Episode: Car Trek
Warning ⚠️
This one shot includes drug abuse and major and minor character death.
My heart lurched as I saw my sisters car collide with the green truck with four wheels.
I bolted out of the van before anyone could stop me.
I ran down the road towards the car.
The damage was horrible.
I pull off the door on my father's side with strength I never knew I had.
I look away at the carnage that was the remains of my father. He was dead.
Fear grips my heart as I run over to the other side.
I pull the door open like I did for my father.
Piper is breathing, but very, very slowly.
"Piper?" I say softly.
She weakly opens her eyes.
"K-Kid Danger?" She stuttered.
I nodded, I knew. My little sister was dying.
I peel off my mask.
"Henry." She smiles, before the light leaves her eyes.
I burst into tears as I clutch Pipers hand.
I feel someone attempt to pull me away but I hold steady.
I heard sirens in the distance.
"Henry, Henry, I need you to blow a bubble. They can't see Kid Danger crying over a girl he doesn't know." Rai reasons.
I gasp in air, my lip quivering. A cry burst out of me. I couldn't. She wasn't dead. She couldn't be dead.
"Henry, please." Rai begs.
I shake my head in disbelief. She couldn't be dead.
"Ok, just relax." Rai ordered. I feel him pull my gum tube from my belt and place the bottom on my shoulder. I feel a little prick and I'm suddenly engulfed in light. The emergency change back.
Rai turns back quickly.
An officer walks over to us.
"Son, are you alright?" He asks me.
I try to answer but I can't stop crying.
"Sir, do you know this boy?" He asks Rai.
"He's my employee." He replies.
I shake with sadness.
A handful of paramedics arrive. They take my father in sadness. They then go for my sister but I clutch her hand so they can't take her.
"Sir, we are so sorry, but she's dead. There's nothing we can do for her." They explain.
"No." I say.
"Henry, you can't stay here." Rai persists.
"No."
Then I heard a third voice.
"Henry, I'm so sorry, you need to let her go." Charlotte said.
She takes my hand and I let her lead me away.
I climb into the front seat quietly. No one dares speak.
Tears slip down my face. My little sister was dead. My father was dead.
Nothing would ever be the same.
-.-.-.-
I pulled my plaid flannel closer to me as I made my way across the party.
I only planned to grab a cider. How I ended up taking opioids, I'll never know.
Making my way to the drinks is the last thing I remember before waking up in a strangers bed with a girl I didn't know.
I held a bottle of the stuff in my hand.
I went to set the bottle down, ashamed that I ever touched the stuff, when I remember the high they gave me. The high that helped me forget about my sister and father. The high that helped me forget that my mom was an alcoholic and spent her days on our couch.
So instead of setting them down, I placed them in my pocket.
And that's how it began.
-.-.-.-
"Henry?" Charlotte called from my bathroom.
I open up the door to see her already in pyjamas, fumbling with her necklace.
"What's up?" I ask.
"Can you take off my necklace?" She asked.
"Ya sure." I reply. She turns to face me. As I wrap my fingers around her neck to remove the necklace, her hand shoots into my pocket.
She pulls out the bottle of oxy from my pocket.
She quickly steps away from me.
"I knew it." She states. She reads the bottle. "Henry, you didn't."
She looks at me with a mixture of fury, confusion and sadness.
"Look, I-''
"Should start explaining." She finishes.
I sit down with her on the bed.
"A few weeks after Piper and my dad died, I was invited to Melvin's party. I went over to get a drink and the next thing I remember is that I woke up with some girl and holding this bottle."
Charlotte looks at me with disappointment written all over her expression.
"What next?" She asks.
"Then I remembered how I felt when I took them. That I forgot that Piper and my dad were dead." I say shamefully.
"Oh Henry. You can't run away from your past. No matter how sad."
"I know that I can't, but it makes it so easy." I say softly.
"How long have you been taking them?" She asked me.
"A month." I reply.
"Henry, I don't know what to say. I'm lost for words."
Despite being lost for words, Charlotte lectured me for 15 minutes.
Before finally coming to a finish.
"Hand them over." She orders.
"What?" I ask.
"Hand them over. You're sobering up." She says calmly.
"What?"
"You're going to sober up. I'm calling Rai."
"Charlotte, no!" I yell. "He'll kill me."
"The opioids will kill you." She argues.
"Then I'll tell him." I say. Though as I say this, I immediately regret it. What will Rai say when I tell him I'm addicted to drugs?
"Alright. You'll tell him tomorrow." Charlotte orders.
My heart dropped.
"Ok." I sigh.
"In the mean time, want to watch a Marvel movie?" She asked.
"Captain Marvel?" I ask.
"Of course." She says.
-.-.-.-.-
The plan was set. I'd tell Rai about my predicament this afternoon when I went to work.
But, of course, life for me never works out.
At three in the morning, my watch started beeping. I jolted up.
Charlotte peels open her eyes.
"What's wrong?" She asks.
"Rai. I have to work." I groan.
"Hmm, good luck." She slurs sleepily before drifting back to sleep.
I shake my head and slip out of bed.
I blow a bubble and go to climb out the window, but out of the corner of my eye, I see the bottle of opioids. Charlotte had tucked them in between her slippers. She had said she'd be destroying them today.
So what would the harm in taking one?
No.
I shake my head and climb out the window.
-.-.-.-.-
Once I arrive on the scene, Rai had already begun fighting.
I leap into battle.
Things went very quickly. Maybe I was just tired, but very quickly I found myself trapped in the arms of a thug.
"Let him go." Rai yells, but in all truthfulness, he couldn't do anything. He was being restrained by some other thug.
"Don't you know the truth about your little sidekick?" He asked.
I froze. How could he know?
"What?" Rai snapped before looking at me.
"So he doesn't know what you are addicted to?" He whispered in my ear.
I shuddered.
"Your little sidekick here is addicted to drugs."
Rai looked at the thug, then to me.
"Kid?" He asked. I averted my gaze from Rai. "We will be talking about this later."
The stern tone he used made me shiver.
"How could you tell?" I whisper.
"The way your eyes are cloudy and how you seem very jumpy." He replies. "Shame you're ruining your life. You're quite cute."
Ok. I'm done with this guy.
I stomp on his foot. He lets go of me. I point my laser and shoot, effectively knocking him out.
I quickly shoot Rai's capturer. He stares at me with hard eyes. I look away from him. I pull out handcuffs from my manny pack and quickly handcuff the criminals.
Once I'm done, I look at Rai. His eyes burn into mine.
"Look, I was going to tell you." I start.
"I've alerted the police. Let's go." He says.
I follow him back to the Man Van.
He begins to drive. For a while, we don't speak, but finally I realize I had to break the toxic silence.
"I was going to tell you." I say.
"Bullshit." Rai snaps.
"I was, I swear. I was going to tell you this afternoon when I came to work. I'm telling the truth." I persist.
"Oh I'm sure." He snarls.
"I am! Ask Charlotte!" I yell. The van suddenly skids to a stop.
"You told Charlotte before me!" Rai yelled, now facing me.
"I didn't tell her. She found out." I defended.
"How did she find out?" He asked.
"She found them in my pocket." I murmured.
"How did she find out!" Rai yelled.
"She found them in my pocket!" I repeated a lot louder.
"What have you been taking?" He asked.
"Oxy." I mutter.
"How long?"
"A month."
Rai leaned back into his seat. He pushed his hand through his hair. He sighed.
"Kid, I don't- I just- I'm lost for- how could you do this?" He asked.
"I don't know." I lie.
"There has to be a reason." Rai said.
"There's not."
"There is!" Rai yelled.
"Fine, you want to know the reason?" I yell. "The reason is, 2 months ago, Piper and my father died. 2 months ago, I saw my little sisters life slip away. 2 months ago, I saw my fathers dead body in a car crash. 2 months ago, my mom stopped being my mom. 2 months ago, my mom started drinking her weight." At some point tears had crept to the boarders of my eyes. "So, I'm sorry that Piper died. I'm sorry that my dads blood stains my nightmares. I'm sorry my mother's drinking her life away. And I'm sorry that sometimes, I want relief from that!"
Rai stares at me in shock. I've never been one to just breakdown. Tears burn my eyes as I feel my heart race. My breathing quickens.
"Ok, ok, relax. Breathe, you're ok." Rai soothes, pulling over. I fumble with my seatbelt that had suddenly become excruciatingly tight.
Rai quickly helps me with the seat belt. My hands rush to my head but he takes ahold of wrists and holds tight.
I struggle against his bonds but his grip is too tight. Too strong, strong but gentle. I try to jolt out of his hold but it's no use.
"Henry, just breathe, just calm down. You're safe." Tears cover my cheeks. I try again to break his grip but it's pointless.
Finally, I listen.
My breathing evens out.
"Better?" Rai asks.
"Yes." I sigh.
"This is what we're going to do, and don't interrupt me. You are going to go to rehab in Metroburg, a private hero facility so Swellview doesn't know you're there. We'll tell your parents you need to go away with work. Henry, you made a mistake. A series of mistakes over the last month, but we can fix this. You can get sober. It's not over." Rai promises.
I lean back into my seat and sigh.
"Ok." I breath out.
-.-.-.-
- 1 month later -
I exit the doors of Metroburg Rehab Centre, clutching the one month sober pin in my pocket.
"Hey." I say. Rai was waiting by the van.
"Hey Kid. You look good." Rai says.
I laugh before throwing the pin to Rai.
He catches it with ease.
He stares down at it before looking back at me with a smile.
"I'm proud of you." Rai states.
I feel my cheeks blush up a bit.
"Thanks Rai." I say.
"So, ice cream?" He asks.
"Why not." I agree, accepting my pin back and pocketing it.
I climb into the front after putting my suitcase in the trunk.
I have a feeling, things were going to be a lot better.
Hey everyone! This is for MecredieSmith I hope you like it! If any of you want to see your ideas in this book, feel free to ask. Hope your final exams go well!