Victoria pushes me back down, my butt skidding against the concrete.
"Where's Ty now?" she questions, "I thought a dog was supposed to protect its owner, yet here you are."
"He's-he's in the hospital…" I say. Surely she'll be kind enough to let me go. It's what I would do- no, it's what anyone would do.
"Well that's a shame, but I guess everything happens for a reason right?" she crouches putting a hand on my shoulder. "He got what was coming to him, I'm sure." My eyes twitch at her words. How could she say something so heartless? He could be dying and she still won't hesitate to make fun of me. Are people like her even human? "Hey, I got an idea. Why don't we get to know each other a little better since he's not here to interrupt?"
"What-" the word barely gets out before it's slapped back down my throat, the pain, burning across my cheek.
"Did I tell you to speak dog?" My fist clenches. I want to fight back but I know I will lose. I want her to take back what she said about Ty, but it would all be in vain if me and him both ended up in the hospital. There's nothing I can do now, so like always I'll just have to put my head down and do whatever she says. "Good boy! That's more like it!" she pats me on the head. "So what's a stray like you doing with a family like his, hm?" she asks, stroking my hair. "I saw you all at the beach from our balcony. Your aunt looks fun." her foreign touch feels like she's scratching my head with dull knives "I can't imagine they'd willingly pick you up off the street." she grabs me by the chin forcing me to look her in the eyes. "No, they must be getting paid a lot of money right?" Victoria lets go of me then looks away in consideration. "Or maybe you really are related to them." I can feel my jaw tighten. "Haha! So that's it?" she goes back to petting me. "What are you? A cousin, a family friend?" I tuck my head once again averting her gaze. I feel her hand leave the top of my head. "Speak." she commands. My hesitation is all that she needs. With a sigh I see at the corner of my eye, her hand reeling back. "You heard me, Dog"
"Ty and me…we're brothers." Another smack sends my brain rattling in my skull. She hit my temple more than my cheek this time.
"C'mon, If I wanted to be lied to I would talk to my family."
"I'm not lying!" she raises her hand back again. I prepare myself for this hit, but when it doesn't come I open my eyes to see her laughing.
"You're such a baby." she flicks my forehead instead. "Let's say you're telling me the truth and you are brothers. Why does he look so…good, while you look like-" she holds back a small laugh, "-That!" she can't hold it in any longer. I'm used to it by now. Being laughed at. They do it in front of me and behind my back. I can't remember a day on this earth I haven't been made fun of, but those days I'm alone in my room. No one to see or speak to me. Those days where not even Ty comes in to say something. Those are ones I can look back at while crying on a late night.
I put my head down once more. I can't bring myself to answer her. I don't care if I am beaten, made fun of, or belittled. Ty doesn't deserve this treatment and neither does the rest of my family. No one should ever know.If anyone found out he's a half elf, then he'd be belittled and beaten, just like me.
Victoria wipes away a tear from her eye, her laughter finally coming to an end. "So, what is it huh? What made you a freak and him a stud? Did mommy throw herself around whoever she thought could fit?" my fist tightens. "No wait, I know! Your family didn't want a creep like you anymore so they pawned you off to whoever's got a thing for pointy eared freaks. Yeah, that sounds like what happened! You can't be too mad about it I'm sure. Everything happens for a reason, right?" My anger bubbles at the surface. She's gone too far. What does she know about it? She's just a brat looking to control whatever she can in her life.
I go to stand but my legs won't allow it. Despite my anger, my fear has more control over me. My legs trembling, my hands following the example. I want to fight back. I know I'll lose, but she can't get away with talking about my mom. Not like that. If my body would just-
"What's this? You look mad, Doggie. That's no good. Do I have to teach you some manners?"
"S-s-shut up"
"What?" she yanks my hair back. Forcing me to look her in the eyes again. "What the hell did you just say?" her smile, now gone completely. I don't need to repeat myself, she heard me. Although, I doubt I could even if I tried. I know what's coming next. Another beating I can't escape from. Victoria closes her hand now, bawling it into a fist. I wonder what it'll be this time, a black eye? A bruised cheek? Hopefully she won't knock out any teeth.
I brace myself, thinking that the more tense I am, the less it'll hurt. Closing my eyes so as to not lose my sight when she beats me.
Only the impact never comes.
"What the hell?" I hear her say. I quickly open my eyes to see a meaty hand stopping her from throwing her punch. Towering above her is Bill. His large statue-like figure acting as a shield from the sun.
"I suggest you take your pretty behind back home to pops 'for things get ugly." he bellows. I feel a shiver quake through her body. She yanks her hand away from him and finally lets go of my hair.
"Fine, but don't think I won't find you again, Dog." her fake smile returning, "So be a good boy until then." She then ducks away and out of sight leaving only Bill and I. He scratches his thick beard before offering me his hand. Something different about him. Instead of the silent terror he imposed on me when we first met, he now has this anxiousness to him. Hesitantly, I accept it. He helps me up to my feet, but doesn't let go.
"I know what you are." he blurts the words as if he'd been choking it back. Still shaken, he feels my hesitation in my hand. "Don't worry, I'm here to help," he says. I don't believe him. He'll push me down the second I turn around.
"What do you mean?" I ask, unsure of his intentions.
"You've seen it haven't you? The other side." he says, the desperation in his voice more apparent. "I know you have, you were there. I can feel it."
"What are you talking about?" I pry but his grip tightens around my hand. Then shockingly, a long black strand of ooze flies from the top of his hand, landing on the ground beside me.
"You don't know how long I've waited for someone like you to come along. Family" Slowly, his callused hands turn to a more solid and jagged form. I attempt to pull my hand away from him, but he's too strong. I watch as the skin around his fingers peels and drifts away like dark flakes of snow. Underneath revealing an obsidian-like stone. The hair in his beard melts into his skin, fading to that same blackened color now overtaking the area around his cheeks until it's fully enclosed around his face.
"What the hell are you…" I say under my breath, taken aback.
"You and me, we come from the same place, you know. Even if we don't look alike," The ooze flying from his hand flings itself onto my skin, sticking to my arm. It then begins wriggling up to my shoulder. I beat Bill's hand trying to escape but it's no use, he's way stronger than I am. "You're my brother now." As the more ooze spurts from his hand and onto my arm. My skin, turning into that same obsidian. It rapidly squirms up my neck. I feel each one like a swarm of ants along my body. They take over my other arm before making their way down to my chest. I swat at them with my one free arm, but it only makes them move faster. "You don't have to fight it. It's good for you, it's better for you."
"Get off of me!" I plead. He doesn't listen.
"No brother of mine is gonna be picked on like that ever again you hear me?" The ooze flows to my waistline, then down my legs. "I want you to have something to protect yourself alright? In case next time I'm not here."
"What are you doing to me?!" I scream out, hoping that Kerry, or Victoria, or anyone at all would hear me
"I'm giving you your life. The one you were always meant to have." A sharp pain echoes throughout my body, dropping me to my knees. An agonizing scream leaves my lips as Bill finally lets go of my hand. I can't run away in this state…I can't..
My vision blurs, Bill still standing over me, his form shifting back to how he looked before. My eyes eventually coming to a close as I feel that same callused hand return to my skin. My feet leave the ground. As he sets me on his back I hear him say.
"You'll live a good life now that I'm here, brother"