The Skeletøn Bøy

FIVE

"Coming to the rescue?"

"Yeah. Elliott always took our punishments." Adrian supplied. "Once, when I was little, mother wanted to break my arm to show me what it felt like to feel true pain. Elliott took the punishment instead and mother broke his arm. Another time, she was going to give Mat sharp knives to play with as a toddler, to see what would happen. Elliott instead took the punishment, and mother cut him up with the kitchen knives, the same ones we used to cut dinner with that very night."

Anna knocked over her chair when she stood up. "Why haven't any of you done anything? Like tell the police?"

"Because, she's still our mother. She did those things, but in the end, she's the person who brought us into the world. Besides, Elliott has a strange relationship with mother. He hates her, but at the same time, he loves her. He's always seeking love from mother. He always wanted to do something so amazing she'd love him."

Anna knew she was just chisling at the tip of the iceberg. There was so much more to these children that she didn't know. Couldn't have known.

"Don't let Elliott know we told you this stuff. He's very secretive."

This was true. Elliott held so many secrets, all bottled up, his brother's were waiting for the day he exploded from hiding all of them. He kept secrets away from everyone, and it infuriated Adrian. He wanted to help Elliott - he was only two years younger! That wasn't such a large time gap that would separate the two, but Elliott was determined to do everything on his own, always.

Adrian hated that. He hated that Elliott felt the need to hide everything and hold the world upon his thin shoulders. Adrian hated that while they shared the same secret, they couldn't talk about it. Adrian could understand - he was just as messed up as Elliott was, and why he was sworn to secrecy, sometimes he longed to talk to his brother. To vent and just unload everything about who they really were. He hated hiding. He hated everything that came with his new identity.

"I won't. I do think I need to talk to him. I need him to realize I love him." Anna didn't know what to say. She'd always wanted children, but when she never met a suitable boyfriend, never got married, that squashed most of her dreams. It wasn't until she was called about a foster child that needed a parent did she start to believe her dreams could become a reality.

Adrian and Mat shook their heads. "He won't talk to you. Elliott doesn't want to depend on anyone. He doesn't want your love - he doesn't know how to accept it."

Anna was in a tough spot. She wanted nothing more than her three sons to accept her and let her in, but she knew there were reasons. And, now that Adrian had cleared some things up, she really understood why Elliott and the other two were so closed off and unwilling to accept help. Mat was the easiest, but he was also the youngest. Elliott was proving hardest, and she knew she'd have to work hard for him. To show him she was capable of taking care of him.

Elliott was old enough to live on his own, now that he was 18, but Anna wanted to show him she was more than ready to let him stay and depend on her for as long as possible.

Anna ran up the stairs into the dark bedroom, where she could make out the sleeping figure of Elliott. He was so troubled, so abused that she could only stare at him in awe. How did he survive? How could one child be so strong?

She knew there were downsides to being so strong, to surviving something like what he went through. He was troubled, and unstable. He didn't show it, but Anna knew there was more. She knew she knew there was something still suffocating him and preventing him from living the life he'd always dreamed of living. She wanted to help him.

He would never let her, she knew that. But, she still wanted to help. She still wanted to help him become someone new, someone who could start over.

"What are you doing in my room?" Elliott's cold voice broke the silence.

"Oh, Elliott, I didn't realize you were awake! Are you alright?"

Elliott didn't answer for a moment. "I'll be fine when you leave me alone."

Anna knew there was something wrong with Elliott, but she didn't dare pry. "Elliott, please I'm only trying to help."

It all happened so fast that Anna barely had time to blink. Elliott jumped from the bed and pushed her against the wall, his eyes drawn in a murderous glare and his hands harshly grabbing at her. His hand grasped her chin to tilt it at the right angle, where she could look him in the eyes.

"I said," His voice was low and raspy, barely above a whisper. "Get out of my room. You aren't allowed in here, understand?"

Anna hastily nodded, feeling fear crawl up her spine, sinking into very logical thought. She'd never thought she'd fear her own foster son, but she was shaking with fear. Elliott looked ready to murder someone, and she'd never seen so much hatred in one stare.

Elliott pushed her out of the room and slammed the door, slowly sliding down the back into a sitting position. He was so angry, so frustrated. He hadn't meant to snap, but when he heard her concerned voice, he cracked. It was just like mother's, when she pretended to care. Anna was everything mother was not, and Elliott knew this, but there were too many similarities. He hated mother, therefor it made sense to hate Anna.

He clutched his head in his hands and cried. He couldn't stop the tears from coming, and he couldn't stop the thoughts of his mother from plaguing him. Mother was everywhere and in everything. He could never escape. There was no hope for him - not now, not ever.

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