The Affair

Chapter 22.2

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CONTENT WARNING: physical/emotional abuse
- ⚠️🦝
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His eyes stung from the flash of light and there was a slight high-pitch ringing in his ears from the gunshots. Just past the bathroom doorway, William stumbles to his knees. He drops his pistol and flashlight, the pistol makes a heavy 'thud' as it hits the floor and the flashlight rolls across the room towards the toilet. His body felt numb and heavy, as if some kind of strange gravity had overcome him. Grounded to his knees on the floor and leaned against the underside cabinets of the sink's countertop, he panics from his vulnerability.

"No! Not this again!", he internalizes as he fights against an unnatural force acting upon his body. His vision was still blurry, and his body would not cooperate with him, but he could at least move his head.

Several seconds pass, and his eyesight mostly recovers from the wild flash of light and the ringing in his ears settle. He could now see the mother and the little girl in plain sight, though it appeared that they could not see him.

Just two feet away from where he was grounded stands the mother; she had both hands perched along the edges of the countertop and her head tilted downward towards a bottle of bourbon and a clear drinking glass. She was much younger than William had imagined her to be, most likely in her early thirties, and, despite her tired eyes and scowling demeanor, he found her to be quite pretty. She was somewhat tall, standing approximately 5'7 without shoes, with slender legs behind a pair of light-denim capri pants and long brunette hair that fell down to her mid-back against her plum-colored U-neck blouse.

Lifting her glass to her lips, the mother takes a large drink. Once done, she clears her throat before setting the glass back down onto the counter, producing a sharp 'clink'.  After a deep, exasperated breath, she turns towards William's direction to leave the bathroom. Still on the ground and unable to move, he closes his eyes as the mother steps into his position on the floor. A strange feeling hits him; a gentle rush of cold air passes through his body, coupled with an awkward feeling of pressure within his chest and gut.

The strange feeling passes quickly, and he opens his eyes. The mother had left the room but little Micaela was still on the floor, scared and huddled underneath the toilet bowl amidst a small area of blood smeared across the floor tiles. She was indecent, wearing only a pale pink t-shirt which had become stained with the blood from the floor. Off to the side was a bunched piece of clothing, which William assumes was her pajama bottoms.

William looks over to Micaela. Defenseless and scared, she trembles as she tugs on her hair with her legs brought to her chest. Seeing her suffer so much made him nauseated with anger, and he tries with all his might to lift his body from its stuck position without success. Wanting nothing more than to end her torment, he calls to her.

"Baby, you're okay... come to me. I'll protect you...", he says as he fights back tears, "I promise, sweetheart... You don't have to be scared, just come over to me!".

In that moment, little Micaela picks her head up from her cowered positioned and looks towards William as if his words had gotten to her. Some of the blood from the floor had smeared on her cheek, causing a few strands of her chestnut-brown hair to stick to her face. She looks over to William with tear-soaked green eyes.

"Daddy??", she says with a hopeful smile.

"Those eyes...", William thinks to himself as he locks eyes with little Micaela, "I know those eyes...".

His gaze is broken by the same strange feeling of pressure working through his body. The mother had returned, and had walked right through his body as if she were a ghost. Stepping back to her spot at the sink counter, she tosses a roll of paper towels at her daughter, striking her head and causing her to once again recoil in fear. She then tosses a bottle of cleaning spray onto the ground near her head, triggering a small yelp from Micaela, before placing a box of menstrual pads onto the sink's countertop. With glossy eyes, she stares into the mirror as she sips her bourbon.