Chapter 6: Broken

"DAD!"

"MOM!"

The hysterical screams throughout the house forced Ronald and Martha awake. They both glanced at each other with worry, that voice was unmistakably their son's.

"Stay here, I'll be back." Ronald whispered to his wife as he instinctively took out his gun hidden underneath his side of the bed. It was hidden in a secret compartment for easier access.

He didn't bother dressing as he cautiously stepped outside the door, half naked.

He found Martha following behind him in her night dress. One look in her eye told him all he needed to know. I'm not staying back while Natalie is in danger. she was defiantly accompanying him to the unknown. She held the torch behind him as they advanced prudently towards the bedroom opposite there's, at the end of the corridor.

Lucas was suspiciously quiet considering he was screaming a few minutes ago. Suddenly something crashed against them making them lose their balance. Ronald caught his footing rather quickly, saving his wife behind him from a certain calamity; the steep stairs looming behind her would have been the end of her.

Martha herself found her arms grabbed in a tight vice, she immediately recognized it wasn't her husbands hands. She took an aggressive stance ready to defend herself, but her husband grabbed the fallen touch to illuminate the identity of their assaulter.

"What the fuck are you doing in the middle of the night, Lucas? You almost killed your mother." Ronald angrily at his son, seen his wife almost taking a flight down the stairs.

Lucas ignored his dad and spoke to his mother in panic.

"It's Nat, she is dying, I don't know what happening, I need you to save her please." Tears of desperation and grief oozed out of him, his dastardly state invoked trepidation in both parent's heart. There eyes apprehensively stared towards Natalia's room.

Lucas didn't need anymore as they both ran to their daughters aid, at their arrival they weren't prepared to bear the sight in front of them.

Natalia was sprawled down the carpeted floor convulsing violently, frothing white cream pouring out from her mouth, and her burning fever they could almost feel a few feet away.

Martha felt the world rotating in her mind, her body slumping down in shock. Ronald felt lightheaded for a while then recovered from sheer will. Ronald don't panic, you got to do something and fast. First, I have to wake up Martha.

His wife's panicked state won't do them any good so he approached her and slapped her to lucidity, "Martha, gather your bearings, she'll die before we do anything about it. You have been doing this almost your whole life, so do what you know best, save her life."

Her husbands words forced her to compose from her self. She immediately closed the distance knelt and observed and confirmed her daughter's body condition, pulse and heart rate. High fever, shallow breathing, foaming and froth, erratic heartbeats. I don't like where this is going. She thought as she perused the area searching for proof to her conjecture. She might be wrong, but the diagnosis and situation matched with what every loved one dreaded. Suicide.

Lucas approached her, and handed her a bottle of pills, "I found her with this."

Martha held it like a chalice of poison and it frighteningly was after confirming its purpose. It was labelled Ibuprofen, pain killers that meant to take away physical pain, but her baby used it for another kind of pain. Her heart felt constricted and heavy, the world felt heavy and suffocating.

Ronald was vomiting where he was standing, even he couldn't take in such devastating news. Lucas wasn't astute on what he was experiencing.

Time waited for no one, and Martha was well aware of that, she slapped her cheeks which were quiet red from the previous one. Take slow breathes Martha. In and out. Don't think too much about the why's and how's. Well get our answers at a later date. Her rationality kicked in with positive thoughts, At least I know the probable cause for a proper diagnostic. It's a God sent iI stored a few Naloxone meds.

"Quickly hold her down as I get the emergency kit from the basement, and Lucas call 911 immediately." she left instructions to both of them as she ran downstairs. Lucas restrained his sister's erratic movement while straddling her. His father held her tongue in her mouth to prevent her from swallowing it.

It was a quiet moment between father and son, a rare occasion forced by the whims of tragedy.

"How did you know?" Ronald asked as he looked at Lucas.

Is he asking me how I knew she was killing herself. Lucas mused, I honestly don't know how to answer that question myself.

***

(His mind went back to a few minutes ago, back at his room, he was experiencing a premonition, or hallucination in the form of a single tomb occupying his memories. He couldn't see the name of the deceased, but her withered bones whispered in grunting tones busting his eardrums, the scent of rotting flesh tried to mimic the familial scent he could identify, but his nasal cavity were on fire. He tried to pry with his vision, but his eyes exploded. It was a vicious retaliation to his unholy attempts of scrying the unrevealed. He tried digging the grave towards her remains, but his fingers bled, lacerated into a thousand cuts. Dust turns to dust, why gather it.

The pain was immense, but fruitfully it enacted an epiphany on what he needed to know. Natalia was drowning, it was dark and she couldn't escape her confines, but he could intimately sense her dwindling life force even though she was far away from the hearth of the living. The material realm couldn't explain what he experienced with his soul heart -a random name to this mysterious phenomena. The ephemeral fragments of her essence remained in him resonating with her dimming pieces of herself. He didn't sense her in blood, but in soul. Two entirely different concepts of existential connection.

When he woke up, he understood what the ether was telling him, she was dying, and he needed ran to her aid.

Though he didn't arrive as a hero, but a villain intent to keep her alive selfishly. He could see it in her eyes, the cold flame growing in the moisture of the timber stored in her fireless soul, her spark dimming to a lower intensity, realizing she couldn't escape this hell.)

***

Ronald wondered what Lucas was staring at blankly at the air, was he ignoring him? but his curiosity would be unquenched it seemed.

I'm a failure of a father. He thought. His daughter was dying and he wasn't even aware. I don't want to say it, but I'm glad this bastard was there for her.

"Thank you," Ronald barely forced those words out. Lucas flinched from the unexpected gratitude from his father. His blue eyes stared unto Ronald with scrutiny.

"Why the thanks?" Lucas whispered, but it was audible enough for anyone to hear.

Ronald raised a brow in confusion, "Well, you saved her."

"That I know, but it's unnerving to receive your insincere words, that we both know is just a way to console yourself from guilt." Lucas's irrefutable memories backed his statement, since childhood his father never approved or a nod to anything he did. He did his best in everything available from sports to studies, trying to gain his, parents attention, but it went unnoticed even with his best efforts.

Ronald was surprised by the logical deduction to his thought process, now he truly gave Lucas a good look. 'Isn't he too mature for his age. What happened to him.'

His words to his father wasn't baseless (Was death just mischievous in nature, or was it naivety deep within it's ancient sockets. Sometimes when you don't value something, you lose it, but why does death always have to be the arbitrary of something we thought to be inconsequential. The vagueness of permanency overruling the tangibility of temporality leading to a constant cycle of debts never to be paid, or words that needed to be said are left forsaken.)

Lucas felt no need to she'd tears, he did that for a long time. Regret was temporary, but rectifying your mistakes with substantial actions, was his way of internal resolution.

They clearly new their forceful integration of ideas and principals unto their daughter's fresh mindset would backfire, or maybe they didn't mind it at all.

Though, Lucas felt hypocritical to look down on their incorrigible nature, How can I judge them when she came me to lean on, but I destroyed even that by humiliating her, He remembered her last expression, it wasn't of disappointment towards him, but resignation.

Their two men's internal thoughts were interrupted by the familiar footsteps. Natalia was at the moment of critical danger. Ronald and Lucas struggled holding her down without harming her in turn.

Martha arrived with a red emergency medical kit in hand, both sighed from relief as gathered the required items from the kit. Martha struggled getting the right vein to administer the dosage of Naloxone, but in the end she succeeded.

For now they just had to wait. The girl's imminent demise paused, her movements decreased, her breathe returned to normalcy and her eyelids fluttered momentarily as her green eyes peeked through. Then she went unconscious.

The blaring siren of the ambulance was nigh after Martha completed her task in perfect timing with the medics arrival. Natalia condition was stabilized for the moment.

"I've given her a dosage of Naloxone, it's enough to neutralize the overdose, but she'll still need further treatment back at hospital," she said as she hugged her husband, she looked down at the pills that almost took her daughter away from her.

The paramedics moved her to a stretcher and escorted her to the ambulance. The police were busy questioning all the involved parties and they were needed to write down a report at the police department.

Ronald decided to visit the station while Martha left with the ambulance to hospital. Lucas decided to stay back. He felt like he wasn't needed there. A woman in her mid 20's approached him. He was suspicious at first but she showed her badge to assuage his caution.

"Hey, can I have a moment of time to spare."

"Well, I don't think I have anything to say to you, my parents will be back, they can answer your inquiries," It was a polite was of saying "Fuck off".

The woman inwardly grumbled, but she wasn't going to give up this temporary opportunity.

"You can call me Jennifer, and I work as a private detective. Would you mind me asking you some few questions. I swear it won't be long."

Lucas quipped his brow in disinterest, he just had other things to do. Her presence was a nuisance to him, but he couldn't be disrespectful, "And what would those questions entail of?,"

"I specialize in cases concerning child abuse and suicide," Lucas started becoming vigilant, and Jennifer quickly assured him, "Don't worry, your not in trouble, or either your parents. I just want to investigate your sister's background and living conditions to ascertain the probable cause of her suicidal attempt."

"The laws clearly dictates that a law enforcement officer cannot question a minor without a parental or legal representative present." Lucas wasn't stupid enough to believe that she approached him right away coincidentally when his parent's were away.

"It's good you know your laws pretty well, but am pretty invested in this particular case, and I implore you, that you will willingly cooperate with me with the evidence I possess." She stepped closer to him, she was as tall as him, but more imposing. Her whole demeanor shifted as she stared right into his eyes like she could see everything about him, "Lucas Arnold, I've seen plenty of your kind, and all of them have a certain something they hide from others in a well built façade, but you can't hide from me."

Lucas stepped back and surveyed the streets, it was still dark at 4.00 a.m. so no one was there to witness this domineering play. He stepped backwards the same time she took a step forward. He wanted to scream, but something told him that's a bad idea.

"You have an idea of why your sister did what she did. Most traumatic triggers are mostly caused by external influences." There was an immense theme of hatred in her voice as she mentioned common knowledge, she backed Lucas at a corner as he leaned on the wall of the house, "Especially from humans been the cruelest entities ever. So Lucas can you indulge me on the identities of your tormentors"

Tormentors? Why is she including me, I've never seen her, and its been awhile since that day, only my mother knows. Somethings up with this Lady. His thoughts tried to see her game play.

"Alfred, that the person your looking for. Its public knowledge of what he did, so can you please give me a rest, before I sue you" Lucas threw her a bone to bite, but her smile creeped him out. She was aware of his ruse, but it seems, she barely noticed it.

"That's true, but he wasn't involved in the creation of a false master piece you are now." She took a whiff of him as she slowly and deliberately a dragged her words. Her eyes roamed his naked chest up to his boxers as she mumbled, " I don't see any physical attestation to any form of abuse in your body.

"Mrs. Detective, this is bordering on evasion of privacy, your superiors won't appreciate your actions against a minor" Lucas scowled in warning.

"That would lead to a bad ending for both us sweetheart, so don't blame me for doing this", before Lucas could decipherer her words, she apprehended him with his hands at his back pushed face first against he brick wall. Am I being arrested, is this bitch insane or what. He thought amidst the abrupt violence.

Though he was wrong as he didn't feel the foreign coldness of handcuffs, but her opening up the bandages enclosed entirely on his wrists.

FUCK!, FUCK!, FUCK!, FUCK!, FUCK!, FUCK!, FUCK... something broke in the boy. That was one thing he didn't want any living soul to know about.

Jennifer could feel the rabid animal in her arms trying to escape, but she was strong enough to resist. Lucas's eyes turned crimson with a hungering will to murder, veins throbbed overwhelmingly adorning his visage in a frightful image.

***

(Those bandages covered the broken tales of a failing poet hidden from all forms of perspective intuition. Was it the machinations of shame or anger driving him to lyric such atrocities, we wouldn't know. Tapestries of a corrupted will; squeezed to form the medium in the form of ink with pain been the quill. The body was the appropriate canvas to write his unholy rhymes of damnation.)

***

Jennifer saw it all, underneath the pretty boy hid untold horrors. "If this is what injustice does to you, why don't you fight back instead of cutting yourself a million times to vent your pain."

She took her phone out, and took a photo of the cuts and scars marring his wrists upwards. She felt honored in a sick way to notice this child's secret that was out in the open but no one bothered to see.

Lucas stood up slowly, and wound back the bandages in place. The fierce temper he had, a moment ago was no where to be seen. Jennifer felt a tingle at her spine as he looked at her. There was no light in his eyes.

"Was that enough," he asked coldly.

"Enough of what, I don't get you." Confused by his inquiry, she asked back.

"Is that enough for you to leave me alone," he pointed at her phone, referring to the evidence of his masochistic tendencies.

She sighed ruefully as she approached him. This time he didn't flinch from her presence, she inwardly nodded in understanding. She knew what she did was irrevocable, but it was necessary.

"Once I had a sister," she started taking off her coat as she spoke, " she was my mentor and mother of sorts."

Lucas found himself covered with her robe, it was a strange gesture from her. She stepped back exposing herself to the cold with a thin shirt as she finished her narration, " She was there then she wasn't."

She finished her story prematurely. Lucas felt disappointed, though he was still furious of the information held against him if he tried acting against her wishes.

"What I mean is that, things change from unexpected circumstances we have no control over, moving on is a hard enough for some of us, but prolonging your suffering is far from relieving yourself from what your escaping. Blood might be thicker than water, but 6 foot under the ground is more shittier. I understand your need to protect your parents, but stability is what lead your sister In this path." She was speaking from experience, and her supposed sister was the cause of her need to provoke him, he wasn't amused at all.

" I understand all of that, but why should I care." His response to her lecture was disappointing as to say, "that," he said pointing at her phone, can be used against my interest in the guise of "helping me to the best of my interest; that's legitimately using me as a fool for your satisfaction, and you know that."

"Its insulting enough to my intelligence to use your own self impaired one, to target my sisters circumstance to further your cause, in the need to prove your flawed sense of justice. So please leave her out of it, for your own and our sakes.

Lucas wasn't nearly finished with her, since he couldn't beat this woman, his mouth was a good enough punch, "I'll confess it was her negligence to pit her hopes on undeserving bastards, who by the way should be locked up by now. She was stupid and naïve to trust any of them.

Jennifer was astonishingly surprised by his presumed traits of her goals as he continued.

"I don't know your vibe, but take us out of your equation, if you want to use that evidence, its your choice, but know this, I won't cooperate with you in any single way, my words will be against yours."

His words couldn't further shocked Jennifer, but she had to she had to let it out in exclaimation, "Wow."

She started speaking with a finger held against her bottom lip, "The thing Lucas, is that you got me all wrong from the start."

"Am I starting to think that you're the insane one here?" Lucas responded back in doubt. Her goals weren't straightforward as he thought.

The freckles in her face really suited her, she wasn't as beautiful as his sister and Deborah, but close enough. Lucas appreciated her cocky attitude at first which he wouldn't say it aloud, but now he was getting a bad vibe from her. It reminded him of his ex-best friend.

"I'm not trying to save you, but am trying to make you realize what you are." She spoke with pity, befuddling him.

He almost bashed his head in the ground from frustration, he was infuriated by her unveiling his deepest secret, she was too strong to fight against. He wiped his face roughly with his hands, he felt deflated.

The orange rays piercing the fresh clouds of a new bloom of day saw the neighbors waking up ready for the day. He decided to end this monstrously confusing conversation.

" I think we've talked enough, you better leave. I can't escort you out since you know, where ready out." Lucas told her with a dull joke, as he turned back to enter the house.

"I'll tell you one thing Lucas, take it as advice from your big sister. The first time is always hard, the rest won't become any easier." Jennifer said then left with a statement that would eat fir days to come.

10 minutes later, he came out of the shower drenched. He walked up to his bed and sat down, holding his head while staring at the floor in thought.

-I'm not trying to save you, but am trying to make you realize what you are Jennifer's previous words made him think about his persona. Was their a hidden part of him he refused to even acknowledge. Was it fear or something else driving him not to accept it. He couldn't broach this subject with a muddled mind.

He took a look at the dresser and picked up the gun, his fathers gun a Sig Sauer P226 precisely. Its wooden and metallic architecture made it look like a tool to end all injustice, though justice could be viewed through different lenses. Lucas knew what to do after lightly hitting his left temple a couple of times with the butt of the gun. He slowly raised it slowly raised it eye level with himself then pulled the trigger. There was only silence after, only the mirror version of him looked back, and he could see the thing jennifer mentioned, staring back at him. They both smiled malevolently.