Living- Chapter One: Running Away.

This is a new story I been working on...I uh, I think it's alright, so.

Characters-

Jude Wilson- Main. Mixed (White and Mexican), baggy clothes (Band shirts, with ripped jeans most of the time), raven black hair (Wolf cut), golden eyes, freckles, clear, rounded glasses. Jude's very awkward and shy. Age- 17

William Smith- Jude's love interest. White, brown short hair (Not to short), green eyes, formal clothes (Suits and ties). William seems like the type of guy to be mean and cold, but deep down, he's really just a big sweetheart. Age- 18

Toby Phelps- Jude's love interest. Mixed (Black and white), blonde, fluffy, curly hair, blue eyes, loaded with freckles, more cosy wear (Sweatpants, jeans, and a random shirt or hoodie). Toby is very lively and outgoing. Toby's really just very carefree. Age- 17

Alice Wilson- Jude's mom. Mexican, long, black-grayish hair (Keeps it up in a bun or ponytail), very light freckles, brown eyes, wears those old-timey grandma dresses. She is very strict and is a HEAVY Christian. Age- 54

Blake Wilson- Jude's dad. White, black-greyish buzz cut hair, blue eyes, and wears old-timey attire as well. He is very strict and rude to everyone who doesn't follow the Bible. Age- 56

Samantha Gardener- Jude's coworker/friend. Black, brown hair with blue tips and roots in (angle braids style), brown eyes, she wears everyday stuff. She is very kind and gentle to everyone. Age- 23

Braelyn Whitlock- Jude's sister. White, long black hair (Keeps it down most of the time), wears dresses (Not like Alice, who wears grandma dresses, she wears more summer dresses that complement her body.) She is married to Cory and has a child of her own (Annie). She loves the outdoors and is a good person overall. Age- 29

Cory Whitlock- Jude's brother-in-law. Brown, brown hair (Dreads), and brown eyes, he wears more sports stuff. Cory is married to Braelyn and has a child of his own (Annie). He is very big on sports, but doesn't make it his life; he is very loving to his family and friends. Age- 31

Annie Whitlock- Jude's niece. Mixed (Black and White), Long brown hair, brown eyes, she wears anything that has glitter, unicorns, or football on it. Annie is the child of Cory and Braelyn. She is very sweet and very bright. Age- 4

Erin Heartlock- Jude and Samantha's friend. White, short red hair, wears anything he finds. Erin is funny and sarcastic most of the time. Age- 43

They will come out in chapters at a time. This is only chapter one.

This is my first time not putting the diogole together. I feel like I need to put something behind it, but after some time, I will get used to it, and I may just get lazy and go back to how I always do it. It feels really rushed

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Page 1:

Run, run, run.

"Jude!" She was close, Jude could feel her creeping up behind her, could feel her heavy, loud, bold footsteps. She was behind him, trying to reach out for him, trying to get her son back.

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Spring of 2025

Jude awoke to the dreadful sound of his alarm clock. He groaned as he turned to switch it off. Jude sat up, adjusting to the bright sun outside his apartment window. The bustling city people of New York all came together, making the sound below seem loud and connected. Jude rubbed his eyes as he yawned. He slipped out of bed, pulling up his falling sweatpants. He dragged himself to the bathroom, truning on the shower. 

Jude quickly brushed his teeth and put on his shoes at the same time. He ran to the kitchen, spitting and cleaning his mouth before grabbing his phone and running out of his apartment. He dropped his keys he groaned as he went to pick them up. Jude rushed to the sidewalk and made his way up the street, making it to 'Bruckers Tea and Coffee.' 

 "I'm not late!" Jude said, clocking in quickly as Sammtha let out a laugh. 

"What's so funny!?" Jude asked playfully, looking up. 

"You."

"Oh yeah, haha, laugh it up, laugh it up," Jude grumbled while walking over to the front corner, giving their regulator, Erin, his tea. 

"Imagine being late, literally could never be me," Erin smirked. Jude took the money out of his hand. 

 "Erin, shush up," Jude said while inputting the money into the register and giving Erin his change. Erin took it and smiled lightly. 

"You know we're just messing with you, Judie." Jude rolled his eyes at the nickname, not in anger or annoyance, but not playful. Jude threw on his tag name and went to the back, helping Samantha set up the tea and coffee station.

 "How was your night, Jude?" Jude looked over, confused. 

"What do you mean?" Samantha smiled lightly. 

"Didn't you say you had plans last night so you couldn't come to my party?" Jude's eyes went big in shock as he looked down and forced a nod. 

"Y-Yeah! I had fun..." Jude laughed nervously. Samantha looked over and patted his back. 

"I see...Was it a boy?" Jude shook his head quickly. 

"What!? No-" Jude went up to the front and took an order. You see, Jude didn't really go anywhere last night; he just didn't feel like being around all the people.

Later that day, Jude had taken tons of orders, tons of tips, tons of cleaning, until one. "Hello, sir, how may I help you guys today?" The lively boy with the blonde hair looked over and smiled.

 "Hello! I will take...mmm...One panini sandwich, with, uhh..What tea do you suggest?" The boy looked over at Jude, his green eyes sparking in the light.

 "I like the taro milk tea, it's my favourite, but it's not our most popular drink on the menu." He nodded.

 "I'll take that! Thank you!" Jude nodded back lightly and turned to the other man, he looked more strict. He wore a black suit with a tie, it was unbuttoned and showed his white shirt underneath.

 "And for you?" He looked up at Jude, his brown eyes staring into Jude's blue ones.

 "I want the egg and cress sandwich with a mango tea." Jude quickly wrote along and went to the back. 

"Samantha! There are these two really cute boys out there, help-" 

Samantha laughed and looked out at the tables. "Them? Oh, they've been here before, honey.. The blonde one is Toby, the black haired one is William. They come here a lot, but Toby never orders anything new, at least not when I take their order; he normally has the strawberry milk tea." Jude shrugs. 

"Maybe he wanted something new, he asked me what I like, so I told him, I thought he just never been here." 

Samantha handed Jude the tray with their food and drinks on it. "Ask for their numbers; they're flirting with you," Samantha smirked. 

"Haha, no." Jude rolled his eyes, walking out. He set the tray down on the table and gave them their stuff. 

"I hope you enjoy. If you need anything, just call me over." As Jude walked away, he couldn't help but look back. They were cute, not to lie, but Jude didn't even know if they were gay or if they weren't already dating. As he cleaned their table up, they left a 30$ tip, which was crazy to Jude, but he didn't say anything because he needed the money.

Jude unlocked his apartment later that day, fumbling to grab his keys out of his pocket, dropping them again. He went to pick them up, only to be greeted with a hand on top of someone's. Jude looked up quickly to see William, with Toby behind him. 

"You following me?" Jude asked, coming off more rude than he meant to. 

"No..? We live here." Jude felt his cheeks truning red. 

"S-sorry, I didn't mean to sound rude! Thanks for picking up my keys..." Toby giggled and hung onto William's shoulder, leaning on him. 

"You drop your keys a lot?" Jude smiled. "You wouldn't believe how much in my everyday life I drop them." 

Jude gave one last thank you before they parted ways. Jude locked up his door, throwing his keys on the table. Jude flopped down on the couch, truning on the TV, scrolling through it, still trying to figure out how to use it. 

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Summer of October 2015

"Mama, everyone at school has something called an iPhone!! Can I have one!! Please, Mama!" Jude was only 7 at the time. Alice scoffed and rolled her eyes as she set down the wooden spoon in her hand. 

"Jude, haven't I already said no. Those things aren't made for us. They are evil, remember in the Bible how God created everything, by his own hand, do you think he had an iPhone?" 

Jude shook his head lightly, his eyes downcast. "No mother..."  

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Deuteronomy 5:16:

"Honour your father and your mother, as the Lord, your God has commanded you, that your days may be long, and it may be well with you".

Fall of 2016

Age- 8.

"Jude, we are taking you out of school." Blake sternly said, walking into Jude's messy room, watching as Jude truned around from playing with his toy cars.

"Huh? Why?" Jude asked, his eyes already filling with tears.

"Don't question me, boy!" Blake slapped Jude's cheek, causing it to go red. Jude's lip went out, making his face a pouty face.

"And suck it up! Boys don't cry, you need to be strong! How will you help me and your mother with the chores, huh!?"

Jude looked down, wiping his ongoing tears. Blake got annoyed and grabbed his chin, making him look up. "Listen here, you will NOT cry, you will NOT question me, you will NOT lie, you will NOT disobey, you will NOT run away if I say I must punish you, you WILL help around the house, you WILL do what you're told to do, you WILL study the Bible, and you will NEVER end up like. Now, clean this room before I throw everything away."

Fall of 2017

Age- 9.

"Jude, come wash the dishes." Jude pecked up from his school work and quickly walked over. At a young age, Jude loved to 

please his parents' wishes; he knew God's wishes, and he knew the Bible inside and out. Jude was forced to read it every day. From age 5, he had a quiz on what he read at the end of the week. If he failed, he had to work outside with his father and do all the outside chores, which he hated.

Summer of 2022

Age- 14

"Say it again." The whip whistled in the air as it hit Jude's back with a loud woosh.

"Pro-Proverbs 13:24...Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him." Jude whimpered out his arms and hands shaking on the wall. Blake whipped him again, the air cracking.

"State what Hebrews 12:9-11 says, now." Blake whipped again. Jude grunted lightly. Hot, thick, red blood ran down his back.

"Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us, and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment, all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it." Jude could feel the tears running down his face. Blake lowered the whip.

"Finish your chores, boy. I don't want to hear from you the rest of the day, understand me?" Jude grabbed his shirt from the chair and bowed his head.

"Yes, sir."

Blake walked out of the barn and stormed back into the house. The cows, houses, and pigs came out from hiding. Jude always thought they all were scared of Blake, always thought the animals could understand him. Jude poured some more food into the cow's huge dish in the middle of the room before proceeding to give the horses more hay. Alice came in a few minutes later.

"Jude, come. Your father has left to cool down, let me patch you up."

Jude sat on the floor, criss-cross applesauce, as Alice put it. Alice sat behind him, slowly touching his back with a wet cloth. "You learned why you don't question your father, correct?" Alice asked more gently.

"Yes, mother..." Alice nodded while slowly adding more pressure to clean all the blood.

"Good...Because he really did a number on you."

Alice was always gentle with Jude, well, most of the time, yes, if he misbehaved, she gave a little pop, but it never hurt, and she always told him later that she forgave him and she was sorry if she hurt his feelings. Alice put down the cloth and started applying some triple antibiotic ointment. She slowly rubbed it into his back. After she made sure she got all of it, she started wrapping up his back with bandages.

"All done, my love...Now, I'll make you some supper, then you go to bed, okay?"

Jude nodded softly, truning to face her. "Thanks, mother." Alice smiled and ruffled his hair before helping him up.

"Now go get changed, this shirt is all bloody, you should've waited to put it on so you wouldn't dirty it. And dry your tears, my love, you know your father hates it when you cry."

Spring of 2023

Age- 15

"Mama, can I ask you something...?" Jude asked his eyes downward, and Alice put down her book and looked up at him.

"Sit."

Jude listened and sat on the couch beside his mother. "I..Mama, at cruch Father Jim said it was wrong for a man and a man or a woman and a woman to be tougher...But, Mama..I like men."

Alice's face went into complete horror, tears truning into sobs. "The devil has cursed my son!!" Blake came rushing in and ran to Alice's side.

"What do you mean, Alice? What did the devil do to our boy?"

Alice looked over at him and shook her head. "He's a f****t!"

Blake froze before dragging Jude out to the barn and pushing him to the wall. "Shirt off, arms out, hands on the wall."

Jude already knew what was coming, so he hesitantly took his shirt off and put his hands on the wall. "No screaming, boy. You understand? You are going to stand there and take it like a man. I'm punishing you for your sins, boy." Blake grabbed the whip, and Jude could hear it slicing through the air already. The whip cracked as it hit Jude's back, blood already coming streaming down it.

"Tell me, boy, how many hits until I get this devil out of you. Until you fall apart, until your skin is nothing but flesh."

It went on for hours. Hours on end, the whip cutting in the air, until Jude fell from the pain, his arms shaking, his knees bearly holding him up. Blake tilted his chin up, seeing Jude sob, he pushed his face away and put his hands to his side.

"Never again. Never again will I hear for anyone that you are a f****t, understand!?"

Jude whimpered at his harsh words. "Ye-yes, father.."

Blake whipped Jude in the face, causing him to fall. Blake stepped on his back, causing Jude to scream in agony. "Try again!" Jude couldn't move; his whole body felt piercing pain.

"Yes, sir! I'm sorry, I won't do it again!"

Blake stepped off his back, the sticky blood sticking to his leather shoe. As he lay there, Jude couldn't do anything but sob. His face was marked now, his left cheek had a scar that ran down his neck, and his back hurt, marked all the way around.

Alice walked in with Father Jim. "Please help my boy! He has the devil in him! Blake tried to beat him out of him, but we aren't sure he's gone!" Father Jim walked over and bent down near Jude. Jude looked miserable. Even Father Jim seemed shocked to see him like this. Father Jim ran his hand down the dried blood. Jude didn't even whimper; he couldn't feel anything. Father Jim felt pity, even he, pastor, hater of gay people, hater of sins, felt bad for Jude, knew this wasn't right, knew this was a sin of its own.

"Who did this to you, boy..." Father Jim muttered, taking his hand away.

"Who did this?" Father Jim said louder, looking over at Blake and Alice.

Alice sobbed in Blake's arms. "I did, Father. I thought I could beat the devil out of him; I thought this was good punishment." Father Jim stood.

"This is not the way of God. Yes, God states that punishment is good, but not this type of punishment; this is abuse."

Blake froze. His face turned from worry to anger. "Out. You will not tell me how to raise my son."

Father Jim sighed, looking down. "Let me charm him with gods protection from the devil first." Blake nodded. Father Jim kneeled down to whisper in Jude's ear.

"I pray that God protects you, I pray that whatever evil spirit tries to harm you, any kid, any mankind, any woman who tries to hurt you get painful punishment. I pray that god is with you." Father Jim sat up slightly.

"It is done. He is charmed by God's protection."

Blake soffced. "Now, out. We will find a different crunch." That was the last Jude had seen of Father Jim.

Winter of 2024

Age- 16-

Jude was sitting in the barn, where he spent most of his time, either hanging out with the animals or in punishment. Today, Jude was sitting in the barn after getting punishment for talking back. Jude's shirt was still off, letting the cold winter air touch his hot, bloody skin. The snow looked nice to Jude; he was not allowed to ever play in it, but he had walked in it plenty of times, loved the way it crunched after every step. Jude walked over to the door and opened it slightly, grabbed some of the snow, made a snow bed on the floor and lay on it. He whined a bit; it hurt for a second, but after a minute, it felt nice.

"Jude...? Honey, I'm here to help you patch up. Jude? Jude!?" Alice rushed outside looking for her son, her boy. She saw him running across the dead corn field with his shirt half on. She started running after him. Blake wasn't home; he was at work.

"Jude!" She was close, Jude could feel her creeping up behind her, could feel her heavy, loud, bold footsteps. She was behind him, trying to reach out for him, trying to get her son back.

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  "Jude!? How did you get here! How did you know where I lived? Come in, come in...!" Braelyn ushered Jude in. It was snowing in New York that year, so it must have been cold.

 "Jude...How'd you get here?" Braelyn asked, guiding Jude to sit on the couch. 

"I ran away." Jude's voice was empty.

 "Ran away...Makes sense. What brought you over the top for you to run?" Jude started to take off his shirt and turned around. Braelyn was in shock. Scars, tons of whip scars, noticeable scars, his face didn't help that fact; the scar down his left cheek to his neck looked like a snake was living in his skin.

"Jude, brother, w-who did that to you?" Jude just looked at her, his eyes spoke words of pain, years of it; he didn't even have to speak for Braelyn to know.

 "F-Father...Don't tell me." 

Jude just nodded. Braelyn started crying; she was crying for Jude, and because the man she knew was not the father Jude knew. 

"Judie..I'm sorry I didn't come get you..I'm sorry you had to come to me. How did you even get here?" 

 "I've been saving money up from Father Dan to get a boat to make it across the sea. I had someone drive me across the sea." 

Braelyn tilted her head. "Father Dan, what happened to Father Jim?" 

Jude shook his head. "Father found out I like boys, and Mother sobbed. Father brought me to the barn and punished me, and then Father Jim came. Mother called him, he said that wasn't the way of god that this was abuse, not punishment. So, Father kicked him out, and we never saw him again." 

Braelyn was helping Jude get settled when little feet came running down the hall into the guest room.

 "Mommy! Mommy! Daddy got us candy!!" The little girl laughed. A man came running in, picking her up and tickling her. 

"Hey!! You little traitor, I thought it was a secret!!" The little girl squirmed in the man's strong arms. 

"Ahhh!! Daddy, let goooooo!!" The girl laughed as the man set her down. 

"Oh, Jude, this is my husband Cory, and our little girl Annie."

 Cory looked over and held out his hand. "Hello, Jude. Braelyn texted me, said you came down, hope you had a good trip here." Jude shook his hand lightly; Cory's grip was as strong as any man's would be. Annie looked up at Toby, her eyes full of young innocence. 

"Uncle Toby!" Annie smiled widely and hugged Toby, almost making him fall. 

"Annie, you're going to scare the poor guy away!!" Braelyn joked, ruffling her hair. 

"It's okay, I don't mind her." Braelyn smiled while continuing to make the bed. 

"You wanna see my room!!" Without waiting for Toby to reply, Annie was already dragging him across the house, her little hand soft in Toby's big, rough one. 

Toby and Annie were sitting on the floor. Annie insisted on showing Toby every toy she owned. Toby was leaning back on the wall, listening as Annie rambled on and on. 

 "Ask you a question?" Annie asked, setting down her doll. 

"Of course, Annie." Annie got closer, so she was sitting in front of him, her hand touched Jude's cheek where the scar was. 

"Why do you have a battle scar?" Jude tilted his head so Annie could see it more clearly. 

"I fought a tiger on my way here." Jude lied. You could see Annie's face light up; she leaned back on her heels. 

"Really!? Thats so cool, did you win!" 

Jude nodded, making Annie cheer more. "Did you kill it?" 

Jude looked around the room, and seeing a unicorn, he grabbed the pushie and showed it to Annie. "Nope, a unicorn came and scared him away." 

Annie gently grabbed the unicorn and looked down at it, her smile never leaving her face. "Whoaaaaaaa," she hugged the unicorn close. Jude looked at the late time. 

"Come. Let me sing to you." 

Annie climbed onto Jude's lap. Jude started to hum a random tune his mother used to sing. He ran his hands through her long, brown hair. His voice was angel-like, his voice split through the air, making a low hum that made Annie start falling asleep. Jude stood up with her in his arms, and he continued the low song. It filled the room, and everything seemed to have gone silent around them, creating this little bubble around them. 

"Hey, Jude, have yo-" Braelyn closed her mouth, seeing Annie asleep. She walked over to Annie's bed and pulled the covers back. Jude set her down gently and pushed some hair out of her face. Braelyn pulled the covers up and tucked Annie in. They rushed out of the room and shut the door quietly. 

"Thank you, we normally have a hard time getting her to stay laid down." 

"Oh, it was no big deal..." Jude muttered, looking down at the floor. 

"You're really good with kids, you know that, brother?" 

Jude looked over at her and shrugged. "Like I said, no big deal." 

"Alright then...I overheard what you were talking about when I walked past. Your scar. I'm sorry she asked about it" 

Jude reluctantly put his hand up to his cheek. "Oh, I didn't mind. I get it, she's only four, she doesn't know how much her words can affect others." 

"Good. I'm off to bed. If you need anything, don't be scared to come knock, and I mean it, Jude, anything at all." With that being said, Braelyn made her way back to her room. Jude stayed up for another few hours; the constant fear of them finding him made his skin crawl and itch. 

That following morning, Jude awoke to the sound of Annie knocking loudly on his door. "Uncle Jude!! Are you awake?" She opened the door, peaking her little head in.

"Well, I am now. Did you need something, Annie?"

"I'm hungry, Mommy isn't awake yet, and Daddy is at work," Annie whined. She walked over to Jude, who picked her up.

"Then let's fix that. You like pancakes, my sweet girl?" Annie nodded excitedly as Jude made his way out of the room and into the dark hallway. 

"Okay, very well then." Jude walked into the kitchen and set Annie down on a chair next to the sink. 

"Wash your hands. You're going to help me make some pancakes for Mommy." Annie giggled as the water turned on and sprayed her in the face. Jude grabbed her a towel, laughing as well. 

"Annie, did you forget that the water comes out when you turn it on, you silly girl?" He ruffled her hair with the towel, drying her off. 

Jude and Annie started their mix. Annie, ever so the silly one, kept putting some batter in her mouth as they went. Jude did all the cooking, of course, but was happy that Annie was there to keep him company. The house smelled like pancakes, making Baerlyn wake up. She sluggishly made her way down the hallway and into the kitchen. "Smells good, what are you making?" She yawned, sitting down.

"Pancakes and coffee."

Annie jumped up and down. "Mommy, Mommy! Uncle Jude let me help!" 

"Is that so? Well, thank you, sweetie. I'm sure mommy will love it."

Jude got down some plates, 2 mugs, and a cup. He started plating the pancakes. "So, when did Cory head out to work?" 

"6. He works pretty far, about an hour or so. Thats why he leaves so early." Jude set down the plates, and Annie had a unicorn-shaped pancake. 

"A unicorn!!" Annie jumped up and down in her seat, smiling widely. 

"Whoa, when did you learn to draw? It's very good, Judie!" Baerlyn picked up her plate, taking a better look.

"Oh, I guess I've always been good at it, I don't know." Jude poured Annie some apple juice in her cup before sitting down. 

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Thud

Braelyn set down the last box onto the new, fresh bed. "There! Finally, the last box."

"Thanks for your help, Braelyn..." Jude hugged her tightly.

"Anything for my little brother. And besides, it was mainly Croy, I mean, this is his building, you're lucky I had the day off." Braelyn flopped on the bed, inhaling a long sigh.

"I got you a job at the coffee and tea shop. It will help you get started."

"You did? You didn't have to go through so much trouble, thank you. I owe you big time."

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Spring of 2025 (Present) 

"Jude, bring this out to table 6, please!?" Sammtha yelled from the kitchen. It was rush hour, and there were more people than usual. Jude grabbed the tray of drinks and started his way to table 6. He looked down at his shoes, feeling them untied; he was more worried about tripping over his own lace than watching where he was going.

Slapsh, thud

"I am so, so, SO, sorry! I wasn't-..." Jude looked up to see Toby standing there, covered in bright pink foam. Toby started at it for a second before bursting out laughing, helping Jude clean up the mess.

"It's alright, I wasn't watching where I was going either. And besides, it matches my shirt!" Toby joked, trying to lighten the mood, but it wasn't having the desired effect. Jude felt really bad and embarrassed, and to make matters worse, he spilt it on one of the guys he liked. As Jude stood up, he brushed himself off. He took a long, tired sigh.

"I am so sorry." He kept his head down, not wanting to. No, he couldn't face him, not after embarrassing himself like that. Jude felt a hand go under his chin and slowly lift it. There, Toby was smiling lightly.

"Hey, really, it's alright. Everyone makes mistakes, yes?" Jude felt tense; his chest tightened, and he couldn't look away to hide the tears welling up in his eyes, his breathing becoming unsteady.

"Hey, breathe alright?" Toby slowly set his gentle hand on Jude's shoulder. As he did, Jude started taking a few deep breaths.

"Here, what if you come to mine and Spencer's tonight? We'll make a pillow fort and watch movies and stuff. Sound like a deal?"

Jude nodded lightly. "Yeah..Sounds fun. I'll bring some snacks."

"Great! Oh, and wear your PJs!" Toby smiled, walking out of the store.