From Tadpole to Toad
By Todd Fan
Disclaimer: "Who has DYNAMITE?" "Welcome to MY world"
**
Thanks to all my reviewers, as you've probably guessed by now, this is going to be one of my darker fics.
**
Chapter 2 - Abandonment
**
I must have stayed with my mother for hours on end, half-asleep, snuggled close to her. I only came fully awake when I heard the door open. A deep twinge of fear ran through my veins, tensing up, just in case it was HIM again. I needn't have been worried, my grandmother bustled in a moment later. Rosetta Tolensky has always been a big, bustling woman. Always ready to dispense advice, but always being sure to give plenty of love with it. I moved my head up to look at her, my eyes still stained with dry tear lines, still hugging close to my mother.
"She didn't get up", I said simply.
"Oh il mio Dio", said Nonna, walking fowards [1]
I watched as she put two fingers to my mother's throat. She waited in deathly silent for what seemed like an eternity, before giving a grave nod, holding out her hand to me.
"Come here, Nipote" [2], she said softly, "come sit with Nonna in the kitchen".
"But..I wanna sit with Momma", I said, not wanting to let her go.
"Your Mother...she needs to be alone", said my Grandmother, picking me up and carrying me into the kitchen, "you come tell Nonna what happened".
I sighed as she sat down on a chair, putting me on her knee.
"What happened, Mortimer?", she said, then frowned, "was your father here?"
"Uh huh", I replied, burrying my head into her shoulder, "he hit her...he..he said he was gonna take me to an orphanage".
Nonna frowned, giving me a gentle hug, then putting me on a chair.
"Nonna just has to make a phone call", she said, heading into the hall.
I sighed sadly, waiting. I waited until I heard the sound of ambulance silence a few minutes later.
**
A few hours later, I was standing by my mothers hospital bed.....she looked so small. The doctors had told me she had gone to sleep, and wouldn't wake up ever again. They thought I was just some dumb kid, but I wasn't, I knew she was dead. Nonna sighed, putting a gentle hand on my shoulder. She was about to speak when the door flung open and my father walked in. He glanced at my mothers body and gasped.
"No!", he said, letting tears fall down his cheeks.
He put on a pretty good act. He convinced the hospital staff, but me, I knew he didn't truely care. After he'd done with his crocodile tears, my grandmother cleared her throat.
"Daniel, I think it would be a good idea if Mortimer comes with me, don't you?", she said, "he's more than welcome back home, and he can stay for as long as he..."
"He's coming home with me", cut in my father.
"...But..", started Nonna.
"I've just lost my wife, Rosetta, I'm not about to lose my only son too!", my father growled.
Nonna frowned, hugging me protectively close.
"You don't love him, just like you didn't love my daughter", she said, "you put on an act, but you don't care. I know what you did, Daniel, even if the police don't believe it is so".
"You watch your mouth, Old Woman", threatened Dad, tugging me away from her grasp, "you can't rely on a three year old's imagination for evidence in court. And besides, you WERE the first on the scene".
"Are you SUGGESTING I would kill my own daughter?", said Nonna, her eyes wide, before frowning, "oh, I see, blackmail. Something I would expect from a dirty scab like you".
"Quite", said Dad with a smirk, "leading me away, come, Mortimer".
I pulled back fearfully.
"I wanna stay with Nonna", I said, in the bravest voice I could muster.
"No, you are coming home with me", said Dad in a voice of deathly calm, dragging me out of the room.
I sighed sadly as my Nonna's face vanished from my sight, little did I know I would not see it again for another thirteen years.
**
As my fathers limo drove thorugh New York, I stared out of the window sadly. I watched buildings go by, before shifting my eyes to watch my father, staring grimly out of the window himself.
"Stop!", he said suddenly, the driver stopping the limo insatntly, "this is the place".
This is where my memory got hazy..clouded by lies and deception. But now I know the truth, I can tell you both how it was, and how I believed it was. Up until a few years back, I remember my father taking me to a Brooklyn orphanage. Putting me on the steps an' tellin' me he'd made a clean sweep. On that Thanksgiving day, I thought I'd stood in the cold, shiverin' fer hours until a staff member found me, and brought me into the orphanage I would stay in until I was thirteen. As terrible as my 'memories' of that place are...the truth is far, far worse...
**
"Pappa, where are we?".
I glanced up at the big, old mansion. Yup, this said on it's doors it was an orphanage, little did I know that it was a facade for something much more sinister. The place was just outside of the city, and bearly recognisable from any other orphanage in the world.
"Your new home", rpelied my father, walking up the steps and knocking at the door.
I furrowed my brow in confusion.
"My new home?", I asked, "what's wrong with the one we got now?".
"Nothing", replied my father, then gave a grim nod as an attendant answered the door, "Daniel Toynbee. I believe I have an appointment"
"Ahh, yes, come right in, Mr Toynbee", said the assiatnt, letting me and my father into the dusty old house.
The place sure looked like any other orphanage...except...there were no children, not a one...this was very strange. We were led into an office where an plump man sat behind a desk. He smiled at me with kindly eyes.
"Hello, Mr Toynbee", he said, "ahh I see you brought you Mortimer".
He held out a hand to me.
"Pleased to meet you at last, young man"
"..T...thank you", I said shyly, taking his hand.
He glanced at my webbed fingers as I did so and gave a nod.
"Is everything prepared?", asked my father, "the deal we decided on? I'll keep financing this place, PROVIDED you find a...cure for him"
"Don't worry, Mr Toynbee", the man said, "you can rest at ease, our tests are providing us with valuable information for our goal of finding a way of disabling the mutant gene".
"Good", said my father, then looked at me, "this will be your home from now on. Behave for these people, eventually they may make you into something I would be proud to call my son"
Without a word of goodbye, my father gave a nod at the man, then turned, leaving the room.
"Pappa?...I don't wanna live here!", I called fruitlessly, "Please come back! Don't leave me here!!!"
I sighed, watching through the window as my fathers limo headed off into the night. The man's hands rested on my shoulder.
"Come on, Mortimer, I'll show you to your.....room"
He gently led me through the building, pausing at an old door, pressing in a few numbers in an eletronic lock, the doors opened with a wuussshh sound...and I stepped into a completely different world. The smell of disinfectant burned my nose, as I looked around the all white hallways. I could hear the sounds of screaming from small rooms, each only having a single window in them. As I passed one, I noticed a girl my own age wih green skin. She was holding her hands over her head, screaming and rocking. I watched in awe as her skin changed colour, matching that of the wall. I was pushed gently forwards by the man. I was suddenly very, very frightened. I pushed back on the man, hoping to be able to get past him. No such luck, a young man in his twenties came up, taking a good hold of my arm.
"Be a little gentle, Nigel, he's only a child", said the man.
"Sure Doc", said 'Nigel', "they all are".
I gave a frightened whimper, unable to find a voice as a door opened, and I found myself pushed into one of the white rooms. There was nothing in it, only a bed with labaratory clean white sheets.
"This is your room, Mortimer", said the man with a smile.
"I...I don't wanna", I said, backing away, only to be shoved forwards by Nigel.
"Too bad, Kid", he said with a laugh, slamming the door, the sound of electronic locks working in it, "you better get used to it, you'll be here for a long time".
His face passed the small window to my room, showing a sneering grin.
"Welcome to the Black Womb"
**
[1] - Oh il mio Dio - Itallian for 'Oh my God', Nonna is Itallian for Grandmother.
[2] - Nipote - Itallian for Grandchild
Well, there's another chapter done and dusted. Do review. Until next time..
By Todd Fan
Disclaimer: "Who has DYNAMITE?" "Welcome to MY world"
**
Thanks to all my reviewers, as you've probably guessed by now, this is going to be one of my darker fics.
**
Chapter 2 - Abandonment
**
I must have stayed with my mother for hours on end, half-asleep, snuggled close to her. I only came fully awake when I heard the door open. A deep twinge of fear ran through my veins, tensing up, just in case it was HIM again. I needn't have been worried, my grandmother bustled in a moment later. Rosetta Tolensky has always been a big, bustling woman. Always ready to dispense advice, but always being sure to give plenty of love with it. I moved my head up to look at her, my eyes still stained with dry tear lines, still hugging close to my mother.
"She didn't get up", I said simply.
"Oh il mio Dio", said Nonna, walking fowards [1]
I watched as she put two fingers to my mother's throat. She waited in deathly silent for what seemed like an eternity, before giving a grave nod, holding out her hand to me.
"Come here, Nipote" [2], she said softly, "come sit with Nonna in the kitchen".
"But..I wanna sit with Momma", I said, not wanting to let her go.
"Your Mother...she needs to be alone", said my Grandmother, picking me up and carrying me into the kitchen, "you come tell Nonna what happened".
I sighed as she sat down on a chair, putting me on her knee.
"What happened, Mortimer?", she said, then frowned, "was your father here?"
"Uh huh", I replied, burrying my head into her shoulder, "he hit her...he..he said he was gonna take me to an orphanage".
Nonna frowned, giving me a gentle hug, then putting me on a chair.
"Nonna just has to make a phone call", she said, heading into the hall.
I sighed sadly, waiting. I waited until I heard the sound of ambulance silence a few minutes later.
**
A few hours later, I was standing by my mothers hospital bed.....she looked so small. The doctors had told me she had gone to sleep, and wouldn't wake up ever again. They thought I was just some dumb kid, but I wasn't, I knew she was dead. Nonna sighed, putting a gentle hand on my shoulder. She was about to speak when the door flung open and my father walked in. He glanced at my mothers body and gasped.
"No!", he said, letting tears fall down his cheeks.
He put on a pretty good act. He convinced the hospital staff, but me, I knew he didn't truely care. After he'd done with his crocodile tears, my grandmother cleared her throat.
"Daniel, I think it would be a good idea if Mortimer comes with me, don't you?", she said, "he's more than welcome back home, and he can stay for as long as he..."
"He's coming home with me", cut in my father.
"...But..", started Nonna.
"I've just lost my wife, Rosetta, I'm not about to lose my only son too!", my father growled.
Nonna frowned, hugging me protectively close.
"You don't love him, just like you didn't love my daughter", she said, "you put on an act, but you don't care. I know what you did, Daniel, even if the police don't believe it is so".
"You watch your mouth, Old Woman", threatened Dad, tugging me away from her grasp, "you can't rely on a three year old's imagination for evidence in court. And besides, you WERE the first on the scene".
"Are you SUGGESTING I would kill my own daughter?", said Nonna, her eyes wide, before frowning, "oh, I see, blackmail. Something I would expect from a dirty scab like you".
"Quite", said Dad with a smirk, "leading me away, come, Mortimer".
I pulled back fearfully.
"I wanna stay with Nonna", I said, in the bravest voice I could muster.
"No, you are coming home with me", said Dad in a voice of deathly calm, dragging me out of the room.
I sighed sadly as my Nonna's face vanished from my sight, little did I know I would not see it again for another thirteen years.
**
As my fathers limo drove thorugh New York, I stared out of the window sadly. I watched buildings go by, before shifting my eyes to watch my father, staring grimly out of the window himself.
"Stop!", he said suddenly, the driver stopping the limo insatntly, "this is the place".
This is where my memory got hazy..clouded by lies and deception. But now I know the truth, I can tell you both how it was, and how I believed it was. Up until a few years back, I remember my father taking me to a Brooklyn orphanage. Putting me on the steps an' tellin' me he'd made a clean sweep. On that Thanksgiving day, I thought I'd stood in the cold, shiverin' fer hours until a staff member found me, and brought me into the orphanage I would stay in until I was thirteen. As terrible as my 'memories' of that place are...the truth is far, far worse...
**
"Pappa, where are we?".
I glanced up at the big, old mansion. Yup, this said on it's doors it was an orphanage, little did I know that it was a facade for something much more sinister. The place was just outside of the city, and bearly recognisable from any other orphanage in the world.
"Your new home", rpelied my father, walking up the steps and knocking at the door.
I furrowed my brow in confusion.
"My new home?", I asked, "what's wrong with the one we got now?".
"Nothing", replied my father, then gave a grim nod as an attendant answered the door, "Daniel Toynbee. I believe I have an appointment"
"Ahh, yes, come right in, Mr Toynbee", said the assiatnt, letting me and my father into the dusty old house.
The place sure looked like any other orphanage...except...there were no children, not a one...this was very strange. We were led into an office where an plump man sat behind a desk. He smiled at me with kindly eyes.
"Hello, Mr Toynbee", he said, "ahh I see you brought you Mortimer".
He held out a hand to me.
"Pleased to meet you at last, young man"
"..T...thank you", I said shyly, taking his hand.
He glanced at my webbed fingers as I did so and gave a nod.
"Is everything prepared?", asked my father, "the deal we decided on? I'll keep financing this place, PROVIDED you find a...cure for him"
"Don't worry, Mr Toynbee", the man said, "you can rest at ease, our tests are providing us with valuable information for our goal of finding a way of disabling the mutant gene".
"Good", said my father, then looked at me, "this will be your home from now on. Behave for these people, eventually they may make you into something I would be proud to call my son"
Without a word of goodbye, my father gave a nod at the man, then turned, leaving the room.
"Pappa?...I don't wanna live here!", I called fruitlessly, "Please come back! Don't leave me here!!!"
I sighed, watching through the window as my fathers limo headed off into the night. The man's hands rested on my shoulder.
"Come on, Mortimer, I'll show you to your.....room"
He gently led me through the building, pausing at an old door, pressing in a few numbers in an eletronic lock, the doors opened with a wuussshh sound...and I stepped into a completely different world. The smell of disinfectant burned my nose, as I looked around the all white hallways. I could hear the sounds of screaming from small rooms, each only having a single window in them. As I passed one, I noticed a girl my own age wih green skin. She was holding her hands over her head, screaming and rocking. I watched in awe as her skin changed colour, matching that of the wall. I was pushed gently forwards by the man. I was suddenly very, very frightened. I pushed back on the man, hoping to be able to get past him. No such luck, a young man in his twenties came up, taking a good hold of my arm.
"Be a little gentle, Nigel, he's only a child", said the man.
"Sure Doc", said 'Nigel', "they all are".
I gave a frightened whimper, unable to find a voice as a door opened, and I found myself pushed into one of the white rooms. There was nothing in it, only a bed with labaratory clean white sheets.
"This is your room, Mortimer", said the man with a smile.
"I...I don't wanna", I said, backing away, only to be shoved forwards by Nigel.
"Too bad, Kid", he said with a laugh, slamming the door, the sound of electronic locks working in it, "you better get used to it, you'll be here for a long time".
His face passed the small window to my room, showing a sneering grin.
"Welcome to the Black Womb"
**
[1] - Oh il mio Dio - Itallian for 'Oh my God', Nonna is Itallian for Grandmother.
[2] - Nipote - Itallian for Grandchild
Well, there's another chapter done and dusted. Do review. Until next time..