Tenebris

Chapter 2

Her legs screamed in pain as she continued to run towards her house, but she ignored it, knowing that the pain will be far greater if she was any more late than she already was. Fear and fatigue took her breath away, causing her to clutch her chest tightly as she sprinted home. She was thankful that the hospital was only a ten minute walk away from her house, although she knew that her mom or dad wouldn't listen to what happened. She would just have to deal with whatever punishment they give her.

She glanced at her watch as she ran and fear ran through her again, much worse than before, she was supposed to be home an hour ago. Tears welled up in her eyes as her house came into view. The lights were on. She stopped in front of the house, suddenly not in a hurry as she realized that no matter what the punishment was going to be bad. She took a deep breath, trying to calm down as much as she could as she slowly strolled down the road, trying desperately to hide her fear since it always would make it worse, and with a sigh, she walked up to the porch, and with a trembling hand, opened the door.

As she walked in, looking to the floor, a object comes flying at her head, just barely missing her, hitting the wall beside her. She looked to see what it was, her father's favorite cup. She bit her lip and looked up, knowing before seeing that her mother was only a few feet in front of her with that sickeningly sweet fake smile that she always wore. "Amanda, I didn't see you there. I assumed that you might not be coming home tonight. I'm glad you're home."

Her mother came closer and put her hand on Amanda's shoulder, digging her nails into Amanda's skin until small droplets of blood started to form, "You should know better than to come back so late at night, but anyways, you got your test back today, yes? What did you make?" Her mom smiled as she spoke, but her anger was obvious to anyone that knew her. Amanda forced herself not to show that it hurt and smiled back timidly at her mother, scared of what she'll do if she does anything her mom might consider rude for some odd reason. "I made a 92." she tried to say this happily, but her smile crumbled as her mother now openly glared at her, "You worthless, stupid, pain in the a..." her mom hissed under her breath and turned away from her.

Suddenly she turned back to Amanda, the smile plastered back onto her face like some cheap doll that a man to five minutes to make for a quick buck. Amanda took a step back, terrified at the sudden change in her. "I almost forgot to tell you," she sneered, "your father is coming back home tonight, it seems his business trip didn't go too well this time. You should probably get ready."

Amanda pushed her mother aside, no longer caring about her, she was nowhere near as scary as her dad. Her mom didn't even respond to this and just looked at her with a twisted grin as Amanda bolted upstairs to her bedroom and locked the door. Looking down at her hands she could see her hands trembling with her fear. Why does he have to come home tonight? He could have just stayed at his girlfriend's house, she thought while putting her hands over her ears to drown out her mother's laughter.

She got onto her knees and moved the stuff from under her bed and slid quickly underneath and tried to make herself as small as she could. Her dad normally didn't put the effort in to get her once she was under there so it made her feel a bit safer than before, but this didn't stop her from shaking when she heard the door downstairs slam open. Her father and mother immediately started to scream at one another before he stopped and started to stomp upstairs. She strained to listen as the walking slowed, until it came to a stop in front of her room.

The door knob shook violently before he started to bang on the door, "AMANDA! I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE, OPEN THE DOOR!" He barked, more angry than he usually was when he came home. Amanda started to rock back and forth in place, trying desperately to calm down, but her thoughts kept getting darker. Thinking she might be killed, she couldn't even bring herself to breath as he hit the door harder to try and get in.