"Russell? Russell! Wake up!"
My eyes slowly open, when I noticed the car had stopped. "Ugh, we're here already?" As I looked out of the window, I see snow. Some snow mounds here and there, but it was winter after all. The house we were in front of, I recognised it. It was a different color, but the house itself rung a bell. I feel my ear perk up underneath my hood. It's her parent's place! But, her apartment? Had she moved back in? I look over to Lynette, her face showed a lot of stress, but she was still happy.
"You live here now?" I asked. Lynette's warm smile changed as she looked away. "She passed away five years ago. My stepdad didn't want to stay, he took his portion of the life insurance payout and moved out of state. He didn't take it very well," as Lynette takes off her glasses to dry her eyes, I realised it wasn't just my absence that had put a strain on her sanity. I knew it wasn't in my control, but the guilt I felt. It tugged on me, my chest tightens as the reality of her living alone and sad hits me hard.
Lynette opens the door, and walked over to the garage. Just like I remember from years ago, walking in through the garage more than the front door. But she turns around, calling out to me. "Russell, you still take forever!" she said and quickly pouts at me. As I finally undo my seat belt and open the door, the cool, winter air hits my face once more. It was early evening, the sun was already setting in the west. I closed the door, but noticed I was empty handed.
I walk over the to the trunk and point down. "Oh!" I hear Lynette say, as she fumbles with her keys. She finds the remote and hit a button, I hear a loud click and the trunk opens halfway. I push up on the trunk lid and grab my bags, but as I grabbed them, I stopped in my tracks. Then creature from my coma! What the hell?! Here? But after I blink my eyes, it was gone. It left me dazed, my heart started to race. "Russell, what's wrong?"
I felt my ears perk again, I shake my head and grabbed my bags. I balanced myself and shut the trunk with my elbow, Lynette's concerned look comes into my view. I smile back, not wanting to alarm her with whatever it was I saw. "Well, there's one thing you'll be happy to see," I hear Lynette say. She hits a button on the garage keypad and the door slowly opens . I see the bottom of a car cover as it opens up, more is revealed to show a dark blue car cover. "Who's car is this?" I asked her. She smiled and got teary eyed. "It's yours,"
I didn't know what to say. I guess after the accident somebody must have drove my car back to the apartment the day it happened, or whenever they could I guess. We walk in, and Lynette closes the garage door. Flipping on the main lights, I could now tell it was the shape of my old car. "I can't believe you kept it!" I said happily. I really was happy, my car was sort of my pride and joy, other than Lynette. A hobby that was fond to me during a lot of tough times. More tough times than I really wanted to experience for myself. "Russell, bring your bags in, you can look at it later," I hear from Lynette. Well, may as well settle in for a bit.
Walking inside, it felt nice being inside of a house that was very familiar to me. The warmth of the house was quite nice, walking through the kitchen, I see the snow covered backyard through the windows and the back door. The house was quiet, the sink had some pile of dishes and whatnot, the kitchen table had a newspaper and some mail. I walked over to the table to take a closer look at the newspaper to see the date.
'December 13, 2018'
I knew it was December but the last few weeks made me lose track of dates. The hospice kept me in shape, that's for sure. But they were confident that I could live normally and not worry. I walk into the living room around the corner and lay my bags next to the couch. I look back to see Lynette behind me, she puts her arms out for a hug. How could I say no? Just like I used to, I put my arms out as well and she walks into my arms. I hear her quietly sob and sniffle, as she held me tight. What I went through was unbelievable as it was, but I couldn't image the torment of eight years of not knowing whether or not I was dead. I pull my hood back and Lynette looked into my eyes. Her eyes were glassy from crying, but they weren't tears of sadness, that's for sure.
Lynette rests her head on my chest again, I look out the living room window to see one of the black cars parked across the street. It sat with its parking lights on and engine running. It made me worry about how others will perceive me. Would I be seen as some monster? I mean, I'm not exactly human anymore. It doesn't take much for people to fight these days, or at least when I had my accident. I wasn't really brought up to speed on what was going on in the world. While I worried how bad things could be, I tried to be optimistic. As Lynette finally let go, I thought about how I'd catch myself up to what was going on.
Lynette looks back towards me, "I thought you wanted to see your car?" she tells me. I feel the back of my pants feel odd, I completely forgot I tucked my tail into my pants. I didn't even realise my tail was trying to wag. Heh, new things you gotta get used to, you know? As I made my way back to the garage, Lynette followed me. I open the door and find the light switch, I see my car covered up. I walk towards the car and lean down to lift the cover from the front of the car. As I lift it, the nose of the car is visible. The paint, the headlights, it was all in the same condition I remember from that fateful afternoon. Rolling up the rest of the cover, I noticed some things were missing. The car had no license plate, or registration that was up to date. It didn't surprise me, why would Lynette drive it?
"I had somebody come every three to four months to keep the car in check. I didn't know how to do it, so one of your old friends did it for me," Lynette went on. "The car sat for two years before it got taken care of, my mom wanted me to sell it, I couldn't. I didn't have the heart," she added. I rolled off the rest of the cover to see everything was indeed still intact. My nice wheels, the car still had its lowered suspension, tinted windows, everything. I go to open the door, and Lynette has the keys dangling from her hand. I smile, I feel my ears wilt back as I take the keys. Getting used to feeling new things like my ears was still crazy to me, honestly. I grab a hold of the remote for the car, as it unlocks and beeps at me. Inside, it was clean but just as I remembered it. My Sonic air freshener still hung from the mirror, the black leather seats didn't look much different either.
I slide into the driver's seat, running my hands along the steering wheel. Everything was as it was, it felt like such a relief to have something all too familiar to me right now, I smirk as I put the key in the ignition and fire the car up. No hesitation, the engine cranks and fires. No lights, everything fine. I wanted to drive, but not without any plates or registration. "Are you just gonna stay in there all night? C'mon. Let's watch TV or something. I'll make you dinner later," Lynette says, with a bit of a scolding tone. Ah, I really did miss her sass.
I turn off the car and get back out. Car wasn't going to be used, so I rolled the car cover back over it. Lock it up and left the garage. I walk over to the kitchen, needed something to drink. Outside, it was fairly dark now. I see myself in the reflection of the window, while I grew to like my new body, the constant fear of people wanting me dead loomed over my head. I wanted to live my life again, but at the same time, I didn't. I put my cup down, just staring into the sink. My mind kept racing, so many thoughts all just happening at once, it was giving me a migraine. I feel arms wrap around me and my favorite voice in the world fills my ears. "Russell, come lay down with me,"
Back in the living room, Lynette had the TV on. There was some show on, but it didn't interest me. I didn't remember much, but the sound of the TV slowly faded away as I closed my eyes. The sounds grew more and more faint, until I heard nothing at all. Darkness, it was too familiar to me. I hated it as much as I knew it oh so well. I blocked it out, but before I could do so, the figure from my coma once again appeared before me. He held a book, he wore the same cloak as I remembered, his face was that pit of darkness I never wished to return to. But he did not approach me, but held out his hand. I tried to back away, but I felt like I couldn't move. He didn't come after me, he only held his hand out. But, why? I sort of figured my mind created this, thing, when they did something to my old body. But what now? I have no idea as to why my mind held onto this image. But I heard a voice, it was faint but it was my name. The figure faded away, the darkness slowly lifted and before I knew it, my eyes opened.
"Russell, we fell asleep, let's go to bed," I rubbed my eyes, not wanting to remember the dream I had. Looking down at the clock by the TV, it read well after midnight. As I got up, I adjust my glasses and follow Lynette. My vision was still a bit blurry but Lynette goes into the bedroom and I follow still. She turns on the light and the house's master bedroom becomes visible in the dark. It really just seemed like Lynette took the house as is when everything went bad. "Come to bed, Russ," Lynette says softly. I was rather hot, stripping down to my boxers sounded like a great idea. As I took off my shirt, Lynette say on the bed and just stared at me. "Yes?" I asked, Lynette looked at me with a child like curiosity. "You're just so, fluffy!" she says. I chuckle and take off my pants. "Well, I guess that's a plus, right?"
I climbed into bed with Lynette, finally having the one person that mattered so much to me back. It felt good, so good I don't even think I could describe it properly. But I felt at peace after so long. I'm sure she felt the same way too. Lynette wrapped her arms around me quite quickly. "Oh my god, Russ. It's like you're a plushie!" "Well, I guess," "I love it!" Lynette giggles and cuddled up to me more. My life was slowly piecing itself back together. I couldn't be happier, for once. Lynette gets back up to turn off the light. Darkness once again, but this time, I'm not alone.
Severed: Chapter 6
Ah, chapter six is now in the books. This is a bit shorter than I wanted it to be, but I was setting up for the upcoming chapters. But Russell's life gains some peace again.
Story written and edited by me
Story written and edited by me
8 years ago
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Estimated reading time
8 Minutes
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