Mama's Boy

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[TW: Death, Grief, and Implications of Child Abuse]
Based on my Gareth Emerson headcanons on Tumblr (modern-greek-tragedy)
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     It was cold out.

     Autumn had come the town of Hawkins, Indiana, and ten-year-old Gareth Emerson found himself awake very deep into the night of November 1st. He had a very scary nightmare. He looked over at the bed that was across the room to see if his twin brother, Graham, had woken up as well, but he had not.

     Gareth's nerves were sky-high. He had seen the biggest, scariest monster he had ever seen crawling like a wild, decrepit animal over his mother's bed, looming over her with a savage hunger. He had to go check on her.

     He lept as quietly as he could from his bed to not wake his brother before quickly making his way down the hall, his spiderman footie pajamas absorbing the sound of his footsteps and making him almost completely silent.

     As he crept all the way down the first flight of stairs and made it to the basement floor landing, a soft, barely audible "Bubba?" Came from behind him. Gareth looked up to see Graham at the top of the the stairs in his Superman pajamas and clutching one of two of their matching teddy bears. He had woken up when he sensed his brother leave the room "Where are you going?"

     Gareth waved his brother away and shot an angry whisper up at his identical boy "I had a nightmare and I'm just gonna go check on Mama. Go back to bed!"

     Graham looked immediately worried at the prospect of their mother being hurt "Is she ok?"

     Gareth sighed "I'm sure she is, I just wanna check."

     "I'm coming with you! I'm scared!"

     "You're 10. Don't be a baby."

     "I'm not a bab-!"

     Gareth shushed his brother by putting his finger to his own lip "Hush! You're gonna wake someone up!"

     "Grandma and Grandpa aren't here! They're working in Utah, idiot!"

     Gareth sighed and rolled his eyes, not wanting to fight this battle right now "Fine. You can come, but be quiet!"

     The soft sound of quick padded footsteps echoed through the house for a brief moment.

     Gareth stared at Graham as he stood next to him, the Superman clad boy was biting the skin of his fingers with anxiety. Graham had no real concept of the word quiet it seemed. But Gareth didn't have time to dwell on it too much. He had to go check on his mom.

     Gareth walked to the other end of the basement towards his mom's room, Graham in tow. He hesitated briefly when he saw a soft lamp light glowing from under the door. Was she awake?

     He didn't know the feeling he was experiencing, but it made goosebumps appear all over his body. He was scared now. It was like he had eaten something that made his tummy hurt. Something ominous.

     "Mama?" He called softly towards the door.

     No response. Just eerie silence. The feeling in his stomach got worse.

     Graham grabbed onto Gareth's sleeve as they moved closer to the door, but Gareth didn't even try to push him away. He was scared too.

     Gareth pushed gently on the wooden door "Mama?" He called out again. The light of the lamp blinded him for a moment before-

     Before-

     "Gareth? Gareth? Take some deep breaths now, ok?"

     Gareth snapped his head towards Ms. Kelly, sweat beginning to bead down his forehead as he gripped the brown leather chair until his knuckles were white.