InSaNiTy

Chapter 5

Writers note: Chapter five, huh? Well we're almost done here! We are halfway to finishing the story! Thank you guys so much for reading my horrible writing. It really does mean a lot.

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When Toby decided he was calm enough to interact with actual people, he slinked off downstairs and shyly sat in the recliner in the corner of the room. Thankfully, his parents didn't say anything to him or anything about him, but he could tell by the look in his mothers eyes that she was worried.

Already, the bags under his eyes had grown darker and his weight had gone down significantly. He rarely ate anymore. He was just too tired to. The medication he had been put on was starting to not work, and once again, he was waking up with nightmares. He could never run away from them. Never.

Toby sat there silently and watched TV, twitching occasionally. Everytime a vocal tic would come out, his mother would look over at him and sigh before turning her attention back to the screen. He tried his best to hold them in but he knew they would only get worse if he did. Eventually, he got tired of it and went back upstairs, curling up into a tight ball in the middle of his bed, squeezing his eyes shut.

***

When he opened his eyes, he was almost blinded by the light that shone in through his window. Squinting, he looked over to his clock. 11:53am? He was supposed to be at school by now. It was nearly noon, and he knew it was Wednesday. Slowly, he got out of bed and trudged downstairs to the kitchen. Nobody was there.

"Mom?" He calls out, looking around. "Lyra? Dad?" No responses came and he frowned. Maybe they went out and decided to let him sleep. He wasn't complaining, though.

When he turned his head to the left, the shadow figure was back. He didn't freak out though. He only gave it one HARD look. It looked like him in a way. The way it stood, slightly hunched over. But.. it looked like it was wearing a straight jacket. Inhaling sharply, he turned away and went back to his room.

What did it mean? Was it him? Was his mind trying to warn him? But how could it? Maybe the figure wasn't even him. Maybe his mind was just screwing around with him like it normally did. It always messed him up even more than he already was. Oh well. There was nothing he could do.

Toby lay back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling and closed his eyes. He slowly fell asleep once again.

***

The loud noise coming from outside his window woke him up and he rubbed his eyes shakily before standing up and moving over to the window beside his bed. When he moved the curtains away, he peered over and saw two kids fighting. Toby rolled his eyes and quickly moved away. Was his parents home yet?

He went downstairs and sure enough, everybody was there.

"Where did you guys go?" He asks in a natural shaky voice.

"We went to talk to the school, Toby." His mother said in a low voice. "You're not going to school there anymore.."