40

                                    

                                          
A lot's about to happen in these next chapters, so buckle up Wildcats!
                          
EJ's POV
                          
Ricky and I were still in my room, he had fallen asleep buried into my side, snoring softly. I stayed awake, soon I had to go so I could pick up Gina, but right now, Bubba needs someone with him right now.
                          
Uncle Dennis walks in, but before he could talk I mouth be quiet. He motions for me to come outside. I gently place Ricky's curly head on the pillow and walk outside my room, slowly closing the door so Ricky doesn't wake up.
                          
"So, do you know why he was crying?" Uncle Dennis asks.
                          
"Um...someone filled in a false claim that his father hurts him and now he's in jail. He had this outburst in school and he hit me, he ran out of school and grabbed his razor and slit his wrist, but I found him bandaged him up."
                          
"Oh, no, that can't happen" Uncle Dennis sighs, rubbing the back of his head.
                          
"If dad was here, maybe he could've done something. Now I feel like I can't help him anymore" I sigh, planting my face in my hands. Uncle Dennis wraps his arm around me and kisses my forehead. "It's okay. We're gonna keep him here till we can get his father out."
                          
Before I can respond, we hear screaming and crying coming from my room. I quickly open my door and see Ricky, he's tossing and turning violently and tears are running down his closed eyes. Gold vapor starts to emergy from his body and we both quickly run up to him and try to shake him awake.
                          
"Ricky, wake up!" Uncle Dennis shakes him.
                          
"PLEASE STOP! LEAVE ME ALONE!!" He screams.
                          
"Ricky, wake up!" I scream.
                          
After a while, Ricky wakes up screaming, his lets out a big wave of energy that thankfully didn't hurt me or Uncle Dennis, just knocked over a few stuff. He then quickly starts crying. I quickly pull him into my chest and he wraps his arms around my waist and shakes in my arms.
                          
"Hey, it's okay, Bubba" I whisper.
                          
"Do you wanna talk about what happened?" Uncle Dennis asks, but Ricky shakes his head, burying his into my chest. Uncle Dennis walks out and Ricky keeps crying. I kiss his forehead and whisper "You're okay, bubba." 
                          
After a while, he calms down and his soft sniffles fill the room. "Are you okay?" I ask.
                          
He shakes his head and pulls away. "I-It's my fault. Dad's in jail because of me. If I h-had told someone s-sooner...I'm a terrible person" he starts to breathe heavily and I wrap my arms around him again. "It's okay, it's okay, bubba. It's not your fault" I say. As he calms down, we both lay on my bed, I gave him my guitar and he plays a few strings.
                          
"So, do you wanna talk about it?" I ask him.
                          
"A-About what?"
                          
"About what you saw...in your nightmare."
                          
"Oh" he sighs, he puts the guitar down and faces me. "It was so...confusing. I saw myself alone, all these memories...my mom hurting me, making me bleed, getting in another fight. I saw my dad...in prison, saying it was all my fault. I felt like I was being drowned...I don't know...like, Nightmare's zombies grabbing me...by my arms, ankles, a-and burying me in my own pool of guilt."
                          
"I'm so sorry, Bubba."
                          
"EJ, I'm really scared right now. Everything in my life has done nothing but change for the worst. And you know how much I hate change. Now my dad's in Prison. What am I gonna do?"
                          
I wrap my arms around him and he sniffs. "Ricky, I know how scary change can be. But you have to get used to it, you need to stay strong and push through, it's gonna be okay. I promise you I'm gonna get your dad outta prison."