Chapter Two - The Deranged
"I'm very sorry, Mr Masen, but you'll have to come with me. This is going to get better"
Better? Ha. Like my life could get better. My life was an endless pit of pain and despair, and it always would be. I curled up on the chair and thought. My life hadn't always been like this. I used to be happy. A long time ago. A hand touched my arm and I shyed away.
"Mr Masen. Please. Don't make this difficult" I smiled to myself briefly. It made me happy that I was causing an inconvenience. It meant a small part of them understood.
"Edward" My head snapped up at the familiar voice. A tall, beautiful woman with bronze hair flowing down her back stood before me. She stared at me, sadness clear in her brown eyes.
"Mom?" I whispered, my brow furrowing.
"Edward. Your mother has been dead for 15 years now." I looked up at the doctor, agonised.
"She's right there! Can't you see her? She's there, she's right..." As I lifted my finger to point, she disappeared.
"Mom! Come back, please, come back!" I dissolved into sobs, curling up on the park bench that had become my refuge. A cool hand was gently placed on my shoulder.
"Edward. You need to go back to the hospital. You aren't well. Come with me"
I didn't want to go back to that place. I never wanted to go back to that place.
"It's full of lunatics! I'm not crazy! I'm not!" And then I ran.
I flew out of the building and tore through the streets of Brooklyn. My feet pounded against the floor until I couldn't feel them but still I ran. My feet splashed through puddles created by the rain I had only just noticed. I glanced round quickly. No-one was following me and if they were they were very far behind. I slowed to a brisk walk and looked around. I was in a fancy part of New York, I could tell that much. Designer labels were everywhere and the scent of lobster and steak assaulted my nostrils. I must've been near my childhood home. Oh, how I missed that place. I was brought out of my thoughts by my shoulder thrashing into another person. I glanced down and saw a beautiful woman, worry and annoyance written all over her face. Her expression reminded me of my father. Her eyes were an amazing shade of brown and her skin was like porcelain. Like my mother's. Sighing sadly, I opened my mouth to apologise but she had already bundled into a taxi. I continued my journey.
"Money for the hungry!" a weak voice cried out. I tossed him my wallet without even looking at him.
"Thank you sir! Thank you very much! Money for the hungry!" Poor man. Having to beg on the streets to total strangers.
"Wow, my lucky day." I heard him mumble. I glanced back and saw an enormous man handing the same man his jacket. I was suddenly pushed into an alley by a couple in a heated argument. The girl was tiny and hunched down, obviously fearing the man she was fighting. I took a ragged breath in and smelt rotten fish. And blood. I turned to the scent and was shoved into a wall.
"Who the fuck are you?" A gruff voice asked me. I kept my mouth shut. My head was banged against the wall.
"Answer me" The voice commanded. Still, I was quiet.
"Oh, a brave one. You think you're tough, eh pretty boy?" I was silent.
"You know, I'm not a person you wanna mess with. I could snap your neck easy as a toothpick. And I wouldn't be afraid to do it either. That what you want boy?" A thought struck me. That was what I wanted. I wanted to die. More than anything else I wanted to die.
"Yes" My throat was dry and the word came out as a whisper. The man pulled me back and hit my against the wall again.
"What?" I swallowed.
"That's what I want. Please. Kill me." He laughed once, a harsh sound.
"Can't do it now you've asked. Where's the fun in that? You really wanna die?" The tone of his voice changed. It was suddenly more an amused curiosity.
"It's what I want. I want to die" Confidence seeped into my voice. The thug's eyebrows raised. He reached into his back pocket.
"Close your eyes and give me your hand." I did as I was told. Cool metal was pressed into my hand.
"Good luck" I heard a ghostly chuckle and opened my eyes. A knife was in my hand. I looked around and saw I was completely alone. I took a deep breath and thought of my mother, my father.
"See you soon" I whispered and plunged the knife into my heart.
I felt my body hit the cold, wet concrete. I saw a million things from my life in a second that seemed to stretch on forever. My mother, handing me a stuffed toy. My father, his brow creasing as he read. My first piano. A puppy with floppy ears, licking my face. My mother laughing as she danced with my father by the fire. Fire. Fire. Burning flames exploding out like harsh crimson tongues. They clouded my vision and burnt through my body. My eyes flickered open and I was in a white room.
"Hey..." I heard someone behind me sobbing. My body twisted round out of involuntary curiosity. And I saw them.
"What the..."
Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of the characters. I own eye drops though, due to my contraction of conjunctivitis. Boo.
