Colton decided to go for a walk to get out of the house for awhile. He tell's his grandmother he would be back later and walked out the door before she could protest. He put his headphones in and as went off down a trail. He finally reached his destination, an abandoned house him and his friends found two years ago. When he walks up the steps he hears laughter coming from the kitchen, he walks through the door to find Austin and Ashlen standing at the bar with a two bottles of whiskey. Ashlen walked up and kisses him on the cheek and handed him the bottle. Colten then dose to the couch and turns the bottle till it was almost gone and so is he. He slips off in darkness forgetting his friends.
On the bus ride home I was thinking about getting going for a swim and then go over to Kyle's later. As I walked down the steps something didn't seem right as I walked up the driveway I noticed dad's car was home like normal but he wasn't at the door like he usually is.when I get inside I see the TV on so I yell and tell dad I'm was home but I got no response. I started to worry I drop my bag at the door and run up the stairs and go to my dad's bedroom to find the door was open which isn't normal I push it open and called dad's name once more ,still no answer. I go in the room to the other side other the bed and the floor was wet like the tub was overflowed,immediately I started freaking out thinking he had drowned. I run the bathroom door to and opened it slowly and peaked in to hear the water running and my heart nearly stopped I went to tub and I immediately screamed as I grabbed my chest. I fell to my knees looking and my days lifeless body lying in a tub of water mixed with the blood coming from the gash across his neck. I guess the neighbors heard me scream and they came busting through the door grabbing me up and holding me asking if I was okay, what happened ? All I could do was cry while holding my chest tightly.
By the time colton woke up it was already midnight and Austin and Ashlen had passed out on the other couch. He got up and went to the sink to splash water on his face and to get some aspirin for the killer the migraine. He grab the half drank bottle of whiskey and walks out the door. On his way home he drinks the rest of the bottle and stages up the driveway. When he opens the the he is careful so he don't make a sound, his grandmother is still on the couch watching the sops Marathon. He creeps up the steps to his bedroom where he falls to a soundless sleep.
When colton woke the next morning he dreaded going down to face my grandmother. I knew she was going to yell at me for being out so late. And sure enuff i got an ear full about how it isn't safe to be out and Ii could have gotten hurt.i went through this every time Ii went out,which is because i wouldn't come home till two in the morning sometimes. I gulped breakfast down and went up stairs before she could tell i had been drinking. i sat down on my bed and looked around my room at all of the drawings from the past years. since my dad was killed Ii took up drawing as my safe zone. I pulled out my book along with my pencils, i never know what i will draw next its always something new without a meaning simply just a drawing. Ii let the pencils do all the work, Ii sit there for hours thinking about dad.
when the cops showed up they asked all kinds of questions and all i could answer is "i don't know" or " i didn't see anything" i told them how i came home and seen that dad wasn't around and I went to his bedroom and found him. They removed his body from the tub and on to a gurney and took him I didn't even say goodbye or I love you one last time. I went home with the neighbor until we got in touch with grandma and told her.
I had finished my drawing and I pinned it up next to the others that covered my walls. An assortment of colors and places and people I have never known or seen before. About that time I got a phone call from a restricted number I was hesitant to answer. When I did it was a woman on the other end
Me: hello
Other person: hello colton
Me: umm.. who am I speaking to
Other person: that's not Important
Me: Yes it is.. what do you want
Other person: I want to tell you you are coming along way........
. What does she mean I have came along way and who was that and why were they calling me.The phone call went dead, she had hung up on me. I sat there on the bed looking at my phone with no way to trace the call. why would she say i came a long way? why couldn't she tell me her name? I was starting to get scared, was someone watching me. I went downstairs and when i went to walk out the door grandma came downstairs and asked "where do you think your going at this time of the night" it wasn't even dark out yet."umm.. im going to austins he just called and said his dog died and he needed someone to talk to" i think i played that off well. she looked hard at me for a while and then sighed " you can go but you be back before ten, and use the truck" i grabbed the keys and out the door i went once i got into town i decided to stop by the art store to buy more supplies.
I was getting some more pencils and oil colors when i noticed in the mirror that the lady at the counter was watching me. I walked up to the counter and the lady told me that someone has covered a tab for me and that i didn't owe anything when i came in here. she wouldn't tell me the name but she said it was a woman. i got back in the truck and sat there for a minute trying to figure out who she was talking about. i know it can't be grandma because she hates my drawings and thinks they are pointless. could it be the lady from the phone call, but why would she do that.
When i got to austins i told him what was going on he got worried to. we started thinking of places that someone could be watching us and people we have seen a lot that act suspicious. we couldn't think of anything, i decided to go home and sleep on it. I ended up staying up all night trying to figure out the voice on the phone and who it was. I shot up out of bed, I know who the voice from the phone is. I called and called austin till he picked up his phone.
Austin: Whatever you woke me up for this early in the freaking morning better be good
Me: IT IS I PROMISE...... I KNOW WHO THE VOICE IS......
Austin: OMG HOW? WHO IS IT ?
Me: the lady from the art supplies store
Austin: How do you know
Me: i was in there yesterday before i went to your house, and when i was in there she spoke to me i knew the voice sounded familiar.. she is the one from the phone.
Austin:....but what did she mean by you have came a long way ..
Me: I don't know.. i haven't got that far yet.
Austin: I will come over later and we will figure this out
I sat up in bed looking around my room trying to figure out why she would have said that and what i was coming far on. How does she know what I'm doing. I looked out the window to see if i saw anyone and i saw was a car parked down the road. could that be her that explains why that but still what was it. I sat there until Austin got there and showed him the car he was just as scared as i was. Austin grabbed my laptop off the desk and went to searching for a name to the lady, he pulled up the art supply stores website and looked at the employee's. Austin looked at me and looked back at the laptop and back at me and said "You said you and you grandma were the only macneils in town right?"
I looked at him puzzled for a while "yes all of dads side of the family lives in texas i don't know any of my moms family because she left when i was three" . Austin turns the computer around and sure enuff by her picture it said Natalie macneil. i jumped up out of bed and started pacing across the room. Austin asked me if i was ok but by the expression on my face he could tell i wasn't. i grabbed a box from under the bed and sat it down, i opened it slowly and grabbed the contents which were two photo albums and my birth certificate. Austin snached the birth certificate out of my hand and started reading it , e took a good long look at it then at me and said "Dude your mom has been stalking you." I don't understand it why would she do this why couldn't she just talk to me.
I looked out the window and she was still there. Should i go out there and ask her why or what she is doing here? No i can't. Austin asked me if i knew why she had left and i said " yes, when i was three i became deathly sick and her and dad started fighting all the time and after i came home from the hospital dad always babied me making sure i was ok and not getting sick again and one day mom told dad he needed to let up on me or i will start to rely on him for everything, it broke out into a big fight and she got violent, dad called the law and she was arrested when she got out she divorced dad and we never saw her again, she would write dad and ask how i was doing every now and then." Austin just sat there shocked looking at me and the photo albums "I' sorry man "
we sat there looking at the pictures of me when i was a baby and of mom and dad and places they went. I was looking at one photo where they were on a mountain and she was acting like she was gonna push him off but they were happy. I felt a tear starting and i had to swallow the sting in the back of my throat.Austin placed his hand on my back " its ok to cry colton i'm not gonna make fun of it" I saw something behind the pictures so i peel the plastic back and grab what seems to be letters.Austin grabbed one and opened it while i done the same to the other as i read mine it was mom becoming an alcoholic and how she was wanting to fix things or she would get angry again. I folded up my paper and threw it in the box and went back to looking at the other pictures.When i opened the other photo album i noticed i had seen some of the places before and i noticed they weren't like regular pictures they were of me and dad at random times and places like someone wanted them to be a secret. When i flipped the page i saw a picture that looked really familiar i got up and grabbed the pictures off my wall and most of them were the scenes from the album and i noticed the others were of a lady.
Austin looked at me with a blank face " she has been doing this for a while hasn't she ,what does this mean by you drawing these"
"i dont know man, i cant put things together about this its weird, its like she was waiting in something and want me to figure it out"We had enough confusion for one day and decided to figure this out tomorrow.Austin called his mom and made sure it was ok for him to stay. I got in bed and drifted off to sleep.
Dad told me we were going to see mommy today so i needed to be good . " I dont want to see mommy today " i told dad as we walked to the truck. " i know son but me and mommy need to talk and she wants to see you ". When we got there i was clinched to daddy's pants leg and nothing was going to remove me. Mom staggered down to doorstep and bent down in front of me and hugged me but i didn't hug her back, she smelled really bad . dad said" natalie you know you were seeing him today so why are you drunk" she looked at him and said " you can't tell me what i can and can't do anymore so why do you care." i can tell dad was mad because his face was red and he said "If you don't straighten up you won't see him again" That made mommy get upset and she started yelling and cussing at daddy saying " If you keep my kid from me i will find you and kill you." dad picked me up and we left .
I woke up pouring sweat and my heart was racing. My nightmare was a flashback but why, i tried to remember what all had happened with mom after hat but i don't remember ever seeing her again. Austin woke up and asked why i was up so early and i told him i had another flashback what it was about. Austin looked at me" You think ..........................thats what happend "
I looked at the floor " what that she killed dad, i mean she was serious when she said it and i never saw her after that" .I couldn't believe it could this possibly be what had happened. i need to know answers , i told austin we needed to go to the art supply store and find out what the hell is going on. We got up and got dressed and left grandma a note telling her we were taking the truck to town.
when we pulled up in the parking lot i immediately regretted i done this,but i had to know what happened to my father and why she wanted to me to find out. i walk in the door and over to the counter where she was sitting."I need to talk to you" I said glaring at her , she looked at me with a surprised but humored look on her face and said " It took you long enuff , i have been watching you for years know and never once have you noticed i was your mother"
" Well if you would have put an effort into doing better so you could see me we wouldn't have that problem now would we"
Austin looked at me in shock. Mom was standing now looking me dead in the eyes "Your dad was the reason i couldn't see you he kept you away never answering my phone calls or letters i sent him i fixed my life up and wanted to to see you so..... "
by then i was furious. trying to tell me a lie " So what , you stalk me and dad for years and then you decide you have had enough and kill him, what good did that do"
She didn't respond for a while she just looked at me with sad eyes. " you were never there for me when you had the chance , my father was all i had to rely on he helped me with everything, he was my hero when you became the villain in my life and you took him away from me, you low life selfish slob you could' have the glory of raising a son so you take my glory of having a dad and now i have noone"
Austin just stood there looking at me and her speechless while me and her were face to face when she said " i didn't know it would hurt you that bad it had to be done i couldn't live with the pain of not seeing my son, and you're not alone because i am here"
I clenched my fist and teeth together and told her " no i have no parents because your not my mother and i'm not your son. you can forget you ever had one, oh heres somthing for you why don't you pretend you killed him to because you're dead to me"
