Chapter 2 - "Mother & Child reunion"


"…And then the school secretary said she was screaming her fool head off on the floor! ….Don't you think I know that, Steve? …No, they're debating on keeping her here overnight for observation. …Probably a psych evaluation or something, none of the Doctors have even been out to see me yet. …Who do you think? A nurse told me that, but I'm not leaving until I see the ER doctor. …Well, for starters, you could bring her pj's….no, no, they're in her top drawer . …Second on the left, I think…"

My Mother was on her cell phone with my Stepfather, Steve. He wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he'd been there when Mom had nobody else. He wasn't my favorite person on the planet, as it seemed him and I were constantly vying against one another for my Mother's attention and affection. I may have won the occasional battle, but I knew I'd eventually lose the War to him…and Steve knew it too. Still, he was my Mother's "go-to" guy in times of crisis…only, it always stung just a bit, knowing that said crisis was usually "me."

"Sarah? I didn't realize you'd woken up. They said you were screaming when they brought you in so they gave you a sedative of some sort. The nurse said you might be feeling groggy and light-headed.," Mom said as she came into my semi-private room (thanks, fucking HMO, …but that's what you get when you work for the county, I suppose).

"What time is it? …And which hospital are we at?"

"Mooresville General and it's almost four…in the afternoon."

"Isn't this that hospital where they say some kid jumped off the roof two years ago?," I asked her a bit deliriously.

"You know, one of these days you'll have to explain to me how it is that you can recall that, yet you can't seem to pass a History exam."

"S'Easy! That, was interesting. Besides, Hope, said she knew him…," I trailed off sadly…(Hope had been the only friend I'd ever had, and she died last year in a car accident during the last ice storm.)

"I can't tell you how scared I was when I got the call from the school nurse. At first, that dippy secretary, Cathy, told me you'd had a seizure…I almost had one myself after that! So, what's wrong, is this another get-out-of-school-free attempt? I can't get a straight answer out of anyone here, so why don't you tell me. Just what the hell did you do or take before you went to school this morning?"

"So that's how it is, Mom? …Why bother explaining? …Nobody out there believes me, nobody in here believes me…but it's all true, everything I've already said! There was this blond girl sitting in the office this morning…and she sort of stabbed me, I guess. I know, I know, I don't have any proof, do I? Nope, the blood and the marks just vanished. Don't ask me to explain it, I can't! …So just forget it, let's both just go with 'I don't know,' okay? And I'm so very sorry that I've inconvenienced your life, yet again!," I blurted out after having caught sight of the doubt and shame on her face.

"…Yes, that's the same story those nurses told me you told them, but there isn't a scratch on you. Why can't you just tell me the truth? Did you know your Stepfather is rummaging around through your dresser at home as we speak? …So you best just come clean about whatever it is you took, because if you don't, you'll only make things worse on yourself when we find it. "

"Y-You really don't believe me, do you?," I said while my voice broke…I'd never touched a drug in my life, save those nasty orange baby aspirin.

"Well, frankly Sarah, over the years you've really told some real whoppers… Remember the time you told me you saw a pink flying saucer hovering over your Grandmother's goldfish pond?"

"Are you serious? That's your case-in-point? Mom, I was like eight frickin' years old when I told you that! I'm practically an adult now! Do you honestly think I'd lie about getting stabbed! I'm aware of how bad this looks, but I already told everyone what happened to me! I'm freaked out and I'm worried I'm losing my freaking mind, but I swear, THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED!"

"Shh," Mom motioned with her hands as she nervously pulled the door to my room closed, "Calm down and lower your voice. *sigh* …Fine, I believe YOU believe it, Sarah."

"And that's supposed to make me feel better? You sound as though you think I'm crazy too!"

"Look, you'll have to forgive my skepticism here, but it's been a long day and I'm exhausted. And I had to miss work because 'my kid is having some kind of emotional meltdown.' I'm worried about you, Sarah, and this is serious! You could wind up in rehab or worse! I overheard one of those damn nurses talking about calling in social services to talk with you. This is a small county, Sarah, and people talk."

"Oh good point, Mom! Screw that someone tried to kill your Daughter today, let's focus on the important things! You know, your precious reputation with the neighbors, not to mention the time away from work and the 'personal day' you've lost by coming to the hospital to make sure I'm ALIVE! FINE! WHATEVER! NEXT TIME JUST SEND YOUR BOY, STEVE!," I yelled at her.

"I-I'm going to go grab a coffee from the cafeteria before I say something we'll both really regret. …In the meantime, start thinking about telling me the truth!," she said as she grabbed her purse off of the hospital nightstand, inadvertently, slamming my door into the wall as she disappeared around the corner and out of my line of site.

"Whatever, Mom…just go then.," I whispered in reply to no one, though I could still hear her heels clacking as they echoed more and more faintly down the empty hallway.

I laid back down on the crappy adjustable hospital bed for ten minutes just staring out the window at the adjacent brick wall. This was the first moment I'd had to truly begin to contemplate all that had happened. Someone had tried to kill me today and no one even believed me… Maybe I had lost my sanity… Is this what losing your grip on reality felt like? …I just couldn't make myself believe I'd lost it. No. That blond psycho girl was definitely there, and someone had called me down to the office specifically for her to kill me. Was Mrs. Critermon in on it?

…And maybe I was thinking about this all wrong. I took a deep breath and decided to look at this from every conceivable angle and possibility. …I mean, was there and up side to being certifiable? How many days off from school did being labeled "bat shit crazy" yield anyway? ...One month? Two? Am I in the ballpark, anyone? …What can I say, I've always been a firm believer that every one of my mushroom clouds had a silver lining. (I simply think of myself as the quintessential "Pollyanna of the Morose"…and yes, it's a self-proclaimed title…what of it?)

Anyway, as I was seriously debating both sides of the sanity coin, an orderly came into my room and began changing the sheets of the other bed in my semi-private room. He coughed once and snagged my attention as he made eye contact with me, nodded once and gave me a non-committal version of a smile. My eyes wandered back to the one odd colored brick on the outside wall…it was like a brick version of "me." And I continued to wallow in self pity…until he coughed once more and looked straight at me.

"Everything ok over there?," he asked me with an unreadable expression.

"Uh…sure, guy," I told him as I warily checked the back-door of my gown to make sure all my bits were covered.

"...I must say, I'm quite relieved that she didn't actually hurt you," he said calmly with an unnatural gleam to his eyes, that (of course) I'd failed to notice.

"Nope, the nurse was pretty careful with that blood pressure thingy, but thanks for the concern…I guess.," I said with as much confidence as I could muster, laying in a paper-thin shroud. (For the record, I'm not at my best with the snappy come-backs while adorned in a too-short, mint green hospital gown. I mean, is anyone?)

"I wasn't referring to the nurse, Sorrow."

I'm sure my jaw must have dropped as I eyed the orderly. I really hadn't grasped his features that well when he first came into the room. But now? I was watching him like a hawk. I took note of his handsome, yet oddly angular features, his non-threatening posture, and ashy golden-brown hair complete with a set of intense blue/green eyes…and he couldn't have been older than 18. How had I missed all of this before, when he'd first entered the room?

"Stay like that and you're going to catch flies, you know.," he said with a smirk.

"Y-You have about three seconds before I scream 'rape.' Tell me who the hell YOU are, what the hell SHE was, and what either of you want with ME? …ONE, T-"

"-First off, threatening me is a moot point as I can vanish from human site just as easily as she did. If you want to have yourself placed that special locked unit on the 5th floor of this building, then by all means, scream away… Besides, you would only make Madeline's job that much easier, you know.," he said with a show of feigned dismay.

"Great, so you're not really here either?," I said with trepidation.

"Right now, yes, I'm entirely visible…but if you're going to do anything which would cause me trouble in the mortal world, I'll simply glamour myself to look like part of this wall."

"This is nuts…"

"Indeed. You're wasting precious time interrogating me, instead of asking the truly pertinent questions. I would advise you to think a bit more before you engage in speech."

"...You know, you're pretty pompous for a janitor! ...Fine, fine…Ok, let's say for the sake of argument, you're actually real and in my room. Fine. Who are you?"

"I'm Kabren, at your service, Milady.," he said as he bowed slightly.

"Kabren? …Interesting name. So, not that I'm doubting your credibility or anything, but exactly, how long have you been a custodian here at the hospital?," I asked him dubiously.

"Including today? …About 10 minutes. So, are you ready to leave here?," he asked with a genuine smile.

And before I could reply, he ran both of his palms over my blankets. Immediately, my hospital gown was replaced with a pair of old jeans and my favorite faded grey "Deftones" hoody. I looked down to find I was even wearing my beater Chuck Taylor sneakers, complete with mismatched laces and chewed gum stuck to one heel…or at least, I certainly looked like I was.

I could still feel the stiff itchy nylon strings of the flimsy hospital gown digging into my back between me and the plastic pillowcases I was leaning against. ...And the idea of just ditching Mom and all this drama was just so tempting. I mean, hadn't I fantasized about doing that very thing every time I argued with her? …Which was to say, everyday…still…there was that useless, yet nagging sense of guilt...

"My Mother is around here somewhere. I can't just leave her here without her knowing where I am, she'd freak! ...Besides, you're psycho blond cheerleader friend, got me into an awful lot of trouble. Everyone thinks I'm either crazy or strung out. …Ya know, ...in case you didn't get the memo," I finished rather lamely, wilting under his intense gaze.

"This is, of course, exactly what Madeline wanted everyone close to you to think. It only serves to make your eventual 'suicide' that much easier to believe when the time comes…"

"MY WHAT?"

"She came here to kill you, Sorrow…"

"Kill me? Sorrow? …This is CRAZY! And what's with you people? My name isn't Sorrow!"

"Your human name is Sarah Bakerman, is it not?," the handsome custodian asked me with a sharp look in his eyes.

"Yes but-"

"-Then there is no mistake. Part of your true name, the one that has been hidden from you until this time, is 'Sorrow.' You have a last name too, but you'd do well to keep it hidden from the Fae. 'To name a thing is to control it'…and she already has far more weapons at her disposal than you do at the moment."

"Wait, wait, wait. The Fae? As in fairies, like in storybooks? You can't be serious!…I-I think you need to back up at least forty sentences and start over again... And please explain anything even remotely related to the word "FAE," okay? …To be honest, this whole 'me being crazy' idea is beginning to sound a lot more convincing than you are right now.," I said sarcastically to him as I scratched my back for the bazillionth time...

"Many Fae belong to Courts, each with a sole ruler. In this part of the world, there are only two Courts left. Both you and Madeline belong to that which is known as the 'Seelie' Court. And you are obligated to know that your ruler is dying. But to his credit, your King was clever. He knew that to rule without an heir was foolish. For without one, the Fae of his Kingdom would fight to claim the throne till the last standing. You see, Sorrow, many monarchs have fallen to ruin this way..."

("...This is sooo the most bazaar dream I've ever had," I thought to myself)

"...The King has ensured his kingdoms legacy by keeping five possible heirs around, dispersed at various locations, during these last remaining years of his rule. ...The King of the Seelie Court Fae is over one thousand years old, so you can imagine how diluted some of the bloodlines may have become. It has been said over the years, bordering legend, that the purest of his bloodline shall inherit the Kingdom and rule for another thousand…and the stronger the ruler, the greater the Kingdom. ...It seems only fair to disclose that of the five candidates, Madeline is the most pure, where as, you 'dear Sorrow' are the least…""

"...This is alot to take in. So, ...um, just to recap, 'Madeline' is that blond girl who stabbed me this morning?"

"Yes and that was a rather cheap trick…just a simple glamour and, as you can see for yourself, you're completely fine.," he said while waving his hands impatiently at my stomach.

"You call this, me in a frickin' hospital bed, fine? Everyone thinks I'm delusional!"

"Were I you, I would feel grateful to be among the living."

"...And your story doesn't make any sense! If what you said is true, and my blood is the least pure of the five, than why is she even bothering with me? According to what you just said, that means I'm weak and no threat to her, right?"

"It's quite simple, Sorrow. You are all that remains between her and the crown. She has already killed the others..."


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