Hex

Chapter 5
The Night Out

Chapter Description: Nikki and Adam visit some of her friends. Adam slowly starts to lose mental awareness.

Adam was silent throughout the whole car ride. ’I need to avoid being given that pacifier at all costs,’ he told himself, which he figured to mean crying was out. He took a few more drinks from his bottle, trying very hard to not give in to the joy of suckling from it. His silence was short-lived. “Aw, did my little boy fall asleep back there?” she said to herself. The fact that she seemed to be enjoying this was slightly unsettling for Adam. ’Does she plan to keep me this way forever,’ he wondered. “Aaa” Adam sounded, which to his surprise used up a notable amount of his energy.

Nikki reached her arm from the driver’s seat to grab Adam’s leg. Her hand felt huge to Adam as her whole hand fit around his leg. Adam had trouble remembering what he was thinking about. Nikki’s hand felt warm and gentle. She patted his leg before returning her hand to the wheel. “After I visit a few friends tonight, I’ll perform the ritual to change you back. I have to do it by midnight or I won’t have enough magic for it...” She trailed off. Adam was having trouble following her explanations of his situation and couldn’t ask for clarity. What about midnight? What was midnight for that matter? Nikki kept using words that were too big for him to understand. Adam just tuned her out, but was happy to hear her voice anyway.

They pulled up in front of the first friend’s house. Nikki got out and opened the back door to retrieve her regressed friend. She carried Adam all the way to the front door and rang the bell. A short, dark-haired woman answered the door. She looked to be in her late twenties or early thirties. Adam could tell she definitely wasn’t in college anymore and wondered what Nikki’s connection to her was. “Emily, it’s been ages!” greeted Nikki. Emily had to squint at Nikki as she greeted her. “Oh! Is that you Nicole? I say, it has been a while!...” Adam lost track of their conversation after that and began to look around the house.

He saw two children in the living room who were playing with each other and noticed that there was a lot of furniture. He scowled as he further examined the room, only to get a pacifier plopped into his mouth and was let down. He immediately started to crawl toward the other two. Adam reached for a building block, but Emily’s two-year old son hit his hand out of the way. Adam started crying, to which Nikki picked him up again.

In the back of his mind, Adam thought, ’Why am I crying? What did I want with that block? How much longer do I have to endure this?’ Suddenly Nikki found the pacifier that had fallen out when he started crying, “... Ahh, look what Auntie Nikki found!” she showed him enthusiastically. Adam squirmed as she brought it closer to his mouth. ’NO! You can’t! I’ll lose my mind again!’ he thought desperately, struggling as it came closer. “Not much of a pacifier baby, is he?” commented Emily. “Oh, he’s just a bit tired and needs a nap,” Nikki replied as her missile made impact. ’… no... I can’t...’ Adam tried to think but it was as if his memory and vocabulary had been wiped clean. He slumped on Nikki’s shoulder, falling to sleep instantly.

The rest of the night was a blur to Adam. He remembered waking up and falling asleep both in the car seat and Nikki’s arms, but couldn’t really recollect anything upon waking up. It was late at night when Adam finally had his thoughts back to him. He was lying down in Nikki’s lap when he awoke, only to notice that it looked dark outside. He began to wail. ’Nikki said she needed to do something really soon, right? Why aren’t we home?’ Adam tried to recollect what exactly it was, but he knew they weren’t where they needed to be. Nikki’s every attempt to hush her friend failed. She sighed, “... well, sorry to bail, but I think I need to get him home.”

Nikki carried Adam back out to the car. He kept up the sobbing. ’Hopefully it’s not past midnight,’ Adam thought. He figured Nikki would have to have enough time to prepare, so hopefully this gave her enough time. Nikki buckled Adam into his car seat and began to drive. Adam couldn’t see the clock from his position, but it was very dark outside and he had no idea where they were. “Adam, you need to calm down now,” Nikki scolded him as she was driving, “I can’t focus on both you and the road.” Adam quieted down. At least he had her attention. They sat in silence the rest of the way home.