Bloody Noses & Crack'd Crowns

Chapter 26

I DO NOT OWN THIS STORY. All credit goes to TheWeaverofWorlds on ao3

Bill wasn't allowed to go back to school on Friday so he watched as Eddie and Mike left in the morning. They walked, heads bent from worry and fear. Stooped as they were they looked like old men. Bill wondered what they knew that he didn't. He wished more than anything that he was going with them, escaping the house. He would have given anything to spend the day with his friends.

Five minutes later, Georgie left.

Bill's heart leapt into his throat. This was the first time seeing his brother since last Saturday. Almost a whole week gone by, and Robert hadn't permitted Georgie out of the attic when Bill was out of his room. It was torture, in Robert's own words: punishment. Bill longed for his brother to turn back and look up at their window, to somehow acknowledge Bill's presence. But Georgie didn't. His head was bent low as he got into the car with Robert. Bill watched it until they had turned the corner disappearing from view.

From behind the bars on his room Bill let out a sob akin to that of a caged animal. And he supposed that that was what he was now, a caged pet only let out when it was entertaining its master. After pounding his fist against the wall he curled up between his bed and Georgie's, anxious to just disappear for a little while.

He didn't know how long had passed, only aware of the stiffness in his bones which demanded he sit somewhere more comfortable. He moved to his bed, bringing a notebook which contained his latest project. There was nothing else left to him, so Bill wrote and his soul recovered a bit of that which had been lost.

Around mid-morning, Robert came and unlocked Bill's room allowing him to use the bathroom. Even in the privacy of the other room, Bill could feel Robert's eyes boring through the wood door. He hurried, afraid to anger the man.

As he returned to his room, Robert pressed a tray into his hands. On it was his breakfast. Toast, badly burned; eggs; and sausage, also burnt. In a small dish was his medication. Two little white pills which promised to take the pain away. "Eat up. You'll need your strength."

Robert shoved the tray and Bill into his room before closing the door. The key turned in the lock, and Bill was left alone with the food. He placed it on his desk and began ravenously devouring it. He had been hungrier than he had thought. He swallowed down the two pills with a big sip of water, before turning to the food. The eggs tasted ashy as soon as they touched his tongue, but he was too hungry to be picky. The toast was practically inedible, but Bill forced himself to swallow. The dry crumbs scratching at his throat as he did. He forced another bite, then another until the two blackened triangles were gone. He took another large sip of water, washing away the last of the crumbs. He returned to the eggs and sausage. By the time he had finished his mouth felt oddly dry, but the glass of water had long since been emptied.

He moved back to his bed, hoping sleep would claim him, but it would not come. Despite the release from the pain meds, nothing Bill did allowed him to slip off to his dreams. His heart was racing, forcing him to stay awake. The ringing in his ear had gotten worse, and for some reason Bill felt anxious to be let out.

The more he thought about how he had been locked up the angrier he became. He had been locked up like some animal, he had been kept from his baby brother, his friends, all because he had tried to do the right thing.

It was because of Henry and Patrick and Rogan. They were the real monsters, the ones deserving of being locked away –

A tearing sound broke through the silence.

Bill looked down to find that he had badly crumpled some papers that had been on his desk. He smoothed them out, frightened by his response. He hadn't even been aware of picking those papers up, let alone twisting them like that. What if he had been around Georgie?