A/N: Special thanks to my three anonymous reviewers: Lauryn, Jessica and Marie. Thanks a lot for your reviews!
A/N2: Sorry it took me so long to update. My teachers have decided that they all need to squeeze in one more test before Christmas vacation, so I've been a little busy. Oh well, enjoy the chapter! I get out of school Thursday and I absolutely LOATHE the holidays, because I don't have a good family, so I'll be updating just about every day. Enjoy :)
A/N3: Don't worry, we'll find out what Turner and Cory have been up to within the next few chapters.
Shawn stared in horror as a slow, predatory smile spread across Verna's face. Her eyes bored into Shawn's with an almost painful intensity and Shawn chewed on his lower lip in anticipation. His heart had stopped when he first saw her, but now it kick-started with a vengence and pounded harshly in his chest.
"So," Verna said, an evil smile full of hatred spreading across her face. "What do we have here?" She asked rhetorically, walking a couple paces into the room and staring at Shawn in utter disgust.
"I -I..." Shawn stuttered desperately, backing away from Verna's slow, steady entry into the room. Verna didn't take her eyes off of him and continued to move forward until he was backed percariously against a wall. Shawn wanted to say something, anything, to stop Verna from hurting him but he knew there was nothing he could say. Aside from that, Shawn was completely frozen in fear. His back was against a wall, Verna's dresser was on his side, and Verna herself was standing in front of Shawn, not an inch away from his face. Fear like never before coursed through Shawn, choking him and causing his breathing to become more and more shallow until he started to feel light headed. Shawn nearly welcomed the feeling. Maybe Verna wouldn't hurt him if he passed out. And then, by the time he woke up again, with any luck Verna would be too drunk to remember he exists.
Verna's eyes were flickering over Shawn's face calculatingly. Shawn's face was screwed up in terror and Shawn's eyes were wide open. His eyes were nearly frozen open and he was barely blinking.
"Relax, Shawn. I'm not going to hurt you." Verna said in a sickly-sweet voice. Shawn didn't relax; in fact, just the opposite. He tensed further, his shoulders rising as his muscles twisted and his entire body trembling with the effort of holding himself perfectly still. "Yet." Verna added, a twisted smirk on her face. Tears welled up in Shawn's eyes and threated to spill over, but he focused all his energy on holding them back. Verna saw this and her smirk grew. She was enjoying the fear she envoked in her son.
Verna leaned her face closer to Shawn's and he flinched violently, then turned his head to the side in anticipation. He squeezed his eyes shut and waited for the pain that Verna was sure to inflict on him, but instead Verna whispered in his ear maliciously, "Come with me." With that, Verna grabbed Shawn's upper arm in a crushing grip and dragged him from the room. Shawn stumbled over his feet as he tried to keep up with her. When they reached the entryway to Shawn's room, Verna threw him from her with as much force as she could muster. Shawn lurched forward and tripped over his doorway, twisting his ankle in the process. He landed hard on the ground and turned his head back just in time to see Verna slam his door. A loud click sounded and Shawn's heart practically stopped. Verna locked him in. He was trapped.
Shawn laid on his floor for a while, waiting for his heart to return to a normal rate, and for his breathing to get itself under control. He could barely breath. It felt as though every time he took a breath his lungs constricted further, causing him to choke and splutter. Salty tears trailed down Shawn's face as panic overtook him. He couldn't breathe; Shawn really couldn't breathe.
Shawn opened his mouth as wide as he could and tried to drag in deep, sucking breaths. After a couple of minuets Shawn could feel his heartrate going down, and his breathing started to become less erratic.
Finally, Shawn could breath again. Tears continued leaking out of his eyes as Shawn became aware of a new problem. Shawn's ankle was radiating bursts of pain up his leg and setting his nerves on fire.
"Ow, ow, ow." Shawn muttered. He dragged himself across the floor and sat up. He went to lean against the bed with his back, but yelped loudly when his back touched the bed. "Damn it!" Shawn yelled angrily, then glanced at the door fearfully. He strained his ears for a couple of minuets but when he didn't hear any footsteps approaching, Shawn relaxed minutely. Shawn reached up, grabbed a pillow off of his bed, and put it inbetween the bed and his back. He leaned back slowly, groaning a little as the movement sent shockwaves of pain through his ankle.
Shawn slowly undid his laces, pausing every now and then to catch his breath and to get a handle on the various pains running through his body. Shawn slowly took his shoe off, biting his lower lip to keep himself quiet. Shawn took off his sock as well, then rolled up the leg of his jeans. Shawn's ankle was a little swollen, and had a dull purple color coating it, but it didn't look broken or even fractured, just twisted.
Shawn grabbed his blanket off of his bed, rolled it up and gently slid it under his ankle. Once that problem was solved, Shawn looked around the room with a sense of dread. There was no window that he could escape out of, and the door was locked from the outside.
Panic bubbled inside of Shawn's chest and fear overtook him once again. Shawn closed his eyes and took several deep breaths to calm himself, feeling a little ridiculous. He had experienced more fear in the last couple of days then he had over the course of his entire life. Shawn didn't think that one person was capable of feeling so much fear. Once that was done, Shawn looked around his room again, but this time for a weapon.
Shawn didn't know what he was going to do. Verna was his mother and Shawn didn't know if he could actually force himself to hurt her. Despite everything she did, maybe she had a reason. Cory and John thought that she had a reason, Shawn reminded himself bitterly.
Shawn jumped violently as several loud knocks sounded at the trailers front door. Shawn's eyes widened and he had the immense desire to start screaming for help. Shawn sucked in a loud breath to do just that when his door was thrown open. Verna stood there, her eyes wild with rage. The air caught in Shawn's throat and he froze.
"You told someone!" Verna screamed, her body shaking with rage. Her hands curled into fists by her sides and she stared at Shawn furiously.
"N-No-" Shawn denied vehmenously. He shook his head back and forth so hard the room started spinning out of control. His heart started beating inhumanly fast and Shawn felt more traitorous tears well up behind his eyes. "Please." Shawn managed to say, startled by his own voice. It was so different then he ever thought it would be. His voice was shaky, terrified and pleading. Three things Shawn never thought he would sound like.
"You worthless little bastard. After everything that I've done for you and your father, this is how you repay me?" Verna demanded, running into the room and forcing Shawn into a standing position. He stood on one foot, the other dangling behind him. Shawn felt a sense of injustice rise in him. After everything Verna had done? What, exactly, did she think that she ever did for them?
"You never did anything for us!" Shawn shouted, surprising even himself. Verna paused for a minuet, and Shawn started rambling. "You were never there for me or Dad, and you just took off whenever you wanted to. You made Dad chase after you for an entire year and you-" Shawn's rampage was cut off as Verna punched Shawn as hard as she could in the stomach. All the air left Shawn's lungs and he tried to double over, but Verna held him up. Shawn wrapped an arm around his stomach protectively and dimly registered in the back of his consciousness that the knocking had stopped.
"You ungrateful, trailer trash!" Verna screamed, her voice rising as her levels of self-control completely fell away. Verna threw Shawn to the ground and he landed on his stomach. Shawn groaned loudly, still trying to drag in air through, what felt like, a broken stomach.
Verna glared down at him, raised her foot, and stomped on his back as hard as she could. Verna wasn't just wearing regular shoes either, but wide heels that dug mercilessly into Shawn's back. Shawn wailed desperately and tried to roll over onto his side. Verna lifted her foot again and started kicking every inch of Shawn that she could reach. The sharp, pointed toe of Verna's heel dug into Shawn's body with every kick and he screamed and whimpered with pain.
"Now, I am going have to go clean up YOUR mess." Verna shouted, her face red with rage and panting heavily. Shawn curled up as small as he could, trying to make himself a smaller target, but it didn't seem to matter. She just kept kicking and Shawn was positive that she would never stop.
After a particularly vicious blow to his back, Shawn screamed, "I'm sorry!" Shawn was crying violently, emitting loud sobbs every couple of seconds. His eyes and nose were running and Shawn was choking on a disgusting combination of tears, snot and saliva. He just wanted Verna to stop. Shawn couldn't think past the single world: stop. "Please, stop. Please!" Shawn didn't understand why Verna was doing this to him. She didn't used to be this way when he was younger, but now it was as if she was an entirely different person. Shawn wondered what exaclty happened to her on her roadtrip to cause her to become so violent and... evil.
Verna finally stopped a couple seconds later and loomed over Shawn, her chest heaving as she struggled to catch her breath. "You pathetic son of a bitch. You never appreciated me. And now you're trying to get me thrown in jail with your lies!" Verna spat, her tone venomous. Shawn's eyes narrowed in confusion.
"What lies?" Shawn asked stupidly, before he could stop himself. Verna growled and kicked his stomach, knocking the wind out of him and causing Shawn to clamp a hand over his mouth so he wouldn't throw up.
"Your father is going to hear about this." Verna informed him threateningly. Shawn nearly snorted- what was Chet going to do? Drink another beer and tell Shawn he shouldn't have pissed his mother off? "He should be home any second and when he-" Verna was interuppted by the sound of a door opening and slamming shut.
"Verna? Shawn? Anyone home?" Chet's loud and gravelly voice called out. A cruel smile instantly lit up Verna's face and Shawn was suddenly very worried.
"We're both home. We'll meet you in the living room." Verna's voice was cold and angry.
Chet's meek answer, "Okay," rang from the living room and Shawn instantly knew that he wouldn't be any help. Bitter betrayal and disapointment struck Shawn hard and he bit his lip hard to keep himself from tearing up. He shouldn't have expected Chet to help him, he's never helped him before. Still, Shawn never thought that Chet would actually just sit by and watch someone, especially his own mother, hurt him.
"Come with me." Verna demanded, grabbing Shawn by the hair and dragging him into a standing position. Shawn grunted in pain, and more tears leaked past his eyes, but Shawn wiped them away before Verna could see.
Verna dragged Shawn into the living room and threw him to the ground at Chet's feet. Chet looked down at Shawn and his eyes widened at what he saw. Shawn's face was horribly bruised, his lip was cut, and the small amouts of skin that showed from where Shawn's shirt pulled up showed some very extreme bruising.
"Verna, what the hell did you do to my boy?" Chet asked with outrage. Verna told him what she did before, true, but he didn't actually see the damage that was inflicted before now.
Faster then anyone could think possible, Verna grabbed the coffee pot next to her and threw it at Chet's head. He just barely avoided having it smash into his face. Instead, it smashed into the top of his head. Thankfully, it was just cheap plastic, and didn't cut him. But it sure hurt like a bitch.
Shawn laid on the floor and stayed perfectly still. He saw Chet get hit with the coffee pot and felt all the hope drain out of him. Shawn had started to feel hopeful that Chet would try to save him, but he knew that Chet wouldn't now. He wouldn't want to upset Verna and make her leave again because, for whatever reason, Chet loves her.
"Shawn, tell your father what you did." Verna demanded. Shawn hesitated so she kicked his leg harshly. The kick jolted his twisted ankle and Shawn yelped in pain before he could stop himself. Chet's face was twisted in miserary from watching this scene, but he made no more moves to intervene.
"I-I um, I tried to runaway. And I, uh, was going to s-steal all of your money." Shawn stuttered around clenched teeth. His teeth were clenched in an effort to keep himself from screaming at the thousands of pains that ran through his body. Shawn also started to feel exhausted. He never really knew the meaning of 'exhaustion' until this very moment. Shawn was tired of all the fighting and pain, and the emotion roller coaster he had been put on.
"What do you have to say about that Chet?" Verna demanded, staring at Shawn with a kind of satisfation on her face.
"Uh... that was wrong Shawn. Don't do it again." Chet said, his voice a weak attempt at being stern. Verna rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips.
Shawn tensed dramatically. He knew that that was her fighting stance. A slow sense of dread started to overcome Shawn as he realized what Verna's plan was. 'No.' Shawn thought, terrified.
"Don't you think you should punish him Chet?" Verna asked again, her voice getting rather impatient. Chet's head shot up and he stared at Verna in disgust. He glanced down at Shawn and Shawn looked back at him causing their eyes to lock. Shawn's eyes were wide and pleading. This was Chet's last chance to protect him, to save him from Verna. If Chet gave in to Verna now then it was all over, and Shawn would be as good as dead.
Chet was obviously struggling with his indecision. Verna just got back, and Chet loved her so he didn't want to risk her running away again, but was having his wife around really worth the pain she was causing his son? Normally, the answer to that question would be a resounding 'No!" However, with the constant buzz Chet had going, it was hard to think past the mist that seemed to be fogging his brain.
"Well?" Verna demanded, crossing her arms over her chest as she raised her eyebrows at Chet. Indecision was written over Chet's face as he looked back up at Verna and, in his hesitation, Shawn desperately tried to sway him to his side.
"Please." Shawn murmured, raising his head to lock eyes with Chet again. Chet's head snapped down to stare at Shawn and he continued hopefully, "Don't do this. Please don't listen to her." Shawn begged, his eyes filling with tears as he stared at his father. Shawn didn't understand why Chet didn't want to help him. How could this choice not be simple? Abusive, violent wife, or innocent (okay, not exactly innocent, but that's not the point) son? That shouldn't be a difficult decision.
"I-" Whatever Chet was about to say to Shawn was cut off as Verna drew her foot back and kicked Shawn painfully in the ribs.
"Ahhhh!" Shawn cried out and immediately dropped his head to the ground, breaking eye contact with Chet. He curled into a ball and wrapped his arms around himself, whimpering at the immense pain that seemed to be coming from one particular rib. Shawn prayed it wasn't broken.
"Do you see what he's doing Chet?" Verna asked, her voice suddenly soft and sweet as she took a new approach to persuading Chet. "He's just trying to manipulate you, honey. Shawn needs to understand that you're on my side, the parent's should always be on the same side." Verna continued. She walked up to Chet and wrapped her arms around him before gently kissing him. She pulled back several moments later, smiling happily at Chet. Chet smiled back at her, convinced and said;
"Whatever you say, honey." Verna smiled again and walked over to the refrigerator, purposefully stepping on Shawn's fingers as she went. Shawn laid perfectly still, tears of betrayal and anger burning his cheeks and dripping to the floor. Shawn could feel the adrenaline bursting through his system as the fear left him, only to be replaced by a shocking rage.
Shawn hated Chet in that moment, he hated him more then he hated Verna. Verna had made it perfectly clear that she hated him, but Chet toyed with him. Chet made him think that he actually had a chance at surviving this whole ordeal, and then Chet chose Verna. For that, Shawn vowed that he would never forgive him and, more importantly, that he would get Chet back for this. Somehow, someway, Chet and Verna would pay for this- even if it were the last thing Shawn did.