"I'm afraid. I did everything I was supposed to do. Whatever happens, Y/N, know that I love you. I want to become myself again, I really do, but something is off. I can't change it," I say.
I can feel something inside my chest. It feels like it's beating my heart for me. It has control over me, but I couldn't say that out loud. Everyone would think I'm crazy.
"What do you mean, Mason?" my little sister, Y/N, asks.
"I never meant to hurt you," I sob.
"It's okay! It's okay, Mason. It'll be okay," she comforts.
I stand up and hug her so tightly that she can barely breathe. This is the last time I'm ever going to hug my sister. The thought makes me physically ill. I close my eyes tightly for one more moment before letting her go.
I open her window and begin to climb out of it.
"Mason? Where are you going?" she cries.
I turn my head toward her and give her a smile, hoping it would calm her down a bit. It takes everything in me to jump down, but I do it. I go from a walk to a full sprint. I don't look back because I know if I do, and I see her head poking out of the window, I'll be damned and go back and hurt her worse than I ever have before.
My chest burns and my legs start to ache. I run into the forest and take a seat on the ground. I lean back on the tree and check my watch. I furrow my eyebrows in shock at how long I've been running.
"A fucking hour and a half?" I mumble.
Regular me wouldn't have been able to do something like this. I'm miles away from home. It would take me ages to get back home, not that I can. Something happened to me while I was out and it's taking over me slowly, highjacking my body. I'm stronger and faster than ever before, but I'm colder and lack emotions. That's what it feels like anyway.
I've shoved Y/N around, yelled at my father and my mother countless times, and started taking in bad things like drugs. I've also had a weird urge to drink chemicals. It's like it's calling to me. Sometimes I even find myself walking toward them, but snapping out of it before I can take anything.
I've started taking drugs to get rid of the pain, but they're starting to not work anymore. Ever since being out that night, my body has been in deep pain. I started taking painkillers to ease it, but now I can't go anywhere without them for fear that my body will start to feel pain again.
I reach into my jacket pocket and pull out the bottle of painkillers I've recently been taking. Y/N must be so disappointed in me. I'm a failure.
I shake the bottle and by how light it is, half of it is already empty.
"This is it," I croak.
I open the lid and pour all of them out. I raise my hand to put the pills in my mouth but my body comes to a stop. I groan in pain as the inhuman bodily aches start to come back. I scream and look down at my hands. Black veins form throughout my head, making their way up to my neck. I scream more until... a memory?
This all seems familiar... as if I've been through it already. This is definitely a memory.
I sit down on my bed and I hear knocking on the door.
"Yeah?" I say.
Younger Y/N walks into the room and sits on the bed with me.
"Want to listen to some music together? Hang out?" she asks.
For the first time in forever, I feel like I can say yes.
"Sure, what do you want to listen to? The Beatles, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, AC/DC, what?" I say.
"I'm feelin' like Black Sabbath," she grins.
"Black Sabbath coming up," I smirk.
I put the album Paranoid on my record player and let the music play. She starts to move her head to the music and I laugh. She grabs both of my hands and we dance around my room, banging our heads to the music.
Suddenly, the memory starts to change, and now she and I are sitting in my car at the beach. It's night and she's looking up at the stars.
"I remember this," I whisper to myself.
Our mother and father were arguing and I snuck her out to come to the beach so she didn't have to hear it anymore.
"You ever wish they were different?" she blurts.
"Who?" I question.
"Mom and dad," she sighs.
"All the fucking time," I say.
She nods and looks down at her shoes. She pulls her knees to her chest and I sigh.
"But at the same time I don't," I add.
She furrows her eyebrows and looks at me.
"Elaborate," she demands.
I chuckle at her response and I look out to the ocean.
"If it weren't for all of the arguing and bad moments, we wouldn't be as close," I say.
"That's true," she sighs. "I fucking hate living with them though. Pretty soon you're going to be off to college and I'm left with Mateo."
"No, don't think like that. I'm not going anywhere out of state, okay?" I assure.
"But I want you to," she says, now facing me.
"Why?" I question.
"I want you to go to your dream school. You have amazing grades, Mason, why not use them?"
"My dream school is in California, Y/N," I scoff.
"Is it? I was born here, but you weren't. Before I was born you guys lived in New York. You always tell me about how fun and great it was there, so why not go back?" she questions.
She has a point. I sit in silence and sigh.
"I'm not leaving you guys," I state. "Never."
"You should. Get as far away from this hellhole," she assures.
"Forget it. The only way I'm leaving this hellhole is with you and Mateo," I state.
She nods slowly and looks back out to the ocean. I can feel the tension between us and I think about something to say.
"Speaking of school, why have you been skipping?" I ask.
"What?" she says loudly.
She doesn't know that I know about her skipping school. It's funny.
"You're not slick. I know you more than anyone else. Anybody who disagrees with that is full of shit," I chuckle.
She laughs and her laugh is the sweetest sound.
"So? Why have you been skipping?" I ask again.
"Because I'd rather go to the skate park," she replies.
"Promise me you'll go to school from now on. I'll take you to the skate park every day after school if you can hold an A or a B for the rest of the year," I offer.
She thinks for a moment then holds her hand out. I shake it and smile.
"Deal," she says.
_____________________
Hope you guys liked this chapter! Sorry for not uploading! I'm a busy woman. I wrote it in Mason's POV on the night he supposedly "died." Drink plenty of water! Love ya! -C
P.S I didn't proofread so excuse my typos.
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Radical | A stranger things story
Fantasia*Starts in season 2* "That was pretty Radical and you know it." Billy Hargrove
