Insanity

Chapter 3- Soren

          Soren pressed call again. And again. And again. And again. The phone rang and rang, but no answer. He had already packed and grabbed the food packet. It was actually a lot more than he had anticipated. Enough to feed him for at least a week. He'd decided to pack enough clothes for the same amount of time, to make it even. He'd tried calling his mother as soon as he was done, but she had yet to respond. He was starting to seriously worry. Their previous phone call wasn't helping.
          Soren tried to think of different things that could have possibly happened. Maybe the police had caught his mother doing something? No, she wouldn't have brought him or his siblings into it if that were the case. Soren racked his brain, trying to come up something that could have caused her to react this way.
         Soren's heart froze and his breathing stopped. No. That couldn't possibly be it. He wouldn't....yes. He would. Panic blossomed beneath his skin and his hand reached for his phone on instinct. He dialed his mother's number over and over and over. She still didn't answer.
          The door flew open and Soren jumped. A tall figure stood in the doorway, his shape illuminated by the quickly fading sunlight. The man was bone-slim, with dark curly hair obstructing his wide forehead. In his hand he held a baseball bat, wielding it as if he were out to get the world.
That wasn't the worst thing about him though. The worst was his eyes. Black as night and shining with menace and anger. They made him look like he could watch someone's soul get ripped out of their body without even blinking an eye.
          The man started trudging forward slowly, like his pants were stuck around his ankles. He stumbled drunkenly and clung onto one of the cabinets for balance. Although his hair hid most of his eyes, Soren could still feel his penetrating stare throughout the room. When the man looked up and caught sight of him, that was when Soren decided to run.
          Soren sprinted straight towards the man, hoping to catch him off guard. Based on how the man walked, he was most likely drunk or sleep-deprived, which would slow down his reactions. Even though the man was skinnier than the baseball bat he sported, Soren was willing to bet he could do some serious damage with his fists alone. The bat was just extra protection.
          He shoved his way through the man and made it out the door. He flung his car door open, jumped in, and slammed the key into the ignition. When he glanced up to see where the man was, all he saw was an open doorway. He'd disappeared. Soren had no clue why the man had left, or if he was still even in the house, but he wasn't about to go look. He doubted his mom was going to come back anyway. He put the car in reverse and backed out of the driveway, and started driving in a random direction. He glanced at his phone and decided to try calling his mother again. If she didn't answer, he just might take whatever this was to the police.
          He pressed call and, on the third ring when Soren had started to give up, she finally picked up.
          "Mom! Where have you been? I went to the house and called a thousand times but you never answered. What is going on? Some weird guy just showed up at the house and-"
          "Soren, shut up and listen to me. I need you to-"
          Nothing came through for a few seconds and Soren almost started shouting into the phone.
          "Mom! Where did you go? Mo-"
          "Soren, what did you just say?"
          "What? Where are you?"
          "Soren. Answer me now. What were you saying about the strange man?"
          "Uh, he walked in the house and I ran off."
          Another pause. His mom was seriously starting to freak him out. He needed to know what was going on.
         "Mom-"
         "What did the man look like?"
         "Uh, he was really slim, black curly hair-"
         "Did he...did he carry a baseball bat with him?"
         Soren's skin began to chill as his blood froze in their veins. She knew him. This man. His mother knew the stranger who had walked into his house with a baseball bat clutched in his hand, prepared to swing.
         "Soren? Soren? Soren?"
         "I'm here. He did, Mom. He carried a baseball bat in his left hand."
         Dead silence, except for the sound of his mother's breathing, which quickly began to come out in short, panicked bursts.
        "Oh no. Oh no no no no. It can't possibly be him. Oh no. I'm so sorry, Soren. I shouldn't have left you. Listen to me. I need you to go where we used to camp. Do you remember the way?"
         "Well yea, but Mom, that's near the hou-"
         She sighed impatiently. "I know where it is. I need you to meet me there as soon as possible."
          The commanding tone in his mother's voice made him want to run away and crawl into a hole, but he agreed anyway.
          "Ok. See you there. Make no stops on the way. Come straight here."
         "Ok Mom." She hung up.
         Soren sighed. It's not like this had never happened before. He was used to the "leaving home and not returning for a few days" thing. His siblings have only experienced it a few times, but he might as well have had a lifetime of it. Some of his dad's friends had gone after her, some people she worked with. Neve his dad, though.
          Soren didn't actually remember what his dad looked like. He scoffed. Just how a belt felt against his back. He didn't care enough to remember. Soren tended to block that part of his life out of his mind unless he needed it. He had a bad feeling he just might need it now.