The Serpent's Enigma

35 | He's My Son

- Warning! Depiction of domestic abuse! -

(Italics are parts of a dream.)

.·。.·゜·༺♥༻ ·゜·。.

Cal was drinking alone at his desk when he felt someone come up behind him.

"Hello, husband," A feminine hand came to touch his shoulder, the touch alone stinging his skin the familiar voice hurt his ears. Turning around, he came face to face with the person he hated most. And feared most.

His body jolted in an immediate response to flee. But after a few seconds, he felt the tension slowly ease, remembering she existed no more. She was dead.

"Oh, right." He chuckled bitterly. "You aren't really here. You're dead. This is just a dream—a nightmare."

"Aren't I?" She whispered in such a soft, melodious voice that it was sickening. How he hated knowing that she could always sense the fear in his eyes, as if she was boring through his mind. "But I will always be alive in your mind, my forever love." Stroking his hair with her slim fingers, she leaned close to land a kiss on his head.

Cal jolted up from his chair, wincing in utter disgust. "Get away from me."

Isleen stood, still smiling, unaffected. "Whether I am dead or not does not matter. What matters is... there." As she gestured behind him, Cal froze in horror seeing the rest of his office had disappeared and suddenly been replaced by a nursery. One that looked exactly like Junior's nursery when he was a baby.

He stiffened as he spotted Junior, sleeping soundly in a crib that strangely accommodated his grown body.

"Our baby!" announced Isleen in a delighted tone, as if she was delivering good news. "I'm here to see him."

"No!" Cal squeaked, his instincts telling him to rush over and shield Junior from this demon, but his legs were rooted to the spot. His eyes watered. Not Junior, please, not him. "You will not touch him. You do not touch him, Isleen."

"My own son? How impertinent." Slowly gliding across the room like a ghost, she stopped over Junior's crib. The child was fast asleep on his tummy, his face tilted to the left, facing him. His expression was peaceful; unbothered.

Cal's tears made their way down his cheeks as she bent over to caress a small patch of Junior's back. He was too powerless to save himself, now he also lacked the power to save his son.

"I will never hurt my son, my Prince. I love him like I love you. He's a part of me, as he is a part of you."

"No," Cal shook his head quickly in disgust. "Junior is mine."

Straightening herself, Isleen faced him with a wide, unwavering smile that Cal would love to punch off her face.

"Haven't you paid any attention to your son lately? He's starting to show his true nature... He only thinks of himself, he has a temper. He cannot make or keep friends. His actions brought harm to other people. Can't you see he's becoming more like me?"

Cal snorted. "You cannot manipulate me into believing this. You will not. He isn't like you and never will be."

Isleen let out a cold, ringing laughter. "You'll see it for yourself. The things that I did," Flicking her fingers, her figure slowly morphing into that of Olivia's before she transformed back into herself. "He is capable of doing too!"