hostage follow

It would not have been so bad for little Dave had it not been for the neighbors. The Graysons next door seemed such a perfect family. Every afternoon after he had endured the usual bullying in school from the generic fat fuck from a troubled family, he would sit by the window in the living room which also passed for his bedroom on the first floor and waited for Jim Grayson's dad to come home.
Dave had no father, indeed he did not know who it was nor had he ever heard from him. Dave had asked mom, but she was so busy, always. There never was enough time it seemed and the matter wasn't as important to mother as it was to him.
Laura Grayson did not work and spent most of her time at home. Every school day the Grayson kid, 2 years younger than Dave, would run to the door of the bus at their stop and hop on to the curb while Dave followed behind, shuffling his feet with the characteristic dejected look he had so perfected over the years. Dave would watch with intense hatred and resentment as his young school mate ran up the path to the front door and rang the bell and knocked, waiting for his perfect mother to open the door.
Dave wondered what went on in their house as he struggled with the key to his front door. Mom would not be back from work for another 6 hours. It would be past his bedtime, but he knew that she checked on him before she went to bed. Those few seconds that she looked into the room were the only few seconds Dave closed his eyes, feigning sleep.
Sleep only came in the early hours of the morning, for a few troubled hours, after constant damning thoughts had left him with that sickly thudding feeling in his head. A euphoric rush of blood, sickening yet gratifying.

***
Ellie had had a bad day at work, which was nothing unusual. The boss was a creep and it was all she could do to resist his advances and keep her job at the same time. She did not feel the need for a man, in fact she hardly felt a need for anything anymore. Years of chronic depression had left her devoid of any emotions, she was as good as dead. Her only attachment to the world now was her son, little Dave. She couldn't tell how she felt only seeing him for a few hours every week, he would either be at school, or sleeping at other times, and when he was home, she was at work.
She opened the door to the kitchen and threw some frozen ready to eat meal in the microwave. As she waited for the timer, she walked into the living room and had a quick peek at Dave. How soundly he sleeps she thought. She felt a strange sensation in her chest, an urge welled up in her to walk to the bed near the wall of the living space and ...
The timer bell brought her back from her reveries, into the cold darkness of reality. She walked back to the kitchen and discovered that the food wasn't quite done. It would taste the same though, especially washed down with some strong liquor. She flopped on to bed with the food in her hand, reached out for the bottle of whiskey by the bed side and ate a few spoonfuls before popping a couple of valiums followed by a rather large chug from the bottle. The monotone of the television set grew into a steady drone and the exhaustion and chemicals put her out to sleep.

***

Dave lay awake in the darkness. Mother could not see his twisted smile as he played with his thoughts, thoughts that would send his heart into overdrive and with every thump gush blood into his brain, his veins ready to burst out of his skin.
He walked around a white robed figure tied to a chair in the basement of the house. Moonlight flooded through the side window level with the lawn outside and landed on the familar figure on the chair. Bound and gagged she could make no noise. She could go no where. She would be right there when little Dave got back from school. All the bullying in the world and the oppresive banality of school was worth this moment.
Deeper and deeper he dove into the disease of his mind, and faster his heart beat. The dull thudding in his head grew louder. Outwardly he could not have appeared calmer. As the birds began their usual chirps at dawn, Dave slowly fell into a semi-conscious slumber, content in knowing that his hostage would wait for him.

***

Ellie got up earlier than usual the next day, drowsy from the valium and weak from a lack of food. She found Dave still asleep in the living room, a faint smile playing on his lips.
She lay down on the sofa and watched her son. She remembered how he had been when he was born. How she had thought of giving him away or worse still and how she was glad she had kept him. Lately though she couldnt help but notice a sense of unease about his demeanor. At times she felt an evil presence around him, but she could never be sure, could never tell through the haze that refused to leave her be. Her thoughts clouded as she closed her eyes.
They dreamt it together, her son walking around her the same smile on his lips as she had seen moments ago. She tied to the chair, bound and gagged. Moonlight streaming on her white robe, rendering the whole scene garish, a scene from a cheap horor flick. Her breathing quickened as fear enveloped her, fear flowing in from the realization of evil, of her own lackings and the evil they had born.
Dave was surprised by his dream, he never usually dreamt at this time of the morning. He tried to hide his joy by talking to himself in his sleep. It is saturday today, time to wake up, no school today, all the time in the world to tie mother up, and do some hostage follow-up.
As he said these last words, Ellie screamed her eyes wide open with terror and met the eyes of her son, eyes filled with shame, and guilt. The devil of his innermost soul had escaped in a moment of weakness, unknowingly.
He clutched a pillow to his stomach, as his face contorted with the climax of pain, mania and psychosis. He began rocking to and fro, lost within himself, lost to the world outside for ever, and uttering in a manic chant, "hostage follow...hostage follow...hostage follow".