Hang Me Up And Watch Me Die.

Chapter Four

"Okay, how about this one?"

"Eh, country's not really my thing."

"Fair enough," Austin says as he removes the disk from his computer. "Hm... I think I've got it."

"Oh do you now?"

"I think so," then he jumps up and goes to his tall stack of song albums. He gently takes a dark one from towards the bottom to try not to knock over everything. I get curious and try to walk over to him. He stops my eyes from seeing the cover. "Nope. Don't look; Just listen."

"Okay, fine."

"Good." I look over to him to realize he already put the disk in.

The song goes on for a bit and it sounds really good. I like it. And then the words bring me back to that dark place in my mind.

How are we on a scale of one to ten?
Could you tell me what you see?
Do you wanna talk about it?
How does that make you feel?

Have you ever took a blade to your wrists?
Have you been skipping meals?
We're gonna try something new today
How does that make you feel?

Well, those words hit me like a bus. Around when I was thirteen I was fed up with everything and went to get help. I told my teacher who thought I was lying, but he got me put in an asylum for children where the process was so dull and unhelpful, I freaked out and escaped the prison. Every single day was a huge counseling session that just made me feel worse. I was there for four weeks and obviously my father noticed and so he... he... um... Uh... H-he...

"Mack!"

I look up from my hands to reveal the tears running down my face.

"Are you okay?"

My mind wouldn't think straight so I kept whispering to myself: He, he, he. I couldn't even say the words.

I feel a sudden warmth around me. "Everything's okay. You're safe now. Don't worry about him."

Had I been saying everything aloud to him?

He carefully strokes my hair and mutters something inaudible.

********

Austin

"I'll fucking kill that bastard," I say to myself as I try to calm Mack down. I hold her tightly as if I'm about to lose her. I just met her but I definitely don't want that to happen. We were sitting on the bed until she told me her story, so now we are laying next to each other with her in my arms. I honestly would normally be enjoying this but currently I can't believe what she had just said. How could someone be able to live like that?

I must be good at calming her down because I look down to find her asleep. I wipe away the tears on her cheeks and kissed her on the forehead. I need to help her.