Page 4 of Like An Animal
“Fine,” my father rasps, talking through tight lips. “You win, psycho. Just get the fuck off of me!”
I watch darkness creep across Jeremy’s face as he tilts his head to the side like a horror movie villain and the lean muscles in his arms tighten, causing my father to make a sputtering noise. His arms flail around in a panic and my breath catches in my throat.
“Almost,” Jer drags out the word for so long I wonder if my father will pass out before he stops. “There.” He releases my father and he falls to the ground, hacking and gagging while clutching his throat. Just as my father gets control of himself again, Jer rears his foot back and kicks him at the perfect angle that his foot lands on my father’s groin. The middle-aged man howls with agony as he falls to his side and cradles his junk.
I hiss under my breath because I knew that it hurt like a bitch.
“Now I’m done, you disgusting pedophile.”
Then, Jeremy shoves my father’s body down the winding staircase and I don’t feel the slightest bit bad for him.
I leave the door as it is and slowly back away, biting away at a small hangnail that has been bothering me for days.
I haven’t felt safe in this room since we moved in just like I didn’t feel safe in the old house. I didn’t really sleep well. The slightest noise made me jump out of my skin, thinking maybe he came back for more. He never did though. That didn’t stop theintrusive thoughts that I was in immediate danger or the terror. The daytime is easier.
My father married Kathy five years ago and it took Jeremy this long to connect what was happening in the dead of night. My father could continue what he’s been doing for years and Jer might not notice for another five years.
I know my brother will do whatever it takes to keep me safe, but I don’t feel safe in this room, unprotected.
I slip off my robe and put back on my pajamas before covering back up with the robe. I slip out of my room and look down the stairs to see my father’s body gone. Either he’s dead and Jer is disposing of the body as we speakorhe’s not dead and got up on his own. If he is alive, he’s going to be bloody and bruised before morning.
I pad my bare feet down the hall and around the corner before coming to the door with a big “Keep Out” sign hanging. My heart races in my chest as I stop and face the door, getting the courage I need to knock.
I mean, the worst he can do is say no, right? Still, a no would be pretty bad.
I raise my fist and lightly rap my knuckles on the door. My heart pounds in my chest as I wait to see if he answers. He usually doesn’t. He ignores everyone and no one knows what he does when he’s alone in his room.
I almost walk away a moment before the door is thrown open and Jer still looks pissed, like he’s ready to kill someone, but the second he sees me, the look leaves his face. A flash of relief flows down his features before he tilts his head, probably waiting for me to say something.
“I know this is probably weird, but…” I look down the hall, making sure neither my father or Kathy know what’s happening. Then, I look back at him, watching the confusion dance across his eyebrows. “Can I stay with you tonight?” My stomach tensesin preparation for the rejection. I’m fully aware that Jeremy likes his solitude and definitely doesn’t like for it to be disturbed.
In a flash, he grabs my arm and pulls me straight into his chest, his hand going straight for my hair. In the same breath, he closes the door and twists the lock. My fingers splay against his bare back, feeling the stickiness of sweat and grime from the day, but no one has ever held me like it’s okay for me to break apart. I’m the well-behaved duchess of the castle and that’s exactly what everyone expects of me. No one notices that I’m constantly dying on the inside or how hard it is to keep up the facade. I always have to be smart and pretty and kind.
Tears roll down my face as I cling to him and the comfort he offers me. I know that he knows what my father has been putting me through and I think he knows it, too.
“You’re safe, Bronwyn,” he whispers in my ear. “The nightmare is over.”
I wish it was over, but I have the feeling it’s just getting started.
Jer rakes his fingers through my tangled hair as I start to calm down. The flow of tears lessens every second until I can breathe without more falling.
“I need to shower. Go lay down.” The words are spoken on a breath and I slowly nod as I pull away, feeling two parts mortified and one part exhausted.
I release my hold on him before walking deeper into the room. Jeremy slowly goes to his bathroom and closes the door as I look around the space.
I’ve never been in his room before. I never really wanted to, but now that I am, I’m curious why he hides himself away in here. He has a projector and screen for watching movies and records he made for his band, JMX, and a t-shirt hangs on the wall with their logo on it, a splash of neon green and bright red with the name of their band in an edgy font as the centerpiece.
There aren’t any real decorations. No photos, which is only odd since his expensive camera hangs from its strap over the corner of the headboard.
Hell, he doesn’t even have a desk, but that’s by his choice. He has the money to get one and if he didn’t, he could ask Kathy to buy one for him.
The only other things in the room are his bed and the bedside table if you don’t include the dirty clothes across the floor.
What more could I expect from a teenage boy’s room?
I move over to the bed and slip off my robe before moving under the covers.The Labyrinthplays on the projector, but there’s no sound. My eyes start to drift and all I see behind my eyelids are a flash of color.
Comfort and a sense of peace surrounds me even as I feel the bed shift. Jeremy slips under the covers, but the part that nearly pulls me back to consciousness is when he wraps his arms around me and buries his face in my hair, holding me tight to him.
