Page 78 of The Addict

“You can’t do that!”

“Oh yeah? Who will they believe? I’m Chief of Police, baby. You have nothing on me!”

“Daddy’s going to change, sweetheart,” my mother murmured.

I didn’t believe her.

“And we are going to stick together as a family, and everything is going to be fine, alright?”

I nodded so that she would be happy. I loved my mom. I knew that there was nothing she could do. She was helpless the moment she told that man, “I do.”

We were all doomed under his authority.

“That’s my baby. You sleep now.”

In the dark.

The memories came back.

And I was being touched again.

It hurt.

I screamed.

But no one was listening.

“Noah.” The voice was cold.

“Please don’t hurt me father.”

“I won’t, I’m not.” He sighed, walking closer. “Daddy is never going to touch you again, okay?”

I nodded.

Though I didn’t believe him.

“I made you something,” he growled, his attitude flipping in an instant. A switch. A trigger. Manic. Physically, I could see the snap.

“What have I made you, Noah?”

A freak. I knew I’d never be the same. I knew I could never trust anyone. Ever.

“I don’t know.”

“I made you a man, Noah. You’re a man now. You should be happy.”

I nodded again.

He flicked the light off.

“Father!” I called out. “Please leave the light on.”

Silence.

“P-Please! I don’t like the d-d-dark!”

Darkness made me think of you—a demon crouched in the shadows, sharp teeth bared, waiting.