Red

Chapter 4

A tense silence came over the car as the weight of my words filled the air. Everything seemed to freeze in time. Realizing what I said I opened my mouth to apologize but was stopped when my mother's hand connected with my cheek. I gasped, the suddenness of it making me lose whatever words were about to come out of my mouth. I sucked in a breath as tears fought their way out. Choking them back I held my face and turned towards my mother.

She had never been one for physical punishment and wasn't this easily angered. There wasn't a hint of sadness on her face, all I saw was pure anger. "Mom-." She quickly cut me off with another slap. My eyes widened. "How dare you. You think you a just say something like that without any consequences? Huh? Your ungrateful little girl. I provide for you, protect you from the horrible monsters that are out there in the darkness waiting to eat kids like you up, quite literally might I add. And what do I get? I get called a psychopath."

I shook my head tears breaking free and falling down my face. "I saw a hint of sadness in her eyes and decided to try to speak. "I'm sorry I didn't mean that. You were just screaming and scaring everybody. There's nothing out there, you just need to stop. Please. Mom, please." She looked taken back by what I said. She blinked a couple of times and then started to laugh. It slowly built until it came out all gurgled and choked, almost like a low guttural growl.

My lip quivered, more tears threatening to fall. She was fully out of her seat now and was facing me a look of disgust and disbelief on her face. I could also smell the alcohol and realized I had made yet another horrible mistake. Before I could react, she started to strike me again. Each punch getting more forceful and violent then the last. I tried to block it but several of them connected with my body making me cry out in pain. I choked on my air and struggled to breathe through my tears, my already battered body shaking as I tried to hold it together.

My father reached back and tried to calm her down and make her sit. The car swerved a bit and she smacked him away. She swung her arms at me again and I managed to push her slightly catching her off guard. She slipped and ended up hitting Mason right in the face. My eyes widened as I heard him gasp. My head snapped in his direction and I saw him start to shake. He looked down and a small sob sounded from his mouth. She reached for him but without thinking I grabbed him and pulled him to me. I gently grabbed his face and looked at the mark. She had accidently scratched him.

I watched as a small welt appeared on his cheek. Tears welled in my eyes. It was my fault he got hurt. "Mase, I'm so..." Before I could finish my mother grabbed my hair and yanked me back making me slam my head into the window. I let out a pained gasp, as my vison darkened a bit. She paused for a minute a look of regret on her face. She sook her head and her anger came back.

"Look what you made me do. I hurt him. I hurt him because of you. I gave you everything Brielle. Everything, my whole life even." She stopped talking and started to sob. My heart broke and I reached out and rubbed her arm gently. "Brielle. I do my best for you guys. I'm sorry I lost my temper. I'm sorry so...let's stop this fight. We both said something we regret right? Let's just...let's just stop." I wanted to nod my head, more than anything I wanted this to be over. But I wanted to help her. If she knew herself that she lost it. Maybe...maybe she'll get help. Looking at her, my own tears fell. I dried my cheeks and took a shaky breath. I decided I should try to push her a bit more, maybe she'll finally agree to see someone about her problems.

"You're right mom, and I am sorry. I'm so sorry. It got out of hand. I got out of hand. But...But I, I want to help you more than anything. I'm tired of hiding from things that don't exist. We've been hiding for so long. Struggling, all of us. Why don't you see a doctor about these "monsters" you're seeing. That way you don't need alcohol and drugs to go out anymore and we can all just be happy again." She paused and then after a long moment of stiff silence she let out a dry laugh. My father turned and gave us worried glance. "Brielle, I know you just want to help. But maybe this all should wait till everyone is calm and rational. Till we are all safe at home." I shook my head. "But dad. What better time then now, when she has finally realized she needs help!"

I felt a cold hard slap on my already stinging cheek. My mother wasn't even facing me. She just started crying and swinging her arms. I let out another gasped cry trying to stop her. I managed to grab one of her hands and stop it only for the other one to smack me and leave me out of breath. After a minute of trying to regain the air that I had lost I continued to try to push my mother away. "Stop it! Please. I just wanted to help you. Please, stop! I'm sorry. I'm sorry." She kept trying to hurt me no matter what I tried or said. I must have pushed her to the edge. No. Even worse. I pushed her off the cliff entirely. She once told me "Family will always stand by you no matter what. They are the only ones you can trust. I instantly regretted everything I had said. My mother continued to cry and swing her arms.

My dad turned around and tried to pull her back into her seat. The minute he touched her she stopped swinging but wouldn't sit down. I just sat there watching as he struggled to pull her back releasing both hands from the wheel. He reached further and put his foot harder down on the gas. As if breaking from a trance I gasped as the car sped up. "D-dad! The car! Stop the-" Realizing his mistake he immediately released the gas and turned around, but it was too late. The car swerved and hit the rail bouncing into the thick brush of trees beside us. In that one moment I was flying.