Lynn Taisei and Helzinger approached the door of his mother's house. Lynn felt an instinctive fear of confrontation as the door came closer with each step.
His breath came down with a sudden chill as his body fought every fiber of his being to turn back and run again. The streetlight grew dimmer in his peripheral vision as his heart felt that it was coming out of his chest.
It almost became too deafening until…
He felt pressure in his hand, not too much that it would hurt but enough to notice. Lynn turned his head to see what the pressure was to see Helzinger's hand clenching his. An unknown elder who he just met was there beside him. Someone with no ties or responsibility to help Lynn, but he was here. Here to help him get through this and provide some relief from his horrible life to his hell.
Lynn felt he could take on the world once more, at least for a few more days.
They were nearing the door, the few seconds seemed like hours but the time was nigh, who would answer the door he thought—His uncaring mother or his brutish abuser?
Before he could formulate the thought the door swung wide open to show both.
His mom opened the door while looking back.
"Make sure to lock the door." She was adorned in her nightlife jewelry, her face caked with makeup to hide the uncaring stare of her demeanor. Her lustrous blue dress with her small mink coat called for a night of festivities in the bustling city near their small town suburbia.
She looked forward once to see Lynn, a small look of disdain as her eyes soon followed to meet Edmund's stern look. Her face contorted to meet up to expectations.
"Lynn! We were worried sick!"
She came in for a quick hug, constricting him as her arm struck the bruise-ridden back of Lynn. A face full of pain but he already knew what was coming as he braced preemptively.
She stood back up and faced Edmund.
"Thank you for finding our child. My husband and I were so worried."
The husband in the picture was in the back, looking only at Lynn. His brutish nature was hidden behind a blank stare as he stayed in place.
"Hurry up and come inside, we're gonna have a stern talk after we come bac-"
"If I may." Helzinger interrupted before he could finish his sentence.
His stepfather finally paid some attention to the man who brought back his toy.
"Look, thanks for finding our boy. But can you carry on with your business?" Helzinger took steps forward to approach the man, cane in hand as he approached incrementally.
"Wha- do you want a finder's fee? Fine." He grimaced as he fumbled through his back pocket to pull out his wallet. Lynn's expression shifted to one of quick horror, fearing it might mean even more punishment from his father.
When Helzinger finally stopped, having found what he considered an acceptable distance, he lifted his cane with shaky precision. It rose slowly, inch by inch until it reached its destination with the unsteady precision of an elevator arriving at its floor.
He brushed the cane past Lynn's stepfather and began pushing him aside. What force can a old man do to this burly brutish demon.
A lot, apparently, not expecting to move so suddenly, the man was pushed to the side with little to no effort as the man began bracing to stop being pushed. To be pushed around outside your home, his pride couldn't bear to lose to such an old man.
"You should go back in, Leen. I got to talk to your parents about something, make sure to close the door." Helzinger looked back reassuringly and gestured to him to walk in, which Lynn did.
The door was closed as all the lights were off, to signify they weren't expecting anyone in the house, maybe they wanted Lynn to stay missing a little bit longer. But there was no point in wondering for Lynn.
Lynn's eyes wandered across the interior of the house, a strange, alienated feeling stirring deep within him.
So this was home.
A normal, single-story house. Nothing remarkable, if anything, just a little messy. His gaze settled on the small black entryway table by the door, the kind anyone could pick up from a Wikea catalog. A stack of mail sat on top, neatly sorted by recipient.
His eyes caught one envelope in particular—his report card. It had already been opened, the tear jagged and careless.
Lynn sighed. He knew what was inside.
B's across the board.
Except for English. A C.
Not surprising. He'd always been scraping by, just another average student floating at the bottom of the school rankings.
He didn't want any special attention, well maybe he did.
'I did run away after all.' It was just too much for him, he was just an 11-year-old boy and two of those years were a living hell.
Lynn looked back through the blurred silhouettes, the front door's center was made entirely of frosted glass as he saw the three shadows standing still. Only slight murmurs were heard before it happened again.
They vanished right before the frosted glass. Swallowed by darkness before light and their bodies were restored. Did the porch light flicker? He couldn't tell.
It was just around that time that Lynn should have been preparing to sleep, he had an early curfew and he was starting to feel hazy from the effects of sprinting at the park.
"You're coming with me."
The voice was firm yet held no malice. A shadow loomed before the light, casting a long silhouette over Lynn as a hand reached out toward him.
Lynn's heart pounded. A strange wave of emotions surged through him.
Was it confusion or fear? No, something else he couldn't quite name.
His gaze flickered to his 'parents,' their expressions unreadable, their bodies frozen in place. No words, no objections. Just silence.
Lynn hesitated, inching his hand ever so forward before Helzinger's patience snapped.
Before he could react, Helzinger's patience snapped. His grip tightened around Lynn's wrist, yanking him forward. A forceful pull—one hand grabbing, the other securing—dragging him straight into the blinding light.
Lynn Taisei was for sure airborne at the current moment before reality decided to anchor him as he started to fall.
The fall was quick as he landed on the prepared back of Edmund. His back cracked as he landed as he groaned and muttered about his age. He tried to hear anything else but the night remained eerily still as they walked onwards.
"I told your parents you'll be staying at my house for a while."
There it was again—that feeling at the park—that wave of emotion that sparked him to witness the world and everything in it. But the same energy could not be felt—not even the energy to ask how long a while was. All that was left was to live in the moment as he slowly dazed off on the back of this kind stranger.