The Touch Volume 1
"The Void"
By: Myke D
Part 1: The Dreamer
2: Nightmares
It was Natalie that awoke me the next morning so she could help me get ready to go home. Once I was dressed, several of the nurses and doctors came into my room to wish me well before I was loaded up into a wheelchair and pushed towards the elevator by Greg. Natalie and my doctor walked with Greg down to the lobby where they both made sure I was put into the backseat of a black sedan and buckled in firmly.
"I have to work for a few hours," Natalie said as she kissed my forehead gently. "Don't let Greg bore you with all of his lawyer talk, okay?"
I giggled slightly and smiled as she closed the door.
"Make sure that he eats something, Greg." I heard Natalie tell my new foster father. "His meds will probably kick in before you get him home. Doctor Jerret went ahead and gave him a dose about ten minutes ago."
"I've got this, Nat." Greg said with a slight grin before he glanced at me. "Zachary and I are going to get along just fine today. I'll call you as soon as I have him situated in front of the television."
Greg kissed Natalie before he climbed into the driver's seat of the car and headed towards the exit of the lot.
"Are you hungry, Zachary?" Greg asked as he pulled out onto the main road.
"Yes, sir." I said nervously as a flashback of the monster teasing me with food popped into my head. I shoved the memory back down as deep as I could so I wouldn't have an emotional breakdown on Greg.
"How does McDonald's sound for lunch?"
"McDonald's?" I had saw the name of the restaurant before, but I had never been there that I was aware of.
"You are going to love this, Zach." Greg said with a smile. "We're going to be fat kids for the day."
I giggled even though I didn't have any idea what he was talking about. His positive attitude was infectious, and I found it drawing me out of my depression for short moments of time. Greg pulled through the drive-thru of the fast food chain and placed our order.
"I'm not sure what you're going to like, so I bought you a couple different sandwiches to try." Greg informed me as he pulled around the building with the line of cars. "Okay?"
"Okay," I mumbled nervously.
"It'll be alright if you decide that you don't like something, Zachary." Greg said. "It's no big deal. I'm certain that Natalie will be more than happy to take our leftovers."
That was a word that I understood completely. The monster had always fed me table scraps. Leftovers. Food worthy of a scumbag like me. I felt my spirits begin to drop, but I managed to keep it together until Greg pulled away from the restaurant.
"Here, buddy." Greg said as he passed a wrapped sandwich back to me. "Try a cheeseburger. It only has ketchup on it. I figure that every kid loves ketchup."
I forced myself to smile as I thanked him for the food. It smelled delicious and my stomach growled loud enough to make Greg laugh from the front seat.
"Eat up, buddy. There's plenty of food to go around."
"Yes, sir." I said with a brief nod before I took a bite of the sandwich. Greg laughed again as I groaned with delight and tore into the sandwich like I would never eat again.
"Eat a little bit slower, Zachary." Greg said with a smile. "I don't want Natalie mad at me if the food doesn't agree with your medicine."
"Yes, sir." I replied before I finished off the food. My nose was being assaulted by the different smells coming from the front seat of the car and my stomach growled again.
"Did you like the cheeseburger?" Greg asked me with a brief grin.
"Yes, sir." I replied meekly. I wanted to ask him for another one, but my voice caught in my throat as I remembered the way the monster would sneer at me if I ever asked for anything. My stomach betrayed me as it growled again.
"You can have more, Zachary." The man assured me calmly. "I bought plenty for both of us, buddy. Do you want another cheeseburger, or would you rather try a chicken sandwich this time?"
"C... c... coul... could I have a chicken one, please?" I stammered out bashfully.
"Absolutely, buddy." Greg replied as he passed another wrapped sandwich back to me.
"Thank you, Mr. Harris." I said as I took the sandwich from him and opened it as quietly as I could. The smell of the cooked chicken made my mouth water as I tore into it hungrily. By the time I finished, we were pulling into the driveway of a moderately sized two-story home. There was a two-car garage, but Greg parked just outside and turned the car off. He glanced back at me and smiled.
"We're home, Zachary." My foster dad told me happily. "Stay put for a second so I can get the house opened up. You're not allowed to walk on your own yet according to Natalie. I'll be right back. Okay?"
I nodded timidly as Greg jumped out of the car and ran to open the front door of the house. He was back a second later and pulled open the backdoor.
"Unbuckle your seatbelt, buddy." I did as Greg instructed before he slipped his arms around me and lifted me from the car. He pushed the door closed with his foot.
"My trash..." I started to say groggily.
"Don't worry about it, Zach." Greg informed me with a brief smile. "I'll comeback out to get everything once I have you settled on the couch. I think your meds are starting to kick in anyways."
"I have to pee," I blurted out before I couldn't figure out why I had said it. That was not like me at all. Greg laughed which made me giggle bashfully.
"Okay, then." He said with a smile. "Judging by the haze in your eyes, I would say that the meds have definitely kicked in, Zachary."
I giggled and leaned my head against his shoulder. Everything was spinning around me in slow motion as Greg pulled open the screen door of the brick house and carried me inside. The first room was a small foyer that led straight into the living room. The carpet was a dull beige color, and the sofa and loveseat were dark blue. Greg carried me past the sofa to where two doors were closed next to each other. He pulled open the door on the right revealing a small bathroom with light blue walls, and gray tile on the floor. A single ceiling light illuminated the room as Greg stood me on my feet in front of the toilet. He reached forward and lifted the lid before he made sure that he had me firmly by the sides. My legs were already beginning to tremble as I fumbled with the buttons on my pants. I had barely gotten aimed at the toilet before I let loose.
"Close one, huh?" Greg asked with a chuckle.
I couldn't help but giggle as I slowly drained my bladder. Once my hands were washed, Greg carried me out to the sofa and had me lie down. He made sure he got me a pillow and a blanket off of the back of a nearby chair before he handed me the remote to the television.
"We have a much better selection to watch than the hospital," Greg said playfully. "I'm going to get our stuff out of the car, okay?"
"Yes, sir." I said quietly with a nod. Greg ruffled my hair before he ran out the front door. I had fallen asleep before he even returned.
The first thing I saw was two little blonde-haired boys playing in a sandbox. They both had blue eyes and they were smiling happily. The sun was shining down on them without a cloud in the sky as the identical boys played together. A woman with long blonde hair sat nearby, but her attention was focused on the paperback novel in her grasp instead of the two boys. One of the little boys stood to his feet, and on shaky legs, began to walk away from the sandbox towards some bushes. A moment after he disappeared, I heard squealing tires and the woman glanced up from her book. She gazed towards the sandbox as a look of horror slowly crept across her face.
"Zyan?" Her voice broke as the boy's name left her lips. She was on her feet a second later as she repeated the name again, this time in a desperate scream. "Zyan?"
The image faded away until the monster stood in front of me with the same evil sneer on his face. His dark eyes flashed with rage as he screamed at me, but there was no sound. I felt confused until he continued to scream at me with words I couldn't even hear. Then, he lashed out and punched me before he slammed me up against a wall. I screamed out in pain as my head hit a mirror and the glass shattered to the floor. This only helped in intensifying the monster's rage. I tried to fight him off, but he just kept holding me against the wall. I screamed and cried as I fought for my life all over again, but it was useless. The monster would always be able to overpower me.
Harold Stubbs threw me down to the floor before he kicked me in my stomach multiple times. I had no idea how to stop him from attacking me as he just kept hitting me repeatedly. I could feel the darkness closing in around me as I fought for my life. I swear that I even heard him exclaim in pain as my fist finally connected with his right eye. Then, I felt something different. I felt somebody touching my chest with the palm of their hand, but the only person that was there was the monster. I could faintly feel a large warm body beside me, but I continued to fight off the monster. The hand never left my chest no matter how many times the monster struck me. It even felt like somebody was petting the top of my head. Then, there was a blonde-haired boy standing in the place of Harold Stubbs. A boy that looked identical to me.
"Wake up, Zyan." The boy said firmly. "You're having a dream, little brother, and you need to wake up, now!"
I stared at him in confusion.
"You've got the wrong person," I told him. "I'm not Zyan."
He looked hurt by my statement, but he slowly faded from my sight – leaving me alone with the slight pressure of a hand against my chest, and another stroking my hair softly.
"Wake up, Zachary." A baritone voice said softly. "Please, wake up, buddy."
I struggled against the thick haze that held me down, but it finally began to give. I had to get out of the darkness. It was the only way to get away from the monster. I could almost hear his evil chuckle and I began to sob violently. I needed to wake up. I tried focusing on the warmth I felt around me, as I struggled to come to. The baritone voice continued to whisper soothingly in my ear.
"Wake up, Zachary." I heard the voice say again with a worried tone. "Just open your eyes for me, buddy. Please?"
I finally found the strength to get my eyes to open, but there was nothing but a blur around me as the medicine tried to keep me in its grasp. The first thing I saw was a man with brown hair and brown eyes holding me tightly against his chest as he soothingly rocked me back and forth.
"There you go, buddy." He said softly. "You're almost there."
The memories of my day flooded back to me as I realized that I wasn't in the hospital room. I couldn't stop crying long enough to get a grip on what I was going through. All I knew was that the monster had attacked me in my dreams, and I had barely escaped his wrath.
"Natalie's on her way home, Zachary. Just relax and take deep breaths." Greg told me with relief in his voice. "She definitely needs to have a talk with your doctor about your dosage levels."
I heard a door open before I heard the sound of Natalie's voice.
"Did you get him to wake up?" Natalie asked in a worried tone as she kneeled next to the couch and placed the back of her hand against my forehead.
"Only just before you walked in, Natalie." Greg informed her.
Then, Natalie reached up and touched Greg's cheek and I followed her movement to see the bruise already forming around Greg's right eye. I remembered how I had managed to actually hit the monster while he had been attacking me.
"He got you good," Natalie said with a slight chuckle.
Greg rolled his eyes as he patted my chest.
"I really think that this kid should join baseball with the way he threw that punch," my foster dad said which made me finally connect the dots as to what I had done. A fresh wave of tears began to fall from my eyes and I just knew for certain that they were going to send me back to live with the monster. "The guys at the office are going to love this war story."
Greg didn't even realize how his words had shaken me. Any moment now, they were going to call my caseworker and have her come pick me up. That's what happened to children who hauled off and slugged their foster parents. They were sent to group homes. Harold had warned me what happened in those group homes, that was how he kept me from telling his secrets.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Harris." I cried uncontrollably as Greg looked down at me in confusion.
"For what, buddy?"
"Please, don't send me to the group home!" I sobbed. "I won't do it again."
"What's wrong, Zachary?" Natalie asked me softly as she rubbed my back. "Why would we send you away?"
"Because, I hit you." I cried.
Greg chuckled and hugged me tightly.
"Trust me, buddy. Natalie hits me a lot more than you do," Greg said with a chuckle.
"I do not!" Natalie said in exasperation as she slapped him on the arm.
"See?" He said with wide eyes. "This happens all of the time!"
Greg laughed which made me giggle lightly.
"Are you guys hungry?" Natalie asked as she rolled her eyes and gave me a kiss on the cheek.
"I don't know about this guy," Greg said as he poked me in the stomach. "But, I know that I'm starving! He's gotta be hungry after the workout he just went through."
"What did I do?" I asked quietly.
"You were stuck in that dream like a tick, buddy." Greg said with a worried grin. "I was worried that we were going to have to take you to the hospital to get checked out."
"I don't want to go back to the hospital," I stated.
"And we don't want you to, either." Natalie told me before she kissed me on the cheek again. "Now, how about chicken for dinner?"
*****Here ends another installment of "The Touch". Next time... Chapter 3 – The New Student...
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