Hard To See (Gawsten)

thirteen

This chapter is gonna be a lot. It's nearly twice as long as this book's chapters usually are.
Also, I'm sorry in advance!!

Trigger Warning: Physical Abuse, Violence, Blood.

***

Kellin is outside of Awsten's window. He wonders how he got roped into this situation, but he also understands that had he, Geoff, Otto, and Jawn not come together, none of them would've been able to figure out what's happening, simply because he lacked the pieces of information the other three had, and they lacked the information that he had.

The atmosphere the house is giving off is ominous, and he knows there's something bad happening. It's a deep gut feeling. A whisper of "something's wrong."

There's also occasional crashes resonating from inside the walls, so that's probably a contributing factor to the feeling. No voices have been heard yet- it's as if a malevolent spirit is tearing through the house.

The look on Awsten's face as he left school to face whatever this is was a splitting image of Geoff's face as he was mentally abused by Travis. Kellin will never forget that expression, and he will also never allow a friend of his to wear it again- even if he's just met said friend recently.

Jawn, the friendliest face of the bunch, is standing at the front door. He'll be the distraction when this maybe-not-entirely-necessary rescue mission is under way.

Even in just the few moments they've been within sight of the house, Jawn's figured out this isn't going to be simple. He knows that what possibly haunts the other side of the door is going to be hard to deal with. He hopes with everything in him that Kellin and Geoff are wrong.

Geoff approaches him, taking a nervous breath.

"Otto's hidden behind the hedge and ready to call the police if necessary. If this goes to hell, go find him and stay there- Kellin and I will handle it," the brunet whispers, and leaves Jawn with an encouraging, though slightly anxious, smile.

Geoff walks around the house, ducking under windows to avoid being seen by a seemingly sleeping dragon, and joins Kellin. They're both ducked down underneath the blond boy's window, waiting.

Having come up with the rescue mission- that might not even be needed in the first place- in a couple of minutes, anything could go wrong, so the boys are just going with their instincts.

Geoff's instinct, upon hearing a scream pierce through the walls of the house, accompanied by glass breaking, is to cry.

***

The walk home is cold, and rain looms in the sky, not yet falling. The air is damp with clouds; a thin mist covering the sidewalk. The street is empty due to everyone being at either school or work.

As Awsten walks, he has time to go over key points that he's going to bring up to his mom during their discussion. He wants his dad gone.

That man did nothing but torture the blond boy during his childhood. Every moment of existence was lived by a code book called 'How To Not Die'. It was the best name Awsten's ten year old mind could think of.

It was a small ratty notebook filled with handwriting that could hardly be read, and sentences that didn't entirely make sense, but it was a survival guide.

It had since been thrown away, the blond boy not needing it in the last few years, and he thought he'd never need it again. Maybe he still won't if this conversation goes well.