Silence

Chapter 8

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

I DMed Nyx. Saying that I was at Castlebar and asking where to go.

Nyx: "Head to Mayo Memorial Peace Park."

A cemetery? We were going to a cemetery. I started panicking again. Shane leaned over and saw the DM. He grabbed my hand.

"C'mon. We're close. Just follow my lead." So, I did. I trusted Shane. I held tight and watched Shane's back as he led us to the Mayo Memorial Peace Park. Such a long name for no reason. We were walking along the side of the road, where the houses turned into grass. We passed a group of brown signs and continued walking forward. We ran across the street.

Barely any cars were out. It was too dark.

"How do you know where to go?" I asked Shane.

"My asshole father buried my mum here. That's what I was doing the night we met. I didn't know where my father had buried her. So, I was checking around. I checked every nearby town's cemetery until I found her here. I've been visiting every so often."

That wasn't the answer I was expecting. I don't even know what I could have been expecting. I could see the memorial park from here. I let go of Shane's hand and ran. The grass crunched under my feet. I ran and ran. I hoped that Mam was all right. I needed her to be all right. My feet hit gravel as I crossed the road. I stopped dead.

The park wasn't what I thought it was. It was a little black wall with the names of dead soldiers. Shane caught up to me.

He was panting. "Why'd you run?"

"You said your mam was buried here." It hadn't hit me before. That memorial could also mean 'in the memory of soldiers who died on the battlefield.'

"Yeah, she is," he said, and then he looked up. "...What?"

"You lied to me," I said, not looking at him. He sighed.

"Fine, yes. I lied. Dad told me Mum was buried here, so I believed him."

"But that means you hadn't visited here before! So, how did you know the way?" I shoved at him.

"Calm down, Conan. I'm sorry I lied–" I cut him off.

"How am I supposed to trust you if you're going to lie about something so stupid? Where's Mam?" I swivelled my head around, looking for her. "Where the fuck is my Mam?"

"I don't know, Conan! Just stay calm for a second, please!" He reached out to me.

"Shut up!" I hit his hands away. "Get away from me! I need to find my mam."

"You're flogging a dead horse, Conan, so stop and think for a second!"

"Stop yelling at me!" I screamed.

"I'm not yelling! You're being an eejit!"

"You're the eejit, eejit!" I ran.

"Conan, come back here. We'll figure this out!"

"No, no, no." I pulled out my phone, and hid behind a tree.

Me: "Where's my mam?"

Nyx: "I had to make sure you'd come."