Chapter 31 - A Box Of Video Games

That night, Jessica wanted to call Ethan. It was probably to talk about what had happened the day before, or maybe, she was finally going to admit her feelings to him, but that would be a big problem, since Ethan didn't think it was right to go through with it.

He decided then that he would act rudely toward Jessica. If she got angry with him, she wouldn't get hurt so badly. It was an immature thing to do, but he didn't have the guts to blow her off and hurt her.

"I'm so excited, I can't wait to call her... I think I'll call her to watch some horror movies. That way she'll be scared and hug me." Mike said, very excited.

"Yeah... So, what game do you play the most?". Ethan said, trying to change the subject so as not to stress himself more.

"Dude, I have a Playstation 2, you know? I play fucking Need For Speed. Fuck, my dad took it away from me, because I got a low grade on my homework!". Mike said, excited.

The two continued talking about random subjects until they reached Ethan's house.

When they arrived, Ethan's mom texted him that there was frozen food in the fridge if they were hungry.

"Are you hungry there?" Ethan asked, reaching for the frozen food.

"I'm just a little... WHAT?" Mike shouted, interrupting what he was talking about.

Ethan looks back, confused.

"DO YOU HAVE RESIDENT EVIL 4?". Mike shouted, holding the CD cover in his hands.

Ethan stood for a while looking at Mike and moved his gaze to the box next to the TV shelf. He had never noticed all the games in there. He had only seen the games that were scattered in the drawers in his room.

"I do, my mom gave it to me for my birthday." Ethan said, lying, as he walked over to the box of games.

On the box, there was something scribbled.

Ethan bent down to hold the box with one hand so that he could read the writing, while Mike excitedly turned on the video game.

Then Ethan saw that it was a name, which was written underneath some scribbles:

"Hayden?".

The moment Ethan uttered this name, he began to feel a slight headache and a memory popped into his mind, as if he had been teleported to another reality.

Ethan was sitting on the floor of a brightly lit room, which seemed too huge for an adult. He could see his hands and little feet, indicating that he was still just a baby.

Shouting could be heard coming from the other room, but it didn't bother him. Ethan looked to the side and saw a gloomy darkness under his bed, which made all the noise quiet, and he could only pay attention to it. The darkness of the bed seemed to call to the little one, but he didn't feel scared, quite the contrary, he felt like laughing with happiness.

He began to crawl toward the bed, smiling, as he saw shadow particles pulling him closer. Just as he was about to touch it, the bedroom door opens sharply and Enid appears, much younger.

She takes Ethan on her lap, and he can see her crying face. A man behind her emerges. He was strong, had black hair that seemed to glow, and his eyes were bright red.

The man approaches Enid, while she just throws a bunch of Ethan's clothes into her suitcase.

"Enid, you need to be mature. This will only make things worse!". He said, trying to calm Ethan's mother down.

"Mature? Look at all the shit you've done! You think you're mature?". She said angrily, while Ethan couldn't take his eyes off the man.

"Enid, it's not going to be safe for Ethan. Give me a chance!". He said, looking at the child on her lap.

"And with you, he will be safe?". She replied, irritated.

The man approached Enid and touched her arm, trying to calm her down, but Enid pushed his hand away and walked quickly toward the front door.

"Get away from me, Hayden!". She shouted, crying. "Leave us alone!

"You know it's in his blood already... He needs me!". Hayden raised his voice, stressed.

"Fuck you!". Enid replied seriously, walking out the door, without looking back.

Ethan staggered back, his hand on his forehead, trying to understand what had happened.

"Hey, are you okay, bro?". Mike tries to hold Ethan by the arms, so that he wouldn't tumble backward.

"Yeah, he's fine, he just gave me a headache. I think it was the bump from the accident still...". Ethan said, slowly opening his eyes.

"We'd better eat. You might be like this because you haven't eaten, too... I get like this when I do PE without eating breakfast." Mike said, walking to the kitchen.

"Could be." Ethan agreed, going to sit in the chair.

"Oh, you want some mac and cheese? I love mac and cheese." Mike said, tossing the package of frozen mac and cheese up.

- Who is Hayden? Is that my dad? Why was she so angry with him? - Ethan thought, ignoring Mike.

"Ethan?". Mike asked again, looking at Ethan distractedly.

- Did he cheat on her? And what's in my blood? - Ethan continued to stare into nothingness, not listening to what Mike was saying.

"ETHAN!" Mike shouted.

Ethan looked at Mike seriously, not expressing any reaction.

"What?" He replied.

"You look weird... I'm going to make mac and cheese anyway!". Mike replied, turning to the oven.

"Hayden..." Ethan pronounced softly. "I need to find you." He added.

Sometime later, Ethan had become distracted by his friend and tried to ignore what had happened for the time being, since there was no point in trying to work it out with Mike at his house. Mike placed the macaroni and cheese on the table:

"Get ready to eat the best mac and cheese of your life!". He said, stuffing his chest.

"But it's frozen food.". Ethan replied, serving himself.

"Yes! But I defrosted it myself!". Mike replied, looking at Ethan, waiting for him to take the first bite.

Ethan laughed and took a bite of the noodles. Amazingly enough, it was delicious. It was the best macaroni and cheese he had ever had. It was just the right temperature and the cheese had melted perfectly, forming a little crunchy crust on top.

"I don't know if I'm too hungry, or if this is great! Ethan said impressed, while enjoying the macaroni.

"I told you... you don't trust me! I'm amazing with frozen food, just don't ask me to fry an egg. I'll set the house on fire, but I won't fry an egg!". Mike replied, raising his eyebrows and widening his eyes.

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