Crazed Minds | ✔️

bonus chapter <3

I hesitated, the word 'mum' strange to my ears. I had barely thought about my parents, and after missing their call on Christmas Day, I had assumed they'd forgotten about me. Maybe for my dad, but mum...

"I'll be right down!" I called, voice choppy.

I slammed my window shut and bolted out my room, down the stairs and into the foyer.

And there she was. My mum. I almost didn't recognise her. Her hair had been cut short, her eyes were less worn since the last time, and she looked like she'd aged in reverse about ten years.

"Hey, Mum," I said quietly, taking a few steps closer to her but keeping a fair distance between us.

Her tense expression finally relaxed and she bounded over to me, melting into a warm hug. And it actually felt quite nice. I pulled away after a moment and asked, "How are you?"

"How am I? I want to know about you," she said, trying to make her voice light but it came out robotic. "How are you? Is it nice here? Have you made any friends?"

I put my hands up to slow her down and replied, "Good. Sure. Yes."

She smiled with relief and was about to respond before Seth approached, stopping her.

I linked my arm with his, feeling more relaxed now he was here, and introduced, "Mum, this is my friend, Seth. Seth, this is my Mum."

"Nice to meet you," Seth said, stretching out his hand.

Reluctantly, she shook it, eyeing him with a hint of suspicion and pursed, red lips. I noticed she was wearing makeup, which she'd stopped doing after the incident that got me locked up here.

"Don't worry, Mrs Mitchel, I'm not one of the murderers," he joked, but it only seemed to put her further on edge.

"Good to hear." She turned to me with raised eyebrows. "Can we go somewhere more private to talk?"

"Sure," I said. "Seth can join us."

Her face scrunched up a little. "Well, I thought it could be just...family."

"Seth is family." It was forceful. Strong. Maybe because it was true.

Mum didn't say anything for a moment, but then Seth spoke for her, "It's okay, Liv, I'll leave you to it. It was nice meeting you though."

Mum smiled awkwardly, clutching her pocket book tightly to her stomach as he walked away, shooting me a 'what the hell just happened' look over his shoulder.

-

I spent the next couple of hours in the library, listening to Mum go on about her new life, about how she's started teaching at the local middle school. How she babysits the neighbours kids who are so naughty but at least they didn't kill anyone. Okay, she didn't say the last part, but she might as well have. I spoke rarely, and after listening for all that time, I realised how pleasant my mum's life was without me in it. Dad's life, too. They were better off without me.

Occasionally, I got a slight itch on my arm, my body sending nerve impulses to make sure I was still alive and hadn't died of boredom. I mean, normal people were boring as hell compared to the stories the kids here had to tell.