Spider Webs - 6. Chapter 6: Confrontations

A/N This is dedicated to you. You know who you are.

After I got done throwing up, all I could do was sit there and watch as emergency vehicles and people came and went. At some point in time I'd managed to get that little kid's attention; kept it on me. I was singing to him. Couldn't tell you what I was singing though. Just singing.

Then they brought the first body along on a stretcher.

I couldn't look away. It was like I was eleven all over again, at the hospital with my mom. Watching them take her body away. I hadn't cried at the hospital when she'd died on the operating table.

I hadn't cried at her funeral, either.

I'd never cried. Just went numb on the inside, picked up her tasks where she had left off. Tried to take care of my dad; took care of Joel when my dad failed to do so. He got too busy dealing with things after Mom died. He'd lost everything. He'd finally lost us, and it felt like I was losing Joel. I went numb all over again.

I stopped singing, just stared at the body on the stretcher; stared long after it was gone.

"...cah."

I looked up. Avery looked concerned, staring at me. "Micah," he repeated again, "are you okay?"

I nodded, tried giving him a smile. It felt strained. I couldn't look at him, so I gave up and looked past him. Watched the traffic as it was being directed behind him.

"C'mon Micah, I'll take you home."

I took his hand when he offered it, got to my feet and slipped past him, right back into the cruiser. I was still seeing my mom's face in the hospital. Doctors and nurses had been everywhere. Not sheriffs and paramedics. Not fire trucks; in the end it had just been my mom's face. The same face I was seeing all over again.

"Micah, we're here," Avery's voice interrupted my thoughts. I looked up. We'd arrived at the house. Joel was standing on the front porch when we pulled up, a worried look on his face. Avery brought the cruiser to a stop.

"Micah?"

"Thanks," I whispered. I opened the door and slowly slid out, but I didn't go inside right away though; the sound of the back door opening reminded me that groceries still needed to be taken inside. I loaded up as many groceries as I could carry, moved across the yard and onto the front porch.

"Get the rest of the groceries," I told Joel. Right into the house and into the kitchen. The kitchen looked to be in cleaner than it had when I'd left. The reason why became a little clearer a moment later. I could hear a couple voices downstairs singing along with what were definitely guitars.

My electric guitar and another one. Bass, to be exact. That was interesting. I knew how to play one, but didn't consider myself very good at the other one. But the thought of getting the chance to play one left my mind as I put the groceries down on the counter. Not all of the dishes had been done, and quite frankly, they smelled. Like a dead body that had been left to spoil in the heat for too long. At least, that's what I imagined a body would smell like.

The whole thing had me thinking of that kid and the lady on the stretcher. My eyes burned a little bit, most likely from the smell. More groceries being unloaded onto the counter attracted my attention and I looked away from the dirty dishes to find Joel staring at me. Avery was behind him with more groceries in hand.

"These are the last of the groceries. Are you..."

"Deputy Hayes, this is dispatch. We have a report on a missing teenager. Given name is Micah Raines, last known location is..."

I was missing? I frowned at the radio dispatcher's voice and shook my head. Someone should have told me I was missing, seriously!

I even pulled out the cell phone Elizabeth had gotten me, pretty sure no one had called me.

Except someone had called me. There were ten missed calls on the phone and I don't know how many text messages.

Joel's hand rapping on the table brought my attention to him while Avery rattled something off into his radio.

"You're in trouble," he informed me. "And are you okay? You look like you're going to be sick. You also have blood all over Reese's favorite shirt."

Be sick? I had blood all over Reese's favorite shirt? I looked and, sure enough, that was definitely blood all over his...mine...Be sick?

"Micah? Don't worry; I'll straighten everything out with the...Micah? Are you okay, you look like you're goi..."

Yup. I was going to be sick. Again.

I pulled the bloody shirt off and bolted out of the kitchen, went straight up the stairs and hit the bathroom at a dead run. I slammed the door, threw the lock and made it to the toilet just in time to watch as all the soda I'd drunk that afternoon came right back up, tasting strangely like coffee as it did so. It was totally gross.

It made me throw up again, and, as my dad would say; I stayed there until there was nothing left in my stomach to give to the porcelain god.

The sight of blood on my chest made me dry-heave. Nothing came up though, so I was feeling pretty safe when I got up and flushed the toilet. I didn't feel like facing anyone. I felt like a total wuss at having a reaction like that in front of Avery and Joel.

I didn't know what was wrong with me. The sight of blood had never made me react like that before. I didn't want to think about it. I just...wanted a shower. Yeah, that definitely sounded like a good idea.

I stripped off the rest of Reese's clothes and, unlocking the bathroom door for a moment popped my hand out and dropped them; shut the door again.A kick on the door had me opening it again and looking out. Joel was outside the bathroom door, wearing the shorts and underwear I'd just been wearing on his head. What a little freak; the sight even made me smile, almost.

Patrick and Reese were standing behind Joel and Avery was behind them. It had me slamming the door shut in their faces and locking it again. Was there no privacy around here?

"Micah, do you need anything?" I heard Avery ask through the door.

Yeah, I needed to be left alone. The radio I spotted in the bathroom cabinet helped prove my point too, once I turned it on and pushed the volume up as far as it would go. For such a small thing it was pretty loud.

The country music pouring out of it wasn't to my tastes but I didn't notice it once I turned the shower on and, after stepping into a blast of cold water, got the water as hot as I could stand it.

Then I just stood there and scrubbed at my body with the mesh pouf hanging idly from the shower head pipe. I tried to figure out my reaction to the blood that had been all over me but I couldn't make any sense of it; because...nothing was making sense to me. So I gave up and closed my eyes, leaned my head against the shower wall and tried to relax. It didn't work. Every time I closed my eyes I saw that woman. Only, she was wearing my mom's face and she kept saying something and I couldn't tell what it was, even as I tried harder and harder to figure it out.

Was she mad at me because I had taken Joel and left Dad? Found myself living with a new family? Perhaps that's what it was. She was mad at me because Elizabeth had bought me new clothes and a computer.

I frowned under the hot water. Tried thinking of something...anything, really, that would distract me. Several things seemed to happen then.

My stomach rumbled; telling me I needed to eat, which was confusing because I'd just thrown up.

The bottle in my hand made a ‘sqwrf' sound, informing me that I'd just used up almost a full bottle of body wash scrubbing myself clean; and last, but not least, the water turned cold with a vengeance and snapped me out of my thoughts.

With a curse I hopped out of the shower and turned off the water. The radio was quickly shut off too, because it began to grate on my nerves. Wiping the mirror down, I looked at my body carefully, ran my fingers through my hair. Checked my body out one more time. I knew it was impossible, that all the blood had been cleaned off but, for some reason, looking in that mirror, I still felt like the blood was smeared all over me.

I shivered and carefully opened the door, peeked out. The coast was clear. Not even the clothes I'd been wearing were in the hallway. I bolted out of the bathroom, across the hall and into my bedroom.

I got dressed as quickly as I could. I even put on a pair of boxer briefs which, if you asked me, felt really weird walking around in. I almost took them off, afraid that my nuts would turn blue and fall off from lack of blood flow but, after a couple of careful readjustments I decided that I would survive. I'd just take them off if I saw anything important turn blue.

Then I took a deep breath, decided that I hadn't thrown up all over the bathroom toilet and, even if I had, no one had heard me. Because if someone had heard me and they brought it up, I was gonna have to punch someone.

I went back downstairs and padded around the house with a pair of socks on my feet. Patrick and Reese were in the basement playing guitars again. Someone else was down there with them, clapping. Probably Joel. I went down the stairs and, peeking around the corner, saw that Joel was indeed down there, along with a couple other people I didn't know. A little girl with blond hair the same shade as Patrick's, another blond boy around my age and a dark-haired girl.

"Ugh, this just isn't coming out right," I heard Reese mumble. "Try it again," I heard Patrick suggest. "Perhaps I should just stick to the bass," Reese replied, sounding a bit upset.

Apparently they were having music lessons. The sound that came out of my amp made me decide that for the sake of my ears and my sanity, it would be best if I didn't walk into that room. Besides, I didn't really feel like meeting any more new people.

I slipped quietly back up the stairs and into the living room, trying to find something to do. All the groceries had been put away in the newly cleaned out and put back together refrigerator that I'd scrubbed out by hand. It was also almost six o'clock, which confused me to no end. Where had the day gone?

I looked out the window, trying to figure it out even as, in the back of my mind, a body lying on a stretcher wearing my mom's face was taken away again.

Only, that woman on a stretcher that had become my mom became Elizabeth. But Elizabeth wasn't on a stretcher; she was outside, in front of the house. With Ken. And by the look of things, she was having an animated conversation with him.

I sighed and went to the front door, opening it to let them know that I wasn't missing anymore.

"You spent over a thousand dollars..."

"Ken... have to do something with him. He needs...

"Elizabeth, he can't just..."

Oops. A sigh escaped my lips. They were talking about me, I think. I closed the front door and decided that I didn't care. Perhaps they were going to get rid of me. That was cool. I didn't mind. I was going to leave anyway. Only, now I'd just find a job somewhere else and pay Elizabeth back a little bit at a time. Besides, I figured it just didn't matter if Joel was mad at me or not. He was coming with me one way or another. Then that woman on a stretcher came back to mind. She just wouldn't leave me alone, no matter how hard I tried pushing her out of my thoughts.

I just wasn't doing a very good job with occupying myself.

Occupy myself. That was a good idea. Especially since it was getting late and, by the look of things, Elizabeth and Ken had been outside for a while and were likely going to be awhile longer.

I headed back into the kitchen and rearranged what dirty dishes were left to be washed, even as the dishwasher came to a stop. I opened it up and put everything away. Or rather, I tried to. The kitchen just didn't make any sense to me with the way things were set up. Twenty minutes later and I had all the pots and pans, various utensils, plates and bowls relocated into more appropriate spots that made sense to my mind.

I also had the dishwasher loaded again. Only, I still didn't have a clue as to how to use the damn thing. Sure, there was the powdery soap in the box. I knew that needed to go in somehow. I just...wasn't sure how; the entire thing had me scratching my head in confusion.

Oh well. I sprinkled the soap in the box into the dishwasher. Okay, I admit it. I think I used a third of the box, at least. Then I spotted the little cubicle thingy on the inside of the door that, when I looked, was clearly marked soap. Oops, again. I filled that up. Besides, extra soap never hurt anything, right? The smell from these dishes clearly told me that the more soap, the better off they would be. I shut the door and after fumbling around with the buttons on the front for awhile, got the machine turned on. It left me feeling rather satisfied.

I went back to the front door and peeked out. Ken and Elizabeth looked like they were done talking and were on their way toward the house when a familiar black expedition pulled up and had them stopping in their tracks. I watched as Avery got out and approached Ken and Elizabeth.

Perhaps they'd tell Avery that they didn't want me and I'd be able to go with him. Except, I don't think I'd be willing to go on any more rides with him. Not in his cruiser, anyway. It wasn't long before they were in what looked to be another animated conversation. Sigh. Why did people talk so much? Couldn't they just get to the point of things?

I walked back into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator and all the cabinets, again, until I'd located all the food that I'd bought. Then I did nothing but stare as I tried to figure out what I wanted to eat, much less cook. My stomach wasn't helping any though. It just told me that anything at this point in time would be a good idea.

As long as it wasn't red. That wiped out my idea of cooking edible spaghetti. Perhaps... burgers. I'd just cook them for longer than usual avoid using ketchup.

Yeah. I could do burgers. I did the math in my head, decided that Joel and the little girl would probably go for a burger each, if Patrick, Reese and the other two teenagers ate anything like me than...and Elizabeth and Ken...

I gulped. That was a lot of hamburgers. I had enough pans though, I think. I bypassed the packages of hamburger meat and pulled out one of those long, five pound tubes of burger meat, dumped it in a bowl and added spices for seasoning and shoved my hands into the cold meat until everything was mixed. Formed the meat into patties, added extra meat since hamburger shrank when it was cooked and after getting three of the six burners going and the oven turned on so it would pre-heat, I looked at my handiwork. Fourteen burger patties were cooking and I had a bag of fries laid out on a baking pan. I added a small amount of water to each pan and voila, dinner was almost ready. Chef Micah had done it again.

I didn't have anything to do now.

The twang of an acoustic guitar hit my ears and had me bolting down the stairs like a crazy mad man. I was almost on top of Reese, ready to pounce when the little girl squealed. I took a deep breath. Calmed myself down and stared at Reese until he offered up my mom's guitar. I snatched it out of his hands and cradled it, checking it over for any new scratches, ran my hands along the chords. It was still in tune. Actually, it looked fine, better than fine. Like someone had just polished it, or something.

"Uh... sorry Mi..."

"Don't ever touch my mom's guitar again," I snapped, angry. But I was angry at myself now and kind of afraid. I wasn't sure what I was afraid of, so II stormed out of the basement and up to my room. That woman wearing my mom's face was staring at me.

"Go away," I snapped at her. She just kept looking at me though. Without realizing it I ran my hands over the guitar strings, plucked a string and another. I stopped when I realized what I was playing, a lump in my throat.

How depressing, and annoying. This was getting ridiculous. I hadn't thought about my mom like this in years. I wasn't having a good day.

I put my guitar down on my bed and went back downstairs, heading for the kitchen.

I flipped the burgers and paced as I realized I'd made another mistake. I had let my emotions get out of hand and, out of my own anger, I had given up on the whole idea of not talking.

I really wasn't having a good day. I stared out thw windows until it was time for me to flip the burgers again. I poked at them with a fork and decided that they were done. The french fries came out of the oven when I heard Elizabeth in the living room saying something smelled good. I ignored her. Reese, Patrick, Joel and the other three kids came running up the stairs.

"Hey guys. What's going on?"

"Mom..."

I groaned. He was going to tell on me.

"Hi guys," I heard Ken say.

"Can I have an acoustic guitar?" Reese asked. Oh, I hadn't seen that one coming. That didn't explain the funny look on his face or the thumbs up sign that was accompanied by a wink he sent my way.

Was he trying to tell me something? I ignored him.

Dinner was done anyway. I grabbed a plate and loaded it up while everyone else crowded the dining room and talked to each other. It was utter chaos that couldn't hold my attention as I devoured the food on my plate. I swear I only took two bites of that burger and ate two fries before I was grabbing for another burger.

"Micah, are you okay?" I looked up. It was Elizabeth and she was staring at me. I didn't even get a chance to respond before someone else was asking a question.

That one question ruined my entire night.

"Has he started speaking again? I've been worried about him since I left when he was throwing up in the bathroom," Avery asked. It was his turn to shoot me a concerned look over Elizabeth's shoulder.

And then Reese was staring at me with his wide eyes . "I wasn't going to say anything, I swear," he blurted out.

The whole time Ken was talking, too. "Talking again? You mean he can talk?"

And then everyone just... stopped talking and looked at me; like I was supposed to say something.

"Uh... Dinner's ready?"

It was like a volcano erupted as they started talking over one another and sure enough, everyone's night got ruined with the next comment out of Ken's mouth.

"You ran off without telling anyone where you were going and you've been lying to us this entire time, not talking when you could. You are so grounded. You are too Reese, for covering up for him."

Grounded? That was totally unfair. Who the hell did this guy think he was?

"Now Ken, I'm sure there's a perfectly..."

"Elizabeth..."

Grounded?

"Grounded?" I finally managed to blurt out, suddenly angry.

"Yes, Micah, you're grounded. For the rest of the weekend."

"But, Dad," Reese whined next.

"I don't think so," I blurted. Without thinking about it I practically threw the plate on the ground. You're probably thinking it bounced off the ground and was fine right? Only, it didn't. It shattered, just like most plates would when thrown against a tiled floor, and it brought everyone to silence.

"Micah..." Ken said. He shot me a startled look, appalled, I guess, at my behavior. But I wasn't done.

"Who the hell do you think you are? My father? Guess what, you're not. You don't get to ground me or Joel..."

Okay, perhaps I should have stopped than to think about what I was doing, especially when he took a step toward me that was reminiscent of my father. But I didn't, and a bark of laughter escaped me when I saw him advance toward me a step.

"Micah, you're not going to come into my house and disrespect me," he growled.

"What, you're going to hit me to get me to shut up?" I snapped back.

The whole thing was humorous to me. I'd left behind a house with a psychotic, abusive drunk only to find myself in a house with a... well; I didn't have a word to describe Ken, not yet. The only word that came to my mind was asshole.

And him coming toward me just pissed me off even more. I took a step back from the counter and pulled off my shirt, threw it in his face and, I'll admit it, I flexed my muscles and puffed out my chest a little bit, more than ready to fight.

"Going to put some more bruises on me, are ya?" I asked as I pointed at several bruises that were visible against my flesh. He stopped, startled, I think, by my display.

"Well guess what, asshole; you don't get to touch me, or Joel. Not now. Not ever!"

"Micah, I..."

"And for the record, the only person around here who gets to ground either one of us is not you, nor your wife. It's me, you got that?" I asked.

"Micah, let's..."

"And let's set something else straight. I didn't ask to move in with you people, someone..." I shot a glare at Patrick then, but I think Elizabeth thought I was glaring at her because she took a step back. "Decided to be a complete, total prick in court and told that judge I wanted to live here..."

A startled look crossed Elizabeth's face as she turned and looked at Patrick, who at least had the decency to look slightly guilty. Avery didn't seem very happy either because I heard him inform Patrick that lying to a judge, while on record and swearing to tell the truth and nothing but the truth could land him a very hefty prison term. He also told Patrick that he was an idiot.

"...I would have been just fine staying in jail, getting out and finding a job so that I could find a place for me and Joel to live on our own! I didn't ask for any of this, so don't go thinking that just because I'm here that you're part of my family. The only family I have is right..." I pointed at Joel. "...there."

And then I stopped talking because I couldn't think of anything else to say, and, for some reason, my socks and feet were wet.

"Micah," Ken said again. Only his tone had changed. It was more soothing, like I was a wild animal. Only, his voice was aggravating me. Especially since he kept saying my name over, and over; and it set me off, again. I knew my own name, damn it!

"Yes, my name is Micah. I'm glad you know it, and I'm really glad you know how to use it, try not to wear it out!" Yeah, I had no idea where that came from, I just couldn't seem to shut up, and my socks and feet were definitely wet, and Patrick couldn't stop staring at me. That was another thing that was bothering me. "For god's sake, I know you've seen me naked, I know you think I'm hot. I don't know why, but will you please stop staring at me?" I snapped at him. His face turned red when everyone turned to look at him again.

"Dude, when did you see Micah naked?" I heard Reese whisper. Patrick's face got even redder and I heard him mumble something. I think he told Reese to shut up.

"And you know what really sucks?" I suddenly snapped, dragging their attention off of Patrick. "I have to stay here now..."

"Micah, if you don't..." Elizabeth started to say, seeming a little sad. Only I wasn't seeing her face, I was seeing my mom's face. I shook my head, pinned Elizabeth under my gaze.

"I have to stay so I can pay you back for all those things you bought me. I will pay you back, just as soon as I find a job. I will find a job, and... you just shouldn't have spent all that money on me," I told her quietly.

And then I looked at Ken, "But you have to stop being a jerk. I get that you don't want me here and I don't want to be here, but.... you're just a jerk, and have been since I got here. Stop taking it out on me. I'm not happy either. I haven't been since my mom died. Now get over it..."

Then I looked down and saw the puddle of water at my feet.

"And why is the damn floor wet?" I asked, perturbed.

"Because, if you'd just stopped talking..."

I suddenly heard it. Water hitting the floor. I turned around and looked.

"Someone would have told you that the dishwasher is flooding... and you really need to watch your mouth," Ken finished softly.

Well... Shit. I finally turned around and looked at Ken, ready to apologize. Only, he and everyone who had been standing there a moment ago had disappeared. Avery remained though. He had this sad smile on his face. He walked past me into the kitchen and patted me on the shoulder.

"Micah..."

I just let out a groan at his tone. "Try not to burn any bridges, bud. These are good people here, and Ken may come off as a jerk but he's really not. Give them a chance, please? Now why don't you change your socks and after everyone has eaten you guys can talk about this..." He looked at me. "Calmly, okay?"

I nodded and then did what he had suggested. Kind of. I did go to my room and changed my socks. But I also put on a different shirt and my shoes.

I went downstairs and watched everyone as they congregated in the kitchen; cleaning up the mess I had made while Elizabeth was telling everyone to watch their feet for broken glass. That kind of made me feel bad. I just didn't have the nerve to walk back in there and face them. Sure, I had been angry, and I still think Ken had been nothing but a jerk since I'd arrived. But that wasn't my fault. I had never asked to be here.

Another body. My mom.

These people were not my family.

I wanted to be left alone. I needed a cigarette. I walked out the back door, stopped at my dad's truck long enough to grab another pack of cigarettes and then I left. Didn't know where I was going. I just needed to regain some control.

I walked past the barn, across the field in the back of the house and toward the tree line. I figured out where I was going though when I almost ran into a house that I hadn't noticed before. It was old, probably older than the one I was staying in. Made of stone, it seemed to be larger than Ken and Elizabeth's house. Except, the windows and front door were boarded up, the roof looked like it was falling apart in some places, and an old wicker chair sat on the porch that was falling apart just as much as the roof was. The chair was rotted through.

It was dead on the outside. It piqued my curiosity. Was it dead on the inside, like me? I didn't know. I was going to find out though.