Labyrinth | ✓

f i f t y - s e c o n d ♂️

...

...

Fuck.

That was the first word that came upon my head repeatedly once I arrived back at... my so-called safe house. However, I spared no time for thinking and jogged through the gates, and quietly opened the door. I tried to be sneaky, but unfortunately, the hinges creaked, like those in an abandoned house from a horror movie.

Fuck.

"Christopher."

Right after I ambled through the entrance that seperated my house from the outside world, Father seemingly sensed my presence almost immediately. His sudden call, along with the intense ambience, instantly squeezed the shit out of my heart, and I felt it lodged inside my throat. Every tiny hairs on my skin stood up, as I felt chills ran down my back. Fuck, I'm so not mentally prepared for this. This is all completely unexpected. Why is Father... not working at this point of time?

I swallowed my saliva when I figured out that his voice came from the dining room. With stiffened footsteps, I made my way through the living room, passing through the dead TV, empty couch, and... Lu, who was apparently leaning against the wall, looking hard at the floor. What is she... doing there?

As she glanced up, her face contained no specific emotion, pretty much nonchalant. I also noticed her pet bird perching on her shoulder, but it was... staring straight through my soul, as if it was giving me some sort of a judgemental look. She wordlessly beckoned her head towards the direction of the dining room, before she walked towards it. I clenched both of my fists and teeth as I slowly pursued after her.

What am I doing...? I shouldn't have obeyed her and should have question her instead, but... I did, all without putting much thoughts.

When I made it to the dining table, there sat Father and Mother, all of them were facing me. Both of them had unreadable expressions at the first glance, so I couldn't really tell what were they feeling. By inspection, though, I could make out some distinct hints.

Father was tapping his fingers on the table in a rhythmic manner, and watching him doing that made me flinch. His darkened eyes that screamed pure exhaustion mercilessly bored through me. His tensed, thick eyebrows were pulled to the center of his forehead, while his mouth frowned deeply. His features grew sharper for some reason, and I could see his defined jaw fastening so tightly. He was the definition of someone was so fed up with bullshit.

Mother was definitely uncomfortable with everything, as she was squirming on her seat beside Father. Her green eyes hardened while they stared down at the table, and her lips were completely straight. She was slowly cleaning out some non-existent dirt from her nails, probably using it as an excuse so that she won't confront me directly. Meanwhile, Lu decided to stay out of the way, as I saw her on the corner of the room.

"Sit there." Father demanded, pointing towards a chair which faced directly towards them. I swallowed my breath hearing how low his tone could get, to the point I didn't dare to disobey him at all. I quietly assumed the seat as what he had told me, and immediately hid my eye beneath my bangs so that I couldn't see both of my parents immediately.

"I want you to be honest this time, Christopher. No excuses, and absolutely no lies." Father started, and stopped with the tapping, which made the intense atmosphere even thicker. From my peripheral vision, I could see Father shifting on his seat, pulling his body towards me. "Care to explain everything?"

Shit, of course he would ask that. My hands and feet quickly became unusually cold, even when they weren't supposed to be. My lips were trembling incessantly, preventing myself from uttering out words. Mother and Lu must be the one behind all of this, obviously I could tell from their reactions. They had enough of me and decided to spill everything to Father, who returned early from work to get me. I have to work my way out of this... situation, otherwise I would be trapped between it.