(Not to pleased with this chapter. It's definitely going to take a while to get readjusted. Sorry!)
At first, she wasn't sure what to make of the situation. It was obvious that her son had been injured, but it didn't seem to click. Nalia had never seen a single scratch on his body before, and now his entire eye had been blackened. When the wheels of her mind began turning, she instantly began assuming the worst. "Oh Razi, what happened to you?" she asked as she knelt down before him and began stroking outside the area of the bruise.
"It's nothing, Mother. Don't worry about it," Raziel said as he broke from her tender grasp. Knowing that retreating to his room at this point would only fuel her paranoia, he made his way over to their tiny dining table and sat down. "So, what's for dinner?"
When he shrugged her off, Nalia knew something was wrong. She didn't know too much about children, but she knew if she badgered him about it, the story would never reach her ears. "Well, I don't know yet. What do you want, Razi?" she asked tenderly.
He seemed to think about it for a moment but then shrugged. "I'm not really hungry. We had a big lunch," he said nonchalantly. What a blatant lie. In truth, the only lunch he had was a bite of a sandwich. Still, after the events of the day, he found himself without an appetite. Regardless, the answer didn't seem to please Nalia.
"What happened, Razi? Please tell me," she pleaded. In the beginning, Nalia had planned to coax it out of him, but her concerns got the better of her.
"It's nothing Mother, really!" he snapped. Realizing his mistake, he took a deep breath and sighed. "I was playing at recess and things got a little rough. That's all, okay? Now, if you don't mind, I would like to go to my room. It's . . . been a long day," Raziel said as he stood and pushed his chair up. "Goodnight." And with that, he exited.
For a long moment, Nalia simply stayed put. Slowly, she began to put her body in motion. After deciding that she no longer had an appetite, she put any food sitting out away and then strolled over to a nearby window. Something was wrong; it didn't take much to figure that out. Raziel never snapped at her, nor did he walk out in the middle of a conversation. Nalia knew that his first day of school had to be tiring, but she still couldn't bring herself to believe that that was there was to it.
Still, it was only one occurrence. Maybe he really did get into an accident, and that was it. Only time would tell. Until then, Nalia decided to take his word for it. Hopefully, that would be his only injury he sustained from schoolyard roughhousing.
Much to her dismay, it was not. It was only the first of many.
It seemed that everyday for almost three weeks, Raziel came home with some sort of injury. Some were more hidden than others, but Nalia always managed to catch a glimpse of them. Her concern was rising rapidly, but she didn't want to act on her impulses until Raziel told him herself what was happening to him. Nalia was beginning to fear that that day would never come.
It was only when he came home looking completely defeated did Nalia finally try to coax him once more. This time, he collapsed into her. He told her everything. Every bruise, every cut, every scar had a story, and each one was told until there was no more to tell. For a long moment, Nalia only sat in silence as she stroked his hair. "I'm just so tired of it all, Mother. I don't understand why they do it. I've never hurt them. I've never done anything to them, and yet they do all of this to me? I don't understand . . . I don't understand . . ." he whimpered.
"I wish I could tell you, sweetling. I don't know why people hurt other people," Nalia whispered. She pressed her lips together and sighed. "I'll try my hardest to make sure they don't hurt you again, though. I promise," she said as she pulled him into her arms. It was then that he began to sob.
Such a cruel world, it was.
When Raziel finally calmed down, he kissed her cheek and then departed for his room. It was only when about thirty minutes had passed did Nalia began to take action. Slowly, she stood from her position and trudged into the kitchen.
When she stopped, before her set a phone. A fine layer of dust had accumulated on the handset. Nalia took a deep breath. She hated talking on the phone more than anything. The reason why wasn't clear, but it was something that, even as a child, she would avoid at all costs. This time, though, it was something she would simply have to do. After mustering up a fair amount of courage, Nalia dailed the school's number.
When the secretary finally picked up and began speaking, Nalia froze. It was about thirty seconds and a "hello?" later when Nalia finally spoke. "Ah, yes, I need to schedule an appointment with Cas--Mister Angelus. Nine o'clock tomorrow morning? I can do that. Okay, thank you. Bye." When the conversation was finished, Nalia slammed the handset into the reciever and sighed. "Hopefully that will be the last time I have to do that for a while . . ."
The next day came swiftly. About an hour after sending Raziel to school, Nalia departed for the same location. It was another warm day, and she knew it would only get warmer. While she was grateful for Castiel's transportation service, she wondered if his driving skills would ever improve to the point where she would no longer be concerned for Raziel's safety.
It didn't help that it seemed like everyday he was "parking" closer and closer to their home.
As she neared the school, Nalia put her thoughts away and began to collect herself. Today, there was no wait to see Castiel, so she was allowed in almost immediately. While it was still a bit unnerving to be alone with him, Nalia had grown somewhat used to seeing him. Everyday when he came to pick Raziel up, he would always spare a couple of minutes to say hello and ask how her day was so far. In a way, she was a bit grateful for their smalltalk, especially at the given moment.
"Good morning, Miss Thorne. Please, have a seat," Castiel said as he motioned in front of him. As always, he was smiling. Nalia wondered if he ever stopped. Everytime she saw him, he always seemed to be in a cheerful mood. She supposed it was good for business.
"Good morning, Mister Angelus," Nalia said as she sat down.
"So, what seems to be the problem?" he asked. Nalia couldn't recall saying that there ever was a problem, but she supposed that that was why most parents came to see him in the first place.
At first, she wasn't exactly sire how to start, but soon, the words began flowing out. She recited everything she remember about what Raziel told her. Finally, her words ran out. Nalia sighed rubbed the back of her neck. "I've never seen him like this before. As soon as he steps through the door, it's straight to his room. It started to get to the point where he wouldn't even acknowledge me," Nalia sighed and shook her head. "Do you think there's anything you can do?"
For a split second, Nalia was worried that there was nothing he could do. An easy smile remied that. "I assure you, Miss Thorne, these problems are easy to take care of. Since I have the children's names, I should have this resolved before the day is over," Castiel said. He sighed and leaned back in his chair. "I'm glad he talked to you about it. I was beginning to worry myself. Are you sure that this is happening at school?"
Nalia rubbed her chin. "I'm pretty sure it is. Raziel always comes straight home after school," she said confidently.
"I suppose I'll have to crack down on my staff as well," he said as he slouched down. After a few seconds, he caught himself and then slowly returned to an upright position. "My apologies. I'm still not used to being so formal," he chuckled.
That makes two of us, she thought.
A moment of a silence passed between the two. Finally, Castiel spoke up. "Anyway, I suppose I need to get to work. Thank you for your time, Miss Thorne," he said as he rose and approached the door. When Nalia rose, he held it open for her.
"Thank you, Mister Angelus," she said with a light smile as she left.
* * *
"I see you're here early," Raziel remarked as he took a seat at his desk.
Lilac turned to him and shrugged, "I usually get here about this time everyday. You're the one who's early." Over the past few weeks, the two had grown considerably close. Neither had friends, and both were subject to the torment of their classmates: Daniel and Dimitri.
"I'm here at the same time I always get here. Everyone else is just late."
"They didn't get on the bus--er, SUV?"
"Nope."
"Strange," Lilac commented. "I guess that's good for us, though. Hey, your eye is starting to look pretty good. Does it still hurt?"
"Not really," Raziel said solemnly as he lay his head down on his desk.
Lilac frowned. "Are you alright? You seem . . . really down today."
Slowly, he sat back up and sighed. "I told my mother about Dimitri and Daniel."
"Why are you upset about it? That's a good thing! Maybe something will actually get done about them," she exclaimed.
"But what if things just stay the same? That's just one more thing my mother has to worry about," he groaned as he put his head back down on the desk.
Over the past few weeks, Lilac and Raziel spent all of their time at school together. In the times that they were able to talk freely, they discussed many topics. Lilac slowly learned about Raziel's situation at home, and he learned about hers. She didn't live with her mother or father; instead, she lived with her uncle. While he provided for her, he didn't exactly care about her. Thus, her problem with school went unattended. He could understand why she would get excited about one of their guardians bringing up the issue.
Eventually, students began pouring in. Dimitri and Daniel made their way to back where they would immediately begin their daily horseplay, and the two girls Raziel had never bothered to remember began feverishly gossiping, as usual.
"Did Castiel come by your house early too?" asked the darker haired of the two.
"Yeah, but who cares about that. Listen, I heard that some parent came by today. Apparently, Castiel looked pretty pissed when she left," remarked the red head. The only thing Raziel had bothered to remember about her was that she had a pretty dirty mouth, but she was also the oldest of their class. Still, he wondered if using that kind of language at twelve was to be expected or not.
"Where did you hear th--"
"Alright class, settle down," Miss Marigold announced as she walked in. "Sorry I'm late. We had a staff meeting at nine-thirty. Anyway, at eleven, Mister Angelus wants to see all of you in the outside dining area."
With those words in mind, Raziel glanced over at Lilac. She was already looking at him with a grin plastered to her face.
The end of the day couldn't come soon enough. The day dragged on and on. Finally, though, the end came. Everyone made their way down to the outside eating area and took their seats. Daniel and Dimitri in the back, the two girls on the other side of them, and Lilac and Raziel as far away as possible; Raziel couldn't help but wonder if that would change after today.
"Ah, maybe this will be the day where we finally get justice," Lilac said hopefully. While he still wanted to hope for the best, part of Raziel doubted that this was anything to get excited over. Castiel often talked to them at the end of the day. They didn't have intercoms in the school, so it was his way of doing announcements.
"Maybe," he said quietly. Soon enough, Castiel made his way outside. If there was one thing the girls were right about, it was that he looked angry. He collected himself and then made his way towards the picnic tables.
"Raziel, could you go back inside?" he asked. Raziel glanced over at Lilac and then nodded. When he stood, it was as if a thousand eyes had focused their vision on him. A trickle of sweat made its way down the side of his face.
Maybe Lilac's right, he thought, or maybe this is something else entirely.
No comments:
Post a Comment