Muted

Chapter 8

2:16 am. The numbers glared as I watched them through tired eyes.

Axel Ace Belle.

That was the name of my father. The man I could only meet in my dreams, and now I knew his name. Turning my head, I stare at the intimidating box siting on the white desk on the other side of my room. The box itself wasn't all that special, the edges were ripped and barely holding together by the mounds of duct-tape; You could even see a thin layer of dust covering it. No, what was intimidating was the contents of said box. In that box laid the evidence of my father's love, the tapes he made for me when I was nothing but a speck on an ultrasound. Paige couldn't wait until morning, and around eleven o'clock a soft knock sounded at my door. Ever since then I have been laying here, so tired, but unable to close my eyes. Deciding this was useless I went and grabbed my backpack, taking out my textbooks. I grabbed my notebooks and started working ahead.

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I was wrapped under my thin blanket trying to keep myself warm as the cold air seeped in from the outside into my room through the broken window that wouldn't shut all the way. Shivers wracked my small body as another particularly strong gust of wind flowed into my room.

CRASH!

I jumped as I heard yet another dish being broken in the kitchen. Mommy was angry again. I froze as I heard her angry stomps coming towards my room. She stopped just outside my door. I didn't dare even breathe in case she heard me and then she would come in. You never wanted Mommy to come in when she was angry. The hole on the other side of my room was proof of that.

I waited, and waited. Until finally she slammed her hand against my door and went to her room. Once I heard her door shut I knew it was safe. For the night anyway. Slowly, one finger at a time, I loosened my hold on my blanket, allowing the blood to flow back into my fingertips.

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My eyes flew open as I clenched and unclenched my fingers, the familiar stiffness in them causing me to close my eyes and take a deep breath. I looked around and spotted my sketch pad on the window seat. As I started to get up I felt the crunching of paper underneath me. Looking around I noticed that my textbooks and paper was spread out all over my bed, I guess I must have fell asleep while working on it last night.

Rubbing my face with my still stiff hands, I looked at the clock beside my bed. 5:45 Am. I stretched and began picking up all of my school materials before heading to my bathroom. I stood in the stream of water for what seemed like hours, trying to let the warmth wash away my dream. It just kept replaying over and over in my head to the point where I gave up and walked back into my room to get dressed. I pulled out my favourite jeans that had a hole on my right knee, my converse, a plain white t-shirt, as well as my black hoodie that was a little big on me but was comfortable. I grabbed my bag, my sketch book, pencils, and cell phone before making my way down the set of stairs that led up to my room. Once I made my way down yet another set of stairs to the main floor, I went out the kitchen door to see Adrian leading Copper and Pixie out into the round pen. As I walked towards him I made sure to make as much noise as possible so that I wouldn't spook him.

"Hey Ari!" he said as he was taking the lead rope off Pixie. I gave him a look at the nickname.

"Ha sorry you're probably stuck with that name now." He laughed. I shrugged at him, it was kind of nice.

"So how come you are always up so early? Not even Jake gets up this early to work with me."

Taking my phone out of my pocket I opened a new message under the name Adrian and started typing.

"Sleep isn't my friend. I'm bad at it."

He won't care Aurora. Just tell him you're an early riser or something. I hesitated, my thumb hovering over the delete button. Deciding against my better judgement I hit send, a chime instantly sounding from his front pocket.

His dark brow furrowed as he read my message before looking back up at me.

"Hmm you should tell Ma, she could get you an appointment to see the doc or something?"

I was shaking my head before he could even finish his sentence.

"I'm alright. It's not too bad."

I could tell that he was still concerned but dropped it for now.

"Well I'm going to get the hose and stuff so I can give these old geezers a bath, you good here?"

I nodded at him and sat outside the pen and took out my pencils. He patted my head before walking away. I looked at the horses behind me for a minute before starting to sketch. I wasn't paying attention to what I was drawing, I kept getting distracted by the animals and Adrian's attempt to wash Copper and Pixie. Eventually my curiosity got the best of me and leaving my stuff on the ground, I climbed over the thick wooden fence, hopping down into the pen with them. I gestured to the comb thing he was trying to brush Copper with.

"You want to try? Be my guest, this is a curry comb. It's to loosen the dirt from his coat." he said handing me the comb with a huff as he glared at the old horse. I smiled and held out the object to Copper so that he could see what it was. He literally turned his nose up at me and walked a few feet away.

"HA! Guess not all the animals prefer you!" Adrian good-naturedly laughed from my previous spot outside the pen. I frowned at my feet while trying to figure out what to do. Looking around I caught a glimpse of where Jake stores the horse feed and treats, through the open barn door. I dropped the brush an raced over, quickly hopping the fence. I tumbled slightly when I landed, but regained quickly enough that Adrian didn't even have time to scold me for not being careful. Grabbing two juicy looking apples, I put them in my pocket and ran back over; Using the gate this time so I didn't worry Adrian. Adrian looked confused as he watched me. I took one of the apples out of my pocket and slowly held it out to Copper.

"God, you're cheating Ari!" He laughed. I smiled back at him before giving all my attention to the animal cautiously approaching me. He looked at me for a few minutes more, then gently ate the apple out of my hand. When he was done, he huffed hot air at me then let me come closer so that I could brush him. I finished one side of him when I looked up at Adrian, a small smile ready on my lips. Instantly it fell when I saw that he was frowning hard, a slightly angry look on his face as he looked at the sketch I was doing earlier. I dropped the comb and hesitantly made my way over to him, my heart already racing.

"Ari... what..."

I knelt to see what he was staring at, as I wasn't really sure what I drew. Dread filled my stomach as I looked at the picture. It was a drawing of a door. The rest of the page was dark, except for around the door. A stream of light shone through underneath so that you could see the shadow of someone standing on the other side of it. Then you could see that the door was slightly open, just enough to see a single feminine looking hand, holding what looked like an almost empty beer bottle.

"Sweet-pea? You out here!? It's almost time to go!" I heard Paige call from the porch.

Without making eye contact with Adrian, I gently pried the book from his grasp and closed it, putting it and the rest of my stuff in my bag. He started to say something but I gave one quick shake of my head and made my way over to Paige.

"So Sweet-heart, ready for school?" She asked kindly as we walked back into the house together. I thought about it as I took one last look back at Adrian to see him still looking at me with a concerned frown on his face. I quickly looked back at Paige and nodded at her. But the truth was, I wasn't even close.