x
❗️❗️❗️TRIGGER WARNING❗️❗️❗️
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQpJqAOIXiC
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdUUxhCe5ss
⚠️⚠️⚠️ Physical/Mental Abuse⚠️⚠️⚠️
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcuyXD7Xy3H
⚠️⚠️Drug Use⚠️⚠️
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJe2LA5rrDJ
⚠️Emotional Trauma ⚠️
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVifIuDB4oy
⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7g0FI25IAR
The Stairs Were the Only Thing That Ever Caught Him
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdFggAvVBLv
"Get back here, you fucking mistake!"
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsiy87oT4EF
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.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfoVxdchovm
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!"
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhJvXEpZbJJ
"I didn't even say anything..." he mumbled, cornered now in the narrow hallway that led to the bathroom.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ54MRTwnvfV
"What? What the fuck did you just say to me?" Her voice cracked into a scream.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI40zWg9IvQ
"I didn't say anything..." he said again, quieter this time, even though it wouldn't help. Nothing ever helped.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnLXIJn7neZ
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."
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOPsPzCZ0x0
"You should've died before you took your first breath!" she spat, breathing hard. "You did this to me. You did. You did!"
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtm4klYF01j
He looked up at her through a cut above his eyebrow, blood dripping into his lashes. "I didn't ask to be born."
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeYlZ3zTduA
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.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPUanMp1zVW
"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."
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEmeQVpfkdv
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.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKbOGzh5tbV
He walked past her, slowly, without looking back.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPbRHw9EZN6
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjoDHZwWak1
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."
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRxz86dqIsx
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.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0t3qgxSh5a
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.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3RmFApbv1m
He sat down slowly, arms hugging his knees. He stared at the wall. Not thinking. Not crying. Just... existing.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOuXbtYiMgC
Then the front door opened downstairs.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQmwOzdOBAf
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.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmD7y8jSyTx
He heard her voice-high, desperate, trying to sound flirty, like she still had something worth trading.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrQ1KFgo3J9
"You got the stuff?"
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxraSFjcnnq
"You got the mouth?" the man chuckled, deep and gross.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKN9YKMOmDO
"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.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYngmHnYrFZ
Adam closed his eyes.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD5KavJjn1v
The couch creaked.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhsdLqMTkhx
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.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUfLKGNscog
He didn't flinch.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIW1U6KfijF
He didn't cover his ears.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWTXRRwGWgm
He just sat there. Staring ahead. Staring at the wall with the water damage shaped like a face if you looked long enough.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmxvlar5RSQ
This was normal.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmiPbxfrSfm
This was every night.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR7ATupXdlY
And he was so far past broken, he didn't even feel cracked anymore.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZBX0u1mf3W
Night after night.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwgKXcXyWDu
More visitors.
More of those sounds.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9fiVkNuvjO
Sometimes, the same man. Sometimes new. Sometimes, she tried to sound sexy. Sometimes, it was just her getting hit.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcQjP8vhnes
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.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKH7StUbaMi
Sometimes, they came up to the room.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW8aFzVOARW
Just to twist the knife.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0K48RqSmMi
"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."
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKhycQGVD0Y
Adam didn't say anything. Just stared back until the man got uncomfortable and left.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXeXJieaNiD
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBRWi7EaVor
And then there was one night... darker than most.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm8Eenz968I
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.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNFGklh6x7I
They were threats. Real ones.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIoAxhjub1t
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.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaGTbBiXZUQ
"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?"
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6tkfUIsbiK
Muffled whimpering. His mother. Trying to plead.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡojYMK7dh21
"No more sob stories, bitch."
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡosvFTg6A3Z
"If I don't get my money, I'm gonna chop your junkie ass up and dump the pieces in Black Hollow."
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQooU1SwjJk
"Ain't nobody ever found shit in Black Hollow."
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8D3wddn9ZA
Adam didn't know where Black Hollow was.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡegEm9DJWYh
But the way the man said it-like it was a place that ate bodies and spit out silence-it stuck.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzuramOdnqW
Burned itself into the back of his mind like the cigarette scars on his arms.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc7NJeKsAaC
It didn't feel like a threat.
It felt like a promise.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxKhAOlLzMF
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.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPcHBh24oIE
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.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQX5ol6ODn2
He never helped.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmToc55QJf0
Sometimes he'd stare.
Long enough to wonder if she was finally dead.
That maybe, just maybe, it would be quiet for good.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnQbNBrbvRt
But she always woke up.
She always came back.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgpfNZp9trS
And then the pattern changed.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZC6TGTUn3l
No more random men.
Just one.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡULqpl1Zr36
No more moans.
Just thuds. Cracks. The sound of her body hitting the walls. The floor.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoFqz9mCxOA
"Where's my money, hoe?"
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTQuwiXBzgW
"You think I'm playin' with you Bitch?"
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡftnzbWvM4q
"You get out there and make it right, or I'll make sure you can't walk again."
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSL4CRVNRC2
He heard it all.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxQ3OUe2syV
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.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2cxxbVUSME
And most of the time, she was gone.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk2fXcLGdKm
Gone for days. Weeks sometimes. Out somewhere doing what she had to do.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEMv80627Ye
Adam would wipe the filth off his bedroom window just enough to see her.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5BxHCK47z9
Standing on the street corner in a wrinkled red dress, hair pinned up in a messy puff, makeup smeared like clown paint.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy224Npala7
A dirty whip pulled up.
She leaned in the window.
They talked.
She smiled.
And got in.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyAWYZYzstJ
Adam didn't cry.
Didn't blink.
He just watched the car disappear.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZLhKQVyTLk
And waited.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP1VwB2qIk5
For whatever was coming the next day.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡofiFw32FOB
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.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV8sjszf0RJ
Then he saw it. A piece of bread on the counter-green with mold and crawling with roaches.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsmkcF4DitH
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.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDdpvO5ICCP
He turned the kitchen sink on. Nothing came out.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo7pfRW2gTy
Figures.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl0mjZWhbS3
He turned to head back upstairs when a voice stopped him.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡah4n11dpUp
"Hey, kid. Come watch some TV with me."
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxSby9Nl5RV
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.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ03guZu5w1O
He didn't move. Didn't say a word.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡljRJOCNDtd
"What's your name?" the man asked, almost casually.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0mZK5zbgs8
Adam stared, silent.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDlEQPjtiwM
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."
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Ocs7rINGE
Still, Adam said nothing.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5BqLlUwPhD
"Not a talker, huh? Got it." Razor's tone turned colder. "How 'bout you get me some batteries for this remote? Thing's dyin'."
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOR8ST04HU2
No response. No movement.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwZ94psNLCO
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.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2CPeCRS3DV
"Oh, you think you're tough, huh?" he sneered. "Don't play tough with me, boy."
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzcoDbphqhl
He leaned down until he was nose-to-nose with Adam. His breath smelled like blood and beer.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs9mKsyNKfs
"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?"
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwhuMp3w8Uz
Adam didn't reply.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbWdHcURltC
"Well... let me show you how fathers raise their sons."
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu1LwPmaKjr
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.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwtsHhMgvfc
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.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEGwAqUvDxe
"You know who I am?" Razor growled, standing over him. "I'm Razor motherfuckin' Malone."
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWeMVIPdpWb
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.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHhJNi5xPhj
Then-like it was nothing-he leaned in and kissed the cut.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpKhTllw9z0
"I'm your new daddy now."
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlXFiFuexC5
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.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡljuVZe5zbT
That's when the door opened.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFS2rvG7Ic3
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.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp9qXIA237z
She didn't gasp. Didn't cry. Didn't even blink.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZNB23rqum2
"So what did he do?" she asked.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOkF65GNfhe
Razor grinned. "The kid likes to act tough. Don't listen."
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqBlBlxWEI5
"Yeah, sounds like Adam," she muttered, stepping over him like he was a pile of laundry and collapsing onto Razor's lap.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtHe7wwVWDj
"I'm sorry about Adam," she purred, voice slurred. "But Daddy... you got any more on you?"
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBEBsdmLzuC
"Depends," Razor said flatly. "How much you make today?"
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqL0NicuHHh
She reached into her bra and pulled out a few wrinkled twenties.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqjS2FdYnSD
He snatched the money from her hand, looked at it, and slapped her clean off his lap.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkm2i1TAkNO
"This it? You been gone for three fuckin' weeks and this is it?"
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡySHd9vcI28
"Daddy, I'm sorry, I-"
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6R3wCkP6pw
"You shot it all up, you junkie bitch!"
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ad4153fdG
"No-please-I didn't, I-"
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtfW2Uii3ar
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.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQrfF62tvQb
Adam didn't move.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa6GQCZJPCj
He just laid there. Watching. Listening. Bleeding.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx1CBHMZXPk
As Razor beat her into the stained carpet.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgAoNGXXViF
And no one did a damn thing to stop it.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8J1oFmLXEC
For all the horror Razor brought into the house, his presence sometimes made things... quieter.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiX5bR6LXdd
Not better. Not safe. Just less volatile.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQLrZstRya8
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.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcLa2MdOgeD
Adam never played with it. But he kept it. Because it was the only thing anyone had ever given him.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjQ6hxYa6r6
But the next day... Razor left.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7g8Hw3fhup
No warning. No slamming door. Just gone.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAZ6lqajutD
And the moment he was, something shifted in the air.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrMwO7ZcBaQ
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.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPfn7mvPhcA
That illusion shattered the second Adam reached the bottom of the stairs.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGbmKxMOV2X
She was waiting for him.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8m86R3Cb0X
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.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcSgWWXPgnH
Withdrawals.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTYb86VKVqs
He knew the signs. He'd seen it before. But this time... this time, it was different.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEaIQrm3vs6
"Where is it?" she whispered.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY8E82bgWBA
Adam didn't move.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGXVa4v1Eu9
"I said, where is it, you little fucking thief!"
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHJc8BXX5mB
"Where's what?"
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVhvHb77yiE
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.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlh0YdBcLWv
"You stole it, didn't you? My last fucking baggie! You think this is funny? You think this is a game, Adam?"
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWYK2bqlR9U
She grabbed his shirt, yanking him down the final steps. He landed hard, shoulder first, on the floor.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqDkLisBW3b
Then came the kicks.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ81bAGTtoIv
To his side.
To his back.
To his stomach.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo5otipUi16
Over and over.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpIRHwqhNq5
"You ruin everything you touch!"
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡURcHDo1CXB
"You ruined me!"
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡft3GfDu8yO
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.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEEYkelMDgk
And then she found the metal spatula.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7bN3eabGDv
She raised it like a weapon and brought it down on his back.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKJMQbmB4pT
Clang.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwHav6zrbx2
Clang.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyF6yC7uDQB
Clang.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoyF3dzYGk5
The sound echoed through the room like a bell from hell.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF0k79vmFPl
He tried to crawl away, sobbing silently, not from pain-but from shock. From a deep, cold place inside him cracking open.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUbJ4RFb7E4
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.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCh5T6vZwJj
"You think you're better than me now? Think Razor likes you more?"
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvYofAHAqwO
She picked up a cigarette butt from the ashtray and shoved it against his neck. The sizzle of flesh burning filled his ears.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBHOkfZoLQu
That was when something broke.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKOOYwHog69
Not in her.
In him.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRJzzHyIw3R
She lunged again, fingernails like claws, scratching his face. He rolled-out of instinct-and his hand closed around something cold.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMJevflgPrP
A broken glass bottle.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbsiTJiInP5
He didn't think. He didn't aim.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhuiomOz7Lg
He just swung.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1OIscv2eFN
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.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtO0lW7p6tS
She fell to her knees. Looked at him with a kind of expression he'd never seen from her before.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKFU6ck2VZU
It wasn't hate.
Wasn't rage.
It was confusion. Like she couldn't believe what just happened.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO3fJIUAQ2f
She collapsed.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡigeKfpAX0d
Adam stood there, hands shaking, breathing in ragged gasps.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDq1by4oVXY
He hadn't meant to.
He didn't even know what he was doing.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkE4lLzIuVt
The bottle fell from his hand. Shattered.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKfGCszCUOW
She didn't move.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwnErl6sBRm
He stood in silence for a long time. Blood slowly pooling around her like a dark, sticky shadow.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9r2pNDAn9S
And then the numbness set in.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM3dTuhI4ff
Not fear.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjER6k9RF4M
Not guilt.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdP6qlujwzW
Just quiet.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN8cnZ1zffG
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOOPK3aRNIu
