Watched

Liam Patell had been watched his whole life. Now, however, as he lay alone in excruciating darkness, he realized no one would ever watch him again.

He remembered his mother. She was one of those actresses that producers fought to have in their cast. Her name was painted across countless movies, shows, and television interviews. The media would follow her every move. She was involved in a scandal involving another actor who was married. They were rumoured to have had a secret rendezvous on several occasions.

So when she gave birth to Liam, the modern social word went into a frenzy. From then on, everyone had to know about Liam. After the adultery scandal died down, he eventually followed in his mother’s footsteps and became a renowned actor. His career brought him millions of fans and revenue. Due to his rough beginnings, he made great strides to maintain a positive reputation. To Liam, his image was everything. That is what brought him to Brazil, which would be the last place he would ever visit-alive.

It began as a staged mission trip to help the poverty-stricken areas of the country. On his private jet ride over, Liam had received a brief warning of the dangers he might endure while aiding the locals. He ignored this, believing deep down that somehow his fame made him invincible. He had done things like this before and nothing went wrong. Liam thought that this should be no different.

That was a huge mistake.

The first two nights went well, but then came the third. That day, he had been in the city of Macapa, which bordered the Amazon. Liam had spent the day “fixing” houses which had been damaged in the recent monsoon. In reality, he was doing nothing to aide. He had used these past three days as more of a photo shoot than an actual effort to help anyone. He posed with tools and some of the confused, dark-skinned locals. After this rather hot day of “working,” he was exhausted. When he arrived back in his upscale, regal hotel room, he took a long hot shower and devoted the night to relaxation.

That night, he was falling asleep when he felt a tingling on his hand. He looked down in horror to see a large spider, the size of his hand, resting in his palm. He shrieked and panicked, waving his hand violently to detach the spider from his skin. However, the spider gripped him tightly.

In desperation, he decided to grab on of the long legs to try to pry it from him. The spider’s leg was fragile and cracked from the force of his fingers. As a frightened response, it dug its fangs within Liam’s flesh. A searing pain ran up his arm and he let out another scream. Without thinking, he slammed his palm to the wall, crushing the spider underneath. He cringed as he felt the wetness of the spider’s insides run down his hand.

Liam shuddered as he got up and scrubbed the remnants of the spider off of him. He watched the long legs run down the porcelain drain. Adrenaline was pumping through him so much that he had forgotten that the spider bit him. He looked down to see a red spot with a little blood where the fangs had penetrated. He thought very little of it because it was only throbbing now, so he simply placed a bandage on the wound to stop the bleeding. After searching in vain for any more spiders that might be lurking around him, Liam went back to bed, swaddled himself in silk sheets, and fell asleep.

Now that he looked back on it, he should have paid more attention to the warnings he was given on the plane ride. If he had listened, he would have known that some native spiders of Brazil were extremely dangerous. If he had listened, he would have known that their venom could cause serious nervous damage. If he had listened, he would have known that this could lead to complete cerebral paralysis.

If he had listened, he wouldn’t have died.

Only he didn’t die. He was paralyzed. He was breathing so softly that it was nearly impossible to tell that he was alive. His heart slowed incredibly. As a result, the medics on the scene pronounced him dead. Perhaps it was that Liam had a history of heart problems that led to the coroner’s pronouncement of the cause of death to be a heart attack. Perhaps it was that the coroner was in awe of the famous movie star Liam Patell, so much so, that his examination was incredibly flawed. Perhaps if his mother had allowed him to be cut open to be examined, instead of wanting to preserve his looks even in death, the coroner would have seen that Liam was alive.

For he was indeed alive. Alive and awake.

Even now, he was still awake. The paralysis proved to be temporary, but by the time he regained the ability to move, it was too late. He now lay in darkness, vocal cords ripped from screaming, fingertips bloody from scratching, and head swimming from lack of oxygen. He was confined in a painful darkness and silence. He had shrieked for hours, but the sound of dirt being poured on top of the box which confined him had drowned out his voice. His voice, which had soothed the media his whole life, couldn’t get him out of his own grave. His breathing was shallow because the oxygen that remained was quickly being converted to carbon dioxide. He was now suffocating and it was at his own hand.

As he felt his last remnants of life crumbling from his grasp, Liam cried. He had been watched his whole life, but when he needed it most, he wasn’t watched close enough. Now he would watch himself die.