Lost And Found Ch 12

Lost and Found

Chapter 12 - Lost like tears in rain

Daniel had managed to pick himself off the floor and drag himself into the park, cheeks stained with tears as he slumped down onto a bench and placed his head in his hands. His mind was a whirling tornado of conflicting thoughts and feelings, his stomach was churning and he had absolutely no clue what to do. As he raised his head and looked around, he saw several other people in the park, couples, families, people by themselves on a morning walk and every single one of them was staring at him. It must be a strange sight, a grown man openly weeping in a public park in the middle of the day, so it was hardly surprising they were looking at him. Picking himself up from the bench and trying to avoid eye contact with any of the strangers around him, he headed to a more secluded area of the park, finding a small group of trees with a little clearing in the middle, lowering himself to the ground and sitting against one of the majestic oaks. Finally alone, without prying eyes judging him, he openly wept, his tears falling heavily and watering the grass below him as he tried to comprehend what had just happened to him. How he had just managed to fuck everything up.

Several minutes passed before Daniel was able to somewhat compose himself, wiping his eyes and breathing heavily, on the verge of hyperventilating. He had suffered from panic attacks when he was younger and he knew the telltale signs of one approaching. Taking long, deep breaths, he tried to calm himself, wrapping his arms around his torso to hold himself as he gently rocked back and forth. "Fuck..." he softly whispered to himself as he finally felt his body starting to relax a little, his head lolling back against the tree to rest, eyes closed as he concentrated on what was around him. The smell of fresh cut grass, the warmth of the sun on his skin, the feeling of the trees bark against his skin, the sound of the distant innocent laughter of children. It was only a momentary respite as the feelings of grief, loss and pain started to wash over him again. He grit his teeth and smacked himself in the face, hard, causing him to wince, trying to snap himself out of it. He had cried enough. This was all his fault and he needed to pull himself together and come up with a plan.

He needed to talk to someone about what had happened, but who? Louise? No. He couldn't deal with telling her what had happened just yet, she would be devastated if she thought she was the reason that he and his long estranged mother were once again strangers to each other. There was only one other option, his parents, Frank and Denise. He obviously wouldn't be able to tell them all the details, but right now that didn't matter, he had a deep need to feel loved and protected and there was no-one else on the planet who could do that better. Pulling out his mobile, he pulled up their number, giving himself a minute to compose himself before hitting the green telephone symbol on the digital display. The phone started its outbound ringing tone and Daniel pressed the phone to his ear, praying that they would answer.

"Hello?" answered a familiar, comforting, female voice at the other end of the line. Just hearing his mum's voice caused all the emotions inside him to bubble up again and before he could speak, he let out a soft sob. "Daniel, baby, is that you?" Denise asked, her voice dripping with motherly concern as she waited for a response. Daniel could picture her in his mind, standing in the living room, clutching the handset of her old landline phone to her ear anxiously as she waited for him to answer. Pictures of him from when he was a baby all the way to a teenager dotted along the wall, his parents pride and joy, their only son, the one they held dearest, above all others. Across the room, a cabinet filled with all the rugby trophies and medals he had ever received along with several priceless family items. Daniel moving to go to University had hit his Mum hard and she had called him every single day for the first couple of months he was there. She had said that she wanted to make sure he was taking care of himself, but he knew the real reason, empty nest syndrome.

"Yeah... it's me mum..." Daniel replied, wiping away a tear and sniffling.

"What's wrong honey, what's happened?" she asked, trying to maintain a calm tone of voice, but clearly still incredibly worried about her boy. While she may not have carried him to term, she was still his mother and no-one could tell her any different. She loved him more than anything, he was her entire reason for being and any mother would dread receiving a call like this.

"Me and Candy had a fight..." Daniel said as tears began to fall from his weary eyes once again, "and she kicked me out." Holding his face in his hand, the memories of what had happened washed over him again, feeling overwhelmed and unable to continue speaking.

"Oh baby, I'm sorry," Denise replied soothingly, "you're ok, mummy's here, I've got you." The voice of the woman that had raised him managed to break through Daniel's sorrow, a comfort spread out from his chest and throughout his body that he so desperately needed in this, his lowest of moments. But then came the question he had been dreading, the one that he wouldn't be able to answer. "What happened Daniel? What caused the fight?"

"I...I... don't want to talk about it..." Daniel weakly replied, scared that she might press him further for an answer.

"Ok baby, that's ok, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," Denise reassured him. "Are you coming home?"

Daniel took a moment to think. It was probably his only option. His tenancy at his flat was over now that it was the summer and he clearly couldn't go back to Candy's. "Yeah, I guess so. I'll have to book a train back. Is that ok?"

"Of course it is baby, let us know when your train will get in and me and Dad will come and meet you at the station, ok?"

"Yeah, ok," Daniel replied, tears finally drying now that he had spoken to the woman that had raised him and that he had a plan in place at least.

"I love you so much baby, call me if you need me ok?"

"Yeah, I will, thanks Mum." He had to take a moment before he continued, remembering that just a few hours earlier he had been saying the exact same words to Candy, but with a very different meaning behind them. "I love you too."

Hanging up the phone, Daniel wiped his face and took a few deep breaths before pulling himself off the ground and brushing the dirt that had accumulated from his pants. Resting his hand against the tree that had been his seat, literally holding him up when he was unable to do so himself, he straightened himself up and stepped out of the clearing, back into the real world. He was still heartbroken and distraught, but he was at least able to keep himself composed enough to do what needed to be done. Walking over to the station, dragging his suitcase behind him, his thoughts were filled with getting home to his parents and feeling the reassuring embrace of his mother. His real mother. One that would never abandon him, one that would never hurt him in the way that Candy had, even if he was to blame for it.

Approaching the station there were a couple of people smoking outside waiting for their trains to depart. He had never smoked in his life, but if there was ever a time he had been tempted to light one up, this would be the moment. He ignored this unexpected urge and kept on walking into the small station, checking the digital departure boards on the wall to see how long he would have to wait for a train to take him home. Thankfully the next one was in less than an hour and Daniel took his place in the queue for the ticket office so he could book his journey home. It was the school holidays, so despite how small of a town it was, there were actually quite a few people waiting to be served, several families and parents with their children, no doubt off to the nearby city for a day of shopping, concerts, sporting events or other fun activities. He felt a pang of sadness again as he pictured what it would have been like if Candy had taken him on a similar trip when he was younger. He was approaching the front of the line when he was snapped out of his train of thought as he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket.

Taking it out of his trouser pocket, he checked the screen, his heart sinking and his mouth hanging open in shock. It was Candy. He didn't know what to do, frozen to the spot. Maybe she was calling to apologize? No, surely it couldn't be that, he had hurt her too badly. Before he could decide whether to answer or not, the call ended, the moment had passed. "Are you alright love?" came an unfamiliar voice from in front of him. Looking up from the screen he realized that he was now at the front of the queue and the lady on the desk was looking at him, waiting for him to step forward.

"Yeah, sorry," Daniel replied, still in a slight daze as he advanced to the glass screen separating him and the lady in the ticket office.

"Where you going today?" the lady asked warmly. She was in her 40's, with short brown hair, glasses and a friendly, warm face, which helped put Daniel at ease a little. She certainly looked like a woman that might have a son of her own, about his age at home. Before he could answer her, his phone rang again, his mum's name flashing up on the screen. This was it. Press the green button or the red button. Either he bought the train ticket, went back to his parents and left Candy behind forever, or he answered the phone and maybe, just maybe, he could fix things.

"Sorry," Daniel muttered as he walked away from the desk, leaving the woman looking confused before calling for the next customer. As he walked back towards the automatic doors he answered the call and pressed the phone to his ear.

When Candy first spoke he could tell that she was hysterical, something was very, very wrong and he froze on the spot, feet rooted to the ground. "Daniel, he's here!" She exclaimed through terrified sobs.

"Who, who is there?" Daniel replied anxiously, fearing the worst.

"Steve!" Candy answered in a whisper, voice trembling as a loud, repeating thumping noise could be heard in the background. Daniels' blood ran cold as he dropped his suitcase to the ground, causing everyone in the station to look over at him. "He's trying to break the door down, I'm so scared! Daniel, I need you, please!" she begged.

Daniel went into autopilot, his survival instincts kicking in. "I'm coming Mum, I'm coming." Hanging up the phone he started sprinting, nearly knocking over a teenage boy as he ran out of the station's automatic doors and tearing down the street. His feet pounded the pavement, heart beating a million miles an hour in his chest as he ran and ran and ran. Nothing could stop him, not people in the street, nor traffic in the roads, cars swerving to avoid him as he barrelled towards her house like a man possessed. He had never run so fast in his life, glad for all his years on the rugby field that had seemingly prepared him for this exact moment. He was running himself ragged, getting more exhausted by the second but after only a few minutes he was turning the corner onto Candy's street.

There he was. That fat, disgusting fuck. Pounding on the door, kicking it and screaming in a tatty pair of jeans and a stained football shirt. She must be terrified. Somehow Daniel found an extra reserve of energy as each footfall brought him closer and closer to the man who had terrorized his mother for months. His earlier feelings of despair and anguish were gone, instead replaced with a determined anger that increased with every single step. As he got closer, he could hear him yelling through the door, "GIVE ME BACK MY LAPTOP YOU BITCH," as he pounded his fists on the door frame, making it shake on its hinges, threatening to break at any second. Steve hadn't even noticed that Daniel was bearing down on him until he was a couple of feet away, turning to face him as Daniel dove for his stocky legs. Wrapping his strong arms around him just below the waist, Daniel tackled him to the ground, sending them both crashing to the pavement, scraping and tearing skin as they tussled on the ground.

While Steve was bigger, Daniel was much more agile and considerably stronger, managing to wriggle from his grasp and mount the older man, raining down furious fists upon him. Steve covered up his face with his hands as Daniel pounded away at him, unable to do any real damage. Daniel changed tactics, peppering Steve's chest with short, painful jabs, causing his mothers abuser to wince and clutch his chest exposing his face so that Daniel could resume raining down blows upon the man who he hated more than anyone on the face of the earth. After two punches to the jaw, Steve had started to go limp, but the red mist had descended and Daniel wasn't stopping, a third and fourth strike bloodying his mouth and swelling his eye closed. It was only his mothers voice that broke through the rage burning inside him and finally made him stop.

"DANIEL, STOP, STOP, PLEASE!!!" she screamed as she stood in the doorway, trembling with fear and concern, barely able to hold herself upright. Fist raised ready to deliver another blow, blood dripping from his knuckles, Daniel froze in place, looking over at Candy, a look of anger still written on his face as he struggled to regain control. Looking down at Steve, he was a bruised, bloody mess, unmoving and clearly no longer a threat to himself or, more importantly, to Candy. "The police will be here soon baby, I'm safe, you can stop."

Daniel climbed off of Steve's limp body as Candy's neighbors stood in the street, looking on in horror, aghast at the display of primal violence they had all been witness to. Stumbling to his feet, he walked towards Candy in the doorway, leaning against the wall, face inches away from her. "I'm so sorry Mum, I'm an idiot and I don't deserve you." He hung his head in shame and turned to leave when Candy reached out and grabbed his wrist. She span him around and pulled him into a tight embrace as the sound of nearing police sirens filled the air. A few moments later two cop cars tore down the street and pulled up outside the house, Candy and Daniel still holding each other tightly, clinging on for strength. One of the officers went to Steve's side to offer medical aid, others started asking the neighbors to head back inside their homes and the most senior of them all approached Candy and Daniel.

"You need to tell them what happened Mum, what he did to you, can you do that?" Daniel whispered to her softly and reassuringly.

"Yes, I can do that, it's time he gets what's coming to him," Candy replied determinedly.

Steve was starting to come to and the officers questioned Daniel and Candy on the doorstep about what had happened. Daniel was placed in cuffs along with Steve and the two were placed into separate police cars and taken to the station, Candy following behind in another car as a friendly young female Police Community Support Officer did her best to comfort her. The next few hours were spent at the station, with all three of them being interviewed separately about what had happened. Daniel used his phone call to let Denise know what had happened and promised he would call her once everything had calmed down. When speaking to the officers he admitted to assaulting Steve, explaining the surrounding circumstances, the abuse his mother had endured and how the older man had been trying to force entry into her home. The neighbors that were interviewed at the scene had corroborated that Steve was trying to break in and despite the pain it caused her, Candy told the young PCSO everything that had happened to her during her relationship with Steve and how Daniel had helped her get away from him.

When everything was said and done Steve was left in the cells overnight pending further action, with an urgent restraining order due to be submitted to the court the next morning. Daniel was given a warning and told that Steve could still press charges in the future, but based on the extenuating circumstances, if the case was put before a judge, any punishment would likely be lenient, much to his relief. Candy and Daniel were reunited in the Police station's reception and the young officer that had been so kind to them both during this whole ordeal offered to drive them home. They didn't speak on the way back to Candy's house, but held hands during the whole journey, both exhausted and a little shell shocked after what they had both been through. When they arrived back outside the house Officer D'Costa opened the door for them and followed them inside. Steve's dry blood was still on the pavement and Daniel looked at it solemnly as he stepped inside before he and Candy and both collapsed on the sofa, weary and glad to be home.

"If you need anything, anything at all, this is my card, feel free to call me whenever you need to, ok?" The officer said warmly as she gave the small rectangular piece of card containing her details to Candy.

"Thank you so much officer, you've been amazing," Candy replied, "we both really, really appreciate it."

"All part of the job," she replied, "now, where is his laptop? You mentioned it was still here?"

"Yes, it's in the kitchen, on top of the fridge, you think it might have some evidence on it?" Candy asked.

"We certainly hope so. It would make sense as to why he came back to try and get it. He may have remembered there was something incriminating on it and that was why he was so desperate to get it, but we'll send it over to the tech guys and let you know if we find anything. Am I alright to go and grab it?"

"Of course," Candy replied, gesturing towards the kitchen begore placing her hand on Daniel's knee and squeezing it gently. Officer D'Costa returned after a few moments with the small silver rectangle in hand before saying goodbye to them both and heading out of the door. Finally alone, they both sighed deeply, relief washing over them, eyes heavy as they both fought exhaustion to stay awake. They hadn't had anything to eat for several hours and Daniel's stomach rumbled loudly as they sat on the sofa. Daniel offered to make them both something to eat, which Candy gladly accepted. After a few minutes in the kitchen he returned with a sandwich for each of them, which they both wolfed down in virtual silence. Neither of them had been able to really talk about what had happened that morning and neither of them knew where to start, or even if they should talk about it. Daniel took out the plates and stood in the middle of the living room, scratching his head awkwardly.

"I guess I should try and find a hotel," he suggested, "at least for tonight, I'll need to go to the station in the morning and hope they still have my suitcase."

"Don't go, please." Candy replied, eyes welling up, her lip quivering as she spoke. "I don't want to be alone tonight, so will you please stay with me?"

"Sure Mu... Candy. I'll make up the bed in the spare room and if you need anything, you can come and get me, ok?"

Candy stood up from the sofa, wrapping her arms around him and holding him close, "thank you Daniel, that means so much to me," she confessed. "Don't go anywhere in the morning, I think we need to talk, don't you?"

"Yeah, we probably should," Daniel answered hesitantly.

"Promise me you won't leave until we talk?" Candy asked, eyes begging him earnestly to give her his word.

"I promise," Daniel replied. Candy leaned upwards to gently kiss him on the cheek before making her way up the stairs to her bed, exhausted and ready for the sweet relief of slumber. Daniel followed her, turning away from the room they had shared for the past few weeks and instead going into the spare room. He hadn't expected to ever see the inside of Candy's home again and after making the bed and climbing in, his mind swirled with thought about everything that had happened that day. His fists ached from the beating he had given to Steve and finally after tossing and turning, he slipped away into the land of sleep, wondering what the morning would have in store for him.