"Mom, please, I'm sorry! I really am so sorry! Please forgive me, Mom!" The boy's voice cracked with desperation, each word catching in his throat like a sob. His small body trembled, not just from the beating his so-called mother had inflicted, but from the icy dread that seeped into his bones. Tears streamed down his face, hot and stinging, mingling with the metallic tang of blood that trickled from a cut on his forehead. The air in the room throbbed with a raw intensity, thick with the coppery scent of blood and the child's desperate cries echoing through the house.
"Don't you dare call me Mom," she spat, her voice dripping with venom. "I never have and never will give birth to a useless, worthless child like you." She sneered at the boy, who lay sobbing on the floor. His small frame shook with each desperate gasp, his eyes wide with a terror that mirrored the storm raging inside him.
"Mommy, brother is sorry!" the little child cried, tugging on his mother's arm. He'd been watching the whole thing, his small face streaked with tears. "Please stop!"
"Poor child," she said, her voice softening slightly as she looked at the little boy. "Finn, go watch your cartoons. Leave this place, please."
"No, Mommy, please! Brother is sorry," he burst into tears again, his small body shaking with each sob.
"Okay, dear, I've heard you. Go pick up your toys and let's leave." The woman forced a smile at Finn, her eyes still cold as she ignored the boy who was badly beaten.
"Oh my goodness, darling, you startled me!" she exclaimed, feigning surprise as her husband walked in. "How long have you been standing there?"
"I just walked in. What did Ariel do this time? I've told you before, don't treat him that way. He's your child too." The man frowned at his wife, then his expression softened as he looked at Ariel. He offered the boy a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, a flicker of something cruel in its depths.
He gave a wry smile of contentment while looking at Ariel, his eyes lingering on the boy's bruised face.
"I couldn't help it," she said, her voice laced with a hint of defensiveness. "He made me so angry. He deserved it." She forced a smile at him and patted Finn's back gently to stop his crying.
"Hmm. What did he do this time?" the husband asked, his gaze fixed on Ariel with a strange intensity.
"You won't believe it! I sent him to the store, and he took forever. So I went looking for him, and there he was, flirting with some boy right outside our house! This is just awful!" She glared at him and stormed out of the room, her husband following close behind, his expression unreadable.
"Honey, don't say that. He's just a kid, only sixteen. Hanging out with a friend doesn't mean he's doing anything wrong. Boys need friends too, right?" He sat down at the table, ready for dinner, though his eyes held a strange, unsettling glint.
"Sixteen? He's practically an adult! Old enough to know better. And have you noticed how...girly he's been acting? I'm not saying he can't hang out with his friends, but..." she queried, her eyes narrowing with suspicion.
"Come on, Pauline, he's not girly. If I remember correctly, you used to love dressing him up like a girl. What's the problem now?" He chuckled, but there was a sharp edge to his amusement.
After arguing about it for a while, Ariel's parents decided he wouldn't get dinner and sent him straight to bed. Ariel didn't understand the look his father gave him earlier, a flicker of something dark in his eyes, but he was too tired to think about it and just went to sleep.
"I'm going to bed, honey," Pauline said, her voice laced with exhaustion.
"Not yet. I need to finish these papers before morning. You and Finn can go on ahead." He waved her off, his eyes never leaving the papers, but a strange tension coiled in his shoulders.
Once he was sure everyone was asleep, he went to the kitchen, grabbed some food, and headed straight to Ariel's room. He quietly unlocked the door, a predatory gleam in his eyes. He slipped into the dimly lit room. Poor Ariel was fast asleep in his bed, all curled up under his blanket, his face pale and vulnerable in the soft glow.
"Hey, wake up and have dinner," he whispered to Ariel, his voice a low caress in the quiet room. He reached out and gently shook the boy until he stirred.
Ariel blinked awake, his eyes still heavy with sleep, and looked up at his father. "Dad? What's going on?" he mumbled, rubbing his eyes.
"You didn't get any dinner, remember?" he said, his voice low and gentle.
"I brought you some food. You must be starving." He placed the plate on Ariel's lap and watched the boy's face with an unreadable expression.
Ariel hesitated, looking at the food his father had brought.
"I'm not really hungry," he mumbled, his voice thick with sleep.
"Can I eat later?"
"Nonsense, you need to eat something," his father insisted, his voice taking on a sharper edge.
"Now, eat up." He watched Ariel with an intensity that made the boy feel uneasy.
Ariel hesitated, then picked up the fork and took a small bite.
"This tastes weird," he mumbled, his brow furrowed in confusion. "What's in it?"
"Just some herbs and spices," his father said, his eyes glittering strangely in the dim light. "Eat up, now. Don't want it getting cold." He watched Ariel intently, a predatory gleam in his eyes.
Ariel hesitated, then took another bite. He swallowed hard, his throat feeling strangely tight. "I don't feel so good," he mumbled, his head starting to spin.
"What did you put in this?" Ariel whispered, his voice thick with confusion and fear. He pushed the plate away, his hands shaking. "I don't feel good."
"Are you nervous?" his father asked, his voice low and amused. "Don't be. It's just a little something to help you relax. Whichever one works first is fine with me." He reached out and stroked Ariel's hair, his touch sending a shiver down the boy's spine.
Ariel's eyes widened in horror as he realized what his father had done. He tried to get up, but his limbs felt heavy and unresponsive. "What's happening to me?" he cried, his voice thick with fear and confusion.
"Don't worry," his father said, his voice a low growl. "It'll all be over soon." He reached out and stroked Ariel's cheek, his touch sending a shiver of revulsion down the boy's spine.
"No, please," Ariel begged, his voice thick with tears.
"Don't do this." He tried to pull away, but his body wouldn't obey his commands. He was trapped, and his father's eyes burned with a predatory hunger that made his blood run cold.
Ariel pleaded in pain and agony till he fell unconscious