He came home to yet again find his parents screaming at each other in the kitchen. The horrible sound could already be heard from outside the house. He opened and closed the front door as soft as possible, trying to sneak in without being heard, cause he knew it would all go down again once they knew he was home.
After putting his keys away in one of the pockets of his sweater, he tiptoed through the hallway and slowly made his way to the stairs.
Success.
As he climbed the stairs as quite as he could, he didnt notice his keys slowly making its way to the edge of his pocket.
One more step and he would be upstairs. One more step and he wouldve made it. One more step and he would be save. One more step.and it all went wrong.
As he made it upstairs, his keys slid out of his pocket, and fell.
They didnt just fell. They fell all the way down the stairs, hitting the ground floor with a loud ringing noise.
The screaming from inside the kitchen abruptly stopped and after a few seconds his mothers face appeared underneath the stairs.
You. She said, looking up at the boy with a pointing finger. You! she started screaming and rushed up the stairs. Why are you so late! Where have you been all day! I told you to come home directly after school! Why dont you ever listen to me!
He turned around and ran as fast as he could to his room. After getting inside he tried the shut his door and lock it as fast as he could, but it was already too late. His mom was already there. She stopped the door from closing and stormed inside, cornering her son on his bed. The boy fell down as she started hitting him more and more, harder and harder, while calling him names and telling him what a disgrace he was.
Tears made their way down his cheeks, as the slaps kept on coming more and more. He slid down the edge of his bed, making his way to the ground. His mother saw her opportunity and now started kicking him as well. He cried, whimpered, pleaded and begged, while the kicks kept coming, hitting his stomach and face.
The salty taste in his mouth changed into bitter a mixture of tears and blood. He didnt know for how long the beating took on, as he slowly lost track of time. But eventually, it stopped. The screaming continued but that too slowly faded away as his mother made her way downstairs again.
After he kept laying on the ground for another good thirty minutes to calm down and catch his breath, he slowly got up again and made his way to his wardrobe, opening the right door which contained a large mirror on the inside of the closet.
He looked at his face. His left eye and cheek were all blue and swollen. Blood was still streaming down his nose. Wouldnt be a surprise if it was actually broken.
He cursed himself for coming home this late. If he came back earlier, this might not have happened. It mightve stayed at yelling and scolding only. But he just couldnt help it. As he had made his way back home from school, he passed the usual pond he always passes by. Yet this time, it looked different. The pond in combination with the almost setting winter sun had just been a beautiful sight. The scenery truly was magical. He had stopped walking and just stared at the view in front of him for a good thirty minutes. Taking in all the beauty before him. He then decided to sit down, open his sketchbook and draw what he saw. He loved drawing. It kept his mind of reality and gave him the opportunity to drift of to his own world. And he was pretty good at it too. As he did his best to copy all of the beauty as good as possible in his almost filled up sketchbook, he slowly more and more lost track of time. As soon as he was done, the sun was almost done setting. He quickly made his way back home, only to be yet again welcomed with this kinds of treatment.
He sighed and moved his gaze away from the mirror, looking down to the backpack resting at the other closet door. He stared at it as an idea rushed through his mind. Run away he thought. Run away and never come back! Leave this hell! At once! Go! Now! Hurry!
After a moment of slightly hesitating, he picked up the backpack and started filling it with all he thought he needed; clothes, wallet, phone, charger, headphones and his most treasured belonging, his sketchbook and pencils.
Then he crashed on his bed. Waiting for the best time to leave the house without getting noticed. Should I tell my friends? he thought. Nah. Its not like they would care anyway. Even if I would disappear, they probably wouldnt even make the slightest attempt to start looking for me. He hated his friends actually. They knew what was going on in his house and what his parents were doing to him, yet they never reached out for him. Never helped him. Never took care of him. They just couldnt be bothered about it. The only reason he still hung out with those guys was because he didnt have anyone else, yet he didnt want to end up all alone. He was scared to be alone. But right now, he was the one who didnt care anymore. He didnt care whether he would end up alone. All he cared about right, was getting out of this place as soon as he could. Leave it all behind as fast as possible.
He heard his parents as they headed to their separated rooms, and waited for another good two hours to make sure they were both asleep. He slowly opened his bedroom door and made his way downstairs. After quickly snatching a couple of protein bars from the kitchen and stuffing them in his filled up backpack, he made his way out of the front door. The cold winter wind attacked him as a predator attacked his prey, sending shivers down his spine. But he didnt care. He pulled the hood of his sweater of his head and made his way down the street. Fastening his pace with every step whilst trying to leave this hell he used to call his home as far behind him as possible. In the distance he heard the church bells ring, stating it to be precisely midnight. The start of a new day, and also, the start of a new life. That thought gave him slight hope. Hope that all would eventually turn out right.
Tears made their way down his cheeks again for no particular reason, slowly blurring his sight while he kept on with his pace, passing streets and houses he never wanted to think of ever again. He kept on running for another good 20 minutes, before he stopped. He rotated around his own axis, taking up all of his surroundings. He had started running in a random direction, without any plan whatsoever, and ended up in an unknown area. He had no idea where he was. Not that it mattered anyway, cause anywhere was better than that place. He slowly continued walking again, crossing the street when a flickering lamppost caught his attention. He stopped in the middle of the road and stared up at the lamp, its light hypnotizing in the boys eyes. As he kept on staring at the flickering light above him, he didnt notice two other and lower lights heading towards him with great speed, until eventually he felt his head meeting with cold and hard material, as all lights disappeared and all he could see was darkness.