At The End Of The Tunnel

11) But, It's Midnight

Song: Older by Sasha Solan

KAI CARTER (POV)

During the day, I put on a brave face and try to act like everything is okay. I go about my routine, talking to friends and trying to focus on my school work. But inside, I'm struggling. The pain and sadness are always there, lurking just beneath the surface. I try to push them away, but they always find a way to come back. I can feel the tears building up behind my eyes, but I force them back, afraid of what might happen if I let them out.

So I plaster on a brave smile, even though I don't feel like smiling at all. It feels like I'm wearing a mask, hiding my true emotions from the world, but sometimes that's necessary. I don't want anyone to know how much I'm hurting inside, so I pretend like everything is ok.

But it's hard to keep up the charade, to act like everything is normal when it feels like my world is falling apart. I can only keep the mask on for so long, that is why as soon as I get home and lock myself in my bedroom, I peel it off and let my true emotions out, like I'm doing right now.

In the stillness of my small, dark room, where the only light is the faint glow of the moon, my sobs become a symphony of sadness, a mournful melody that fills the air. The tears that fall from my eyes are like raindrops on a silent night, each one a testament to the pain I feel inside. And yet, even as I cry, there is a strange kind of comfort in the darkness, a sense of safety in the solitude. Here, in this quiet place, I am free to let my emotions flow, to be vulnerable and raw, without fear of judgment or rejection. It is a place of healing, where my heart can find solace in the sound of my own tears.

I rubbed the tears out of my eyes to glance at my desk in the corner of my room, where my piles of homework and assignments were. Seeing the amount of uncompleted work that I had, made my head hurt even more. I sighed loudly and lay myself flat on my bed.

Even with all of the assessments that I have not handed in, I'm still at the top of most of my classes. I decided that I'm in no mood to do any form of school work, and opted to take a nap.

I woke up to the sound of loud talking and a glass bottle being dropped. I immediately knew that my father was home. My father has not been here for the past week so it has been rather quiet. With my father not being around there wasn't much that my mother could do to me but verbally abuse me, but with Lucifer himself being back I knew for a fact that this was about to change, and I braced myself.

I heard footsteps approaching my door, and I immediately flopped back down on my bed to act like I was sleeping. I then heard my door creek open. Suddenly I felt a cold hand grip my throat, I quickly opened my eyes to see my father staring furiously down at me.

"Your mother told me that you have been coming home late." He said in a stone cold voice while yanking me by my neck in a sitting position.

"T-thats not t-true." I stammered helplessly.

"Are you trying to call your mother a fucking liar?" He said while squeezing my neck harder and harder by the second.

"No." I manage to squeek out.

"So why are you coming home late!" He shouted.

By that time, I was struggling to breathe and could no longer answer my father's burning questions. As a natural reflex, I started flinging my hands around helplessly, and ended up hitting my father in his left eye, causing him to let go of my neck.

I took in a mouth full of air, finally being able to breathe again. "You fucking hit me?" My father seathed, still covering his left eye with one of his hands.

"That was a mistake." I cried out already feeling hot tears rolling down my cheeks.

"Mistake? Mistake! I'll show you mistake." The monster said. He held me by the scruff of my shirt, balled up his hand, and punched me in the face causing me to fall against my bed. Then he proceeded to grab me by the neck and smack me three times across the face.