The Psycho Is Innocent | ꪜ

Chapter 30: He DID It

*One week ago*

A R I E L

          "BARRY AND DIANE are his parents? H-how didn't I see that. It makes perfect sense." Melissa sighed, "I always imagined Tobias being the one to tell you his life story but seeing his predicament right now and you trying to solve his murder—which the authorities are failing to do—I think this information will be vital for you to know.

          I never wanted to tell you myself in fear that you left Tobias when you were one of the only people he truly trusted with all his heart. So I always thought one day he'd tell you himself but judging by your reaction I'm guessing you're pretty clueless about a lot. So where would you like me to start? I want to tell you everything the authorities know and maybe you can do something with it. It's pretty stupid to put this in the hands of a child but you seem determined so I trust you'll do your best."

          "S-start from the beginning. From when you adopted him."

          She nodded her head firmly and mumbled okay under her breath. Her eyes flickered away from me, "Tobias, Beckett and his sister Ashley were found the day Barry had gotten arrested–" I raised a hand in the air, halting her mid-sentence. "Sister? He has a sister?" Her eyes met mine momentarily before they snapped away. However, I caught the devasted gaze behind her pupils, she can't hide it from me. "Had, he had a sister." I've been with Tobias for a year and three months and yet still I know so little about him.

          "She died a week after the police took them into their custody. She was put into a medically induced coma but died from brain damage soon after. Beckett told them that Barry would beat them over the head sometimes so they suspected that she must have suffered from a traumatic brain injury recently. He abused them day in and day out, Ariel. They had cigarette burns all over their skin, bruises that were fresh, some healed, all over their body as if they were a bruised fruit. They were punched, kicked, starved. . .they went through torture and from what Beckett told me, anytime Diane would try to protect them he'd just beat her too.

          As you know I'm a psychologist who mostly counsels adults but when I first started out in this field I pursued children who suffered from mental illnesses. I visited a foster care group home for abandoned kids, kids who ran away from home or were kicked out and so forth. That's where I met Tobias and Beckett. They were malnourished, shy, traumatized and it only made their situation in the home worse. Tobias got bullied for being an introvert. He couldn't speak to anyone, he was actually selectively mute for a few months after the incident, he wouldn't even speak to the authorities.

          But his big brother Beckett protected him all the time. He'd get into fights with the older kids who picked on Tobias, watched over him, loved him to the point where he became the only person Tobias trusted. Wherever Beckett went, Tobias followed as if they were magnets. So it was really hard for him to open up to me. It took me at least two months to get one word out of him and even when he wasn't progressing I never gave up. You wanna know what his first words were to me though?" I nodded my head vigorously. She chuckled at the memory, "he said, 'I don't like you.' I-I knew who his father was of course and I think that motivated me even more to help him and Beckett.

          I felt like I had a connection with them. I knew what it was like to suffer under Barry's wrath and I couldn't begin to imagine what those poor kids endured. Even when he barely said a word to me I fell in love with Tobias and all I wanted to do was protect him and Beckett as if they were my own. So whilst counselling them both, I contacted the adoption agency and filed to adopt them both. I c-can't have kids of my own so you could imagine how happy I was. But whilst that was happening, Tobias started to open up more and more and then I found out what the effect of the abuse did to his mental state."