I've kept him stable, medicine of my own creation as well as some already known antibiotics ... But I've reached a point where stable isn't enough anymore, I wish to cure him, and I can only do that if I have the funds and resources to do so," Dexter wasn't an idiot. Things costed money, and Samuel had plenty of it. In fact he had so much that he didn't even spend a small fraction of it each year. "I will offer my services, my brain, and in return I want to be allowed to work on a cure for him at your expense," it was a big thing to ask, but couldn't Samuel do this just once? If not he would have to pull out a card from his sleeve.

He hummed as Dexter confirmed that the kid was indeed still alive. Somehow Samuel found that interesting but it wasnt interesting enough for him to think of it further. The kid was doomed one way or another. He scoffed at the mention of Kaiya, pulling slightly on the corner of his mouth. She had been a fierce woman, Samuel had to admit it. "Not everyone can be saved." he said, though he wouldnt blame the man for trying. And the research alone from the attempt could be groundbreaking in it's own. Samuel saw the potential.
"Hm." he hummed, adjusting himself a little as he folded his hands on his lap, looking at his former friend and partner. It seemed like a good deal. But Samuel had his concerns. "I suppose I could just offer you back your old lab and research from there. But I'm not charitable. You'll have to work your way back in." he said, grabbing the pile of papers, looking at them shortly. He would have dealt with it himself, but it was like a godly force had decided that his concerns were better elsewhere, such as finding his missing subject and keep order on his daughter. He would have to pass it on. "Here are possible subjects for testing, all kids that wont be missed." he said in a monotone voice as he placed the papers in front of the human. She would be in there, the girl without a name. Samuel leaned back and turned slightly on his chair to look towards his window. "I have heard from my men that the abandonment of South has meant The Blocks are in shambles. I would advice not breathing in the air down there." he said, sending the human a short smile before he waved him off. "Off you go. Offer me something good, and your research will be returned."

Samuel was right. Not everyone could be saved. But what father would he be if he hadn't at least tried? Frankly he hadn't expected to just get welcomed back with open arms, so he was prepared for anything that was thrown at him. Kids. He nodded, understanding the assignment as he glazed over the papers, his photographic memory serving him well. The name Jane Doe did stand out to him as peculiar, perhaps because Eugene had played with a Jane when he was a kid, but he didn't think it would be the same girl. He got up from his chair, packing away the contract and the papers in his briefcase, nodding at the notion before he headed out the door.

Samuel hadn't been lying about the state of the Blocks. More people without houses had turned to this place, and the streets were in bad shape. Bodies were being stored improperly, most of them probably unknown and with no money to pay for a proper burial. He went down the streets, looking around as he stopped at the old house that him and Eugene used to live in. He took off his hat, looking at the worn down building, broken windows and graffiti on the walls. Sighing he decided to go in, looking around at what once had been a small safe haven for him and his kid. There were a lot of memories here.

There were certainly memories for someone else as well. Though she hadnt thought she would come back, she still did once in a while. But The Blocks were decaying and she had to admit that the air had felt thicker on her lungs lately. If Dexter would enter Eugene's old room, it had changed a bit. Things had been moved around, all except the bed. A couple of tin cans would chime as the door would hit them, as if it was some sort of alert. She had hung a hammock in the ceiling, one she had fetched from her own place. It just didnt feel right sleeping in the bed all alone. Her foot was pushing the hammock, making it slowly rock from side to side. "Watch your step." she warned him tiredly, stretching her whole body as she yawned. Gadgets were lying all around, some harmless but others seemed to lead to something more dangerous.

Dexter took the time to reminise, and as he looked towards his son's old room, he knew he had to go look at it. Entering it he heard the cans, looking down to see all the gadgets. The voice warning him made him look up towards the hammock. He couldn't see any defining features, besides a small frame weighing it down. But something in his gut told him to react especially to the way the girl spoke. "You've been busy, little inventor," he said, leaning down to pick one up, turning it careful. It was quite innovative work she had been doing here, but he was worried for her. She didn't sound like she was doing too well in regards to her breathing and voice. If she peaked down towards him he would flash a sad smile as he looked at her. She had been on the file of people that wouldn't be missed, he knew that.

"Sure has." she said, still pushing the hammock with her foot as she was working on something else on her lap. At least small clicking noises were heard here and there, metal clinging and sliding together. She slid the last piece into place, a fizzing sound leaving the device before she lifted it to her face, breathing in, the thing working as a filter that hissed out steam. She leaned her head back, drawing in a deep breath that seemed to make her breathing less raspy. "Been busy being left alone all these years." she added in a slightly sour tone, looking at the device, turning it in her hand.

Left alone. Yes he had left her, hadn't he? But it wasn't like he hadn't tried getting a hold of her. Eugene had cried for her that night, wanting to see her even if it was just one last time. "Eugene was dying," he said, threading carefully around the room, looking at her small creations. he didn't expect her to understand. Maybe he was hoping she would yell at him for not looking harder for her. He reached the bed, seeing the child cane laying on the bed. Was this her way of keeping the image of his son alive in the room? A small prism laid next to it, one that he recognized as well. He looked at the bed, sighing softly. "I still recall how you made him so happy just by existing ... I think you did more for him than all the medicine in the world," he said. His son had always been a dreamer. Dreaming of the world becoming a better place and how he wanted to help. Looking up to the hammock he sighed, "I don't suppose I could convince you to come with me and see him? He's lived this far hoping to meet you again before he-" he didn't even want to finish the sentence. Like saying it out loud would admit defeat.