The Touch Volume 1
"The Void"
By: Myke D
Part 1: The Dreamer
Chapter 7: The Other Me
The obnoxious blaring of my alarm clock echoed off the walls of my bedroom announcing the beginning of another day. This day was different, though. Not only was it the first day of Summer Break, but it was also my twelfth birthday. I couldn't bring myself to smile... My birthdays had always been met with something terrible happening to me ever since I had entered the stupid system. My parents had left me with my grandparents when I was only three, and both of my grandparents had passed shortly after my sixth birthday.
I knew Natalie and Greg loved me, but I decided to keep the secret of my birthday to myself. My social worker hadn't been by in the past three weeks, so I figured it was a safe bet that she didn't reveal the date to my foster parents. They had already done too much for me; more than I felt like I deserved. My birthday would just be one more burden for them to deal with.
I grabbed some clothes to wear and quickly crossed the hallway to the upstairs bathroom. I took a quick shower before I ran downstairs to find Natalie talking on the phone with someone in the kitchen.
"Of course, I'll make sure to tell him you said so, Karen." I froze and glanced shyly towards Natalie. She motioned for me to sit down on one of the stools at the bar. For half of a fleeting moment, I considered running, but deep down inside I knew that it would be a foolish thing to do. Instead, I kept my head down and fought off tears as I slid onto the stool. "Absolutely! They're both angels, Karen. I swear to it!" Natalie ruffled my hair and I felt a tear slide down my cheek. "We really wouldn't have it any other way, Karen. You should know that by now. When is it?" Natalie paused and I heard her gasp slightly. "Oh... No, we didn't know. Thank you, though... No, I know how to handle this, Karen. I'll talk to you later."
Natalie hung up the phone and sat down next to me. The moment she wrapped her arms around me I broke out in quiet sobs. She didn't even hesitate to hug me tightly.
"I love you so much, Zachary." She whispered softly.
"I know," I mumbled softly. "I'm sorry."
"You don't have to be sorry, baby boy." Natalie reassured me. She touched the bottom of my chin and made me look up at her. My foster mom smiled as she wiped a tear off my cheek with her thumb. "I think I understand why you didn't tell us."
I sniffled softly and shuddered as a memory of the monster beating me with a belt across my back briefly flashed through my mind. Natalie just held me tighter.
"Does anybody else know?"
"No," I said softly. "I stopped telling people after my eighth birthday."
Natalie kissed the top of my head.
"You're safe now, baby boy." Natalie reassured me for the hundredth time. "I swear that Greg and I would never let anything happen to you. You and Toby are the best things that have ever happened to us."
"Even though I'm worthless?"
I felt Natalie suddenly freeze as the question left my lips. I didn't even realize that I had said it out loud. My heart began to race as the panic set in. She was going to see it. Natalie was going to see how worthless I really am just because I had brought it to her attention. The monster had beaten that fact into my head whenever.
"He made sure that I knew that," I said quickly.
I didn't want my foster mother to send me away. I wouldn't be able to handle it if I was put into another home, so I continued talking and told Natalie everything about the monster. I didn't stop until I got to the part about him dragging me through the house and throwing me into the tub. I even proceeded to tell her everything about the strange boy that kept coming to me in my dreams.
Natalie was quiet when I finished, and I remained silent with my head down as I waited for her to start telling me how the monster had been right the entire time. I began to shake again, and the tears fell from my eyes uncontrollably.
"I'm sorry..."
"Don't ever be sorry for what that piece of shit did, Zachary." Natalie said with such venom in her voice that I sat back from her. I was shocked to see tears in her eyes as she gripped my hands tightly in her own to keep me from pulling away. "You are not worthless, Zachary, and you never were! No child should ever have to be put through bull shit like that." Natalie's tone suddenly changed to a softer one as she pulled me into her arms again. "I wish I could go back and take all of your pain away, Zachary. I wish you were mine."
"Me, too." I whispered.
Natalie hugged me tightly one last time before she finally let me sit back. She wiped the tears from my cheeks with the sleeve of her shirt before she kissed my forehead.
"Is everything okay in here?" We both turned to see Greg standing at the doorway of the kitchen with Toby in his arms.
"Everything is fine now, love." She told him. Greg gave her a quick kiss before he placed Toby on the stool beside me.
"Now?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.
I couldn't bring myself to look at either of them.
"I'll tell you later," she informed him as she squeezed my knee gently. "Now, how about some breakfast? I think Zach should get to decide since it's his birthday."
"Really?" Greg asked in amusement. "You're just full of surprises, Zachary."
Once breakfast was finished, Natalie took Toby with her to the store while Greg worked on a couple of notes for one of his clients. I was sitting beside him on the couch with my nose in my favorite book when his cellphone began to ring. Greg took one glance at it before he answered the device.
"Good morning, Mr. Montgomery." Greg greeted the caller pleasantly. I froze at the name for a moment as I remembered that Greg had told me the name of his client when he had given me the book as a present. "I'm actually hanging out with my foster son at home right now. What can I help you with?" Greg paused for a moment before he said anything. I could hear a voice through the speaker, but I couldn't make out what the man was saying. "We can do that. Would you mind if I brought Zachary along with me? Nat had to step out, and even though it's his birthday, twelve isn't old enough for me to leave him alone just yet." Greg laughed and poked me in the side. "It's your son's birthday, also? Of course, you can bring him with you. It will give Zachary someone to talk to while we discuss business." I glanced at Greg for a moment while he listened to his client. "I'll see you in a few minutes, Mr. Montgomery."
Greg hung up the phone and smiled at me.
"We've got work to do, bud." He told me. "Go put some shoes on. Oh, make sure you bring your book, too. I'm sure that David will autograph it for you."
I stared at him in disbelief.
"Are you serious?"
"It doesn't hurt to ask, Zach." Greg teased me. "Hurry up, little man. We don't want to keep the man waiting."
I smiled and jumped off the couch to find my shoes with a huge grin on my face. Perhaps, this birthday wasn't going to be so bad after all.
Greg called Natalie and told her where we were going to be, so she wouldn't be worried when she got home, and we weren't there. I heard Natalie chastise the man for taking me to work, but Greg just smiled and said that it wasn't going to be for very long. Natalie didn't lighten up on Greg until he told her that we were going to ask the man for an autograph too.
"I thought I was in hot water there for a moment, Zach." Greg chuckled as we pulled up out front of his office. "Good thing we remembered to grab your book!"
Greg's firm was on the first floor of the small building, and he led me to his office once he got the front door unlocked. There was a large desk in front of a window that overlooked the park next door, and a bookshelf filled with volumes of legal books and guides from top to bottom. He had a small brown leather sofa sitting off to one side of the room and there were two leather chairs positioned across from his desk. I took one of the seats and pulled my book out so I could get back to reading it while Greg did what he needed to do.
"How many times have you read that book?"
"I lost count," I told him with a shrug.
Ten minutes passed and I began to feel a strange itching sensation on the back of my head. I have no other way to describe the feeling other than an itch that I couldn't quite scratch. It didn't grow in intensity, but just remained steady like a buzzing sound in your ears. I glanced around the room and didn't notice anything out of the ordinary from the other times I had been in Greg's office. He had framed diplomas hanging along the wall, along with a picture of me and Toby together. I smiled as I remembered how Natalie had insisted we stop and get pictures taken as a family. It had felt strange at first, but it was another one of those moments that Natalie and Greg were showing us how much they considered us to be their family.
A chime sound snapped me out of my thoughts and Greg stood from his seat.
"I'll be right back, Zach." He said. "I think they're here."
I nodded with a smile before I turned my attention back to my book. The itching sensation began to distract me as I heard Greg talking to someone.
"I've got the proposal already drawn up, Mr. Montgomery." Greg was saying.
"Please, Greg." A baritone voice responded softly. "You really don't need to keep calling me Mr. Montgomery. I get that enough from my publisher."
"I'll try to remember that," Greg said with a chuckle. "Some habits are extremely difficult to break, though."
"I'll let you slide this time, Greg." The man laughed. "Just don't let it happen, too often."
Greg and the man both laughed. I glanced up to see Greg enter the office, followed by a tall man with short brown hair and green eyes. He was slender and he wore khakis pants with a green polo shirt that made the color of his eyes stand out even more. It was the boy beside him with his face glued in his cellphone that made me gasp in surprise though... Neither of the newcomers had noticed me yet, but I definitely saw them.
I couldn't believe my eyes as I stared at the boy. It was like somebody had cloned me, and the boy with the slight tan standing in the doorway of the office was the result.
"This is my foster son – Zac..."
"Zyan!" The man almost cried in disbelief when his green eyes met mine. HE immediately reached over and grabbed the boy's head and made him glance up.
"What is it, dad?" The boy looked up at his father in confusion and followed the man's stare until his blue eyes met mine. "Holy shit."
Greg looked between the two of us with disbelief written across his face. I stood from the chair and the book fell from my hands. I knew both of them. The room spun around me as I reached out for my twin brother...
*********Thanks again for reading "The Touch". If you wish to be notified of this or any of my other stories, please feel free to email me and make sure that you let me know which story you want to know about. – storymyke@outlook.com
****Remember to donate to keep the Nifty Archive running! https://donate.nifty.org/donate.html