Words (Muke)

Fifteen: Will

"Life has many ways of testing a person's will, either by having nothing happen at all or by having everything happen at once,"
~Paulo Coelho

"M-mum? What, what are you doing here?" Michael stuttered.

"I've been coming by the past few days, but nobody's been home," Michael's mum mused.

"What are you doing here?" Michael repeated.

"I'm here to get you, Michael. Now come on, your fathers waiting in the car," it was as if she could tell he was going to call for help, "He has this lovely gun on him, you should really see it,"

"I'm good," Michael said.

His mum smiled. "Come on, Michael. Hurry up,"

"I'm not going,"

"Excuse me?" she asked stunned by his denial.

"I'm, I'm not going,"

"What does eradication mean, Michael?" she changed the subject suddenly.

"Death,"

"Yes, it does. So now I'll ask you have you planned your eradication? Have you decided how you're going to kill yourself? Because we all know it will happen, and in reality, none of us really care. Your boyfriend, Luke? No. Ashton? Calum? Nil. Nobody wants you here, Michael,"

Michael shook his head and backed himself into the wall. "Y-you're wrong," he said, but he wasn't sure if he believed himself.

"Am I?" his mum walked closer and he sunk to the ground by her feet. She clicked her tongue, "It's a shame really. If you weren't such a waste of space and time..." she trailed off. "Let's go, before your dad comes to see what's taking so long. Or worse, one of those boys,"

Michael stood shakily and held himself up with the wall. He was struggling with himself. The voice in his head was raging agreeing with everything his mum was saying. But there was another voice, one that denied it.

"I'm not going with you,"

"Michael Gordon Clifford. If I have to call your dad in here I can assure you that gun will be fired," his mum said.

"He can shoot me," Michael said.

"It won't be you. I was thinking tall, blonde, blue eyed...do you see where I'm going with this?"

Michael nodded.

"So, are you coming with me?"

Michael hesitated and looked back in the general direction of the guys. "They'll know it's you,"

"That's really sweet, Michael. Now let's go," she took his arm and pulled him out of the house.

Michael knocked over shoes by the front as they left and his mum closed the door quietly behind them, dragging Michael roughly to the car. He pretended to trip so he could grab a stone and his mum sighed closing her eyes. When she did this Michael threw the rock at the window.

He didn't have a chance to see if any of the boys looked over as him mum took that moment to yank him up by his hair. She tossed him carelessly into the backseat and he winced when he full his stitches being pulled slightly.

"Michael!"

He heard the desperate scream as his mum shut the door and climbed into the passenger seat. But then his dad was driving and it didn't matter that they heard the rock and looked out the window. It didn't matter that Luke was standing on the porch screaming his name with Ashton holding him back and Calum calling Liz. It didn't matter because they wouldn't catch up with the car and Michael had no way to tell them where they were taking him.