I will never forget this particular Thursday. Thanks to a lot of stress at home I was put back on medication. While I still heard tapping on my mirror and my reflection still had pink hair at times, I wasn't conversing with Oliver anymore nor was I trying to rip my skin off.
School had just ended and I was on my way to see Bella, my therapist. My journal was now full of small entries and she said she had a surprise for me that day. Of course, a surprise from Bella meant I was in for a real treat. Last time she told me that, she brought waffles she had made herself. Seriously, that woman is the best and divorced. Too bad Aaron isn't interested.
Anyways I walked along until a loud voice caught my attention. "Matt, what the hell is wrong with you?" I'm normally not a nosy person but something about the voice intrigued me. I peaked into the alley and looked at the two large teens standing there.
My eyes widened when I realized that I had seen them before. "You got blood all over my shoes!" The one with dark hair I had seen so long ago. He still wore the same bomber jacket. Well same style, he grew up, you know how it is. He also had blood splattered over his clothes and he had an angry scowl as he raised the bat up to his shoulder. It had rusty nails poking out with blood stains on it.
He went on rambling and something made me uncomfortable about him. Perhaps it was because he looked sort of like Alfred, if Alfred had a darker side to him. Or, you know because he was holding a bloody bat, either works.
"God! Al, just shut the fuck up!" Another voice joined in and I leaned forward until I caught full sight of the blonde next to him. The one from school. The one with a hockey stick but his hair was longer now and tied back. He wore sunglasses over his head and an open red flannel with yet again... A hockey stick.
I silently took out my phone and turned the camera on. That guy looked too much like Alfred and his name was too much to be a coincidence. Something was off and I had to get a picture. I clicked the button and felt my heart stop when the shutter sound went off loudly.
I ducked when the two stopped arguing and turned around. I quickly crawled as far as I could from there and began to run out of sight. I didn't want to be their next victim.
...
I had made it to the office tired from running and was quickly put into the room while I waited for Ms. Bella. She smiled at me when she walked in with a small box. "I brought chocolate. Have some." I silently took a piece and thanked her, nibbling on it as I tried to calm down.
"Are you okay?" She asked watching me. I explained to her the event I just had and she gave a worried look. "I don't know, Ms. Bella. Something about that guy just screams Alfred." She nodded and scribbled something on her clipboard. She bit on her pen as she sat glaring at her notepad and for a second I wondered if I had said too much.
"I-I took a picture. Maybe you can look at it?" I said and her eyes shot up at me quickly. She took my phone and inspected the picture. She stared at it for a while before putting a hand over her mouth. "What? Do you know them?" I asked. "The blonde boy. Did you hear his name?" I thought before snapping my fingers. "Matt!" I watched her expression turn to horrified and she ran to her book shelf.
She began to yank different books out, dropping them on the floor as she did so until pulling out a small red notebook. She walked over and sat down, placing the notebook down that had a red maple leaf on the cover page. She hesitated to open the book and sighed before putting her face in her hands.
When I asked her if she was okay she shook her head. "Arthur I want you to stay here until your brother comes to pick you up," she said as she stood. I nodded and she sighed as she pulled out her phone. "I'll call him and I need to make another phone call so please excuse me." And she left the room.
...
I was sitting on the chair playing on my own phone, occasionally looking at the red notebook sitting on her desk. She had looked so stressed and I became curious. I wanted to look at what was inside but something told me I was better off not knowing.
The door swung open and Bella walked in with man. "I called your brother, sweetie. He'll be here in 30 minutes," she said before going to her desk. The man sat and she opened the notebook with a frown before pulling out a paper. She looked at it sadly before giving it to the man. "This boy. Can you maybe draw him at age seventeen?"
The man quickly began to sketch and my curiosity lead me to him. I looked down at the paper as he finished drawing and frowned. "Arthur can we see the picture?" She asked and I pulled my phone out again. We compared my photo to the drawing and there were too many similarities.
Though the drawing made him look smaller and thinner with a softer face, it was no doubt the same person. Bella sniffled and I looked up at her worriedly. The man left and she looked at me. "Arthur, sit down." I sat and I have to admit, I felt scared. I had never seen her like this and it scared me. She gave me the paper and I took it, revealing a small boy, perhaps age eleven. He was smiling sweetly and holding a large stuffed white bear while sitting on a man's lap.
"This boy is Matthieu Williams," she said and I nodded. I didn't understand. The boy was sweet, had problems and turned to a deliquent was my guess. It had nothing to do with me was what I thought. "He was a sweet boy and he used to come to me for therapy." I nodded again not understand why I had to know. I figured she was just venting and I went with it.
"His father Francis was a nice man. The two had a great relationship with each other. When Matthieu was ten, his father brought him because he was having trouble trying to make friends. He said he would always sit alone in the house talking to his bear," she said smiling. I smiled remembering my fairy friends. "When he turned eleven, he began to have problems," she said uncomfortably.
"You see, Matthieu began to talk to not only his bear but his closet door. Francis said he would always wake up at night and find him sitting in front of the mirror talking to himself, sometimes even crying." I now realized what this was about. "This went on for a year and he began to change so much. This picture was taken a year after that one," she said handing me another photo.
Indeed I saw the difference. His once bright smile was now a frown and he sat looking down with his shoulders slumped. His skin was ghostly pale and he hard large bags under his eyes that were easily visible even with the growing hair in his face. "What happened to him?" I asked and she gave such a sad expression.
"He began to grow even more distant than usual and his father said that he would wake up at night to screaming and banging. That he would find him curled into the sheets. He did everything he could for his son. Five years ago he went missing. Just disappeared, noone ever saw him again." Bella sniffled and wiped her tears as she picked up the notebook.
"His father was so depressed after that. One day he came in and dropped this off. He told me that maybe I could find a use for it and he left. That same day he was found hanged in his own house." I felt mortified. "But the boy is okay. I saw him, he's right here in the picture, he's still alive," I said in hopes to prove something. I felt in danger for some reason and I wanted to prove that I would be okay. She sighed and handed me the notebook instead.
"I think you should you read this. Let your brothers go over it too. I really want you safe Arthur. Please only stop coming when you know you are safe." I shakily took the notebook and studied the cover. On the bottom I could read the title scribbled on it. 'Matthieu William's Journal.' The book felt like fire to my fingers. I wanted to throw it away and tell her I didn't need it. That I wasn't crazy and that I wouldn't go berserk like Matthieu did.
Matthieu was alive and well. Psycho maybe, but he was alive. Nothing was going to happen to me, right? But I still clutched the book like it was my only guide to safety. My only escape from my own head. The phone rang and she picked up. She sent me off with a hug and chocolates. She made me promise that I would come in next week and I only nodded. I watched her talk to Aaron and give him a small notebook before we both left.
It was silent as we drove home. We walked in to find Allistor was still working and Dylan had fallen asleep on the couch. I was scared to open the book. I didn't want to know what was written. I was scared to look inside the mind of another crazy person. I turned to see Aaron reading the book with deep concentration as he cooked. He would occasionally get so into the book that he would forget about the food until it was sizzling loudly. I wondered what book was given to him but I was scared to find out. Fear was my only emotion at the time and I could feel the hands of insanity trying to push the front cover open to pull me into its world.