So, before we begin, I decided tonight that next month I'll be taking part in NaNoWriMo. It's going to be a load of fun, I've heard about it for a while now, but never actually taken part. For NaNoWriMo, I'll be writing the sequel to this one. I've got high hopes for this one. Even though I don't actually have a plot for it.
Sounds good to me.
Anyway, here thankfully is Chapter 31. I like it, but that's because I'm the author. I'm actually going to do the hearing next chapter probably, and then we're on to the rescue the chapter afterwards. Though nothing seems to go my way....
Chapter 31
“Danny? What’s going on in there?” Shit, I hadn’t thought about the racket we were making. It was Maggie.
“Nothing, it’s fine.” I said hurriedly, grabbing a huge wad of toilet paper and wrapping my hand in them.
“Well, what was that smash?’
“It’s fine. It’s okay.”
“I’m going to come in, are you decent?” Damn, I can’t let her see this. She’ll have a major freak out.
“Uh, yeah, it’s fine. Go back to bed.”
“I’m coming in.” She announced before opening the door and stepping inside. “Danny! What the Hell happened here?” She ran towards the smashed mirror sharps all over the floor.
“Um… you wouldn’t believe me even if I told you.” I sighed. Of course, she’d be more interested in the mirror than the state of my now bleeding hand, which I was now holding close to my chest. Keep it elevated. It was on one of the notes I’d had when I was catching up on my lessons.
“I still want an explanation.” She still hadn’t noticed my hand. I’m not sure if I should be happy or sad.
“Um. I don’t really have an explanation.”
Then she noticed my hand.
“Oh, Danny. What happened to your hand?” She asked, “Let me see it.”
I was in for it.
I unwrapped my hand from the toilet role that was now red from the blood. My head was spinning slightly. I didn’t want to show it, she’d freak even more. I winced as the last of the toilet paper came off; revealing an assortment of cuts lining my hands.
“You punched my mirror?” She asked.
I said nothing.
“Why did you do something like that? You could have seriously hurt yourself.” Wasn’t I already hurt pretty badly? Though the fact that she was focusing on me and not the broken mirror should be counted as something good, right?
I said nothing.
“We might have to go to the hospital.”
“No.” I said quickly. Probably a little too quickly for her liking.
“Why not?”
“Don’t you think I’ve been there enough lately?” I asked. In truth, I was sick of the white walls, the weird smell, and all the illness that surrounds you. I don’t want to readily go back there.
“But, Danny, if you’re seriously hurt then you need to see a doctor.”
“Well, if that’s the case, I’m not seriously hurt and you can forget about me. I’m fine. It hardly even hurts anymore. Put a bandage on it, and it’ll be gone soon.” I replied, frustration seeping into my voice. I just wanted to go back to bed.
“What if you’ve got bits of mirror in your hand?”
“If fine. Stop worrying, Maggie.” I snapped. “Please, I just want to go to sleep.”
“Alright. If it’s no better in the morning you’re going to the hospital to have it checked out.”
I couldn’t deny that, her voice was so full of authority, I’m sure she would have cursed me to the farthest reaches of Hell if I denied her.
“Good.” I guess she took my silence as defeat.
I walked out of the bathroom with my head held low. Maggie said she’s stay behind to clean up the broken bits of glass.
“What happened, Danny?” I looked up. Jim was standing just outside the threshold to his room, his arms crossed over his chest, blue pyjamas evident.
“Nothing. I got angry with myself and punched the mirror.”
“Oh,” he looked quite stuck on how to react. I’d decided that would be my cover up story whilst Maggie was trying to make small talk with me. They didn’t need to know what had really happened. I’d just disappoint them. They’d know that I’d lost a fight. I seemed to be losing everything all the time. What kind of life did I run before this? Well, what kind of life did I have before I forgot everything?
I need to get to them. I must have escaped from them somehow, so whatever I did to escape means I can get back there. I know where they are now… sort of. It’s strange. The place that I remember is not apart of this world. I’m not sure if Jamie will know of it.
I wish I remembered more about this Tome. It seems to be important.
How did I escape? Why did they just let me escape? There must be some reason why I was let go and not the others? Are they expecting me back?
God, I’m so tired, but thoughts of getting to them keep waking me up. I must know how to get to them. I will work out how to get to them whether it’s one of the last things I do.
Okay, if I do get to them, what then? I can’t just take them. It’ll need a little more planning than that. Maybe Jamie will have to get involved. I’ll have to save them before saving myself.
If he knows who I am, then he knows where I live, so if I escape a second time, he can just come and get me again. Maybe I do need to get some sleep. I need to be able to think clearly and obviously this isn’t working out.
“The tome.” The voice screamed at me. Nicholas. I looked up to his face. He was beet red with anger; even in the darkness I could tell that.
“I don’t have your damn tome.” I replied, every day was the same. He’d drag me off somewhere, take out his frustrations on me, and question me about the damn tome. I’d answer the same, and get a bigger damned beating.
“That’s not a tone you take with someone who’s showing you hospitality.” Hospitality? I feel like I’m slowly dying on the inside. I’m in constant pain, there’s constantly blood running from my body. I’m hungry, tired and I just want to get out of here.
BANG! Nicholas punched the wall next to my head. I shiver slightly, and feel the fear coursing through my veins. I’m pretty sure I’m shaking.
“Not so willing to stand up for yourself now, are ya?” He taunted me; his eyes changing suddenly to red, glinting evilly even in the poor light of the room.
I said nothing. I knew fighting back would only get me another beating.
“What did I say about answering back?”
“Answering back results in punishment.” I replied automatically.
“And where does lying about the tome get you?”
“It gets even worse punishment. A punishment I’ll never forget.”
“Good.” He said and smacked me upside the head. I just took it. I’d learnt by now that fighting back only got you worse punishment.
“Now, where is that tome?” He asked.
“I don’t know.” And from there on, the pain only intensifies.
Maggie spent at least an hour cleaning up the mess in the bathroom. She was confused, not sure how to react to what she was doing. Danny had been vague in his explanation of why he’d punched his hand through the mirror. She only worried about how he was doing.
Maggie would sometimes find herself sitting down and wondering what her son would be like if he’d remembered everything. There are some things she’s happy he can’t remember. Being tortured was one of the main ones. She wished ever so dearly that he could remember her. Remember his life before he was kidnapped.
She knew it was ridiculous to think of such things, but Maggie did wish her Danny back. She knew she’d never get him though. He was too far-gone to be even distinguishable against what he used to be.
“I do wonder, I wonder what he’d be like. I also wonder what goes on in his head to think of doing something like this.” Maggie said quietly to herself.
“Why don’t you come to bed, Mags?” Jim asked, walking into the bathroom to examine the mess. His eyes lingered slightly on the blood pooled around one area of the room.
“It’ll probably be better if I cleaned this up now. I don’t want him to see it when he wakes up.” Maggie replied, not even looking up from her position, only looking around to find the bin to place the broken bits of mirror. Luckily, it wasn’t a big bathroom mirror, but Danny had punched it pretty hard by the looks of it, and it had scattered in tiny little pieces.
“Well, let me help you.”
“It’s fine. You can go back to bed, Jim.” Maggie replied, sweeping up the floor close to his feet.
“You need some sleep to, Maggie. You haven’t slept all that much since he’s come home.” Jim reasoned.
“I just need to clean it up. Jamie could come in here, in the dark, not looking where she’s going and stand on some broken bits of mirror. Or, she could see the blood and freak out. She’ll think someone would have died in here.” Maggie attempted to smile, but it fell flat on her face. Exhaustion evident on her face.
“I wouldn’t take too long. I don’t want to bury one of screaming to death, one of drug addictions, and one of exhaustion. It would look bad on me for not driving myself to death too.” Jim laughed.
“I’m glad that you take the families misfortunes and turn them into a joke.” Maggie replied sarcastically.
“Oh, come one, Mags, Danny’s been a mess since he’s come home. We knew he’d be a mess when he came home. Didn’t you say that we’d stick with him through anything?”
“I don’t exactly remember them ever saying something about being addicted to drugs and continuous lies.” Maggie replied.
“I know you’re trying, Mags, honestly. If no one else knows you’re trying, then know I am. But, there are some things we cannot prevent, some things we can’t change. We just have to be there to heal the wounds.” Jim replied, using the most sincere voice he could muster.
“I can’t help it. Sometimes I wonder about him.”
“Then stop wondering. He’s your son. You should love him either way, whatever he is addicted to. It’s our jobs as parents to look out for him.” Jim replied, his voice calm but argument heated. “You’ve grown distant from him. Have you considered that that could be the reason for his depression?”
“Danny doesn’t suffer from depression.” Maggie replied defiantly.
“Doesn’t suffer from depression? Are you mad? Just take a look at the boy, Maggie, he’s depressed. The therapy isn’t helping, and we’re not helping, and you’re certainly not helping by being this ridiculous over it. He needs better help. He needs you, his mother.” Jim said, his voice growing in strength. “I can’t take the look in his eyes anymore, Maggie, he used to go to you for anything. Even if he wasn’t being honest, he’d ask you for advice on things. He knew you inside out. Now he won’t even call you ‘Mom’, he calls you ‘Maggie’, isn’t that any indicator that we haven’t been good parents to him?”
“Jim, I will deal with things in my own way.” Maggie replied calmly.
“Fine, deal with them your own way, but soon enough, he’s not going to be able to take it and he’ll explode. And he’ll have no one to go to because you are the person he went to.” Jim said and stormed out of the room.
Maggie continued with her work in the bathroom. Her thoughts didn’t stay back to the conversation she’d just had with her husband. He’d see it her way eventually. She knew it. There was nothing wrong with Danny, he just needed to learn that and Danny too needed to learn that there was nothing wrong with him. Breaking mirrors wasn’t going to do him any good.
Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed. Not much time to talk about other stuff...
Night!
No comments:
Post a Comment