A Faltering self (Distorted Reality book 2)

Chapter 29- A Similar Friend

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(Matt's pov)

Things turn faster than I'd like. Chaos at its finest as once again, there is too much going on to understand what exactly is happening. I haven't felt this way since first starting out. I was good at taking things as they came with no issues. I am good at that. So why is it that when one of the worst things that could happen tied to what I've been wanting for so long seems to have me lost? All I know is that I'm not sure what to do, yet exactly what steps I'll choose moving forward. It's always her. It's always been to protect her. From day one, it's been my mission, and it will be until the day I breathe my last.

I might be getting a little ahead of myself, so I'll bring it back enough for you. You've been the one on the outs with me, so I might as well tell things from my eyes as that's why you're here instead of skipping ahead.

I'm taking the same path I did not so long ago. Just this time, I pray it doesn't end the same. I pray that I don't find my Sunshine lost in her head again. Trapped again.

Please, help her through. Help me to know what to do. Help me-

The voice heard cuts me off as it sends a wave of dread over me. My feet stumble as they're not sure if they should stop or run at this point. I catch myself before I fall. I'm not sure what's come over me today, or recently, yet I do. I've been trying to fool myself into believing that Madison isn't causing my disconnect from my usual self, but she is. This whole thing is with me on the inside of things instead of out has.

I can't screw this up, so I need to try even harder to keep my head on straight. To prevent myself from slipping when things are needed most to be on par. The voice isn't recognizable, but the sense of it being inhuman is.

I take my steps slowly. If the voice belongs to what I think it does, it'll already sense me, but Madison won't just yet. I need to see if she's noticing it or if it's simply whispering taunts to her that she can't hear. That most others usually don't. It's always their way of affecting us. Pulling our strings when we think very much that we are acting completely of our own will. That's why even though I hate almost nothing more than his taunts, I'd rather hear them than not. Know it's his thoughts put into mine to ignore instead of not.

My answer is given with Madison's response before I even break through the tree line separating me from her.

"I... No... You're not Peter. My Peter's not... No."

He speaks again as I round the corner.

"Darling, I was never real. Not in the sense that you are."

My eyes instantly lock onto a young boy. I've only ever heard the voice, but I never thought it would have belonged to that small of a thing. It's not long after that I register Madison on the ground, and I take no more time to rush to her.

"Sunshine! Are you okay? What happened?"

I reach out to help her up as he still talks to her. I decide to stay quiet about my knowledge of him until I know for sure if it's something I should tell her.

"If you tell him, he's going to think you're crazy. I'm the only one you can trust, Darling. I've always been the only one you can."

She seems to try to brush off his words as she does her clothes. Her gaze anywhere but on me or him.