Travel:Rewritten

Chapter Twelve

Blank's Regret

"Son..."

"Help me..."

Blank heard his mother cry out for his help. He covered his ears in fear. Tonight he would be reliving the same nightmare. The day he lost his mother. The nightmare began.

His mother chocked before speaking.

A group of people had decided they had waited long enough on that night. While Blank's mother had been looking for food around town, they had grabbed her and forced her outside of the village. They had walked for hours, not stopping until stopping at a cave in the middle of a forest. Blank had followed them from behind, making as little noise as possible. When they entered the cave, torches out and ready to light, Blank stayed on the very edge of the entrance.

Peaking inside, he could see them beat her. They used sticks and rocks, the wildest ones using their own bodies to harm her.

She screamed, not stopping. She cried in pain. She begged them to let her go. To untie her. She cried out about her son, of how he was likely waiting for her.

One of the men stepped forward, stepping on her stomach.

"Well then, we wouldn't want to seperate a loving family would we? What do you lot say?" he looked at his peers, all of them shaking their heads in sarcasm.

A woman in the back sneered.

"I know! Tell us where your dear son is, that way you can both go together!"

The rest of the group cheered. They clapped in approval.

Blank saw his mom's eyes cloud, like she was contemplating if she should take their offer.

After a moment of thought, she shook her head violently.

"Don't you dare touch my boy!" she scowled in rage.

Blank stared at her mother in shock. After everything he had done to her, she still loved him. He had denied being related to her. He had often left her for days to look for a new home, always coming back in failure. He had screamed at her, taking out all his sorrow and regret on her. Yet despite all that, she always did her best to bond with him, always putting a smile. No matter how rough things got, she kept being strong, for him.

"Despite your illness! Despite me saying I hate you! Why, why won't you hate me!" Blank began to cry.

The man from earlier laughed at his mother.

"You don't get it, do you?"

"Huh?"

"Why do you think we brought you all the way here? Do you think we randomly picked this spot. No. This isn't our first time, and it won't be the last." he gestured around the cave. For the first time Blank saw it.

The entire cave was stained in splashes of crimson red.

Over the years Blank had seen all of the people like him slowly decrease in numbers. He had never understood why.

Until now.

"Those people, no, those monsters!"

Blank saw his mother grow pale. Her body began to drip with sweat.

"Don't tell me! All of those people...by your hands!" she screamed in rage.

"Oh, but that's not all."

Both his mother and him tensed.

"All these years, we've seen your son. We know how hard he tries to be normal. He's dumped you so many times we lost count. But despite that, the kid's a coward. He couldn't live without you. If, say, you were ever kidnapped, you can bet he'd follow from behind. Like a dog chasing their owner!"