The Curse of Thelonious [✓]

eighteen

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN 

"Please, Lera?" Atlas almost begged. He sighed as she shook her head determinedly, knowing perfectly well she wouldn't leave like he wanted her to. 

They were hiding along the edge of the forest, standing right beside Manning Sinclair’s house. Atlas had tried to hide what he had been planning on doing from Lera but she knew him inside out and had insisted on tagging along. Ever since Lane had mentioned the valuable family heirloom Colette had stolen, Atlas had been thinking about returning home. Since Manning wouldn't know what cleaning was even if a broom hit him in the face, he was sure the mysterious object would possibly still be around somewhere.

It wasn't classified as breaking in if it was your house, right? 

"C'mon then!" Lera exclaimed, secretly excited to see the inside of the house she's always been warned away from. She ignored the way Atlas sighed in frustration and followed him as he crept closer, walking towards the back door rather than the front.

“If he comes, you have to hide alright?” he warned her, determination making his voice stronger than she’d ever heard it before. “I don’t want the bastard to have a chance to harm you, okay?”

Lera nodded in affirmation as Atlas slowly turned the rusty doorknob. The kitchen they were in was dark and grimy, the walls grey with soot. It clearly had barely ever been used and Lera’s eyes widened as she looked around at the empty pizza boxes and beer cans littered over the surface.

Atlas ignored them, his neck tingeing pink in shame at having Lera see the way he lived for the past eighteen years. He looked around carefully, his ears alert to any movement and walked towards the living room. It had been a while since he had been back here and his heart was pounding in fear; what if Mad Manning caught them?

He didn’t care about himself; his body had become accustomed to the harsh lashing over the years. He had more scars on his body than he had hairs on his head and he knew exactly when each of them had occurred. The small circles on his shoulders were from Manning putting out his cigarettes on his body when Atlas was eight. The pink gashes on his arm were from the operation he had to have when Manning broke his elbow in four places when he was twelve. The welts on his lower back were from a leather belt he still had nightmares about, from when he was fourteen.

He could handle more but he wouldn’t be able to bear it if Lera got hurt.

With some careful maneuvering around all the bottles on the floor to avoid making any noise, he stealthily made his way to the bottom of the staircase. In order to search for the heirloom he had to go to his bedroom but he was worried in case Manning was upstairs.

Lera had become a little wary, the adventurous thrill wearing off. She felt her heart splinter when she looked around, knowing Atlas had lived like this for all these years. With every fibre of her being, she prayed that Manning wasn’t home as they slowly climbed the stairs. She didn’t want him to get hurt.

Her heart thumped in horror when a floorboard under her feet creaked and they both stilled, eyes wide in fear. But nothing happened; Manning didn’t appear. “C’mon,” Atlas whispered, his voice shaking as he grabbed hold of her hand and almost pulled her up the stairs.

The upstairs landing wasn’t much better than downstairs; the faded navy carpet was stained and worn away in places and the walls were bare. Lera tread as quietly as she could, following Atlas as he pushed open one of the bedroom doors. The room was tiny, not much larger than a closet, but it was tidy. The bed was small and looked on the verge of falling apart and other than a rickety wardrobe and a few boxes, it was empty.

Atlas quietly closed the door as he took a look around his bedroom. He had lived solely in this cage-like room for his entire life and in a weird way, he almost missed it. His hand brushing over his old furniture in an affectionate way, he bent down to reach for the box under his bed. The dust gathered along the top of the box flew off into his face, causing the pair to sneeze loudly.