Chapter 13
1768 Words
Danny POV
unknown timeline -
How did we get here?
How could I have failed them?
What have I done? I was kneeling next to a lifeless body next to me, whom I couldn’t recognize,
“I have brought this on you,” I tell the body on the ground.
“I brought this on the” I looked at the chaos happening.
Slowly, I stood up and faced the wolves fighting in front of me—my heart breaks, awash with anguish from all the blood, death, and fighting I had caused.
I stood at the edge of a cliff as the two men I love fought each other.
Dameon and Xavier, in wolf form, circle each other; both have cuts as blood drips from their bodies.
Tears stream down my face as I watch them fight. A soundless scream escaped me as I was engulfed with pain.
I felt both Dameon and Xavier’s pain. The cuts they had, the ache in their heart, the madness they both endured.
This is your doing. You have driven them both to madness - a menacing voice calls out to me from the cliff.
Shaking my head as tears fall.
Daughter - the voice calls for me again. I turn to look over the cliff and watch the waves hit the jagged rock line.
You know what needs to be done - it taunted me.
I looked back as I watched both wolves take turns at each other’s necks. Fangs dug deep into each other’s flesh as blood flowed. There was only one way to end all this fighting. To complete the torment, I was causing both.
Make it stop - I screamed inside my head.
A resolve I had never felt before slowly crept inside my head. I control myself as I move closer to the cliff's edge.
You know what needs to be done - the voice called as I let the breeze flow around me. It wasn’t strong. But I allow the gentle rustle of my guilt to take me as my knees turn to jelly.
They are allowing me to fall over the cliff.
I fell, my face twisted into a wince without fear, expecting to hit the jagged rocks below. Instead, I fall into a cloud of darkness. It no longer felt like I was falling, but rather, I was getting swept into a current that was pulling me further into the cloud.
The rush of the undertow mirrored the air escaping my lungs. My eyes closed gently as I exhaled my last breath. Still, I was not afraid I felt nothing but peace.
The peace I’ve longed for, my mind no longer had any noise; My heart felt nothing. Only the quiet darkness consumed every fiber of my body.
Not yet - the cold voice called out again. My eyes shot open.
18 years old -
In an instant cold hand grabbed my waist and pulled me out of the cloud. I find myself hitting a wall before I fall to the ground. The stench of alcohol invades my senses. A figure stumbled across the room.
“f*****g b***h! You - You f*****g hit me!” As I realized who it was and where I was, I started trembling.
No, I can’t be back here! I whispered as tears fell down my cheeks. I know this day very well. This is the only time with Dad that I won’t ever forget, the day I fought back.
As my mind raced, my body moved on its own. I trembled as I wiped off the blood from my lips; I pushed myself off the ground. Slowly I regained my balance as I took my karate stance.
Today was the day I won the state championship, and the boys had just dropped me off. I repeatedly decided to go back home before going to the team’s victory party.
I thought dad would be out; I was dead wrong.
As soon as I entered the door, he smacked me. Upset that nobody was home to clean up his mess. As I hit the wall, something inside me broke.
I turned and punched him as my vision blurred, breaking his nose. As soon as I heard the crunching sound of his nose breaking, I lost focus.
I started to panic,
What would mom say?
What would people say?
What did I get myself into?
Will he kill me?
Panic consumed me.
I was too distracted in my thoughts, and that was all he needed to shove me so hard that I flew across the living room.
I stood up. “No more!” I cleared my throat.
“What did you say, you little b***h?” Dad seethed as he nursed his broken nose.
“You got some fight in you today!” He laughed.
“Your boyfriends gave you spunk, you little w***e you!” He slurred.
“No more! You will never lay your hand on me again, old man!” My eyes zero in on the man I once called dad, and I saw nothing else. The rest of the room turned dark, and only dad stood in the center.
He looked at me with an evil smile. “You are nothing! You’ve tried this before, and you have failed! You will fail again, and I will make you regret fighting back this time!” He laughs menacingly.
Dad was indeed a force to be reckoned with. He used to be an MMA fighter, and even in his alcoholic state, he was still better built than other middle-aged men.
“Are you deaf? I said no more.” My hand is balled in a fist.
“I will hurt you bad, girlie,” dad slurred.
“Try me,” I taunted.
Dad rushed toward me, ready to land a punch. I dodge him; he hit the wall instead. I throw a punch across his face and land another on his abdomen.
“b***h!” He grumbled as he tried to grab me. He missed as I sidestep. A singular thought dominated me: to kill this f*****g monster!
As he lunged toward me, I caught his abdomen on my knee and landed an elbow behind his neck. He stumbled backward and fell on the side table.
He grabbed a beer bottle; he broke it on the table edge before getting up.
After he regained his balance, he pointed the broken bottle at me. “You got some fight in you today! I will love beating that out of you, little girl.” He laughed.
“NO more!” I was seething with hate, “It is you who will be doing the dying today, old man!” A deep course voice escaped me.
Dad’s eyes widen upon hearing it.
I lunged forward, aiming to kick him again, but he could grab my leg mid-air. With a menacing laugh, he shoved the broken bottle into my thigh. He had me pinned down, but his laughter died as he saw the determination on my face.
He looked like he saw a monster.
I felt no pain.
I only felt more robust than I ever had before.
My vision was more apparent than ever, even though only dad was in focus.
My senses were heightened, and all I wanted was to break every bone on this bastard’s body. Then kill him slowly.
“What the f**k?!” He digs the bottle deeper. I smiled at him with my eyes full of rage.
Only Darkness was around, swirling us; we were no longer in the living room.
The swirling clouds touched my skin as they ignited me. Turning my rage into power, I’ve never felt before. And all I wanted was more.
More blood,
more pain,
more fear,
more screams.
I just wanted more!
For the first time in my life, I could feel his fear;
And I loved it.
His hands trembled as he lets go of my leg. But before he could get up, I jumped on him. I wrapped my other leg as I used my weight to overpower him and push him to the ground.
I lay on top of him with a wicked smile, absorbing all his fear. I felt myself getting stronger as he grew weaker.
“Didn’t I say you die today, old man?!” The same unrecognizable voice escaped me.
I started hitting him in the face as he begged me to stop. He was pounding his face to the ground as blood-stained my knuckles.
I needed more!
He needed to hurt more!
A voice inside me roared.
“Alex!” Xavier’s voice broke through the darkness. He grabbed me and pulled me off my dad. “f*****g hell, Alex!”
Xavier used all his strength to pull me off dad, he lifted me, and we fell a few feet away. Dad laid on the ground, bloodied, barely breathing.
“f*****g hell Alex, you’re bleeding.” As he pulled out a broken bottle from my leg, a sharp pain shot up my body. I screamed from the pain as Xavier applied pressure on my open cut.
“Hang in there, Alex! I’ve called the police.” Xavier tried to assure.
Dad moved a bit; my eyes refocused on him. “HisHe alive! He's alive! No, he can’t be alive! I need to kill him. Don’t you understand? He needs to die!” I screamed at Xavier.
“It’s over, Alex!” Xavier pleaded, “it's over,” he whispered, “it’s over.”
“I have to f*****g kill him. Don’t you understand?! Let go of me,“ I started to fight Xavier’s embrace.
Instead, he only tightens his arms around me.
“I promise he’s never hurting you again, Alex!” Xavier’s embrace stifled the darkness that was consuming me.
“ nobody is ever going to hurt you again. I promise.” I could hear his voice now.
“Am sorry I came too late” I could feel the warmth of his embrace.
As the darkness left, I started feeling and feeling all the pain from all the years of abuse.
I started screaming. All the pain from all the years of abuse burst out of me.
As I lay there sobbing, Xavier tightened his hold on me. As he did, I started feeling something new. Something I had never felt before.
I felt safe. Xavier made me feel safe.
I leaned into his chest without meaning to, allowing him to wrap his arms around me tighter.
“Xavier doesn’t ever leave me,” I whispered as I opened my eyes.
- Writer
