Summary: Noah Percy has misbehaved again. Three guesses as to where he's going to be taken.
Disclaimer: Characters belong to M. Night Shymalan. Noah Percy's past and 'Them' belong to me.
Do not read unless you've watched "The Village." There are actually no spoilers, but I'm certain that none of it would really make any sense.
Rated for disturbing content.
Quiet
"Can you even add?"
"His father says he can count to eleven, is all."
"How old is he?"
"I don't know. Ask him."
"Do you reckon he even knows?"
"Probably not."
"Stupid! Yes, you, Noah. How old are you?"
"He's not saying anything."
"I told you he doesn't know!"
"Oh-"
"Joshua, are you all right?"
"Lucy, get Ivy! He's got another one!"
"But-"
"LUCY. I'M BLEEDING. GET IVY NOW."
/After/
"Ivy! Ivy, you've got to come quick! Noah's being bad!"
"Lucy, the last time you said that, he was playing alone and doing no harm to anyone. Why do you wish for him to get into trouble?"
"I wasn't lying then and I'm not lying now! Come, Ivy. He's just thrown a rock straight at Joshua's face and he will not stop!"
"Are you certain?"
"I'm not lying."
/A Few Moments Later/
Ivy Walker knew that Lucy and many of the other children loved to get Noah Percy into trouble. They did not understand him, so they wanted to see him suffer. But Lucy Thomas was not lying today.
(Joshua Parks had a gash to prove it.)
"Tell me why you did it."
"I didn't!" Noah smiled and tugged on his sleeves.
Ivy held her hand before his face and felt his cheeks, then the corners of his mouth. "I do not think that this is funny, Noah Robert Percy. I want you to tell me exactly what you did and why you did it."
They were standing in front of The Quiet Room. Noah's father and Ivy's father together had thought it up. It was a small white shack with one room and polished wooden floors. It gleamed brightly and seemed to whisper and had four handsome padlocks fastened to the thick door. This was where Noah was placed when he could not behave. They believed that it calmed him down. And when he was calm, he was allowed to be social again.
"I didn't mean to."
"First you say you did not do it. Now you say you did not mean to do it. I think you did mean to do it and I want to hear you say so."
"I won't go in there no matter what."
Ivy sighed in exasperation. "Please, please just tell me the truth! Then you can plead and beg once I've heard you admit it."
Noah sighed back, subconciously copying her. He put his head down. "I did do it."
"Did do what?"
"I hurt someone with a rock. Let's go play now!"
"Not so fast!" she exclaimed, grabbing his arm and trying to conceal a smile. "I want to know why you struck Joshua with a rock."
He shrugged and paced, then returned to her side. "They said mean words," he said quietly.
"What do you expect from them? They aren't very considerate and they certainly aren't people we need to pay attention to, so why on earth would you hit him with a rock?"
"I won't go in there," he repeated.
"I don't want you to go in there. It makes me lonely and it makes me sad. But if you cannot learn to control your actions then that will leave the others no choice! Just because you get angry does not mean that you can throw rocks!"
"I know. I know."
"I don't throw rocks at people when they say things I do not like."
Noah grinned and laughed.
"See?" Ivy inquired softly. "It's quite an absurd thing to do."
"Noah," came a voice from behind them. They both turned.
It was Mr. Walker, Ivy's father. He was wearing a very stern look and Noah held Ivy's arm.
"I hear you have acted out again. It seems there is no option but the Quiet Room."
Noah's dark eyes widened. He began to wail. Walker ignored him, slipping past the two of them and beginning to unlock the hasps.
"We were just discussing the incident, Father. Do not lock him in! He knows what he's done and-"
"Ivy, he is not smart enough to know what he has done. That is why we must show him that it was wrong. He cannot be told in words.It is unfair to treat him as though he is a normal person. It is unfair to him."
"Father-"
Click.
Noah pulled Mr. Walker back, but Ivy grabbed Noah to stop him. "Father, don't! It's not- not humane!"
"Oh, and when he acts like an animal, it is? We must teach him punishment. We must give him some sort of structure."
Click.
"He's not an animal- and he does not act as one! I don't see the point of constantly locking him away!"
Noah screamed and shook, not hearing anything.
"You say this so often, yet I stand firm."
Click.
"I won't go in. I won't go in."
"Father, let me watch over him! Just let him stay outside! Joshua was being cruel to him. Not that he deserved it, but Noah was provoked-"
"This is not a bargain. This is his punishment."
Click.
"Come now, Noah- Noah-"
Noah was struggling to get away, but after a fast shove, he had entered the Quiet Room. Walker locked all of the padlocks quickly, as rueful sobs echoed from inside.
Ivy watched Noah's colour fade into black and watched her father's slowly grow smaller. She bit her lip and sunk to the steps, placing her head upon her knees and silently listening to her dear friend cry for what seemed like an eternity.
/Inside/
Tears ran down Noah's narrow face. He screwed his eyes shut, afraid to face the gaunt atmosphere of the room. He fell on all fours and curled into a little ball, whimpering softly. He wanted to fall asleep but that would be too much to ask for. He never slept in the Quiet Room. Because even when he did drift off, he was still awake. The nightmares continued.
It would not be too long before they started up again.
Noah waited, shuddering on the floor.There was a small window on one wall of the Quiet Room, where a thin patch of light shone through and cast an errie brightness upon the very gloomy ceiling. Noah tried not to breathe, his messy locks falling into his face as he twisted onto his side.He jumped.
There it was.
A sound that was somewhere between a croaking whisper and a wail.
Please leave me alone. I- I'll be better next time.
Everyone always wanted to punish him.
"You deserve it."
A voice like nails upon the school chalkboard.
He wrapped his thin arms around his body and slowly began to rock himself.
I know.
Noah swallowed and told himself to keep his eyes closed. His entire body shook violently as the sound became louder and louder and LOUDER. An angry buzzing, a furious screech in his ears. Noah slammed himself against the floor again and again, trying to drown out the awful noise.
He wept, his body numb and he slid himself into a corner, finally opening his eyes and watching his emerald rocking chair swing back and forth, creaking. The walls were covered in the bad colour, dripping down from the ceiling and he smiled. They smiled right back. He watched the red flowing across the floor and he liked how it looked. But he hated the way They looked. (He always ended up watching Them, though.)
He was so frightened that he was fascinated. He scratched madly at a place on his arm, still staring, his sobs slowly silencing. They scratched the walls in the very same motion and the bad colour ran down again and again.
/Later/
Ivy did not wish to listen to Noah's wails and she could bear thinking about him suffering no longer. She approached Mr. Percy, which was a common occurance.
Mr. Percy was Noah's father, a rotund man with a strict way about him. He saw nothing wrong with locking his son inside a tiny prison. Ivy and Noah both agreed upon the subject of Mr. Percy. They were not really fond of him, though Noah had only uttered this once into Ivy's ear one summer night with a hot teary face. And Ivy had only agreed once, with a smooth embrace and a place to escape to for the night. Only once.
"Please, Mr. Percy," Ivy began. "Noah has been in the room for nearly two hours now. Do let him out."
Robert Percy put down his gardening hoe and looked perturbed. "The boy does not deserve it," was his short answer, and he squatted down to tend to the weeds. Ivy resisted the urge to say that Noah was not a boy. It was a wise decision.
"He's in there crying, Mr. Percy. I really think there is something the mat-"
"He wants attention. You give into him much too easily, Ivy. You're an intelligent, pretty thing. Why do you insist upon wasting your time with Noah?"
Again, Ivy refrained from saying something that might be considered impolite, and instead said," Thank you for the compliments, but your son is my dearest friend!"
"Exactly my point. You are fourteen-"
"Sixteen, Mr. Percy."
"-Sixteen, then. And you should be with young ladies your own age, doing- er- normal young lady activities. Not racing around with a-" He trailed off, then grunted and reached for his hoe. "He's not right in the mind. You should not be- encouraging him."
Ivy pursed her lips. "Just let me see him, Mr. Percy?"
"If it gets you out of my hair, then yes!"
So, Mr. Percy finally gave in and let Ivy inside the Quiet Room.
The bad colour faded away. The walls were clean again. They disappeared.
"Here are the keys. When you are through- doing what you do- lock him back up. I want him to spent the night in here."
"Thank you, Mr. Percy."
Ivy walked up the steps and saw a faint, shuddering light in the back of the room where Noah was sitting, gaping at his chair in silence.
"I'm sorry," she said, after Mr. Percy had left.
Noah shivered and looked up, a smile breaking out upon his thin face. He stood up and took her hand, leading her to his place in the back where they both always sat.
Ivy patted his shoulder.
"How was it today?"
"Not so good. I cried quarts."
"I know. I heard you. You nearly made me cry, listening."
"I'm sorry!"
She laughed. "Don't say you're sorry. Was it as bad as last time?"
"No."
"That's the important thing, isn't it?"
Silence.
Noah stared at the floorboards and contemplated telling Ivy what he had seen today. She sometimes asked- he seldom told. She knew that things went on when he was alone. And that last time he'd been locked up for four days because he'd run away and spent time in the Woods.
Ivy pulled his hand into hers, as he resisted.
"Stop- I'm simply checking, Noah." She ran her finger up his arm, and bit her lip when she hit a warm, wet spot. Blood coated her finger. "Noah," she said warningly. "Why did you hurt yourself again?"
"Bad colour," he whispered. He took her hand and wiped the bloodstain onto his sleeve, where it faded into navy blue. He pushed himself against the wall and would not answer.
"You know I must tell about this. It's for your safety." She started to get up.
"NO! I didn't do it!" He pulled her back down. "Don't leave. Please don't leave." There was panic in his voice.
"You shouldn't have done it- let me go, please. I'll return."
"I didn't mean to. Just- no more alone."
She waited.
He drummed his knuckles on the floor. "I want to tell you what happened."
"I'll listen, but you must know that I'll have to show the others."
Noah shut his eyes briefly and then opened them again. "One of Them always sits there." He pointed to his rocking chair.
Ivy did not question who 'They' were, as Noah had mentioned 'Them' before. "Really? That is your chair. That isn't very thoughtful."
"No. They always move it. Back and forth. Make a lot of noise. It hurts my ears."
"Why can I not hear Them?"
Noah stood up quickly and hit the wall. "It's true!" he screamed. He slammed his body against the wall. He ran to the rocking chair and picked it up, hurling it against the door. He slammed the shutters, he kicked the floor and kept bellowing "It's TRUE! TRUE! It's true!"
Ivy waited for the yelling to subside and when it did, she struggled to her feet. Noah paused, shaking aggressively. Ivy followed the bold colour and ran her hands over his chest to find his face. When she found it, she held her hands over his cheeks and said softly," I believe you."
And she did. She knew he saw things- things he could not explain and things that horrified him and haunted him. She knew that there was more to Noah Percy's disorder than simply "not right in the head" and "stupid." She knew he was more than what everyone else saw.
She stroked his messy dark hair with kind and gentle fingers and kept it up until his breathing returned to normal.
Noah's eyes lost their prior wildness. They attained their normal, loving gleam.
"Th- thank you, Ivy."
He rubbed his nose on hers and kissed her lips softly.
The two of them stood in silence, breathing quickly and hotly upon each others' faces. Then, they burst out laughing. Ivy threw open the door, letting in the sunlight, and they ran- for joy, for love, to meet the sunset- and ignored the bewildered shouts that were Mr. Percy's. And when they had gotten far enough away, the yells had softened and melted. It was finally quiet.
-end-