Delirium

Chapter Fourteen: Worse

At the lack of a response, Hillary's mood worsened. "I'm going to leave a list of chores for you to start after detention. As soon as your homework is done you're going to work on the list until it's time for you to go to bed. If I come home from work and think you didn't do as much as you should have been able to do, I'll prolong your grounding, understood?"

She nodded.

"Good." Her eyes stayed on her. "Where's the money you made from babysitting this weekend?"

She stood from her bed and moved to her jacket that was hanging at the foot of her bedpost. She reached into her pocket to feel the wad of cash Mrs. Henderson gave her. She slipped a single bill from the wad and kept it in her pocket before she pulled out the rest to hand to her mother. She counted it, then stuffed it in her pocket. "This is for your own good. Bad behavior needs consequences." Liv nodded but didn't say anything. "I'm doing this to help you. If your dad was here, he wouldn't be so nice."

"Yes, ma'am."

Hillary nodded and turned toward the kitchen. She grabbed a beer, then walked into her room and slammed the door shut. Liv jumped at the loud sound, then once more as she heard the click of the beer can opening. She stood in her freshly cleaned bedroom and tried to fight back the oncoming tears.

Rufus whimpered and walked to the back door. She let him out into the fenced-in backyard and stepped onto the back porch to watch him. She sat on the concrete step and wrapped her arms around her bent knees. Despite her sweater and long pants, the cold nipped away at her. It sunk in until there was no more warmth in her. Her muscles trembled to try and stay warm and her teeth chattered until Rufus looked at her strangely while he marked a spot.

She stayed where she was, letting the chill overtake her. It was quiet outside, and she quite liked the silence. She knew her mother would make noise inside and any noise could remind her of her dreams, or the tunnels, or Demogorgons.

So, instead, she sat outside and watched Rufus.

"I'm fine, mom," she whispered to herself as she hugged her knees closer to her chest. "I had another nightmare. They're getting worse I think. Now all I dream about is Steve being ripped apart in front of me." Tears welled in her eyes, either from the cold or her dreams, she wasn't sure. She blinked and felt their warmth touch her cheek for a millisecond before they turned brilliantly cold. "Maybe it's best not to sleep. Maybe I'll just stay awake until I go insane, then you can lock me away forever and forget all about me." Another tear fell and chilled against her cheek. She rested her chin on her knees as more tears came. She didn't dry any of them.

She didn't see a point.

***

Preparing the track for the season was way harder than Liv ever thought it would be. The ground was frozen, meaning if she wanted to pull the dead weeds it took nearly all of her strength to rip the roots from the solid dirt. Even with the gloves her coach provided, the healing scrapes on her hands began to bleed again. Her coach saw and sent her home early with strict instructions to watch and bandage them properly before tomorrow.

She only half-listened. When she got home she cleaned them and waited for the bleeding to stop, then she let them air out as she began on the chores list her mother left for her.

Luckily, Hillary had already left for work by the time she was done with detention, meaning she had the entire house to herself. She put on a Joan Jett album and blared it until she couldn't hear anything else. If she couldn't have silence, filling her head with music was the next best thing.

Even with the speakers turned all the way up, nothing could compare with the acoustics an empty pool offered. She had never thought of listening to music in a pool before, but Steve's mind worked differently than hers. He viewed the world in abstract ways she could never.