Chapter Text
Neil had always thought death was supposed to be impactful. People talked about it like it was a dividing line. Like there was a “before” and an “after” someone died. But even after his mother’s death, he still woke up hungry. The twins still needed breakfast and hated the rain. The world doesn’t stand still for anyone, and Neil didn’t have the luxury to either.
His mother had spent years preparing him for this. She’d taught him how to forge signatures he’d never even seen, how to spot the monsters lurking around corners, how to disappear and take others with him.
As it turned out, none of those things helped when two six year olds wanted food and he had 23 dollars to his name, albeit fake. Twenty three dollars that he had to somehow stretch for gas, food, and anything else that might pop up.
The gas station smelled like old coffee and wet concrete, the scent sticking to everything and everyone in it.
Neil guided the twins inside, the automatic doors letting out a grating screech as they scraped along the floor. Emma stuck close to his side the moment the cold air hit them. Elias, ever the opposite of his sister, weaved through the aisles the moment his eyes fell on the variety of chip bags.
“Stay where I can see you,” Neil said.
“I can see you from anywhere!” Elias replied, holding a bag of chips in his hands.
“well, I can’t.—and put that back, we’re not getting chips,” Neil scolds, walking over to the freezers and grabbing a water bottle, Emma clinging to his sleeve the entire time.
“The man at the counter is looking at us.” She tugs at his sleeve, when he looks up he sees her pointing rather obviously at the tired teenage worker behind the counter. The boys already back on his phone when he sees him, bored. Uninterested, safe.
“People look.” Neil shrugs, bringing a hand up to rest it on her head as he turns back to the freezer, placing the second water bottle back
“That one looked longer” she insisted.
Despite Neil knowing that the worker was probably no risk to them, definitely not one of his father’s men at least, doesn’t seem to be from the Moriyama’s either, he can’t stop his palms from clamming up. He looks around for Elias, gesturing at him to come back when he finally sees him.
“Come on. We’re getting food.”
Elias stomps up to his other side, resting his head against Neil’s stomach. “Real food?”
“Food.” He simply repeats, walking over to the counter with the water bottle.
He placed the water bottle on the counter and it wasn’t until he reached into his back pocket for his wallet that he noticed the bright green candy wrapper placed next to it.
Neil sighed, looking down at Elias “put them back.”
Elias paused, an annoying whine to his voice when he spoke up next “I kept the best one”
“No.”
Emma tugged on Neil’s sleeve, “it’s small”, she said quickly, “we can pay for it, right?”
“…you’ll have to split it, got it?,” he relents, throwing 10 dollars on the counter and sighs as he waits for the change.
“Yes, yes, yes, we’ll share!” Elias agrees easily, standing on his tippy toes to grab the candy packet.
Neil nods at the worker, grabbing the water bottle and his change and turning around, waiting for the twins to walk in front of him before they make their way out of the gas station.
Time for dinner.
—. —. —. —. —. —. —. —. —. —. —. —. —. —. —.
The diner was too bright for something that looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in ages. The air was too sweet and the kitchen too loud, but they needed to eat and the sign outside said the magic word on it. Discount.
He dragged the now sticky fingered twins towards a booth in the back, waiting for Emma to slide in first and then for Elias to follow before he slid in across from them, his back to the wall.
Elias grabbed a menu, pointing at something on it. “Pancakes, pancakes, pancakes”
“You already said that,” Emma mutters, rolling her eyes.
“I’m making sure it’s still there, duh”
“It’s not going anywhere”
“It might.”
“Nuh uh”
“Pancakes,” Elias said again, this time looking up at Neil as if asking for permission
“No,” Neil said automatically. They don’t have pancake money.
Elias frowned at the menu like it had betrayed him and then stuck his tiny finger under the plastic cover to scratch at the picture. “This one looks like a smiley face”
“That’s a pancake” Emma corrects, the tone in her voice obviously exposing that she thought her brother was being stupid.
“I know”
“You didn’t”
“I did”
Neil reached over and gently pushed Elias’ hand before it could rip the picture “stop.”
Emma sighed loudly, letting her head come down to rest on the table, her finger running in a circle on the sticky surface. “We’re in milport.”
Neil kept his eyes on his own menu “maybe.”
Milport itself won’t very important, just another name on a mile long list Mary had left of possible locations to hide out in. Places that were forgettable enough to be looked over. According to Neil’s research, it seemed to be a dying town, mostly full of old people and abandoned houses.
Elias perked up, “that means yes.”
“It doesn’t” Emma immediately shoots back
“It does when Neil says it”
Whatever Emma was going to argue next is cut off as the waitress came over, her posture tired and eyes untrained. Good.
“What can I get you guys?”
Elias speaks before Neil can even process the question. “Pancakes”
“No, sorry. You know how kids get,” he fakes a tired smile, grabbing the menu from in front of Elias quickly, “we’ll just have some toast and eggs. 2 plates.”
The waitress leaves with a smile, silence settling in.
Elias tapped the table, Emma watched Neil watch the room.
“We’re staying though, right?” She asked.
Neil hesitated. Staying meant leaving signs. School records, security cam footage, people that would recognize them.
“No, not long.”
Just long enough to rest, get some money.
“Like last time?” Elias asked, huffing as he throws his head back against the seat.
Last time had been at a motel on the side of a highway where the locks didn’t work. He had made it work, pushing the dresser in front of the door and staying awake while the twins slept. Before that, it had been a smaller town where they left three days early because a truck in front of the motel had been parked there too long for his liking.
He doesn’t like thinking about before that
Emma’s voice cut through his thinking “it rained last time.”
Elias kicked his legs under the booth, “I don’t like rain”
“I know,” Neil said.
The waitress came back with their food and the twins immediately dug in, Neil would eat whatever was left over after they filled themselves up. Not yet, though.
He looked outside the window. Milport looked ordinary, all the houses kind of looked the same and there were few cars few and far between driving outside the window.
Mary had taught him that too, to look at everything, no matter how stupid he might feel about counting the amount of windows a house he doesn’t even plan on ever seeing the inside of has.
The twins didn’t know the full truth, he would make sure they never did. That they never had the need to.
They knew enough though. They knew that they were not supposed to be found, that they weren’t supposed to stay in one place for too long, and there were people that never stopped looking whenever they wanted something.
—. —. —. —. —. —. —. —. —. —. —. —. —. —. —.
As soon as they finished eating, Neil stood up, throwing a couple of bills onto the table and rushing out with the twins by his side. The amount of time they had stayed in the diner setting him on edge.
“Come on, walk” He tells the twins, steering them away from the bus stop and in the opposite direction. Towards the houses.
The streets of Millport were quiet as the streetlights illuminated the night. The houses were spread too far apart, a reflection of their solitary residents.
Emma drifted closer to Neil without thinking about it.
The roads narrowed as they moved away from the center of town. The few stores and restaurants thinning out and making way for rows upon rows of old houses.
Emma tugged harshly on his sleeve, “where are we going, Ellie?” The old nickname for Neil highlighted her nerves more than her proximity ever would.
“Somewhere safe, Em, you’re okay” He comforts, placing a fleeting hand on her head
They keep walking in relative silence for a few more minutes when he finally sees it. It’s a house, but it’s further back than the ones surrounding it. There’s wood paneling on the front window and the grass is overgrown. It’s abandoned in every sense of the word.
Neil stopped.
Elias bumped into him lightly “ow”
Emma looked up, her tiny eyebrows furrowed “why did we stop?”
Neil didn’t answer right away. Just looking over the house for a few moments before clearing his throat, decision made.
Emma frowned, “is that someone’s house?”
“No”, Neil responds. “Come on, get in”
Elias brightened, “we get to live here?”
Neil shushed him, pushing them towards the house. It wouldn’t be smart to talk out in the open, even if they just looked like a couple of siblings playing around.
The front door didn’t resists when Neil turned the door handle, creaking as it swung open. Emma stopped immediately, Elias didn’t.
“This is big,” He said in awe, already stepping further into the house. He spins in circles that would’ve made Neil nauseous.
“Hey, come here. Stay with me while I check something, okay?” He orders, waiting for the both of them to nod before walking further into the house. He moved through the space, checking every corner and every window, making sure they were heavy enough to ward off anyone trying to open them but that they didn’t lock.
Emma stayed in the doorway of every room he walked into, waiting to see if he came out of them before stepping in herself. Elias didn’t wait, just following Neil directly, like he knew Neil would protect him no matter what.
After the last room, Neil walked back to the living room, letting his duffel bag slip off his shoulders. His back cracks with the action and he rolls his shoulders a couple of times.
“Alright, here’s how this is going to work.” Neil begins.
Both of the twins get closer at that, leaning in to listen to him. Despite their age and his attempts to give them a semi normal childhood, they still know to listen to his rules.
“No running off,” he said first, “not inside, not outside. You stay where I can see you while we’re here.”
Elias nods quickly, “okay, Ellie.”
Emma just listens quietly
“Second,” Neil continues “no opening doors without me”
Emma frowned, “even the closet?”
“Especially the closet”
“That’s where the monsters are” Elias says matter of factly, nodding his head over at Emma.
Neil exhaled once and adjusted his stance, the wood of the floor creaking under his weight.
“Third”, he said, “if I say move, you move. Don’t forget that. —and fourth, don’t go outside without me. Not even the yard”
Elias tilted his head “not even if I’m super fast”
“Not even.” Neil looked at him directly.
Emma hugged her arm tightly around herself. “And what if you’re not here?”
Neil didn’t answer right away.
“I will be here.” He promised finally, his voice softer this time.
The tension in the air lifted, the time for Turks clearly over. Elias wasted no time in jumping back, his energy seemingly refilled. “Can we pick rooms now?”
Neil sighed, nodding once. “Pick one, we all sleep together.”
They waste no time in running off and Neil follows a few steps behind them. Distance was something he didn’t trust yet.
“This one has a window!” Elias shouts, sticking his head into one of the bedrooms.
“No windows, pick one with no windows” Neil says, ignoring the Déjà vu of his mother saying the same thing, albeit less kindly.
“Fineeee!”
Eventually they found a room Neil was comfortable enough to let the twins sleep in. One towards the back of the house with no windows and no closets.
Emma watched Neil again, her hand going right back to wrap itself in Neil’s sleeve. “Are we staying a long time?”
Neil looked down at her, swallowing heavily. A long time was dangerous, but he was just so tired.
“For now,” he said again
Elias jumps over to the old, squeaky bed, leaning back against it on his hands “do we get food again tomorrow?”
“Yes.” Neil said, hating the fact that it was a genuine question.
“Same kind?”
“Different place”
Emma moved closer to Neil without thinking about it, “you’re not leaving tonight, right?”
“No,” he said “I’m not leaving, Em”
Elias yawned suddenly, like his body just now realized how tired the day had made him.
Neil noticed immediately.
“Sleep, come on.”
“Up you go, Em.”
He picks emma up from under her armpits, grunting a bit at her weight. They were getting a bit heavy to carry now. Neil walks her over to the bed and throws her down next to Elias, making her giggle slightly.
“Sleep, you two. I don’t want to hear any whispering.”
He says as he helps Emma get under the covers, pulling them up and over both of the twins. They seem to gravitate towards each other now that they’re laid down, as if the proximity would keep them safe.
“Good night.” He leans down, pressing a kiss to both of their heads
Then he sat down on the floor, back against the bedframe, facing the door.
Just watching. Just in case.