Pulling Teeth(a billie joe armstrong story)

Flashbacks

BIG TWWWWW: MENTION OF🍇🍇🍇🍇

The house was quiet, the only sounds in the night coming from the occasional rustle of wind against the trees outside and the soft creaks of the home settling. Maxine lay under her covers, staring at the ceiling. She'd been trying to sleep for hours, but her mind was a chaotic mess. Even in this place of safety, the fear never really went away.

Her body was exhausted, but her thoughts ran wild. The darkness always seemed to bring out the worst of her memories, lurking in the back of her mind, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Tonight, they came with a vengeance.

Eventually, her eyelids grew heavy, and sleep took her—though not peacefully.

The dream started like they always did. She was back in her old house. Though she escaped it, she could never fully escape in her mind. The walls were bare, the rooms cold, filled with an emptiness that echoed with fear. Maxine stood in her bedroom—the one she had dreaded being in every night—and the door to the hallway stood ajar, casting long, dark shadows inside. It was too quiet, the kind of silence that warned her something was coming.

The familiar sound of heavy, deliberate footsteps soon reached her ears. They grew louder, each step like a warning bell tolling through her veins. She knew who it was—her adoptive father. The man who had controlled every aspect of her life, filling it with terror and pain. Her heart pounded in her chest, but she was frozen in place, unable to move, to scream, to fight back.

He appeared in the doorway, towering over her. His face twisted into that sick, predatory grin she knew too well. His eyes—those cold, dead eyes that never held any warmth—locked onto her, and her stomach twisted with dread.

"Look at you," he sneered, the door creaking ominously as he shut it behind him. "Always so quiet, so weak. You really think running away makes you strong? You think they'll ever see you as anything more than trash?"

Maxine's throat tightened, her heart racing as she struggled to make a sound. She tried to step back, to flee from the man she feared most in the world, but her legs felt like lead, frozen in terror as he closed the distance between them.

"You're nothing, Maxy," he growled, his voice dripping with venomous disdain.

"You always were, and you always will be. You think they love you? You think you can just run off to some new family and everything will be perfect? They don't want you. No one ever has. You're back here because you're worthless, and you'll always end up with me. Always."

The room shrank around her, the air thickening like a fog, suffocating her. His presence filled the space, a dark shadow looming over her as his words cut deep, sharp as knives. Panic seized her body, making her feel like the walls were closing in.

"You're broken," he hissed, stepping closer until his rancid breath was hot against her face. "Why would they keep you? You'll ruin everything, just like you always do. It's only a matter of time before they see you for what you are—a worthless, disgusting burden."

Maxine's scream was trapped in her throat, strangled by sheer terror. Her body trembled as he grabbed her arm, his grip like a vice, digging into her skin until she felt the sting of pain.

"You can't escape me," he growled, his voice low and menacing. "No one will ever love you like I did. Not now, not ever."

Then his voice dropped to a chilling whisper, laced with malevolence.

"They'll figure it out, you know. They'll uncover what happened to you. They'll find out how I touched you. How I ruined you. You'll always be tainted, dirty. When they realize you're beyond saving, they'll send you back to me. And when that happens... well, you know what comes next."