Page 98 of Charlie
Please don’t go in and see that the lights are turned on.
As if a guardian angel was keeping a hand over us, my silent prayer worked, and Conor walked on.
A collective sigh escaped all of us, except Nathan, who was still on his bed facing the wall.
“Nathan.” I got up from the floor and moved fast to pull at his back. “Look at me!”
His body was shaking and his eyes were red-rimmed from tears. He was quiet but the way he stared into the wall with wide eyes made me sure that he was experiencing a panic attack. If Conor had walked into the room and taken a better look at Nathan, he would have seen pure terror on his face.
“Help me get him up to sit,” I instructed Atlas as all the children came to help. “You’re not crazy, Nathan. We all saw it.”
“Saw what?” Lumi asked and reached out to touch Nathan, who was fighting us when we tried to turn him to face us.
The excellent performance the children had mastered before with Conor in the room was gone now, and River had tears in her eyes too. “I don’t understand.”
“What happened?” Worry coated Lumi’s tone.
“We found this in Conor’s closet.” I held up my phone and showed her the picture.
Lumi covered her mouth and stared at the picture of a large bright yellow snake facing the camera with its large fangs and a forked tongue sticking out. “No.” She shook her head.
“Yes.” I couldn’t disguise the indignation and anger in my tone. “Nathan, listen to us. You were never crazy. Conor just made you think you were. The snake is real. We all saw it.”
“You saw it too?” Lumi asked Atlas, who nodded.
River who was standing behind me, spoke up, “It was scary.”
“The snake is real,” Atlas confirmed and placed his head in his hands like he was thinking hard and hating every thought in this head.
“Did Dad place the snake in Nathan’s bed on purpose or did it escape by accident?” Maximum was pacing behind me.
My tone was harsh. “I think it’s safe to assume he did it on purpose.”
“But why? Why would he do something that cruel?” Lumi asked.
“Someone who likes control.” I turned to River. “Didn’t you say you once saw the snake too?”
“Yes, but I thought I was just dreaming. Dad explained how all Nathan’s nonsense about the snake had infiltrated my dreams as well. I can’t believe it’s real.”
“Oh, it’s very real and very large,” I said in a dry tone.
Nathan whimpered so I caressed his hair and spoke in a soothing voice, “That snake won’t ever come near your bed again. Here’s what we’re going to do. The six of us are going to come up with a plan and go to the police tomorrow. What Conor did to you is child abuse and that’s illegal.”
“No,” Lumi objected. “We can’t go to the guards. If we talk about this to anyone outside the room, social services might come and try to separate us. We can’t let that happen.”
“Then what do you suggest we do? Conor has deliberately been trying to drive Nathan mad and I’ll bet he has done awful things to the rest of you that you haven’t told me about yet. We have to speak up and stop this unacceptable behavior, Lumi. Tell me that you understand.”
Lumi ran her hands through her hair. “We’ll make sure that Nathan never sleeps alone. From now on, we’ll take turns to watch over him. Just promise that you won’t call the guards.”
“But, Lumi…”
Her large dark eyes were pleading. “Liv, please!! We’ve lost so many people. We can’t lose each other too. Promise that you won’t call them.”
Closing my eyes, I sunk down on Nathan’s bed. “Okay. I won’t say anything to the police tomorrow, but I can’t keep this secret for long. We all need to get out of here. A man deranged enough to do something that evil isn’t safe to be around.
They were all quiet.
I touched Atlas’s arm. “Tell me you understand what is happening here isn’t right.”
