Inner Demons

Chapter 2

I still wanted to find Livia and say my final goodbyes, so I decided to do what most young adults do after leaving home. I found a quiet, secluded place where I could rest my head without being found or bothered.

Holden had a reputation of buzzing with night-life one evening and then being deserted the next. I was lucky enough to find that it was one of the latter evenings.

My only real choice for a place for the night was a park a kilometer or so from my old apartment.
I hadn't been there in years. Ever since the accident with my parents I tried to stay away from parks, but there was no other option.

Nobody bothered me that night, thankfully, but I was anything but well rested the next morning. I rarely had dreams anymore, most nights passing in the blink of an eye, but not that night. I dreamt of the accident and it felt as if I was reliving that moment.

It was all my fault. I wanted to go out for ice-cream even though it was the middle of winter and it was me who kept distracting my dad from the road with stupid facts I'd read online. I learnt my lesson since then and rarely spoke more than necessary.

I'll never forget the look on my dads face, smiling at my fact on neuroscience being a lacking field. Who cares about that sort of thing? Especially at the age of 10.

I remember the weightlessness in the car as we went off the road into a ditch. The only 'good' thing about knowing so much about the medical world is that I knew which emergency numbers to call.

It was a mixture of the sudden drop and the airbags that killed my parents. Whiplash killed my father instantly. My mother had lost consciousness and slumped into the airbag. She suffocated.

Then there was me, left unscathed in the backseat, hanging from my seat belt.

My phone wasn't the prettiest in the world. My parents, in their infinite wisdom, decided I didn't need a fancy phone which would cost an arm, leg and a kidney. I was young, and even the most responsible kid couldn't be trusted with a smartphone. They sprang for the dirt cheap, hard wearing brick that was the Nokia 32-10. I thank—and resent— them for this because that piece of plastic saved my life that night.

It was another 20 minutes before the EMTs arrived. It was the longest 20 minutes of my life. It was also the last 3 minutes of my mom's. I listened to her last breaths and was helpless to do anything to save her. The buckle of the seat belt jammed and refused to release me, keeping me locked in mid-air.

The officer who eventually found me dangling there told me I was one remarkable kid for being able to give them such detailed accounts. I couldn't reply. It was that same "remarkability" that got my parents killed. Going for fucking ice-cream in the middle of winter. Remarkable.

My hospital room looked out onto a park much like the one I was sleeping in. All day long, kids with bright smiles, happy faces and loving parents were running about, having the time of their lives. All the while I was being treated for a concussion and having my life fall to shambles.

I still harbour some hate for parks. Three days in hospital with no family, no visitors and a million questions a day has a way of making you bitter. Waking up in a park made me even more bitter. The only people I told shared my hatred for parks with were the McGregors. When they took me in she became all I had in life.

When I shared this part of me with Livia she was still dating a prick named Mac. He would lie to her, belittle her, and treat her like trash. He never respected her. It boiled my blood to know such an insolent buffoon was dating her.

Livia and I ended up attending the same highschool. Although I was a year and a half older than her, we were in the same grade. I wasn't able to finish primary school after the accident, so I had to catch up on the years I'd missed.