The Boy Next Door

Chapter Four

....I feel tired and I feel pain. I open my eyes to a familiar place. It takes me a second to figure out its my basement. My home. I look around. My tire pile. Check. My bed and blanket. Check, check. My window and cement perch. Check, check. So, it was Mother last night who got me. Oh no. That means I'll be killed, or worse, I'll have to live.

I start crying. I don't wanna live. I don't wanna have to live here. I want to be free and not flinch at every little noise. Why does she keep me here? Why did I have to be saved by Dr. Wilstone? I wanna die.

I stop my heaving breaths and listen. I thought I heard . . . Yes, there it is again. A tap. A tap on glass, what is it?! I look toward my window. There is a dark figure and it's still tapping! Nobody touches my window, but me.

I slowly get to my wobbly feet and sneak to the window. I wipe my tears and look through. Tap. Tap-tap. Tap. I look through the crack and see a boy. His dark hair is short, cut close. His eyes are dark, almost black. He looks to be about my age.

I shy away after seeing him. I duck under the window so he can't see me. "Hello? Where'd ya go? I know you're there. I saw'd you."

I sit up and look at him again. This time he looks at my swollen face and cringes. "Hi." What does he want from me? "Are you okay, I heard a strangling noise. Why aren't you still in the hospital? You've only been there for one month. What happened? Why aren't you answering me?"
I don't wanna show him. He thinks I'm normal. Even though I live in a basement. I don't wanna be different. I just shake my head and point to the neighborhood beyond. I need him to go before Mother comes back. The boy gives me a concerned and confused look. I point again.

"What? What is it? Use words."
I don't wanna show him. I feel tears prickling my eyes, threating to flow over. I just point again, this time with a mad face.

"Fine, if that's how you feel. Bye. Just know I found you and called the hospital."

Ugh. So he did this to me. I want to hurt him. He doesn't know how much pain I went through there. And now I'm going to suffer even more. Why does he think he helped? Why did he look in my home anyways? Squeak! No! No! No!

I turn around to see Mother coming down the stairs slowly, menacingly. She has an evil grin and an object in her hand that she is hiding behind her back. I slowly crawl off of the cement perch and hang my head. Finally she steps off of the last stair.

"So, you think you could just . . . recover in the hospital, then escape and leave your poor mother here to rot alone? Who hoo hoo," she laughs. "You are damn wrong! You can't ever leave here! EVER! You nasty son of a bitch. You are pathetic! Quit crying and feeling sorry for yourself. You are nothing. You hear me. Nothing! I should've killed you years ago along with your father. He was a bastard just like you. I'm not going to make the same mistake twice. I'm going to make sure you don't ever know kindness or happiness. You are going to rot in hell!"

With that she lunges towards me and swings her weapon. It's a cement block. Well part of one. I jump to the side, barely missing the cement aimed at my head. Why is she doing this?! "Uh!" I try to stop her by dodging another blow and shaking my head. She just roars and lunges again. She pins me on the ground with a thud and starts to beat on me. First it's back-handing my face while kneeing my stomach, then it's punching anywhere. I dont know where the cement block has gone, but I'm glad it's not within her reach.

I twist and barely miss a fist coming straight towards my face. She hits her fist on the cement with a crack and thud.

"You bitch! How could you?! Hurt your mother like this?! Just like your father! Sammy! Sammy darling! Come here."

Who is Sammy? Why does she need Sammy? My questions are answered as Sister comes stomping down the stairs. Oh no. Backup. Sister comes toward Mother and I and smiles sweetly.

"Yes, Mother?"

"I need you to tie this runt up while I go and find a knife."

Sister's smile is evil now. "Yes, Mother." Mother walks towards the stairs and starts to climb. Sister comes towards me. I scoot back a little farther into the tires. "Come here runt!"

She grabs my neck and chokes me. I gasp and gasp for air as she leads me to a wooden chair that I use for reading. Its old dark wood is splintery and uncomfortable after a while. Sister sits me down, but as soon as I start to stand she sits on me.

Mother comes down the stairs again and this time she has a knife. I whimper. She evily smiles. Sister moves to the side, she knows I'm frozen in fear. Mother comes to stand in front of me.

"Now Sammy, this is a teaching moment. This is what you do to little brats that can't listen. You punish them like this."

With that said she pushes the knife in my shoulder. I let the tears fall as I whimper. Sister begins to tie a cord around my body, securing me to the chair. Mother yanks the knife out and laughs at my pained expression. She then cuts a deep line down my upper arm. I try to scream, but it comes out as a strangled noise. She slowly moves the knife to my other arm and slowly cuts in. Slowly makes a zig-zag down to my elbow. Slowly withdraws the blade. Why does she do this?! Mother! Stop! I cant speak . . . I can't think . . . I can't be loved . . . I'm worthless . . . because of you! Mother!

I lunge toward Mother despite the knife in my thigh. She freezes and looks scared for a moment before slapping me. I growl and bite her hand. I chomp harder each time she tries to tug it out. Ma screams and 'Sammy' comes running from the stairs where she sat. She tries to loosen my jaws by punching my face, that only makes me bite harder. After about one too many punches, she realizes this. She stops and looks at Mother's pained face.

"What do I do, Mother?"

"Get the idiot off of me! Nevermind!" She screams as she realizes she has a knife. I yank it out of my thigh first and stab her stomach. She screams in pain and tries to slap me. I pull the knife out, freezing her hand. I then plundge it into her heart, or where it should be. Mother starts to go limp as Sammy watches in horror. Ha, ha stupid bitch. I let her hand fall out of my mouth and shrug out of the loosely tied cord.

Sister backs away and tries to reach the stairs, but ends up tripping. I turn towards my bed and wrap the hay into the blanket calmly. I put the knife in there, too. I also grab my left over slop that was in a bowl by the stairs. I back up to my window watching the woman that has showed me no kindness whatsoever. I will try to forget her by sun up.