Midnight Shades

Chapter 46

I should be terrified and surprised, but I'm not. I'm used to it now; life gives me a beautiful moment to be followed by a terrible one, so I can know life's sweetness and bitterness. Somewhere deep inside me, the fear is present, but it's not as strong as it has always been.

"Father—" I begin, but I'm quickly cut off with a hard slap across my cheek.

I have never been hit. Sure, there were times where I would be punished and scolded, but none of my parents would ever dare to raise their hands at me. It's just something that they are not fond of. The only reasons they would punish and scold me for is when I do something wrong, hide something big from them, lie or forget to do my homework.

It is always because they do not want me to think that I can get away with everything, which is a good trait in them. They spoil me, but not too much. They deprive me, but not too much. They balance my life, and for that I'm thankful.

But to have my father slapping me is surprising, painful and hurtful. From his point of view, I did something bad—something majorly and hugely bad—and that's why I understand why he did that. It is just hurting me, is all.

"Aengus!" My mother shouts, standing to her feet and rushing towards me to take me in her embrace. The lump in my throat rises more and suffocates me as my mother runs her hand up and down my back.

"How dare you hit her? Have you gone mad?" She hisses, glaring up at my father.

"Were you with a boy? A human?" My father asks, voice cold and empty, just like his eyes.

I daren't reply. I daren't even look him in the eye and confirm his question, I will not bare to. The words are on the tip of my tongue, ready to be spoken out loud, but whenever I part my lips to speak, the lump in my throat rises and blocks everything.

"Answer me!" He demands, shouting.

I whimper out in response, feeling my body shaking as I fist my mother's shirt in my palm.

"Get out, Aengus," My mother tells him quietly. "Get out!" She repeats more angrily.

Once I hear the door slamming shut, I break down. My sobs are loud and endless, heart throbbing with so much hurt and pain as my mother falls to the ground next to me.

What's hurting me is that I did nothing wrong. This village is ruled by morons and irrational minds, stupid laws that no one follows. There is nothing wrong about loving someone, I don't care if that person is human or not. Love is love, it shouldn't be discriminated and it shouldn't be defined by the kind or the sex.

Those who are obsessed with the pure blood are brain washed, lacking a character and a voice. I'm not sure if my father stands with the laws of the village or not, I don't know if he approves of them or not. He might have slapped me because I went against it, but within each reaction, there's an unknown reason.

The sweet and hushed voice of my mother's fills the room as she calms me down with her relaxing and kind words. She keeps running her hand up and down my back as she keeps kissing my forehead and telling me that she's sorry.

She is sorry because she told my father, unwillingly. I always knew that this will happen, whether it is my mother who told him or not, my father would have known anyway.

"It's okay, honey. Everything will be okay." She tells me.

When will okay ever come? I keep telling myself that everything will be okay in the end, that good things will happen. But okay never comes, and good never lasts. So I refuse to think that this is how things will be, because everything will be okay in the end indeed, and that only means that this is not the end.