It was late at night, Probably around 10 or 11 p.m. It was a rather gloomy night, The gray clouds were completely covering the sky as rain continuously poured down from them. The weather forecast predicted that the rain would continue throughout the day and into the night.
Right now, Our main focus is a dark red car {PrincessPhee: Imagine whatever car you want. I know nothing about cars} that was driving down the road through the rain. The car never stopped unless it was a red light until it reached the local police station.
The car found some place to park before the driver opened the door and climbed out. They had already opened a lacy black umbrella. The person was wearing a long black Victorian dress and black high heel boots. They entered the police station and began looking around, For what, no one knew.
Finally one of the police officers approached the woman, they assumed that from the clothes, and asked her, "Excuse me, but what's the matter ma'am? Is everything alright?" The woman still had the umbrella opened and just remembered to close it. When she did, everyone was entranced by her beauty. She had long, flowing dark red hair that went down to her waist and bright orange eyes that were filled with worry. She had plump red lips and just a bit of makeup, some black and red eyeshadow and some blush.
"My son. Where is my son?" She questioned the police officer, who snapped out of his daze. He shook his head to get rid of any impure thoughts as he spoke again, "Your son? Who . . . Oh! Could you be Atlas Looker's mother?" He guessed, as Atlas was the only child they had at the police station right now.
The woman nodded her head vigorously, "Yes, that is my son. Where is he? May I see him?" The lady was very frantic at the moment as she squeezed the umbrella handle in her grasp. The police officer, who said she could call him Rooker, led the woman to the area where all the desks were. Her son, Atlas (13) was currently sitting on a chair as a young woman in front of him asked him few questions but the woman was too far away to hear what they were saying. All she was focused on was her son, He was so grown now. Not at all how she remembered him.
The woman could see that Atlas was cooperating amazingly, He told the woman all he could and went through the story again and again yet showed no sign of being impatient or annoyed. He kept a worried expression on the entire time.
He hadn't noticed his mother walk into the room but he did hear the loud clacking of high heels against the floor. He turned his head slightly to see what the noise was coming from and was (almost) crushed to death by the woman pulling him tight against her chest as she squeezed him tightly.
"Huh?" Atlas was beyond confused, He didn't know what was happening or who this woman was. However, she was hugging him quite tightly. Not to mention, His face was touching something very inappropriate right now. His face was bright red as he gently pushed the woman away from him.
"P-Please let go of me, Ma'am. Its getting hard to breath."
The woman quicly complied, but she slightly flinched when she heard Atlas say 'ma'am'. She cleared her throat as she calmed down, she then helped straighten out Atlas, brushing off some dust and fixing his crumpled clothes. She gave him a small smile and hugged him gentler this time. Then she sat down in a chair that the male police man dragged over for her, she shot him a thankful smile which he returned. She sat in front of her son, before softly caressing his cheek with his thumb as she smiled fondly at Atlas.
"I apologise, Atlas. I didn't mean to scare you, are you alright?" She asked him.
"Um . . . I'm fine, Ma'am. I was just surprised, is all but I'm alright. Um . . . If you don't mind me asking, w-who are you?" Atlas didn't want to come out as rude or anything but he really didn't know who this woman was.
"Oh It's quite alright, I don't mind. It's not surprise that you don't remember me. The last time you saw me was when you were 5 years old. I'm your mother, Atlas." The woman told him. Atlas just froze, His mother??
He gritted his teeth, and clenched his hands on his lap. He has only one memory of his so-called 'Mother' and that was when she had dropped him off at his fathers house and then left him there, never coming back for him.
He quickly calmed himself down when he realised that he was getting too angry, He took a deep breath in then let it out.
"I remember you, Mother. I would love to catch up but father has gone missing so we'll have to postpone it." Atlas smiled, yet his eyes weren't very kind. His mother just sighed before perking her ears a bit, "Your father? What happened to your father? Is he alright?"
Atlas flinched a bit, from anger or sadness, No one knew. He lowered his head until he was looking at his lap as he retold what happened yesterday:
It was a monday morning, Atlas got up and did his normal routine. Then went downstairs to where his father was making breakfast, toast and scrambled eggs. They both eat and made some small talk before they both had to get ready for work/school. They gave each other a hug before they headed outside and went their separate ways.
It was a normal day at school, nothing noteworthy. He got home and saw that his father was there before him. That was rare. His father didn't usually get home until 9 or 10 at night.
His dad said that he was approved for 2 days off so they could celebrate Atlas' birthday. Atlas was so happy because his father rarely got days off anymore. They spent the rest of the day baking a birthday cake, making homemade decorations, playing dress up with some old halloween costumes, playing with some old makeup they found, shopping for some birthday gifts (Atlas likes it better when he can pick his gifts himself and save his father the trouble of stressing over whether he would like the gift or not) and watched movies until late into the night.
The next morning, Atlas woke up alone on the couch. He thought that his father had woken up before him and was making breakfast or something. So he got up, did his normal routine, and headed to the kitchen but his father wasn't there. Instead, all he saw that stood out was a small black box with a pale yellow ribbon tied over the lid. There was also a small note next to the box, addressed to him.
So Atlas took the note and opened it. It was written by his father, It read:
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Dear Atlas,
It's me, your father. Well you probably already guessed that. Either way, If you're reading this now then that means I have already left. You see that box next to this note, It's your additional birthday gift. I've had it since you were a baby, It's a family picture of me, baby you, and your mother.
I know, I know, You probably hate your mother but please don't blame her. She had no other choice but to leave you with me. You were in danger. From what, I can't tell you just yet. Just know that she had the best in mind for you when she left you here.
Nevertheless, she hasn't seen you since you were a baby so . . . anyway, you will probably be put in her care for a while, While I'm gone. And I'm sorry but I can't tell you the reason for my disappearance but I'm not in . . . too much danger.
I'm sorry for not being able to tell you more than this. However, whatever you do, (Do)n't go looking through my room, especially under my bed and behind the picture of the beach on the wall. There's some pretty embarrassing things there.
~With Love, Your Father~
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Atlas put the note down with a huff, His father must have gotten caught up in something suspicious again. He then looked at the box next to him, He carefully untied the ribbon and lifted the lid off the box.
Inside was a shiny, golden locket with a silver chain. Atlas gently took it out of the box and opened it, It really was a picture of his father, baby him and his mother. They all looked so happy.
He unclipped the chain before putting on his next and clipping it again and let it hang on his neck.
Now, What to do next.
Call the police.
The end.
Atlas's mother, {PrincessPhee: We'll just call her Mrs. Looker because she and his father never got a divorce. Well, they weren't exactly split up either but it's complicated.} was deep in thought after she listened to His explanation. She looked up at her son and met his eyes, there was something else he was hiding. Something he wasn't saying.
However, she just smiled brightly and stood up.
"I see, well lets hope he returns soon. For the meantime, you will be staying with me. Correct?" Mrs. Looker beamed, a bit too brightly. Atlas almost felt blinded, and was pretty sure the two police officers felt the same way. And as much as he didn't want to, His mother was his last, living relative, besides his father.
So, very reluctantly, He sighed softly and nodded his head. He watched his mother squeal happily before going to another desk to sign papers or something with the male police men. He was envious of how carefree his mother looked right now, He wished he could be that carefree and light. But his mind was plagued with thoughts about his father and where he could possibly be at the moment.
His focus was broken when he heard chuckling coming from behind him, He turned and saw that it was the female officer. She was giggling behind her hand as she leaned against a desk.
Atlas tilted his head to the side, wondering why exactly she was giggling. Did he unconsciously do something weird again? Was he kicking his feet in and out? Or . . . Was he humming to himself again? He thought he had gotten rid of those childish habits!!
However, It seems his concerns were for naught as the female officer quickly explained why she was chuckling, "I'm sorry, Atlas. It's just, Your mother looks so pleased right now but you look almost like a kicked puppy with a pout on their lips. It was just cute, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to laugh at you."
Atlas huffed and (unconsciously) pouted, "I do not look like a kicked puppy, Anna. I just haven't seen her since I was 5 years old and she has never bothered to visit until now." He crossed his arms in front of his chest and puffed his chest out a little but it made him look more adorable then he intended.
The police woman, Anna freigler, was desperately trying to hold back her laughter and not coo at this adorable child in front of her. She had known Atlas and his father, {PrincessPhee: We'll just call him Mr. Looker. If you'd all like, you can pick a name for him because I haven't come up with name for him yet.} since Atlas was 5. She used to be his babysitter when Mr. Looker couldn't spare anytime away from work to pick him up from school and watch over him.
So Anna knew how "Grown up" Atlas was. She had witnessed and helped him grow, and at some point he started to distance himself from others and act more maturely than a 13 year old should act. He would put on a brave face when other kids bullied him, Would always finish his homework the night before, always get straight A's on everything, Help whoever needed help, All in all he was like an adult. The way he handle certain matters made it feel like others were speaking to an experienced adult. It was unnerving sometimes, how this young child was forced to mature because of his living situation and because of multiple other things too.
"Still, It might be good for you to spend some time with your mother. You know? Get in touch with your feminine side." Anna joked, not being able to contain her laughter when Atlas' pout deepened.
Just as he was about to say something back, His mother came back to collect Atlas. She grabbed her umbrella and held a hand out for Atlas to take, "Well, we should get going now. My place is a while away from here and I have to be back by midnight."
Atlas, however, hesitated to take her hand, "But what about all my stuff at home? I can't just leave everything there." He pointed out, he had some very special things and didn't want to just leave them to collect dust on a shelf or in a box.
"Oh, don't worry Atlas. I'll send someone to collect and bring all your stuff to my mansion at a later date, after all, It's quite late already." Mrs. Looker reasoned with him. Atlas couldn't refute that because it was true, he had been at the police station most of the day and it was already 11 at night. So all he could do was nod his head and agree to that arrangement - - - Wait! D-Did she just say . . . Mansion?
Before Atlas' brain had time to process the information he was given, His mother had already pulled him along with her as she left the police station and helped him into the passenger seat of her car. By the time he snapped out of his daze, they were already far from the town that Atlas lived in.
The car was silent, no one was talking and there was no music on. It was quite awkward. Mother and son reunited after 8 years apart yet both are too awkward to initiate a conversation with the other.
Finally after 10 unbearable minutes, Mrs. Looker cleared her throat and decided to fill Atlas in on important information.
"Atlas, I know that an apology won't fix the relationship between us in a snap but I truly am sorry for leaving you to your fathers without coming back once. I hadn't planned that at all, but something came up and I couldn't keep you with me because of that 'something'. It was simply too dangerous for the both of us. I do hope that we can try and have a better relationship but If you don't want to then I completely understand, Just . . . . I do love you and your father."
Mrs. Looker was simply rambling at this point, she wasn't exactly sure how to express her feelings to her son. She thought it was hopeless, as she didn't hear Atlas saying anything. She sighed, she had expected this reaction, she knew that this was gonna take time.
"I love you too. I'll put in some effort and try to fix our relationship too, I apologize for the way I was acting at the police station. Even If I was upset with you, It wasn't right to glare or talk to you that way. I understand that you had your own reasons for everything. My father said the same thing in his note, it seems like everyone around is keeping secrets in order to protect me. I won't mention this for now, but I can't promise that I won't get curious about it all later."
Mrs. Looker certainly never expected this as a reply, She was so shocked that she accidentally stepped on the brakes of the car. This made Atlas and Mrs. Looker both would have gone flying through the windshield if it weren't for their seatbelts.
"Really?"
Mrs. Looker had said this one word so softly that Atlas almost didn't hear it but he did, so once he calmed his pounding heart and heavy breathing, He turned to his mother with kind eyes and a small smile hanging on his lips.
"Yes, Really . . . . Mom."
Mrs. Looker quickly reached over to hug her son but quickly halted when the seat belt around her shoulder prevented her from doing so. She grumbled as she corrected the way she sat, "Damn seatbelt."
Atlas chuckled a bit under his breath as he looked forward at the dark road before a question suddenly popped into his mind, "Where are we going?" He turned his focus back to his mother, who suddenly had a big smile on her face.
"We are going to the place that I put all my effort and time into making. I won't tell you much, I want it to be a surprise but I should warn you, there are other people that live there, I usually rent out the rooms to other's, for free most of the time. I'll explain more when we get there, but I promise, You're going to love it there. You might even make a few friends." Mrs. Looker rambled again, she seemed to do that a lot when she gets excited, {Mrs. Looker: You got a problem with that? | PrincessPhee: ?? Who are you talking to? | Mrs. Looker: You. You were the one who wrote that. So you got a problem with me talking a lot when I get excited because If I remember correctly then you do the same thing. Don't you, Princess? | PrincessPhee: Let's talk about this later and stop breaking the fourth wall. Apologizes Readers, *Whispers* She likes being dramatic sometimes. | Mrs. Looker: What was that? *Pulls out a high heel shoe* | PrincessPhee: Nothing!!}
Atlas sighed, He never really liked surprises but Oh well. He was quite tired so he decided to take a small nap until they got wherever they were going. It's been a long day and he wished things were back to normal already. He's ever taken too well to change.
But boy, were things about to change.
[Hey! This is the Prologue, Just to help start the story and get it flowing. The first chapter is usually not the best as its hard to start stories when you just really want to get to the exciting part. *Ahem* Anyway, I hope you enjoy this. The next few chapters should be a bit better as the plot will start to pick up a bit.
Oh! I watched The movie "Old" by M Night Shymalan today with my mom and sister. Man, I must say, It was amazing and sad and thrilling and . . . . Just simply awesome. If you haven't seen it the I'd recommend it to anyone who likes psychological movies and movies that just really f*ck with you. It had many plot twists that I didn't expect and it was good.
Anyway, Enough ranting. Hope you enjoy and if you guys do come up with names for Atlas' parents please don't hesitate to comment them. Enjoy!]