Chapter 4 – The Hamartia
Phil's POV
It was now the following Tuesday and I hadn't seen Dan since the 'kissing incident' and my nerves were beginning to set in. The probability of me overreacting like I did to most things was high. 'For goodness sake Phil, he's probably just ill, that is normal' I repeated in my head, but for some unknown reason I couldn't get myself to believe it. Hundreds of fatal thoughts were constantly nagging me at the back of my head; 'It's my fault he's away' 'It's the kiss, I shouldn't have let my affection flow' 'what have I done?!' I tried my best to conceal what I'd done from everybody; I'd never been good with attention, but just like always my mum always knew when something was bugging me.
"Right, that's it young man, you've been moping around the house way more than usual, whatever is the matter? I thought you were eternally happy last Thursday when this famous Dan had said your drawing was cool and paired with you in music." That was the only thing I'd told her about Thursday.
"It's Dan. He hasn't been in school since Thursday and I can't help but think it's because of me." Saying it out loud sounded so imprudent but I still had the strong feeling that I was to blame.
"Oh Phil." My mum started with a sigh. "Of course it isn't your fault," Her aged hand met my rigid back and soothed my muscles," Some people get ill or tired; it can happen at any time to anybody. If it was your fault he probably wouldn't have even talked to you in the first place." In the end, I agreed to my mum's wisdom and slumped upstairs to my room. Usually my room would make me feel better, and homely, but today it just made me feel anxious and scared and I didn't know why.
My heart was beating out of my chest at what I was about to do. It was now the following day and my troubled feeling still hadn't gone away. So I was sat in an abandoned IT room contemplated whether I should go through all this trouble just to find out where Dan lives. Many would call me a stalker if they knew what my intention was, I partly did myself, but I also knew that I had to do this if I ever wanted to quench my thirst for knowing this answer.
Being the weird kid may have had disadvantages but also had perks. From all my time alone, I'd gotten smart. I didn't mean to brag but it was true, so now my computer hacking was at at least an expert level. Just as I predicted, the schools security was poor and only took a minute to get through before I had every ones files in front of me. I tapped Dan Howell into the search bar and immediately his handsome picture flashed on the screen. Instantly I knew something was wrong, the obvious information like his address, home phone and name came up but then additional information read 'Classified'. That never happened. Our school was too down low for anyone of importance to study here, so why the classified information? I decided to leave it knowing I already had what I'd come for and I wasn't sure how much of a good plan mine was anymore.
After school I took a little detour on my way home. I followed the GPS on my phone to Dan's address but I couldn't believe my eyes. The place was like a mansion. It WAS a mansion. Why did he come to our cheap state school when he could go to a respected private one? Brushing aside my thoughts, I knew I still had the main bit of my task to do; find Dan's bedroom. From looking around the perimeter of this house I was slightly disorientated as the realisation of how big it actually is dawned on me. I figured that Dan's bedroom was on one of the upstairs floor, but I just had to figure out which one, which was easier, said than done. My worry was starting to kick in, I had to get home, if my mum found out, I'd be busted for sure. Then I saw what I needed. Through one of the bedroom windows I saw a massive Muse poster. 'That's definitely the one' I thought as a small smile spread across my face, I just hope it's still there tonight.
I barely ate any dinner, needless to say mum fussed over me profusely but I didn't mind. I knew what I had to do tonight, but was it the right thing? I couldn't be certain until I'd actually done it but that didn't lessen the tension. At around 10:30pm my mum had retired to bed and I could hear her light snores from the bedroom. I did worry for her sometimes, she does so many hours for such little pay, and there was a time and a place to worry for my mum, this was neither. The brittle tarmac was beneath my feet before I knew it, breaking into a run before my brain could tell me otherwise. This was it, I was finally going to see what I'd been waiting for the past week (and if I'm being honest, I would be rather disappointed if he was just lying ill in bed, but something tells me that a pupil with a classified folder had a more interesting story to tell).
Being athletic had never been my speciality. Thankfully there was a balcony positioned outside Dan's bedroom window, but unfortunately I had to scale a pipe and some ivy to get there. Sure as heck this wasn't going to be plain sailing, but I was determined not to give up now. I hoist myself up off the ground, shaky at first but then finding my balance. The house was quiet, and eerie kinda quiet. Nevertheless, as I progressed up the building, I began to hear some kind of whimper, one that a hurt animal might make. That wasn't the sound I was hoping for that's for sure, all it did was send me into panic overload, and that is not good news when you're hallway up a mansion wall. Eventually I was able to straddle the fence surrounding the balcony. The sight I saw before me made me somewhat wish I had just stayed in a nice, cosy bed, but if I had, I couldn't imagine how long this torture would've gone on for. Straight ahead of me lay a steel table, and on that table lay Dan, in nothing but boxers, fastened there with metal clasps, ones that could be used on a bear trap! And worst of all, fresh, scarlet blood seemed to drip out of his whole body, bruises and scars covered him, and I already knew from the pained yet terrified look stricken across his face, that this was all my fault.