Rise Of The Hybrids

Chapter 4

"Martha, I'm home." A booming voice filled the room.

Great. He was home. The second-worst human being to ever set foot on this Earth. He watched as Man handed his work things to Woman and sat down on the couch, putting his feet up on the table. He wrinkled his nose in disgust. Man was also the most unclean human on Earth. Man caught him looking at him.

"What the hell you lookin' at, bird?" He looked down. He didn't feel like being beat tonight.

"Martha, bring me a beer!" He shouted.

Woman came into the room with a bottle filled with brown liquid Man called a "beer" and set it down in front of him. He took a big drink and set it down, burping loudly. Beer made man act weird and usually aggressive if he had too much. He heard Woman call him drunk when he was like this. The word seemed fitting. He heard the light box turn on. Man seemed obsessed with the box. It had moving pictures and sounds that sounded like people were talking but were too distorted for him to make out. It was so bright it hurt his eyes to look at it. Man always yelled at it, but he still looked at it. Why look at it if it makes you mad? He had yet to find a use for it. He had deemed it impractical and a waste of space. Man had already drunk the beer and had just asked for another one. He decided to leave before Man drank too much. He was careful to not walk in front of the light box. He always got hit when he did. 

A small hand grabbed his wrist. He looked down to see Boy, and he tried to pull away. Boy held his wrist tighter. He looked strange, scared. Man started yelling again and Boy jumped. He was scared of Man, which was strange. He knew Man was Boy's father, aren't fathers and sons supposed to love each other? Now that he thought about it, he had never seen Man play with Boy, or act as a father to him. But wouldn't that just make Boy resent him? What did Man do to make Boy scared of him? Boy pulled at his wrist as he started towards the stairs, trying to pull him with him. He really didn't want to deal with Boy. On the other hand, if Boy started crying that wouldn't be good either. He followed Boy upstairs and Boy led him down the hallway and into a room that he assumed was Boy's. In the few months he had been here, he hadn't been upstairs. He wasn't allowed to go up here, which was fine by him since he had no reason to anyway. If he got in trouble, he could say Boy wanted him up here. Boy pulled him into the room and closed the door.

"Is he drinking already?"

He turned around. Girl was sitting on the bed. Boy nodded his head and Girl got up. She and Boy grabbed the bookshelf and started dragging it in front of the door. They grabbed other heavy-looking things and put them up against the bookshelf. He was thoroughly confused. Girl looked back at him.

"Daddy gets angry when he drinks too much. Mommy tells us to put stuff in front of the door, in case he tries to come in."

He knew that much.

"I wanted to make sure he couldn't get you either."

He looked down at Boy. He slowly nodded. Boy put his ear to the crack in the door.

"I don't hear them yelling yet." Girl looked hopeful.

"Maybe he won't get angry."

"C'mon Izzy. That never happens."

Girl looked down. "That doesn't mean it's impossible.

She sounded like she was trying to convince herself. Boy grabbed his hand and sat down on the carpet. He sat down with him. Girl soon joined them. Boy didn't let go of his hand. They sat there in silence. There was nothing to say. The minutes ticked by. Nothing happened. Girl and Boy started to relax. Until the sound of glass breaking. Boy tightened his grip on his hand. Girl tensed and moved closer to him. Loud yelling. Woman crying. A loud thud and then more yelling. Boy started crying. Girl had silent tears running down her face. He looked at the time. 6:20pm. Woman always put him in his room when Man got home. He never knew why. He might just find out. Woman started screaming. Her words were inaudible, but it sounded like she was pleading. Loud, uncoordinated footsteps. Boy's sobs grew louder and both children hugged him. He didn't understand. He was confused. He was scared. He wasn't used to this feeling. It caused him to make irrational decisions. But it wasn't always a bad thing. His mother always said a cornered or scared animal was a dangerous animal. She said that applies to every living thing. He was cornered. He was scared. Man started banging on the door.

"OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR YOU LITTLE SHITS"

Boy screamed. The children moved behind him. He started to back up until they were pressed against a corner. Man yelled more. He couldn't understand him. It was just angry yelling. His heart beat loudly in his ears. He spread his wings in front of them, hiding them from the cruel words. He didn't know why he was protecting the children. He resented them. But what had they done wrong? It wasn't their fault they were born to this pathetic excuse of a human. Some of the heavy stuff fell over. The door opened a few inches. Boy screamed again. He heard Woman yell. The banging stopped, replaced by shouting. Then there was silence. But only for a moment. Then the banging started again. The bookshelf was starting to move. He could hear the blood rushing in his ears. Man stuck his hand through the crack. The children curled into the corner. Something shiny appeared in Man's hand. A gun. He instinctively pulled the children in his arms, covering them with his wings. He hears a loud bang, then nothing else as he shuts his eyes tightly.