Silence Tells the Cruelest of Lies

Jimmy was beginning to get desperate.

Three years was just too long. There had to be some way to get Calyx back from that monster, there just had to! And besides that, Jimmy just couldn't stand the thought of spending the rest of his life without Calyx. She was the love of his life, and had been since the day she moved in across the hall from him in the facility.

Jimmy had been hopelessly in love with her from day one. Her granite gray eyes, the way that she could truly listen. He remembered the first day he'd talked to her, he had so wanted to hear her voice, as he had been sure it would be as beautiful as the rest of her. It didn't matter to Jimmy that she could not talk. Such a small thing. When Caylx had confided to Jimmy that she was in love with Zacky, he had shown his fiancée to her simply to hurt her. All he had wanted was for Calyx to love him, and soon enough she had.

Jimmy knew that Calyx was in the Realm of Monsters, but therein lied the problem. Jimmy did not know where this place was. Surely the entrance to the Realm had to be around here somewhere. After all, that acursed headmaster had made so many appearances that it seemed impossible for the entrance to outside their city limits, let alone the state of New Jersey.

"Daddy, will you take me to da park?" Ryder asked, pulling on Jimmy's pant leg. "I wan go to da park!"

"Okay, Ryder," Jimmy answered. He brushed his son's coal black hair away from his face and studied his eyes. It seemed Jimmy could not look simply look at his son without doing this. "Get your things and we'll go to the park."

Jimmy didn't particularly care for taking Ryder to the park, and it was mostly because of the stares. He was happy that his son had fun here, but everyone looked at him so strangely. A giant of a man, canvased with colorful tattoos and piercings, bringing a young child such as Ryder to the park without the accompanyment of a female figure? It was unfathomable to most.

Ryder's favorite activity at the park was the swing set. The only problem with this was that even when the swing's seat was at it lowest, Ryder's tiny feet still dangled just above the pebbles. He could not swing by himself, and so Jimmy had to assist him.

"Higher, Daddy! Higher!" he cackled as Jimmy pushed him. Jimmy gave him a gentle push, a very slight one, but one that sent Ryder tumbling from the seat of the swing nonetheless. His hands took the brunt of his fall, and like any toddler, he began to whimper, staring at the scraps on his palms as if they were causing him incredible amounts of agony. Jimmy rushed to his son's side, pulling him into his arms so that he could take a better look at the scratches.

Ryder leaned into his father's chest and whimpered softly, "Mommy."

Jimmy's heart both froze and sank simultaneously, if that was at all possible. Where had Ryder heard that word? He had been so young when Calyx had been taken…how did he remember? 

Jimmy gently brushed the dirt and small pebbles from Ryder hands, and placed a light kiss on each of the boy's palms. "There there, Ryder," he whispered soothingly to his son. "Daddy is here."

And if Jimmy had anything to do with it, Mommy would be, too.