Trapped in the Attic: an MM Paranormal Romance by Sue Brown

Author:Sue Brown [Brown, Sue]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: One Hat Press
Published: 2022-10-19T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter 5 – The Distraction

Even though he’d barely slept, Aaron woke up strangely calm. For the first time since the accident, he knew that he couldn’t go on like this. Damon was gone, even if he wasn’t dead, but Aaron was still here. He could do one of three things: live, die, or fold. If he folded, then he’d be hospitalized again, taken into another institution. It was strangely appealing, knowing that he’d never have to make another decision for himself.

If he committed suicide, then there was nothing more to worry about aside from the method he used to kill himself. There were plenty of pills in the house, or the railway ran along the back of the garden. One step in front of a train and his troubles would be over. Except… the train driver. Aaron couldn’t bear to bring trauma for the driver. He’d take the pills and call PC Collins when it was too late to save him. He didn’t much care about the policeman’s feelings. He was trained to deal with trauma.

That left the third option—living. Thirty-six years old and struggling to live. Pathetic, he was pathetic. The only reason Aaron was still alive was Damon had rescued his soul.

He wouldn’t make a decision today on which of the three options he would pick. Today he would go to work as usual, maybe pick up some paracetamol, check out the times of the fast train just in case, and look up the local institutions. If he decided to be locked up, he’d need to know in which one he wanted to be incarcerated.

Aaron took a deep breath and relaxed. He had made a plan like Damon taught him to do in the early days after he had been released from the asylum and found it difficult to cope with the lack of rules.

Make a plan, write it down, schedule your day. Each minute accounted for… after he changed the sheet.

His planner was on the kitchen table. He made himself a cup of tea, sat down, and made a list of things he needed to do for options B and C. Option A, living, took more planning. He would deal with B and C first.

He sketched out a list for suicide and institutionalization. Either way, Ernest would need to be taken care of, and he made a note to look at animal shelters. By the time he finished his initial list, it was almost time to go to work. Aaron threw a cheese-and-cucumber sandwich (as always) together for his lunch, had a shower, and fed Ernest.

In a way, his administration job was comforting in its banality. Each calculation, each letter, gave him something to think about other than the fractured puzzle of his life.

After several weeks, his colleagues had stopped treating Aaron like he would fall apart at a single word and had gone back to ignoring him. He spoke when he was spoken to and got on with his work the rest of the time. Today was no different.

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