Beast Boy's Past and Future
Chapter 4
"Nicholas Galtry is awarded custody of Garfield Mark Logan," said the judge. "Court adjourned."
The few people who attended the custody hearing stood and gathered their things. Garfield stood by himself in the corner of the room. Nicholas strolled over to him. "Ah, Garfield, my boy," he said. Garfield continued to stare into space, not acknowledging his new guardian.
"Garfield, I know you're upset, but be glad, because your going to live with an old family friend," he said. Garfield looked at him, but still said nothing. Nicholas looked back at him with his dark, beady eyes.
"Well," he said.
"Well," Garfield replied. Nicholas blinked.
"Come on, then. We're going to my humble home." Nicholas stood up and turned to go out to the car.
"Come on, then. We're going to my humble home," Garfield repeated. Nicholas stopped short, tensing up.
"Please," he said. "Don't copy me like that." Garfield giggled and followed him. Nicholas looked back at him. "Well, you certainly are happy," he said.
A few hours later, Nicholas pulled the old, beat down car into the short, dirt driveway. The yard was tiny, about the size of an average living room, with yellow and brown dying, neglected grass. The house was in even worse condition. The door looked as if it were about to fall off of its hinges, and the paint was cracked and peeling. Garfield wasn't even sure what color it used to be, it was so old.
"Home, sweet, home," Nicholas sighed. He got out of the driver's side and went to open the passenger door for his newly adopted son.
Garfield got out and tentatively followed his guardian into the house. The door wasn't locked. When they got inside, Garfield was shocked by what he saw.
It was chaos. There was food, trash, roaches, and un-identifiable objects everywhere. It was strangely comforting to Garfield.
"Hmm. Let me show you to your room," Nicholas said in his slightly creepy voice. Now that Garfield was alone with him, he noticed his voice was quite mysterious, as if he had something to hide.
He dismissed the thought and followed him to the back of the house, simply plowing through the debris in the house. They stopped at a door and Nicholas took out a bundle of keys from his pocket.
"Why is it locked?" Garfield asked. It was, after all, going to be his room.
"No reason," Nicholas replied. "By the way, call me Sir." He pushed open the door.
It was a small cement room, about the size of a small closet. The only furnture was a thin pallet with a thin pillow and a sheet for a bed. The rest was bare. Garfield walked into the room to examine it more closely for insects or other small animals.
As he did, the door slammed shut and the lock clicked. Garfield gasped and spun back around. He grabbed the door knob and tried to turn it. It was locked.
"No!" he yelled. "Let me out!" Nicholas ignored him and walked back to the living room to watch television.
Garfield didn't sleep that night. He sat on the cold, hard cement floor, waiting for Nicholas to come back. He did come back in the morning. "Wake up, brat," he said through the door.
Garfield heard the door unlock and Nicholas opened the door. "Come on," he said impatiently. "Hurry up, you have work to do."
The boy stood and confusedly followed Nicholas back to the front of the house. "Start cleaning," Nicholas ordered. Garfield stood for a moment, a look of surprise coming over his face. Nicholas grabbed him by the nape of his neck and forced him to his knees. "Clean," he ordered again.
Garfield hurriedly began to gather things up. Nicholas let go and walked to the front door. "I'll be back later," he said. "Have it cleaned."
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A few hours later, Nicholas came back. Garfield was sitting in the middle of the room on the floor. Nicholas looked around the room, nodded once, and walked over to Garfield.
Garfield quickly stood up to avoid being hurt again. "Go to your room," Nicholas said, pointing in the general direction of the closet he called a bedroom. Garfield did as he said, and Nicholas followed him and locked the door him again.
He left Garfield again, and he heard the front door slam again, which meant he went back outside. Garfield sighed and leaned back against the wall. He suddenly realized how hungry he was.
There was shouts and sounds of struggling. Something in the livingroom shattered. Garfield guessed the antique lamp he found under a pile of clothes. Then there were sounds of gunshots, which hurt Garfield's overly-sensitive ears. He covered them until the noises stopped and another slammed.
Now Garfield was curious. He looked around the room again and noticed a vent in the corner. He got onto his hands and knees and crawled over to it. There were voices talking, but Garfield couldn't make out what they were saying.
He tried to open the grate to the vent, and to his surprise, it came off easily. The vent was large enough for him to crawl into, for he was a small boy, still only seven years old.
"Take that," he whispered, crawling down the vent. He reached a corner and maneuvered himself around the bend. The voices were getting louder.
It was too dark to see around the corner, but Garfield reached out with his hand to feel his way through. He couldn't feel the wall of the vent, so he reached further and suddenly lurched forward.
Unable to catch himself, he curled into a ball and slid down the vent. He suddenly realized that the vent led down to the basement, and spread out his arms and legs, gripping the sides of the vent.
There was a loud squeaking as he slowly came to a stop. "What was that?" a voice asked. It was Nicholas.
Garfield opened his eyes and saw a few dim figures. He could see Nicholas' figure standing with a gun in his right hand, looking around. There were four more figures, one was definitely a woman, two were men, and one was a huge, bulking figure. Garfield couldn't figure if he was human, or was even a he.
Nicholas growled angrily and stormed back up the stairs. Garfield looked more closely at the figures and realized that they were awake. They were also trapped in some sort of bubble. He leaned forward to try and get an even closer look, and suddenly, the grate swung open, dumping Garfield to the floor.