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"You never let me see him!"The blonde teen screamed at his mother, to no avail." Honey, please listen to me-"The taller woman spoke in worry, holding her arms as her green eyes glistened.The child picked up a pillow from the couch and threw it to his mother, missing just barely as it hits a picture frame. He gasped and rushed over to clean up the mess."No.. No nonono-"Apollo, the child, had tried to put the glass together, only failing in ripping the photograph. The image was of an older man, about the age of his mother."Apollo, you know I hate that man. He-"Before the woman had a chance to finish, she caught another pillow."He ruined our life? May I correct you that only your life was ruined? You don't have to drag us into your trauma. I never had a chance to even meet the guy- I mean Sarah was five when he left. I wasn't even born yet."The woman's face grew boiling red, and if it were possible, steam would be flowing out her ears like a train. She clenched her fists, storming off. Apollo felt his chest get tight from pressure, his hands sweating from the excessive heat. His head started to pound as the living room lights started to glare at him.He stormed off to god knows where and slammed the front door, making sure he had his phone on him as he left. Apollo stood at the entrance of the woods. The night howled as the wind nipped at his face. He wasn't sure what to do or where to go, he just wanted space, to be alone. He walked into the woods with his phone as a light.The locust chirped repeatedly, almost making Apollo feeling crowded in open space. He felt as the wind blew through his clothes, hearing the branches and leaves below his feet crunch.About a mile deep in the woods, Apollo heard a branch snap, making him nearly twist his head from turning to see what's there. He felt his heart pound just a bit faster."¥ðµ §hðµlÐñ'† ßê hêrê."A low, husk voice snarled from behind a tree. Apollo's hands started to sweat, making him nearly drop his phone. From the same direction, a growl started to raise, making Apollo, step back, just before freezing from fear. He could see something. He couldn't tell what, but it was just at the corner of his eye. When he finally turned to look, it was gone."ⱤɄ₦."Apollo felt a chill run down his back, and out of reaction he stomps off as quickly as possible. Adrenaline kicks in, making it difficult for the child to breathe. It felt as though he was just an entity, passing by. A branch scraped his waist as Apollo yelped and took off his zip-up sweater as he ran past trees to cover his waist, unsure of how bad he got scratched. Running through the woods, he finds himself exiting the forest. Welcomed by cars driving by, he is at a busy street, far from his home. He turns back to a normal forest, no growling nor fear. Just the ordinary woods. The only thing familiar being the individual trees. Apollo looks around, seeing a shop. He saw it and recognized it as one about 5 miles from home."Odd.. I didn't think I was that far in the woods- was I?" The blonde teen could only wonder, only running up to the store once the street was cleared.Ding DongApollo walked in, panting. He checked his pockets to find a $20 bill. He just got some water, food, and a pack of cigaretts. He couldn't find his lighter, so he added one to the pile and hoped nothing was overpriced."Smoking's bad for you- and you're just a-"The teen, already done with hearing the salesman couldn't take it and just burst out into yelling."Just shut up!"He slammed the bill onto the desk and waited to get his things in a bag. Now in silence, he finally snatches the bag and storms outside. Stepping outside, Apollo lit up his cig and walked off as he took a drag every once in a while. He knew the way home, it was just a long walk. In the dark. The middle of the night. With no ride home. And no way in hell was he gonna call his mother, he was still too mad to talk to her.Apollo couldn't shake off the feeling of someone nearby. He could normally tell if someone was nearby, he could just- sense it. But when he turned around, no one was there. He just continued off with this anxiety. "Mom! Sarah! I'm home!"Apollo cried out when he finally got home. His legs were hurting, and he couldn't see straight. He felt as though he was gonna fall down and fall asleep. He almost did, wobbling to shut and lock the door. He walked over and groaned, feeling ignored. No one responded, so he just walked off to his room and flopped onto the bed, passing out immediately. "Do you really think he'll do well?" A low, raspy voice spoke."I'm sure, Jeff. He'll do just fine." An electric voice responded with confidence and slight annoyance."If you say so."
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Apollo stood at the stove, still as can be as his tea kettle was on a fire. Eventually, there was a hissing indicating that it was done so he took it off and poured the water into a mug. "Not all heros wear capes!" it said. As cheesey as it was, his sister gave it to him on his birthday. It meant a lot to him, so he kept it aroundThe boy sipped at his tea in the silence. 'Odd...' he couldn't help but wonder, because it was so quiet in this house. Usually, he'd hear something- anything. Whether it'd be Sarah walking about, or his mother vaccuming. There was always some sound, but nothing.
"Sarah! Mom!"
Into the house, Apollo shouted. But he shouted in vain, as no response nor person came to his sight. Apollo walked around and saw no one around. In a moment, he felt a sharp pain in his waist as he dropped the mug, gripping his ribs. His shirt was all bloody. Apollo was too tired to pay to detail, he lifted his shirt to reveal a nasty wound.It wasn't that bad when he last recalled, it was just a scratch- from a tree branch- Nonetheless, the pain rushes him to the bathroom and he quickly takes off his shirt to clean the wound with the showerhead. The child fixed the shower and bandaged his waist, grabbing the tylenol to hopefully remove most of the sharp pain- he could then go to the hospital. But for now he had to find out what was going on.Apollo eventually walked out when everything was cleaned up, going back to the living room to see if Sarah, or even his mother was there. Sadly, there was still no one meaning he wouldn't even be capapble of paying for a visit to the Emergancy Room. Atlas, Apollo would deal with it. For now. He walked back to the kitchen and cleaned up his mess.
'Odd.. I swore it broke- it shattered, I-'
The poor teen wasn't able to finish his thought as he knelt down to pick up the mug. It was all in one piece- on the ground, and the tea was still inside of it. He picked it up strangily, putting it on the counter freaked out. Apollo looked at it for a moment, picking it up as he threw it on the ground. It didn't break nor spill the tea inside. Apollo picked up the cup once more, incapable of pouring out the tea. He felt weird.He shook it off and walked off, having more important things to do. Like finding his sister- or mother- or better yet his father. Clearly no one was home, so Apollo went back to his room to change out of his bloodied shirt. He put the mug into the sink with all the piling plates and dishes, making sure it made it into the sink.Once Apollo made it outside, he got into his mother's car and drove off. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~"So target's locked. Woke up with a worse injury. So what? It's not rocket science, obviously he'll figure out something's wrong. But what makes you actually think the kid's gonna come looking for us in the woods?" The voice wasn't as raspy as the first person. It could be heard he was blowing a cigarette, shuffling around in his polyester clothes."Like I said, I'm sure he'll do fine. Just trust the process, and it'll be fine. Whatever you guys do, Do. Not. Interviene." The electric voice made it clear that no one should interact with Apollo.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Apollo sat in the waiting room of the ER, casually bleeding out while other people were shot, or having an asthma attack or whatever. It's alright, soon he will be alright. Soon he would get to the lady at the front desk, filling out paperwork that he knew most of. He turned to his side almost out of habit, realizing his mother nor his sister were there. How could he forget-? That was quite literally the morning topic of his mind.Soon he found himself with the doctor and nurse, one cleaning his wound properly over his poor attempt, and the other trying to figure out how the wound got there in the first place. Apollo didn't even really know, it was just a scratch! How could it get to how it was?"Sir, I've already told you. It was just a scratch when I got it, I went to bed got up, and later on, it started to bleed through. I didn't even notice it was this bad until I was already up." Apollo tried again and again to explain to the doctor, sighing in defeat.
"Yeah, but- Apollo is it? You don't just get wounds like that. It just- doesn't happen."
"Well that's certainly not what happened now, I just need help fixing it-" Apollo watched the nurse finish cleaning his "just a scratch" as he gave up arguing.
"Well, unfortunately, I can't help you. Your bill will be sent to you through the mail."
Apollo nodded and got up after the nurse finished. Apollo slammed the door shut, mostly to try to get yelled at."I slammed the door, it almost broke into a million pieces time to come out and shout at me!" He yelled childishly, just like Kevin from Home Alone 1. "Mom..? I'm sorry for being a jerk, please stop with the silent treatment!" Apollo once again looked around the house for his mother, groaning. He walked over and got out a boiling pan and filled it up with water and eggs to make some boiled eggs. He didn't have breakfast yet.Apollo put his eggs in a bowl and put the pan in the sink, no longer an issue. Confused, he probably did it and forgot. It wasn't uncommon for him to find himself doing things he wasn't doing moments before He pulled out his phone and brought up his messages, not finding his mother or sister in his contacts list. What was wrong? Why did his family just disappear from the face of the Earth?? Apollo finished his eggs and put his phone away, this time going to the police station. "...And you're saying.. that your said mother and sister disappeared?" The police officer at the desk looked at Apollo, confused as he laid down his file from before Apollo came in.
"Uhm.. yeah- They're not even on my phone.."
"What are their names?" The officer got out a pad and pen, writing down the names along with Apollo's address. "I'll let you know if I find anything. I'll even send you a copy of any files we find of them and their whereabouts. We can't do anything legally until they have been missing for 24 hours."
"Thank you, sir."
"Anytime, kiddo."
Apollo drove home silently, driving by the forest he had gone by earlier. He abruptly stopped, luckily being on an empty road. He drove over and parked near the forest, rolling down his window and stuck his head out the window.Apollo found himself imagining what happened the night before, snapping out of it as he had to get home. He'll come back later, for now- he had to figure out what he was going to do. What could he do? His sister was gone, his mother was gone, and he had no one to help him. He was alone.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Right.. and it seems he doesn't understand how little the police will help him. How's this kid not fucked?"
Jeff had spoken up in the dark room, watching the kid through his phone camera, on a tv screen with a few other people. Next to him, was a boy who looked just like Link but he had a horror element. A few spaces down a muscular guy in a tan windbreaker and a porcelain mask. Next to that person, is another man with a yellow hood and a black mask with red eyes and a red frown outline like something you'd see in a movie. Finally, one more person down the line who had a mouth guard, a hood, and couldn't sit still."And how long is this plan of yours supposed to last before one of us steps in to give a little boost?" The yellow-hooded man turned to Ben curiously, tilting his head.
"Hey. Give it two more days. Then we set part 2 into action."