What Exactly Happened: Part 14

"Mum, Mum, wake up," Ryan spoke gently, stroking her hair lightly with one hand. "It's time to wake up, Mum."

"Hmm?" A faint smile formed on her face, her eyes slowly shifting to look up at her son.

"Hi Mum, sorry. Did I wake you?"

"No, I woke myself," she responded, her voice coming out low and strained. "How are you dear?"

"Oh, uh... well... Michael and I were wondering where you both have gotten off to. Have you decided what to tell the police?"

She opened her mouth to respond, only to lose it seconds later, looking extremely confused and concerned. Ryan raised an eyebrow in concern, silently pleading with his mum for answers, hoping she'd give him at least some idea. She looked back at him for another few moments, studying him intently for a moment before nodding slightly in understanding, as though making some internal decision of her own.

"Yes. We decided that since it's pretty late you should know first thing in the morning if that's alright," she explained.

"Of course it's alright," replied Ryan. "But can you tell me why?"

"We're leaving tomorrow," she revealed quietly, turning her head away from her son for a few seconds before looking back at him again. "I think it'll be better if you don't know until then."

Ryan frowned. The idea of losing her again sounded awful. It felt as though there was a lump in his throat that kept him from speaking, and the idea of his mother being taken away from him again scared him beyond belief. But then again, he couldn't deny the truth of it. If they were going to leave tomorrow, sooner rather than later, it meant they were likely headed towards a place where things would only get worse. It would mean that the danger would become real, and it would mean that he would have to confront whatever the hell this dream was. He was not looking forward to that.

So he simply nodded mutely in reply to his mother's last statement.

"Alright," he replied, looking at her uncertainty. "I guess we should probably get some sleep. You'll have to tell me everything tomorrow. When did you decide to leave?"

"This afternoon," she answered with a smile.

Ryan smiled lightly. "Great," he murmured. "I'll go make sure Michael's okay so he doesn't try to come back in here to say goodbye or anything like that."

His mother laughed lightly. "Thanks, sweetie."

****

As Ryan stepped inside Michael's room, Ryan froze instantly when he saw Michael's still form lying on the bed. He approached the bed hesitantly.

He sighed slightly in relief upon seeing that Michael was still sleeping peacefully. "Good. That's good," he said to himself as he moved back to the door. He stopped for a second, however, and glanced at his brother once again. He was relieved to see Michael was still asleep.

Ryan shook his head slightly, smiling to himself as he left the room, closing the door quietly behind him. He walked quickly across the hallway to Michael's bedroom doorway, peering through the crack between the frame and its frame to glance into the room. Michael was still snoring lightly. Ryan turned around and headed back into his room.

He lay down on his bed, sighing in frustration once again. He closed his eyes, thinking about the events of earlier that night; his mother's strange comments, his bizarre behaviour and his brother's sudden breakdown in front of him. All of which he wanted nothing more than to forget, but somehow, someway, he knew that wasn't possible. There was no way he would ever be able to erase it. And even if he did, the memories remained forever etched in his mind. No matter how hard he tried, they were always going to be there. They would haunt him.

Ryan buried his face into his pillow and screamed silently in frustration.

To be continued...