Chapter 4: Memories II
"Brat! Where were you??", shouted a very furious voice.
Before Tesoro stood a tall green haired woman wearing a loose white shirt and black jeans. She had a rather slim but muscular figure like she could fight for what she wanted if circumstances deemed so.
Tesoro tremble as he recognize the woman , he gently gazed over the figure of his mother and noticed a bottle of booze in her hand, 'She has been drinking again'.
"ANSWER ME YOU SWINE!!", she slammed the bottle on the desk as it started to crack.
Tesoro flinched before answering in a meek tone, "I was just outside playing", he did not want to tell her that he went to watch the show least he wants her to be more furious.
"Playing?? And what are you holding behind you?", she pointed the bottle behind Tesoro as he clutched the book tightly trying to hide it behind him.
The mother stepped towards Tesoro and even against his struggle managed to get a hold of the book and started to examine it with drunken eyes.
"Give it back!", Tesoro tried to grab the book out of his mother's clutches but his small height prevented him from doing so.
The mother then opened the book and chuckled, "Jackson… huh?", she then slapped Tesoro away as he landed on the floor with a red cheek.
"So this is what you meant when you were playing!", she shouted, " Not only did you not do the dishes but you have been running around that good for nothing showman and indulging in your fantasies."
"I'm out there at the hospital working for what little bellie I can get so that we can leave this wretched place and this is how you spend your time!!", she threw the bottle into the wall as it shattered into pieces and alcohol spilled over Tesoro's room.
Tesoro held his burning cheek as he looked down and murmured, "You waste most of it on booze anyways".
"What did you just say you ungrateful Brat!!", The mother managed to overhear him somehow as her anger grew through the roof.
She then pulled a whining Tesoro by the ear into the kitchen as she shoved him near the fireplace. Tesoro looked in fear as the mother started lighting up the fireplace and putting in logs of wood.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!", Tesoro screamed as his mother threw the book into the fire.
"I have warned you multiple times that such dreams will get you nowhere but you never stop", She then grabbed another bottle of booze kept on top of the fireplace and started drinking again while taking a seat in a chair nearby , "Lets see how you continue when you see everything you have worked for burning right before your eyes".
Tesoro stood there dumbfounded before he ran to the bathroom and brought a bucket of water and flung it into the fireplace putting the flames out.
"What are you think you are doing you pig!", the mother screamed as she tried to get up from her seat.
Tesoro ignored her as he started to rummage through the ashy fireplace with anxious movements. He finally got hold of the damp and crisp cover of the book and took it out. His eyes widened when he saw that most of book had burned and there were barely any pages left intact. But most importantly he was distraught to see the signature of Jackson was already half burned while the remaining portion had been smeared all over due to the water.
"Tch! It's useless now, just let it burn", he heard his mother murmur from behind her.
Tesoro's hands trembled as he clutched the ashy cover of the book tightly. Tear drops fell on the book as he mumbled something.
"What was that you Brat?", the mother asked as she got closer to throw the book into the fireplace again.
"I SAID I HATE YOU!!", at an instant Tesoro snapped and threw the book straight into his mother's face as it hit her directly at the nose.
The mother staggered back as she held her face in pain. She then brought her palm before her eyes to see blood covering it.
"YOU!!", with a feral glare and a broken nose she grabbed Tesoro by his collar and picked him up.
Tesoro struggled against his mother but to no avail as she overpowered him and started to head towards a place he knew fairly well.
The mother opened the basement door to show a dark stairway leading down. She didn't hesitate to throw the struggling Tesoro down the stairs as his small feeble body made contact with each step making loud thumping noises as he reached the bottom.
Tesoro groaned with deep pain as his body ached all over. Moving any muscle introduced a stinging pain that overwhelmed him. All he could do was open his eyes and look up to see his mother looking down at him from the door frame with disgust.
A scowl adorned her face, "Stay there and think about what you have done", she scolded with venom oozing from her voice. She then closed the door as the basement was enveloped in darkness.
Tesoro laid his head back into the floor and didn't try to move any muscle as he was tired and already in pain. There was a small hatch where the light from outside would beam through sometimes but since today the moon hid itself behind the clouds there was no way there would be any illumination aiding Tesoro's sight.
Tesoro closed his eyes tightly as warm tears ran down his cheek, exhaustion finally took over as his consciousness faded into deep sleep to help escape from the pain.
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Morning sun beamed through the window as it signified the beginning of a new day. Katherine's eyes twitched as she groaned loudly before clutching her head. She cursed herself for selling the window blinders away as the sunlight irritated her and made the headache even worse.
"If only I could switch the sun off", she groaned as she groggily sat up with her eyes still shut tight.
She took a moment before getting off the bed as her light headed condition would have definitely make her fall over if she wasn't careful. She slowly opened her eyes and yawned deeply, her memories were from last night were very foggy which was the norm after every drinking session.
Walking towards the bathroom sink, in hopes that the touch of cold water would wake her up, she walked past the basement door which was locked with a chair pushed up against it.
'Why in the bloody hell is that chair over there?', she thought for a brief moment before continuing on as her headache continued to worsen.
Finally in the bathroom, she splashed her face with cold water while also taking some sips to satiate her dry throat. It was then she realized a stinging pain coming from her nose. Looking up at the mirror she noticed the dry splotches of blood near her bruised nose.
She gritted her teeth as she held her head tightly while her brain managed to recall her memories from past night.
"Great, so that wasn't a dream", she cursed with a frown before leaning her head into the sink as her previous food intake greeted her morning.
Wiping the bile off of the corners of her mouth she leaned her head against the wall, 'You just had to mess it up again didn't you', she thought to herself as she sat down on the floor curling herself into a ball.
"A drunkard parent, just like dad", she muttered as she hid her face behind her knees.
She remembered how her childhood memories were always tainted by atrocities committed by her alcoholic father. She knew she had inherited his bad habit of becoming addicted to alcohol. She became much more violent and prone to anger whenever she drank, just like her father.
She had quitted in the past and become sober but the passing of her husband had taken its toll on her, making her relapse into her old poison.
Now she felt even more guilty as she remember her husband. She had met him when was working as a nurse in an island nearby. He was an amnesiac patient who had been found washed ashore with nothing on him but a white suit with a name tag, "Stnerbert Kostbar". The name tag was barely intact when it was found so his name had to be put together with the surviving inscription. He was fairly tall lean man with wavy black hair and sharp jawline.
They had fell in love as Katherine was responsible to take care of him. She found his innocent and childlike curiosity charming and soon started to feel for him. He was the most important person in her life until Tesoro was born. So it shattered her soul when he passed away after catching some unnamed disease after accepting a job from a stage performer. It made her hate every stage artist that ever existed. Her views were very conflicted when one day Tesoro came up to her and exclaimed that he would be a big star in the future.
Katherine got up slowly as she couldn't spend the whole day dwelling on something that had already past. Now she was before the basement door as she removed the chair blocking the door and reached her hand out to turn the knob with trembling hands.
'Come on! You are an adult, take responsibility for what you have done', cursing herself she forced her trembling hands to turn the knob. The door opened slowly to show a dark staircase leading downwards, with a small gasp Katherine covered her mouth with her free hand. At the end of the stair case laid a bruised Tesoro crawled up into a ball still fast asleep.
Her eyes widened at all the bruises as her neck went dry. She took trembling steps forward as she went down to check on her son's condition. Her palm hovered over the bruised marks that she had caused by throwing him downstairs, she couldn't bare to touch him out of guilt.
She knew herself to be prone to violence but what she did this time was beyond what she usually inflicted on her son. Gritting her teeth she tried to touch Tesoro but he subconsciously flinched as a reaction to a nightmare he was having.
"No…. Don't….", he murmured slowly, his face crunched up as he further curled into a ball.
Katherine's lips trembled before sealing shut into a frown. Her hand retreated back as she slowly walked up the stairs with heavy silent steps.
The door creaked open slowly as Katherine turns to look back at Tesoro with tired eyes, "I have to make this right". She closed the door behind her leaving the cold and dark basement.
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Tesoro slowly opened his eyes before sitting up with a painful groan. Rubbing his eyes he looked around with a very confused expression, the basement looked away brighter as a small bulb above him illuminated each and every corner of the bleak square of a room. Now that his senses were gradually returning to him he noticed a strange warmth around him.
"Is this hers?", he touched a warm but bleak colored blanket over his body. It didn't look pretty nor luxurious but it did it's job to provide warmth and comfort.
Still in a dazed he slowly got up with the blanket wrapped around him. Taking a few steps forward he winced in pain as his sore body made him come to a stop before a small table beside the basement stairs. On top of the table was a plate of neatly prepared sandwiches with a glass of milk on the side.
Tesoro slow picked up the glass of milk to help with his dry throat, his mind was still foggy and needed some time to become active again. After becoming more aware of his situation Tesoro started to remember what happened last night and how he got into the basement in this condition.
He frowned and gritted his teeth, clutching the now empty glass tightly he flung it into a wall nearby as it shattered into many pieces. Tesoro huffed and puffed rapid as his body trembled with anger, "Like hell I'll forgive her!", he said with venom in his mouth.
After few more rabid breaths he squinted his eyes as a certain ray of light shone direct at them. He saw that the source was coming from a small hole in the wall.
Curiosity took over him as he went forward to inspect the light source. On touching that section of the wall he found that it was made of paper and the hole was made even wider with little effort.
'What the hell?', Tesoro was confused as he found a small section of the wall was hallow but the most intriguing sight was of a blurred image of a round shaped fruit bronze in color . He rubbed his eyes but the sight of the fruit still seemed blurry but now the fruit changed it shape and became a silver square.
The fruit immediately captivated Tesoro and he forgot about his rage from the moment prior. The fruit looked otherworldly to him, like something that shouldn't exist, it constantly shifted its appearance everytime Tesoro blinked.
Picking up the fruit Tesoro held it infront of his face and stared at it with strange infatuation. The fruit was calling to him, it's alluring character making Tesoro bring his mouth closer to take a large bite. He chewed the large piece of fruit in his mouth rapidly as a sweet taste filled his mouth.
Tesoro smiled softly as he continued to chew and swallow, the mysterious fruit leaving his face in bliss. But what followed the blissful experience was anything but joyful, Tesoro made a pained expression before clutching his head tightly.
Pained groans escaped through his gritted teeth before devolving into full blow animalistic howl of anguish. His nails dug into his head and threatened to draw blood.
Several painful sights and voices filled his head, he couldn't make any sense of what was happening as his small frame of a body fell onto it's knees . He saw visions of the future to come and visions of a past that wasn't his. After a long and anguished suffering the boy fainted from the pain.
Later when the boy woke up he had no recollection of what had just happened, all he knew was that he had to leave this place. He got up and started walking towards his room to pack his stuff for the journey. He couldn't feel any painful from before as his injury seemed to have been gone like the wind.
After he was done taking enough clothes for himself he stood still at the doorsteps. He took one last look back at his home, his heart was frightened at what his fate would have for him in the future. It was all uncertain from here on out but something in his heart told him he had to leave this place.
Tesoro turned towards the road and took the first heavy step towards his uncertain future. He walked towards the bright sunny path , his heart full of uncertainty and despair at having to leave his home. He would be treading a long and lonely path for a long time.
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[Present time]
The memories that young Tesoro had locked away in his mind started to unravel as adult Tesoro got bombarded with information.
The sleep figure of Tesoro twitched for a moment before jerking suddenly as he sat up quickly with a shout,
"STELLA!", His breathing was quick and was ragged as he tried to get out of bed. The visions that he saw were still reeling in his mind and gave him a severe headache.
The visions were of a future where he would lose Stella and go on a dark vengeful path. The pain and torment he would inflict on people made him almost try to denounce the future version of himself. But he couldn't do it because if what he saw himself being subjected to was true then he himself might have turned out the same way. It was a dark and twisted truth that was hard to accept for him.
But now he had no time to think about such thoughts at the moment, all he cared about was Stella. He worried if she was alright and if any harm came to her while he was unconscious.
His worries came to a rest when the door to his room flung open and the slender form of Stella stepped in.
"Tesoro!", She ran towards Tesoro and hugged him, burying her face on his shoulder she wept bitterly .
"I thought you would never wake up", she bawled while clutching Tesoro tightly. She was afraid that if she even lifted a bit of pressure from Tesoro she would lose him forever .
"Stella….", Tesoro muttered as he held Stella gently. His mind could now relax a bit after knowing that she was safe.
Although all the information in his brain was still trying to sort itself out, information about his future and information about the world on it's whole , but he didn't care in the slightest. The thing he wanted to most at the moment was to just hold Stella and forget about everything else.
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[Past]
Beyond Tesoro's memories another story was unveiling,
"Tesoro I'm sorr- No, I don't deserve forgiveness….. I didn't mean for you to get hurt….No, I have to own up to my mistakes", Katherine was debating with herself as she headed back home . A slightly damaged book along with another neat and clean book was in her hands, she had gone towards the more privileged side of the town to meet the dancer that had inspired her little boy.
It was there that she found out that the man was at the train station and would leave in an hour. She had to run to reach the station before he could depart . She managed to arrive at the Nick of time and plead her case with the performer. He looked at her with slight frown but smiled a bit when he knew that she was trying to own up to her mistakes and was trying to fix things.
She got him to sign on the book again and even gave her his own journal of thoughts and performance ideas.
Thanking him profusely she headed back home to meet Tesoro and make amends. Along the way she passed by the same liquor store as the owner tried to give her one of his new brands for free as she was a regular customer of his. She had almost accepted but refused when she remembered what usually happens when she drinks. She wanted to change and decided that this moment would be a turning point for her.
She was right around the corner of the house when she breathed deeply to calm herself. Clutching the books tightly she walked forward.
Now that the house was in her sight she saw that the front door was wide open. 'Crap, did I forget to close the door in my hurry', she cursed herself while massaging her head.
'My actions are becoming more careless, another reason to stop drinking.', She thought as she walked in and closed the door behind her.
'But it's okay, I'll truly try to change from today onwards. I'll give Tesoro a mother he can be proud of', She thought with a smile filled with hope as she started to walk towards the dark rooms of her house.
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Konrad_iguess
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