The Tainted Rose

Chapter one

Have you ever done anything wrong for the right reason?
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(Bell rings)

"Well class, that's all the time we have for today. Don't forget to write the essay about World War II, it's due for next week." My history teacher, Professor James, reminded us. Professor James had black hair, brown skin, used rectangular shaped glasses, and I think he was in his forties.

"Mmmmm...World War II, a historic event where people did a lot of bad things for what they thought were good reasons." I was sitting in front of my computer trying to write the essay, but nothing came to mind. I sighed while I let my head hit the back of the seat. I passed my hand through my auburn hair while looking directly at the computer with my dark brown eyes. Since nothing came to mind and I was bored; I started to draw with a pen on my white skin.

Ten minutes later my stepfather came into the house, drunk as always. He had lost his job the year before and since then he had been bouncing around jobs. He would always have too much to drink, come home and hit my mother until she couldn't take it anymore. Then, he would proceed on to me; he would hit me for a while and then continue to insult me with every word he knew.

I know right?  Why would my mother be with that guy? The thing is, he wasn't always like that. Before everything, he knew my father and they would get along really well. He would come to our house and have dinner with us, and sometimes, he would play with me and my father. That was until my father died. My father died of a heart attack when I was eleven; at least that's what the police told my mom. When my father died, my stepfather helped me and my mother with everything. After a year, my mother started developing feelings for him, and although I wasn't really ready, I told her that I had no problem because I only wanted to see her happy. The year after that, they got married and I could notice how my mother started to see the world brighter again. Sadly for us our happiness never seems to last. A year after they got married my step father lost his job, and that's when everything started happening.

So there I was; sitting in front of my computer when I heard my mom screaming in pain. I tried to ignore it, but the screams were so loud that I just couldn't, it was like her screams were piercing into my head. She was my mom after all and I hated the thought of her being assaulted, it made me want to do something. Then again, what can I do against him? his bigger than me and nobody would believe me if I said anything since everyone respected him for some reason I couldn't really understand. Anyway, for a moment the screaming stopped and it was weird since that never had happened before. Everyday when he was through with her, she would beg him not to hit me; not that it worked but that day was different. I couldn't hear her anymore and it disturbed me in the worst ways possible, all kinds of thoughts came to mind and the images I was picturing were horrifying. Concerned I rushed into her room and I saw him on top of her, she wasn't moving and he seemed worried. I felt my heart skip a beat as I witness the event that would most definitely scar me for life. The thought of my mother being dead started to escalate with every passing second that she didn't move. I screamed at her, but then again, she didn't move. I really feared she was dead.

Then, my stepfather without saying a word started walking in my direction. Fist closed, rage in his eyes, ready to hurt me. The shock of everything was so much that I couldn't bring myself to move and as he came closer the sound of my heart beating started to increase steadfastly. I finally got control of my frozen body and started running; not that it mattered much since he caught me just when I was at the edge of the stairs. He pulled my shirt and started saying a lot of things about us, but that wasn't all. He told me that he was going to be very happy when he killed me as he did with my father. A creepy smile was painted on his face as he confessed everything. He explained that he had injected my father with calcium gluconate (for those who don't know what it does, it's a drug that can imitate a heart attack). He said that it felt nice to finally get that off his chest since he wanted someone to know the truth. I think it didn't bother him that he told me because he was going to kill me, but I felt so much rage that it was like I wasn't even me for a moment. The adrenaline flowing inside me helped me push him down the stairs and fly down them after he hit the bottom. Since he was still alive after the fall, I went to the kitchen, grabbed a knife and tried to stab him, but he stopped me as I swung the knife at him with intentions to kill. Even though he deserved to die for everything he had done, it bothered me that I tried to kill him without any kind of hesitation. Taking a life is not something to take lightly and I didn't even blink when I swung the knife. We were struggling for the knife until he tripped with the couch and stabbed himself by accident. I didn't hesitate, I took the knife out of his chest and started stabbing him over and over and over again. My hands, my shirt, even my face were all covered in blood. The metallic scent of the blood was all my nose could pick up and it made me so sick that I puked on the floor beside the dead body which was covered in blood from top to bottom.

To my surprise, as I tried to recover from everything that had come to past, my mother was standing at the bottom of the stairs taking everything in. She saw the mess of blood that covered the house, looked at me and yelled, "What have you done?.... Answer me!"

I told her everything that happened and she went on to tell me, "Ooh Aiden, what have you done?"

What have I done? Was that even a question?

"Ok ok, we'll just tell the police that it was self-defense and our bruises will help." As she told me that, I could see the tears coming out of her eyes and even though she was trying to hide it I knew she was freaking out and didn't have a clue of what to do.

"I'm just glad you're ok Aiden."

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My mom and I were out sitting on the balcony, when the cops arrived, my head was against her chest and she was stroking my hair and telling me that everything was going to be alright. Even though she tried to remain calm for me, I could feel her fear, her insecurity, and shock. I was all covered in blood and the house was a mess, I was scared of everything that was going to happen next.

I couldn't stop thinking of all the blood, about the body and how I just kept stabbing him over and over again. The thing is that I felt satisfied, content while I was doing it and it disturbed me to the fullest.

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There I was in front of one of my bullies; I had knocked him with a baseball bat. We were in the cemetery and I raised a knife to kill him... "Young man, can you explain to me what happened?" I heard a rough voice, that startled me and cut me off from my daydream. Yeah, it was all some kind of daydream. I know what you must be thinking; what the hell kind of daydream was that? Daydreaming about killing one of your bullies, in the middle of your stepfather's murder interrogation?

"Huh?" I answered confused.

"Can you explain everything that happened yesterday, with your stepfather?" The detective asked me.

I was kind of scared, he was huge, he had a lot of muscles and had this long brown bear. I was only half his size and not muscular at all. "You don't have to be scared; you're safe here, no one can hurt you." He assured me.

"Well, my stepfather got home, drunk as always. He started hitting my mother like he always did, but this time at one moment I couldn't hear my mother's screams. It scared me so I rushed to her room. It was then that I noticed that she wasn't responding. I started running calling for help, but he caught me, and as I tried to break free, I accidentally made him fall down the stairs. When he reached the end of the stairs, he stood up and went to the kitchen to get a knife. I feared for my life, so I started fighting him. He then tripped with the couch and stabbed himself, but I still feared for my life so I took the knife and stabbed him various times. That's when my mother jumped and stopped me. I thought she was dead, so it was a surprise, but also a relief when I saw her. She had only fainted for a while, but she saw everything that happened. I didn't mean to kill him, but when he was there I could only think of my mother, how I thought he had killed her. I'm very sorry officer. What's going to happen to me?" I know there are some things that are not true, but he doesn't need to know.

"It's alright son, nothing is going to happen to you. You just tell that to the judge and you'll be fine. We know that it was self-defense and that he always abused you." The detective explained. After the trial, the judge determined that I wouldn't get any charge. When all was said and done, my mother thought that it would be better if we moved to another town.

And that's how it all started...