Welcome To My World, Stranger

About a week later, Zaccheus and I were let out of the hospital.
I went to live with Jack;
Zaccheus went back to his arrogant self;
And I killed Arden – in my dreams.

Chas died, too;
He was eaten alive by the violent dust-bunnies under my bed.
Jack and I buried him, but I couldn’t help but notice that Jack kept looking at me like I was burying nothing.

After I explained what and who Chas was, Jack went out and came back with another rat.
It was black, brown, white and hideous.
Nevertheless, I took it from him and called it Pasco.
He’ll never be as good as Chas was.
Ever.

It’s now the third day of my release and I can’t sleep.
Currently, it’s about 6:20am and I’ve been watching TV for the last 3 hours.
Half way through an advertisement break, I hear a loud knock on the door.
Jack is at work, so I unglue my eyes from the TV, roll off the couch, commando-style, and open it.
There stood a barely recognisable Zaccheus.

His hazel eyes look tired and lifeless, his hair looks dull, his face pale and his clothes dirty and torn.

“Um… Zaccheus?”

He stares at me blankly, his pallid lips trembling slightly.

I take him by the shoulders, guide him into the living room and sit him down on the messy couch.

As soon as his body collides with the couch, he slumps over and puts his head in his hands.

I take Pasco from his cardboard box, place him on my shoulder and sit down next to Zaccheus.
“Zacc? What’s wrong?”

He continues to look down at his scuffed shoes;
I look at his shoes, too;
They’re not very amusing.

For ten minutes, we sit there, silent and unmoving.
Pasco begins to venture from my shoulder, so I place him back into his cardboard box.

Before I have time to open my mouth again, Zacc begins to sob pathetically;
It’s so weird, seeing him cry like this.
I mean, normally he’s very arrogant and rude.

“Um…”
I blink in confusion, reach over and pat him awkwardly on the back.

Abruptly, he straightens up and throws himself at me,
Making the front of my jumper soggy from his tears.

I attempt to talk over him;
“Zaccheus, why are y–”

“He took her, Christopher; he took her away…”

“Who did? What is happen–”

“He’s still very brutal; I hate him, so much.”

My palms begin to sweat as I continue to pat Zacc’s back;
I stare blankly ahead, Zacc’s crying and the TV interrupting my thoughts.

Away?
No one was taken away by a mysterious he.

It was all just in Zacc’s head.
All in his mind.
His imagination.
His nightmares.His reality?

I am pulled out of my thoughts as Zaccheus stops crying;
He looks up at me meekly and sniffs.
“Let me stay with you; please. Jane is gone, and my dad is a fucked up lunatic. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me in a long time.
I – I… kinda love you.”

My stomach jolts uncomfortably and I stare into his eyes;
He sniffles quietly again.

After a minute or so, he detaches himself from my chest and falls back onto the couch, resuming his doubled over position.

“Christopher… I don’t know what is happening;”
He looks up and fresh tears begin to cascade down his face.
“But I want to stay with you; I do, Chris; please?”

Pasco shuffles around in his box and somehow manages to tip the box off the coffee table;
Zacc watches him as he crawls up the leg of my jeans.

“Um… yeah; I guess you could stay here. We’ll just have to ask Jack when he comes home from work.”

Zaccheus’ face lights up and he manages to smile.
“Thank-you, Christopher… I’ll just go and get the bag I left outside.”

I watch him leave the room;
And Pasco pees on my knee.

Oh God, what have I done?