The beginning
I stood there, looking at what I had done. I quickly realized what I'd done; I was frozen with fear. I remember looking at my trembling hands and then running to that treehouse my father had built. I locked myself inside, waiting for it all to be over. I don't know how many hours passed, but it was a few. By the time I came downstairs, it was gone. I went to the treehouse, shivering, but when I opened the door, everyone was gone.
Winter in Dublin was always cold, but that particular night felt colder than any other. Everything seemed to be falling apart that day. The voices around me said I was exaggerating, that it was nothing serious, but "Axel" was scared. That same night, his mother stood in the shadows by the door, looking angry. Her dark olive-green eyes betrayed her coldness. You didn't have to look far to find Axel huddled in a corner.
"You know what you've done, don't you?" Looren asked, her voice a mixture of fear and coldness. Axel raised his head slightly at the question. He didn't reproach, he didn't admit anything, nothing at all... total silence.
"You'd better get out of my sight. I never want to see your disgusting face again!" Looren shouted. At this, Axel got up and ran, tears streaming down his face, to his room. True to her word, Looren followed Axel to his room with firm, deliberate steps. She stopped in the middle of the room, in front of the boy's bed.
"-Oh, and pack your bags-," she replied, her voice slightly broken, as if it pained her to say it.
"-But... I don't want to leave-" he said in a voice so low it was almost a whisper. Looren looked Axel up and down. "So what? It's not what YOU want, it's what I say."
