114: Michael Afton

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Why was it so quiet? Typically, Michael loved it when everything was silent. But ever since this morning, the silence was overbearing and frightening. And he couldn't stand it anymore. He needed noise--he couldn't bear sitting in the silence anymore.

"Father?" he shouted, looking around, despite knowing the fact that it was pointless.

Suddenly, he felt the darkness let go of him. Then he saw it raise a blob to his head.

He immediately smacked the blob away, afraid of what it might do to him, and ran away. And he continued to run until he came to a rough stop when he ran into something that felt painfully similar to a wall. He fell to the floor, landing hard on his back, knocking every little wisp of air out of his body. So he laid there on the cold floor as he tried to get oxygen back into his lungs.

As soon as he could breathe properly again, he just rolled onto his side and started to sob. He didn't have the energy to keep running away. He was so tired of trying to hide--why couldn't the monster just kill him already? Or why couldn't William just keep him out of this nightmare realm forever? It was so frustrating. He only wanted this to end.

Suddenly, the blob reached out again. Michael screamed and sat up in the opposite direction of the blob, trying to stay out of its reach.

"Michael!" the voice shouted.

Michael immediately stopped trying to get away, his entire body stilling. He let the blob touch his forehead, but it quickly retreated.

"You have a fever," the voice told him.

He did? He couldn't remember the last time he had a fever. Not for a very long time, that was for sure. How did he get a fever? Was there something going around the school or something?

"Go to sleep, Michael," the voice demanded. "You need to rest."

He quickly shook his head, hurting his neck in the process. He refused to sleep. Sleeping scared him after what happened that morning.

Suddenly, the darkness reached out to him. He tried to back away, but he just ran into a wall. The darkness continued to reach out to him until it eventually lifted him, holding him over its shoulder.

"Gah! Put me down!" Michael shouted, afraid of what it was going to do to him. He started flailing, trying to get it to drop him. "Stop it! Let me go, I don't want to die!"

It put him down, but whatever it put him on was squishy.

"Ah! Bloody hell, what is this?!" he exclaimed, trying to get off. But the darkness held him in place. "Let me go, let me go!"

"It's a couch," the voice told him. "Go to sleep."

Reluctantly, he laid down and shut his eyes. It took a while, but he eventually fell asleep, greeted by his usual nightmares.

~ ~ ~

Michael walked down the stairs slowly, clutching onto the railings with as much strength as he could muster. He might not have felt feverish earlier, but now he was feeling the full effect of it. His head pounded, he was shivering because he was cold, and his mind felt fuzzy.

His body coordination was lacking--evident enough when he fell down the rest of the stairs. He tumbled and crashed on the floor, laying there in a crumpled heap. He didn't bother to get up. The trek from his bedroom to his current position felt like it was miles long. It took an insane amount of energy just to get here, and now he was a pile of awkwardly bent limbs on the floor.

"What on Earth?" Henry's voice sounded from the kitchen where he was making dinner for himself and the Aftons. Michael could hear his padded footsteps as he briskly walked to Michael's side, worried about what happened. "Michael, what are you doing?" he said, chuckling ever-so-slightly.

Michael didn't answer. He just stayed quiet, trying to keep himself from falling asleep.

Henry laughed softly, then sighed amusedly. "You came down for dinner. Didn't you?"

Michael nodded his head slowly. Sure, he wasn't hungry right now, but he knew that Henry would've forced him to eat something later. So it was best for him to eat now to have more time to sleep later.

Henry bent down and grabbed Michael underneath his arms, helping him up onto his feet. "You ate something this morning. I won't make you eat dinner right now since you're already sick. Come on, let's get you back up to your room."

Michael groaned. "Can't I just sleep on the couch tonight?"

"Do you want me to get your father to carry you back upstairs?" Henry threatened, raising an eyebrow as a simper formed on his face.

"No, no, no!" he exclaimed desperately, laughing nervously. "He'll kill me if he finds out that I came down here." He sighed and dragged a hand down his face. "I'll go upstairs," he grumbled as he started the million-mile-long trek back to his bedroom.

Henry laughed from behind and walked beside Michael, guiding him so he wouldn't fall down the stairs again if he slipped.

About ten minutes later, Michael was back in bed, staring at the ceiling. There was nothing else to do while he was on unofficial bedrest. Reading made his migraine worse. He didn't have a television in his room. He finished his homework yesterday and didn't have today's missing homework. He also didn't have any projects to work on. So he laid on his back and stared at the ceiling until he fell asleep.

~ ~ ~

"Heeeeeey! Terrence, you're back!" Analex exclaimed excitedly as she came up behind him, playfully smacking his back. "Are you feeling any better? Noah told me that you were sick. You were gone for three whole days! That's so long, coming from you!"

Michael laughed softly, mussing her hair. "Hi, Lex, nice to see that you didn't change a bit," he teased. "But yes, I am feeling better." He dragged Analex into a headlock and messed up her hair.

"Eek!" Analex squealed. She elbowed Michael in the gut, making him recoil.

"Ow!" he cried, laughter filling his voice. He pinched Analex's ear, telling her, "You're a jerk."

"You're a jerk," she corrected.

All of a sudden, Noah stuck his head between Michael's and Analex's, slinging his arms around their shoulders. "Come on, guys!" he exclaimed, laughter filling his voice. "Cut it out with the bickering. We haven't even gotten to homeroom yet!" He laughed as he let go of Analex, then gave Michael a quick, strong hug. "I'm glad you're feeling better, Michael."

Michael chuckled. "Thanks, Noah."

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