My novel is mainly about a boy named Jack; he has dissociative syndrome, but he doesn't know, and then he and his step-father has some kind of argument and end up having something mysterious.
WHO AM I?
A loud sound of slap came out from a small room. My name is Jack, I am 15 years old, I live with my mom and my horrible step-father. I’ve never wanted him to be my father. He always hurt me– every single day.
I walked into that room, my house was relatively small, we didn’t have much money because my stepdad always bought some toxic drinks. When I first stepped into that room, it was my mom, who was on the floor, holding her face with her purple hand. Yes, he hit her again.
“Hey!! What are you doing?!! Stop there! Don’t even touch my mom!” I ran towards my pity mom and shouted.
“What?! Your mom didn’t give me money! If you don’t want me to touch your mom, just give me the money then.” He smirked.
“We already gave you money yesterday! It was 300 dollars! We don’t even have money to buy our food now!” I shout again. This is not the first time he has done this to our family. We need to suffer from this man. I wanted to escape from this. But I can’t.
“That is not enough! I want more! When I was young, I always did what my dad said, but he left me! I never got what I wanted, and that's the worst!” He spoke, his tear began to drop slowly of the floor.
I turned my face and looked at my mother, who was filled with bruises around her body. She nodded. I didn’t want to do this. But or else he will hurt my mom again. I gave him some money, and he walked away and drove out of the house.
“Mom, are you okay?” I asked her and looked around her body.
“Yes, I am fine, I will go do some bandage, you need to go to school now, or else you will be late, okay?” she asked in a calm tone.
“Okay, mom, if he does anything to you, just call me, okay? And I will quickly come.” I said confidently.
“Okay, you should go now.” She smiled.
“Okay,” I said.
I walked out of the room and went to prepare for my school. Today is my first day at school after a summer holiday. Everyone always called me a nerd. I’m not sure why but I think it’s because of my behavior. I always like to go to the library to read some books while listening to music.
“Goodbye mom! See you later! Don’t forget to heal yourselves!” I shout.
“Goodbye, son!” She shouted back.
I usually like to walk to school because we don’t have cars, it’s too expensive, and coming to school with public transportation can cost money up to 435 dollars per month which is 5220 dollars per year; it’s just a waste of money.
I arrived at school; I usually went to the library for breaktime. I don’t really have friends because everyone sees me as a nerd, and no one wants to be my friend. But I am used to it now. I wander to the classroom on the second floor.
While I am walking...
“Ouch", someone made a noise, so I looked up.
"Hey, nerd! You run into my shoulder! Shouldn't you apologize to me?" He smirked.
"I did not even do anything," I said.
"But it hurt me so much," he said in a mimic tone and laughed with his friend.
So, I decided to walk out of the group. But he pulled my necktie, and I couldn't breathe.
"What?!" I shout with anger.
"Put down my necktie!" I shout again.
"Huh, fine then." He said and laughed.
I quickly ran to the classroom.
"look at him! Haha, he is running away from us! Haha," They shouted and laughed in an evil tone.
I did not care. I ran to my classroom and started to study for 3 hours. The alarm sound of the clock surrounds the school. It was lunchtime; I quickly grabbed my sandwich from my backpack, the school lunch would cost me so much money, so I prepared some sandwiches to eat during lunch. I strolled to the park near the cafeteria and ate there. I looked around; only some kids were playing on the playground, some couples walking holding hands, and some people sitting alone like me.
I bring out my delicious sandwich and eat them slowly. While I am eating, I flashback to when I was a kid, I lived with my father, but then he got into a car crash. I missed him so much. A few years later, my mom met him, my stepdad. He was nice when he first came here, but he began to hurt and steal my money.
I glanced at my watch, it was 12:30, the break ended at 13:00, I rambled towards the library on the third floor. I opened the library door and picked a book called "Myths", I loved to read Greek Myths, it was amazing. I chose a place to read quietly on the corner of the shelf. Suddenly, the alarm clock came through my ears again; it was time for me to leave this heaven.
I walked back to my classroom downstairs. Three hours have passed. The annoying alarm clock ran again. It was the end of my first day. Not bad. Except for the Bully Gang. I stepped out for the school, and without hesitation, I quickly went to see my mom at home.
It took me around 30 minutes to arrive back at our house. When I first opened the front house door, the smell of the alcohol ran into my body; it was him again. I walked to find him in the house. He was standing in the kitchen, finding food to eat.
"What are you doing?!" I shout.
"What? I am finding some food. I am hungry." He said.
"Why are you so drunk? It's so smelly!" I close up the nose with my finger.
"Because I wanted." He replied. He walked towards the refrigerator and opened them.
"You can't eat that! That was the ingredients for our dinner!" I shouted and pulled him back.
"What! I said I was hungry! Can't you understand me?! He shouted back.
He turned around and faced me. He locked my body with both of his hands.
"Don't you know how much I need to suffer from my dad?!" He shouted.
" What do you want from me then?!" I asked loudly.
" What I wanted from you?!" He shouts. "I want your money!" He shouted again.
"I already gave you!" I yelled.
Suddenly, my face turned to the left. He slapped my face.
"Shut up!" He yelled back.
I hold up my red face with my right hand. And walked out from that horrible place.
I ran up the stairs, went into my room, locked the door, and fell asleep.
In the kitchen...
William, Jack's stepfather, was sitting alone in the kitchen. Open up the cabinet and pull out the red wine he bought his morning. Slowly open up the cap, and pour the bloody rose wine into a glass. He leaned down his body to the back. He was facing the wall. He was starting to recall his memories when he was just a little kid. A kid who never got to play with the others, a kid who did not get anything he wanted, a kid who got hurt by his father.
'Why did he do that to me?' He thought and drank up the wine.
'I always did what he said. Why did he leave me? I love him so much. Did he even love me once?' He drank the wine again.
'I wanted to go to the church.' He thought and tilted the glass into his mouth.
He heard some kind of slight, sharp sound; it was a bird. Its wing was stuck under the window. I slowly walked toward that little bird. He gently pulled up the window, gently rubbed its head, smiled at him, and let him fly away. He walked back to his seat.
'I wanted to escape from these terrible memories.' He sipped all of the bloody wine and fell asleep on the wooden table.
The dark night has passed in a few hours. The Sun walked out to do his job. The alarm clock on the bed shelf beside Jack's bed screams out loud and runs through the whole house. Jack suddenly pushed out his small white blanket covering his body, closed up the annoying voice, and walked towards the bathroom.
This morning, he did not hear the sound go arguing downstairs. He felt a little bit strange." Is this really possible? How did mom and that guy did not fight?" He wondered.
He quickly took a shower. When he walked into the bathroom, he looked in the mirror. He saw himself with a bruise on his cheek. But he didn't seem worried about it. He prepared his backpack. He carries out his school bag and runs on the stairs.
While he was walking down the stairs, he saw all of the stepfather's pictures were full of scratches and red marks. It was like something very sharp; the scratches are intense and prolonged. He had no idea what was happening. He did not see anyone. He called his mom.
"Mom! Where are you!" He shouted.
But there was no response. He walked to the living room; there was no one there. He walked to see in the restroom; there was no one. He walked into the living room. He noticed that there were many scratches around the way he passed.
'Mom! Why didn't you answer me?! Why are there scratches?" He asked loudly.
Mom was staring at something. Jack noticed. He gradually moved his head up, looking at the legs of the wooden table; there were drops of red wine. The red wine gradually fell off the table, fell down on the floor. The glass is placed horizontally on the table, allowing the water to run. He gently lifted his head. It wasn't wine; it was darker, blood. His face turned left. His eyes were opened wide. His arms are pointing downward. The knife was stuck in his chest. The blood is coming out. There is dry blood on some part of his shirt.
Jack was shocked. His bag fell off his shoulder. His hand was shaking. His mind was blank. He quickly grabbed his phone and called 911. He waited. He was hugging his mom in the living room.
The police have arrived. They came in with a dark blue suit. There were around 5-6 police. The siren sound was open. The blue and red light turned through my house. One police came down from the car, but he didn't wear the suit like the other. He wears some kind of light brown suit. He introduced himself.
" Good morning, I am a detective; I've heard that your husband has been killed?" He asked curiously
"Yes. When I walked downstairs, I saw him lying on the wooden table in the kitchen room." My mom replied.
" Can we go investigate inside?" He asked.
"Sure." She said.
He turned his face to see his team and nodded.
Jack opened the door for them. The detective walked past the door with his staff. They started to walk around my house and take notes like the crime scene in the movie. They inquired my mom to give them the information. Some of the police took a picture of the body. Some of them are testing something. Some of them are looking at the scratches. Some of them are asking the neighbors for evidence and clues.
The detective walked out of the room and walked toward Jack.
" What happened to your face?" He asked.
"I don't know; maybe I fell down the bed," Jack answered.
"Umm.. that weird. Anyways, we have gathered all of the information here. We will go check out this evidence, and we will come back tomorrow because we can't do anything today without checking our information.
"Thank you so much. Please help us." Jack and mom said.
The detective walked out of the house, and the siren went away.
Jack and Mom walked back into the living room with fear and full of questions.
Mom slightly turned her head and looked at Jack curiously. Jack wondered why did she look at me like that?. She then slowly walked out of the living room.
Jack usually walked to school except for his feeling inside; he wasn't sure whether he felt upset about that or not. Everything was the same when we went to the school: the Bully Gang bullied him again. He went to the library as the same. Nothing changes, except for his thought.
When he returned home, his thought was not the same as every day passed. When he went home, his annoying stepfather wasn't there anymore. It's felt weird for him, but he wasn't sure about his true feeling towards his stepfather.
He quickly went back off to the small bed. Closed his eyes and swam deep inside his head. He flashed back to his childhood moment, the moment with his stepfather. He knew that he appeared like an amazing dad when William first came here, but then it began to change because of something.
Three days - and two nights have passed, the sound of birds are singing above the roof, the sharp sound of an annoying clock blow up my ears again; I've never accumulated to the sound. After washing up my body, I walked downstairs to see my mom. My mom looked at me curiously.
"Why are you looking at me like that since yesterday?" He asked.
"What happened to your face?" She asked back.
"I don't know; maybe I fell from the bed."He answered.
Mom walked toward Jack and touched his face. She told Jack to sit down beside her. She picked up the first aid box that she had prepared. Then she gently treated him.
"Okay, finished, you should go to school now." She said calmly.
"Sure! Bye, mom!" He shouted.
Mom did not receive any contact from the police and the detective about the crime. She decided to call them about the progress.
"Hi, I am calling you for the progress of my husband's crime. Do you have any information for that?" She asked quickly with a rush voice.
"We are still investigating. We don't have far progress now. But we will do our best." They answered.
"But it's already three days!" She shouted.
"Yes, we knew that but we don't have enough evidence to find out the answered. Lately, we have been investigating all of the evidence that we have and inquired the information from the neighbors but it wasn't enough. We are trying to find a way but you have to be more patient." They said.
Their's answer really upset mom. It's been a few days now, and they did not get any further from that day. She hung up the call, and with anger, she drove out of the house and went to the nightclub.
At the nightclub...
"Can I have two bottles of beer?" She said.
" Yes, sure," The waiter replied.
A few minutes passed.
"Here are your order; enjoy." He said
She opened up the cap of the first bottle. She began to sip out and flashback to that night. She thought carefully. Is there anything suspicious? Did she see something? She sipped up again. She put her right palm on her forehead; she was tired and stressed. She sipped up again and again. She wanted to delete that memory from her life. But she couldn't.
She opened up the second bottle. Repeat the same step. But she thought deep into her head. What did she see on that night? Is she trying to escape from it? She must accept the truth. She could not resist herself anymore and decided to tell the truth.
Actually, she had already known the truth since that night. But she couldn't accept it. She tried to run away, like escaping jail. But at last, the prisoner will go back into prison. Like she. She could not wait and run away anymore. She tried to act like she did not know anything; nothing was wrong; someone was killing her husband. But in reality, she knew the answer. She did not upset because the police did not give any information, but she was upset that she could not resist her fear forever. She decided. She quickly came back home by Taxi. She was waiting for his son.
Her heart was beating with fear. Her head was screaming. Her hands were running and sweating. She was so worried about how would she do that? At last, her adorable, lovely son came back with a white T-shirt, red tie, and long blue jeans.
"How are you doing?" She asked in a depressed tone.
"I am good, I really love the library; it was a perfect place for me," He said.
"I think so." She replied.
She was so confused and dither. She wasn't sure about her feeling. Should she tell him? She decided.
"Jack, I have to talk to you."She said.
"Yes?" he asked back while putting his back down on the chair.
"On that night, I saw something, dark shadow of the knife, stabbing him." She said.
" It was so terrible; the blood blazed out from the room." She continued.
" He tried to push out the knife from that person, but that person was too strong." She said.
"It was you. The one who killed him." She said with tears.
He shocked. Really shocked. He did not believe that.
"What?! That wasn't me! Even though I hate him but I'm not going to kill someone because of that stupid reason!" He shouted out.
"I know!" She shouted back with tears.
"But you did it." She said.
" You are the one who did it." Haven't you noticed why you have bruises on your face? Haven't you noticed why I stared at you?! It was because of this reason! You killed him. I saw it. But you didn't even know that!" She cried out.
"No. No way. It wasn't me. I didn't do that! It wasn't possible!" He yelled.
"Please, Jack, please. Confess to the police." She begged.
"No! That wasn't me. There was no evidence." He said in an angry voice.
No way. I did not do that. How could I do that? No. It wasn't me. If it was me, I should know it. What should I do? It was my fault. I killed him. No. I did not. It was someone else. I was getting slandered by someone. I should run. Run. As far as I can. No one would see me. And I will not get arrested.
I ran as fast as I could.
"Hey! Jack! Come back! You should confess to the police! Please!" She shouted and ran after him.
"No way. I could not get arrested. It wasn't me!" He shouted and quickly opened and closed the door. Bang!
"Jack!!!" She opened the door and shouted. He went too far from her. She couldn't catch him.
I ran as fast as I could. Everyone was looking at me. I knew that. I burst out my tears while running. Where should I go, I wondered. My legs couldn't stop. I was so tired. But I could not control my legs from running. I turned back to see my house. I was too far. I couldn't see it. I ran and ran. I ran and ran. Until I met the bridge above the river. The wind drives out my hair. I swiped out my tears from my face. I looked down the river. Hold the handrail tightly.
He thought and burst out the tear again. He slowly lifted his hand.
Suddenly, his body was floating. His head was pointing down the crystal water. His eyes were closed. He clenched his hand. He fell. Boom! His body bumps up into the surface of the water. Then his body slowly goes down. The bubble from his nose gradually became less and less. And no one ever sees him again.
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