The Incident

2

I'm practically crawling home because I no longer have the energy to walk on my own two feet.

I'm in pain.

So much pain.

The chemical has sunk into my sink and now it's like little knives cutting through my veins and every cell is shattering itself and matching up with all the wrong pieces. Shatter. Match. Repeat.

When I get to the apartment, I slump against the door.

"Who's there?" Ethan asks. He's right behind the door.

"Ethan, open the door," I say. The edges of my vision are blurring into red. "Please."

"Hmmm. What's the password?"

"Ethan!"

The door clicks open and Ethan rolls out of the way. He stares down at me, perplexed. "What are you doing on the floor?"

I peel myself from the welcome mat and I must have stood up too quickly because the world hazes and mixes into itself and I'm dizzy and suddenly nauseous.

I stumble to the bathroom and hurl into the toilet.

It feels like fire coming up my throat and it's scorching and burning but I can't stop. I'm throwing up lunch, breakfast, and even yesterday's dinner. What was that thing?

Ethan is watching me.

"Are you... Okay?" He pauses. "You're not drunk, are you?"

"Shut up."

"Yup. You're drunk. Parents have only been gone for a few hours and you're already drunk out of your mind." He points an accusing finger at me. "Your not even old enough to drink."

I almost laugh. The pain is subsiding. I'm still alive.

"Has mom called you?" I ask, flushing the toilet. I move to wash my face in the sink and turn on the tap. "Are they already there?"

"Yes, she said she called you first. But you weren't answering." He says. He's wheeling himself back and forth, his curly hair swishing over his eyes. "Probably getting drunk."

I glare at his reflection through the mirror over the sink. "I was not getting drunk!"

"Sure. So, what? 'Your phone was on silent?'"

"I wish I could put you on silent." I wipe my face with cold water.

"No need for aggression."

"Shut up."

"Nice one."

"Isn't it past your bedtime?"

Ethan turns a bit pink and narrows his eyes at my smug face. He scoffs and rolls away and I manage to roll my eyes.

I pull out my phone.

7 missed calls from 'mom'

Shit.

I don't think I have the strength to answer all her questions so I sigh and switch off my phone.

I'm about to leave the bathroom, when from the corner of my vision, something blurs in the bathroom window, so fast that I question if it was ever there.

Suddenly, I realize that I am too aware of everything. Everything seems so bright and loud. I notice the spider crawling down the bathroom wall. The dripping of the tap dad said he could fix, the creaking of floorboards when Ethan wheels over them. The world is suddenly loud and obvious and too slow and too loud and I catch everything all at once.

I'm going to have a headache.

I blink and shake my head. What was in that thing?

"Y/N" Ethan calls me from the kitchen.  I can hear the slight clinking of plates and the drip of the tap.

"Yeah?" I call back. I'm still staring at the window, a bit more on edge than usual. My senses are on fire. Whatever that chemical was has some sort of side effect.

"Where is all the stuff you bought?"

"Um..."The fan is too loud. The wind is too loud. The floors are too loud. Why is everything so loud? A headache like a million needles is pricking at my skull, not enough to break, but enough to leave painful sudden cracks into my sanity. "I'll get them tomorrow."

"Cause you were drunk today?"

"I-" I sigh. What other explanation do I have? "Yes, I was getting drunk today."

"I knew it!"

I take hold of the handles of his wheelchair and lead him to his room. "Yes, your right, you're very smart. You caught me."

"It's okay, though." He says, I lift him into bed. "I know you don't really get the time to be a teenager because of me."

I sit beside him. "What?

"You know, you don't go out with friends, don't party. It's cause you're taking care of me." He smiles at me. It's big and shiny like the sun and my heart melt. "You can drink if you want to."

I smile and lean in to kiss his forehead. "Good night," I whisper. "I love you."

I don't expect him to respond because he never responds. He's in this preteen stage of his life were saying 'I-love-you' Is cringe. But I know he loves me and I don't need a reply.

I'd already left and closed the door behind me when I hear it. It's small and gets carried away by the wind outside, and if my senses weren't going weird, I wouldn't have heard it.

"I love you, too. Y/N."

I let out a sigh.

This boy is my life.

I head to my room to fall asleep before my head explodes. Something flashes in the periphery of my vision. I whirl around, almost catching it.

Nothing.

I stand there. Staring at my living room. Watching. Waiting.

A whisper.

Thudding feet.

It's official.

Someone's in my house.

I slowly cross over to the door to check if it's locked and I'm about to turn around when-

Pain.

Stinging and sharp and quick.

I yank the dart out of my calf, then my new abilities are no longer working, everything is too slow, and I'm too slow and I'm falling to the ground in slow motion.

My vision blurs and my head feels too heavy for my body.

"Donnie!"

"What?"

Then darkness.

~•~•~•~

Second chapter

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