Caged

He awoke to whimpering. Quickly snapping his eyes open and sitting up from the hard mattress, he came face to face with the small boy from last night. Everything that had happened the night before flashed in his mind and he sat back in the bed, staring at the frightened mass in front of him.
Silent tears were streaming down Jonathan’s face as attempted to look as small as possible in the bed.

“pozhaluysta ne delayte mne bol’no.” He whimpered, over and over again.

The young man was confused. He was not sure what language that was; it sounded Russian, but he couldn’t be certain. And than another though struck him,

‘Oh great, the kid doesn’t even speak english. How are we supposed to get anything out of him?’

“Don’t worry kid, I’m harmless. My name’s Dhonovan, what’s your name?”
Jonathan continued to whimper and rock back and forth.

Dhonovan didn’t dare move from his spot. The boy was obviously very frightened of him. He continued to mumble those words to himself.
The watch on Dhonovan’s wrist showed it to be 5;30 in the morning. He groaned and tiredly rubbed at his eyes.

“Do you speak any english?” He spoke slowly and a bit loud. He didn’t expect an answer, so when the boy slowly nodded his head, he was very surprised and even more pleased. “Okay! That’s wonderful! That’s really great, um...so what’s your name?” The boy quieted down and stared at Dhonovan, but he made no move to answer. “Okay, you don’t have to tell me your name, that’s fine. Just...um...my father, the man from last night, he works with the FBI, so he can get you to safety, okay? You just have to tell us what happened to you.” Jonathan’s eyes watered again. “Do you want me to get my dad down here? Would you be more comfortable talking to him?” Jonathan managed to shake his head. He doubted he would be comfortable talking to anyone at this point. But then, “How about my mom? Do you think you can talk to her?”

Jonathan wanted to shake his head. He wanted to tell this boy that he didn’t trust a single word out of his mouth and that he wouldn’t be comfortable with anyone. But then he remembered the woman from the night before. She had seemed so kind and so loving. She reminded him of what his mother was supposed to be like. She had never been warm and comfortable, but he had still loved her.

Jonathan wanted to cry at the thought of his dear mother, but kept it in. His head hurt too much; he wished he had more water. And perhaps an Advil.

Dhonovan noted Jonathan’s hesitation and got up from the bed. He saw the boy flinch harshly and move farther away from him, but he ignored it.

“Okay...um...just wait right here and I’m going to get my mother and....yeah.” Dhonovan quickly exited from a door that Jonathan had not noticed before.

Jonathan used the time alone to think of a strategy. He contemplated leaving the house and making a run for it, but he knew that it was most likely being watched by Johan’s men. Plus, he had no idea how far it was to another house; he couldn’t handle having to run again for god knows how long just to be killed like this. He had decided, sometime in between sleep and fear, that he really wanted to live. He had made it this far, he didn’t want to just give up and be done.

If what Dhonovan told him was true, then the man from the night before was an officer of the law; Johan hopefully wasn’t so powerful as to have his nose in the government.

This was all he had time to think of. Dhonovan returned, followed by the kind woman from the night before, dressed comfortable in her pajamas and night robe. She smiled kindly at the boy, her blue eyes shining in the dim lighting and sent her son up for a glass of water.

“Hi there,” She said softly, sitting on the end of his bed. “My name’s Elizabeth. How are you feeling today?”

Jonathan didn’t want to say anything, in fear that she was secretly working for his father. But she seemed so kind.

Dhonovan returned with a full glass of water that he handed his mother before making his ascent back up the stairs and out of sight.

She handed Jonathan the water, which he took gratefully.

“I know this must all be so frightening for you.” She continued. Jonathan wanted to roll his eyes; she had no idea. “But my husband, Mark, he’s a federal agent who works with the FBI. We were planning on bringing you to the station later this morning when you were ready. We don’t want to hurt you and we definitely do not want to see you get hurt; that’s why we’re going to do everything in our power to get you out of here safely, okay.” She paused to smile at him. “Do you want to tell me what happened?”

Jonathan looked down at the water in his hands. It was already half gone. He knew that he would have to eventually tell someone what happened and who knows how those people would be. He figured that if he told this kind woman, then maybe he would get some courage to tell more important people later on. The longer he kept his mouth shut, the more chance there was that Johan was working on a new identity and making himself invisible yet again. But he knew that if Johan were to get away, he would never stop looking for Jonathan. He didn’t want to live in fear for the rest of his life.

“H-he...” Three deep breaths. “H-he k-killed my m-mother.”

Elizabeth had to strain to hear what Jonathan said, but she did and a hand immediately went up to cover her gasp.

“Oh you poor baby. Who killed her? Do you know his name?”

“M-my father. Johan Kratzwit.”
Johan Kratzwit was not a household name in North America, but some people have heard of the man.
Elizabeth had heard of him only because her husband had once been put on a case that resembled his old murders.

Elizabeth wanted to call for her husband immediately. She knew Johan Kratzwit was a dangerous man. And here she was, harboring his runaway son. But she knew that if she were to run out of the room to retrieve her husband, she would lose Jonathan’s trust. She could not risk that.

“Why would your father kill your mother? Is that what you were running from? Was he trying to
kill you too?”

Jonathan gave a shaky nod with a tearless sob. Elizabeth scooted just a little bit closer to him and took his small hand in hers.

“H-he killed her right in front of me.” Jonathan could not stop himself. “S-she didn’t do a-anything wrong.” Sniffle and a rub of the eyes. “I-I told him t-that I knew he was a c-criminal and t-that I wanted t-to leave and he just...he just shot her...right there.” Elizabeth scooped him up in her arms, the empty glass falling to the carpeted ground with a thump. There was no complaint from Jonathan. “I-I woke up s-sometime after o-one of his men knocked me out a-and I was in a s-small room in a b-basement and there were no windows a-and he told me t-that he was going to c-come kill me. I-I had to get out.” He looked up at Elizabeth, tears swimming in his eyes, begging. “I d-didn’t w-want to, I just...I had to get out...”

Sobs took over Jonathan’s body as he became unable to speak any more. He didn’t have to say anything more, Elizabeth knew.

She held the sobbing boy closer to her and rocked him in time with her body; shushing him while petting his matted hair. She didn’t care what the boy had to do to get out, it obviously traumatized her and as a mother, she would do everything in her power to help him.

...

Jonathan had dozed off, in which time Mark came down the stairs with Dhonovan and was told the story by his wife. When Jonathan awoke again, no more than 3 hours later, Elizabeth led him upstairs to the bathroom, where she told him to shower. Jonathan hugged her tight; he had never been so grateful.

She laid out some of Dhonovan’s smaller items for him and returned downstairs to her family.

“How are we supposed to get him out of here undetected? You know the house is being watched. And after what he told us...” She trailed off, not daring to continue. Mark sighed.

“I know, but he needs to get to the feds, especially now knowing who is looking for him. You get in the car with Sarah and you go to your mother’s in the city for the week, okay, Dhonovan and I will stick around with him for a bit and then the feds take over, he goes to a safe house and we don’t have to worry about it.”

Elizabeth wanted to slap her husband. Instead, she turned to her daughter and told her to go pack up her backpack for a week at grandma and grandpa’s.

“A safe house? You want the feds to throw that poor boy in safe house? You know damn well those things are not safe. It wouldn’t take two seconds for them to locate him in there.” She growled, hands on her hips. She was feisty for a five foot tall woman. Both her husband and son towered over her by at least a foot and yet they were both still terrified.

“Well what do you want me to do, Liza? Keep him here with us? You know damn well that’s not an option. And it’s not safe! I am not putting my own children’s lives in danger for...that boy.”

Jonathan sat on the top step, trying not to listen, but he couldn’t help himself. He suddenly realized what he had done. By coming to these people, he was putting their lives at risk. He contemplated leaving through the back door and continuing to run. Now that he was fed and energized, he felt that he could maybe make it to the town without being seen...maybe.

“That boy? He’s just a child, Mark. Younger than your own son and you’re willing to just let him get taken in and killed by his own father? I thought you worked for the people, for justice. What is this to you?”

“I do work for the public, Elizabeth, but I also work for my family and I will do everything to keep us safe. You and Sarah will go to your parents, Dhonovan will not be too far behind and the kid will go to a safe house! Whatever happens to him afterwards is not going to be our problem!”

Dhonovan was the one who noticed that the water was no longer running upstairs and he saw the shadow on the top step. He couldn’t help but feel awful. He had had nothing but love from his family since day 1; he couldn’t imagine what it would be like to live in fear everyday just to find out that even when you’re gone, you’re never safe. He knew of his father’s responsibilities and he knew of those ‘safe’ houses. The boy wouldn’t spend a full day there before he was found by whoever was looking for him. And then he would forever remain on the missing persons database because his body would never be found.

Dhonovan turned to his father and shook his head, silently telling him to stay quiet. Elizabeth’s head immediately snapped over to the stairs, where she quickly made her way after throwing a glare over her shoulder at her husband.

“You have to understand,” He attempted to reason with his son. “I can’t have our family’s life at risk for just one kid.”

Dhonovan nodded. He wanted to understand. He always understood his father’s decisions, but he didn’t get this.

...

Elizabeth held Jonathan for a long time before finally letting him go with a teary smile and kiss to the cheek. He could barely look her in the eyes. He would never be free.

She would leave first with Sarah in the backseat. They would smile and act like nothing was the matter until they were safely in the city. Then Dhonovan would leave on his motorcycle with his backpack, as though he was off to his university for the day. Finally, Mark would leave for work in his suit and tie...with Jonathan in the trunk. Jonathan was terrified, but Mark had given him an oxygen mask until they were in the city.

The entire drive, Jonathan cried. He was so tired of crying, but he couldn’t help it. He was going to die. No matter what he did, he was going to die. He couldn’t get away from his father.

They had been driving for a little over 20 minutes before the car finally stopped. Jonathan wiped his puffy eyes free of tears and waited. Mark helped him out of the trunk and together, they made their way to the federal building. Jonathan had never been to the city; he had always been locked up at home. He felt like crying again; he felt that this was potentially the last time he would ever see the city, but he controlled himself.

Dhonovan was waiting for them inside, hands in his leather jacket pockets, looking out of place amongst the suits and briefcases with his ripped jeans and messy hair.

Dhonovan didn’t look Jonathan in the eye. He felt like he was betraying the boy by allowing him to come here, but he knew that he didn’t have a say in the matter.

Mark swiped his key card and got a visitor pass for both Dhonovan and Jonathan. Together they took the elevator the third floor, where Mark would turn Jonathan in.

...

Jonathan was twiddling his thumbs. He had been taken into an interrogation room immediately and left alone. He calculated that it must have been 30 minutes before someone finally came in. Two someones. The female was in pantsuit, her hair tied tightly in a neat bun atop her head. She did not look nearly as nice as Elizabeth. 
The man was in a crisp suit, his gun visible, his face hard and unsmiling. Jonathan was terrified, but for now, he was safe.

He got asked questions. Who was he? Who were his parents? How did he know of Johan’s ways? Where has he been living all his life? Why did he come forward now? And when he was done answering to the best of his ability, he got asked the same questions again.

Jonathan attempted to answer without stuttering or quivering too much. Hours seemed to pass before he was finally told to get up from his sitting position and follow the officers out.

For some reason Mark and Dhonovan were still there, waiting. The officers followed by Jonathan approached the two.

“Thanks for bringing him in, Mark, we’ll take it from here.” The female addressed him. Jonathan kept his eyes on the ground.

“Where are you bringing him?”

“Safe house, for 72 hours, or until a marshall’s available, then we’ll get him into witness until Johan is found.”

Jonathan closed his eyes at the words ‘safe house’. He had heard what Elizabeth had said; he would be found by the end of the day; his father would have him killed on sight. Jonathan didn’t want to die.
Mark cleared his throat and asked to speak to the officers alone, leaving his son and Jonathan off to the side.

“Uh...those guy will take care of you. Once you’re in witness, it’ll be like impossible for your dad to find you.” Dhonovan attempted. Jonathan didn’t bother raising his head to look at him. His mind was whirling. Now that he was in the city, he could potentially attempt to break out. If he got a new identity and made himself scarce, perhaps Johan wouldn’t find him.

Jonathan wanted to hit himself. Of course Johan would find him. Jonathan wondered if he should have just stayed in that basement and waited to be shot; he wouldn’t have put anyone’s family in danger then. But it was done, he had done it and regretted it with every fibre of his being.
Mark seemed to have gotten into an argument with the two officers and it looked like he was losing. After about five minutes, they seemed to give up and make their way back to the boys. Mark cleared his throat.

“Alright Jonathan, you’ll be in the care of these two officers from now. Best of luck to you.”

Jonathan gave a small nod, not taking his eyes off the ground and followed the man and woman down a long hallway. He would be taken to the safe house. He was going to die.

...

Mark went and found his wife and daughter at her parent’s house just 10 minutes from the city, in the suburbs near the beach. Dhonovan had beat him there. Elizabeth was giving him the cold shoulder and her parents could not figure out why she was crying.

“Let me guess,” Elizabeth finally caved when they were all sitting in the family room. “He went to a safe house until they could find a marshall. Who knows how long it could take before they finally find someone to watch him.” Her parents were in the kitchen, preparing lunch, and Dhonovan was watching a movie with Sarah. For now, Elizabeth and Mark were alone. “I hope you can live with yourself. In a few days, they’ll find that he’s missing...and he’ll stay missing.”

“What do you want me to do, Liza? I tried talking to Burt and Chandler about letting him stay in holding until they find someone, but they didn’t budge.”

“Did you tell them what he looked like when he came to us? What he said happened to him at the hands of his own father?”

“Of course I did, Elizabeth and they won’t budge. They say he’s perfectly safe at the house they’re putting him in and they’re convinced that it’s true.”
Elizabeth turned away to wipe tears free from her eyes. She didn’t believe that any child to be in harm’s way. It was a basic right, that all children should be free from harm. She hated that she felt this way, but she imagined her own children when she saw him at the doorstep. She imagined what she would have wanted done if she had been the one killed and there were men after her children. It hurt to think about, but it was true.

“What was his name? He never told me.”
Mark didn’t want to tell her. It would just make it harder when the inevitable came.

“Jonathan. But that’s most likely a lie. Johan had been moving at least once every year, changing identities as he went. He said he didn’t know what his real name was.”

“I want Dhonovan to watch him.” Elizabeth stated, her eyes drying immediately. Mark sighed yet again; there was no getting to her. “I want him to be there every day to make sure that he’s okay. Until they can get a marshall down there.”

“Honey, we can’t have our son watch this boy. For one, I don’t even know which house they put him in. And two, it could take months for...” He said too much.
“It could take months for a marshall to be available.” She repeated, raising herself from her chair to stand over her husband. “You said it; there it is. He could be in that house for months! How dare you put him in this situation?”

Her parents had returned to the family room and froze at the door. Dhonovan and Sarah had turned from their movie to watch their parents.

Elizabeth stormed out of the room, followed closely by her husband and Dhonovan. Sarah was told to stay by her grandparents. Elizabeth grabbed her jacket and shrugged it on, along with her boots.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“To the station! I am not letting that boy get hurt!”
She slammed the front door before Mark could get another word in. He knew he would have to follow; they wouldn’t allow her to even get close to any of that information. He turned to ask Dhonovan to watch his sister, but his son already had one foot out the door. He jumped into his mother’s car before she peeled out of the driveway and before Mark could even close his mouth.

Another sigh.

...

The officers dropped him off at a nice looking suburban house not too far from the station. They told Jonathan than if asked, his name was Steven. He had been so used to name changes that this didn’t even register as odd in any way for him. He had already forgotten about his old identity before the officers even left the car.

The woman was an agent who didn’t have any children of her own. She had been debriefed quickly over the phone and had the room set up. She looked to be in her fifties and didn’t even look at Joh - Steven when he entered the home. He had to admit that it was a nice home, but there was zero protection that he could see. Apparently the officers would check in on them at least twice a day until a marshall was found. Jonathan didn’t think it was enough. As soon as the officers left, his stomach dropped to his knees. They would find him. He would be dead today.

“Your room is upstairs, second door on the right. Stay away from the windows. I’ll call you down when it’s time to eat.”

Jonathan nodded, quickly making his way up the stairs and into the designated bedroom. He wanted to go back down and disappear. Just run away and never come back. Everyone would think he was dead and he would be perfectly okay with this. As long as he was alive. Maybe he would find somewhere to hide. But there was nowhere to hide when his father was involved. To be honest, Jonathan wasn’t sure how powerful Johan really was. He had men who worked for him, but only about 4 different men that he’d seen his entire life. One of whom died at Jonathan’s hands. He knew his father robbed banks and killed people, but he didn’t seem to have an army behind him. But he did have a lot of money and that was enough for most people.

He could buy people who would follow him without question.

But Jonathan stayed put. There was nothing in this bedroom. it reminded him of his old ones. No television, no computer and like his old bedroom, there was a small bookshelf. It was filled with all of the classics that he had already read many times over and some popular teen novels that he could never get into.

A small smile managed to make its way to his lips when he saw a familiar cover. ‘Harry Potter’. He always felt like a child reading them, but he couldn’t help himself. And he figured that if he was going to die today, he might as well read one of his favorites.

...

“What are you saying, Mark?”

“I volunteer to be the marshall in charge of Jonathan.”
Elizabeth had stormed into the FBI main building demanding to talk to some sort of director. Dhonovan had been not too far behind, finally followed by Mark,, who had parked in a tow zone in order to catch up to his wife.

He could request an audience with director Lowry whereas his wife would have gotten nowhere. Elizabeth and Dhonovan were told to wait downstairs with the other families while Mark put his career on the line to appease his wife and clear his conscience. He would never be able to live with himself if he knew that he was the reason a young boy died.

“And may I ask why you wish to be the marshall for this boy? I thought you said you would never do something like that again. Not since you and Liza had Don and Sarah.”

Director Lowry - thank goodness - was an old family friend. The two men had known each other since diapers and had been best friends since. Had Elizabeth really wanted, she could have just called Lowry’s wife and demanded that she make her husband see reason. It was a small city in Wisconsin, pretty much everyone knew each other.

“I know, but...Dhonovan’s growing up and so is Sarah and you and I both know that Johan will find this boy before you can get anyone else from head over here. He...he’s just a kid and he looked so terrified when he came to my house last night. He wouldn’t even talk to anyone but Liza; I’m thinking it’s because she reminded him of his mom.”

Lowry nodded, lowering his head to the paperwork in front of him.

“I just got the report from Chandler; I was just about to send out the request.” He sighed and sat back in his chair, staring at his old friend. “Do you really want to do this or is Liza on your butt about it?”

“Both...I wouldn’t be able to live with myself knowing that he’s dead somewhere because I was too much of a coward to do anything to help him. At least until you find someone else. He just has to disappear.”

The two men had a staring contest. Lowry had already made up his mind, he just wanted to see if Mark was serious.

“Alright, it’s done. I’ll get Chandler and Burt to go pick him up. And tell Liza that I don’t appreciate threatening phone calls...my own wife’s on my ass now because of this.”
Apparently Elizabeth had already called.

...

There was a knock on the front door. Jonathan still heard it while buried in his book and nearly jumped out of his skin. What if they were here? Would they not wait until the cover of darkness to take him?

“Steven! Get down here!”

Jonathan quickly rose on shaky legs and replaced the book where he had found it. He took his sweet time exiting the room and then slowly made his way down the stairs. He could hear voices in the living room and stopped dead in his tracks, it sounded so familiar.

Jonathan sped up and quickly entered the room to see the last people he expected. Elizabeth immediately ran to him and wrapped her arms around the small boy. Jonathan was sort of in shock, but wrapped his arms around her all the same.

“W-what’s going on?” He quietly uttered out.

“We found you a marshall.”
...

Everything happened so quickly. Jonathan was put into a car with Elizabeth, Mark and Dhonovan along with the two officers and they were speeding down the street towards the main building.

“You understand that this will be very difficult with your young daughter, Sarah.” The woman spoke, turning in her seat to face Mark and a very excited Elizabeth. “She will have to keep her mouth shut about the whole thing and learn an entirely new identity.”

“She knows what I do for a living and she understands what she must do. I have very smart children.”

Jonathan sat in the back, next to Dhonovan who was listening to music and avoiding the entire conversation. He looked so calm, like he was used to all of this. But Jonathan could not help but panic. When they arrived at the main building - Burt and Chandler rushing off to pick up Sarah - Jonathan stopped in his tracks and refused to move.

“Jonathan, come on, we have to get everything in order. We can’t waste time here; plus, the officers have a few more questions for you.”

Jonathan still refused to budge.

“N-no. I- I can’t let you do this. I c-can’t let you risk your lives for me.”

Instead of Elizabeth calming Jonathan down, as usual, it was Mark. He lowered himself to the boy’s level and looked him right in the eye.

“Listen, we already put our own lives at risk when we chose not to tell those men where you were, that was our decision. And we continued to hide you and we continue to do so. These are all our decisions, you didn’t make us do anything and you can’t make us do anything. We are your elders, you do have to listen to us...to an extent. We want to do this, therefore we are doing this, whether you like it or not, young man.”

Jonathan was so sick of crying.

...

They were on a plane. Jonathan had been interrogated for nearly an entire day on Johan. What he looked like, what his men looked like, where he liked to go, what he liked to do. On and on it went until Jonathan fell asleep at the interrogation table. Then Elizabeth demanded that they not tire the boy out too much.

The family had been given new identification and told to memorize their new lives. While Jonathan was in the interrogation room, they took that time to do this. Dhonovan, Mark and Elizabeth would have no problem with this, Sarah was the concern. When asked, she would revert back to her current life with her current family, Elizabeth, Mark and her big brother Dhonovan.

She was nine years old, they expected her to be easier than this.

Elizabeth realized that they would need help, so while they waited for the private plane to take them to wherever they would be going, she turned to Jonathan who was quietly reading over his new information.

“I know you don’t want to think about this right now, but...how did your father get you to understand your new identities so quickly? I’m sorry, but Sarah’s just not picking it up.”

“W-well...it helped that it was only just us. I-I was homeschooled my entire life, so...I had no one to tell. Um...my mom, she used to make it a game between just us. S-she would tell me that we were going on another adventure and that I needed to be this secret new person in order to save the world a-and that if anyone found out about us then the game would be over, a-and that I would lose.”
Elizabeth gave him a small smile and ‘thank you’. Along with another hug, because why not?

...

England. His name was Oliver Morfache, traveling with his adoptive family, Monica and Adam Morfache and their two children, Jamie and Ana.