The Gift

After his sister's death, Aloysius shut himself in his room. Every five hours, his parents would come knocking, but that noise would be the only noise Aloysius and his parents would hear. There was complete silence every day, Aloysius would never even go to school. Darkness kept eating him up but he didn't want that to happen, Aloysius was afraid of what would become of him if he stayed the way he was. No matter the motivation though, Aloysius stayed in his room, where there was no light but also no darkness, he was stuck in between.

Weeks passed as Aloysius stayed in his room laying on his bed. He hadn't gone to school and his parents never even saw a peek of his face coming from his room.

One day, Aloysius's grandparents came to visit. He didn't want to see them though. He hated them beyond anything else because of how their lives were ruined but also how his life got ruined too.

"Power is what made them corrupt, power is what destroyed my life. I hate them, I hate them." Aloysius thought to himself.

Aloysius heard his grandparents through his door, which made him more against the decision to open the door. His grandfather asked if he could see his grandson, Aloysius's father warned him that Aloysius might never answer the door. His grandfather still wanted to try and so walked up the stairs with a creaking sound on each step on the plank. He came close to Aloysius's door and knocked. Aloysius refused to open the door.

"Um, hello? I know you won't open the door but I have something to give that somebody else wanted to give to you in person, but they were too late. So, just open the door so you can see it." his grandfather suggested.

Aloysius still refused and stayed quiet while laying on his bed. His grandfather stood at his door for one more minute before leaving. He went down the stairs and put something in his father's hands.

"Please, try to convince him to come out. At least try, and if he does, try to give this to him. This is a very special item that I am sure he'll accept, even from me. So, please." His grandfather pleaded to his father.

His father nodded and put the item in his pocket. Aloysius's grandparents took their bags and exited out of the house. Aloysius then felt obligated to accept the item. He felt no sympathy towards his grandparents but if it was his parents, he would have no problem. When he got up, his legs hurt due to himself not being able to move. At the same time, his father was walking up the stairs. When both of them reached the door, Aloysius opened the door first. He looked like a guy who was homeless, he was dirty, smelly, and lifeless. His father first wanted to talk with him about something and asked him to sit down in the kitchen. Aloysius reluctantly agreed and put on slippers and went downstairs and sat down.

"This is serious Aloysius Nichols. First, you shut yourself in, and then you miss your daughter's funeral. Now, you disrespect your grandparents! I don't believe you?!" His father complained furiously at him.

"I'm sorry," Aloysius said quietly and gently.

"Excuse me?" His father asked.

"I'm sorry for this," Aloysius said, this time louder and clearer.

"Look, I'm not asking you to do the things you forgot, it's too late. What I'm asking is just to please come back to us as a normal person. We've been worried about what might have happened to you in your room." His father pleaded to Aloysius. Aloysius's father opened his hand and inside his hand was a silver chain necklace.

"This right here, I recognize this necklace. It was your sister's, she never wore it, so she probably wanted you to have it, Aloysius. Consider this a step forward towards getting free. Or that's what it seems to me." His father smiled at him as he handed over the necklace to Aloysius.

Aloysius looked at the necklace in his hand and stretched it. He turned it inside out and on that side was what seemed to be dark red paint on three chains and the rest were droplets of the red paint. Aloysius turned it to the other side and put it around his neck.

"Also, can you do me a favor and shower. When you're done, put those bags in the basement, those bags contain your sister's belongings. I figured you'd be the only one willing to do it." His father said as he pointed at the black large bags in the corner of the entrance.

Aloysius nodded with a slight smile and went upstairs to grab a towel and take a shower. Once Aloysius finished his shower, he went into his room to put on a blue shirt and black pants. He put on gray slippers and went downstairs. When Aloysius grabbed the black bags, it felt as if his arms were going to get ripped off. But since it was his sister's belongings, he tried his best to move and get the bags to the basement. As Aloysius slowly moved outside and down the stairs, he reached a corner where he put the bags. Aloysius decided that would like to look around the basement. He turned on the lights and the shelves had stuff he didn't recognize. It looked much more advanced than the technology of the 21st Century. As Aloysius kept walking, he stopped at a giant green chalkboard. The chalkboard was written all over that Aloysius couldn't tell what it was. His best guess was that it was trying to map out the entire universe because Aloysius saw the names of planets. Aloysius's necklace lightly glowed but then faded away, he didn't notice it though.

"If this really is a map of the universe, this person did one heck of a job," Aloysius said as he slightly chuckled.

Aloysius then walked to the exit, went up the stairs, and closed the basement door as he left. Once again, Aloysius felt like he was being watched. He looked around and found no one. He decided to rush it and ran to the door of his house. On the roof of Aloysius's house was someone, he was wearing a hoodie with a black mask that was covering his entire face with darkness. He turned away and jumped off the roof.

Returning to his house, Aloysius opened the door, entered, and then locked the door. He took his backpack to his room and packed all the stuff he needed for school. But his face and emotions were slowly fading away, once he finished, he went to the bathroom. Aloysius locked the bathroom door and washed his face plenty of times. He stopped and turned off the faucet as he looked towards the mirror, towards his reflection.

"No one can know, no one can see. I won't let them see my true self. I'll just have to act happy." Aloysius said to himself in the mirror.

He practiced smiling, making good jokes, and his laughter. The first time he smiled, made jokes, and laughed were terrible, his voice and expression sounded dead and weak. Aloysius kept practicing, and each time his voice and face became more alive.

"Remember Aloysius Nichols," he said as he kept practicing his smile,

"Your words seem alive, but you're dead inside." and with that, he ended his practice session and left the bathroom.

Aloysius went to his room and decided that it would be good to sleep until dinner time. He locked his door and threw himself like a fish, on his bed. Aloysius closed his eyes as the softness of his mattress and blanket made him more relaxed and sleepy. Darkness was all he could see until a figure stood in front of him.

"You're in my world, for now, Aloysius Nichols." the figure said in a deep distorted voice.

"Where am I, and who are you?! Is this even a dream because I can feel things and emotions but it isn't waking me up!" Aloysius said as he was panicking more and more.

"Don't worry, this isn't a dream. As I said, you're in my world for now. In a few minutes you'll wake up, but by that time, hours would have passed until I think you said 'Until dinner time' or maybe that was what you thought." the black figure said in a distorted voice.

Aloysius was confused, questions kept hitting him like "Who is this guy?" or "What's happening?". The questions kept getting Aloysius more lost in thought, and that was exactly what the figure wanted to happen; he wanted him to panic.

"Okay, time's up." the figure said in a distorted voice as he snapped his fingers.

Aloysius woke up in a sweat, his heart pounding. He got up slowly and checked for the figure's voice; no distorted voice was to be heard. Aloysius, relieved, put on his slippers, and went downstairs, he looked over and saw that dinner was ready. He sat down at the table with his parents and ate. Soon later, he decided to ignore what had happened in his sleep. Aloysius finished, thanked his parents, and went upstairs to sleep. Before sleeping, he closed and locked his window, and locked his door. Aloysius felt safe and slept on his bed. Little did he know that as soon as he was asleep, a person with a black hoodie and black mask was looking through the window, looking at Aloysius, in his sleep.