Red's Family Diner

Chapter 14

June 19th, 1963

Wilbur Beloved —

Work has been hectic and rather a mess overall. Red's been throwing tantrums just for excuses to be left alone with me, murmuring sick ideas into my head about brutally murdering Drew and running away with him.

I found myself coming home later than I'd like, which made me worried for Drew. Yeah, maybe Nova took him to Pre-K for me, but the idea of him waiting alone in my house made me grow frantic. What if that thing grabs him? Morphs him into those monsters and uses it against me? I can't lose Drew, he's my lifeline. The only thing keeping my head up in this dark mudded water called Life. I opened the front door of my home to spot Drew asleep at the kitchen counter. Slumped over as he looked still. A piece of me reminded me of this same exact scenario. Expect it was for Maddie. For self-measures I pinched myself. Noting that this isn't another lucid dream and real life. He had his homework spiraled out as he almost was drooling. He was waiting for me... I smiled ruffling his hair as he only moved and muttered in his sleep. "Mmmhmm...." He cried. I found myself incapacitated by the sweet bliss Drew had, unbothered and happy about everything. It was almost unfair–but that reality was shattered when I heard him begin to cry. "No....Mommy...." He mumbled, making me frown slightly as I lifted him up gently. Walking up the stairs to place him into his room–he gripped onto my suit coat tightly as he whimpered. "No–No....leave Mommy..." He whined as I could spot tears flowing from his closed eyes. I'm so sorry for inflicting that Drew. Opening up the door to his bedroom, Drew's night terrors slightly stifled down. Almost muffling him as he cried. His breathing grew weak and quick as I tucked him into his red bed. I stood there for a bit, watching Drew tremble as I felt almost sick to my stomach. I was responsible for this, and Drew knows but his kid mind can't wrap around it. Nothing he can think of makes sense–a world of density not discovered. I pushed back a strand of hair that he managed to move off from behind his ear as he calmed down. It seemed like bliss–watching him calm down just by my touch. "I didn't mean to make you wait for me this late lil kiddo," I whispered, kissing his forehead as he stopped fussing in his bed. A soft smile grew as his soft breathing began to digress into a deep sleep.

I trailed myself towards the door to shut it before hearing him start. "Why did you hurt Mommy?" He asked, his voice somewhat breaking as I turned to see him lying in bed. His tired eyes glanced at me. "I didn't want to hurt her Drew...it wasn't...me," I said, lying through my teeth. It wasn't the smartest move to just lie when the kid has a crystal clear memory of me leaning down next to Maddie. Holding her neck to stop the blood but only allowed it to spread worse. To turn around to watch the darkness at the corner of my eyes fade to spot the poor kid. "If it was not Daddy...then who?" He asked again but only got a silent response. "It's...12. You need sleep." I responded after a while–leaving his bedroom and closing the door. I exhaled harshly as I walked back down the stairs. Grabbing my briefcase to place on the kitchen counter and make myself a microwaveable dinner.

Old habits stay hard whenever I find myself lost in my own thoughts–and by that, I mean drinking my 3rd bottle of beer and it only being 1:34 am. I was taking it slow for sure but the looming thought caused internal conflict with myself. I groaned as I rubbed my fingers between my eyes. What am I even doing?! This doesn't help whatsoever. But I can't put it in the fridge, Nova's gonna bicker and claim im unfit. I stared at the bottle, swooshing the liquid inside around a bit as I chuckled. "I find it funny how much I relied on it, I definitely ruined my liver," I commented to myself, looking around afterward as I hoped to not be greeted with an apparition. "But whenever I drink this–It makes me feel like im at my high. Though I remember everything." I muttered, placing the bottle to my side before spotting a thing in the corner of my eye. I chuckled, closing my eyes as I groaned. "I can't have SHIT! Get the FUCK out of here!" I said, opening my eyes up again to be greeted with "Maddie." Her eyes trail along my face as her horrific incident marks against her face. "Why?" She spoke, her voice softly muffled. I only felt annoyance run through my body as I got up and hid my unfinished bottle of beer. Her voice trailed behind me. Following but it only made me more upset and decided to finally head upstairs to sleep. I would rather have sleep terrors like Drew than be conscious during the entire ordeal.