Mind Fires

Chapter 10

The tablets worked for a while. It was an odd feeling; as my stress levels went down, so did the strange behaviour of the boys. I hadn't fully warmed to them, but I made more of an effort. After the incident with the knife, I hid all of the dangerous kitchen utensils in a lockable cupboard and I made sure Kyle never let them out of his sight. I also acted extremely fake and super sweet around them, in fear that one day they might turn and become hostile towards me again.

A couple of weeks later, Marie called me whilst I was at work, to ask how things had been. "Everything's alright. Looking after them has definitely changed my life," I answered.

"For the better?" Marie asked, hopefully.

"Hm," I didn't really want to give an answer.

"It seems to me they're settling in well. Have they asked about their mother?"

"Only a couple of times," I was giving short answers, hoping she would finish talking and I could get off the phone. There was something awkward about the call, like I wanted to tell her how horrible the experience has been but I was certain she wouldn't believe me.

"How is Kyle finding it?"

"The boys love him," I said, bitterly.

She didn't really notice my unpleasant tone, but the conversation ended when I told her a client came into work and I had to tend to them. The lie seemed to work.

Again, I asked Marie on more information about the reasons why my sister had been labelled 'mental'. But she avoided the topic.

Everything was going well that week. Except for the fact I was on my final batch of stress-relief tablets. I could feel the anxiety creeping back up on me. And the boys seemed to notice.

Almost like they could sense I was feeling weak, they did something horrendous that night, worse than the knife incident. Something that I would never forget and could have potentially killed me.