Painting the Roses Red (Sexual Offenderman Fanfic) [Starting Over]

Re-occurring Nightmare

"Mommy! Mommy! Look, look!"

 I looked up from my book and looked outside from the living room window, Angela walking towards me with something in her hand, her hair catching in the breeze as her feet hit the ground softly. Her brown hair whipped around the corners of her rosy cheeks, her ivory skin illuminated by the sunlight like she was an angel. Everything seemed like it was in slow motion as she walked towards me, the trees outside in my yard shifting from season to season. Spring, summer, winter, fall. Tmp, tmp went her little feet.

Once she reached me, she outstretched her hands to show me what she had. She... Angela was holding a bird. It's feathers were pink and patched with white, the pattern shifting with each blink I took. The tips of the feathers were hot pink- no, only it's head. 

I had never seen such a bird like it before...

And it was beautiful.

"Sweetie, where did you find it?" I asked, smiling broadly as my little cherub stopped to show it to me. I rose from my seat, feigning joyous surprise as the bird flapped its wings flatteringly.

She smiled happily and a wonderful giggle jingled past her lips. "I found it in the garden, silly!"

I smiled, chuckling from her response. "You always find the most beautiful things..."

But as soon as those words escaped me, we both heard a door open. The front door to our house, to be exact. Angela's face lit up with glee, her grey eyes sparkling like stars as I stared at her in confusion. Filled with a murky feeling, I cracked a smile as well and patted her head. For some reason, I felt like I knew who it was that just came through the front door. But at the same time, I had a vague recollection of who it could be.

"Go greet your father," I advised, giving her a light pat toward the direction of the door.

I didn't know why I told her to do so, Angela having never met a figure even close to the description of a 'father'... But it felt right just saying it.

As she scurried off, I sat back down and picked up the book I was reading. The words were jumbled and hard to find, the story-line not making any sense as I ventured in the adventure within it's text. I couldn't find the page I was previously on, but as I read the text, I realized it was an entirely different story. Almost like a side adventure, a tale that involved a young boy and an older male. They both shared the same blue eyes and they both shared a womanly figure close to their hearts, a woman that changed them both significantly. And the man in the book had a thirst for blood.

A thirst to take back what belonged to him...

But I eventually found my place again, disregarding the previous story like it didn't matter.

"Hi, daddy!" I heard from the other room, my lips tugging into a grin as I placed my book back down, unable to contain my joy.  I didn't understand why I felt so contented, but... It had been a while since I felt this happy. I only heard a dark chuckle in reply before I heard a giggle of amusement from my daughter.

I ventured to the front door and stopped at the door frame, my eyes softening once I  saw the man who just entered my home, my dear memory.

"Offenderman," I called softly, the name falling like silk into the room.

With my daughter in his arms, Offenderman looked up from the call to his name, his knee on the granite floor and his fedora casting shadows over his face. On one hand, he cradled the bird gently, its wing broken and bleeding. I hadn't noticed it at the time, but the bird had changed color. Black to pink. Pink to black. His other hand was on Angela's shoulder, the smile he wore faltering once his gaze fell upon me.