to face them fully, the mug clasped in both of my shaky hands. I pray to whomever is listening, be that my demons or God, that they don’t notice how my entire body jerks with desperate tremors. I’m driving two hundred miles per hour straight towards a brick wall, and no matter how many times I slam on my brakes, I know I won’t stop in time. The collision is inevitable, and all I can do is brace myself for impact.
“Don’t use that tone with me,” Dad scolds, a scowl etched onto his face. “We already decided we’re sending you to boarding school. You’ll be lucky if you don’t end up in prison before then.”
“Are you fucking kidding me right now?” I snap before I can reel in the words. But at this point, I’m not sure if I even want to. A twisted part of me wants to flay my parents open the same way they do to me, slashing at them until the brittle bone underneath is revealed. “I have done nothing wrong. I never do anything wrong. I’m the perfect, obedient daughter, and you know what? I’m sick of it!”
“You watch your mouth—” Mom begins, color erupting on her cheeks, but I cut her off before she can continue her tirade.
“No! I’m sick of the way you treat me and Adam. I’m sick of you showing up at random times and all of a sudden deciding you want to be parents! I’m sick of you pretending that you care, when all the evidence suggests that you don’t. You want to know how often you’re actually here? I’ve kept track. I’ve got calendars for the past three years. You only sleep in this house around one hundred and fifty days a year. You’re gone the rest of the damn time. You’ve never been to a single one of my tournaments, and you missed Adam’s Christmas pageant, even though I reminded you twice. If I didn’t do the grocery shopping, then Adam and I would have nothing to eat! You can’t just walk in here and demand things, when I know you won’t even be here to see it through. And there’s no way I’m leaving Adam and going to boarding school. You two would let him starve!” I’m panting heavily by the time I finish my improvised speech, but it’s worth it to see the rage emanating from my parents’ eyes.
“You really think you’re something special, don’t you?” Dad scoffs, and over his shoulder, I notice Kastros lurking in the shadows. He seems particularly massive this morning, his muscles flexing as he hurls daggers with his eyes at my oblivious parents. “But you, Katrina, are nothing but a mistake. You act like you’re so goddamn smart, but I’ve seen your grades. Nothing but Bs and even the occasional C. Isn’t it kind of sad that decathlon is the one thing you’re good at, yet you’re not even the best on the team? Doesn’t that say something about you, my darling daughter?” He turns to Mom and adds, “I told you at the hospital, I thought the nurses switched her. Proof?” He jabs a finger at me. “No true child of mine would be like this.”
With each word he says, with each dagger he plunges into my heart, he takes another step forward until he’s hovering over me. I see Kastros tense, preparing to lunge forward, but I warn him with my eyes that I’ll be okay. They’re just words, after all, and though they can quite literally decimate your heart into shreds smaller than confetti, they can’t kill you.
His words won’t break me.
“Fuck you,” I hiss, raising my chin instead of cowering away like I did for years. “You’re shitty people, shitty parents, shitty—”
The slap comes out of nowhere. I don’t even see it coming. Hell, I’m pretty sure Mom didn’t see it coming either, if her startled gasp is any indication.
An ache spreads across my cheek, and my good ear rings. The mug of coffee slips from my fingers, crashing to the floor, as the scorching liquid burns my skin.
Time seems to slow down as a few things happen.
First, my dad is wrenched away from me by a livid Kastros. I’ve never seen such rage on his face before—on anyone’s face, if I actually think about it. It’s nearly unparalleled, as if this man, this demon, embodies pure and molten anger. The rage transforms his entire face until I can’t decipher where the demon ends and the