Linger in Silence (a Pokémon-based fan fiction)

Snapped

                Ever since Jamie's panic attack, his mother invited him to sleep in her bed. Though it didn't end his nightmares, he felt more at comfort with his mother than alone in his own room, especially when she would calm him whenever he woke up screaming.

                One cold late morning, Jacque screamed as she hurtled into her mother's bedroom, crying in fear, "Jamie's going crazy! He's trying to break the TV!"

                "What?!" His mother jumped out of bed. She dashed into the living room and found her son, holding a poker in both hands. The TV was on, showing a lighthearted Pokémon talk show with a friendly host talking to one of the gym leaders about the best way to raise Pokémon. Jamie reared back and raised the poker over his head, about to smash it into the screen.

                "JAMIE, NO!" his mother screamed. She sprinted up from behind him and grabbed his wrist with one hand, then latched onto the poker with the other. She tried to pull the tool out of his hands, but he refused to let go. They fought for it before his mother released her hand from his wrist and slapped him across the face.

                He finally let go to hold his cheek, which was quickly growing a red mark. They stared at each other, both of them startled.

                "What the hell were you thinking?!" his mother demanded, her voice trembling with uncontrollable anger and fear.

                He didn't speak. Just stared at her blankly.

                She threw the poker violently against the fireplace, making him flinch. "Answer me!"

                Finally, Jamie responded in a low, dreadful voice, "I'm sorry. I don't have a choice."

                "W-Why, Jamie?"

                "They're trying to get inside your head."

               "What? Jamie, what are you talking about?"

               Jamie put his hands on her shoulders, his eyes wide and blank. "Please listen to me, Mom. I can't let them take you."

                "What?" his mother said, her voice quivering.

                "Everything we see on the screen is fake! It's how They control us! The world we live in is a lie!"

                "Calm down, Jamie. You--you don't know what you're saying."

                Jamie searched frantically for the remote. When he found it between the couch cushions, he jumbled with it in his shaky hands before he started rapidly changing the channels. "Look at it! Look at it, Mom! It's the same thing over and over and over and over--"

                 "Stop scaring me!" his mother snapped, snatching the remote out of his hands and turning the TV off. "They're just Pokémon shows and commercials! There's nothing dangerous about Pokémon!"

                "Exactly!" Jamie yelled on the brink of hysteria. "That's just what They want you to think! They fill your head with lies about nothing but Pokémon because the only thing They want you to care about is Pokémon, Pokémon, Pokémon! That's how They turn kids into Pokémon Trainers so they can control how we think we live in a world that doesn't exist!"

                "Who's 'they'? Jamie, I don't understand. . . ."

                 He ignores his mother's questions and breaks out screaming. "They're coming for me! I don't want them to take me back! I can't let them take you, too!"

                "Let what happen again?" his mother grabbed his shoulders and shook him. "Who's trying to find you? Jamie, what did you do?!"

                Jamie opened his mouth but no voice came out. His eyes watered as they went blank with horror. His breathing came out in wheezing gasps and he felt a painful ache in his stomach like something was eating him from the inside out. He covered his face, eyes peeking through his fingers as he felt himself breaking down.

                "Jamie. Jamie, look at me," his mother said.

                 He felt a weight in his whole body cause his knees to buckle. His mother caught him before he hit the ground and she held him close to her. "I'm right here, baby. You're safe. I promise I won't let anything happen to you."

                 "W-Why didn't you promise that sooner?" Jamie whimpered.

                 His mother squeezed him tighter. "I'm sorry. I had no idea."

                  "I . . . I don't want to be a trainer anymore," Jamie choked out as if every word was a painful plea.

                  "It's ok. No one's making you. It's your choice alone and no one can determine that. If it helps, I promise we'll cut back on TV, ok? Just please don't break anything."

                  "Ok, Mom." Jamie slowly raised his arms and wrapped them around his mother as he rested his cheek on her shoulder.

                After a while, they detached. "How about you go clean up and pull yourself together, ok?"

                He nodded and stumbled into the bathroom, letting the door slowly creak shut behind him.