Protectors- Wrath of The Stranger

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I felt the tears running down my cheeks as I heard the door swing open. Covering my eyes with my right hand, I struggled to find a place to hide, but there was nowhere that He would not find me. Swallowing my fears, I stepped downstairs to the living room,

"Where the fuck is my dinner?" His drunken voice filled the room,

"There's no food in the house," My big sister's song-like voice replied, "you wouldn't let us go and get any,"

The crack of His slap was enough to bring my legs to jelly, and I fell to the floor, a small gasp of pain escaping my lungs. I could tell that He had heard me, but He liked to play games with his prey before actually striking,

"For every second you don't come out, I'm going to lash Annabelle!" He roared,

Another crack sounded, then another, then another. I began to cry, my legs refusing to move. It was Anna's cry that did it, the scream as His hand massacred her beauty. Even at the age of twelve, I had heard of other people who had killed their abusive parents in self defence. Struggling to my feet, I walked towards Him, head hung low. The living room was small and grey, with a brown shaggy carpet that hadn't been washed in a long time. I let out another yelp as a shard of glass from one of His beer bottles sliced into my foot, drawing a line of red blood,

"No, Sam!" Anna shouted, "run!"

It was too late. He dropped Annabelle onto the ground with a thump, and advanced towards me. In my youthful rage, I struck first, punching Him in the face with all of my might, but it was to no avail. Monsters don't fear children,

"Fucking piece of shit!" He yelled, backhanding me with such force that I felt the insides of my mouth begin to bleed, "I gave you fucking life!"

He began to punch me, his metal rings drawing blood from my face. He lifted me from the ground, throwing me against the wall. I lay there, face down, before looking up. In the mirror, I could see my face, black and blue, blood streaming from where he had hit me. In the background, I could see Annabelle, crawling towards the kitchen, and then there was Him, the monster in my closet, the embodiment of evil. He grabbed the back of my head, slamming it into the blue rim of the mirror. The glass cut deeply as pain exploded across my forehead,

"The fuck are you going?" He bellowed, and I heard Him walk away, giving me a moment of respite from the battering,

I began to crawl toward the stairs. If only I could get to my room, to my bed, I could go to sleep, I could wake up from this nightmare. I wanted to be safe, to be free from Him. I knew why He did what He did. He had been a gentle man once, but a poor one, the sheer pressure on Him drove him to torture tourists for money, a job that messed with his mind until torture became a part of him, an addiction that he could not avoid,

"Samantha Stone!" His voice called after me, "don't you run from me!"

He was there, standing on the lower stairs. His fists came hard and fast, as did my tears. He attacked ruthlessly, venting all of His anger and frustration on the children he never wanted to have. I kicked out, somehow driving him backwards as I stumbled up the stairs, into Anna and I's room. I managed to lock the door behind me, protecting myself from the monster,

"Get out here right now!" He screamed, hammering on the door with such force that I thought it would break, "Samantha!"

I sobbed, great racking sobs, the pain of eight years of suffering suffocating me,

"I have three new tourists," He whispered, "two parents, and a boy the same age as you. If you don't come out now, I'll kill the parents in front of the child,"

I almost stepped outside, determined to save this unnamed child. He had never been this angry before, he was genuinely going to kill me if I left the safety of the room. The hammering on the door grew ever more persistent, but still I leant against the entrance, tears streaming between my fingers as I sobbed into my hands,

"Leave her alone!" Anna shouted, bringing down one of His beer bottles down, the shattering of the glass filling my ears,

He swore with such violence and ferocity that my tears somehow came faster,

"Whatever happens!" Anna yelled, "Do not open the door!"

Her screams did not stop for hours, hours of me sobbing, trying to block the sounds of the battering, trying to preserve what was left of my youth. When the monster grew bored of the brutal game, He left, footsteps thundering down the stairs. I opened the door to a horrific sight, my sister's beautiful face had been lacerated, torn to shreds by the shards of glass that He had struck her with. Hearing the sound of my door opening, He ran back up the stairs, but he was too slow, I had dragged Anna inside, locking the door once more,

"Open up," He whispered, "and I might just spare that poor boy's parents,"

Although He pounded on the door for another hour, I did not relent. My last shred of defiance saved us that night, for if I had opened that door, we would have died. Eventually, He left the door, going to get himself another beer. I prayed to God that night, wishing with all of my might that someone might strike him down from heaven, kill him and liberate us from the agony. That night, someone answered my prayer, although I did not think that it was any god, not from the way that he spoke,

"Who are you?" I whispered, talking to this being that had contacted me, "I don't know you, does that make you a stranger?"

"I am too far away to kill him for you," 

"Then tell me how, please!" I begged,

"Do not worry, little one. If you swear to follow where I lead, I will show you how to kill him,"

"What do I need to do?"

THANK YOU FOR READING

CHAPTER TWO: THE FORCE

RELEASES DECEMBER