
Originally Posted by
themaster
Chapter 2
When I woke, my mother was standing over me, waving her hand over my head.
“David... David! Wake up!”
I opened my eyes and looked around. My room was empty. All that remained was my bed. All the shelves had been taken down, and the curtains had been replaced with the ones that had been there when we first moved in. There was a faint morning light shining in. I looked at my watch. 6:30, it read.
Suddenly, I remembered everything. Rapture. The letter. The harbour. My father. Confused and tired, I sat up and looked at my mother’s face. She looked like a different person. Her eyes were lit up and her face was flushed with colour and excitement.
I wiped my eyes and looked at my mother.
“Mother... are you sure about this?” I asked, hoping that I could use this hour to show her reason not to embark on this unknown journey.
My mother smiled and ruffled my hair.
“David... don’t worry. Your father and I are used to moving, and this deal seems good. Free accommodation, almost guaranteed earnings and instant respect! Now, I’m sure you’d accept a deal like that!”
I stared at my mother, trying to hide the resentment in my eyes. Less than twenty four hours ago, I had respected her and my father.... a bit. But now, their inner beasts had been revealed. They were going to whisk me away from this place, this town, the town I’d grown up in, and bring me to some city I had never even heard of, to some city THEY had never heard of.
“David... be ready in ten minutes. We have to go.” Her voice was suddenly icy, and full of malice. It may have been something I said.
I climbed off the bed and saw my clothes laid out for me on the floor. My best clothes. A suit, a tie, and long black shoes. My mother was obviously taking it seriously.
Slowly and reluctantly, I pulled on the clothes, and walked sleepily downstairs into the kitchen. It, like every other room in our house, had been stripped bare, and I could see my father, his fat face lit up and full of life and anticipation.
“David, great to see you! Your mother’s packed the bags. We’ve told your friends that we’re moving away.”
“What?!” I said, completely awake now.
“We told your friends that we were moving. They were a little disappointed, but wish you all the best for the future!”
My insides were burning up with absolute rage. My father, the pig he is, had to go and tell my friends I was going, didn’t he? I wanted a quiet exit. I never wanted to be displayed as leaving, but here he is, totally exposing me... he loves to put the attention on this family... he loves it!
He turned his attention away from me, and instead looked at my mother.
“Leigh, are we ready?” he asked, his voice anxious and excited.
My mother grinned manically at my father and nodded. “Yes, honey, come on. Mr. Anthony will be waiting for us!”
My father peered through all the doors in our downstairs and nodded.
“Yes... everything’s been taken. We have everything here.”
I suddenly noticed five or six large cases sitting by the wooden door. The cases were worn and close to breaking, with hinges glued or taped together. They’d been worn from all the places we’d moved to before.
I’d lived in New York all my life. Suddenly, I was being whisked away to this Rapture place. I thought it felt fitting that the city was named Rapture. It was my rapture, anyway.
My mother and father walked out the door and signalled for me to follow.
“David! Stop daydreaming! Come on! It’s already seven! Mr. Anthony will be waiting!”
I stomped out the door, my feet creating deep imprints in the snowfall from the last night. The snow continued to fall, but only lightly, and it slowly refilled the hole my foot was making.
I looked up in disbelief.
“Where’s the car?” I asked.
“I sold it. We won’t need a new one ‘till we get to Rapture. I can use the money I made on selling it to pay for a new one.” Said my father, “It’s only a short walk to the harbour anyway.”
We trudged in the snow, leaving our prints behind us, a monument to our presence until the snow came and filled it in, after we had left. Ironic. Even the weather knew how to behave in relation to my mood.
As the harbour came into view, the time ticked away. As we stepped onto the wooden quay, it had gone 7:30. There was only one boat in the harbour. It was a small, private boat, painted bright green with gleaming black letters which claimed the name of the boat was “Conquest”. A shadow could be seen from inside the boat.
The shadow had seen us. It moved from the inside of the boat and a tall man with long brown hair stepped out. He was wearing a black jacket and a grey shirt underneath. He looked hardened and there was a grin on his face as he saw us.
He held out his hand to us as he saw us.
“You must be Michael Albert... truly sir, it is an honour.”
My father blushed and held out his fat, pudgy hand.
“You must be Nicholas Anthony, then.” He said.
Anthony nodded. “Yes. And I see you’ve brought your family like you requested. Now, Mr. Albert sir, how much money did you bring?”
My father grinned a manic grin and proudly proclaimed, “Over 100 million”.
Anthony looked made up. He smirked and patted him on the back.
“I already like you, Mr. Albert, sir! What’s your wife named? She’s a looker!”
My father looked offended for a moment but smiled again and raised his hand.
“Her name’s Leigh, and she’s mine! This is David, my son, hopefully he will take over my businesses when I’m gone. Isn’t that right, David?”
“Yes...” I sighed. I never had any intention of taking over from my father. All paperwork and infamy.
Anthony held out his hand to me. I shook it.
“Hopefully you can live up to the reputation your father’s gained over the years. It’s always good to have a proven successor... Ryan will like that.”
“I hope I can’t live up to the weight my father’s gained over the years” is what I remember thinking when he said that. Screw Ryan. He was the fault I was doing this... his fault and my father’s.
“Now, let’s not waste time. I can’t wait to show you Rapture....” said Anthony.
We climbed aboard the Conquest.
Anthony sat down in the Captain’s chair, and started it. I opened up my case, looking for something to read. I came across my copy of Other Voices, Other Rooms, and read for about ten seconds, but I realised all efforts would be in vain.
We began to leave port, and I looked back at where I used to live. I was sure I’d never see it again.