I'm not dead, people! Here's the third chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own the Powerless trilogy, the great Matthew Cody does!
Warnings: language, mentions of car crash and deaths, hints of PTSD, mentions of suicide and abuse
"So, wait... you think that Daniel blames himself for every little thing that goes wrong because he blames himself for his foster sister's death?"
"To sum it up... yes," Rohan Parmer replied, nodding his head at his friend, Eric Johnson, who was currently gaping like a fish.
"B-But... Daniel wasn't driving the car. H-How could it be his fault?" Eric stuttered.
"It isn't, Eric, but Daniel feels that he could have saved Christina, but he didn't. He couldn't have. I looked up Christina Miller on the Internet and found dozens of articles, most of which included facts on her condition at her time of death." Rohan rummaged through his backpack and withdrew a stack of papers, stapled into a packet of black and white photographs and typed words of varying sizes. "For example, read the first three paragraphs of this article."
The smaller boy flipped a few pages of the packet to the back and handed it to Eric, who quickly scanned it.
ARGUMENTS OF DEATH
By: Andrea Walter... Edited by: Alexander Hankerson
This past Saturday evening brought a horrific accident and five tragic deaths. Thirty-three year old Lukas Miller and thirty-one year old Marissa Lewis Miller were having in argument in their car with their birth daughter, Christina Katelyn Miller, and their foster son, Daniel Owen Lewis, in the back seat. Christina was three, going on four, at the time, and Daniel had turned ten shortly before the accident. Mr. Miller had taken his hands off the wheel momentarily and the car had swerved into the wrong lane. The Miller parents and the other drivers, teenagers Max Baker and Alexandra Walsh, were dead on impact, but the two children were still alive.
Christina's window had been smashed as the car flipped and several pieces of glass imbedded themselves in her skull and body. The doctors suspected that if she lived, she would have brain damage and be paralyzed for the rest of her life before she would still die an early death.
Daniel, meanwhile, suffered broken bones of varying degrees and of some miracle, made a full recovery. He is currently being treated at a mental institution for PTSD. Also, as the police were cleaning out the home, they found a photo album of Ms. Miller's parents and her two daughters, Marissa and Ashley. Social services did some digging and discovered that Ashley Lewis Corrigan was alive and well. She was living in California with her husband and the couple moved to Philadelphia to raise Daniel.
Eric sat the paper on his lap and stared at a black and white picture of a car slipped upside down, glittering pieces of glass decorating the road in a horrible work of art. His stomach twisted when he saw a darkened spot and prayed that it was a printing malfunction and not the blood that had surely drenched the pavement.
His blue-green eyes traveled down to another picture of a little girl that had surely been a professionally taken photo. She was dressed nicely in a skirt that reached her knees and a short sleeved shirt with her hands placed over her lap. Below the photograph were the words, 'Christina Katelyn Miller, age three, two months before the accident.'
The flyer once again allowed his eyes to land on a photo of a little boy, much more horrifying than the first. He wore baggy clothes and was covered in bruises and scratches. Casts encased several of his limbs, both of his wrists, one of his ankles, and one of his calves had a bandage wrapped around it. Worst of all were his eyes; they were haunted, shattered like the broken windows of the vehicle. Beneath the picture, the statement identifying the boy read, 'Daniel Owen Lewis Corrigan, age ten, two weeks after the accident.'
"Oh my gosh," Eric mumbled, dropping the paper and looking at the closed door to their friend's room, tears filling his eyes.
"I know," Rohan muttered. "It gets worse; I looked up Daniel, too. Turn to page nine."
The black haired boy, an unsettling feeling growing in his stomach, obeyed and nearly lost his breakfast.
BOY ABUSED AND LEFT FOR DEAD
Written by: Harold Marcus... Edited by: Carlos Wilkens
Eight year old Daniel Owen Lewis was found by two police officers after a neighbor made a complaint about all the shouting from next door. He was covered in bruises and cuts with multiple broken, cracked, and fractured bones. His clothes were soiled and he was starving and dehydrated. Police estimated that he'd been left in a cupboard under the stairs for at least a week.
His foster parents, Kyle and Miley Axe Wheeler were arrested for child abuse, neglect, and endangerment, along with Kyle's sister, Amy Neal. Amy had abused the child herself more than once and was the one that suggested they drug him.
The boy spent an entire month in the hospital, healing and trying to be able to keep food down. Doctors found traces of alcohol and other drugs in his system, including sleeping pills and Ritalin, which they guessed were used to make him fall asleep and lose his appetite, so he never complained about hunger.
Daniel is doing much better physically, but still has a ways to go mentally. He suffers from PTSD and depression, along with social anxiety, as results from the abuse he suffered in the home.
"No way," Eric whispered, his face deathly pale and his hands clammy. His best friend... was abused? No, it couldn't be.
"Page thirteen," Rohan told him, sadly.
"How can this get any worse?" Eric groaned, flipping through the packet.
ABUSED AND TRAUMATIZED BOY ATTEMPTS SUICIDE
Written by: Alyssa Amber... Edited by: Jason Male
Daniel Owen Lewis Corrigan attempted suicide on Friday night by overdosing on sleeping pills and slitting his wrists. He has been abused by his foster parents in the past and his foster sister died in his arms after they were in a car wreck, leaving him with depression, PTSD, and several other mental disorders.
Daniel left three suicide notes, one for his adoptive mother, one for his adoptive father, and one for his grandmother. Yet, they were not needed. Daniel arrived at the hospital in time and was saved by a team of incredible doctors; he is now resting comfortably and will be going home within a couple of days.
The packet hit the floor with an thump and for several moments, Eric Andrew Johnson, age fourteen, student, and super human, didn't move from the shock. Then, he stood and stormed into Daniel Corrigan's hospital room.
And Rohan didn't stop him.
Feel free to give me any ideas! I love feedback and ideas from all of my readers! And again, sorry for the long wait.