Mind Games

Chapter 21 - Ryan

A/N: So I've been debating with myself. Should I let innocent Cassie survive or evil Amy win? I've grown rather fond of Cassie. Do you think she should live?

Ryan looked on anxiously as the flurry of police cars and the ambulance drove away.

Ned had been the one who called 911.

He had told them his friend's mother was behaving erratically and he had reason to believe she had harmed his friend.

Ryan had been worried the cops would think it was a prank played by some dumb kid. But he guessed the sheer panic in Ned's voice convinced them.

He couldn't bring himself to go talk to the cops. He hated himself for being a coward, but after seeing his dad being shot in front of his eyes he just couldn't bear to have a conversation with the cops over Cassie.

So he stood alone in a dark corner and watched silently.

Hoping that the girl who walked up to him that day, while he was busy drawing Amy, would be okay.

When the sirens faded, he walked home alone, hearing his footsteps echo in the empty street.

He felt a tinge of alarm when he saw the front door of his house ajar.

Suddenly wishing he had his baseball bat with him, he entered his house cautiously.

He heard an angry voice from upstairs which he recognised as his mother's. But there was something wrong with it.

As he edged up the stairs closer to her bedroom, he understood why. She was drunk. She was slurring so badly that he could barely understand what she was saying.

A sudden crash of glass made him jump. Throwing caution to the wind, he ran up the carpeted stairs.

Some instinct made him stop outside her half opened door.

"He was cheating on me! I knew it!!" He could hear his mother screech.

"Now, now... calm down..."

He recognised the voice as Diane, his mother's best friend. Except that Diane had moved to London two years ago.

His blood ran cold as he realised who his mother was talking to.

Amy.

He hesitated outside her door, not knowing if he should run in and interrupt their toxic discussion or try to find out what Amy intended to do with his mother.

He finally stifled his guilt at eavesdropping on his mother and stood quietly outside her door.

"I ruined my life bringing up his son, making a home for him to come back to, while he was out there fucking strange women every night!"

Amy laughed softly. "Oh come on, not every night! You are giving him too much credit."

Ryan heard his mother laugh mirthlessly. "Well he sure wasn't in bed with me." She paused, then added viciously, "I wish that baby had died."

He recoiled.

Amy gave a fake gasp. "You mean you never wanted your son?"

Ryan heard his mother sob. "I wanted him - Nick. My son was the only way I could get him. I was so happy when he asked me to marry him. But he never loved me. He loved that boy. He stayed because of that boy. Not me. It was never me..." her voice dissolved into more sobs.

"So why do you need the boy now?" Amy's calm reasonable voice.

A pause. Then he heard his mother reply coldly, "I don't."

Ryan's hair stood on end.

He slipped into his room silently, grabbed his backpack and all the cash he had.

He edged past his mother's room where she was still ranting.

And then he ran down the stairs, out of his house and down the street.

Away from the woman who had once given him birth and who he grew up calling "Mom".

A/N: Like what you are reading? Please click the little star to vote :)

You can also check out my first completed story 'What Hides Within' right here on Wattpad.