Chapter 6: Everything is Fine (part 2)

Positive.

She wasn't sure what to do with this as she just stood there, staring down to the test as though the answer would change. There was a part of her that truly believed that it might, that maybe she was reading it wrong or that it was just giving her a brief false reading.

"Shit," she hissed to herself, finally realizing that this was not going to change.

Huffing, she tossed the test carelessly into the trash. All she wanted was to get out of here, to do something to take her mind off of what she had just seen. As she was about to walk out of the bathroom though, she remembered that she didn't want anyone seeing that test.

Quickly, she rushed back and retrieved the stick, stuffing it into her pocket. She mentally cursed herself for almost being so careless. Her next few moves here would have to very planned out and careful. Of course, that would have to all wait until she had her chance to run away from everything for a few hours.

Norma rushed out the door and made her way down the stairs. She had to get out of here. That was the only important thing right now. She had to get out of this place before she drove herself crazy.

Dylan stood there, in the doorway to his room as he watched the scene unfold before him. He figured out what was going on, but had no idea what to do or what to say. As soon as she was gone, he went back into his room, knowing that there wasn't much of anything he could do to get her to calm herself.

Norman however, caught her as she was climbing into her car. He could see through the window how upset she was and instantly went out to try and catch her.

"Mother!" He yelled as he ran.

"Not now Norman!" She harshly replied before she slammed the door.

Norman went to run after the car, but it was no use, she sped off down the street. "Mother!" He tried calling out once more as if she could actually hear him.

He just stood there, paralyzed. He wasn't sure what to do now that she had just run out like that. Part of him was sure that she wouldn't return. It was silly, but it was a legitimate fear to him.

oooooo

Norma drove down to the beach. She didn't want to get out of the car, she just sat there and stared blankly out towards the ocean. It wasn't doing much to calm her, but anything was better than sitting in that house.

The sun was beginning to set, casting a variety of colors on both the sky and the water. To many this would be considered a beautiful scene, to her though it was only a reminder that this place would close soon and she would have to drive off and find somewhere new, anywhere to avoid going home.

There was a knock at the window that brought her back to reality with a jolt. She was about to begin yelling as she turned to roll down the window, but she stopped as soon as she saw that it was Alex standing outside. He looked rather concerned, well, as concerned as he could look.

"I'm sorry, am I not supposed to be parked here? I didn't see any signs," she stated.

The sheriff held up his hand to stop her. "I was just wondering if everything was okay," he told her.

Norma sat back in her seat, sighing. He wasn't a threat here, if anything he had been the one helping her.

"Climb in," she told him as she motioned to the seat next to her.

Alex stood up and looked around, trying to decide whether or not he really wanted to do this. "I have work to do." he told her in protest.

"Please?" She implored.

He knew that he shouldn't. Only bad things came of being with this woman. He knew that she was going to try and talk him into doing something for her or somehow convince him to help her. Even if she didn't come out and request it, he would end up doing something foolish for her.

"Alright," he sighed.

Defeated, he went around the car and sat in the passenger seat.

There was a second of silence as Norma sat there and gathered her words. Once she did, she looked to him, apprehensively.

"This isn't the first time that Caleb's done anything," she stated.

Alex's interested was piqued as he watched her look away from him. She was nervous and it looked as though she wasn't sure she even wanted to continue on with what she had to say.

She began to play with her purse strap as she started to speak. "When we were younger, sometimes our parents would bring us to visit to our Aunt Mary and our Uncle Mike. They had a bit of money and their daughter Suzy got everything she wanted."

Her eyes moved to watch him, see how he was reacting to the whole thing so far. There wasn't much that had been said, but she felt as though she had already said too much. Even if he had started earning her trust, there would always be that paranoia that lurked within her whenever she said anything about her life.

"I used to have this dream that someday I would end up on stage, you know? Theater, Broadway. I took all the dance lessons I could sang all the time. Suzy was the same and she was the one that got to go away to a school that I had idolized for the longest time. It was over in Europe though. Most parent would have said that that was too far away for their liking, mine simply said that it was too much money." She paused, taking a deep breath as she stared forward to watch as the sky grew darker.

"Caleb knew I was jealous, hell everyone knew I was jealous. We decided we were going to get back at her, and I thought that meant putting gum in her hair or embarrassing her."

"It was more than that?" He asked, growing concerned. He had a good idea of where this was going, but he wanted to hear it just to make sure.

Norma nodded. "A week later it was all over the news, Suzy Banyon found dead," she informed him.

Looking to him, she thickly swallowed, a wry half smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. "They actually thought that she had fallen. Her body was found at the bottom of cliff near where a lot of kids played, it made sense."

Alex looked forward, nodding. "So he got away with it."

"I just wanted you to know that," she explained.

The sheriff looked to, concerned. There was a moment of silence allowed before he decided to ask her. "Has he ever done anything to you?"

Her mouth hung agape as she was about to say something. The words wouldn't come though. "No," she flatly answered.

Oooooo

Norman scrambled up the stairs, rushing to Norma's room to make sure that she hadn't taken everything with her. It was silly, but there was this fear that was dwelling within him. It was getting to the point where every time she left this house that he wondered if she would just leave for good.

He could hear Dylan yelling for him, and possibly Emma, but he didn't care. All he wanted was to make sure that he saw that her stuff was still there.

Getting into her room, he rushed around, searching through the closet and the drawers. Then he rushed over to the bathroom, passing a confused Dylan and Emma as they watched.

Emma was about to follow him into the bathroom, but Dylan put out his hand to stop her. He knew that Norman was freaking out and what was going on right now. He just needed his space. He just needed to get it out of his system.

"Wait here," he told her as he went and headed for the bathroom, Emma following him despite his instructions.

"Norman?" He asked, the room too silent for his liking.

He saw his brother sitting on the floor staring at the box that the pregnancy test had come in. He was just sitting there, eyes widened with fear. He could hear Dylan speaking, but it was all muffled.

It didn't matter what he was saying anyways. That was the last thing that he remembered before he blacked out.

oooooo

"I am not gonna lock him up in some Goddamn asylum!"

Norman awoke to his mother's screaming over the phone. It wasn't uncommon for her to get upset, angry. She was known to lose her temper. This time though, there was an underlying fear, it sounded like she was panicking. It was putting him on edge.

"And I don't care what you call it! I'm not putting him away!"

Where they wanting to lock him away somewhere? He sat up, his head swimming as he tried to remember what was happening.

"You're sorry? Jesus Christ, eighty eight doctors and all you can tell me with your bullshit is…"

What had he done to need to see that many doctors? The last thing he remembered being in the bathroom, seeing the test. Did he do something after that?

"Mother?" He called, getting to his feet.

The room was spinning. He only made it to the doorway before he had to stop and hold onto the wall to steady himself. There was a sinking feeling in his stomach. There was this feeling of dread.

He proceeded down the hall with caution. The stairs were easier than he thought they would be, as long as he made sure to keep his eyes focused on the ground. There were sounds coming from the basement. Anxiety rose within him as he wondered what could be going on with his animals, his livelihood. He quickened his pace, making his way to the basement entrance as fast as he possibly could. His chest tightened, making it harder for him to breathe.

"What are you doing?" He angrily demanded as he swung open the door.

Down where his work area used to be, there was a table set. Norma walking around in her apron, serving dinner as a man sat at the table. He couldn't quite make out who it was yet.

"What's going on?" Norman questioned, more confused than anything.

Norma turned and smiled to him. "I've been calling for you. Dinner's ready," she informed him.

He got to the bottom of the stairs and saw that it was Caleb who was sitting in the chair. He was the one with the place set next to where Norma was taking her seat. That image was enough to make his blood boil.

"Come on Norman. Get over here before it gets cold," Norma urged him.

Norman went and sat down across from Norma. Both Norma and Caleb had what looked like miniature chickens on their plates with mashed potatoes. All he had was a small white bowl about half the size of his hand. It was white and the fact that it wasn't perfectly smooth left him nauseous. Inside of it was a red-ish soup.

He looked up and saw Caleb take the gravy boat and start to pour it on his plate. It all seemed to be landing at the base of the chicken, right between the legs. It was frustrating and he wasn't sure why. Maybe because it seemed like a waste?

Norman's eyes were glued to the container as Caleb handed it off to Norma.

"You took all of it!" Norma announced, visibly annoyed.

"Damn it Caleb!" She scolded, standing up from the table and slamming the glassware harshly onto the table. She stormed off, going up the stairs. He could hear her sobbing.

Caleb just sat there at the table, eating his dinner as if nothing was wrong. He didn't say anything, he didn't even look up from his plate.

Norman stood to his feet, his anger growing more and more intense. He rushed up the stairs and headed to the kitchen. He froze in the doorway, anxiety overcoming him. A cold chill traveled down his spine as his eyes scanned the empty room.

"It's okay, Norman. You took care of the problem."

He wheeled around, his eyes widening at the sight of his mother in a skimpy red, lace slip that hugged her form perfectly. There was blood splattered over most of her body, dripping from her fingertips. A sinister smirk on her face.

"Mother?" He asked, his mouth hanging agape.

Norma took another step towards him, closing the space between them. "Stop worrying so much," she said with a small laugh. "You got rid of the problem Norman. You did what you had to do."

Norma reached, cupping his face in her hands. She leaned in and planted a passionate kiss on his lips. At first Norman wanted to back away, to fight, but it was all too comfortable. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him.

He bit her bottom, taking in the little droplets of splattered blood. He wanted to question her, but it would ruin the moment. Closing his eyes, he went on for a deeper kiss, running his fingers through her blonde curls.

"Norman!"

The yell pierced through the silence, jarring Norman awake. His eyes burst open to see his mother beneath him. He couldn't tell if she looked more scared or angry. There was a weakness to her features that suddenly startled him. If she were scared, there was probably something that he should be fearing right now. It was almost instinct to him to feel that way.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Norma finally asked, her voice cracking.

This was how she woke up, him kneeling over her, his hands clamped on her shoulders. He was pinning her down, but she wasn't sure why, all she knew was that his nails were digging into her flesh and that his expressionless face was something that she would never forget.

She was down on the floor, her back feeling bruised. She would have yelled earlier, but the wind had been knocked out of her.

Norman stopped, realizing what he was doing. His entire body froze, his grip loosened.

"I-I'm sorry, mother," he said, his voice shaky.