CHASE
11

'You need to find a way to keep that girl far, far away from him.' I pressed my ears to the door silently, listening to mum and dad privately talk about me. I had came by to see them but I ended up stumbling upon a very vague conversation. I didn't know why they were discussing me in their room, or why they were talking about me in the first place. But I did know that something wasn't right.

'How am I suppose to do that Jack? She's nineteen, she's going to turn around and tell me that she can do whatever she wants.'

'Find a way! Remind her of who he is, remind her of what he's done. She can't be near him. This is getting out of hand.'

The more I listened the more I was confused and curious. I knew that they didn't want me visiting Chase but I didn't know it was this important to them. The way they talked about him, it was as if they knew so much about him. Like they really hated him. Sure enough a lot of people hated Chase, they judged him based on what he'd done, but it didn't make it ok. How people could judge someone with a mental illness was beyond me. They didn't even try to understand that his actions were made because of the wrong wiring in his head, that didn't make him a bad person, that made him a sick person, a person in need of help, someone who clearly wasn't ok. Not being ok isn't his fault and I just didn't understand why my parents disliked him so much when they had a daughter that was a victim to the same mental illness.

'Maybe I should go and visit him.' I froze at dads suggestion. He obviously was out of his mind. Go and visit Chase and do what? Drink tea and braid each other's hair? He had no reason to go, he was going to make Chase feel even worse than he already did.

'That's not a good idea.' Yes mum, you tell him.

'Why not? I need to let him know that he can't lay a finger on her again.'

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Deciding I had had enough, I opened the door and walked in, catching them both off guard as they stared at me like they'd been caught doing something really really naughty.

'Lay a finger on me again? I told you, I fell down the stairs and hit my face off the floor. Chase hasn't done a single thing to hurt me, why can't you drop this? I'm not a child anymore!'

Shock was evident in both of their faces, as if pulling themselves together, Dad was the one to speak first.

'Why were you eavesdropping and what are you doing here to begin with?' His attempt at changing the subject and pointing the fingers at me was futile. I wasn't going to sit around and have them hate Chase because of me.

'YOU both, had a daughter that was a patient in Whitley Psyche Hospital, in that exact same room as Chase. Becca. Do you remember her?' I could see the hurt that ran through both of their futures as I began my rant.

'Yeah well Becca was crazy too, I bet you haven't forgotten that part. I spent everyday with her, she attacked me so many times. Why was she different to Chase? Because she was one of us? She was blood? You never stopped me from visiting her even though she attacked me over and over again. Chase hasn't done a thing to me and you already hate him? You don't even know him!' I was getting wound up and I didn't know how else to express myself. I let my anger take over and threw whatever in my head out of my mouth.

'Bella..' mum tried to walk over to me, concern evident on her fragile features. I know hearing the truth wasn't easy for them but it had to be said. By hating Chase, they were disrespecting Becca and I could let them do that.

'No mum, stay right there.' I held my arm out, motioning for her not to come close to me. 'If you found it in you to love Becca even with the way she was then you can find it in you to let Chase be. I'm not asking you to understand him or even to like him, I'm asking to you to stop acting like you know him because you don't, you don't know why he's like this, you don't know how much he's been hurt. Leave him be, you don't have to love him, you just can't hate him when you don't even know him.' Burning hot tears threatened to spill but I kept them at bay. I wasn't going to cry but I sure as hell was going to let them know that they were going to push me away if they continued like this.

'Bella, Becca was different...' before Dad could finish off I already interrupted him, with anger lacing down my tongue.

'Different? She was crazy just like Chase. She lived in that room, just like Chase. She may have not took someone life but if she was out in the open that could've happened too! There's no difference between any mental ill patient, they're all screwed in the head and sometimes they're screwed because of people like you! People who put them in a box and shove them away from the world! Even a sane person would go insane if they were constantly put down by others!' I had gone too far and I knew that by just looking at the reaction on my parents faces. They looked like I had just jabbed a knife in their gut. Taking that as my cue to leave, I turned my back to them and walked towards the door.

'Please don't interfere with me visiting Chase. For once, try to understand.' And with that, I left, not wanting to stay there a second longer to hear their opinion on Chase. That's all it was, an opinion. They didn't know him, they only knew what everyone else knew, that he was dangerous, that he didn't deserve to be treated like a normal human being. And I, I wasn't ok with that because I knew I was better than that.

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