Page 2 of Power of Shadow

The oak door, with a skull-shaped knob, opens when I push it with unusual force. Two strong beats of my heart. The door impacts the cabinet, and the sound of shattering glass follows right after.

I’m not worried about the outcome of this. All I care about is where my mother is. That’s all that’s on my mind right now.

Behind me, I sense my friends, who finally catch up with me.

Slowly, like in a bad cartoon, my father’s face wanders from my mother’s cowering body to me. He stands in the middle of his office, like the ruler of an imaginary kingdom, upright, confident, intolerant of opposition or rebellion, ruthless... Black suit, black shirt, black shoes. He always looks the same, even when he’s only working in his home office.

My father’s steely eyes rest on my small frame, and a chilling sensation, like needle-sharp ice, runs through me. A strand of black hair the same color as mine falls across his forehead. With a cruel smile and gaze locked on me, he raises his chin and lifts a leg. His shoe lands flat against my mother’s soft stomach and the flesh of her side. The rough leather presses in, a chilling weight as he shoves with all his brute strength.

She rolls over with a groan like a rag doll, stops on her back. A bruise under her eye. The swelling is already getting worse, and soon she’ll look like those boxers I sometimes see in movies. Dark red blood is oozing from the corner of her mouth and nose, yet her hands remain wrapped around her waist the whole time. Like she’s protecting something precious. Tears stream down her pink cheeks and into her short, blond hair.

The hatred that sprouts in me that day is more intense than anything I’ve ever felt before. Except for my mother’s love, which she shows me every single day.

Love burns. Hatred burns. Today, I understand how similar these fires are.

Every cell in my body vibrates with this powerful feeling toward the man who dares to call himself my father.

A scream escapes my throat, comparable only to the roar of a wild animal. I’m about to attack, to rush at my father and kill him with my own hands, when my brothers grab me by the shoulders. They hold me with all their strength while I struggle, wanting to break free and spill blood.

“What’s going on, boy? What would you like to do now?” My father mocks me, tilting his head and smiling even wider.

“I’ll kill you! What did you do to her?! How could you?” I try to break free from Theo and Eli.

Father’s head goes back as he lets out a deep, throaty laugh. This makes me stop in my tracks, shocked. My father never laughed. Not even once.

But within that laughter is something evil too.

He composes himself and his gaze hardens. A vein throbs on his neck. Then, for the first time in my life, I wonder what it would be like if I stabbed that pulsing spot. Would he bleed like my mother is bleeding now? Would he choke with the same sound he made when he laughed a moment ago?

“Ryker, Ryker, Ryker... You know nothing about adult life yet. One day, you’ll understand and agree with me that women are only good for reproduction. And if they can’t even do that well, they’re useless.” He looks at my mother with distaste for a moment. “Would you like to kill me, boy? That might be a possibility in the future, but it isn’t the case now.”

“You hurt my mom! I’m not your boy.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. You have my genes. My blood. You’re just like me, and hell will swallow me before I let you grow up to be like your mother. You really want to kill me now, don’t you?”

“Yes... I want nothing more...” I hiss through my teeth.

“Excellent!” He smiles again, revealing a row of white teeth. “It means you’re slowly getting ready.”

“Ready for what?”

“To become a man. To learn brotherhood. Ready to become me soon.”

“I will not turn into you.”

“No,” mother whispers.

My attention springs to her small stature. On shaky legs and arms, she struggles to lift her weight, trying to get up.

This time, I free myself from my friends’ hands and take two steps before I my father warns, “Touch him, and he’ll suffer the consequences.”

I halt mid-step, initially confused, but a glance at him clarifies everything. He’s not saying it to me. But to her.

The swelling on her face is getting worse by the second. I can’t bear to see her like this. Bleeding wounds, fractured nose, and bruised body.

I don’t need to do more than turn my head when Theo and Eli approach my mother and take my position. Theo grabs one of her hands and Eli takes the other, helping her up. Or maybe they’re not helping her at all, just supporting her, because how helpful two kids can be in this scenario?

Mom, leaning forward shuffles with my friends to the exit.