Unravelling the Past (Complete)

[Elfy]

This was a very fun commission to write and something a bit different to a lot of my other stories. This one involves some more fantasy elements than usual and also tells a story about love and... Well I don't want to say too much!

This is part one of either three or four depending on how I decide to post it

This was a commission and if you would like a commission, send me a message and we can discuss any ideas you might have.

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Unravelling The Past

By Elfy

“For God’s sake!” James shouted at his parents with all the impotent rage and angst the teenager could muster, “I’m not a child!”

“Yes James, we know.” Julie, James’ beleaguered mother, replied tiredly.

“Then why can’t I go to the party!” James whined loudly.

“You are 15-years-old and you have school the next morning.” Ron, James’ father, took his turn to talk to the angry teen.

“I don’t care!” James shouted back.

“Well we do.” Julie replied.

James stomped his foot in frustration. It wasn’t that he didn’t like his parents, they just were too overprotective of him sometimes. All his friends were allowed to go to the party, why shouldn’t he go?

Turning around in a huff, James stormed out of the front room, slammed the living room door and stomped halfway up the stairs. He was so mad that he half-considered just running away and going to the party anyway, he would get in trouble but it would probably be worth it considering some of his friends were apparently bringing alcohol.

When he got halfway up the stairs, James suddenly changed his mind. He wasn’t done with this argument. If he had to stay up all night shouting and screaming he would force his parents to change their minds and let him have his freedom. He was full of the righteous indignation that a scorned teenage boy could have.

James trooped back down the stairs and was just about to open the door to the living room to start round two of the argument when he was halted in his tracks by the sound of voices. Thinking that maybe he could get some information that he could use to his advantage, James quietly tip-toed up to the door and listened to the voices with him.

“He’s just a teenager, Ron.” Julie was saying to her husband.

“He’s a pain in the ass.” Ron replied.

“It’s the hormones.” Julie said in a conciliatory tone, “He’ll calm down soon.”

“Is it too late to take him back to the adoption agency?” Ron asked sarcastically.

James felt his mouth drop open and his heart skip a beat. What was that he just heard? Adoption? This couldn’t be true. James felt light headed, he felt faintly nauseous and he suddenly regretted ever deciding to continue this stupid argument. Maybe it wasn’t true…

“Ron!” Julie said warningly, “You know we don’t talk about that with John in the house.”

“I know; I know… Sorry.” Ron conceded, “But you have to admit that when we signed those forms, we didn’t really have this type of thing in mind.”

James couldn’t believe what he was hearing. It was true. His parents were talking about him and how he was… Adopted. He had no idea, he had no reason to ever suspect such a thing. This had to be some bad dream, right?

“Ron, we adopted James because we wanted to give a child a chance. We knew the trouble he had as an infant.” Julie said, “Any life he has with us is better than without us whether he knows or not.”

James felt a renewed anger flowing through him. He was adopted and no one had ever told him. Were they ever planning on telling him?

With the anger clouding his judgement, James pushed against the door and allowed it to fly open and smash into the wall. He stood in the doorway and felt like he could breathe fire as he looked in at his parents, or at least the people he thought he were his parents. There were tears in his eyes, tears borne of the intense emotions he was feeling. It was like every singly negative emotion was seething through him, every pump of his heart forcing more anger into his body.

Julie shrieked in surprise when she saw James standing in the doorway. She covered her mouth quickly but could tell from the way James was staring at her that he had heard everything. Ron stood up out of his chair and started walking towards James with his arms out as if to pacify his son.

“James…” Ron said slowly, “You weren’t supposed to hear that. Look, we were going to tell you.”

James cut off his father with a swift punch in the face. He didn’t make good contact and it barely even fazed Ron who quickly shook it off.

“I deserve that.” Ron said diplomatically, “James, come in and sit down and we can… JAMES!”

As Ron was talking a tearful James spun on his heels, grabbed his coat and ran out the front door. He didn’t know where he was going but he just knew he had to get away from the people he had always assumed were his parents. It was the early evening and getting a little chilly but James didn’t care. He ran down the street away from his home and ignored both Ron and Julie who were desperately calling his name.

He ran until his legs wouldn’t let him run anymore. If he could, James would have run all the way to the other end of the world.

---

James spent the next hour walking. He had no real place to go, he had no goal in mind except to walk and try to clear his head. It felt like his whole world had fallen apart in the last few hours and he needed to be alone, he needed time to think.

When James’ phone rang and he saw it was the number listed as “Home”, he didn’t answer. Instead he sent the call to voicemail and then turned his phone of. He didn’t want to talk to anyone.

The sun was beginning to set in the sky and it was getting darker by the minute. James had been so wrapped up inside his own mind that he hadn’t even been thinking about where he was going. When James looked up he realised he was in a residential part of town that he didn’t remember ever seeing before.

James didn’t care that he was lost. He wanted to be lost, it would give him more time alone as the darkness drew in. He just couldn’t believe that no one had ever told him he was adopted, he had been with the people he called his parents for as long as he could remember and now he found out that whole time had been a lie. He hated them, they were strangers to him now.

As he walked down one unknown street, James spotted an odd sight in the distance. Squinting, James noticed a house that seemed to be completely burned out. The whole building was charred black and it seemed like sections of the roof had fallen down. It was a very odd sight in what was usually a quiet town that had little of interesting news.

There was something about this house that attracted James’ attention though. For some reason, there was a part of him that was deeply interested in the building. A part of his brain was telling him that he had to investigate the wrecked home. With every step closer that James got to the house he found his desire to investigate it growing. It was as if some inexplicable force was drawing him towards it like a snake charmer charms a snake.

When James finally drew up level with the house, the night had drawn in. The street was empty and there were no signs of life except for James himself.

Taking a deep breath, James walked on to the property and felt a strange chill run down his spine. There was something equally familiar and alien about this whole place and James knew that he couldn’t leave, he had to look around and find out why this seemingly random building was having such an effect on him.

There was an old car in the driveway. It was rusted through and looked like it had once been in the same blaze that had consumed the house. It looked like it hadn’t moved in a long, long time. By now it even had plants growing through it and insects had taken over. It was a pretty big car, an old station wagon that looked to be at least a decade old.

James walked over to the car. It looked like a destroyed wreck of charred and rusted metal but James still felt like he should look inside. Just like the house, the car seemed to hold some special interest for him.

Peering in through the window, it seemed like there was nothing of interest at first. James was hesitant to touch the old vehicle for fear of cutting himself on the rusted edges.

James was about to back away from the car when something caught his eye. A flash of colour in an otherwise blackened car. James couldn’t quite see what it was but it was red and half hidden under the back seat.

Being very careful not to injure himself, James pulled on the handle of the door and after giving it a tug it swung open with a loud scraping noise. James slowly and carefully leaned into the car and reached down for the item that had his attention. It was as he touched it that he realised it was a toy fire truck, something that he had never thought about before but suddenly seemed very familiar.

As soon as his finger touched the fire truck, James felt like he was falling. There was an intense rushing sound in his ears and it felt like the world was spinning out of control. Everything kept getting louder and faster until James felt like he was about to pass out. He felt himself let out a loud scream as he felt like fell into the car, he closed his eyes as the spinning became unbearable.

---

“I know, darling, I know.” Came a female voice from the front of the car, “Quieten down, baby, everything is fine.”

James suddenly opened his eyes. He was incredibly disorientated to find himself suddenly sitting in a car in the middle of the day. Everything was different.

The car was speeding down the road and there was a man and woman occupying the front seats. James looked around and rubbed his eyes as he tried to make sense of what was happening. Was he on the way to the hospital? Had he died?

The last thing James remembered was standing against the car in the darkness as he suddenly felt very ill. Now he was in the car in daylight with other people. Had he been kidnapped?

James shifted in his seat a little to try and get a better look at his situation. It was as he tried to move that he realised several extremely strange and frightening facts about his situation. The first and most obvious realisation was that he was sat in a toddler’s car seat. The straps going across his chest were tight and clearly designed to stop the occupant from being able to wander.

It was then that James realised he must be very small to fit in such a seat. His legs were dangling over the edge of the seat but didn’t reach the ground, he looked at his hands and saw tiny little things still full of baby fat and unaffected by time. A teddy bear sat next to him, a bear he remembered from his youth and an anchor to reality. It made him realise that he must be a younger version of himself. As crazy as that sounded, how else could he explain it?

The next, and perhaps more embarrassing realisation that James had was that he was clearly wearing a diaper. His small pair of shorts bulged out from the thick underwear underneath and with each movement came a symphony of crinkles.

James tried to speak, tried to ask what was going on but when he heard his voice he realised all that was coming out was a bunch of useless babble. James felt panicked and fought to keep his cool.

“Will you tell your son to shut up.” The male voice in the passenger seat said. He sounded agitated.

“No, Terry.” Replied the female voice shortly, “He’s your son too… Toddlers make noise, get used to it.”

These two people were James’ parents? James felt a strange mix of emotions as he looked at the small parts of the two adults he could see. He was desperate to make some noise, to contact the people who brought him into the world but the only thing that happened was his babbling became more excitable. It was incredibly frustrating.

The man, Terry, as the woman had called him, spun around in his chair and looked James in the face. James felt a chill run down his spine, the look his father was giving him was intimidating in the extreme. James had expected to see love in those eyes, but all he saw was annoyance, dare he even say hate?

The look alone scared James enough to stop him from talking. Whether it was fear or just coincidence, at that moment James felt the front of his diaper suddenly warm up. He looked down in shock as he wet himself, he felt himself tearing up from shame but willed himself not to cry like the baby he seemed to be.

The warmth in the front of the diaper quickly spread throughout and James seemed powerless to stop it. He just stared at the scary man and swallowed deeply as the diaper did its job and absorbed all of the urine.

The car turned a corner and at the same time, the man smiled slyly and turned to look out the windscreen again. Out of the car’s windows, James noted it seemed like they were now heading down the road James had been walking on before all this had started.

“Just need to give the boy a stare and he shuts right up.” Terry said, “You are too soft on him, Mary.”

“More like you scare him.” Mary shot back as she drove towards home.

“Good.” Terry said coldly, “He’s only made our lives more complicated.”

“How can you say that!?” Mary half-shouted back, “Sorry, sweetie.”

Mary added the second part when she heard little James in the back make a whiny noise that sounded like he was about to cry.

“How can you deny it?” Terry replied snidely, “We were going along nicely till he popped out. Now we have money issues, we get no time alone, we never go out… It’s miserable.”

The car slowed right down and began turning into the driveway. James could see that the house wasn’t burned down anymore, now the house looked nice, a little rundown but otherwise a nice place to live.

“It’s called being a parent.” Mary said coldly, “You should try it some time.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Terry shouted back.

James felt his lip trembling and tears running down his eyes. He felt so small and vulnerable as his parents, people he barely knew, shouted at each other and argued with each other. Was he really such a liability and a burden on these people?

“You go out more nights than you stay home. You come home stinking drunk in the small hours and leave me alone with James.” Mary said, “I’m surprised he even recognises you.”

“Bitch.” Terry muttered harshly as he opened his door.

The car had barely stopped moving when Terry pushed the door open and then slammed it behind him as he stormed off into the house.

The loud noise was too much for young James who burst into tears. He couldn’t help it, he felt so scared and so sorry that he was such a burden on his parents. His wails were loud and shrill and he was unable to control them.

Mary, his mother, quickly opened her door and hurried to the back seat. She opened the back door and unsnapped the restraints holding James down. She lifted James out with ease and he desperately clung to her as she carried him out of the car and towards the house.

---

James’ eyes flew open. He quickly sat up and realised he was back in front of the burnt out house, back in the night that he had run away from home. He looked down at himself and saw he was back to normal size and back in his normal clothes.

As the dizziness and disorientation slowly cleared up, James made his way back to his feet. He was a couple of feet from the car now but the little red fire truck he had originally reached in for was now lying next to him on the cold grass.

James reached over and lifted the truck. As he did so, he noticed something was on the ground underneath the little toy. He leaned over and picked up what seemed at first to be a rectangle card but which James soon realised was actually a photograph.

Pawing at the photograph, James pulled it over and looked at it. There was just another light from the street to see that it was a picture of two adults and a baby standing in front of the house he was now looking at, pre-burning, of course.

James gasped as he realised the two adults were his parents from the car, so the baby must be… Him?

James was very confused. Had it been a dream? A hallucination? If it had been either of those things, where had this picture come from?

Looking up from the photo to the house in front of him again, James felt his attention drawn to the front door. He unsteadily climbed to his feet and wandered slowly towards the house.

The house looked dangerous. The whole place showed signs of fire damage and there was debris strewn around the front yard. The windows were broken and in some places boarded up and graffiti had been spray painted on parts of the walls. Sections of the roof appeared to have collapsed and the porch was being overrun by the vegetation that was reclaiming the abandoned abode.

James walked up to the front door and pushed gently. To his surprise the front door swung open rather easily. He worried about squatters or homeless people that might be inside but he couldn’t resist the temptation to explore this place, especially after the weirdness in the car.

When the door was halfway open there was a strange cracking noise and, rather suddenly, the door fell off its hinges and collapsed inwards. There was a loud crashing sound as the door fell inwards and sent up a cloud of dust. No one had been in this house for years by the look of the place.

James hesitated to walk into the hallway beyond the front door. The house looked positively dangerous and the darkness inside the house was very spooky. James looked behind him at the street that he was leaving and seriously considered abandoning his adventure, it didn’t look like anything but danger would be found out in the mostly burnt out house.

“… James…”

A rush of wind seemed to come out of the house and James felt his hair move slightly, even more bizarrely he thought he heard his name whispered. James spun around. Did he hear that right?

James slowly came to the conclusion that he had come too far to turn back now. Besides, where could he go? He had no parents now, the people he thought were his parents turned out to be just a couple of strangers. His actual parents were in the photo that he was looking at it, they were in the weird dream that he had just had. So with that knowledge, why did he have an intense feeling that his real parents were in this house even though it seemed totally abandoned.

Taking a deep breath to steel his nerves, James stepped on to the door that covered the floor. He walked past it and on to the creaking floorboards.

The house was pitch black further in but some light was coming through the few windows that weren’t boarded up. They lit the nearest couple of rooms and something in one of those areas had caught the teenager’s eyes.

In amongst the blackness, there was a red object hanging from the ceiling that seemed like it was unaffected by the damage that covered everything else.

James walked into the room and heard the charred floorboards crack slightly under his weight. The room was empty except for what James now recognised as being a baby swing. The red swing hung from the ceiling and looked brand new in comparison with age of everything around it.

The swing seemed to almost glow as the meagre amount of light outside came in and shined off of it.

Just like when he had looked into the car, looking at this red object caught James’ attention and he seemed unable to look away. It was as if the swing had its own gravitational pull, James was just drawn forwards until it was just a few inches from him.

With a shaking hand James reached out and gingerly touched the fabric on the swing. It was immediately like the swing was covered in the strongest glue in existence, as soon as he touched his finger to the strap he became bonded to it. Try as he might, he couldn’t pull his hand away.

James felt the house spinning around him. Just like in the car he felt like the world was spinning faster and faster until it was almost too much to take. He could feel himself on the verge of passing out until he suddenly felt himself lurch forwards into where the swing was sat.

[ELLIE52]

The story has started with quite some intensity.

[Little Crusader]

in concept, I could see this working as a great story, but it doesnt quite work as well as a commissioned work. The start is very rushed, which considering the topic, might not be that great a thing, the reactions between the family members also seems a bit off, but that might just be due to what the customer wanted to see written.

[NoName004]

Different than most but not in a bad way

[Elfy]

4 minutes ago, NoName004 said:

Different than most but not in a bad way

[NoName004]

26 minutes ago, Elfy said:

Thanks for pointing that out, that was meant to say Jack, I have edited it now. The problem with writing six stories at once is character names sometimes leak into other stories and aren't always caught in editing

I think you mean James

[Sir Stinkypants]

Am very much liking the start! Great concept!! Like to see where it might go!!!

[adamlathamsmith]

this is vary good please keep it going

[Jayme]

This is a very interesting beginning, I would love to see more when you are ready to post it

[Eagle0769]

What a great start. What an imagination. Your writing as always is right in. I felt like I was James in the car seat. Truly hope this has a happy ending to have such a terrible start of James life. That's for sharing will keep my eyes on this one for sure.

[CDfm]

I thought this was a fantastic start. I really liked the way things were progressing. The only problem I had was the reaction of his adopted parents. I would imagine they would be going out of their minds with worry and to only attempt a call wouldn't seem like enough effort on their part to get him back home. I really am looking forward to reading the next part.

[HotDogg55]

Interested to see where this goes.

[Elfy]

Here is part two

All the comments are very much appreciated!

If you would like a commission, feel free to send me a message.

---

“What do you mean you spent the vacation money!?” Came a female voice from the other room.

James’ eyes snapped open. He was slumped over in the swing that he had touched and seemed to have been woken up by the shouting that was coming from elsewhere in the house. He felt vaguely nauseous after whatever had just happened and it took a few moments for him to get his bearings.

“I was told it was a certainty! Ten to one! I was going to win more so we didn’t have to go local again. We could go to Europe or something.” Came a male voice that made James wince just from hearing it. He recognised it from the car.

James looked around. There was bright sunlight streaming in through the window and he was alone in what was clearly a living room. It was obvious this family weren’t rich, the couch was stained and looked rather old, the TV set was in a similar way and the aerial appeared to have been rigged up with a coat hanger.

“A certainty!” The female said, her voice rising higher, “And I’m guessing, by some miracle, this horse didn’t win the stupid race?”

James looked down at himself and saw that he was a similar size to when he was in the car seat. His body was small and now that he was sitting in the seat, his feet only gently brushed the ground as the swing gently swayed back and forth, and up and down.

“Well… No.” James’ biological father said from the other room, “But maybe if YOU had a job I wouldn’t feel the need to gamble!”

James noticed he was in a little white onesie with pictures of baseballs and baseball bats all over it. From the feeling around his groin, James knew he was in another diaper. That was confirmed when he moved slightly and heard the crinkling ring out.

“OF COURSE!” James’ biological mother shouted back, “I was just waiting to see how this was MY fault.”

James wished that they would stop. The raised voices were making the small boy anxious and he just wanted the shouting to stop. Even though he couldn’t remember any other time as this child, except for the car, he had a sense that the raised voices were something he had experienced often, he got a feeling of dread and felt his tummy rumble and flip in anxiousness.

James was distracted from his introspection when he saw the person he recognised as his mother walk into the living room and sit down angrily on the couch in front of him. Almost instinctively, James reached out to his mom, he wanted to be held and told everything was going to be alright but his mom was almost immediately distracted when James’ father entered the room not long behind her.

The man looked angry and as soon as he entered the room James could smell the rancid odour of alcohol and cigarettes. He withdrew his hands and tried to shrink into his swing a little, he even tiptoed backwards but was obviously unable to go far.

“Come on, babe.” Terry said as he walked into the living room, “You know I didn’t mean that.”

James could feel tears forming in his eyes. He was scared, and he felt on edge. The man’s mere presence seemed to provoke an atmosphere of danger. He whimpered slightly and felt his stomach lurch again, this time it felt more like a cramping kind of pain.

“If you don’t mean it you shouldn’t say it.” Mary replied as she opened a magazine on the couch.

The young boy in the swing just wished that the man would go away. He sensed danger from him, he sensed that there was something bad about him. James felt so small and powerless, he wanted to protect his mother from what he thought were bad intentions but he was too small and too trapped in his toddler seat.

“I’m sorry.” Terry said as he swayed on the spot slightly, “I’ll make it up to you, I promise. Come on, give me a hug.”

James didn’t want his mom to listen to him. He wanted her to make the man go away but he could almost feel her resolve weakening. He watched as she put her magazine down and look up at the man’s smiling face. James wanted to yell no but every time he opened his mouth the only sound made was useless babbling.

He cringed as his mother stood up and slowly took a couple of steps across the room to wrap her arms around her husband. Almost simultaneously, James felt another twisting, cramping pain in his gut. He felt his body trying to push and only realised at the last possible second what was happening. With great difficulty, James managed to squeeze his buttocks together and stop what seemed inevitable. He hoped he could hold himself together until he got back to the present. The idea of pooping in his diaper was absolutely abhorrent.

James’ Mom and Dad embraced. His Mom looked sceptical but allowed herself to be won over by her husband and walked into the cuddle. For a few seconds they just stood together and James looked up to where their heads were resting on the other’s shoulders. He scowled up at them, a mixture of distrust towards the man and cramping in his abdomen causing his face to tense up.

“So… How about a makeup fuck?” Terry said quietly, though still loud enough for James to hear.

“Don’t talk like that in front of James!” Mary rebuked.

“Come on, the little brat won’t remember.” The man replied. His hands moved down his wife’s body until he reached her butt. He squeezed her rear end rather roughly.

“No!” James’ Mom said as she moved backwards out of the man’s arms.

“Oh, come on!” James’ Dad replied with exasperation, “You can’t lead a guy on like that!”

“Lead you on?” Mary asked incredulously before adding with venom, “Why don’t you just go back to the bar. Maybe you will find a reason to stay out all night just like last weekend…”

“If you put out I wouldn’t be at the bar.” Terry spat back, “Ever since you popped the kid out you’ve barely even touched me.”

“Yeah, well, sorry if I don’t find the drunken asshole look much of a turn on.” Mary said. She stepped forward slightly, James could tell she was angry. He was wincing with every word he heard.

“Bitch.” Dad said.

James’ Mom went to slap the man in the face, she was appalled by his behaviour and wanted to teach him a lesson. As she swung her arm forward, the man grabbed it and looked at her with fury in his eyes.

Without missing a beat, James’ Dad pushed forward with both his hands and pushed his wife backwards hard. She tripped backwards on to the couch and was unharmed but clearly shaken.

James screamed. The anxiousness he had been feeling in the swing became too much and he felt panic overtake him completely.

As soon as James opened his mouth to scream, his body pushed at the other end. Without a chance of stopping it, James felt his bowels push and rapidly empty into his pants. The diaper wrapped tightly around his waist bulged slightly but with the swing forcing the diaper to stay in the same shape, the poop that was pushed out moved around and was squeezed all over the diaper.

James started loudly crying and reaching his arms out for his Mother. He was upset about his filled underwear but mostly because he was scared for his Mom. He wailed like a baby, only pausing in his tantrum to take deep breaths.

James’ Dad looked a little bemused by everything that was happening. He looked like he was about to say something when he smelt the air and looked directly at James. It was clear the smell of James’ fresh bowel movement was already permeating the room.

“I’m going out.” The man said, a mixture of disgust and venom in his gruff voice, “Make sure to clean the little brat’s diaper.”

With that, Terry turned and grabbed his coat. He didn’t pause or look back as he walked to the front door and left a scene of chaos behind him.

After ten seconds, and with James still sobbing loudly, his Mom got up off of the couch and hurried over to her son. She picked him up out of the toddler swing and clutched him to her breast. She cooed platitudes and hummed little songs to calm the boy down as she prepared to take him to get changed.

“Don’t worry, little one.” Mary said quietly as James clutched her as tightly as his little arms could, “No matter what, I won’t let any harm come to you.”

James calmed down an opened his eyes a little. What he saw almost caused his heart to stop beating.

Over his mother’s shoulder, James suddenly saw a shadowy figure in the doorway. Shaped like a human but without any discernible features, the shadowy creature floated forward into the room. Closer and closer until it engulfed James and everything went pitch black for the little boy.

---

“Ah!” James sat up suddenly.

He rubbed his eyes and slowly felt the dark room come back into focus. James felt around the floor in front of him as he started to climb to his feet. He got on to his hands and knees and stopped.

The photo he had picked up outside was now laying in front of him again. The picture of his mother and father smiling with him in the middle laid in the one part of the floor that had light on it, the streetlights finding one place that they could infiltrate the dark void.

James reached forward to pick it up but as he did so he felt a second photo under the first. James put his first photo in his pocket and took a look at the new picture.

James had no idea where the new photograph came from but maybe it would give some kind of clue about what was happening in this bizarre house. He needed an explanation for these weird flashbacks he was experiencing.

The photo was of the living room from James’ flashback. He was smiling and happy, as a toddler, in his mother’s arms. He was waving happily at the camera. His mother looked happy too, beaming at her pride and joy.

At first James couldn’t see anyone else in the picture but when he looked again he noticed that his father was in the picture too. On the couch behind his mom, holding a beer and watching the television with an annoyed expression on his face he seemed to be perpetually pissed off. Just looking at him made James shiver slightly.

“OH GOD!” James shouted out loud. He dropped the photo in shock as he saw another unexpected sight, a sight scarier than even his biological father.

In the doorway to the living room, just over James’ shoulder was the same dark and shadowy entity. It just stood there, behind everyone and although it had no face, James sensed that it was staring directly at him. It was the creepiest feeling he had ever experienced and he had to fight the immediate urge to just run out of the house. He had to stick around and discover what was going on, running away would leave him with questions for the rest of his life.

James climbed to his feet and put the two photographs in his pocket. He swayed slightly as his eyes got used to the darkness again. He walked back out into the hallway and was just scanning around for where to go next when he thought he could just make out movement coming from the kitchen. An even darker mass in the already dark room.

As much as it scared James, he slowly walked down towards where he had seen the mass move past the doorway. It was pitch black and he used the walls to help guide him down the hallway into what he thought must be the kitchen.

As James felt his way into the centre of the kitchen area he suddenly froze. He had an overwhelming feeling that something was behind him, watching him. With his heart in his throat he spun around and almost expected to see someone or something right behind him. There was no one there.

James could feel his heart beating at what felt like a thousand beats per minute as he tried to calm himself down.

“Come on, James.” James said to himself, “Keep it together…”

Just as he was trying to rebuild his shaken nerve, there was a crash behind him. The sound of dishes breaking caused James to spin around so fast he nearly gave himself whiplash.

“What the…” James turned and there was no cutlery on the floor.

In fact, this room was like all the others, completely burnt out and with almost nothing in it. James couldn’t see very far but it seemed unlikely that this room had anything in it.

BANG.

A loud crashing noise shattered the silence and caused James to spin around yet again. The door he came from; the only door he could see to leave the room had slammed closed. Was someone else here?

James felt panic flare up within him and he ran at the door. Despite the door being old and burnt, the wood held firm. James pushed and pulled on the door but it didn’t budge an inch.

Slowly, James turned back to face the room. He put his back to the door to make sure he wasn’t snuck up on. Something was in the kitchen with him, he couldn’t see it but he could feel it’s presence.

A sudden flicker of light appeared in the far corner, a candle on the wall suddenly bursting into life. James could feel his knees shaking at all the supernatural occurrences. Increasingly, he wished he had never run away from home as more candles lining the wall starting lighting up. He whimpered and wished his adoptive parents were there to hold him and tell him everything was going to be alright.

Candles flickered to life all around the room and slowly it became illuminated. The room was mostly as James had expected, a burnt out mess with little in the way of interesting features. Except there was one very obvious exception.

In the middle of the room was a white highchair. A toddler’s seat designed to keep the infant in place whilst they ate off of the tray that was pulled in front of them. Unlike the rest of the room, the highchair was in pristine condition and it looked like it was brand new, though why a brand new highchair would be randomly in this abandoned house was a mystery. One of many that were building up.

James tried pulling on the door again but it was stuck so tightly it was a surprise it had ever opened at all. He was just preparing himself what he assumed he would have to do, walk over and touch the high chair just like the previous items.

Before he even had a chance, the black humanoid entity floated into view. It advanced slowly but deliberately and James felt frozen to the spot in fear. His heart started racing as the cloud floated towards him in silence.

“What are you!?” James shouted with the panic in his voice palpable, “What do you want!?”

There was no response as the entity got within reach of James. Two arm like protrusions started extending towards James and stopped a few inches away from him. James winced and then felt himself suddenly leaving the floor. He flailed and tried to get free but the entity started floating back to the centre of the room with James floating just in front of it, trapped in its grasp.

James was lowered into the highchair and strapped in as the black cloud hovered in front of him menacingly. Despite his fear, James was starting to calm down a little. This black cloud, whatever it was, had many chances to hurt him and yet it didn’t seem to be doing anything to cause harm.

As the final restraint was snapped closed, James suddenly felt like the chair was spinning. Faster and faster it seemed to move and James found himself holding on to the side desperately in an attempt to not get thrown out. He could feel consciousness leaving him and he felt his head tip forward as the room fell back into blackness.

---

James opened his eyes. He lifted his head from the tray in front of him just in time for his biological mother, Mary, to put a plate of food in front of him. It looked like dinner was cut up sausages and mashed potato, it looked tasty.

James looked up to see his biological father, Terry, already sitting at the table in a stained vest and smoking a cigarette. He looked straight ahead as he waited for his dinner to be placed in front of him.

James’ mother walked around the table and tentatively placed a plate in front of her husband. She looked rather timid and Terry didn’t wait for his wife to sit down before he started shovelling the food into his mouth.

Looking around him, James could see the house had fallen into a state of disrepair. There was a hole in the ceiling, paint was peeling and it looked like various electronic items weren’t working. There was a tension in the air, the only sound coming from a leak in the ceiling that was dripping into a bucket next to the table. James didn’t know how much time had passed since his last flashback but since he was allowed to feed himself, albeit with plastic cutlery, he assumed he must be a little bit older.

Suddenly James was distracted by the man spitting something on to the floor. It made James jump and immediately his nerves were on edge. He looked at Mary who also seemed concerned, she had just sat down and hadn’t even begun eating yet.

“This is disgusting.” Terry growled at Mary, “The potato is lumpy and the sausages are burnt.”

“I… I’m sorry, Terry.” Mary said, “I had a long day at work, and I must have just messed up dinner a little.”

“Useless bitch.” Terry said as he pushed the plate away from himself, “I’m sat here all day and all I ask for is for you to cook a decent meal when you get home. Is that too much to ask?”

Silence fell in the room. It was clear Mary didn’t want to provoke her husband and it was equally clear, to James at least, that Terry was just looking for a reason to start trouble.

“Mama…” James said, almost impressed at his own ability to speak, “I like.”

When James finished trying to speak, he picked up some of the sausage and shoved it messily into his mouth. He smiled as he chewed and swallowed the sausage pieces.

“Thank you, Sweetie.” Mary said with a genuine and warm smile.

“Of fucking course.” Terry said from his side of the table, “Ganging up on me as always.”

“Don’t be silly, Terry.” Mary said as she ate a bit of her own mashed potato, “He’s just a baby, leave him alone.”

Terry stood up suddenly and picked up his plate. For a second it looked like he was going to throw it directly at James but in the end the plate flew just a foot over James’ head and smashed into the wall behind him. Bits of food and plate sprayed everywhere and James immediately started crying. James felt the diaper that he just realised he was still wearing warming around him as he helplessly wet himself in fear.

“TERRY!” Mary stood up with a look of fury. The usually timid woman looked livid and clearly putting James in danger had turned her motherly instincts up to the maximum.

“Silly am I?” Terry yelled, “How silly is this?”

Terry picked up his wife’s plate and threw it on to the floor. Then he picked up James’ plate and again threw it into the wall. Each new crash caused James to wail and cry, he put his hands around his head to try and hide from the nightmare around him.

“GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!” Mary screamed, “AND DON’T COME BACK!”

Whatever else had been happening, this was clearly the final straw and James looked up through tear-filled eyes to see his father looking at Mary with a mixture of incredulity and amusement. It was as if Mary standing up for herself was funny to him. He seemed to find it funny that his threatening of James’ health was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Terry walked around the table and right up to Mary who didn’t back up an inch. James gasped, he was sure Terry was about to hit her and he was terrified of what would happen next. Terry and Mary stared at each other for what seemed like a full minute.

“I’m going to the pub.” Terry eventually said as he turned away from Mary. He paused before leaving and turned to James, “This is all your fault. We were happy until you came along.”

He stepped over some of the broken crockery and out of the kitchen. He didn’t look back and slammed the door as he left.

The kitchen was left in silence. Mary looked around at the mess around her and looked like she was on the verge of breaking down.

“I need… I’ll be back in a second.” Mary said with a shaking voice.

Something very strange happened as Mary walked out of the room. As she turned and left, a black humanoid shaped cloud was left in exactly the place she had been standing. James felt a sense of calmness from it. He watched it and sensed that it was watching him back. It no longer felt threatening, now it felt like it was trying to tell him something. What it could possibly be telling him through these flashbacks was a mystery.

About a minute later, Mary came back into the room and stood in the exact spot where the cloud was. She saw James staring at her with a strange look on his face and walked towards him. Her red eyes betrayed the crying she had been doing.

When Mary walked to James, James could see that the mysterious cloud had disappeared. He reached out his arms to be picked up by Mary and as she leaned forward he suddenly found the world around him going black again.

[adamlathamsmith]

this is vary good please keep this going

[Jayme]

James seems to be remembering a past that has possibly been blocked by trauma. The black figure has shown no malice yet seems to be the one helping James out.

Beautifully done chapters and I eagerly anticipate your next chapter. Thank you for sharing with us here.

[Eagle0769]

This is so good.

This was the first time he thought of his adopted parents. This will be a good thing I think.

Keep going this is a great story. :-)

[CDfm]

That was so good. It had me on the edge of my seat the entire time I was reading it. I especially enjoyed how you are leading James around between the past and present. I can't wait for more.

[Elfy]

Here is the third and final part to the story. I'm glad people are enjoying it and I hope the conclusion keeps everyone invested and happy!

This was a commission. If you are interested in a commission, send me a message to see if we can get it to work

---

James jerked awake again. He knew he was in the kitchen but the room was dark again. He was back in his teenage body and back in the dark night. Even the candles that had lined the room had disappeared.

James felt upset even though he was out of the flashback. Was his dad right? Was James such a nuisance and such a negative influence on his parents that he had ruined their marriage and made them both miserable? He couldn’t work out whether it was truly his fault or if his father was just a mean man who should be ignored.

Carefully and slowly, James stood up out of the highchair that he was still in. He felt very disorientated still and took a few moments to get his bearings back. It was as he stood still and waited for all of his wits to return that he noticed a warm, wet feeling in his pants.

James reached down and felt his crotch. He was rather surprised to find a wet streak running down his leg, when he had wet himself in the flashback he had wet himself in real life. He blushed in the darkness but quickly realised there was no one around to cause the embarrassment. He was sure he could work out something later. There were big mysteries at work and a pair of wet pants wouldn’t slow him down.

It was just as James was considering what his next move would be, and what he would actually do later now that he didn’t have a home to go to, that he heard a sudden noise upstairs. He looked up and almost instinctively knew that he had to go investigate.

This was no longer a mysterious force making him search this house. Now he knew he was being told a story, a story about his past. He knew what the black cloud was, he couldn’t explain what it was exactly, but it was clear that it was something to do with his real mom. Was it her soul? A ghost? Something altogether more mysterious? James had no idea, all he knew was that he shouldn’t fear it because it was trying to take him on a journey. The journey that was his past.

The kitchen door was no longer stuck. James pushed it and it swung open with ease, only stopping when it hit the wall.

James walked more confidently now, he was still spooked by the dark house but his visceral fear was gone. He started climbing the stairs very carefully, they were rickety and just as damaged as the rest of the house. He had to go very slowly and feel his way up to avoid the numerous holes and missing steps.

Halfway up the steps, James found a small book. It looked like a diary and the few passages that had survived on the stairs told the depressing story of a woman trapped in an unhappy marriage. A woman who had once dreamed of a career and a life of fun who ended up burdened by a child and a husband who stifled her every move.

Finally, when James reached the top of the stairs, he was greeted by a hallway and four doors. Three of the doors were closed but the fourth was open. It was to this doorway that James now began to walk, if there was a continuation to this story, it would be in that room.

James walked down the dark hallway and through the open door. Inside was what seemed like it must once have been a nursery. Most of the room had been destroyed but there was the burnt out remnants of a changing table in one corner and a crib along the wall. There was a window just a couple of feet from the crib which granted anyone who looked a lovely view of the neighbourhood. The glass in the window was gone, now it was just an empty hole that allowed a cool breeze to blow in.

James knew what was expected. The only piece of equipment that looked mostly in tact was the crib and James assumed that, like the previous rooms, it meant that he was supposed to go to it. He walked over and got into the toddler bed. It was a little bit of a squeeze but he was able to fit quite comfortably.

The assumption had been that just touching the bed, or getting into it would trigger another flashback but nothing happened immediately.

James was just starting to think he had got things wrong when all of a sudden the side of the crib rattled up, seemingly with a mind of its own. This time it was the whole crib that started spinning, James closed his eyes and held on to the bars as he tried to resist the horrible feelings but he soon found consciousness slipping away. He fell backwards on to the mattress and as soon as he hit the pillow, his eyes snapped open again.

---

It was still night time. James rubbed his eyes and sat up slowly, as he did so he heard the tell-tale crinkle of his diaper. He was toddler sized again and sitting alone in the darkened nursery, the only light in the room was from a plug in nightlight next to the crib.

James pulled himself to his feet unsteadily. He must be new to walking because his little legs were unsteady and he had to use the bars to hold himself up. He toddled over to the end of the crib where the window was, through the glass he saw something that made his heart drop.

Out on the curb, smoking a cigarette, James could see his father. For some reason he had several gas cans with him and he was agitatedly pacing up and down. Soon he had clearly decided on his next course of action as he picked up the cans and started walking towards the house.

James tried to shout to alert his mom as to the danger but he found his quiet voice didn’t carry over the sound of the television in the room next to him, he assumed his mom had fallen asleep with the TV on.

James heard the sound of the front door quietly opening and closing. Standing against the bars in his crib James strained his ears but couldn’t hear anything else. Maybe he was overreacting, maybe it was just his dad coming home but why would the entity have brought him to this point unless there was a reason.

Soon, James’ questions were answered. He heard his dad coming up stairs… And the splashing of liquid.

Terry came all the way up the stairs and started splashing the gas all over the house. James suddenly realised what was about to happen and he started panicking. He screamed and this time it happened during a lull in the television volume as he heard his mom suddenly get out of bed. The smell of petrol was becoming overwhelming.

“Shh, you little brat.” Terry said as he emptied the last of the gas and walked into the bedroom. He had a wild look in his eyes, a look that suggested he had snapped, “You two have made my life a living hell for long enough, it’s time to start again.”

“What the fuck is going on?” Mary was standing in the doorway and saw her drunk husband. She could clearly smell the pungent odour of the petrol as she coughed and covered her mouth.

Terry pulled Mary into the room and threw her against the side of the crib. The concussion forced James backwards and he landed on his padded rear with a bump.

As Mary got up she looked terrified. James knew something very bad was about to happen and he tried to reach through the bars to grab his mother.

“Terry… What are you doing?” Mary asked carefully. She too could sense the danger.

“I’m ending our problems once and for all.” Terry said emphatically as he took a drag on his cigarette. James considered it stupid to smoke with so much gas in the house but he guessed his father was in the state of mind not to care.

“Terry, come on, we can talk it all out like we usually do. James is here…” Mary stood up straight and took a step towards Terry but he put her hand up to stop her.

“No more talking.” Terry said very casually, “I’m starting again. I need the insurance money to do it.”

Without warning, Terry took the cigarette out of his mouth, looked at it for a second and then threw it out into the hall.

“NO!” Mary shouted.

Her shout was drowned out by the sudden sound of a blaze starting. The gas acted as the accelerant and soon most of the house was ablaze, smoke was pouring into the bedroom, one of the few rooms without gas in.

James started crying as he panicked in his crib. What could he do? He wanted to run away, he wanted to get his mom to safety but he was stuck behind the bars.

“Terry!” Mary screamed, “Oh my God… Oh my God.”

“It’s better this way.” Terry said as he closed the door to the nursery, “The smoke will come in and we will all die together. Like a family. We won’t even burn, the smoke will kill us first and it will be peaceful.”

“You’re fucking insane!” Mary screamed hysterically.

“I must be to put up with this life as long as I have.” Terry replied quietly.

Mary looked around frantically. When her eyes fell on James she put her hand to her mouth in horror, James could see that her overriding obsession at this moment was to make sure he was safe. James could see that Mary would do whatever it took to make James safe, even if it cost her everything.

Mary started pulling up the sheets and hurriedly began tying them together to create a rope of sorts. She started grabbing anything she could tie together only pausing briefly to cough from the smoke that was starting to stream in.

“What are you doing?” Terry asked from near the door. His brow was sweaty from the heat that was radiating into the room.

“If you think I’m sitting here and waiting to die you are even crazier than I thought.” Mary said.

Mary grabbed the rocking horse that was in the corner of toddler James’ room and with a loud shout of effort she threw it through the window. The glass shattered and Mary hurriedly tied one end of her rope to the crib and threw the other end out of the window.

Just as Mary started to pick up James, she suddenly dropped him again as Terry smacked her around the side of the head. James screamed again as his mother fell to the floor.

“Quiet.” Terry shouted into James’ face, “We go together, as a family. I was going to leave alone but since that is no longer possible, we all die tonight.”

James was crying hard in the crib. It seemed like the situation was impossible to get out of. What could he do? He couldn’t climb over the bars; he couldn’t squeeze through the bars… All he could do was sit and pray for help. The smoke was starting to get overpowering now.

“Maybe I should help you along…” Terry said as he looked at James, the object of his hate, “Just be quiet little one, it will be over soon.”

James backed off and tried to avoid his father’s hands as Terry reached in to try and grab him. James was hysterical and using what little coordination he had to avoid the grasp of his deranged father. His diaper was hot and he was certain he had wet himself but he had no idea when he had done it. He wished he was in his older body. If he had his teenage body he would be able to fight off his drunk dad. As a toddler he was helpless.

James danced around his dad’s hands for as long as he could but, almost inevitably, Terry grabbed his arm and pulled him closer. He looked like he was just about to put his hands around James’ tiny neck when all of a sudden his eyes opened wide, his mouth hung open and he stopped dead in his tracks.

James watched as his father keeled over backwards and fell the floor. Blood started spreading on the carpet.

Standing behind where Terry had been, Mary was breathing hard through gritted teeth. Her face had a streak of blood across it from where she had been hit and in her hand was a shard of glass from the window. The edge of the shard was covered in blood and James realised with a gasp that she had stabbed his dad.

Mary dropped the makeshift weapon and stepped forward. Finally, James was free from the crib as his mom lifted him out.

“It’s going to be OK… It’s going to be OK…” Mary kept repeating as she limped towards the window.

James could see that outside a crowd had gathered and flashing lights were evidence of the emergency services arriving on the scene. From behind them, the nursery door finally collapsed and the fire started entering the room.

“Listen to me, James.” Mary said quickly, “You have to be brave. You need to be strong and climb down OK?”

James looked at his mom with terror. His tiny hands wouldn’t be able to grip the makeshift rope ladder for long.

Mary put James against the rope and he grabbed hold. He was hanging half out of the window, the windowsill held him in place.

“OK, James, listen to me. All you need to do is…” Mary suddenly screamed as she felt her ankle get pulled backwards and she fell to the floor.

James, looked on helplessly from the window as his father grabbed Mary again. He started to put his hands around her throat to throttle her. Mary was fortunate that she landed very near to the glass shard she had stabbed Terry with before.

“You will never take James…” Mary said breathlessly.

Mary thrust the glass shard up and into the stomach of Terry who suddenly froze again. This time it looked certain that his wounds were mortal as he started to slump forward.

James felt a surge of excitement. She had done it! His mother had fought off his father and would be able to come to safety with him. He was overjoyed. It only took a few seconds for that joy to turn back to horror.

Terry, his body suddenly dead weight, fell forward and the end of the glass shard not stabbing Terry was driven inside Mary. She immediately gasped and felt the strength leave her body.

The fire was spreading all around the sides of the room now and was getting dangerously close to the rope that was holding James up. He couldn’t let go, not while his Mother was still in the room.

“It’s OK.” Mary said as she looked at James, “I will always love you. Know that I will always be with you.”

“Momma…” James said tearfully. He wanted to climb back in the window but he didn’t have the strength to lift himself up.

Below him, James could hear screams as people saw the infant hanging out of the window. A couple of people ran over and were trying to get in position to catch the boy if he fell.

“James…” Mary said rather breathlessly, “You have to let go.”

James shook his head as he kept trying to pull himself up. The fire was now consuming the room and the billowing smoke was making James’ eyes sting.

“Just remember, James…” Mary swallowed painfully and her eyes seemed to glaze over, “Family isn’t blood. It’s the people who love you.”

James cried out as he saw Mary’s eyes close for a final time and her head slumped to the side. James wanted to go back into the room but by now the heat was making it almost impossible. He suddenly felt the makeshift rope shift slightly, James looked at where the rope was tied to the crib and saw it was starting to catch fire.

Just a second later the rope gave way. James screamed as he started falling backwards into the night sky. He closed his eyes expecting to crash into the ground, there was no way to survive the fall.

Just when James was expecting an impact he found himself suddenly landing in someone’s arms. The person was bowled over by the impact of the small boy landing in his arms. They landed with a thump in the grass in front of the house.

James slowly opened his eyes and despite a few bumps and bruises, he was unharmed. He looked up through eyes still stinging from smoke and found himself shocked to see the people he had always known as his parents, his adoptive Mom and Dad looking back down at him.

Julie and Ron looked at James and then at each other in shock. As parts of the building sounded like it was collapsing, they quickly retreated back to the street where a couple of ambulance workers quickly surrounded James and the two adults. Together, the three of them climbed into the ambulance.

“Are you family?” One of the medics asked Ron.

“No, we were just walking by when we saw the fire. I think his parents were still in there…” Ron replied in shock. His hand shook as he went to wipe his forehead.

The medic hung his head and seemed to mouth the words “God damn it.” He shook his head and looked up to the two adults sitting in the seats next to James.

“I’m afraid you can’t come to the hospital then.” The medic said.

James was being strapped down to the bed as this was happening. He was terrified of being left alone after everything that had happened.

“I understand.” Julie replied for her husband. The two of them got up and started to leave.

“NO!” James screamed in his high pitched voice. Everyone turned to look at him, “Mama! Dada!”

James reached out and grabbed Julie’s leg and hugged it close to him. He just kept saying “Mama! Dada!” over and over again, refusing to let go of them despite all the attempts to pry him off. He needed his adoptive parents more than anything, he didn’t want to let them go. He never wanted them to leave his side.

“We don’t have time for this.” The medic said, “Do you want to go to the hospital with him?”

Ron and Julie looked down at the injured and upset toddler and then at each other.

“Yes.” They both replied simultaneously.

“Alright, alright.” The medic said, “Sit down in those seats.”

James finally relinquished the leg of Julie and allowed himself to be laid down. He smiled at the two people who were basically strangers to his baby self as he closed his eyes and fell asleep on the way to the hospital.

---

James suddenly sat up in the crib. He looked down and saw he was back to his regular body and it took a few moments to get his breath under control. He finally understood what all this was about.

Before he could think about it, a fire suddenly started blazing in the bedroom. Seemingly erupting out of nowhere, the fire quickly started consuming the whole room. The side of the crib had been raised and James found himself stuck in the crib which was so tall he couldn’t climb out of it, even as a teenager.

Just as James started to think this was truly the end, the black cloud that had haunted him since he stepped on the property suddenly walked through the fire and over to the crib. With consummate ease, it lifted him out and started floating towards the window.

“Family isn’t blood, it’s the people who love you.” The figure whispered into James’ ear.

James nodded tearfully. The humanoid shadow repeated his Mother’s last words as it gently carried James towards the window. The fire was starting to rage uncontrollably around James but he felt so calm as long as he was in the arms of this entity.

“I love you, Mom.” James said as they reached the window.

Everything went black. The world seemingly dissolved around him and he lost consciousness again.

---

“James!” Came a shrill female voice, “James! Talk to me!”

James opened his eyes to see his adoptive parents holding him again, just like they had done as a baby. An ambulance was nearby and a medic was checking James’ vitals.

The house was a smouldering wreck. The whole thing had collapsed at some point and the fire that had been raging through it had brought the whole house to the ground.

“You just found him laying out here?” The medic asked. The house had collapsed and yet the boy was laying out in the grass unharmed. The medic had no idea how this had happened except to suggest that this teenager was the luckiest boy in the world.

“Yes, he ran away earlier and we were looking for him. He has a history with this house and as we came to check we found him in the grass.” Julie said tearfully.

Julie blamed herself. She felt terrible about James finding out he was adopted like he did and she felt even worse about never telling him the truth. In reality, James had blocked out all of the memories on his own, Julie assumed it was because they were too painful. She hadn’t wanted to tell him he was adopted in case it brought the painful memories back.

“He seems to be OK, but pretty weak.” The medic said, “We need to take him in for observations.”

They placed James on the rolling ambulance bed and took him the short way to the ambulance. James was slowly finding his strength returning and he slowly reached a hand out towards his Dad who grabbed it.

Ron smiled down at James and wiped a tear from his eye.

“Everything will be alright, James.” Ron said firmly, “Everything will be just fine.”

“Are you family?” The medic asked as James was loaded into the ambulance.

“They… They are my parents.” James said weakly but with just enough volume for everyone to hear, “And I love them.”

Having used all his strength, James’ eyes closed and he lapsed into deep unconsciousness. He was fine but exhausted, and after just a little rest, James was able to return home with a whole new appreciation for his parents.

[CDfm]

That was a wonderful story. It was very well written. While it was so sad, it was also heartwarming to feel the love of his birth mother and know the love of his Adopted parents. Bravo on such an

[HotDogg55]

Wow. Great stuff.

[Jayme]

I absolutely loved it. I wonder if James will tell anyone what he found out.

[Elfy]

I have to admit to being a little disappointed with the lack of replies

This was a very fun story to write and, in my humble opinion, is probably one of the best stories I've told. Still, thank you to everyone who did comment Comments are my life blood

[FlamingCreeper]

This story is very well written especially

[Eagle0769]

That was the best story I have read in a long long time. Nice work and thank you for sharing it with us.

[Shawnie]

Wow wonderful story elfy