Chapter 1
I always wondered why the freaks of the world always find me. All I wanted to do was live a peaceful life with no interruptions. But I learned the hard way like everyone else that life is not that easy. I remember it clearly. The day I met him. He flipped my world upside down but maybe it was for the best.
It was a Tuesday night and I was coming home from school. Like an idiot, I fell asleep in class so my teacher made me stay after school and clean all the boards. And I mean ALL the boards. I mean it wasn’t hard. It just took forever. We may be a small school but we have a lot of chalkboards.
So school ends at 2:45 pm and I left near 4:30 pm. The only people who stay that late after school are those in clubs and I am definitely not a club person. I’m not athletic or a genius. I’m just your average teenage boy. Well, some people call me an idiot but I don’t care.
My parents never expected me to be someone big in life. In fact, I don’t even know if they even care what I do. My dad gets drunk all the time and can’t hold a steady job. My mom works for so rich guy as a secretary or something but pretty sure she just using that as an excuse. I think she has been sleeping with him because she always comes home late.
I decided to take the longest route home that day which was my first mistake. I didn’t believe what I saw when I got home. There was a horrible stench and there was blood all over the floor. I slowly walked around the blood in an attempt to find the source of the stench. I follow the blood to the bathroom in the back of the house where I found my mom all beaten up. I could see that she was barely breathing. I tried to find my dad which was my second mistake. I found my dad dead drunk in the living room. I tried not to make a lot of noise but somehow my dad heard me walk into the room.
“Hey boy. Come here!”
I froze in my spot. I could see a broken beer bottle on the floor next to my dad’s foot. It was bloody. I didn’t want to approach him.
“Boy, I’m not going to tell you again. COME HERE!!”
I slowly walk to him. As soon as I close to him, he punched me in my face. But when he is drunk his hits are a lot harder than they should be. I fell on the floor into something wet. I looked at my hand and notices it was blood. My dad sat up and looked down at me and started yelling at me. He began to beat me with the bottle he had in his hand. I tried to get away from him but I couldn’t move. I was barely conscious when he stopped. He simply walked away from me and went to his room to sleep. I forced myself to get up. It took quite a while but I managed to crawl to my room. I searched my room for my first aid kit. I patched up my wounds the best I could then went to the bathroom to find my mom. When I got there there was more blood than before.
“Zack honey is that you?”
“Yes, mom it's me.”
“Zack I.......*cough* *cough*”
“Mom don’t speak. It will make the injuries worst.”
“No, it’s alright Zack. I don’t have much time left.”
“What do you mean?”
“I need to tell you something. It's very important. Your dad....he....”
“What. What did that jerk do?”
“No, it’s not like that Zack. He tried to help me.”
“How?! By beating you?!?!”
“He didn’t do this to me. Someone broke in and tried to steal........*cough* *cough*.”
“What did they try to steal? Mom? Mom?”
She stopped talking but I didn’t think she was breathing. I tried everything I knew but nothing worked. I ran to living to get the phone but the lines were cut. My mom’s phone was dead so I went to get my dad’s. If he was asleep then it would be easy to snatch his phone. But when I walked into his room, I wished he was awake. I saw his lifeless body on the ground and someone standing over him. The man turned toward me and smiled.
“You never told me you had an adorable son.”
The man spoke to my dad as if he could answer him. I have never met a person who terrified me as much as that man did. I couldn’t move. It was as if I forgot how to walk. The man slowly walked toward me. I wanted to run but I was frozen in fear. The best I could do was take a few baby steps backward when I hit something. When I look to see what it was, someone wrapped their arms around me and covered my mouth with a cloth. Their grip was too strong for me. I couldn’t break free. The man that was above my father walked up to me and said:
“There is nothing to fear boy. We won’t hurt you. In fact, we will take to a better place. Somewhere more suitable for a child than this dump you call home.”
“Mmpft mmh mmpffth.”
The man laughed. “I can’t understand you with that cloth covering your mouth.”
The man told the person who was holding me to remove the cloth that bound my mouth.
“That’s better. Now, what did you say little boy?”
“Who are you? And what did you do to my parents?”
“My dear boy. Your parents had this coming for them. They knew and didn’t fight their fate.”
“What do you mean?!”
“Poor little Zack. Your parents didn’t tell you anything?”
“Tell me what?”
“Your dad has been running from us for a long time now. Why do think he couldn’t hold a job? Because he had anger issues. *laughs* No no no little Zack. He couldn’t hold a job because we were always finding him. He tried his best to live secret but everyone knows it will eventually come to light. And we finally found out where Mr. Darren Goodman lived. So we waited for him. His wife, Mary, came home first. After she settled down, we just gave her a little surprise.”
“So you beat her until she could barely breathe.”
“No no that wasn’t the plan but it was so much fun I couldn’t stop myself.”
“You sick bastard.”
“I actually feel fine today.” He smiled. “You must hate me, Zack. I murdered your precious parents. But tell me, Zack, did they even care about you? Did they love you? Spend time with you?”
I looked at the ground. I mean he was right. There wasn’t anything I could say to change that.
“I thought so. You shouldn’t have to live like this Zack. Come with me and I will give you a better chance at life.”
“What if I say no.”
“Nothing. I won’t harm you, Zack. But even if you don’t come with me now, you will eventually, and I’ll be waiting.”
There was a long pause. “So have you decided yet?”
“I...I’m not going with you. How could I trust someone who just murdered my parents.”
“Ah, you are right. You can’t trust me. But you will regret this decision someday. Goodbye Zack. We will meet again.”
The man left and the person who hugged me tightly let me go. I ran into my father’s room in search of the phone. But when I found it, it was broken. ‘That man must have destroyed it so that my dad couldn’t call for help.’ I was so tired. I just sat on the floor and leaned against the wall. My body hurt so much and I was so confused. I needed to get some help but my body refused to move. So I sat there and cried until I passed out.
