(Series: Escape) Escape Pt. 1

Content Warning: Contains mentions of mental health issues and Gorey images :D

~~Authors Note: This story is a part of a 5 part series. ~~

There's nothing you can do without pain. Love, friendships, gambling, story plots... and change. - Author

I'd tell you that there's something worth doing to change the outcome of future events but... I'd be lying. I never would have thought that a book would have changed my life.

I'm Jackson and I'm not the greatest person in the world. I've been trying to change, but that's harder than you think. My mental health has been in a rut, I hate people, and I can't stand it when someone tells me to talk or speak up, or something along those lines. Sounds typical, but I don't care.

There's hardly been anything I've cared about in years.

My father left when I was a child, and I can still remember the day. I hate remembering it, but it's hard not to when I thought he was the greatest, most fantastic person in the world.

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"Hey bud," my dad started to say.

"Huh?" I said, looking up at him from my pile of toys and bricks I was stacking on top of each other.

He knelt down next to me and looked me in the eye, "I'm going out for a bit, okay?"

"You're... leaving?" I asked, trying not to cry.

"Yeah, I am. For a little bit, okay?"

"Where are you going, papa?" my little 6-year-old self asked.

"I'm going to a friend's house," he said while slowly standing up.

"Oh, okay... Can I go with you?"

"Not this time, bud."

"Why not?"

He didn't respond. He just walked towards the front door.

"Ricky!" called my mother, "You leave this house, you might as well be dead to us!" she yelled from the banister above the stairs.

"I was already dead to you, Maria! Better yet, I was never worth your time!" And he left the house.

All I could do was stare. I was too in shock to believe that my father thought he wasn't worth my time. My time. His only child and son.

That was the last time I ever saw him. I knew I heard arguing before he came downstairs to the living room, but I didn't pay much attention to it. I was too busy trying to make the tallest stack of bricks and get my mind off of the fact they were fighting again.

I knew he was an alcoholic and my mother wasn't ever home. When she is, both my parents fight for hours.

That's beside the point. He's the reason I don't trust people. He told me he'd be gone for a little bit, and he never came back... it's been 10 years and he's still not back.

Might as well be dead, is the only thing I think about him now.

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Throughout this time, I've been walking around a library, in search of a new book to help me escape reality. Reality is stupid and the only thing I can do is read to get my mind off the fact I'm not okay and I'm never asking for help.

I grabbed a random book from the Fantasy section and opened it.

"Looking for an escape, hey?"

I looked around and saw a woman looking at me.

"What?" I asked her.

She pointed at my book. Escape. "I know what that book is about. I've used it myself, if you'd like to know how it ends, I'll let you know," she told me, looking very much like a sales-person trying to sell me furniture.

"I don't know what you're talking about, and I don't want to know. I just want to read a book."

"Hm," she put her hands on her hips, "Alright. Just remember that nothing in there is real."

I scoffed at her and walked away to check out the book.

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Once I got home, I didn't hear or see my mother so I figured she was at work again. Probably working overtime.

I sat down on the couch and opened my book to start reading.

Until I realized that the book was empty.

"What the hell?!" I exclaimed, dropping the book to the floor.

"Watch your language, young man," came a familiar voice from behind.

I slowly turned around... just to see my father standing behind the couch.

"D-Dad?" I managed to say, "When'd you get here?"

"I've always been here, son."

"No... you left 10 years ago... what're you talking about?"

"I don't know what you mean, are you okay?"

"Darling! Dinners ready!" called my mothers voice from the kitchen.

"Be there in a moment, dearest!" called my dad back to the kitchen.

What...?

"I don't know what's going on with you lately, son, but you're acting strange," said my father, turning away to walk to the kitchen.

I followed, to see him fade out and fade back in, in the kitchen kissing my mother, who was wearing a 60s housewife outfit.

"I love you, Maria," he said.

"I love you too, Ricky," she said with a look on her face of pure lust,

"Wha-." I was so confused, I didn't know what to say.

"Oh hey, son!" said my mother, walking towards me with open arms.

I backed up and looked at her with horror.

She immediately stopped walking and stared at me, "Are you okay, son?"

"Why do you two keep calling me son?" I asked, still backing up.

"I don't know what you mean. We've always called you son," replied my father.

"No... I- You've always called me Bud."

"That's not true, son."

I ran back into the living room.

"Hey! Where'd you go?" called my father.

I didn't say anything, I was too busy looking for the book. That damn book.

I couldn't find it for the longest time.

Then I found it, under the couch. I opened it, and I only saw one page, with the words You wanted to Escape reality, so I gave you the life you've always wanted. It's just not Real.

The lady's words from the library came back to me, "Remember that nothing in there is real. "

"It's not fair... I didn't want it like this..." I cried out.

"Didn't want what, son?" called a guttural voice from the kitchen.

I walked towards the kitchen, just to see a dead, zombified version of my father, and a drowned-looking version of my mother.