Status: Redo of my old story

Silence Falls

Chapter 98: Need to Stand Together

Arising from a gratifying sleep, Bam lets out a long boisterous yawn while he stretches out his limbs. Fluttering his blue eyes open in a squint, he found his perception a bit bleary. He blinked a few times to clarify them as he sat himself up on what he deduced was his designated mattress in the mattress store. When his vision became clear, he saw that he was not where he surmised he was, and was discombobulated. “What th-“ Bam began, his eyes sailing across his new surroundings, not distinguishing them at all.

Where the fuck am I, Bam evalutated to himself before his memories began to catch up with him. He was in the same old cell Hermanni was blithely detained during a period when no one could say they were positive if he was a proven risk to the group or not.

Oh no, Bam rued to himself as he rose to his feet and glanced towards the entrance of the store. It was as he feared, shut and locked up tight. The toy gun skirmish Hermanni had concocted for the group...the sprightly game of innocence...Bam clobbering Alexis with the butt of his nerf rifle...and him nearly whacking the others with it as well....it all came back to him as a reminder of why he was incarcerated in this cage, removed from the others. Typically, the old Bam would’ve lost his mind and exploded into a deafening tantrum, but after that talk with Hermanni last night about his past losses he was presently experiencing remorse for what he had done instead.

Remorse? Was it really remorse?

Yes, it most definitely was remorse.

“Fuck, am I drugged or something?” Bam asked himself aloud in astonishment, running both hands down his face.

There was no way Bam Margera was capable of feeling contrition over ANY of his actions especially after he lost his best friend in a car accident! To be afflicted with an emotional brunt like remorse...to be consumed by it like this...to feel like a monster for what he’d done to Alexis and had almost done to Demitria and Cris.

I guess Hermanni wasn’t kidding when he said he’d help me, Bam recalled to himself. Speaking of Hermanni, he began to comb the room for the foreign boy. The last time he saw him he was kissing him.

Wait, he was WHAT!?

“OH MY GOD!” Bam shrieked like a girl, clamping a hand over his mouth. He was floored to his core.

Last night, Brandon Margera had KISSED a person of the SAME gender as him and…liked it? No no no, that couldn’t be right! Bam wasn’t exactly homophobic to every gay person that crossed his path, but that didn’t mean he wanted a cock rammed up his rectum either.

Pacing back and forth, the young skater struggled to piece back together his sanity he’d only just recaptured. He wasn’t gay just cause he kissed ONE guy right? It wasn’t like it was planned really, he was just so overjoyed at the time that he finally diagnosed why he had such a fire blazing temper and was simply indebted to Hermanni's help over it. Then again he’s received limitless support from a whole lot of guys that he grew up with in the past too and he never felt the impulse to kiss any one of them.

“Wait a motherfucking minute!” Bam cut the voice in his off. “If I was with Hermanni last night then where the fuck is he now?”

Bam took a minute to thoroughly browse the room for the devilishly handsome foreign boy only to turn up with nothing. That was impossible! There was no way Bam could have kissed him last night if he wasn’t in the store with him right now. Bam had been sealed within this store when he woke up last night WITH Hermanni! There was no way that bastard could have found a way out without waking Bam in the process, no one was that deep of a sleeper!

So what did this mean? Only one simple solution. Bam had never kissed Hermanni in the first place. He only dreamt he did. Bam chuckled with relief as Cris came into sight in front of the gate.

Wishing to check up on Bam to see how he fared through the night, Cris discovered him laughing to himself by the gate. Finding this behavior odd, he inquired curiously. “What do you find so funny?”

Bam turned around to face him and simply shrugged it off. Burying his hands in his jean pockets, he cleared his throat before inquiring tentatively. “Um...h-how is Alexis this morning? Is she okay?”

Cris’s eyebrows shot upwards in wonder at the sound of Bam being concerned for another’s welfare. Dumbfounded, he opened and closed his mouth twice before briefing him. “She’s doing much better. The damage wasn’t as bad as we previously thought. She’ll be right as rain probably by the afternoon.”

Feeling his concern for Alexis dissolve away, Bam nodded his head with a sigh of relief. Once again, he ran his hands over his face. “Good, that’s very good. I’m glad she’s gonna be alright.”

Cris couldn’t close his mouth. He had to know. Wincing to himself that he might appear like a jerk for this, he stammered. “I-I’m sorry if I sound like a complete asshole, but I have to ask...why do you care how Alexis is doing? I mean, I thought you disliked her.”

“Dislike her? Now wait a goddamn minute here!” Bam balked, setting his hands on his hips to defend himself. “I never disliked her or anybody. And yes, you do sound like an asshole, asshole!”

Cris soared his hands up and took a few steps back from the irked prisoner. “I’m so sorry, I didn't mean to come off that way! It’s just...the Bam from yesterday wouldn’t feel liable for the madness he caused last night that was only meant to be fun for everyone. And yet I can see your eyes are filled with guilt.”

Bam sighed wearily, turning to walk around the cage before spinning to face Cris again. “Look in all honesty, I don’t know what came over me yesterday. I don’t hate you guys, despite me yelling and insulting you on a daily basis. I didn’t know why I behaved this way all the time, but last night Hermanni made me realize that it could be because of something traumatic I experienced long before we met, something I need to utilize whatever fucking strength I have left in me to face, man to man.”

“Oh man, I had no idea it had anything to do with trauma BEFORE the facility.” Cris gasped, his blue eyes wide with horror. “Out of everybody here, you haven’t been down there as long as we have. I guess I kept forgetting about that because you seem to fit so well with us like you’ve always been there.” He paused for a second. “Look, whatever was bothering you a few days ago doesn’t seem to be plaguing you now so...I’m gonna try to talk to Bert about letting you out of this cage?”

“You’d do that for me? Seriously?” Bam inquired, hope shining in his eyes.

“You bet!” Cris assured him with a smile. “Between you and me, I don’t like seeing people locked in this jail cell when what we should be focused on are the real monsters outside these walls.”

Bam couldn't agree more. They shouldn’t be feuding amongst themselves, they should be working together. There was a whole army outside hunting them down like rabbits already. Why make their job any easier by turning on each other? Bam nodded to Cris. “You’re right, Cris. We need to stand together.”