I drank from the bottle until I was obliterated by it. The drunkenness just thawed me away into oblivion as I fell asleep.
30. Lydia Brown - Civilisation
Tim disappeared after the incident with Charlie. I had gone to my room and I hoped he would be there, but there was no sign of him anywhere. I wondered why he had seemed so angry. I wanted to comfort him, so I waited for him to return.
After a while, I fell asleep and awoke in the morning to no sign of Tim. I got up and decided to go look for him. He had to be somewhere. Why had he disappeared? Was he annoyed with me? Was there something on his mind?
I hoped he was okay. The fact that Aiden hadn't told him about Shirley had annoyed Tim, but I couldn't figure out why he had become so mad.
I wandered about the house looking for him. Tim was nowhere to be found. I went into the living room and found his brother there. He was sitting reading a book.
"Hi Joe." I announced. "Have you seen Tim today?"
"Hey Lydia. No... I haven't." He looked concerned all of sudden and I didn't want to worry him. "Is everything okay?" I didn't know how to answer that question without sounding too serious.
"Yeah... sure... just looking for him that's all Joe. Nothing out of the ordinary... he's probably sharpening his sticks somewhere." I joked.
"Yeah... probably... sometimes he goes to the barn to do that... he might be hanging out there." Joe stated.
"Oh... really... I didn't realise he liked the barn.... oh well... perhaps I'll go there now and see." I said as I turned to go.
"Okay... but when you find him, tell him I want a word with him." Joe said as he raised his eyebrows and got up from the sofa. "Oh... hey Lydia... I heard what happened last night. Are you okay? Is Tim alright?"
"Oh... that... yeah he's fine except his anger scared me." I replied.
"His anger? What do you mean? Is he okay?" Joe asked in a serious tone.
"Well... he was so annoyed with how things had escalated in that room... for one..." I started to say, but then realised Joe might not know about Aiden's past relationship with Shirley. I had to keep quiet about it.
"Yes...? You were saying." Joe pressed.
"Oh... don't worry about me... talk to Tim or Aiden... they will tell you everything. But whatever you do... keep it quiet for now." I explained.
"Now you've got me worried." Joe answered.
"Don't be... It's all under control." I said as I left the room quickly before Joe stopped me from leaving.
I went outside and headed to the barn. The door was closed, so I peeped through the small window. It was dark in there and I couldn't see anything, but something led me to go inside.
The door creaked as I pushed it. I saw a flash light left on the side and picked it up. I turned it on and walked further inside. There to my disbelief was Tim sprawled out on the floor. There was a bottle of alcohol thrown next to him. He'd been drinking again was my first thought. But why? What had led him to get this way? What was he scared of?
All I knew was that it had something to do with Charlie's death and Aiden's past relationship with Shirley. Tim always seemed to have a theory lately and I couldn't work out what that could be at this point. I needed to talk to him. I wanted to find out what was on his mind. He usually confided in me, but this time he hadn't. I worried for him.
I knelt down beside him and flicked his hair away from his eyes. It had started to grow long and thick. It needed cutting I thought as my fingers glided gently through it. My hand touched his ice cold, stubbly chin. The icy weather was getting worse. Everything was freezing up outside and it was no better in the barn.
Suddenly, he moved and his eyes opened. I heard him groan. He must be feeling awful, especially if he'd drank the whole bottle.
"Tim... are you okay?" I asked in a quiet, gentle voice.
I watched him as he looked up at me. His piercing blue eyes stared into mine as he tried to sit up.
"Just about." He answered.
"What's going on Tim? Why drink now after all you have achieved? Is there something on your mind?" I asked.
"Don't you know?" He asked me.
"Know what?"
"The time has come... things are changing now... and it's not good!" He said strongly.
I didn't know what he was going on about. In fact, at first, I thought he sounded like he was going mad.
"Tim... please explain." I stated.
"Look... let me get some water and then we’ll talk. Okay?" He said as I sighed.
"Okay, but I want answers to why you have suddenly gone off the deep end." I said, determined to get to the bottom of it.
"Don't worry... we will talk it through." He told me as we walked out of the barn.
I waited whilst he got some water and then we went to the bedroom to chat. I thought he looked like death at first, but the colour in his cheeks began to slowly come back after he'd drank a bottle of water.
"So..."
