Within These Walls

Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

Louis' footsteps bounced off the pavement as he turned down different streets and walked up small hills and over quaint bridges. He passed people walking home from the park and riding their bikes. Parents playing with their children in the park and calling for them to head back to the car to go home.

The darkness of the night was starting to settle in completely with only street lamps to guide Louis to where he was going. Though, he wasn't sure on where that was. His mind wasn't focused on his destination, but on the conversation he had with Sam. The words which had been laced with poison spilling from his lips and the daggers which Sam had thrown his way.

Both boys had spoken the truth, though Louis hated that was what it had come to. Of course, he knew Sam meant well and only wanted to protect him. To save Louis from himself.

It wasn't that easy, though. It wasn't that simple. Opening up to people had never been Louis strong point. Most of the time, when he did let someone in, it was a similar situation to what had unfolded with Sam. Usually, it was a moment of weakness for Louis, when he could no longer hold it in anymore and everything flowed out of him. accompanied with whatever emotion he was feeling at the time.

The night his aunt died he had let Sam in. Bleeding his heart out to him because he couldn't hold anything in. There were no floodgates that night.

It seemed they had opened again on this night, though in a way Louis would have much rather avoided. It hadn't been the first time he had lost his temper at Sam, but it was different.

To Louis, keeping people at arms-length was the best thing for him. It stopped him from being hurt. Something he was all too familiar with. There were moments with each of his friends and with Isaac it seemed his arm had fallen back to his side. Where he had let his guard down. It never lasted, though.

Louis always ended up right back where he began, pushing people out again and carrying on by himself. He thought he would be different with Isaac.

Then the dreams started.

He hadn't been sleeping well before his brain concocted his fear and manifested them into his sleep, but now, it was as though a part of him actively avoided it. Trying to keep him from seeing it.

Maybe, if Louis kept people away, it wouldn't hurt as much to lose them. If wouldn't hurt as much if he ended up alone.

Though, Louis didn't want to be alone, and Sam was right. If he kept doing what he was doing, one day he would wake up and there would be nobody there. He would call out and no one would come.

Exhaling deeply, Louis looked around his surroundings. The quaint suburban area Sam lived in was now long gone, and Louis found himself in a more built-up area of town—which was bustling with the Friday nightlife.

The suburb Louis lived in wasn't particularly huge or immensely populated, but it had enough activities in it to keep the majority of people happy. Though, if they wanted something more, nothing stopped them from taking the forty-minute drive into the city.

Louis looked around as he wandered onto the main street and watched as people were seated in restaurants and wandered into a few of the different bars that were littered down the street.

The street itself was bustling with people standing under the trees which lined the sidewalk, mingling with each other or waiting for their take-away meals to be ready. Fairy lights were stung up and were slung between the street lamps and hung over the road, giving the street a slight fairy-tale look.

Louis moved through the seemingly ever-growing crowd and continued to walk past the various venues, smelling the amazing aromas coming from each one. His stomach rumbled in protest of him not having eaten anything, but Louis shook the feeling away.

Doing his best to not make eye contact with anybody, Louis was soon standing at the end of the main street and for the first time since he started walking, he pondered where he was going to go. Looking left and right at the intersection he found himself at, Louis recognised a few of the landmarks and buildings around him.

It certainly wasn't the first time he had walked this street. Of course, the clinic in which Sarah was getting her treat was a few blocks over from where Louis currently stood, but there was another venue within the area which Louis used to frequent quite often.

When he had first moved in with his aunt nine years ago, he knew things were going to be hard. Even at the young age he was, he often found himself wandering around the neighbourhood to escape what was happening within the apartment. In the beginning, Monica used to try and hide how she was handling the death of her sister.

Though, as Louis got older, it seemed she became less concerned with Louis seeing her at her worst. Either that or she stopped caring. She had definitely stopped caring for Louis at that stage, leaving him to look after the both of them.

It was at that point, during the walks he used to take, he stumbled across something. A small, slightly rundown building tucked away from the bustling main street. Its windows had been boarded up and the roof seemed and though it was on the verge of crumbling in on itself. Though it had looked abandoned, there had a laminated piece of paper hanging on the door.

'Reach out' it had said, with a phone number.

Louis had walked past that door more time than he could count until he finally made the decision to call the number. On a night when Monica had barely made it through the apartment door before collapsing on the ground passed out. Louis remembers the stench of alcohol coming from her along with numerous other smells he couldn't place.

The number had rung through to a lady named Clarissa. She led an alcoholics and narcotics anonymous group within the building Louis had continued to walk by.

Louis knew Monica would never try to get help herself. Over the years he had tried to get her to go and see someone, but she never listened. She had rather drink herself into oblivion and take any pill or substance she could get her hand on to cope.

So, instead of trying to drag her to the meetings with Clarissa or get Monica to go herself, Louis had started attending them. Trying to get any information he could to help his aunt.

Of course, nothing had worked. In the end he stopped attending them in the fear someone from the meetings would find out he had been lying about his age and call child services to have him taken away from his aunt. Though, he had a feeling they all knew he wasn't eighteen.

He knew deep down, for him, it most likely would have been good thing if he had been taken away. Maybe he would have had a chance at a somewhat normal life. Maybe things would have been different.

The nights he had spent within the group circled Louis mind and as they did, the same run-down building was where he found himself standing now, taking in a deep breath as he took in the sight.

It hadn't changed. The paint on the walls was still peeling and the graffiti was still prevalent, though, apparently, more had been added to it. The windows remained boarded, and the roof still sat sunken and damaged.

As Louis took in what was before him, his gaze drifted to the door, where the same sign hung, though much more weathered than it used to be.

Sniffling as the chilly night hair settled around his head, Louis walked slowly toward the door and placed his hand on the handle, taking in a deep breath before pushing it open and moving inside.

The warmness of the building encompassed him immediately as the door closed behind him, and his eyes scanned around the hall he found himself in.

It wasn't an overly large space, though it was big enough to house the twenty-or-so chairs in a circle in the middle of the room. Most of them were filled by people of various ages and looks, while a few remained empty.

The rest of the hall was empty for the most, except for a table which sat in the far-left corner of the room, holding different kinds of snacks as well as a cheap coffee machine and paper cups.

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A/N: I wish Louis would eat something :(

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Question:

Do you think Louis could have done more for his aunt?