The Monster Inside Me

Chapter 1: No Stuttering

It's been three years of getting beaten. My father beat me, my mother beat me... It was endless... But not once did I run away, not once. Because I never knew anything else, so I took it and did what I was told. I lived in fear of my parents, never wanting to disobey.
I broke a rule... I accidentally broke a vase, while sweeping up the house.
"Seker!" My mother yelled, crossing her arms as she came into the room.
"Bad boy!" She slapped me across the cheek, a burning sensation rippling across my face. Hot tears welled up in my eyes, but I didn't cry. I wasn't allowed to cry.
"Sorry, Momma..." I murmured softly.
"Clean up your mess before your father gets home. I'm sick and don't want to deal with your clumsiness today!" She growled before going back to her room. I nodded weakly before starting to clean up the glass. My father was worse than my mother about beating me, but they both were horrible people. I quickly blinked my tears away and finished cleaning, waiting for my father to arrive.

When he got home, my father was in a bad mood.
"Seker, come out back. I need to let out some steam. " He said gruffly, and I did as I was told. I waited in the freezing cold with just a thin black shirt and shorts. My father came outside with a knife and a club. I knew what that meant, but I couldn't run and I couldn't scream. It was pointless. He would just beat me harder. My father roughly grabbed my hand and cut up my fingers, right along the scars from the week before. I bit back my tears as the rough metal cut through my thin flesh. He cut my hands so I couldn't fight back... It's not like I was going to anyways... Then he beat me with the club, I could hear my bones cracking from the amount of force put upon them and tears burned my eyes. They never fed me enough, so I was skinnier than a stick. My ribcage poked out of my shirt and my stomach was sunken in. My high metabolism was truly a curse. It caused me to be small and frail, when I should be big and strong. My eyes had sunken in from not getting enough sleep at night, because of hunger pains.
"Seker! Get up!" My father screamed at me. I didn't even realize that I was on the ground until that moment. I shakily pulled myself to my feet, not wanting to disobey. Then the knife was against my cheek, the cold metal making me shiver.
"Seker, you better listen to me, good and well, because I'm going to kill you if you ever zone out like that again. Got it?" My father growled.
"Y-Yes, S-Sir..." I said weakly, right before he sliced open my cheek, blood running down my face.
"Go get cleaned up. We have company coming. And if anyone asks, you were playing outside and got attacked by a squirrel, alright?"
"Y-Yes-s s-s-sir..." I murmured softly.
"Stop stuttering before I cut off your tongue. " He growled before walking back inside the house. I nodded weakly. I couldn't stop, because I had obtained a speech problem from fear of them, so most of the time I just wouldn't speak. I went inside, going straight to the bathroom to clean up. I washed my face and my hands, quickly bandaging them afterwards.
"Seker! Sweetheart!" My mother called from downstairs— her voice sweet, meaning that the company had arrived—" Come be a dear and help with dinner, would you?"
"C-C-Coming!" I called back then made my way downstairs. The company was a married couple, both of which worked under my parents in the lab. They had been friends since before I was adopted.
"Oh! Seker, you're so grown up!" The woman said, pinching my cheeks gently. I tried not to cringe in pain, but I think she noticed my reaction.
"Is your cheek alright, little one?" She asked softly. I nodded and quickly scurried away, to help my mother with dinner. I could hear the couple talking about me in the other room.
"Poor kid... I wonder what happened to his cheek..." The man said softly, not thinking I could hear him.
"I dunno... But he was probably just playing in the yard. " She said softly, sighing.
"Seker, Seker, Seker..." My mother sighed in disappointment before slapping me as she had done earlier. I struggled to contain my tears.
"Bad boy. Hurry up and cook dinner, would you?" I nodded weakly then started making dinner— a lavish one that I probably wasn't going to get to have.

When I finished, I carried it into the dining room, both my parents and the new couple laughing and joking around. They went quiet when I walked inside, making me look down in shame as I set the plates down on the table.
"You need to go clean yourself up for dinner. " My father ordered gruffly, sending me scurrying away quickly.

I quickly washed my hands and face again, then quickly sat down next to my father at the dinner table. They had let me have dinner, but it wasn't as much as I wanted. I ate it anyways, not willing to let any of it go to waste. I was eating it quickly, having not eaten anything else that day.
"Oh, ho! Seker must be starving after playing in the yard!" The new man said, smiling. My father kicked me under the table— causing me to choke and start eating slower. I was sulking to myself, having wanted to eat as much as I possibly could while I had the chance. When I finished my plate of food, I asked," May I get seconds, father?" My voice was soft so that I wouldn't provoke him into hitting me.
"Yes, but get our lovely guests seconds as well, son. " My father said, nodding slightly— but he obviously wasn't pleased about it.
"Oh, I'm just stuffed!" The woman said, once I had gotten her seconds and set it down on the table," How about you eat mine as well? It will do you some good, put some meat on those bones." She smiled at me warmly. I glanced at my father, who just looked at me sternly.
"O-Oh, I can't do that, madam... But I thank you for the offer." I said politely, then sat down back at my seat and slowly ate my seconds. I had really wanted to say yes, but I knew that would only cause in me not being able to eat for a month. I glanced at my father who nodded slightly at me— indicating I had done what I was supposed to do. I smiled weakly at him then continued eating.

When the company left, I was told to clean up after dinner and go straight to bed— like always. I cleaned up perfectly, then took a bath— which was part of my 'straight to bed' routine. I sank down in the warm water, blowing bubbles with my mouth. I quickly washed off the dirt and blood that had been hidden by my clothes, carefully taking off the bandages that covered my newest wounds. When I got out, I sighed and reapplied new bandages, wrapping them up in white cloth to keep them from getting infected. I pulled on my thin black shirt, examining it. It had the words,' Spiral Eye Labs' written on the top part with an eye above it. It creeped me out, but it was a symbol of my parent's work so I couldn't complain. I pulled on my shorts and went to bed, laying on my old cot and actually sleeping for once. I was full, almost-warm, and felt safe. That was, until the morning.

In the morning, my father woke me up at the usual time before saying," You're coming to work with your mother and me. So get up." He said it sternly, making me almost jump out of bed so he wouldn't hurt me again. I nodded and got up swiftly, my father going back downstairs to get ready for work. I quickly made breakfast for my parents— and snuck some for myself, since I had been getting bold— and quickly set their plates on the table as soon as they sat down.