Unknown Being

July 14: the day Warped was in Massachusetts and the day Matt would finally meet his idols. To say he was excited would have been an incredible understatement. He couldn't contain his excitement very well. Unfortunately, things out of his control made the day difficult from the beginning.

Firstly, his parents had come home from their "shopping" with more than Matt expected. He woke up to find boxes everywhere; they were filled with bags of cocaine, bags of marijuana, entire crates of cigarette packs, other drugs Matt didn't recognise, and lots of alcohol ranging from beers to hard liquors. He swallowed nervously. He had become rather callous as a result of his parents' treatment of him, but he would be lying to himself to say to he could necessarily handle their treatment. And with the amount of stuff they brought back, Matt knew he'd be in for a lot. He struggled to stay conscious due to all the smells around him.

It started immediately. Matt was frying up some eggs for himself when there was a loud crash from the second floor followed by a loud, piercing shriek of "Matthew! Get up here right now!" Hastily, he shut off the stove and bounded upstairs, taking the steps two at a time.

The last time he'd not been "quick enough", he'd been beaten by his father. Yes, he had been fourteen, and yes, such punishment was illegal, but his father, in his inebriation, hadn't cared. Matt knew he would not have cared even if he had been sober. The mad had been so drunk that the smell of the liquor on his breath could be detected from 20 feet away. He also hadn't been aware what he'd used to whip his son - his wife's jewelry box. Not only had Matt and his parents been additionally injured by flying studs and such, but Matt's mother had a fit after his father was done. She was so upset that she beat Matt with her bare hands, to the best of her intoxicated ability. Both of his parents had then passed out and Matt had run to Cat's house in agony and tears where he was consoled and his wounds attended to. That day had traumatised him and from then on he swore to have a heart of stone. But it had also cemented his friendship with Cat.

When Matt got upstairs to his parents' room, he found the mirror in a million pieces on the floor. His parents were both unharmed and he figured that they had formulated the damage to torment him.

"The mirror fell. Clean it up," his father snapped. "And then make us some breakfast. Your mother and I are too tired to cook."

"Yes, sir," Matt sighed, going to retrieve the dustpan and trash can from the bathroom. Good thing I shut the stove off, he thought. This looks like a long job.

Half an hour had passed before the mess was gone and then Matt had to go make his parents' breakfast after hastily eating his own. He knew what they would want - egg and bacon sandwiches with Cheddar slices.

When Matt took the tray of food to his parents, his father wrinkled his nose in annoyance. "Get us some Jack Daniels to go with this, boy. And be sure to get the good stuff."

After he had done that, Matt's mother added, "Oh, and I almost forgot. You can't go to that concert today. There's far too much that needs to be done around the house today."

"You're telling me this now," Matt questioned angrily. "You knew about this concert five months ago!"

"Well we're in no shape to clean this house, boy," his father said menacingly. "You're going to do it. Oh, I know. You can invite your little girlfriend to help you. What's her name? Katherine? Caitlyn?"

"Cat," Matt seethed.

"That's right," his father said with a fake laugh. "Why don't you invite your dear Cat to help?"

"B-but dahlin'," his mother slurred, "They gunn suck fehce er sumthin'." Matt was reminded of the fact that his mother couldn't hold her liquor half as well as his father could.

"You know, babe, you're right. Precious little Katie isn't going to be coming over," the man simpered. "And take away these dishes."

"It's Cat," Matt muttered under his breath as he was going down the stairs. He went back up to see if they needed anything else and discovered that they had both fallen back to sleep or lost consciousness. It was then that Matt decided that meeting his idols was worth the risk of disobeying his parents for the first time in years as well as another beating. He got dressed in as much BVB merch as possible, got his phone, house key, ticket and pass, iPod, and earbuds, and went downstairs. He put his shoes on, went out the door, and locked up. He walked to Cat's house without looking back.

Parents are being assholes to me. Coming over early, Cat.

You're always welcome, Matt. xo

Little did Matt know that even more troubles were in store for him that day……

Notes