Silent Voice - Zelkpvp Novel

Chapter 17 The Truth

Mega let go of Jacob, standing there facing him.

Well, not really facing him.

More like looking down at his shoes.

"Do you really want to know?" Mega whispered.

Jacob knew it was something important, and he was ready to hear everything.

"Yes, Mega."

Jacob walked over, sitting down on the old couch.

After some hesitation, Mega joined him, sitting down beside him.

There was silence for a bit, only birds outside.

Mega looked uneasy, twisting his fingers and shaking slightly.

"Well," Mega started hesitantly, "it began when I was 7. My dad was really abusive, and he often beat me and my mother up. He came home drunk, with friends who would often stay for the night. It was loud, and they often stole stuff that we never saw again. He was unemployed, and my mother worked at a shop, with long night shifts... My dad soon left us... He said he found someone else. That broke my mother. She was already unhappy, but that was too much for her."

Mega paused for a bit, trying to calm down his beating heart and rapid breathing.

"She started drinking and abusing me. I often came home to find her passed out on the couch. She never cared about me. I starved for days, and we didn't have any food, and it was rare to have any at all. When she left sometimes, I would maybe find some scraps left and eat them. I left my room only for school, and I returned home as late as possible, as I didn't want to see her. She would beat me up, mentally and verbally abuse me..."

At this point, Mega's hands were violently shaking, so that he had trouble signing.

"At about 11 I started... you know..." Mega motioned towards his arms.

"I tried to take my life multiple times... I didn't want to live like that anymore... The only thing that kept me alive, was knowing that I would hurt my friends by killing myself... She told me lots of times that I didn't deserve to live... That no one needed me... That I was better off dead."

Mega took in a long, shuddering breath. In felt wrong to continue signing, so he talked quietly.

"Then we got the news that my father died. I was 13. My mother broke down completely. She went insane. She already was to some point, but then she became unreasonable. She tried many times to get me to speak and raged because of it, she almost ended up killing me several times... 

In high school, she locked me up often leaving me for days without any food or water, with only my laptop and phone. She didn't know about my phone, and she didn't dispose of my laptop only because she believed that it didn't work.

I guess I could have gone to the police to get help... but I believed that it would get worse. She told me that if I told anyone anything, she would kill me."

Jacob was looking down at the floor, studying the lines on the wood, listening closely.

"I grew up small and skinny because of that. I learned to never trust anyone, and wear long-sleeved shirts to hide my past.

She threw me out of the house when I came too late, so I lived on the streets at times, eating what I could find.

My only light in the world were you guys. My friends. 

I later secretly got a job. I needed money to buy food and move out. If my mom found out, I wouldn't be here. She hated any thought of me doing well in life. Well, she succeeded. I did, am, and going to suffer forever."

Mega went quiet and Jacob looked up. He didn't know how to react. So he sat there for a moment thinking. He did not expect that. Then he wrapped his arms around the smaller boy, who flinched at first, but then leaned into Jacob's embrace. 

"I'm so sorry- I- I'm so sorry..." whispered Jacob, finally speaking.

Mega laughed sadly. "No... don't be," he muttered shakily.

"I- I shouldn't have made you tell me that."

'But I had to tell you at some point.' Mega went back to signing.

"But I... I..."

'Don't blame yourself. It wasn't your fault.'

zelk pov

We were back at Mega's room.

I was sitting on his bed, looking at Mega who had his back towards me, facing his screen.

Honestly, I was shaken.

I had never expected what he told me.

I needed some time to process it all.

So he suffered from selective mutism. That happens because of childhood trauma...

He was abused, so he stopped speaking...

He wore that green scarf to represent him being mute and hide his injuries...

And he was so small because he didn't eat enough.

I wanted to fix everything.

To bring him back to normal.

But he had straight up told me that there was nothing I could do.

Yes, I could not erase his past, but I for sure could make sure that he had a happy future.

Maybe I should move in with him...

I could start with helping him by making sure that he ate regularly and enough.

Mega turned off his screen and looked around.

"Jacob..." he said quietly, "Did I tell you too much at once?"

I shook my head. "No," I replied, "I needed to know, and it's easier to tell once you start. Don't worry about me."

Mega came and sat down beside me, putting his head on my shoulder.

It felt so relieving to know that he was there. 

"I am never going to leave you Mega," I whispered in his ear.

He smiled sadly and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

"I will always be here for you too," he replied.

I gave him a hug.

I didn't know how much time passed, and we sat there hugging, enjoying each other's company.

third-person pov for Zak and Bad

"Move, you little muffin. We are sharing the bed and I want half. Move!"

Zak sat there in the middle, with crossed arms. "No."

He was stubborn. "No," he repeated.

"Do you want me to come there are move you myself?" 

"Noooooo. Baaaddddddd. I wantt the whooleee beeeddddd." Zak whined, knowing that he could always get Bad with that.

"Well, do you want me to sleep on the floor?" Bad offered kindly.

"Yes! And then we can have a sleepover and you can sleep on the bed too!"

Darrel sighed, shaking his head. "Oh you, muffin."

<Word count 1108>

Thank you guys so much for 200 reads!!

also... vote plz? :]