CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: WAKING UP

I groaned as I slowly regained consciousness. A sharp pain surged through my head, making me grasp it with my right hand. It felt as though I had been hit in the head with something hard. My body felt the same. I felt somewhat weak and exhausted. I couldn't understand why. Everything didn't make any sense.

I opened my eyes to see that I was in my bedroom, lying on my back in my bed. I was wrapped nicely in my blanket. I sat up in my bed, the blanket falling to my waist. I removed it off of me and looked at myself. I was wearing a T-shirt and light blue pajama shorts. It struck me as odd. I couldn't remember dressing up in these clothes. I couldn't put my finger on it, but I felt like I was missing something very important. More like… forgetting something. I tried my best to remember, but nothing came up.

Suddenly, it hit me. I realized that my sister didn't come in to wake me up as usual. It struck me as odd at first. Mom or Dad would send her up here to wake me up most of the time. This time, that didn't happen. I tried to think of any reason for that being the case. As I thought about my sister, the memories struck me like a freight train.

A wave of sadness washed over me. Lisa had gone missing a few hours ago. I tried to think about what happened afterward. Nothing came up. Blank as a sheet of paper. I looked down at myself and tried once again to remember what happened. Nothing came up. I couldn't understand why I couldn't.

'I'll think about it later,' I thought to myself. 'I better head downstairs and see what's going on.'

With that, I hopped out of my bed. As I did, I was suddenly hit with a putrid stench. I lifted my right arm and smelled my pit to see if it was coming from me. I nearly gagged at the smell. For some reason, I smelled like I hadn't taken a shower in a very long time.

'Before I head downstairs, I'm going to take a shower first,' I thought to myself. With that, I walked over to my dresser, grabbed a new shirt and a pair of pajama shorts, and exited the bedroom, closing the door behind me. I walked across the hallway to the bathroom and went inside.

As I took off my clothing, I looked in the mirror… and stopped in my tracks. A wave of shock washed over me at what I was seeing. My body was covered in scratches and bruises. I traced a finger over one of the scratches on my right arm, one of which seemed to be slowly healing.

'What the hell?' I thought to myself. 'Why am I covered in a bunch of bruises and cuts?'

I tried to think of how this might've happened. Nothing. I came up with nothing. Confusion washed over me like water on sand. There had to be an explanation for all of this. I thought that maybe I'd slept walked and fell down the stairs. However, that didn't make any sense as I never slept walked in my life. I didn't think I did this to myself from my sleep. You can hurt yourself while tossing and turning, but not to the extent that I was in.

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't think of a logical reason for it. My head throbbed just by thinking about it. The pain didn't help me one bit either. It only made things much harder for me.

'I will think about it later,' I thought to myself. 'I should take a shower first and ask my parents if they know how this happened.'

With that, I stepped into the shower and turned it on, washing away the putrid stink from my body.


I walked into the dining room to see if my parents could explain why I looked like I had been beaten. They sat at their respective chairs at the table, like always. I looked at the empty chair that was Lisa's would sit at. I frowned at the sight. Nothing will ever be the same now that she was missing. I could only hope my father finds her quickly. It wasn't the same without her.

"Um… good morning," I said slowly. My mother and father turned in my direction. I watched as expressions of shock and relief formed on their faces.

"Mihael!" my mother cried out in pure relief, getting up from her seat. She walked over to me and wrapped me in a tight hug. "I've been so worried about you! I thought you would never wake up!"

I didn't hug back. Instead, I stayed there as my confusion spiked. What the hell did she mean that she thought I would never wake up? Was there something I was missing? I tried to wrap my head around it, but I couldn't. The relief and shock indicated that she'd been worried for me. But why?

"It's good to see you back on your feet, son," my father said. I looked at him, my confusion probably clear on my face.

"Um, yeah sure, I guess," I said slowly, my confusion reaching unbearable levels. Something clicked in my head as I remembered a few things that were important. However, one of them I had in mind felt like the most important to me. "Father, I need to know. Have you found Lisa?"

My mother tensed up, my father looking at me with a blank expression, though his eyes betrayed him. I stared at him, waiting for what he would do. I really wanted to pray that he did, but deep down within me, something told me that he didn't. Finding a missing child was like finding a needle in a haystack.

A wave of sadness washed over me as I realized something. Lisa was now part of the list of kids that had now gone missing in the Mega Pizzaplex. It was a nightmare that was slowly coming true. Why did something like that have to happen to us like so many of the families who had lost their kids? It wasn't fair. And it wasn't right.

My father looked me in the eyes as my mother released me from the hug.

"I'm sorry, Mihael, but I have found no sign of Lisa," my father replied. "Now, I need to ask you something important."

"Okay, what is it?" I asked, curious as to what he wanted to ask me.

"Do you remember anything of the other night?" he asked in a very serious tone. "Like, do you remember what happened shortly after we came home from the Pizzaplex after Lisa went missing?"

I stared at him, blinking a few times as the words slowly clicked in my brain. I thought about it, trying to recall any memories that might've happened that night, tapping my chin as I did. Nothing. I came up with nothing. I tried many times, but I couldn't. It didn't help that my head throbbed at every attempt.

I decided to try remembering anything prior to that. I figured I might find a clue or something that could help me. Just like the many previous attempts, I came up with nothing. I mentally growled in frustration. None of this made any sense. The only thing I could come up with was going to the Pizzaplex and doing God knows what over there. I tried to remember what we did, but nothing came to mind.

I stopped tapping my chin and looked down at the floor. None of this added up. Why did my father want to know what happened? It's not like anything important happened. All I remember was going to bed and sleeping. Next thing I knew, I woke up covered in scratches and bruises. It was something that caused this to happen. But what?

"Mihael?" came my father's voice, snapping me out of my thoughts. I looked up from the floor at him.

"No," I replied. "I don't remember anything. All I know was that we came home, went to bed, and the next thing I knew, I woke up and looked in the mirror of the bathroom to see myself covered in scratches and bruises."

An expression of disappointment and grief formed on my father's face. I had no idea what he was so upset about. The idea that I couldn't remember anything or was it something else entirely? There was something going on here, and I wasn't too fond of that not even a tiny bit.

"I see," he said simply. "That's all I wanted to know."

"Good to know," I said. "And speaking of which, do you have any idea why I'm covered in scratches and bruises? I look like I had gotten the shit beaten out of me. And to top it off, why does my head hurt like I had just been hit in the back of the head with a baseball bat?"

My mother and father looked at each other, strange expressions on their faces. I couldn't tell what was going on in their head, but I didn't have a good feeling about it. I couldn't help but wonder if they were hiding something from me. But what was the question? I really wanted the answers to the questions that were swimming in my head like crazy.

"I… have no idea, son," my father replied.

"We found you like that yesterday," my mother added. "We can't explain it either."

I looked at them, arching an eyebrow as I did. That didn't make any sense whatsoever. How could they not know when they found me like this? I wanted to question it, but something told me that there was no way in hell I was going to get any answers. It would be better to not question it.

"Okay…" I said slowly. Something clicked in my head. My mother said something about finding me like this yesterday. I couldn't help but wonder what day it was. I had a feeling that something was not right. "Hey, do you guys know what day it is today? I feel like it's Sunday, but something tells me it isn't."

They looked at each other again for a moment. I waited to see what they were going to do. I didn't have to wait long. An expression of realization formed on their faces.

"Son, today's Monday," my father replied. "You better get ready for school. Your 3-day suspension is over."

My eyes widened at what he said. Monday?! Today is Monday?! That means I slept for the entirety of Sunday! That didn't make any sense whatsoever. How could that have happened?! I wanted to ask, but I decided against it. I had a feeling they wouldn't tell me anything anyway.

"Okay," I said. With that, I ran back upstairs to get ready for school for the first time in 5 days.


*A FEW HOURS LATER*

I drove down the road leading outside of town, needing to clear my head after all that's happened today. School just ended just a few minutes ago, and to be honest, it wasn't the worst day, but it was rough after what I had to deal with. It was a nightmare.

When I got to school, I was expecting Kenny Wilds to start picking on me, like he usually did. It was his favorite thing to do first thing in the morning. It was like he had nothing better to do in his life. To be honest, I found it to be incredibly sad.

However, that didn't happen. I asked a few kids around if they knew where Kenny was. According to them, his dad sent him to boot camp because of what he did back at the Pizzaplex. They asked me if I knew anything about it. I told them no since I hadn't him seen since Tuesday when I beat him, which led to my suspension.

That is where the day went rough. People asked me about my account of what happened that day. I told them I had no idea what they were talking about. A few kids insisted that they saw me that day, but I just brushed them off. They were probably confusing me for someone else.

If that wasn't bad enough, they gave me their condolences for what happened to my sister. Some of those kids happened to be friends of Kenny. I told them that I appreciated it, even as I tried to hide my frustrations about it. It was nice that people cared about what happened, but I didn't want to be told about it all the time.

For the entire day, I had people constantly asking me about Kenny, all the while giving me their sympathies about Lisa. All of it had been taking a toll on my psyche. The memories of when I found out she wasn't in the bathroom and had disappeared replayed in my mind. Eventually, I lost it and told them to stop. Thankfully, they did, although they gave me sympathetic looks. I was grateful when the final bell rang, signaling the end of the day.

I drove for about a mile before I stopped my truck. I hopped out, slamming the door shut behind me. I walked about a good 50 feet in the field before stopping. I sat down on the grass and looked up at the sky. I sighed as the wind brushed against my face.

I thought about all that's happened over the past few days. It was crazy to think that anything like this could happen. It was very upsetting that I couldn't remember anything. It didn't help that I couldn't remember what happened during my 3-day suspension. I could remember helping my mother out around the house, but when I tried to think about what happened afterward, there was nothing. It was like my brain erased all of the memories of what happened over the last few days.

Of course, I remember how I acted at the dinner table when they told me that they were going to have Lisa's birthday be celebrated at the Pizzaplex. It didn't help that they kept it a secret from me as well. I cringed at how I acted. I could've handled that much better, but of course, I didn't.

My worst nightmare came true when she went missing. I remembered telling my father about it. Then nothing. Everything was a blur and I couldn't remembered what took place after that. That was the part that infuriated me the most. It was like my brain refused to help me remember or it was choosing to forget. I was not too fond of it one tiny bit.

The wind brushed against my face, soothing the frustrations that were building up. I closed my eyes for a few moments as it soothed me. I sighed as I opened my eyes, looking around the field. I was amazed by it. The way the grass flowed in the wind made it look like ripples in a pond.

As I did, I thought about what happened this morning. How I woke up and went to the bathroom to see myself covered in scratches and bruises, how my parents acted and looked like they were hiding a very important detail from me. I didn't question it because I didn't see any point. I had a feeling they were going to dodge all of my questions and tell me something very fucking stupid.

I wished I knew what it was that they were hiding from me. What was so bad about it that they made up the excuse that they didn't know what happened to me that could've ended with me getting all of these bruises and cuts. Something big was going on and I wished I knew what it was. However, I had a feeling that even if I asked, they wouldn't tell me.

'Might as well not think about it,' I thought to myself. 'I better head home before they begin to worry about me.'

I got back on my feet and began walking back to my truck to begin the journey home.


I pulled into the driveway before turning the engine off. I sighed as the rough day of school was finally catching up to me, a slight wave of exhaustion washing over me. The idea of taking a small nap after taking a shower was appealing to me. It was something I did whenever I came home from school. I didn't do it all the time, but on most days, I did it to recharge my batteries.

I turned to my left and saw my dad's police cruiser sitting there in the driveway. A wave of confusion washed over me. Never in all my time coming home did he ever come home early. He usually came home around the time Lisa did. Something didn't add up. What the hell was going on?

I got out of my truck, slamming the door behind me. I walked over to the front porch and stepped over to the door. I opened it and was surprised to find it unlocked. My mother always made it a habit to lock the door even when she was home. A red flag went off in my head. Something was up and I didn't like it one bit.

I opened the door and stepped inside, placing my backpack on the floor. I looked around, trying to see if I could catch sight of my parents anywhere. My eyes focused on the dining room. My father was sitting in his usual chair, only he had a bunch of paperwork lying on the table.

Curiosity washed over me, wondering what he was doing. He seemed to be very focused, not paying much attention to the world around him. I knew my father took his job as the police chief of Hurricane very seriously, but this was the most serious I had ever seen him.

I walked over to my father, the man not even acknowledging my presence whatsoever. I stopped about a foot away from him and stayed where I was for a moment, wanting to see if he would turn around to look at me. He didn't. I tapped him on the shoulder. He flinched before turning his head in my direction.

"Oh, hey son," he said casually.

"Hey, Dad," I said. I looked at the paperwork. "What's all of this stuff for?"

He looked away, turning his attention to the papers. He stared at them for a moment before a low sigh escaped his mouth. He turned to look at me, his face filled with stress and determination. I waited for what he was going to say. I hoped he would tell me what this was all about, though something told me that he was going to do no such thing.

"Son, I know you're worried about your sister, and I miss her as much as you do," he began to say. "However, what I am doing right now is something very important and serious. It has something to do with what has been going on. I wish I could tell you, but I don't want to stress you out with it. Everything is going to be okay once it's all said and done.

"Right now, I want you to focus on yourself and not worry about anything. If you have any homework and stuff that you missed over the last 3 days, please go to your room and do it. I need to get this ready before the due date."

I stared at him for a moment, his words sinking in. There were so many questions I wanted to ask him that begged to be answered right now. I wanted to know what he was doing, but judging from his expression, he wasn't going to tell me anything. Plus, I could tell he was in that mode where he didn't want to be distracted. Being distracted was the last thing he needed.

"I understand," I said. With that, I turned and walked out of the dining room, hoping that everything would be okay from this point on.