Chapter 10: It's In My Mind
Lying on the floor after tripping over something by the bathroom door, Speed looked up to realize that the bathroom door was now fully open. His insides began to ache and it wasn't from the fall he had taken. He remembered the pain the look alike had put him through and feared that there was much more to come. His heart pounded as he tried to brace himself for the pain that would be inflicted upon him. Widening his eyes, he thought he saw something move in the dark bathroom so he screamed, "Leave me alone!"
Within seconds there were hurried footsteps coming down the stairs.
"Speed!" Pops called and then flipped on the lights. Pops then saw his son on the floor looking very scared. "What the hell happened!"
"No! Stay there!" Speed yelled upset. "He's in the bathroom!"
Pops immediately headed towards the bathroom.
"No!" Speed screamed again but this time to Mom and Trixie. However, the two women didn't listen and were at his side in seconds. They began to help him up just as Pops flipped on the lights in the bathroom.
Just after Speed was on his feet, he saw the look alike in the bathroom just staring at him. "Stay away from me!" Speed screamed in a panic.
"Get a hold of yourself!" Pops demanded looking at Speed as if he was crazy. "It's you."
It took a few seconds for Speed to realize that it was indeed his reflection in the mirror. The pajamas should have given that away to him instantly but they hadn't. With his voice a bit shaky, Speed shook his head saying, "I...I...thought I was him."
Mom Racer put her arm around Speed's shoulders and said, "Come sit down, Honey. We have to make sure that you're okay."
"I'm not okay!" Speed expressed as he pulled away from his Mother. "I'm just waiting to be killed! He wants me dead and he's not going to quit till I am!"
Trixie backed away from Speed and moved towards the window to make sure that the house was secure. Sure enough the police car was still parked out front.
Seeing what Trixie was doing, Pops said, "Trixie. The police car is still out there. Right?"
Looking at Pops, Trixie shook her head yes.
Speed realized that Pops wanted him to know that no one could get into the house with the policeman right outside watching. Not saying anything, Speed let Mom Racer help him lay back down on the sofa.
Walking over to the sofa to stand in front of his son, Pops said, "Did you hurt yourself more?"
Speed noticed that his father sounded aggravated as if Speed was crazy to think that the look alike was in the house. "I'm okay," Speed said sounding worried. "But I'm telling you, he won't let me be for long."
"Speed!"Pops said with anger not liking how scared his son was acting. "No son of mine is going to show fear the way that you are right now!"
"Fear!" Speed screamd now becoming angry as he began to sit up against his Mom's will. "Someone literally attempted to beat me to death, and I know he wants to finish the job!" Letting out a nervous, fake laugh, he added, "Fear? I've got news for you, Pops. You see more than fear on my face. I'm terrified!"
The two women were speechless as father and son's screaming began to take over the room.
"You are not terrified!" Pops exclaimed not wanting to hear it. "You're too strong for that!"
"Strong!" Speed said furiously. "Being strong sure didn't help me when he hit me with that truck and then beat the crap out me!"
"He had caught you off guard. At least now you know he's out there," Pops said not wanting to hear anymore.
"That doesn't make it any easier!" Speed screamed back as he stood up. "It makes it worse in fact! I don't want to step a foot out of this house because I'm afraid of the pain he plans to put me through! You think I would have been in that race if I knew what was going to happen to me!"
Just as angry, Pops exclaimed, "You need to toughen up!"
"Toughen up!" Speed questioned clearly disturbed as he looked at Pops like he was crazy. "I swear. Now I truly know why Rex left home."
Not being able to take it anymore, Mom Racer moved between them and screamed, "Stop it! Now!"
Staring in disbelief at his middle child, Pops fell silent. Surprisingly in a calmer tone, he said, "I can't believe you just said that about Rex." He then let his wife lead him away and into the kitchen.
Speed stood there feeling his legs shaking after all of the screaming. Somehow he managed to turn to the window to see Trixie still standing by it - speechless.
"What!" Speed exclaimed upset as some of his anger poured onto her. "Do you think I'm weak too!"
Not moving and in a whisper, she said, "You know I don't."
Speed calmed himself after taking in the sincerity in her voice. It amazed him how much she believed in him. Slowly he began to move towards her regretting what he had said. "You didn't deserve that, Trixie. I'm really sorry," he said and then hugged her.
The sweet girl hugged him back to let him know that she understood why he was so upset.
Closing his eyes, he took in how comfortable he felt in her arms but when he opened his eyes; there just outside the window, the look alike was smiling and pointing a gun at them.
To keep Trixie from getting shot, Speed quickly pulled her down to the floor and moved over her.
Before Trixie could even wonder why she was suddenly on the floor, she felt all of Speed's weight on top of her - feeling his heart pounding since his chest was pressed against hers. Not saying anything, she watched as he ever so slowly lift his head to peek out of the window.
His blue eyes were just about to lift just past the windowsill till he felt a hand on his back. He almost jumped out of his skin till he realized it was only Spritle.
"Speed," Spritle said looking outside. "What are you trying to see out there? I don't see anything."
Quickly turning his head, Speed looked out through the window to see that the look alike wasn't there anymore.
"Speed," Spritle said wiping the sleep from his eyes. "Why are you on top of Trixie like that?"
Looking down at the female who was trapped beneath him, Speed saw that she had started to blush. Stuttering a bit, he said, "Uh...I...fell, Spritle."
"Right on top of Trixie?" Spritle asked as he began to laugh.
Trixie hoped that the young boy wouldn't say anything to Mom and Pops as Speed began to lift himself off of her. He was sure to hold his hand out to help her up next.
After she was up, she noticed Speed holding his side. "Are you okay?" she asked, concerned. Between his earlier fall and what had just happened, she was afraid that he could have really hurt himself.
He never answered her question because he was too busy looking out the window with that worried look on his face.
Trixie found herself looking out as well wondering what he was looking for.
Looking at Spritle, Speed finally said, "Pops is already mad. If he sees you out of bed, he's going to blow another gasket."
Taking the hint, Spritle quickly headed back upstairs.
"Speed," Trixie said again. "Did you hurt yourself?"
"I don't know how, but no," he answered looking through the window once again.
Glad that Speed was healing so well, Trixie knew that something was still very wrong.
"Trixie," he said pulling her away from the window. "I saw him outside pointing a gun at us."
"What?" she asked now knowing why Speed had pulled her down on the floor. "Are you sure?"
"Yes...I think," he said looking outside again to see someone in a blue shirt and white pants running down the street. Speed then closed his eyes, hoping that he was seeing things. When he opened his eyes again, no one was running down the street. "Maybe I didn't see him," Speed said looking towards the police car. He knew that the policeman would have seen the look alike if he had been by the window or running down the street.
"Speed. What is it?" Trixie asked seeing his confused expression.
Bringing his eyes to her face, he said, "I don't know what's real anymore."
Trixie pushed up on her toes and gave him a short, but nice kiss. "That was real," she said seriously.
Smiling at his used to be just-friend, Speed then pulled her into his arms and held her close. While holding her, he started to go over everything that had just happened in his head. He wondered if earlier that night he had woken up on his own and not from a noise. After all, it had been himself in the mirror that scared him. Maybe he had seen his reflection in the window too but that wouldn't explain the gun. He guessed he had just imagined it; like how he imagined the look alike running down the street.
"Speed," Trixie whispered into his ear.
He moved to look at her, leaving his arms around her.
Smiling caringly, she said, "I'll listen if you want to talk."
As if to laugh at himself, Speed smiled while slowly shaking his head as if to rid himself of his ridiculous thoughts. "You might think I'm nuts if I tell you what was going on in my head." Turning very serious, he looked into her eyes and added, "I don't want to scare you off."
"You can't," she said with a smile as she lifted her hand and ran it through his hair. "Speed. You know I'm still your friend too. Right? I mean you can still talk to me. Plus..." she said in a teasing tone. "You have always been so daring that I have been thinking that you are nuts for a long time now."
"Hey," he said really not insulted. "You were with me when I did all of those daring, crazy things."
"Well who insisted I'd be his navigator?" she said pretending to be insulted.
"Well I've ridden in the helicopter enough with you," he said lifting his eyebrows.
"At least in the helicopter I've never jumped out just after telling you to take over."
Speed smiled bigger remembering all the times he had told Trixie to take the wheel of the Mach 5 just before he jumped out because of some crazy adventure they were on. "I didn't think you minded. Plus, you were cute behind the wheel."
"Oh, really," she said smiling again. The last time he had given her a complement on her looks was back in high school when she had just stopped being a Tom Boy.
Now staring at each other they hadn't realized that Pops and Mom had come out of the kitchen.
Pops leaned to his wife keeping his eyes on Speed and Trixie as he said, "I can't believe you had me in the kitchen, telling me how much I was upsetting him. He looks more than fine now."
Mom knew Pops was right but said, "I'm just glad that Trixie can take his mind off the..." She was so tired of worrying about the look alike that she couldn't even say it.
"Oh, Speed's mind is on something else alright," Pops said watching as the two young people began to lean closer for a kiss.
"Stop acting like he only has one thing on his mind," Mom Racer said sounding aggravated with her husband. "He does care for Trixie."
Speed and Trixie's lips were just about to meet till they heard Pops.
"Excuse me," Pops said folding his arms.
Trixie quickly pulled away from Speed and moved a couple of feet away from him. Lately, Pops had a way of making her feel like she was a bad girl who was corrupting his son.
"Spritle is sleeping anyway," Pops only said as if giving up on a lecture. He then moved towards and then up the stairs; still quite upset over the screaming match he and his son had just minutes ago.
The young couple then gave each other a look, remembering that Spritle had caught them on the floor together. They knew Pops wouldn't have considered the position that Spritle had caught them in very nice.
"I should be getting to bed too," Trixie said and then she headed to the stairs.
"Okay, Honey," Mom Racer said nodding her head at Trixie as if she agreed.
Speed's blue eyes followed his girlfriend up the stairs while he imagined her going into his room, and getting into his bed. He smiled at the thought of maybe sneaking up there later to give her a good night kiss.
When Trixie was gone, Mom Racer walked over to her son and asked, "Are you sure that you are okay?"
"Yes," he said glad that the look alike hadn't been in the house. "I'm fine. I guess I caught myself pretty good during both the falls."
"You fell twice?" Mom asked not knowing about what Spritle had seen.
"I meant once," Speed said as he walked to the sofa to lie back down. The last few days he had been overly careful because of not wanting to increase his pain but now after experiencing both falls, he realized that he was doing a lot better than he had thought.
As Mom Racer turned to go upstairs, she saw something partly sticking out from under one of the coffee tables. Bending down and pulling it out, she saw that it was a bat. She tried to remember when Spritle had taken his bat out but couldn't so she just leaned it against the wall for Spritle to put away the next day. She hadn't known that it wasn't Spritle's bat but it had in fact been what Speed had tripped on, making him fall in front of the bathroom.
Twenty minutes later Speed fell asleep on the sofa not knowing that the look alike had in fact been in the house.
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What was the look alike going to do with that bat? Will Speed sneak upstairs to give Trixie a good night kiss?