Worn Out chapter 7 (Worn renamed)
"Why aren't you eating?" Xavier said who sat in front of Pietro. Beast was there too. "For you, that could be very dangerous over only a short amount of time."
"I saw something...I probably shouldn't have seen."
"What was that?"
Pietro thought back to that night. He ran down the dark halls of the ward. Only the moonlight lit the hallways. People were screaming and trying to get him. Konnor was crying and screaming from his place on the floor. He opened the door to his room where Lyle hung. His face was distorted and blue and he had a strangely bent neck. He slid down the doorway but did not take his eyes off Lyle. He couldn't scream or cry like Konnor, Pietro was just too shocked.
"What did you see?" Pietro shook his head and came back to the present. When Pietro didn't answer the Professor asked again. "What did you see, Pietro?"
"I saw my dead friend."
"What did you feel or think at the site?"
"Nothing...there wasn't anything as if it weren't real or just a bad dream..."
"Do you miss him?"
"We didn't talk much."
"Is it sad though?"
"I dunno..."
"Why not?" Pietro didn't answer.
"Is this place haunted?" he tried changing the subject.
"Why do you ask?"
"Hyram said it was, that they did horrible things here...that people have died here."
"It's possible."
"Do they torture people?"
"Of course not." there was a pause. "You still haven't told me why you aren't eating."
"That image is etched into my mind."
"Of the boy who died?"
"Why did he die?"
"Why do you think?"
"He couldn't take the mistakes he made...He's just like me..." Pietro hung his head.
"What mistakes have you made?" Xavier felt he was getting somewhere.
"My sister had to pay for me not helping her...I caused her so much pain...and I betrayed the only people who were kind to me and accepted me..." tears filled his eyes. He didn't care if he cried or not anymore, even in front of someone.
There was a long silence. The Professor looked at his watch. Then at Pietro who had become incredibly skinny since the last time he saw him.
"That's it for today. You can go." Pietro stood up then left, walking wobbly.
Xavier turned to Beast who spoke. "I wrote everything down."
"I'm not sure what to think. But I think he's endangering himself and confused."
"What are we going to do?"
"He has to get nutrition somehow. The only option open seems to be an I.V. He needs this nutrition now." Beast nodded.
"It's too bad we have to do that."
"Yes."
-Next day-
'I don't really know what happened the night we all went down to that room. I decided to go back so here I am walking through the halls again. The noise is no longer there and everything seems untouched except for the footprints in dust.' Pietro walked through the halls of the underground hallway. He noticed things he hadn't before as he looked around with a flashlight he had stolen.
He found strange things like a vise and an old hospital bed that had chains on it. There were several chains laying around with ankle and wrist cuffs. There were things carved into the stone walls.
'He's dead'
'They did it'
'Outside'
'That door'
'The way out'
'Theory'
'Prophecy'
'The way out?' Pietro thought when looking at this carving. He looked down at the floor and some pictures sat there. He shined the flashlight on them. They were pictures of people who had been here a long time ago. Some of the pictures showed self-mutilation as a record. 'I wonder if they have files like this on us...'
-Upstairs-
'Pietro...come back soon!' Benji thought. He had agreed to distract the staff so they didn't notice Pietro was gone. So far, no on had noticed. He sat in the T.V. area, a nurse came up to him.
"Benji, where's Pietro?"
"Uh-he's..." 'Crap! What do I say?' he thought, mentally panicking. "He's in his room! I'll go get him!" he said quickly then ran off. He ran into the room and shut the door.
"Hey Benji." Benji jumped.
"Pietro! They're looking for you!"
"Why?" he said confused.
"Maybe it's because you disappeared! Now get out there!" he said while pushing him out the door.
The nurse came up to him. "There you are. Professor Xavier is back today." the nurse took him to the medical room then left.
The Professor noticed instantly that Pietro had become even skinnier just from yesterday. "Come have a seat on the bed, Pietro." Pietro slowly walked over to him then sat down on the bed.
"Do you understand that we need to give you what you lack from not eating through an I.V.? It's the quickest way to give all the nutrition back to you that you have lost." Hank asked. Pietro nodded.
"Before we begin, will you start eating again yet?"
"I've thrown up everything I've eaten. I tried so hard to block out the image but..."
"So you've tried eating?"
"Yes. They gave me something to be hungry so I ate...I couldn't take it."
"It's probably because your body has become so deprived of food that it's become almost intolerable to it." Hank explained. "Eat small amounts to get used to it again."
"Alright..." Pietro sniffled. "I'm so hungry. I don't want to be like this anymore. I want to die in a painless way!"
"Pietro, we can help you and you won't have to die."
"I'm tired of this..." he covered his face with his hands.
"Let us help you."
"You can't...you can't help me..."
"Let us at least try and we can help you."
"You can't save everyone." Xavier was taken back by Pietro's words. "No one was ever there. People wanted me to save them when no one ever saved me. Why! Why didn't anyone try to save me?" Pietro stopped to take a breath. "No one was there when my father beat me, no one was there when he forced me to do his bidding, no one was there when I was in the orphanage, no one cared about me so why did you save me? This was the one time I didn't want to be saved!"
"Pietro," Beast took over. "don't give up."
"But...I'm...so tired..." tear streamed down his cheeks as he fell off the bed to the floor with his head down so they couldn't see him. All they saw was him shaking. "There's no one left for me..."
"Don't be so sure."
"Oh. Like my sister is going to appear here and act like nothing happened or that my father will actually care about me!"
"Pietro..." Beast leaned down to comfort the boy. He put a hand on his back; he felt all of his ribs and spine.
"Even if they forget...I won't..."
After several minutes, Pietro calmed down. Hank helped him back onto the bed where he now sat. He looked like he could fall asleep at any minute. It was so unlike Pietro, he was so worn out from all of this. Hank tied a tourniquet around the top of Pietro's arm so a vein would pop out then put the I.V. needle into it before untying the tourniquet. Hank's suspicions had been confirmed about Pietro having scars on his arms and Pietro had just told them that his father had beaten him.
Pietro no longer tried to hide the scars for Hank and the Professor already knew about them when he blurted out everything. Pietro laid down on his side and slowly went to sleep.
"I think we just had a breakthrough." Hank stated.
"Yes, but Pietro is still very fragile and needs to be kept under this care. I'm not sure how long this will take. The healing process is slow."
"Especially what he said. 'I want to die.'"
"He's still very suicidal; a danger to himself."
"He has the scars to prove what he said."
They were soon finished with the I.V. and put gauze over it. Now they had to wake Pietro up. He drowsily looked around then got off the bed and stumbled away. They both looked worriedly at him.
Pietro reached his room. Benji was on his bed as usual, reading. "How'd it go, Pietro?" Pietro didn't answer; he just walked over to his bed and laid down. He almost instantly fell asleep.
Pietro woke to Konnor who came into the room yelling about something. "He's here! He's here!"
"Who's here?" Pietro, who was still laying on his bed, heard Benji ask.
"Lyle! He's in the room!" Pietro got up to see what the hell Konnor was talking about.
"Konnor...Lyle's dead." Konnor then dragged them back to his room.
"See! He's right there!" Konnor seemed hysterical as he pointed.
"There's nothing there."
"Yes, he's there!" Konnor insisted. Nurse Annett entered the room.
"What's all the noise about?"
"Lyle's here!" Konnor repeated.
"Konnor, I know you're having a hard time excepting Lyle's death..."
"But he's right there!"
"Konnor. No one's there. Come, let's get you checked out." she said while leading him away.
"I'll be back Lyle!"
"No one's ever there..." Pietro mumbled.
"Huh?"
"Nothing, what was that about?"
"Lyle was Konnor's best friend. He's probably seeing things."
"I hope so or we're all screwed."
"Why?"
"'Cause Hyram would be right."
"That would go to his head. He's not right though, don't worry."
"We'd also be screwed-"
"That's enough." Benji said strongly. "It's just a rumor."
"Let's go eat."
"Wah?"
Pietro smiled but his smile was so fake to cover up everything he was hiding. "I'm hungry."
"You have a short attention span."
"I know."
They walked down to the cafeteria with Hyram. Konnor didn't come back yet and they wondered what they did to him. They had gotten permission to go down to eat since it was Pietro who asked and they wanted him to eat. They came to a table after they got food.
"Is that all you're eating?" Hyram asked obnoxiously.
"It's all I can eat." Pietro said, trying to block the image of Lyle.
"Pietro, you seem or seemed better since you came here." Benji stated. "But ever since you went to see that dude today..."
"It's because...I'm not around them as much..."
"Who?
"Friends, family, acquaintances..." by the mention of the people he began to get flashbacks again but they were only quick images that were hard to see but he still felt them, the pain that was in those memories.
"You ok?" Benji asked, noticing that Pietro suddenly became spaced out and as though someone had stabbed him with a dagger.
"Yeah."
"They all then ate in silence for a short time before Hyram started poking Benji with a fork.
"Stop it..." he did it again; harder this time. "Ow! What the fuck!" he yelled.
"Music to my ears and so enjoyable to hurt you."
A nurse called over. "Hyram, what are you doing?"
"Nothing."
"Nothing?"
"Nothin."
"Why don't you eat instead of "nothing"?"
"I am eating." he said while he was obviously not. The nurse left him alone anyway. "You saw what's down there didn't you, Pietro?"
Pietro looked up. "What do you mean?"
"I know about your little trip down to the basement." Pietro froze. How did he find out about that? "Am I right about this place?" Pietro didn't answer. "What about what happened to Lyle?"
"Shut up, Hyram." Benji butted in.
"Time to go." some staff who had come down with the boys called. Pietro tried to get up but Hyram slammed his hand down on Pietro's arm while grabbing it.
"Let go!" he tried to pull away.
"You just don't want to see the truth; that this place is cruel. I know, I've been here ten years."
"Let's go guys!" the staff called again. Hyram let go and left fallowed after a minute by Benji and Pietro who rubbed his arm.
TBC
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