Theo

I painfully gather myself together, my steady breaths still haunted by his doing. Did he burn her? Is the only question that attacks my mind, and the fury dancing in my blood comes more alive at the fact that I do not know the answer. I run out of the room, and out of the building, where I search around agitatedly for something to get to where I need to be. My eyes finally stop on a man with a helmet on sticking the keys into the ignition of a motorcycle.

"Hi, um, there's a woman down there. Around that corner; she said she has a surprise for the guy with the red helmet on the all black motorbike, and that I should call you over to her."

"A surprise?"

"Yeah, she looked very excited. I'd get down there if I was you. I offered to look after your helmet and the bike, so you don't have to worry about that."

"Oh, I wonder what she has planned for me," he smiles widely. "Alright, man, thanks a lot. I'll just leave the keys here with the engine off, but thanks, man, I appreciate it," he says, taking his helmet off, and placing it on the seat, before tapping me on my shoulder.

"No worries, man," I respond, as he begins running in the direction I pointed him in. I desperately pick up the helmet and abruptly fix it on my head, before jumping on the seat of the motorbike, and turning the ignition on. I don't look back as I begin driving faster than I used to drive motorbikes back when I did it in high school. My eyes are so fixed on the direction that I am going in, that I can feel them beginning to steam with liquid of rage. I can't let that allow me to lose focus of my destination, I say to myself. It is an undeniable fact that I will return back there. Despite the amount of times I told myself I wouldn't.

Eliza

"Oh, you're awake," I hear my mom speak softly, as she stands next to me after walking in the room. No words form in my mouth that are directed to her; everything I want to say is to him. But he is not here. "You've been asleep for quite some time," she continues. "I went to go and get your test results earlier. And I had to make sure that none of it is infected. But, it's not. And then I just went to the house to get a change of clothes for you. How does it feel now? Is the pain better or worse than before?" Her sudden silence speaks much louder than mine.

"Eliza, who did this to you?"

"I told you, I don't know," I finally voice, realising the excruciating impact it has on the pain.

"So, some random person just came up to you and... Did that to you?"

"I didn't see him."

"Eliza... When I went to the house... This was on the floor," she says, and from the corner of my eye, I can tell she is holding up a piece of crumpled paper. "What it says... Tells me that it wasn't just a random person."

"What does it say?"

"Your girl's in hospital... You didn't think I wouldn't come back for you, did you?" She pauses. "It's to Theo, isn't it?"

I breathe out softly, closing my eyes in the process to try and drown out the picture of reality staring me in the face. "His step-dad," I finally admit.

"What? His step-dad? How did his step-dad know where you live, or where he lives for that matter? And why would he hurt you?" I can hear a change in her last syllable, the syllable of realisation. "Oh, no. Your... Girl. No. Eliza, please tell me you- Please tell me you haven't-"

My eyes remained closed, and I so despairingly wish that I could close off my ears as well. This is not how I wanted my mom to find out. Not at a time when her hatred for Theo would fly through the roof and sit on the clouds.

"I love him," I unexpectedly hear myself say. My brain told me not to, but my heart seemed to win.

"No, Eliza, you- How can you... This is all his fault."

"No, no mom it's not. He hasn't done anything," I croak, trying not to move my mouth too much.

"He led his step-dad right to you."

"His step-dad stalked me. He said he's been stalking me for a while."

"Yes, because of Theo. I knew- I knew I shouldn't have let him in. From the first look at him, I felt my bones tingle. That was a sign, a clear sign telling me not to let that devil into my house. Into our lives."

"Mom... I can understand why you're angry. But this is not Theo's fault. You've got him all misunderstood. He's a nice guy. And he loves me too."

"Oh, yeah? So where is he now? Because he wasn't at the house, Eliza. I looked in every room, every corner, because I thought I would give him the decency of letting him know that the person that gave him a home is in the hospital. But he wasn't there."

I gulp at her words, but pray that she doesn't see. I don't want her to think that she is right. "Maybe he's just gone for a walk or something."

"Eliza, the note came in a box. The box was on the floor. The note was out of the box, crumpled up. He read the note, and he ran away."

"No, he didn't. He'll be here."

"Eliza-"

"Mom, my face is really hurting me. I want to get some sleep."

She breathes a deep, forlorn sigh. "Okay. I need to give you some antibiotics for that first, though."

I make a faint sound of agreement, as I focus on the bleak, beige wall in direct line of my eyesight. It seems to be the colour of my blood now. Beige. The colour of my world.

Theo

I slam my foot against the vehicle at what feels like the longest possible red light. My patience begins to split into little particles, and flow away into the vacant wind. I notice that the bike is indicating to me that the fuel is running low, at the same moment the light turns amber. I don't wait for it to turn green before I drive off in pursuit of the corner that will make this all real again. I see it, causing me to sigh outrageously, and hop off the bike like a wild beast spotting its predator.

My eyes locate the pale white door, pale but filled with the dirt of danger. The fear of fury. It is slightly open, which allows a sense of terror to reign through me, but I brush it open completely. The hallway is dark like the plan in my heart; I walk through it and then make the first turn into the living room, where my eyes feast on my worst nightmare, sitting with his front to me, watching me.

"Ah, I've been waiting for you," he says, as I charge for him. "Ah, ah." He puts a finger up. "I thought I would get the party started earlier." He suddenly stands up from the seat, leaving my vision immersed on another chair, vacated with another body. This time, it looks like the one of a woman. There is heavy rope tying her hands together, and only a short hairstyle to note on. I slowly walk past her to see the front of her, and my veins come into shock at the image of my mother, looking frail, and dead. Her eyes are on me, but it doesn't feel like she is looking at me. Her mouth is covered by duct tape, and she is wearing a beige jumper, with black jeans, but the red marks on her neck are still as visible as day. I watch her intently, hoping for a message from my heart to my brain to tell me how I am supposed to feel. Am I supposed to break down into tears? Or am I supposed to feel a sense of sadistic joy?

"Touch her, and you're dead," I hear him say, and I walk past her to join him. I see his black pupils peering into my soul, and take the anticipated opportunity to deck him around his face. He crouches down to his side, and I attempt to hit him one more time, but I am taken attack by his fast reflexes that land me on the floor.

"You think I wasn't waiting for this? Huh?" He says, as he kicks me on my face multiple times. "You think I wouldn't allow you to get the first blow? Let you think you're winning? Before I get you on the ground, and beat the living crap out of you?" His rock hard shoes continue to connect with my face, and I hear a muffling sound coming from the direction of my mother. He seems to hear it too, as he turns to her, with his foot on my chest. "Shut up, bitch." The sound continues, as he presses even harder down on my chest. I use all my might, despite barely having any, to not make him see the pain he's causing me. But, I can't help but wince. "Oh, I see," he begins again. "You want him to join you."
The sound gets even louder, and I wonder if the duct tape will split from her mouth at the pressure being applied to it.

"You make one more sound, and I swear to God I am going to kill him. Right in front of you."

It stops, adding confusion to the pain in my body.

"You said you want him to join you, so let's make him join you," he beams, as he twists my arm while dragging me with it, across the floor. He presses down even more forcefully on my chest again, as he reaches into a box on top of the settee. I feel blood rising to my throat, and gurgle it out of my mouth, whilst he brings out a bundle of rope and duct tape from the box.

"Get up," he says, turning to me. "I said, get up!"

I slowly do as he says, but my anger proves to be stronger than my fear as I attempt to hit him again. He grabs my hand, and twists it again. I begin to see stars in the air, and somewhere along the line I become enthralled into a collage of Eliza. From the moment we met, to the moment I saw her, lying helplessly, in that place. I have escaped so far into the memory of her, that I don't notice being placed on the chair, with my hands tied behind my back, and tape all around my feet, by what feels like the entire Earth's population weighing me down. I look up unwillingly to see him standing there, an ecstatic grin on his face.

"Now. I was going to put the tape on your good for nothing mouth as well, but then I had a thought. It's been a while since you guys last saw each other," he says, one hand in my direction, the other hand in my mother's. "A real while. You guys are definitely going to want to catch up with each other. So, I'm definitely going to allow you to do that." At that, he leans forward and rips the tape from my mother's mouth, at which point I hear a gurgle. I can only imagine that spit is pouring from her mouth, but I cannot bear to look at her to find out.

"I'm going to sit right here," his voice poisons my ear, as I hear him drop on the sofa. "Let you guys reconnect. So, come on. Chop chop. I want to hear this."

Nothing but silence responds to his words, but my heart aches as I realise that it was nothing less than I was expecting. I wouldn't expect her to say anything to me. I wouldn't expect her to even care that I'm here. Better still, I wouldn't expect her to even remember who I am.

"Seriously, guys?" He begins again. "Nothing to say? No news to spill? I know Theo's got some news. He's got himself a new girlfriend, hasn't he?" Rage attacks my organs and threatens to tear my entire being apart at the sound of her brought up. "It's a shame what happened to her pretty little face."

"Say... One... More... Thing... About... Her..."

"And you'll...? You'll what, Theo? Because I hate to break it to you, but you're kind of in an unfortunate position right now."

"Can you give us a minute, please," I hear an unknown voice say, but my logic tells me exactly who it belongs to. But, my logic can't help but cause me to shiver at the hostile, dark sound that just came out of her mouth.

"Are you kidding me? Do you think I was born yesterday?"

"I want to talk to my son."

"Then talk to him. He's right there. You don't need me to be gone, so you can try to come up with an elaborate plan to get out of here." I suddenly hear the noise of the sofa, followed by some footsteps walking in our direction. I tilt my head slightly to see him deliver an unsteady punch to her face, which is soon accompanied by a moan from her - the type of moan somebody makes when they're about to cry. But, she doesn't.

"Don't ever try to underestimate my intelligence again," he says with his voice raised. I hang my head down as chills overtake my body. A thought comes to mind, but I don't want to address it. I can't address it. Not here, not now.

"Theo..." I hear her say. "It's... Good to see you."

I fail to think of an appropriate response that wouldn't result in either, or maybe both of us getting our heads kicked in.

"You might not believe that... But it's true. I know you probably hate me. I can understand why. But just know that, everything I've done... I've done for you."

"Even taking drugs?" I bitterly spit, recalling of the fondest memories of this forsaken place.

"I hope one day you will be able to see how much I love you. And how much I've put you first." I try not to dwell on her swift movement from my question, but instead try to read between the lines in her words. I can feel that she is trying to tell me something, something more than what is coming from her mouth. But, that said, I've been hopeful in her far too many times, to see a good thing in anything she says or does again.

"This is sickening. I'm going to the kitchen. Which is just over there, Theo, in case you forgot. And when I'm there, you guys can continue this sickening catch up. But, I'm not stupid," he says as he picks up the duct tape, and begins unleashing it. He ties it around her legs and arms, on top of the tight rope, and then does the same for me. "And the door's locked. So sit pretty and tight," he smiles, slapping me across my cheek condescendingly, before walking out. I hear the rattling of the door chain, and then listen intently for the moment he walks to the kitchen, and is out of ears range.

"How long has he been doing that to you?" I ask softly, closing my eyes in preparation for the answer.

"Not long at all."

"Mom."

I hear a slight gasp from her at my finally calling her what she is, which is then followed by a deep breath. "Three months into the relationship."

"What?" My voice comes out shaky as I try to process the information she just revealed.

"I thought he was a great guy at first, but-"

"Mom. I didn't know about this. Why didn't I know about this?" All that can be noted in my voice is anger mixed with confusion.

"Because I hid it well. And he never did it in front of you. He knew you were off the rails, what with your joyriding and problems at school... I think he was unsure of what you were capable of. And he didn't want to find out."

"No. No. That can't be right, because I would have known. I would have-"

"Honey, you were at that girl Melissa's house more than you were here. So, how would you have known? And I did a good job of keeping up false pretences. He never hit me in my face, because he knew that would be suspicious... To anybody that came across us. So it wasn't hard to hide."

"No. No, I don't understand. Because you... You were a jerk, along with him. You were both always off your face on drugs; and you both seemed so happy to be asses together. And whenever I was here, and I talked back to him, you would scold me. And then when I-You kicked me out. Why would you kick me out, mom if you were going through that?"

"I took drugs to help numb the pain. I expected it at every moment. At first, I wasn't on it, and I felt every single fibre of the pain in my body. He forced me to take cocaine at first, I didn't want to. But the first time I took it, he hit me. And I was so shocked to find that it didn't hurt as much. Because my mind wasn't all the way here to feel the force of something all the way here. It took control over me, and I know I said things to you, but none of them I meant. And when you talked back to him, I scolded you because I could see you working his nerves. I could feel that he was getting closer and closer to attacking you, because it's the exact same thing that happened with me. And then when you attacked him, he was unconscious. And he was bleeding. And I knew that when he woke up he would have made sure he killed you. And I had to make sure that wouldn't happen. I didn't kick you out, Theo. I sent you running because I wanted you to- I needed you to start a new life for yourself. A better life. I didn't want you get to roped into this lifestyle of pain and anxiety. Or worse, I didn't want you to be dead. Because you're my son, and I love you. And then I saw the look in your eye, a look of pure abhorrence, and resentment. And it was directed towards me. It killed me to know that you thought I was choosing him over you; but I wasn't choosing him. I was choosing you."

I find myself fighting back tears by sniffing deeply, every word I just heard stabbing me in my brain. "So why didn't you come with me? You said so yourself. He was unconscious."

"There were a lot of reasons why I couldn't go with you, Theo. I knew that when he woke up, he would be hell-bent on finding you. And he was. I told him that you just ran away, whilst I was trying to tend to him, and he vowed that he would find you. But I thought, that if I was there with him, although he doesn't love me... I could entice him with some drugs, or anything to take his mind off you. And I would tell him you're not worth it. And he should just forget about you. And after a month, I thought I came through to him. He stopped mentioning you; I thought he was done with you. I thought he somehow managed to forget. But then, he's had a private investigator for a while now. He used to use it to find people who sold him rubbish drugs and ran away. But, he told me that he got his private investigator to find you. And it didn't take him long to discover you you were just an hour and a half away, and a lot of people knew you. You were the guy on the street. With scars on his face. He saw you walking to and from... Eliza's house." My head jumps up instantly.

"He told you her name?"

"Yeah. And he showed me pictures. Anyway, he knew that you were living with her. And he got the idea that it was because you two were involved in a relationship. He wanted to be sure, because he also saw Eliza with another boy. One that's quite tall, greasy hair, black leather jackets." I roll my eyes. "He decided to... What he... The rock, and the... He planned to do that anyway just for Eliza living with you. She was collateral damage. But, then he saw you at the park with her. And you two kissed. And he was so angry. Because he said you looked so happy. And he couldn't have that. He wouldn't have that.

"I don't want to talk about her anymore."

"Theo."

"Please. I don't want to talk about her anymore."

"Of course. I understand."

"You said there were other reasons for not coming with me?"

"Yeah. Like I said, I knew about the private investigator. If I went with you, he would find us, and he would kill one of us. He wanted us both to suffer, but not together. Not with the same despair. He would kill one of us, whilst the other one grieved. And I had to prevent that from happening. Theo, you have to know that everything I did- it was all for your benefit. And your safety. I don't fight back because I know it will be worse for me. But, you fought him. He lost. And he didn't like that. So, I had to do something. To keep you safe. Although I missed you everyday, I knew I did the right thing. In putting you first."

"Okay, fun time's over," I hear him suddenly say as his ghastly presence fills the gloomy air. "Who's up for some Chinese?"