early edition -bennoda

chapter five

Here's where things start to get tricky.
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A young Mike Shinoda stood at his front door, ringing the doorbell over and over, but no one answered.

No one ever answered.

He sighed in frustration, had his parents passed out again?

After awhile, he figured out no one was going to let him in, and he dug the spare key his parent gave him for emergencies out of his backpack, and unlocked the door with it, calling out to his parents.

He didn't get an answer.

He made his way through the house,  continuing to call for them, still not getting an answer.

He was worried.

Something was wrong.

As he walked down the hall, he could hear the water in the bathroom running on full blast.

"Mom?" He yelled, his high pitched voice cutting through the warm air.

Finally getting to the door, he put his ear against it, his small hands shaking as he placed his palms against the door for balance.

At first, he thought his parent must've been fighting, they always turned the water on to drown out the harsh words they threw at each other.

But he didn't hear any arguing, and there wasn't any sign of them in the house, so why was the water running?

His reached up for the doorknob with shaky hands, not knowing what he was about to lay his eyes on.

He wanted to call out as he entered the room, but he was breathless.

Water was all over the bathroom floor, and it was still running.

He took a few steps forward, his feet splashing in the puddles as he walked closer to the bathtub.

He saw something he wouldn't ever be able to un-see.

It was his mother, she was blindfolded, gagged, her hands were tied behind her back, and she was underwater.

She wasn't moving.

Mike stood in shock, his eyes wide as his six year old mind tried to process the scene in front of him.

He screamed, running out of the bathroom.

He needed his dad.

His dad would help.

He ran back down the hallway, his wet shoes pattering on the carpet.

Banging on his parents bedroom door as loud as he could, he stopped when he heard his dad scream at him to go away.

Mike was choking on his own spit and tears as he pleaded for his dad to open the door, to help his mom.

There was a click, and the door handle turned.

"God damnit Michael, why couldn't you have just stayed at school?" was the last thing Mike Shinoda heard before his world went black.

Nineteen year old Mike Shinoda woke with a start.