The Guy from the Insane Asylum

Chapter 43

"Your silence will not protect you." —Audre Lorde.

Chapter 43

"So, Google just told me that there's a really nice pancake breakfast place like five minutes away." Bethany plugged her phone onto the charger and sat back on the bed.

Zachary, from inside the bathroom was talking to her. He had just gotten out of the shower. "Do you wanna go?" He asked her, tightening the towel around his torso.

"Well, I mean . . . breakfast would be nice." Beth shrugged even though Zach couldn't see her.

He walked out of the steamy bathroom. "Okay, we'll go then." Walking over to the motel drawers where they had put their clothes in last night, Zach felt Bethany stare at him. "What?" He asked, without turning to face her.

"Nothing." She replied, too quickly.

"Well it has to be something. You're practically boring holes through my back." He told her, smirking.

"I  am  not  doing  that." She said, gulping and totally doing so. Zach finally turned to face her and Bethany literally had to drag her eyeballs to his face to keep from staring at his abs.

He smirked and neared towards her. "You're still staring," he said.

"I'm allowed to. Isn't that why God created the eyeballs?"

"To stare at my perfectly toned body?" Zach mocked. "Yeah, I think you're right. But unfortunately for most of the world, not everyone gets to do that."

Beth scoffed, "cocky much."

"You know what they say. If you got it, flaunt it." He smiled when he heard Bethany's laughter.

"Oh, my—never say that again." Beth grinned at her boyfriend and stood up to quickly peck his lips. "Hurry up and get dressed. I'm hungry."

"Shouldn't you be saying the opposite then?"

Bethany eyebrows furrowed but then she was laughing as she caught on to the dirty innuendo. "Stop it! I'm serious, hurry up."

~

The small pancake place turned out to be smaller than expected. But it was popular. Kind of like a Starbucks.

Zachary and Bethany ordered their food and eventually decided it'd be best if they ate in the car.

Beth had very little control when it came to her magic. And neither one of them could risk an accident from spurring, especially not in public.

As they were heading out, Zach was found face-to-face with a certain someone from his past. They both stared at each other, unbelieving. "Dad?" Zach spoke, his voice cracking. It felt weird to call him that. He was so used to calling him Toby. But it had just slipped, the word that declared him father.

"Zach." Toby's forehead wrinkled. It had seemed as if the four years post-murder had aged him quicker than the regular speed. Mr. Jaxston had no idea that his son was out of the Asylum he himself had put him in. Toby looked besides Zach and was found with a pair of confused hazel-green eyes. Instinctively, Zachary took a step forward threateningly, telling his father to stay away.

His father shook his head and cleared his throat. "How long have you been out?" He was shocked, but tried not to show it.

Zach scoffed. "Like you care. You were the only damned reason I was in there to begin with."

Toby's nostrils flared and his jaw was hard. He briefly glanced at Bethany and then focused on his son again. "You killed your mother, kid. You were in there because you're fucking insane."

"You're a liar." It was Bethany. They had made their way outside of the pancake shop and she had made her way from out behind Zach.

Toby stared at Bethany. He had a sinister smirk on full display. "Is she like you, Zachary?"

Zach suddenly realized that she was. But she was a lot more dangerous, and got easily triggered. When he noticed her ready to pounce stance, he gently wrapped his hand around her wrist. "He's not worth it. We should go."

"He'll be there, too. He's staying in The Simon's Motel as well." Bethany was reading Toby's mind and found herself discovering more than she wanted to.

Both of the Jaxston men looked at one another. A second later, Zach was walking away with Bethany next to him.

They had reached their car and were driving away before Bethany asked, "are we still staying at The Simon's?"

Zach nodded, his hands were in fists right above his knees. He was opening and closing them to try and relieve stress, it was of no use. "It's the cheapest motel around, we have to stay."

"Zach—"

"We're staying, babe."

Beth nodded and continued to drive. Zach was unwilling to allow his father to win once again.

~

In the motel, Bethany was aching to tell Zach of some of the things she had read off of Toby. But she wasn't sure how he would take the news. And she wasn't sure if it was even a good idea.

Meanwhile, Zach was being drowned in sudden memories that reappeared because of the collision he had with his father. Memories he didn't even know he could still remember. And most of them were unpleasant. He had worked so hard to try and block out the worst of them over the four months he spent with Bethany. And she helped do that. But his father brought them all back, all at once. It was tormenting for Zach, to say the least.

"Zach," Bethany sat on the bed next to where he was laying. "I think I should tell you something."

He stood up slightly and worriedly looked at his girlfriend. "What is it?"

"I kind of read your da—Toby's mind. And I got more than I expected. He's like an open book with his brain."

Zach's brows furrowed. "What—What did you find out? And do I really need to know?"

Beth nodded gently. "I think you should."

"Okay, go on then." He was nervous for what she would say.

"He has a little girl. Teddy is her name, she's two years old. He's together with someone but not married. And unemployed—unsurprisingly. The mother's name is Alyssa." Beth stared at Zach expecting a reaction. But she got none. All Zachary did was lay back in bed and pull the covers over himself.

"Good for him," Zach spoke, clearly being sarcastic.

Tobias was never a good father. So why the hell would he have another child? But what frightened Zachary even more was that he had a little sister out in Aldridge somewhere, and she was unfortunately also the daughter of Toby.

He had so many questions. Why was Toby living in Aldridge, only about two hours away from BellTown? Why did he produce additional offspring? Was it on purpose? Why would Alyssa even want that? Why was Toby staying at The Simon's Motel if he had a girlfriend who birthed his child? But the one that dawned on Zach was, how long he believed he could sleep only a few motel rooms away from his father without strangling him to death?

A/N:

-XOXO