~The Hunter~
I sit at the curb across the street from my block watching the cars zoom by. People are going on with their own lives while I stay here, motionless, caught up in someone else's.
Belle.
The song that haunts my world. It once brought me joy and now it brings a pain that I can't relieve. No one can.
It's Thursday, I should've went to school. But I didn't. I was suspended for getting into numerous fights with classmates and numerous arguments with teachers. My parents say I'm lucky that they considered it as an issue of my mental health and didn't expel me from school. They told me to take this time to work things out. That I can't keep acting up like this.
Nobody praises me anymore, no one even likes me all that much anymore. After the fights and things they saw that I wasn't a hero. They stare at me weird, they stare at me like they stared at Belle. Like I'm crazy.
I've heard them talking. Saying, 'Grayson's gone off the edge' or 'Grayson is so hung up on that girl he's lost his mind', followed by the 'What a shame, he was a nice kid". It use to make me mad but soon that anger turned into sadness and then numbness because I didn't have the energy to feel anything anymore.
I pull my coat closer to my body and let out a shaky sigh. My breath shows in the fog around me. It's 6:30 pm but the sky is dark as it would be at night. As to not worry my mom, I better start heading home. I walk in to find my mother and father in the kitchen arguing about something. When I come closer they immediately stop talking and give each other a look.
"What's going on?" I ask, feeling suspicious.
"Sit down," my father says, his eyes dead serious. I sit down at the table, my hands in my lap. "We talked to your therapist today to try and figure out some more ways to help you."
Again, they give each other a look that scares me. Something's wrong- it must be. Why else would they hesitate like that? "What? What is it?"
My father sighs before continuing. "She suggested some medication."
Medication? I know about medication. I talked to another patient that was in the waiting room of the clinic. He said that the medication only dulled the pain. That it was still there. He said it's just the therapist's way of making more money.
I scoff at his words. "Medication? How is that suppose to fix anything?" As I further evaluate their faces I realize they are actually considering it. They want to put me on meds like I'm some whack job.
"Now Grayson, I know there is a lot of bad stigma attached to taking medication but please just hear us out," my mother pleads.
"I can't believe you guys!" I shout, wanting to knock something over. "You want to tranquilize me like I'm an animal! And do you not remember that drugs is what got this whole mess started?!"
My mother reaches for my arm but I jerk back. "I know. And I also know that you're very mad at Belle's mother. She told us about that phone call you gave her."
My father stands putting his hands in his pockets. "The medication is just going to help balance your hormones so that instead of focusing on all that anger you can focus on healing and coping-"
"Shut up!" I run my hands through my hair and rub my eyes. "I can't do this. I can't do this right now." The front door swings open and I run out and into the night. I don't stop running. Where I'm running to? I don't know. I just need to get away.
Soon, I come across a street and charge right through it, not even bothering to check for cars. At this point, it doesn't matter if I get hit or not.
I hear a car slam on it's brakes. I see the blinding light of two headlights come close. I hear the honking of a horn. I turn and see a red pickup truck coming straight towards me. My body freezes and all I can do is stand in the middle of the road and watch.
The car stops about an inch away from me. I tumble back onto the ground, breathing hard. A person rushes out of the car and bends down beside me. After my eyes adjust to the light of the headlights I see it's Carter, a friend from school. At least, until that fight we had weeks ago.
"Hey man, are you okay?" he asks his eyes wide.
I nod my head, still trying to get my mouth to form words. "Yea- yea I'm okay." He helps me up and things become awkward because of the unresolved conflict. I know an apology to him would fix it all. But I don't want to apologize. Why should I? He was the one disrespecting Belle.
"Look Grayson, I'm sorry about how things ended with us a while ago." He bites his lip and looks back at his truck. "You need a ride somewhere?" Shocked at his kindness, I almost tell him I'm good. But then an idea surfaces.
"Yeah, actually. That would be great." The drive there is long and quite. I could tell Carter still felt a little awkward by his glances my way and finger playing at red lights. Though my mind was occupied.
"You can leave me right here," I say as I open the car door and hop out.
"You sure? This neighborhood looks kind of sketchy..."
"I'm sure. Thanks." I walk towards Castle street. The busted up building where everything started looms over me. The door to the building is unlocked so I continue, looking straight ahead because I know where I'm going.
The apartment The Beast once inhabited is no longer condemned. After two weeks they decided they got all the information they could from it and from my research they put the apartment up for sale but haven't cleaned anything out yet.
Since the apartment doors are cheaply made, all I have to do is give it a couple quiet thumps to get it to open. I quickly and quietly shut the door behind me. My fingers find the light switch and with a flicker, they come on. The place doesn't look anything close to how I expected it to. It is modern and clean. A jewel compared to the rest of the building.
The Beast must be rich.
The hard wood floors glimmer beneath me as I wander the place for anything that could help me find The Beast. I know that to anyone else this would seem silly. Detectives, highly trained professionals, already did a sweep and didn't find anything. What makes me think I would? My desperateness.
I go through the drawers, cabinets, even the couch cushions and under the bed mattress. To my dismay, everything is normal. There is nothing out of place. In fact, everything looks untouched. Like no one ever lived here. Like a murderer didn't flee from here. Like my best friend wasn't kidnapped here. Like my whole life wasn't ripped away here.
"I hate you," I whisper into the silent air. "You took her away. Why? I thought you only messed with criminals!" I kick the coffee table beside me. "Belle didn't do anything to deserve this!"
Even more upset than before, I storm out of the apartment.
"Easy there, son!" an older man says as I almost crash into him. He's short and frail with white hair resting atop his head. A big set of keys hang from him pants. He has to be the landlord. "What were ya doin' in that apartment, huh?"
I gulp totally caught off guard. "I... uh.. You see-"
"Ah! You must be the guy I hired to dispose of the garden!" The old man concludes with a smile. "After that criminal guy was found to be living here he left the garden untended. It needs to be cleared up before I can rent it again. Well, follow me! The garden sure ain't in that apartment."
He begins to limp away, leading me to the garden. Deciding to go along with his assumption, I follow. He's showing me to the garden Belle's mother went into and stole from. Maybe I'll find something there.
"It's a little startling that I rented an apartment to a murderer, I tell ya," he blabs as we reach the first floor and exit out back. "But it is what it is."
A row of gardens line the back of the building. Each having chipped white fences around them. We stop at the last garden near an alleyway. The landlord shuffles through his keys until he comes upon the one that fits the door between the fence and unlocks it. "There you are. I'll leave you to it."
"Thanks," I say and push open the door. It takes time for my eyes to adjust to the light that seems to be radiating from the garden. As my vision clears, I step farther into the garden and boy, Belle's mother was right. This garden is glorious. And possibly magic.
Author's Note- Feel free to vote and comment! Hope you loved it!