Raising Chandler

The officer picked me up off the floor and pushed me towards the entrance. "Let's go kid," he growled, obviously not awake yet. I stumbled towards the door without hesitation. I glanced back at Aubrey and mouthed "I'm sorry." She closed her eyes and turned away, shaking her head.

A million thoughts bombarded my head. The cop opened the back door, and shoved me into the seat. The door slammed shut and I closed my eyes, begging for a vision, an escape...or just some life lesson or something to help me get out of this. I opened and closed my eyes three or four times, and nothing happened. Of course not.

I stared out the window at the world that was growing brighter by the second. I leaned my head on it slightly, only for the cop to yell at me for it. The male cop began to rant under his breath about having to deal with this before even having his morning coffee, and something about not getting paid enough. I rolled my eyes and bit my tongue to keep myself from reminding him, rather rudely, that my position wasn't exactly all peaches&cream either.

After a long, almost quiet car ride, we arrived at the station, where a new cop pulled me out of the car and ushered me inside. This one was female, and much more gentle than the one who put me in the car, which I was insanely grateful for.

I was patted down, then put into a temporary holding cell with a couple of other boys around my age. One was crying, another was asleep against the wall.

"Yo, got a lighter?" I turned and saw that the one talking was about 5 or 6 inches taller than I and obviously white, which was strange because he had a fairly Hispanic accent. I shook my head and he cursed under his breath. "Fuck. Well, anyway, I'm Drew. Homies call me Blanco. You?"

I held back laughter at his nickname, thought about it, then answered. "Fuentes. It's my last name, but it's what I go by," I said. He cocked one eyebrow. "Fuentes, huh? What, you related to those dead band brothers or something?" he laughed, and my eyes widened. He noticed I wasn't laughing, so he stopped. "Yo, Fuentes. You good bro?" he asked, waving his hand in front of my face.

I shook my head. "What band guys?" I asked, looking him dead in the eye. He looked a little scared. "I don't know, man. I heard about them on the radio...they were in some emo band and died in a wreck or something, then my Ma started crying and shut off the radio," he replied. I was about to speak again, but the gate to the holding cell opened and a cop stood there with a clipboard.
"Andrew Perry, the sheriff is ready to talk with you," the cop said.

"Later dude," Blanco said, hitting me on the back as he followed the officer. Perry....Perry. Where have I heard that name? I thought back to how Jaime talked about the guys, then I realized- Tony's last name was Perry. My eyes widened. Had Tony had a kid? I thought he was gay? Maybe he had a sister?

Questions filled my head, but were interrupted by the frantic clattering of footsteps on the cement floor. In a matter of seconds, I saw Lilly run in, followed by Aubrey, Jack, and Jaime. Jaime's eyes immediately found mine and he frowned. I looked away.

"CHANDLER!" Lilly screeched and an officer opened the bars, letting me out of the little cage built for humans. She hugged me, then stepped back and slapped me across the face. "What the hell were you thinking, kid?!" she yelled, grabbing my arms and shaking me.

I was angry that she'd slapped me without knowing why I even did what I did. I doubt she even knows what I did. She dragged me out of the station by my arm, and once we were out, she slapped me again. "How the fuck did you get arrested? What did you do?" she asked angrily, and I yanked my arm away.

"I defended my mom and dad...my real mom and dad," I spat. She backed away, and all of them looked at me with confused expressions. "I had one of those damn vision things, and the two girls who dared introduce themselves as friends of my parents were revealed to be the two biggest bullies in their old high school. I heard what they said to Vic, I heard what they said about Alli...the fake red-head called her a bathroom slut, she made fun of her for self harm! So Hell yeah I beat the shit out of her when I came to! No one insults either of my parents like that," I explained, only then realizing that I was crying hot, angry tears. "And because of those two absolute demons...I may have just lost the girl I saved....the girl I loved," I said, more to myself than to them.

Lilly stepped toward me, but I stepped away. Jaime moved towards me and I let him wipe the tears off of my cheeks. He pulled me into a hug, and I sobbed into his chest. "Ella ran away from me. I scared her, Jaime," I sobbed. He shushed me and rubbed my back. "She'll come back," he reassured me. For the time being, I let myself believe it.

I was soon ushered into the silent car, sitting between Jaime and Aubrey. I looked at Aubrey, and she turned and stared out the window. I looked down at my lap, and my stomach rumbled loudly.

We pulled into Jaime's place. He got out of the car, and I tried to follow, but he shook his head and closed the door. I sighed and looked back down. I continued to stare at my own lap until we arrived at our house. Jack killed the car and headed inside, followed by Aubrey and Lilly. I stayed in the car for a moment and closed my eyes. I let my head fall back against the seat.

I was just so....angry. What do I do now? Huh? Now would be a great time for you guys to send a vision or something, don't you think?

I opened my eyes, and again, nothing. I guess they were gone for good. I looked at the seat next to me and almost screamed.

Mike was sitting next to me, looking out the window. He turned and looked back towards me. "Hey nephew. You called?" he chuckled slightly. I rolled my eyes.

"So they sent you?" I said. "Well, here I am, so my guess would be yeah," he replied. Great. Thanks for sending the smart ass, guys.

"Kid, listen. I dealt with this a handful of times in my short life, let me help you out," he said, resting a hand on my shoulder. "What could help me now?" I asked.
"I don't know, I guess I should tell you how to do illegal shit and not get arrested?," he shrugged.

"Mike, you're an idiot. Go back, I've got this," I heard a voice from the front seat. I looked up and Tony appeared in the front passenger seat. "Fine, killjoy," Mike said. Tony blew him a kiss and flashed a smile, then Mike disappeared. What the FUCK just happened?!

"Chandler, I know you feel like you have to protect your parents...but kiddo, they're dead. It was the past, and you can't fix the past. You have to let it go. I would know, I'm the king of letting go," he said, shrugging his shoulders slightly.

I nodded. "Tony, I have a question," I said suddenly. "Yes?"

"Did you have...a son?" I asked. "No, I'm gay," he laughed. "But I saw that you met my nephew, Andrew. I had a sister named Danielle, that's her son." I nodded. "Anything else before I...uh...ascend?" he asked, and I shook my head. He smiled and ruffled my hair.

"Good talk," he said, then disappeared just as quickly as he had appeared. I sighed and climbed out of the car to see Jack standing above me, wearing an expression of equal parts confusion and worry.

"Who were you talking to?" he asked. Oh, wonderful. Now he's gonna think I've completely lost it. Jack still has yet to adjust even to the visions, so I can't even imagine him comprehending the fact that I am able to talk to my dead family and their friends. I just shook my head and walked past him and into the house.

It was no use explaining it. He'd never understand anyways.

Notes

Sorry it's been so long and that this chapter kind of sucks dick, I'm really tired and I was away at summer camp last week. I'll be back and better and all that jazz
love ya
~Savannah