The Man Behind the Makeup

Chapter 18: He's the One, Isn't He

"Anna, your eyes are blank." Oh no. I closed my eyes and shook my head. They have never done that before other than when I first woke up this morning. I saw my dad in his original form, not the human one. "They are still blank. Is everything okay?"

"We have to go. The moon is messing with me and I don't think you are safe right now." My dad disappeared as quick as he came. Oh god, I hope he doesn't do anything to hurt Andy. We ran back to the car and drove off back to the house considering it was already 11:30 pm and Alex said I had to be home at midnight. In the rear view mirror, I saw my dad again. I screamed, causing Andy to swerve a little.

"Annabelle, tell me what is going on." I looked and he was gone.

"I keep seeing my dad in his original form, if you know what I mean, and he does not look happy. I have to protect you and Alexia. You both need to stay with me in my room for the next few days in order for me to keep you safe." His skin paled and he gripped onto the steering wheel for dear life. This is all my fault and all I can do is go visit my dad and fight it out with him.

When we arrived at the house, we ran in and I explained everything to Alexia. Dustin was still in Cincinnati and wouldn't be home for a while. At least he was safe. Andy, Alex, and I were grabbing just about everything to make sure that we would be okay. I always kept a couple crosses and small glass bottles of holy water in the back of my closet in a box. I couldn't touch or look at them, otherwise they would seriously hurt me. I carefully grabbed the box and brought it out into the bedroom.

"What is that?" Alex's voice was scared and I looked at her and Andy.

"Crosses and holy water. You need to keep these things on you at all times. They will protect you from my father, but if his intentions are to hurt you, then he will do anything in his power to get them away from you. Do not let him into your head. Stay in here and only leave when you truly have to. I will try to end this tonight, but no promises that it will be tonight." I put my shoes in my closet and lay on my bed, crossing my arms into an X as I shut my eyes. "When I fall asleep, do not wake me. I don't know how long I will be out for, but I will be okay. I care too much for you both to let anything happen to you." Andy hasn't said a word to me since when I told him originally in the car. I looked at him and he was just staring at the floor with a blank expression. "Andy?"

"Why does he have to take my girlfriend away from me as soon as I get her?" He looked up at me and a tear ran down his face. We pulled each other into a hug and I pressed my lips to his. I will miss the coldness of his lip ring, the smell of his cologne, the blue of his eyes, everything about him I will miss. I pulled away and looked at him. My eyes were still white, but he looked into them.

"This will be over as soon as possible. When I wake up, everything will be okay." I hugged Alexia and kissed her cheek. "Take care of him. For me." She nodded her head as she gave me a shaky smile. I kissed Andy one last time before laying back down on the bed and closing my eyes. Let us begin, father.

In Hell

I was placed into a dark, blood red room. There was a fire lit behind my father's chair where he sat, anger clear as day in his eyes. I walked to him, letting my inner demon take over. As I spoke, my voice was just like it was when I was beating up Alexia's boyfriend.

"What are your intentions with him?" He let out a growl as he stood, clearly sizing me up.

"Do you think I want to kill him? I wouldn't do that. Just make sure that he will never want to look at-" I cut him off by running up to him and grabbing his throat.

"You stay the fuck away from him. You stay away from Alexia, too." He kicked me off, making my body hit the wall and fall to the floor.

"Alexia is fine. I think she is a good influence on you." Well, at least she's safe. "I told you to stay away from mortals! They will get you killed!"

"Andy is my boyfriend and would never do that! He likes me for who I am! He has always known about me being a demon!" I started to close in on him and felt myself changing to look like him. "I LOVE THAT MAN AND YOU WILL NEVER LAY ONE HAND ON HIM AS LONG AS I STILL WALK THIS UNHOLY EARTH!" Picking him up by his throat, I slammed his body into the floor as I started wailing on him, throwing punches and he socked me in the face a few times. Sudden realization hit me. I said that I loved Andy. I got up and picked my father up by his throat and leg, throwing and slamming him into the wall. "He's the one, isn't he?" He said nothing as he looked at me, his breathing heavy. "Answer me!"

"I don't know! You'll have to go to the church and find out yourself." I shook my head, chuckling at my father's lies.

"He is the one and you know it. You will stay the fuck away from him. And me. And Alexia. And Dustin. Right now, you are looking just like mother." Anger ran through his veins as he threw me to the ground, having ropes be tied around my wrists as he started to whip me. "She did the same thing to me!" Five more lashes. "You think this hurts me? This shows you are a coward! Just! Like! Mother!" My voice echoed as the lashes stopped and I could feel the blood running down my back and I spit some out on the floor. I ripped right through the ropes, stood up and turned to him.

"I don't want to be like that woman. She was a horrible person and I did not know that she whipped you. I give you my word and promise, that I will not hurt Dustin, Alexia, or Andy. I'm sorry Anna." He left and I could still feel the blood dripping down my back.

Anna's Room

Gasping for air and coughing up blood, I turned over and fell off the bed. Andy and Alex woke up startled as they rushed to me. One of them placed their hand on my back and I let out a demonic scream. Whips from father will scar and be there forever. Just like mother's.

"Sorry. What happened down there?" Alex took off her hand. I shook my head and stood up, taking off my dress before the blood ruined it and heard gasps from my boyfriend and best friend.

"Did he do that to you?" Andy's voice was full of anger and I looked at him from the mirror. He shook his head as he left the room and I heard the door front door slam behind him. My body shook and I slammed my hands on the mirror, the entire thing shattering as I let out a loud, pain filled scream. Andy just walked out on me.

"How long was I out?" I stared at the floor as I waited for Alex's answer.

"A week." I sighed and my body started to shake with sobs, blood started to drip on the floor from my eyes and I could feel the blood from the lashes on my back start to run down my legs. "I am so sorry Anna. He was so worried for you the entire time you were out. Never once did we leave this room, except to go get food from the kitchen, but we were extra careful." I nodded, more blood running down my legs and dripping from my eyes. She carefully walked over to me and I wrapped my arms around her, sobbing into her shoulder.

"This is all my fault. My own boyfriend, we have only been together for a week, but the last time he saw me awake and happy was when we were on that date. He walked out on me. I always knew I was a freak." She pulled away and brought me into the bathroom to help me clean up my wounds.

"You are not a freak. He just didn't know how to handle any of this. You should go talk to him after this." She pulled out the many tubes of bacitracin and rolls of gauze. She also grabbed a wash cloth and rubber gloves. After wetting the cloth in the sink, she started to wash off the blood from the backs of my legs and back. I grabbed a makeup remover wipe and wiped my makeup. I also grabbed a hair-tie and threw my hair into a messy bun on my head. When she started wiping around the actual cuts, I gripped onto the marble countertop, my knuckles turning white and the marble starting to crack from my strength. "Sorry, the cream should make it feel better."

"It's fine. Just do what you got to do." She nodded and applied a good ten tubes of bacitracin onto the cuts and used four of the rolls of gauze to cover them up, making sure that the blood wouldn't go through them. It all took about an hour and a half and that was just horrible, but not as horrible as my second boyfriend ever walking out on me. She helped me get dressed, making sure that the cuts didn't open as I bent over to pull up my sweatpants. I slipped on my fuzzy slippers and carefully walked down the stairs and towards the front door. "Thank you, Alex. You're the best non-blood sister I have ever had." She giggled and smiled at me.

"You're welcome. You're the only person in my life who has actually cared for me. Now go talk to Andy and I will beat the shit out of him if I have to." I laughed and nodded, walking out the door and over to Andy's house. His car is here, so that's good. I still couldn't believe that he could possibly be the one to release me from my hell.