The World Below [DNF]

Chapter 25: Back to the beginning

Five years later...

Clay POV

The water was getting deeper and darker as he sank closer towards the abyss. He was drowning. He'd reached a depth where the sunlight no longer broke through the water. It was so cold and lonely. The oxygen levels were critically low and Clay could feel himself panicking at the lack of air. He tried to swim but his body was completely paralyzed. A female voice swirled around him. "You were never good enough anyways." It was obvious that the harsh words were spoken by his mother. He didn't see her, but he barely saw anything at all at this point. Something tickled his nose and he was aching to scratch it but was unable. However, the annoying feeling remained. It grew more intense as the lack of oxygen got worse and worse.

His eyes flung open. He sat up out of impulse. The sunlight hit his face and he found himself in a warm bed, rather than a cold, dark sea. His breathing and heartbeat were still irregular after the nightmare. A brown and grey fur boll, also known as his cat Patches, was staring at him with accusing stare. Clay realized that she must've laid on his face, blocking the airways and causing his nose to itch.

It took a moment to get himself back to get back to reality and regain composure over his body. He reluctantly stood up and walked over to his displeased cat. He reached his hand out to pet her. She looked at him with suspicion for a moment but must've decided to accept his apology for basically throwing her across the entire apartment, because she let him pet her head.

"Sorry, Patch. But you can't try to assassinate me in my sleep like that." Her yellow eyes just stared at him, most likely because of the sound of his voice. Although he liked to think that she understood him. 

Was he crazy for talking with his cat? Most likely. 

When he moved to Langley, Virginia, he lost nearly all contact with his friends. That situation was probably the biggest reason, anything connected to it was unbearable. Everything had happened so quickly: The execution, a certain brunette's death (whose name he refused to even think of), his friends looks when he was being pulled away. Most of it was just one big blur, but some things seemed to never want to leave his mind.

He was mindlessly petting his cat while reminiscing over the past. It wasn't often he allowed himself to do so. Ms. Soot, who'd been the woman to put a bullet in his father's murderer's head, had given him an offer after everything went down. She had offered him an internship at her workplace when he'd turned eighteen. However, the offer had also included a chance to a new life for him and his mom in a new state. 

Clay, being a total wreck in that moment, had accepted without hesitation. Escaping was all he'd wanted in that moment. His decision was slightly influenced by the hope that his mom would get better after the case of her husband's death had been solved. They'd concluded that the man was in fact the man that Clay had assumed that he was. His death led Clay to clarification on a personal level, but also resulted in hundreds of arrests of other people that'd been involved in the large underground gambling-society. How he'd managed to survive as long as he did, was a pure mystery and his death became the downfall of thousands others. Clay couldn't imagine how one single person could've been the glue that held together an entire illegal world and all it took for it to fall apart was a bullet to his head for everything raze.

The offer had provided Clay with a now stable work and his own apartment. Though, it had also not delivered his mom the peace of mind that he'd hoped for. It was as if the revelation that the case had come to an end, finally made her let go of the man she once loved. But that didn't mean she went on with her life in other aspects. Her drinking continued and it was as if her grieving became worse.

Clay moved away from his mom, not being able to handle the abuse anymore. A part of him hated her but another part sort of understood. He didn't necessary grieve his dad but there was one person he grieved every day. It never seemed to get easier. It caused him to isolate himself a lot, he felt guilty that he hadn't been able to protect him.