Toby and Angel

Chapter 1: Angel

     I tapped my foot impatiently on the white marble tiles. I really did not want to be here. I felt so uncomfortable and out of place. I didn't know what she wanted from me.

"Tobias, Stop that nonsense!" Mom put her fork down, creating a shrill sound as it hit the porcelain plate, sending vibrations through my head.

I covered my ears in attempt to stop them, but the vibrations only continued.
Mom sighed.

"What has that therapist been doing? Has he actually gotten better?" She asked Ana, my nurse.  

"Yes, Mrs.Lancaster. Tobias has made great improvement with Dr.Mark. He's able to concentrate longer periods of time as well as—," mom cut her off.

"That's enough," she said with a wave of her hand. "Obviously it hasn't worked! Look at him."

She looked at my shaking frame intensely, but I could not tell what emotion her eyes held. All I knew was it was a negative one.

I racked my brain through all the emotion cards I had practiced with Dr.Mark, but I couldn't pinpoint her emotion.

Was it Pain? Fear? Sadness?

"Well, thats something he can't help. His senses are overloaded."

I jumped at the screeching sound of a chair against the tiled floor as my brother Trent got up.

The sound vibrated through my eardrums and I felt like they would burst.

My muscles tensed and my heart rate sped up.
I could hear screams, but I didn't know whose they were.

I thought about the terrible sound that chair made. I materialized it in my mind. It looked like jagged lines, like the teeth of a dog.

It reminded me of the time I got bit by my neighbor's dog. It was over the summer, when I was 10 years old.

I don't like dogs because they're unpredictable and scary, like most animals. Trent insisted on making me pet one.

I accidentally stepped on its tail and it bit my arm and it wouldn't let go. I still have the scar to this day.

"Toby! Tobias!," I could feel my shoulders being shaken.

My eyes snapped up, and I could see Ana's green eyes looking at me. Her eyebrows were furrowed. She must be in pain.

"Toby, it's ok honey, you're ok. Do want to go outside?"

When I opened my mouth to say yes, I realized it was already open and that sound was coming out of it.
I realized I was the one screaming.

I closed my mouth and tried to stop the pressure on my vocal chords, replacing the screaming with rocking back and forth.

I tangled my arms together to try and stop the urge of clawing at my skin. The vibrations only persisted.

"Can I touch you?" Ana asked as she stepped closer.

I wanted to say yes. I wanted the comfort, but I don't think I would've been able to handle it.

"N-no.."
"That's ok, it's ok. Come on, let's go outside to the water fountain. You liked it a lot right?"

I nodded.

The water fountain outside, in the garden of the restaurant. It was a lavish bath for the birds of the city, with its several floors and chlorine-perfumed water.
It looked beautiful in the red glow of the sunset.

I really wanted to stop and paint it, but
Ana insisted we get inside, or else mother would get mad.

Mad.