Hey, just a little warning this chapter contains violence. I'm not that great of an author, but I still want to warn you before you start reading....

    The trip from the park to the house was short, but I found ways to prolong the arrival. I would stop to stare at the dying flowers, or to pet the neighbor’s welcoming border collie. I went as far as to stand and stare at a crispy brown leaf crawl across the street with the aid of the wind. It felt like I was walking through molasses, knowing sooner or later I would end up at the dreaded destination.

    I knew it was past midnight when I finally arrived at the dark wooden door of my house. I breathed in a deep sigh, that got caught somewhere between my lungs and my throat. My heart clenched as I grabbed the metal handle and pushed the door open. In front of me was the shattered remains of the teal dining set Mom made long ago, strewn across the hardwood floor.

    The rubber bottoms of my Converse couldn’t save me from a painful experience as I walked across the mess. I knew exactly who had done such a deed, judging by the numerous bottles of various alcoholic beverages. A pungent odor sat heavily in the air, causing bile to make its way up my throat. I had to remind myself to swallow it away, so another unfortunate event wouldn’t take place.

    The debris crackled under my feet like fireworks, as I made my way to the dark hallway. It was the pathway to my room, my safe haven. I watched my black and white Chuck Taylors move, when another pair of shoes entered my vision. The pungent smell of alcohol and vomit mixed in the air before me. My stomach churned, threatening to force my previous meal out. I gulped, trying to calm my hammering heart, trying to make myself strong, trying to swallow the fear away. I followed the body up to the owner’s face, knowing exactly who he was.

    The minute courage I gained, disappeared when I saw the look in his eyes. Hate. Fury. Evil. His dark eyes burrowed holes through mine. He scanned my body, judging it like I was an animal at a fair, and wasn’t worthy of his presence. His gaze sent my body shivering in fear of what was to come next.

    A loud slap broke the silence. Familiar stinging pain burned the surface of my cheek. My eyes watered from the force, not the pain. It didn’t hurt that much anymore. After continuous nights of this, the pain isn’t the same. Before I could stand up straight from the teeth clattering slap, my hair was ripped from my scalp. I squeezed my eyes shut and clenched my jaw. He couldn’t hear my cries of pain. He couldn’t know he was hurting me. He couldn’t know I was weak. I wanted so badly to scream, to tell him to let go. His nails dug into my scalp, shooting white hot pain to my head.

“You little . You ruined everything. Everything! I could’ve been happy. I could have it all! This isn’t supposed to be how I live. You ruined it! You ruined it all you selfish little .” He screamed in my ear. I tried to pull away, only to feel more of my hair get pulled out. “Just go die, and make my life easier.” He said as he pushed me with inhumane force into the wall.

    A thunder-like sound resonated through house. My forehead collided with the corner of a picture frame, haphazardly hung on the wall. My head bounced off the wall with so much force I couldn’t keep my balance. My body landed on the ceramic shards.

Everything looked like a fuzzy mess, like I was looking through an out of focus camera. My arms tried to push my body up, to a sitting position, but not fast enough. One after another, bonecrushing kicks were delivered to my legs and stomach. Pain shot through my body; I bit my cheeks to keep myself from screaming. With every kick, I felt myself slipping; losing my grip on reality.

Finally his drunk body got tired, but he managed to pick me up, and punch my face. My mouth was slightly agape, from trying to maintain consciousness. His knuckle got caught on my front tooth. The taste of metallic blood pestered my tongue.

“ing . You have the nerve to hurt me! How dare you?” He said before delivering another blow to my face, severing the last string that kept me tied to consciousness.

 The next thing I could process, was the pain that pounded through my body. I wasn’t sure how long I had been out, but it was long enough for him to lose interest. I made sure I was alone, before picking myself off the floor, and opening my bedroom door.

    I flicked the lights on, after shutting the door tightly, and opened the bottom drawer of my desk to reveal a smooth array of notebooks. I flipped them over, carelessly, to get to my first aid kit. As a very cautious child, I made Mom buy it at the young age of ten.  Little did I know, it would come in handy in the near future.

I opened the case. With a painful sigh, I grabbed some disinfectant and a handful of bandaids. I looked at my reflection in the mirror behind my door and wiped off the bloody trails. I gently dabbed the wounds with the wet towelette, which was a grave mistake. I hissed in pain as the liquid made contact with the wound. It was more painful to clean the mess, than it was to receive it.

After quietly hyping myself up, I managed to patch them. My face was torn up, bruised, and was swelling. People would definitely notice. I took another painful breath, before going to the bathroom across the hall. I paused before opening the door, unsure if he was outside. I held my breath, listening for any sign that he was out there. The only sound was a loud snoring coming from down the hall. He was asleep.

Relief washed over me. I made my way across the hall, and wet a towel before pressing it to my swelling cheek. I walked back to my sanctuary, relaxed.

I laid in bed, awake that night, well early morning. The conversation with the Man in the Bear Costume kept running through my head, like a song on repeat, only I couldn’t turn it off no matter how hard I tried. Why did I start talking to him in the first place? I was never one to initiate anything, let alone a conversation with a stranger. Was it because there was a chance we lived similar lives? Was it because there was a chance we were both stuck in an unfortunate situation? Was it merely because as a human, I just wanted to talk to someone who could understand me? Although the latter didn’t happen, why do I feel relieved that I took part of his burden away?

    So, how was it? If you saw any mistakes or things that you liked please let me know!