Circles

Chapter VII

The room's ceiling looked just as he remembered it. The faint moonlight filtered through the open curtains, and Noah wondered how much time had passed since he had felt so comfortable.

The sheets were soft and smelled like flowers. He turned to curl up on his side, and immediately, a deep sleep overcame him. For the first time in a long time, he felt a sense of security. Before closing his eyes, he glanced one last time at the broken door latch, which had been that way for years, but he couldn't even remember why. He sighed with relief. His father wasn't here now, so he had nothing to fear.

"Noah! Get up!"

Startled, the boy sat up on the bed, expecting the worst. He looked around for a moment, not quite understanding what was happening, but when he saw no one, he realized where he was.

"Let me sleep, idiot!" he shouted angrily.

"I'm leaving for work," Alister opened the door slowly and poked his head into the room. "Is everything okay?"

"Go away!" Noah yelled, throwing a pillow at him.

"Hey! You better stop with that crappy attitude. I'm being quite kind to you."

"Go to hell!"

Alister sighed, exasperated, and slammed the door shut. Noah could hear his footsteps fading away down the stairs, followed by the sound of the front door closing with a thud. He lay back on the bed, looking at the ceiling as he sighed in relief. His eyes wandered over the wooden panels, feeling incredibly heavy, until he fell asleep again.

"I'm home," Alister announced as he hung his coat in the living room.

"Welcome back, sir," a female voice replied from the kitchen, approaching quickly.

"How was everything today? Did Noah give you any trouble?"

Lizzie looked at him with concern. "He... is still sleeping."

"What?"

"I brought his breakfast at ten, as you asked, but when I went in, he didn't wake up, so I just left it on his nightstand. He must have woken up at some point because he ate something from there, so later I brought his lunch, but he was still asleep. I've been keeping an eye on him, and he doesn't wake up. He also told me not to get close to him."

"Why didn't you let me know?"

"I'm sorry, sir! I didn't think it was that important, given that..."

"Given what? Didn't I make it clear that he's my brother? Isn't that important? Damn it!" Alister hurriedly went upstairs, with Lizzie following with her head down.

Noah, I'm going in," he warned before opening the bedroom door, but the boy didn't even move. He was still curled up on his side with his eyes tightly shut.

"Hey, Noah, are you okay?" Alister asked, crouching down to get a closer look.

"Did you see if he took anything?" He looked at Lizzie with anger flashing in his eyes.

"Anything? I don't think so."

"Were there any pills in the bathroom cabinets? Anything you can remember?"

"No. I'm sure I cleaned everything before he came, as you ordered, and there was nothing left."

Alister brushed Noah's hair away from his face and muttered to himself, "I'm sorry," as he touched his forehead.