Excellent Harvey revisits his past His Silence : His Silence - Chapter Two by Jacob1395

Warning: The author has noted that this contains the highest level of language. Background When Harvey murders his parents, he refuses to say why he did it. Twenty years later, he's finally ready to talk. ‘Happy birthday to you!’ The people around me sing in unison. Emma holds the cake up, with a big beaming smile. A whiff of frosting mixed with her Jean Paul Gaultier perfume hits me in the face. I spot Callum pulling funny faces and I have to force myself not to laugh. I blow the candles, counting all twenty-six of them. There’s a chorus of claps and cheers, then everyone goes back to what they were talking about. ‘I’ll give you the first slice, darling,’ Emma says, picking the knife off the table. ‘Gosh I remember those years at parties when you would lick off all the frosting from the fairy cakes, and put the cake back. All that sugar made you hyper for hours.’ She laughs. ‘I’m not bothered for cake just yet. Save me some for later,’ I say, grabbing Callum’s arm, he’s standing beside me, holding a plate. ‘C’mon.’ I drag him into the garden, glancing over my shoulder. Emma’s chatting to her sister while cutting a big lump of cake. She spent all afternoon yesterday making it. Thinking about how gooey she gets the centre is enough to make my stomach rumble. A memory of Mum flickers in my mind. I’m standing beside her in a big kitchen, my head only coming up to her waist. She’s wearing white clothing. She’s smiling at me as she scrapes cake mixture in a bowl.  My aunt’s kids, Milo and Niall head out into the garden after us. At least they’re too preoccupied with their sticks they’re using as swords, to worry about us. ‘You better not be making me miss out on cake, you know chocolate fudge is my favourite,’ Callum says as we sit on the rusty swings at the bottom of the garden. I breathe in the scent of Emma’s daffodils in the flower bed behind us. ‘Oh, Emma will save us some I’m sure, well she’ll definitely save me some, but you can have it, if you want.’ ‘OK, what’s up?’ Callum asks, running his hand through his blond hair. ‘What?’ I say, my eyes flickering from the freckles nestled in the corners of his nose, to his apple green eyes. I used to tell him his freckles made him look cute, then he’d punch me lightly on the arm and tell me to stop being stupid, before grinning. He always knows when something’s bothering me. I look away. He frowns at me. ‘Come on, Danielle, you never look me in the eye when something’s bothering you,’ he says. I still can’t think how to word what I want to say to him. ‘Well, I . . . I wanted to ask your opinion on something really,’ I say. He raises an eyebrow. ‘Go on.’ I swallow. ‘I received a letter today. From Harvey.’ ‘OK. What did it say?’ Callum asks, folding his arms. I bite my lip. ‘He’s asking me to come and see him.’ I watch Milo and Niall square up to each other, thinking back to when I told Callum what happened to my family. We were sitting in the school library. We were thirteen. Our English teacher, Mrs Harris, the day before, asked everyone to write a short story for Halloween. One of the boy’s in my class, George, had obviously been looking into my family’s case. He’d sauntered to the front of the class, holding his story aloft. ‘My story takes place in a big house on a dark stormy night,’ he’d said. ‘A young family live in this house, there are two children. But on this night something horrible will happen to them, something that’ll become a local legend. It’s half past eleven, the parents are downstairs; they’d enjoyed fish and chips earlier in the evening.’ I’d sat up in my seat at this part of the story. ‘There’s a creak on the stairs, the parents don’t hear it. They’re busy entertaining their friend. A shadow falls across the living room where the adults are sitting. It’s the boy grasping an axe.’ ‘Stop,’ I’d yelled, making everyone jump, even Mrs Harris. ‘Stop, please.’ George stared. I’d jumped from my seat and ran from the room, tears flowing. The next day, Callum asked me why I’d reacted the way I’d done. ‘Promise me you won’t tell anyone else,’ I’d said, my heart skipping against my ribs. He’d crossed his heart. ‘Promise.’ I told Callum everything. I’d been so fearful he would see me in a different way, that he wouldn’t want to be my friend. But he hugged me. I can still remember the relief sweeping through me. I focus my gaze back on Callum, the sound of Milo and Niall’s sticks filtering through. ‘Why’s he asking you to come and see him?’ Callum says. He could’ve said something in the letter, something that would explain why. Why didn’t he? I shake my head. ‘He hasn’t exactly told me why, but . . . I don’t know. Something about his letter doesn’t sit right with me,’ I reply, gripping onto the cool metal chains. ‘He’s a little shit,’ Callum says, keeping his voice low so Milo and Niall don’t hear. ‘That’s what Emma thinks. But I . . . I’ve always wanted to know why he killed our parents. They loved us, they didn’t abuse us. I feel I won’t be able to lead a normal life until I have an answer. I’m stuck in this constant state of limbo.’ What if, like Harvey, I’m damaged in the same way? What if there’s a risk I might be as psychotic as he is? A shiver races through me. ‘But what d’you think seeing him is gonna achieve?’ Callum asks. I shake my head. It might make me realise I’m no danger to you, or anyone else. I blink back tears. ‘I don’t know. But these questions have been hanging over me for the past twenty years. Can you imagine what that’s like? Imagine if your Mum didn’t die and she just simply disappeared with no trace. Sometimes I lie awake in bed of a night and the questions just haunt me.’ God, I feel guilty for talking about his Mum. Callum sighs. ‘No, I can’t imagine it. But, you’re not seriously thinking about going to see Harvey, are you?’ He doesn’t think this is a good idea, like Emma. I need him to be on my side. ‘I honestly don’t know yet, but I . . . if I do, I don’t want to go on my own.’ What’s going through Callum’s mind now? ‘You want me to come with you?’ he asks. ‘Look, there’s no way Michael and Emma are gonna come with me. Emma looked like she wanted to tear the letter up this morning. I . . . I guess I just want to see what Harvey has to say.’ I keep my focus on the back of the house. Milo thrashes Niall with a stick who cries out, clutching his arm. In an instant I’m back at school, the sound of my locker clanging in my ears as I fling it shut. Beside me, is Lesley Watkins, bearing down on me, twirling a strand of her chestnut hair around her finger, I can smell raspberry bubble gum on her breath. ‘So, your brother’s the famous murderer, c’mon then, tell us about that night, we want to hear everything,’ she’d said, her grin reaching her ears, her eyes wide with delight.  I’d clutched my books to my chest and sprinted down the corridor. Lesley chased after me with her group of friends. ‘C’mon, Danielle, you know what happened that day, don’t you? C’mon you can tell us,’ she’d shouted after me, laughing. I fold my arms across my chest, Lesley’s laughter still ringing in my ears. ‘Hey, Milo, be careful,’ I say. They look towards us, unfazed, before going back to whacking each other again. ‘OK, see if you can arrange a visit with him. If he wants to still go ahead with meeting you, then yeah, I’ll come,’ Callum says. ‘Thank you,’ I say. In that moment I want to lean my head on his shoulder, breathe in the musky scent of his cologne. I dig the heel of my shoe into the soft grass. I won’t do that. ‘What are you two doing out here, being unsociable?’ Michael shouts from the back of the house, holding onto a half empty bottle of Peroni. Milo and Niall scatter to the other side of the garden towards the fence. ‘Everyone’s here to see you, Danielle.’ ‘Yep, just coming,’ I shout, forcing a smile. Michael slips back into the house. There’s no way I’m going to be able to do a song with him later. ‘I s’pose we better go and mingle,’ I say to Callum. We climb off the swings and trudge back towards the house. Within a few weeks I’ll be sitting opposite Harvey for the first time in twenty years. How often has he thought of me? We’ve missed out on so much because of what he did. We should’ve grown up together. I’ve got to speak to him. Callum half-smiles as we step through the patio doors. ‘You OK?’ I fake a smile. ‘Yep, course I am, let’s grab a drink.’ Author Notes Characters: Danielle (protagonist) Callum (Danielle's best friend) Harvey (Danielle's brother) Michael (Danielle's adoptive father) Emma (Danielle's adoptive mother) John Cole (Danielle's biological father) Laura Cole (Danielle's biological mother) Ian Jones (third person who Harvey killed) Max Hardy (podcaster) Jeremiah (works with Oliver) Oliver Adams (Marsh View House owner) Mary (works with Oliver) Abraham (Marsh View resident) Abigail (Marsh View resident) Isaac (Marsh View resident) Noah (Marsh View resident) Eve (Marsh View resident)

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