Under Shadow

9. Alex

Dusty was barking erratically as Alex pulled into the driveway. His heart raced as he recognized the other car in the driveway. He slammed his car door angrily as he marched up the front steps, ignoring the dog barking at his heels.

The door swung open and a man stood before him, his face twisted in an all too familiar rage.

"What are you doing here?" Alex snapped.

"I don't need to tell you why I'm here," his father hissed at him, pushing his son aside as he left the house.

"You don't live here." Alex followed his father into the driveway. "What are you doing here?"

"Piss off, Alex."

Alex stared blankly as the man before him opened the car door. Dusty barked loudly at his feet, and the man kicked at the dog angrily.

"Leave him alone," Alex shouted.

"Control your damn dog."

"Dusty!" his mother's voice shouted. "In!"

Alex spun on his heels to see his mother's tired, torn expression hiding from behind the door. There was a fresh cut on her cheek and her eye was swollen shut. She met her son's gaze briefly before turning away and shutting the door behind her and Dusty.

"What the fuck did you do?" Alex shouted at the man, his blood boiling. "You stay the fuck away from her."

"Fuck off, Alex. This is none of your business."

"It is my fucking business when you beat the shit out of my mother."

His father ignored him as he sat in the car, but Alex held the door tight in his grasp, preventing his father from closing the door.

"Let go you fucking bitch," he shouted.

"Get the fuck out of the car you asshole." Alex grabbed his shirt and pulled him out of the car, but his father's hands were quickly around his neck.

"Get your hands off of him!"

Dusty flew through the open doorway and launched himself onto the man, his teeth locking on his arm. His grip loosened around Alex's neck as he fought off the dog.

Alex choked on the fresh air that entered his lungs once more and, when he regained himself, threw himself into his father, knocking both of them onto the ground as Dusty continued to growl and cling to the man's arm. Alex let his fist fly into the man's face over and over again in a blind rage, unaware of the cops that had arrived on the scene. Their hands pulled at Alex, pulling him off of his father. He stumbled backwards, breathing heavy as his arms were pinned against his back. His heart stopped as he felt cool metal cinch his wrists.

He fell to his knees and waited for his breathing to slow before he was able to see clearly once more. He looked around anxiously. His mother was shouting to him from the front steps, a cop at her side, pulling at her arm to keep her from running to him. A paramedic inspected the cut on her face.

He turned and watched as his father was pushed into the back of a police cruiser. The man spat at the ground, his fierce eyes like daggers on his son. Alex stared at his bloodied and beaten face. His eyes had started to swell and purple, and his nose was clearly broken. The door closed, obstructing Alex's view, but he was certain his father was cursing at him from behind the tinted window.

"On your feet." A hard, rough hand pulled at his elbow. Alex stood up and met the eyes of the officer behind him. He pulled his arms, but they were still secured behind him. His heart raced in his chest.

"No," he muttered, panicked. "Get off me."

"In the car," the officer instructed sternly.

"No." Alex pulled away. "No! He beat her! Don't!"