So alone.

GEORGE

I got out of the car and rushed into the mansion immediately as a surge of unpleasant memories filled my thoughts and challenged my sanity. My chest was tight as I staggered across the living room. My heartbeat hiked up and I was incredibly winded up even though I hadn't done anything strenuous.

Memories that my mind seemed to have saved me the trauma of remembering has been triggered by the revelations of Zubiar and even worse by the absolute betrayal of my mom. It hurt me to my core to be living with people who have proven to be potential enemies and being completely defenseless against them, without my memories to protect me from them.

I felt so alone.

It hurts to not know, but it hurts even more to remember. Especially with my dad.

I remember the time he had starved me for days for an offence I never committed. I had begged for a while and even swore on my life that I never did the offence I was accused of but he wouldn't listen. He would isolate lock me in my room, strip me of everything that could even remotely entertain me, seal the blinds so that I have no view of the outside and made sure the hallway with my room was silent and without sound. He would slowly drive me crazy until I admitted to whatever he wanted me to admit. Just to fuel his demented ego.

He would burn me with cigarettes just to satiate his twisted amusement at seeing me in pain. He would even go as far as putting out the cigarettes on my tongue, causing me to have a terrible hatred and extreme panic attacks at the sight of cigarettes. He would haunt my dreams with these sights, making my world into one of burning pain.

As a child, I remember the countless times he's locked me in the dark and paid no heed to my desperate yells and pleas for forgiveness and a bit of leniency. A childlike mischief would always land me in more trouble than it is worth, causing me to grow up a lot more timid around others of my age.

My eyes burned as hot tears threatened to force their way out of them. I tried my best to hold them back and somewhat succeeded as I withstood the pain and itching eyes so that I don't cry. My chest still tightened, my heart raced and the lump in my throat never left. It stayed in place, teasing me into swallowing and causing myself more pain.

I slowly made my way up the stairs and opened the door to see the last thing I expected to see.

"I came up here because I wanted to be alone," I muttered as I slowly walked in but left the door open. "Why won't you demons let me be? Why do you all swarm around me?"

"What do you want from me?!" I yelled, startling the distracted figure of Eleanor who seemed to have not noticed me when I came in.

"Ald-"

"Stay away from me!" I hissed at her. "Get out of my room!"

She stood in place, stunned as she stared at me. The silence between us persisted for about a minute and seemed to calm me down by a little bit.

She eventually moved, walking towards the door in silence.

"Eleanor , wait," I said as she walked past me, my voice a lot softer.

She halted in her steps and turned to look at me, her eyes glassy as she stared at me.

"I'm sorry," I sighed. "I have a lot going on with me right now. I might have raised my voice wrongfully at you. I apologize."

She stared at me for a bit and opened her mouth as if to say something but decided against it. Instead, she simply nodded and turned away from me as she made her way to the door and shut it quietly behind her.

I let out another sigh as I plopped into my bed and closed my eyes and laid back on the bed. More memories flashing through my mind of my childhood abuse and trauma. Truths that if they went public about my bastard of a father, they would immediately ruin him and drag his reputation deep into the mud. Painful memories that I wished I had never remembered. The words of Zubiar and the stark betrayal from my mother. All of it was just too overwhelming for me to bear.

"Why exactly did I have to remember all this?" I said to myself. "Why did I have to go through all this? What exactly did I do to them? What did I do to anyone?"

That was the exact question I wanted to ask him. The question I needed to ask my bastard of a father.

Picking up my phone, I begrudgingly dial my father's number and let the dial tone ring as I braced myself for the sound of his repulsive voice.

The sound never came.

Instead, the beeping of the call ending was the sound I heard instead. I wasn't directed to voicemail. That means he ended the call.

'That bastard ended the call!' I thought to myself as sadness was replaced with fiery anger that threatened to overwhelm my senses. I could almost feel my sanity slipping away.

Taking a deep breath, I let myself relax by taking a deep breath and laid my back down on the bed before trying to call again.

This time, I had reined in my anger, but I hadn't controlled it. I made a silent resolution in my mind. If he ends my call this time, I would drive back to his house and give him a piece of my mind and fist.

I dialled his number once more and let it ring. It rang for the duration it was supposed to, and I was soon directed to voicemail which was an indication that he didn't end it this time. I felt somewhat disappointed.

His appalling voice came through the phone speakers as if taunting me. It said;

"Leave a damn message."

The arrogance is in voice is a testament of the the arrogance in his heart. He feels above law and reason. Like an all-important and all-powerful entity.

'I hate him.'

That was my first thought at the moment but I still had to talk tell him how I felt. I can't expect him to ever pick my call and I do not intend to call him ever again. I needed to say everything I could right now.

"Father," I said as I finally got a hold of thoughts. "The sound of me calling you that must repulse you as much as it does me but that's exactly why I'm saying it. To annoy you. To make you realize that the following words were said by the one who once thought of himself as your son. Not the stranger you forced me to become."

I took a deep breath and exhaled before continuing.

"I have a question," I said. "Why exactly do you hate me? What did I ever do to you? I remember everything you did to me and I can't help but wonder why you thought it necessary to treat me like a piece of trash. I know you and mother have your issues, but what kind of a sick bastard do you have to be to take all of your anger and frustration on your child?"

I paused as I help back tears once more, doing my best not to cry into the phone.

"You are not even worth my tears, Mr Moguel," I continued. "I wish you feel the pain you have made me feel for the rest of the duration of your life. You know what, both you and mom deserve each other. You both are lying crooks who deserve to suffer for the rest of your lives. I think I remember that I have a brother. You both do not even have the decency to tell me about him. Am I better than Jesse now? I don't know why a part of me wishes to forget it all, but if you have done anything worse than I already remember, I am going to make sure you pay for it in this life and the next. You are going to feel so much pain that you would regret the thought of calling me your son."

With that, I ended the call and dropped the phone on the bed as I let out a breath I never knew I was holding. I didn't even feel better after my outburst because simply saying those words did not ease my pain. I still felt hurt, abused, angry and overall, sad.

A quiet knock on my door rouses me from my thoughts and I grumbled a reply.

"Come in."

The door opened and Eleanor walked in wearing an oversized t-shirt and a pair of leggings. The thing that catches my eye though, is the pair of brown boots on her feet.

The memories of my accident flooded my head so intensely that I grabbed my head at the sudden influx of information.

I could remember the impact, the amount of time the car tumbled before laying upside down. I could remember the pain that threatened to split my being apart, but more importantly, I could remember the sound of footsteps as they echoed in my head, the sound both terrifying and disorienting. I remembered the boots of the person that came to stand in front of me.

I remembered looking up and seeing the person's face.

My eyes widened as that piece of information invaded my mind

I know the person.