Chapter 222: 222-The Family Of Crazies.
Yorick:
It was always a task to go visit my parents when I was at the academy. I felt like I had finally escaped it. I was so happy to be there.
Then I found out Clementine was there. I thought maybe that was another task I had to bear, watching someone who had cheated on me, right in front of me. I had mixed emotions, but soon they faded. My mind felt clear, and I realized it was all a lie. She was innocent.
Regardless, I was never going to go back home. But sadly, they created this messed-up system where they sent us back to meet our families.
And just as I had expected, the retreat they chose for me was nothing but a tiny cabin where I could feel suffocated with my family.
I sighed as I walked along the trail, reaching the cabin. It was small, but very pretty. I mean small because not many people would be coming to stay with us. My parents would never allow that.
And just as always, as if they had heard me arrive, the door swung open and my mother came out wearing her white overalls she was so proud of. Opening her arms as wide as possible, she wore the white hairband she always wore, with her black hair tossed to the side.
"My pride," she said, rushing over for a hug.
However, I never returned the hug. I never did. She hugged me tight and patted my back while I just held my bag. I felt like my throat was going to close and I was going to die. That’s how I felt around them.
"Babe, come over. See, our proud little boy is here," she called to my father, making me clench my fist at the way she referred to me. This was their way of reminding me. I was still bound to them. And forever I would be.
"Look, Yorick looks even more handsome now," she said proudly, blinking her green eyes at me.
My father rushed out, bald and wearing a lab coat just like my mother’s, looking so proud of himself. The dark circles and bags under his eyes were even more prominent now. If I had to compare, I would say he looked like he belonged to the Addams family. More specifically, Uncle Fester.
And then there was my mother. She was a beautiful woman, but that didn’t change the fact that she was just as crazy as my father.
"Come on, come inside." My father patted my back, making me walk into the cabin. Just like I had expected, it smelled like a hospital, like their research facility, and I hated it.
"You guys have turned it into—oh my gosh," I complained, not even finishing my words as I threw my bag onto the ground.
"Don’t be rude. Your father was just trying to finish his work. What’s wrong with that?" My mother defended him.
"I just need to take a shower. Can I please have a moment for myself?" I excused myself, almost begging them. It didn’t look like they were happy that I wasn’t sharing their excitement, but they had no choice. They stepped aside so I could go into my room and take a quick shower.
I closed the door, washed up, and when I came out, my mother was already outside, knocking.
"Rimi, tell him the food is ready," my father called, and I rolled my eyes. I hated it. Why didn’t they send me to the north?
"Okay," my mom replied cheerfully, like always, but it sounded so fake. Jill, that was my father, always had the tendency to ruin everything, and my mother would stand by him no matter what, following him in his crazy ideas.
Once I sat with them at the dining table, I noticed the food laid out.
"So, how is it there?" my mother asked, happily reaching for my hand. But I quickly pulled mine back.
"It’s good," I replied, focusing on my food.
"What about her? Tell us more about her."
The moment those words escaped my mother’s mouth, I felt like my entire existence faded. I lifted my head and saw her smiling, but there was a sharp difference between her being excited and her being creepy, and I knew it well. I had grown up with them.
As I stared at her, my mother added, "What’s her name? Clementine. I heard she’s very pretty. Is she?"
Even though her lips kept smiling, her forehead and eyes showed something else. She was frowning, scowling.
"Why would you go back to someone who cheated on you once?" she pressed. That same smile stayed fixed on her lips.
"Well, because that’s none of your business, and because she never cheated," I explained almost harshly. I noticed the way she pulled back, placed her hand on her chest, and then glanced at my father before the two of them started laughing.
"Oh, our son is genuinely in love," my mother continued, while my father hunched over the food, eating like a barbarian.
"Okay, seriously, you need to get your heart out of this little girl’s chest. You cannot be with her. You need to find your mate, and remember, when you do find a mate, what will you do?" my mother asked in the same creepy tone she always used. "You will come to Mommy and let her know, okay?"
My mother gave my shoulder such a hard pat that the loud thud from the slap echoed in the living room.
"Oh come on, Rimi, let him eat in peace. Of course he will let us know. Our son is not stupid. He knows what it means for us," my father mumbled, taking a moment to lift his head from his food and spill poison into the air.
"Now that you are here, you will tell us all about the North," my mother uttered, blinking her eyes several times.
Little did they know, I had already found a mate, and there was no way I was ever going to let them know about her.
And then I heard a little scrambling in one of the rooms I didn’t even know had someone behind it. I should have known.
"Oh! We brought him in. He’s excited to hear about the North."
It turned even creepier when my mother, in a slow whisper, said those words to me. All I could do was gulp.