Go Towards the Light
By
Numb3rsfan
Chapter One: Diary
Twenty year old Charles Edward Eppes sat in the attic of his dad's home in LA.
He was sitting at an old wooden desk that used to be his father's.
An old desk lamp flooded the attic with light, illuminating some old photos that Charlie had in his hands.
The photos were covered in dust and some had bits of dried food on them, but they were still recognizable at any rate.
Placing the photo that was on the top of the pile, back down on the desk, Charlie picked up the next photo and looked at it carefully.
In the photo were three people; two of which he recognized immediately as his mother Margaret who was now dead from cancer, and Charlie's father Alan. However there was a little boy with dark hair and brown eyes that Charlie didn't recognize.
Turning the picture over, Charlie read what had been inscribed in his mother's handwriting: Don's 8th Birthday.
Charlie scrunched up his eyebrows. Who in the world was Don and what did he have to do with his parents?
Opening up the top drawer of the desk, Charlie put all of the photos except the photo of Don back in to the drawer.
Reaching over, Charlie was about to shut the drawer when he saw something way in the back. Reaching in, Charlie locked his fingers around the object and pulled it out.
It was a book, about the size of a library paperback. The book was azure blue with a red border. On the front was a little lock with a key still in the lock. Attached to the key was a small red ribbon that looked as if it had been through a lot.
Licking his lips, Charlie slowly turned the key a full 360 degrees before hearing and seeing the lock pop open.
Fingering the lock, Charlie simply removed it, setting the lock on the dust covered desk.
Charlie ran his hands over the old book for a few moments, having a feeling that he had just found a little piece of family history.
Slowly he opened the front and read what was written: 'If you find this, please don't read it but return it to Margaret Paxton-Eppes.'
Charlie flipped through the first few pages until he found one that was dated 12/29/1989
As he read what his mother had written down, Charlie could slowly start to imagine that very same day all those years ago...
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Eight year old Don Eppes sat in the backseat of his parents van with his cousins Tommy and Ben. Tommy and Ben's parents had died in a house fire a year ago, so instead of having the boys placed in a foster home, Margaret and her husband Alan said the boys could stay with them and their son Don.
Now the entire family was on their way to Vermont to visit with Margret's mother and her husband, as well as see Don's cousins on her mother's side.
Alan was in the driver's seat of the van, with Margaret riding shotgun.
Behind her sat Tommy and Ben and behind them sat...or rather danced Don.
Don was moving along to the song on the radio, while trying to get his cousins to follow suit.
"Come on guys, try it. It's really easy! All you gotta do is feel the beat!" Don said, trying to prove how easy it was.
Finally Tommy and Ben started to dance as well, though it was clear that Don was a lot better than the two of them.
After the song ended, Alan switched off the radio before glancing in the rearview mirror for a second.
"Fella's before we get there I want to remind you that at the last family reunion you boys ran off and left Sara and Jessica by themselves. Now they are your cousins too you know and I want you to include them."
"But they are girls!" Ben said, as if girls were the most disgusting thing he could think of.
Don chuckled at his cousin's remark towards girls.
"Oh come on Ben, girls aren't so bad." He replied.
Glancing out the window at the snow covered ground, Don wished that they were there already so he could go sledding. His Grandma's house had some of the best hills around, which meant that they had some of the best sledding turf around.
Finally after what seemed like ages and ages, Alan pulled to a stop in the driveway of Margret's mother's house.
All of the children quickly clamored out and ran up the steps, hugging their grandma ecstatically.
Seeing Sara and Jessica sitting on the porch just watching the proceedings, Don approached them and said, "Sara, Jessica...hi! Do you want to play?"
A smile came to the girls faces as they nodded and stood up, following Don as he went to get his sled.
Meanwhile inside the house, Margaret was in the kitchen unpacking what she had brought.
She pulled out cookies and chips and bread before pulling some blue and white boxes out and placing them in the fridge.
The label on the boxes read Antihemophilic Factor (Human).
"Doesn't that ever make you mad, sis?"
Margaret turned around to see her elder brother Craig standing there nibbling on a piece of celery.
"What?" Margaret asked as she closed the fridge door and went over to him, wiping her hands on her t-shirt as she went.
Craig gestured to the fridge as if to point to the boxes she had put in seconds earlier.
"Living with that."
"Hemophilia? No, it's a part of life." She replied.
"Well...it...hasn't been very good to you." Craig shot back, standing up straight as he folded his arms.
He was thinking about Don, because young Don was a hemophiliac.
"We knew the odds. I'm a carrier. One in four chances of having a hemophiliac baby." Margaret said, shrugging her shoulders.
"Yes I know but you had three hemophiliac babies..." Craig pointed out.
It was true...Margaret did have two other sons before she had Don. The boys had been twins and they had both had hemophilia...and they had both died of SIDS at the tender age of 3 months.
"The twins were two terrific little boys, and Don is a terrific little boy." Margaret said.
The backdoor opened just then and in came Alan, with Don in his arms.
"Sorry honey but Donnie has a bleed." Alan said, sitting Don on the counter.
"Oh no," Margaret said. She sighed before going to the fridge and grabbing one of the six boxes she had placed in there.
One of the girls asked if they could watch and after a slight chastisement from their father, who was Margret's brother, permission was given.
"It's really no big deal," Ben said, "She's going to give Don Factor, it helps to stop the bleeding."
"Does it hurt?" Jessica asked, seeing the needle in Margret's hand.
Noticing Jessica's face, Don smiled as his mother gave him the shot.
"No, not really. I've been doing it for years." He told her.
Once the shot was administered and the bleed stopped, Don was good to go, staying outside most of the day.
Don and his cousins had the time of their young lives sledding down the slopes, but like all good things it had to come to an end.
When the sun went down it was time to say goodbye, so Don placed his sled in the van before hugging Jessica and Sara.
"Bye see you next year." He said.
That said, he climbed in to the van, followed by Tommy and Ben who sat in the very back. Margaret and Alan said their own goodbyes before they too got back in the van and started for home.
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They had been driving for several hours in the dark. The boys were all asleep in the backseats, and Margaret was trying to lightly doze in the passenger seat.
"I thought you were going to tell them about the baby."
Opening her eyes, Margaret glanced at Alan before she stretched her tired muscles.
"I was going to but I decided to wait until we have moved in to the new house. Can it just be our secret for awhile?" Margaret asked.
She smiled at Alan who lovingly smiled back; reaching over to hold her hand.
Hearing someone groaning behind her, Margaret turned to see Don clutching his stomach.
"Mom, I have a stomach ache." He said through gritted teeth.
"Oh Don, I knew you ate too much candy today." Margaret said, meaning that as a sort of chastisement.
"Dad I really have to go. Can you pull over?" Don asked.
Glancing back at his son Alan said, "It's an emergency huh?"
"Yes."
Sighing, Margaret shook her head.
"Okay, but don't think I have forgotten that tomorrow is school." She said.
Slowly Don nodded his head, rising and exiting the van after his father pulled over.
It took several minutes for Don to take care of business, but after he was ready, he climbed back in the van and fell asleep before they reached home.