FREAK

Noah

     I had locked myself upstairs. Luckily dad hadn't woken when I snuck into the house. I knew how he could get when I was late. If he were as violent as last time, I'd be dead for sure.
     When ever I saw dad, he looked back at me with hunger. Not the lust kind of hunger but the kind of look a man lost in the desert would give a turkey sandwich. That was the main reason why I was so careful around him. That wasn't much of a problem though. He ignored me the best he could. I did the same.
     There was a sudden pounding at my bedroom door that made me jump.
Bam!
      The door bent underneath the pressure of whatever was pounding on the other side.
Bam! Bam!
      I could hear the door crack a little.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
      I could hear dad on the other side of the door screaming.
Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!
       I have to do something to keep him from getting in.
Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!
      I don't want to die.
      I opened the window and dove under the bed. Just in time too. As that was the second I heard a crash! I huddled up the best I could as far away from the feet visible from under the bed.
     "NOAH!" I heard his voice call out. It was loud and booming.
      I saw the pair of feet limp over to the open window. It seemed as he had bought my trick. He jumped out. I could hear the ground crunch as he landed. I was alone just long enough to pack a bag and dive under the bed again.
     "NOAH! THIS IS GETTING OLD, BOY!" He hobbled back into the room and started to look around in hiding places that I had used earlier in my childhood. I was surprised that he didn't check the bed first. But, honestly I was relieved at the same time. 
     He walked across the room to the closet. This gave me the perfect window. I leapt out from under the bed and walked into the kitchen as quietly and quickly as I could.
He didn't seem to notice and continued looking for me upstairs.
     As I was stuffing my small bag with food, I noticed the full bottle of red pills on the counter. That's why he sounded so mad. He had just forgotten his pills.
     Whenever dad hadn't had his pills, he acted even crueler than usual. It was mandatory for an altered citizen to take the pills everyday. For whatever reason, dad only semi-obeyed that rule. Meaning, he took them when he didn't forget to take them. I noticed a slight difference in his behavior when he didn't take them. This consisted of less patience, more violence, and less sympathy. But most of all, the thing that scared me the most was the bloodlust in his eyes. There was so much more hunger than before. I had actually believed he would eat me once.
     Luckily, he remembers to take them when he sees them on the counter. So if I can hide again, maybe I'll be safe in a couple of hours.
     I heard his stomping coming from the stairs.
Uh oh. I gotta hide.
     I dove into the pantry. Luckily, the small closet was such an enclosed space. Wait, that's a bad thing.
     My breathing became heavy. I tried to hide it the best I could but when I did, my vision blurred a bit.
     I took beep yet quiet breaths when he came close and retreated back to attempting to control what was happening.
     Something within me always hated enclosed spaces. I couldn't explain it to you but whenever I went into one, I'd be set into an override state of panic.
Don't panic, Noah. We can do this. Just focus on your breathing. In, out, in, out, in- oh god.
     I heard the stomping through the pantry door. If the door hadn't been there, I likely would have been face to face with him. I held my breath until my vision was tinged with a blurred red and my nausea and dizziness became almost unbearable. Right before my legs gave in, I heard his footsteps recede. When he left, I let out a sigh. I heard the front door open and close and I burst out of the pantry. My breathing returned to the normal state it had been in.
     I ran back into the bedroom where I would stay the rest of the night and continued thinking about the altercation and why it has been delayed. Was I special in some way shape or form? Why wasn't I receiving my worst nightmare? Why did I think about why it wasn't happening instead of how to get out of it? I set the bag down under the bed so dad wouldn't find it. I wasn't going to run off today. I had felt something odd. Like I was supposed to stay there because someone or something was going to come to me. The problem with that feeling was that I didn't know if that something was pleasant or deadly.