Nightmares Alive

The Reasons

"What was so bad about your father?"

"I... I just didn't like him."

"So you murdered your father because you dislike him."

Darla paused. She wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. "My father had no wife when he first adopted me. He got married, divorced, and remarried. 5 times within a 2 year period. And he blames it all on me.

"He has yelled at me, screamed at me, threatened me... and it never ends. When I turned 15, I told him I was applying for a job at a fast food place to get money for a car. He yelled at me and told me I had to work for him as secretary. 40 hours a week and no salary, no car. I have been working for him ever since. But I found a friend and I live with her. I pay a small portion for rent, and I work a second job paying just over minimum wage.

"But this life is over now. Now that I have "quit" my job for him, I have only one job. I plan on using my free time to get a second or a third job."

I could barely take it in. I never would have thought. "Umm, I'm so sorry. I never knew..."

"You've only known me for 10 minutes, darling. Don't be hard on yourself."

"OK. So why was he trying to kill me?"

"He has his ways of figuring out whatever he wants. Long story short, he found out about you. He wants to inject some of your DNA into himself so he could have the same gift as yourself. However, the DNA cells that he is looking for are mostly in and around the brain. He has no medical degree, so he most likely would kill you in the process."

"You know, this is not something you would expect to hear on a normal day."

Darla chuckled and looked up to see another sewer grate above us. "Ah, our exit!" She climbed up the ladder leading up to the surface. "You coming?"

"You bet."