Dark Mind (The Dark Mind Trilogy Book 1) (9 page)

11

He sat for a few more minutes in silence until the sound of sirens penetrated the quiet neighborhood. He gently placed his mother’s head on the floor and raced to open the door for the paramedics.

“In here!” he called to them.

They carried a stretcher into the house, strapped Meredith onto it and carried her out, Cole trailing behind. They allowed him to sit in the ambulance while they went to work on Meredith.

“Is she going to be okay?” he asked after a couple minutes.

“Your mommy will be fine,” one of them answered.

“Don’t talk to me like I’m an idiot. Tell me what's wrong with her.”

The medic lost his composure for a second before going back to work. “I - um, I’m not legally allowed to tell you. Let me work so
I can help your mother.”

“Yeah, sorry.” Cole collapsed back into his seat, knowing he would not be getting much useful information from them.

They arrived at the hospital shortly after and he spent many agonizing minutes in the reception area. Eventually, just when he was getting up to ask someone if he could see his mother, Beth entered the emergency room. She looked like she had been dragged out of bed and was none too happy for it.

At that moment, Cole could care less about his hatred for her. “Did you talk to them? Do you know what’s wrong with her? Is she okay?”

Beth sighed. “Yeah, they said she overworked herself even though she was supposed to be taking it easy. She fainted but she’ll be fine. She just has to stay here overnight.”

“Thank God.” Cole threw his arms around her and hugged her tight.

Beth looked down, confused for a second, and then patted his head once. “Let’s get home. I don’t want to lose any more sleep than I already have.”

“You’re sure she’s going to be okay?” Cole asked on the drive home.

“Yes, the doctors are very confident,” Beth said.

There was silence in the minivan again, allowing Cole’s mind to drift.

“What are you supposed to do if your friend’s in trouble?” he blurted out. He felt immediately embarrassed but it was too late to unsay it.
Why would I ask her of all people?

“What?” Beth took her eyes from the road to cast a confused glance at Cole. “What are you talking about?”

What’s the harm?
“My friend is having problems… with her parents.” He chose each word carefully, unsure how much to reveal.

“Why are you asking me?”

“Well, I mean, you’re an adult so I thought you might know what to do.”

“Problems with her parents? Sounds pretty common to me.”

Cole fought to keep a level head. “No, this isn't. She – Never mind. It was stupid to bring it up.”

There was a silence. Cole rolled his eyes and looked out the window.
Yeah, thanks Aunt Beth.

Beth inhaled deeply. “Is this that little peppy girl that came over? What kind of problems is she having?”

Cole took a second to recover from the unexpected question. “She, uh, didn’t want me to say anything but I felt like… I had to. She’s…”

“What are they beating her?” Beth cut him off, chuckling to herself. When Cole didn’t respond she cast another glance in his direction. “That’s not possible. She told you that?”

“Yeah.” His voice was weak. “She had bruises.”

“That can’t be…but why would she make that up?” Beth was more talking to herself now. She sighed, hands gripping the steering wheel, eyes focused. “I’m too tired for this.”

They pulled up in front of Beth's house and got out of the car.

“You are absolutely certain of this?” Beth said.

“Yes,” Cole said.

“You have to tell me the whole story. Everything. Don’t leave anything out.”

“But…She told me not to tell anyone.”

“Cole, look. If you want me to do something I need to have all the facts. It’s all or nothing. Besides, you already told me most of it already.”

“Okay.” Cole took a deep breath and recounted the entire story, trying to remember every word Amy had said. They took a seat in the living room as he talked.

When he was finished, Beth leaned back in her chair and folded her hands. “All right. I’m going to be frank about this. There’s only two things that can be done. The first is nothing. You can pretend you didn’t hear it and I’m sure she will be all right. However, if you think it’s bad enough, then
Child Services can investigate and if they find her parents unfit to take care of her they will take her away and put her in a foster home. Is that what you want? Is that what
she
wants? If you really want to help her, then you need to be straight with her too. Tell her what I just told you. Now, I’m going to bed and I suggest you do the same.”

She exited to her bedroom, leaving Cole dumbfounded and in a state of complete loss. He had not expected the possibilities to be so bleak. Was there really no good solution? Maybe she would be better off with foster parents. She couldn’t stay in that hellhole anymore, living like that. He would just have to talk to her.
No use thinking about it now. I need sleep.

He went to the library and, just before getting into bed, in a moment of paranoia and déjà vu, he took a peek outside the front window. And bolted.

There’s no way. It can’t be.
He flew out the front door at full speed, barely slowing to unlock it, and onto the porch, just in time to catch a glimpse of taillights heading down the block.
It couldn’t be. How did he find me here?
He stepped back inside, his head spinning, hoping Beth hadn’t heard him.

From the window he had seen a vaguely familiar car parked on the curb outside the house and, in the split second while he wondered whether that car had been there twenty minutes earlier when he had arrived, a small face appeared in the passenger side window and looked straight up at him. The face was difficult to distinguish in the darkness but Cole knew it had to be him, which was confirmed when the car fled the moment he went outside. Now the only question was,
Why? Who was this kid and what did he want from him?

After three traumatic incidents in one day, what little sleep Cole managed to get was filled with tossing and turning and terrifying images that woke him up in a cold sweat throughout the night. When morning came he felt as if he hadn’t a wink of sleep. So much had happened the night before that it felt like a Sunday and he was horrified to realize it was only Thursday.

With so many things on his plate, he hardly knew where to begin, but upon seeing Amy the next day at school he decided her situation was as good a place to start as any.

“Gooood morning to you,” Amy said as she sat down at the lunch table. “That was so much fun last night. We gotta finish that game soon. You’re really good for your first time. Must be beginner’s luck. I don’t know what that is but I heard my mom say it when I won at Rummy.” She grinned foolishly.

“Yeah, definitely. It was a lot of fun.” Cole shifted uneasily in his seat. “So…I’ve been thinking about what you said last night. I think there’s a way out.”

Amy’s eyes narrowed, the smile gone. She glanced back and forth to make sure no one was listening and then leaned in close to Cole. “I thought I told you to never mention that again. I was serious. I don’t wanna talk about it.”

Cole’s eyes dropped from her harsh gaze and his voice was very small. “I just want to help you.”

“You can’t help me so don’t try. I’ve been living like this forever and nothing is going to change. Do not mention it again.”

“’Kay.” Cole couldn’t lift his eyes from the table. The knot in his stomach was becoming more painful.

Amy lifted her tray and stood up. “I think I’m going to go sit with my other friends.” She turned and left without looking back. As soon as she sat with the group of kids at the end of the table she joined in the conversation and was laughing within seconds.

Cole watched her for a while but she never looked his way. He had lost his appetite; all he could do was stare at his food for the rest of lunch, fighting back the tight hand of depression that was trying to force tears out of him. He would not submit to the urge. The last thing he wanted was for anyone to see him sitting alone and crying. He would never live that down.

When the bell rang he dumped his lunch in the trash and trudged back to class, the consuming sadness within him refusing to relent. The only thought running through his mind was that he may have lost his only friend and just because he had tried to do the right thing. He had become so accustomed to having Amy around that he did not think he could handle the idea of being alone. In a way he wished he had never met her because before her he had never known loneliness. Now companionship was all that mattered; it was his life.
That’s exactly why I never associated with people. You can never trust anyone but yourself. Remember that.

In the hallway, he got an agreement to trip a passing student, and so, as inconspicuously as possible, he stuck his foot out a little farther than normal. A boy stumbled over it and turned around, yelling, “Watch where you're goin', freak!”

Great. Agreements like that are really boosting my popularity. Thanks a lot. Way to kick me when I'm down.

He did not see Amy after school and had to assume she was avoiding him. He climbed into the minivan with a grumpy Beth who did not seem to notice his silence.

About halfway home she sighed and shook her head. “Did you talk to your friend?”

“I don’t wanna talk about it,” Cole mumbled.

“I take it she doesn’t want you to do anything. Figured as much.” She let it go at that.

Cole spent the rest of the night in the library chair, an open book in his lap, forever on the same page. He stared at the words without comprehension, his eyes slowly closing. In the morning, the sound of Beth’s voice woke him with a start. The book had slid off his lap and was lying in a heap at his feet.

“Wake up,” Beth was saying. “You’re gonna be late for school. And you better start taking better care of my books or you won’t be allowed in here anymore. Now pick it up and let’s go.”

The day dragged along at an unbearable speed, his teachers' voices droning on in his head, every lesson indistinguishable from the last. Lunchtime finally arrived and Cole took his usual seat. Amy was nowhere to be seen but after a few minutes he saw her enter, in mid-conversation with a group from her class. She threw a glance in Cole’s direction, making his heart leap, but then she turned and led the group to another table, never looking back. Cole watched his only friend's back as she laughed and joked, until he could bear it no more. He dumped his lunch in the trash and stormed out of the cafeteria. He was just outside the doors when he heard a shout behind him.

“Hey, kid! You can’t leave!”

Cole broke into a run, pounding up the steps to the main floor of the school, while the sound of footsteps in pursuit echoed behind him. He burst through the staircase doors into the hallway with no clear goal in mind. All he knew was that he had to get out of the school. He couldn't stand being here anymore and he could care less about any consequences.

He ran down the hallway, ignoring the shouting behind him, blocking out everything except the door at the end. Focusing all his energy on that, he put more power into his legs. He was only a few yards from the exit when someone stepped directly in his path. Cole nearly crashed into the large security guard blocking his way as he stopped short and regained his balance. His eyes flitted around him for an escape route and he was about to bolt when a large hand clamped down on his shoulder.

“Don’t even think about it.”

All the fight was immediately drained out of him. His shoulders drooped as rational thought crept back into his brain and he comprehended the stupidity and hopelessness of his actions. He was led to the school office where they reprimanded him and then attempted to call his mother. When she didn’t answer they asked him where she was. He feigned ignorance, glad that no one had informed the school of his temporary change of residence. It at least gave him a chance to hide this debacle from his mother. He made a mental note to figure out a way to erase the message on the answering machine before his mother heard it.

They questioned him about what he was doing and why, but he kept his head low, saying nothing more than an apology. He dodged the questions by promising to never do it again. To his great relief, since he had never been in trouble before, they were lenient with him. He was warned to be good and was then sent back to class without having to give a straight answer.

The rest of the day, all he could think about was leaving. On a couple of occasions he saw a possible escape but did not think it was worth the risk. He could get through the rest of the day and then fake sickness indefinitely until he figured out a more long term plan. He had never faked sickness before but he figured it couldn’t be that tough.

At the sound of the final bell, he leapt out of his seat and ran out the door, but when he got outside, Beth was nowhere to be seen. He found a place by the corner of the building where he hoped no one could see him, and watched the street for her arrival. When she didn't appear after a few minutes, he sat on the ground beside a bush and played with some pebbles, wishing nothing more than to be invisible.