Disturbed

Chapter Twenty-Nine :

Later that night, Toby drops Brantley off at his place. Brantley smiles and hugs him, before getting out of the vehicle. Brantley then grabs his stuff and gets out of the car and shouts,

Brantley : Let me know if there's any updates with Marisol!
Toby : Will do! Get inside and be safe.
Brantley : Okay! Text me when you get home!
Toby : Will do! I love...
Brantley : What?
Toby : Hm? Oh nothing! I said Okay!

Brantley nods and enters his house, as Toby sighs and bangs his head on the stirring wheel. He feels his face getting hot, as he then drives back home.
Brantley goes inside as he sees his mom gathering all the alcohol she has, on the counter. He immediately assumes she's going to drink it all, but notices three empty bottles in a trash bag next to her. He walks towards her calmly,

Brantley : Mom? Everything okay?
Valerie : Yes, sweetie. Sit down, there's something I want to talk to you about.
Brantley : Okay sure.

Valerie then puts the bottles aside, as she walks towards the stool. She smiles and looks at Brantley, as he has a confused look on his face. He laughs awkwardly as she tells him,

Valerie : I'm a drunk. I'm an alcoholic and we both know it. I've been a shitty mother-
Brantley : Whoa! N-No m-
Valerie : Just hear me out. I've been a shitty mother. You don't deserve that at all. That incident you and your friends had? That made me realize that it is time for me to get my shit together. You're my kid and I love you. Which is why, you're gonna hear me out on this next part, and I hope you support me on this. You know Toby's dad?
Brantley : Dylan? Yeah.
Valerie : We both know each other. Way back, after your father left us. He was my best friend and I was his. We met at a bar, those nights I'd drop you off at your grandma Sofia's house. I don't know if you knew this about this, but he was a drug addict. He did a lot of danger-
Brantley : Yes. I knew that he was a user. He's sober now, Toby tells me.
Valerie : Yes. Well, Dylan and I met up today. We were at the same restaurant you were today. You couldn't see us, but we were in the very back. You look so happy with your friends, I'm very happy you got to meet your brother.
Brantley : What? Really? What were you guys doing there? Just talking? Or....?
Valerie : Just talking. Honey, I think it's time for myself to consider checking into rehab.

Brantley's eyes widen as he looks at his mom. She scratches her arm, anxiously. His eyes began to tear up as he goes in and hugs Valerie tight. She then let's go all of her tears. Brantley kisses his moms head and smiles,

Brantley : It's okay, mommy. You're making the good decision. You are not a shitty mother, you are a strong mother. You are fighting your inner demons and this right now, you are about to go at war with the biggest demon of all. We had our ups and downs, but I don't care. You make me brave and strong mom, I am so proud of you. When will you go get yourself checked in?
Valerie : I think tomorrow? Dylan said he will help make an arrangement, since he's close with everyone at the facility.
Brantley : This is good. Maybe after, you can attend those AA meetings with Dylan?

Valerie smiles as she holds onto her son's hands. She wipes her tears as he gives Valerie one final hug. Valerie smiles softly and whispers into Brantley's ear,

Valerie : He's in love with you. No matter how much he denies it, his heart will forever beat for you. I've seen the way he looks and cares for you, you're the first person he looks for in the room. Don't be like me, I missed many opportunities when I had my chance. If you ever come face to face to that maniac again, take action. I've seen you grow up over the years, you play everything safe. I am almost positive you will discover something when I am gone, please try not to hate me so much. Lastly, if Duncan tries to get a reach of you, you tell your father immediately.

Brantley looks at her confused as his phone begins to ring, he checks as it says UNKOWN. He ignored the call and puts it away. He shakes his head and looks at her, trying to put everything together,

Brantley : Wait what? This is a lot to take in at once. Also, Duncan? Do you seriously think he could be the maniac?
Valerie : Remember he was really obsessed with us. He watched me sleep when we were together, literally. I would sometimes wake up in the middle of the night, just to see him sitting on one of the chairs just watching me. It was terrifying, watching him with his leg crossed and his head tilted.
Brantley : Yeah that's fucking creepy. What would you say?
Valerie : I would confront him about it, but all he would say is that his insomnia would keep him up. Apparently watching me sleep, would calm him down.
Brantley : Gross. I still can't believe we saw him last year. He would call me "son", but made it weird. He would interrogate my friends, he's the reason why I had no friends.

[ In the summer of 2010, Valerie was in a new relationship with Duncan. They had met at a bar, where he had offered to buy her, her first drink. Those first few moments together, they both had saw something special in each other's eyes.
As time went on, Brantley got to meet Duncan for the first time. Valerie was really excited for the acceptance she received from her son. Duncan was a great role model for Brantley, he taught him all about manners and consent. They both had a very special bond and it made Valerie very happy.
Things between them all was going great, until Duncan suddenly started acting different. Both Valerie and Brantley noticed his temper getting worse and being very overprotective. There were times where Duncan would yell at Brantley, releasing all of his anger out on him. Valerie did not like that, so there was a lot of fighting between them.
Eventually after two years of dating, they both had split. Valerie felt nothing but relief when she decided to make the call. After the break up, Duncan would show up at Brantley's school during school hours. He would be parked by the park, across the school. He spent three days out of the week showing up at the school. Whenever school would end, he would have his eye out for Brantley and watch which car he'd get in. It wouldn't end there, he would sometimes follow the car and see where the car was heading towards to.
Valerie would work at a fast food place as a manager during the nights, while she would clean houses during the day time. While she was unaware of her ex stalking her son, Valerie decided it was time for Brantley to walk home from school.
When she would clean houses, she would notice a familiar car always parked near a dumpster. At first, she thought it was nothing. Maybe it was someone who happened to live in the neighborhood. Whenever it was time for her second job, Valerie would notice the same car parked in the parking lot all night long. Again, she never paid any attention to it or thought nothing of it. As weeks went on, she had walked out to her car and noticed that same car's headlights flashing at her. Feeling frightened, she quickly went back inside.
Duncan would sometimes follow Brantley as he would walk home, which alerted him at the time.
Valerie was starting to get the feeling of her and her son being watched, so she decided to do something.
During the winter of 2013, Valerie installed cameras around the house for her protection. On the last day of school before Christmas break, Brantley was walking home and Duncan was slowly driving behind him. Valerie had played back the camera footage at the front of the house, and noticed something strange. On the footage it had shown a man with a hoodie walking to the door. The footage had shown him standing there, for about twenty-five minutes. He suddenly had left and exactly thirty minutes later, it shows Brantley showing up and entering the house. Valerie begins to panic a little and notices a familiar car in the footage, driving slowly in the street. She plays it back again and zooms in, as she gets a ugly feeling in her gut. She notices that same car she's been seeing everywhere and Duncan as the driver. ]