x
❗️❗️❗️TRIGGER WARNING❗️❗️❗️
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAjmnLlK8yK
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuWSzeNC32c
⚠️⚠️⚠️ Physical/Mental Abuse⚠️⚠️⚠️
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhxnbyOki8Y
⚠️⚠️Drug Use⚠️⚠️
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3cgQthtaLY
⚠️Emotional Trauma ⚠️
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyu2AHcVAsf
⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIzZlyhqNUo
The Stairs Were the Only Thing That Ever Caught Him
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL71YNm6SMb
"Get back here, you fucking mistake!"
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGk81R7ielo
Adam didn't flinch at her voice anymore. He just moved faster-bare feet sliding across stained linoleum, eyes scanning the mess for anything that could trip him up. A broken bottle from last night's binge? A cigarette still burning in a paper plate? Used syringes? He didn't care. Just run.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡScJHpuUrLr
She stomped after him, hair tangled like a nest of thorns, belt in hand. Her eyes were wild and red-rimmed, makeup smeared from hours ago when she thought she could be pretty enough for someone to want her. "Don't you walk away from me when I'm talking to you, Adam! You think you're better than me now, huh? You think you're some kind of angel? You're a piece of shit! Just like you fucking rapist father!"
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlL813FUhvs
"I didn't even say anything..." he mumbled, cornered now in the narrow hallway that led to the bathroom.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLE36WGJLhx
"What? What the fuck did you just say to me?" Her voice cracked into a scream.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXpS8lzbfm8
"I didn't say anything..." he said again, quieter this time, even though it wouldn't help. Nothing ever helped.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5V985A7ob2
She raised the belt and brought it down, not once, not twice, but again and again. The buckle ripped against his skin. But he didn't cry. Not anymore. That had stopped years ago-around the same time she stopped calling him by his name and just started calling him "it" or "freak" or "mistake."
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3vFgDToQNX
"You should've died before you took your first breath!" she spat, breathing hard. "You did this to me. You did. You did!"
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOczT1MSbPo
He looked up at her through a cut above his eyebrow, blood dripping into his lashes. "I didn't ask to be born."
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡls40insuh3
That made her freeze. Just for a second. Something flickered behind her eyes-rage or guilt or maybe both-but then she slapped him so hard it made him fall sideways into the drywall, leaving a dent.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUVsB8JMgMb
"You look just like him," she whispered, voice suddenly cold and shaking. "Same eyes. Same damn smirk. Every day I look at you, I see him. And I hate you for it."
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFayYcz9ejx
Adam pushed himself up, holding his ribs. He didn't know what hurt more-her words or her fists. Maybe it was neither. Maybe it was the emptiness that came afterward.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpwYCQtVQwf
He walked past her, slowly, without looking back.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGMC6c85ROH
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKo2tXDvFVU
She didn't stop him this time. Just lit another cigarette with shaking hands and muttered, "Fuckin' ghost. Can't even hit you hard enough to make you real."
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ90Ytv3YMS0
He climbed the warped stairs slowly, one hand on the wall for balance. The railing had broken off last year during one of her drunken episodes, and no one ever fixed it. He knew where to step to avoid the creaks.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE7rsMBeEKm
His room wasn't really a room-just a box with peeling paint and one small window too dirty to see through. The mattress on the floor sagged in the middle, stained and crawling with bedbugs. Roaches scattered as he stepped inside. Some didn't bother. They were used to him. He didn't bother with them either.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJVB9V8yRmG
He sat down slowly, arms hugging his knees. He stared at the wall. Not thinking. Not crying. Just... existing.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpVegdXZAtu
Then the front door opened downstairs.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCkZVPLRu7Y
He didn't need to check. The sound of heavy boots, the low mutter of a voice that oozed sleaze and threat-it was another dealer. They came at all hours now. Some stayed long, some were quick. None of them paid in cash.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM2hXYpC1By
He heard her voice-high, desperate, trying to sound flirty, like she still had something worth trading.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU96y7WuI0r
"You got the stuff?"
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhQs3RFOOLH
"You got the mouth?" the man chuckled, deep and gross.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVrCkRw65Ue
"I'll make it worth your time," she said. Her voice cracked halfway through like it wasn't sure if it was selling or begging.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6sLijuH69G
Adam closed his eyes.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyoeQgHkA9F
The couch creaked.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHWABgA8u47
Then came the sounds. The kind you can't unhear. Flesh against flesh. Breathing that turned to grunts. Her voice turning into something half-human, half hollow. The rhythm of desperation and disgust.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPPz1uHXci2
He didn't flinch.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoPx00FVFom
He didn't cover his ears.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs2UxHtWiwa
He just sat there. Staring ahead. Staring at the wall with the water damage shaped like a face if you looked long enough.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡym5wr9Q954
This was normal.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI3xaaxHLzr
This was every night.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIVuLlYR5eE
And he was so far past broken, he didn't even feel cracked anymore.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuIWDBPJwPM
Night after night.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtslTnaz7CN
More visitors.
More of those sounds.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUq5FpaveRi
Sometimes, the same man. Sometimes new. Sometimes, she tried to sound sexy. Sometimes, it was just her getting hit.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzV0TliF3Yo
There were those rare nights when he heard her laughing. But most nights, she screamed. And then there were the nights when there were no sounds at all-just footsteps, whispers, moaning, slaps, muffled crying, the couch springs creaking under someone who didn't care if a child was upstairs listening.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlYNBRmCbKY
Sometimes, they came up to the room.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXftuOwm5Xo
Just to twist the knife.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ31xZrs7COG
"Your mom's got a tongue like a goddamn angel," one of them once laughed, breath reeking of beer and weed. "Sucked the soul right outta me, kid. You oughta be proud."
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC7bjM1DrcL
Adam didn't say anything. Just stared back until the man got uncomfortable and left.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡijZoCg0Fwj
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjXb2kzUSK0
And then there was one night... darker than most.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8GvoXW6bAy
He wasn't trying to listen. He never did. The walls were thin. The voices were loud. And this time, the words weren't just drunk nonsense or crude bragging.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3iQZGjKBjW
They were threats. Real ones.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd9O7qKvHu8
From someone different-low voice, steady, dangerous. The kind of voice that didn't yell to scare you. It whispered. Because it knew you were already afraid.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf13Mhp1gjw
"You think I'm playin' with you, huh?" the man said, voice rising just enough. "I don't fuck around. You got until next week. You hear me?"
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡooZRPBd0n9
Muffled whimpering. His mother. Trying to plead.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlB48inKkLG
"No more sob stories, bitch."
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDGXyGx3mn7
"If I don't get my money, I'm gonna chop your junkie ass up and dump the pieces in Black Hollow."
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdxkOzzLXAC
"Ain't nobody ever found shit in Black Hollow."
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnLUd8kvoqa
Adam didn't know where Black Hollow was.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl9hgChzhxf
But the way the man said it-like it was a place that ate bodies and spit out silence-it stuck.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9IgFiSI5Xi
Burned itself into the back of his mind like the cigarette scars on his arms.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRYMteAqBMY
It didn't feel like a threat.
It felt like a promise.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdCwsPSNNcJ
Sometimes, when the house went quiet, he'd creep downstairs and rummage through expired canned food, moldy bread, half-empty ketchup packets. The fridge buzzed like it was struggling to keep its own heart beating.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd7Uxoa6ogF
She was usually on the couch-slumped, nodding, her dress halfway up, needle still sticking out of a bruised vein like a flower wilting in dead skin.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXdvd6Fwc2H
He never helped.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoxSihzSd4L
Sometimes he'd stare.
Long enough to wonder if she was finally dead.
That maybe, just maybe, it would be quiet for good.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTkn3qUzejB
But she always woke up.
She always came back.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe8HkxtnVVm
And then the pattern changed.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8FTSoTCdMj
No more random men.
Just one.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtnXY9sGBys
No more moans.
Just thuds. Cracks. The sound of her body hitting the walls. The floor.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRLi5LhBjK9
"Where's my money, hoe?"
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡizI87b9fqa
"You think I'm playin' with you Bitch?"
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGgTSRUbc80
"You get out there and make it right, or I'll make sure you can't walk again."
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlZTBHqqLQ7
He heard it all.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfAJG1mznUl
Sometimes the man stayed longer than she did. Ate food that wasn't his. Took naps on the couch like he owned the place. Sometimes he watched TV loud and laughed like he lived there. Always ignoring Adam, like he wasn't there.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0fzvI7NeWc
And most of the time, she was gone.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcV7yIO1b7n
Gone for days. Weeks sometimes. Out somewhere doing what she had to do.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMFd5lOHEsH
Adam would wipe the filth off his bedroom window just enough to see her.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4BWAzBlzaY
Standing on the street corner in a wrinkled red dress, hair pinned up in a messy puff, makeup smeared like clown paint.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZfnGWU5U0h
A dirty whip pulled up.
She leaned in the window.
They talked.
She smiled.
And got in.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiPKzXH7FCQ
Adam didn't cry.
Didn't blink.
He just watched the car disappear.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqV5HSCxnAr
And waited.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwBUGKEqk9o
For whatever was coming the next day.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtclg3OHqsL
One day, when his mother had been gone longer than usual, Adam crept downstairs. His stomach felt like it was eating itself. He opened the grimy fridge-empty. No surprise. The pantry? Just dust and an unopened can of something long expired.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOxxttYHAJB
Then he saw it. A piece of bread on the counter-green with mold and crawling with roaches.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiGTt1QZwpK
He knocked the roaches off, tore the moldy sides away, and shoved the rest into his mouth. It tasted like damp sponges and rot, but he chewed anyway. Survival didn't care about flavor.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrpWUZdOWp2
He turned the kitchen sink on. Nothing came out.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdWBHhW18q6
Figures.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRIge1PNBkF
He turned to head back upstairs when a voice stopped him.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCNYxkrR4tO
"Hey, kid. Come watch some TV with me."
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCU8bXUtZDX
Adam froze. Standing in the living room was a man he hadn't spoken to directly yet-but one he'd heard yelling, laughing, hitting. Razor.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTNuVLVJXnn
He didn't move. Didn't say a word.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO3ULiOMNf6
"What's your name?" the man asked, almost casually.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAl4igXiBD2
Adam stared, silent.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGELOz8seKm
Razor chuckled and leaned back on the couch. "What? You mad at me 'cause your mom's a whore? Don't be. She chose the life. I'm just showin' her how to play the game."
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtgjNFEFQBp
Still, Adam said nothing.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJrnVFzk2kD
"Not a talker, huh? Got it." Razor's tone turned colder. "How 'bout you get me some batteries for this remote? Thing's dyin'."
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpbSULe7T25
No response. No movement.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡavDmc8qnSX
The smile vanished from Razor's face. He stood up, slow and deliberate. His heavy boots creaked against the floorboards as he stepped toward Adam.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡekinLUhbkP
"Oh, you think you're tough, huh?" he sneered. "Don't play tough with me, boy."
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTES8mbwAlC
He leaned down until he was nose-to-nose with Adam. His breath smelled like blood and beer.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpkJZF3QTkx
"You see this face? Get used to it. This is my house now. I make the rules. What I say goes. You ever have a dad?"
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsWgHYHWcQE
Adam didn't reply.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRnoqVD2V7Y
"Well... let me show you how fathers raise their sons."
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7nqzWRqyta
The punch came out of nowhere-straight into Adam's gut. He folded like paper, collapsing to the floor and vomiting the moldy bread he'd just eaten.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJbt5etmT3i
Before he could catch his breath, Razor kicked him in the face, snapping his head back, then again in the ribs. Over and over. Still, Adam didn't scream. Didn't cry.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmfEytYZn0R
"You know who I am?" Razor growled, standing over him. "I'm Razor motherfuckin' Malone."
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIsyUtlaQzm
He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small silver straight razor. He crouched and dragged it across Adam's cheek, slicing a thin, shallow line just under his eye.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp0rWupKO5C
Then-like it was nothing-he leaned in and kissed the cut.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhPsvNiuN6P
"I'm your new daddy now."
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4OiVabFbWS
He stood up, stepped over Adam's body, and casually changed the TV channel. The remote clicked. The volume went up. Razor sank back onto the couch like it was just another evening.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ23bahR6qNm
That's when the door opened.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWzLiFCgjkl
Adam's mother walked in, purse hanging off her elbow, eyeliner smeared, breath smelling like cheap vodka. She looked at Adam lying on the floor-blood dripping down his cheek, one eye already swelling shut.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmz9cpWS7ek
She didn't gasp. Didn't cry. Didn't even blink.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡudwNfyTBvF
"So what did he do?" she asked.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8GdBtGgliR
Razor grinned. "The kid likes to act tough. Don't listen."
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfkZcZYLT9J
"Yeah, sounds like Adam," she muttered, stepping over him like he was a pile of laundry and collapsing onto Razor's lap.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDK8G70dNkP
"I'm sorry about Adam," she purred, voice slurred. "But Daddy... you got any more on you?"
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIjnfbJNI7f
"Depends," Razor said flatly. "How much you make today?"
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYcZBtvGXlU
She reached into her bra and pulled out a few wrinkled twenties.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa56gRPxGxb
He snatched the money from her hand, looked at it, and slapped her clean off his lap.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRXuAURyZKW
"This it? You been gone for three fuckin' weeks and this is it?"
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMXhpXotHWN
"Daddy, I'm sorry, I-"
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjUnYg9zsmw
"You shot it all up, you junkie bitch!"
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3LqUhQRyYr
"No-please-I didn't, I-"
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAz4GY5dbjA
He didn't wait for her to finish. The fists came fast. Brutal. Sickening. She fell to the floor just a few feet from Adam, and it all slowed down.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhgHpVqHgDJ
Adam didn't move.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ57qCguGsSw
He just laid there. Watching. Listening. Bleeding.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡibxF7j7nLU
As Razor beat her into the stained carpet.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcsFflBb72y
And no one did a damn thing to stop it.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGfQZ6hbZuk
For all the horror Razor brought into the house, his presence sometimes made things... quieter.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlPx70TdDoz
Not better. Not safe. Just less volatile.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKid0O9mN8X
Adam didn't trust him, didn't fear him-not in the way most people did. He just learned how to navigate him. If Razor was fed, high, and entertained, he'd let Adam finish his backwashed water bottle. Or throw him the crusts of his pizza. Once, he even brought Adam a bobblehead-a dusty, broken thing that used to belong to a child one of Razor's workers had "settled a debt" with.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGVcGiOEiGY
Adam never played with it. But he kept it. Because it was the only thing anyone had ever given him.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLzo2PE5kye
But the next day... Razor left.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgqjIeLInNb
No warning. No slamming door. Just gone.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp8rMGYypeE
And the moment he was, something shifted in the air.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt3ILUeNKoD
Adam didn't know exactly why, but his mother hit him less when Razor was around. Maybe she didn't want anyone seeing her truth. The bruises on her soul. Or maybe she didn't want Razor knowing she was still the worst monster in the house.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzuLOQSdzzp
That illusion shattered the second Adam reached the bottom of the stairs.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4LrRbfTgeh
She was waiting for him.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSwJequZTd2
Her eyes were sunken, twitching. Her skin pale and glistening with sweat. Her jaw clenched so tight it looked like her teeth might shatter. She was shaking all over.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzThtzfdKFq
Withdrawals.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡil7nbXLsFI
He knew the signs. He'd seen it before. But this time... this time, it was different.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvKwk4cJMe8
"Where is it?" she whispered.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeZrEpUGx8w
Adam didn't move.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0QNkVoDCBj
"I said, where is it, you little fucking thief!"
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwguF58kxmx
"Where's what?"
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVxqVlgGOP3
The slap cracked across his face before he even finished the word. His head snapped sideways, lips splitting against his teeth. He stumbled back, nearly falling.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjawmjKd3Rp
"You stole it, didn't you? My last fucking baggie! You think this is funny? You think this is a game, Adam?"
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfIlTDE8ZtA
She grabbed his shirt, yanking him down the final steps. He landed hard, shoulder first, on the floor.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvkovXV3SN4
Then came the kicks.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjv4c1AvhOE
To his side.
To his back.
To his stomach.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX3XyDTaUsW
Over and over.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡntOGccszFo
"You ruin everything you touch!"
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbyUEhT3Ej3
"You ruined me!"
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZGPUtKtolk
She dragged him by his hair toward the kitchen, screaming nonsense-screaming everything. Slammed his head into the fridge door, into the counter. Pulled open drawers, looking for something-anything.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNyZ5ykz8lX
And then she found the metal spatula.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSftdarHuiX
She raised it like a weapon and brought it down on his back.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWRC187ZliB
Clang.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIGqYfXvRWK
Clang.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWlxYRoh5TO
Clang.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQvWSclCq59
The sound echoed through the room like a bell from hell.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaFJZs3PCQ6
He tried to crawl away, sobbing silently, not from pain-but from shock. From a deep, cold place inside him cracking open.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfTOc4nicsx
She grabbed a pot from the stove and threw it. It hit his ribs with a sickening thud. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't move fast enough.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLgc4ZLMkpk
"You think you're better than me now? Think Razor likes you more?"
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv0ECJChqfL
She picked up a cigarette butt from the ashtray and shoved it against his neck. The sizzle of flesh burning filled his ears.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZqSOr5943c
That was when something broke.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZz1vYpM78Q
Not in her.
In him.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3G63AIyy60
She lunged again, fingernails like claws, scratching his face. He rolled-out of instinct-and his hand closed around something cold.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeZsVVmmr8D
A broken glass bottle.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtQeNVBRBkC
He didn't think. He didn't aim.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCawiLgibG6
He just swung.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpLQErBsLRR
She screamed. Staggered back. Her hands went to her neck, and suddenly there was blood-so much blood-pouring through her fingers, down her chest, onto the kitchen floor.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYdOAkonrUK
She fell to her knees. Looked at him with a kind of expression he'd never seen from her before.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡllWhRJJV6w
It wasn't hate.
Wasn't rage.
It was confusion. Like she couldn't believe what just happened.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzOqSZFbkJG
She collapsed.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhDWLx8HpaH
Adam stood there, hands shaking, breathing in ragged gasps.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3E3Vnl5mqK
He hadn't meant to.
He didn't even know what he was doing.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtOArI9wXEV
The bottle fell from his hand. Shattered.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWFUIwoKNIf
She didn't move.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiZ3FeLOF2e
He stood in silence for a long time. Blood slowly pooling around her like a dark, sticky shadow.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4uTkfD0SkG
And then the numbness set in.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm16b1CfnNv
Not fear.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVs1xG4DVxy
Not guilt.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBLUGhPWOKL
Just quiet.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMcgUIEz8Xa
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4wAFsSKO8i
