Sixteen, that's how old I am, I still have to wait until I turn 21, before I can move out of my dad's house.
Some people have a loving family home, however mine will, and never will be, a happy home.
I don't know when things turned sour between me and my dad, or why he seems to loathe me to this extent.
I think it's partly due to the fact that my mum left us when I was 8 years old, I barely remember her face since its been so long ago that I have seen her.
I sometimes wonder where she is now, what she smells like, what she's doing, and who she's doing it with, and why she left me here with him!
Maybe she never loved me, or she thought that I would turn out like my father, I don't know what the reason is, and I don't care, she abandoned me, left me behind with my dad!
My father turned out to be untouchable by the law, he could practically get away with murder, after all he gets away with hurting me often enough.
I can hear him downstairs now, which means I need to get up soon, or he'll beat my ass if I'm late today. I climb out of bed, and grab a change of clothes, before heading into the bathroom.
I lock the door behind me, even though I know that won't stop him from getting a hold of me, but it's a thinly veiled attempt at privacy, and security, but I know that.
I turn the shower on, and wait for it to warm up, I place my clothes on top of the laundry hamper, and use the toilet, before stepping in the shower.
I know I can't spend much time in the shower, so I speedily wash myself with a sponge, and hot, soapy water, before lathering up some shampoo to wash my hair.
I allow myself to fantasise about moving out of my dad's house, growing my hair out, wearing the clothes that I want to wear, and having my own rock band, but until that happens, this is what I have to work with, unfortunately.
Once I'm done, I grab a towel, and wipe myself dry with it. I grab the hair dryer to begin work on my hair and notice in the mirror that I have one gray hair.
"What the actual fuck?!" I yell, forgetting my dad might hear me.
"SHADOW!" My dad booms from downstairs, "Did you just swear?!"
I gasp, "oh no!"
"Oh crap!" I whisper to myself, "Please do not come up here!"
It's too late though, he's already pounding his way up the stairs. I start to panic, I can feel my heart crawling up my throat, and clenching itself, like a tight fist.
He knocks on the door first, which surprises me, because I thought he wouldn't do that for some reason. I grab a towel for my bottom half, and cinch it around my waist, then proceed to unlock the door.
He stands there glaring at me, not uttering a word at first, and then when he does, he surprises me again. "The school is closed today, but you should still get some fresh air, do you want a lift anywhere?" He gruffly replies.
"Err...." I say, hesitant as to what to say for fear of making him angry at me, so I choose to say, "N-No thank you, I'm good."
He looked irritated by what I said for some reason, which means my response may not have been the right one after all, unfortunately.
"You're good?!" He snarkily replied, "Never say that again!"
"O-okay Father!" I stammer, "M-my apologies."
He tutted at me, and then turned to head downstairs, before grounding to a halt at the top of the stairs. "Don't forget to eat, before leaving the house today, and remember to be back here this evening for dinner." He said, then headed downstairs.
Huh? I think to myself, Well, that was weird, I really thought he was going to hit me then. Although the day's not over yet, he could still do something to me.
I made the decision to leave my hair the way it is now, and go get some clothes on, because I don't want to be in a vulnerable position with my dad again today, unless that's going to happen anyway after dinner tonight?
No, no, let's not think about that now, I'll just get out of the house for the day, and try not to think about what might happen later.
I overhear my dad on the phone in the living room when I got downstairs.
I tried not to eavesdrop, but he was talking really loud, his voice is always like that; even when he's not shouting at me, or someone else.
"What do you mean she's back in Magicia?!" Greygar seethed, "You told me she went back to her planet, and wouldn't be coming back!"
I was a little confused about who he was talking about, and what planet. Some alien girl? I thought.
He goes quiet, and turns to point at me to head towards the kitchen, so I do, although I will still be able to hear him in there, and smirk to myself.
"Well, where is she?!" He yelled, "Oh, so she's a street rat?!" He starts laughing, which startles me, because he very rarely laughs at me, unless it's to mock me.
"That's perfect then, she won't survive long on the streets", he gleefully replied, "Put the word out that if anyone helps her, they're to be jailed, and up on charges!"
He must really hate this girl, but why, what did she do to get on his bad side? he thought, Maybe this girl could be my key to getting out of this hell I'm in?
I think, No, that's too easy, it can't be that straightforward to get away from my father long before I turn 21, surely?
My dad finishes up his discussion with whoever he was speaking to on the phone, and waltzes into the kitchen.
The room is pretty modern with an island in the middle with three dark grey cupboards and drawers on either side. The countertops are porcelain white tiles, including the ones on the other surfaces.
The walls are bordered with grey but mainly white, while the oven has its own black extractor fan, the oven is stainless steel silver and white, against the wall on the right, as you walk in, and not far from the basement door.
The sink faces the window, opposite the island, and across from that horizontally, the fridge is not far from the back door to the back garden.
I'm facing away from the back door, my eyes are on the kitchen doorway, and my feet are flat on the grey tiled floor.
My dad surprises me again by smiling at me, which he hasn't done for many years, unless it was a smug look, after he knew he hurt my feelings.
"I have a job for you boy, one I think is right up your alley." He announces.
"Oh, okay....erm", I say "What's the job, if you don't mind me asking, that is?"
He took out a slip of paper he tore out of a notebook, and handed it to me. I opened up the folded page to find blue ink on it.
I read what he wrote on it, but all it has is directions to the nearest cave just past the beach, and a number to call in case I need assistance.
"I thought this was a real job dad, these are just coordinates" I said. This earned me a smack on the face, my ears were ringing, and I was on the floor, before I knew what happened.
"DO you TAKE ME for a FOOL BOY?!" He boomed at me as he stared at my crumpled form, "Do YOU THINK I don't KNOW THAT?!"
"I-I-I'm s-sorry father!" I stutter out, "I just don't understand why you're sending me there!"
"PATHETIC, you're nothing more than a sniveling, whiney, little weakling!", He growled at me "You're going there to find Natalie, she's in that cave, I want you to seduce her, then when she least expects it, you bring her here for me to KILL HER!!"
I was shocked by what he said, but I also knew that I couldn't talk him out of this, not when he's clearly determined to get rid of this girl, and especially with how angry he is.
I have no choice, but to agree to this unfortunately, however I have no such intentions of allowing someone to be killed, and having it be partially my fault.
I will meet this girl first, make my own judgement of her, and if she's not evil at least worse than my dad or less, then I will protect her from him, and to do that I can't live here anymore!
"Okay, if that's how you feel about me, then I won't stick around here anymore", I say stiffly "I've had enough of this every day anyway."
My dad glares at me for a moment and then sighs. "So you're leaving me too now?" He wearily replies, "And where exactly are you planning to sleep?"
"I don't know, but anywhere is better than here, especially with the daily beatings, and the snide comments from you every single day." I say sarcastically.
He growls at me, like some kind of wild animal in a wildlife park, it reminds me that my dad is still a demon technically, while I'm just a lowly warlock with no way of fighting back against him, because I'm still learning how to use my powers as they slowly increase each year I get older.
"You're not going anywhere!" He snarls at me, "And if you even think of leaving me like she did, I will lock you up in that basement, until you come to your senses!"
"Then stop hurting me, I am your son, it shouldn't be this, we're meant to be a family!" I cry "Or do you even care about me at all?"
"Love and affection is for the weak" he sniffs "You should know that by now boy."
"So that's it then?" I say in a defeated tone, "There's no reasoning with you?"
"I am who I am boy, get used to it." he says, "Now are you done?"
"No, I can't do this anymore, I've had enough!" I reply in a weary tone.
I go to leave the room, but he grabs me, and shoves me down on the table, before I know what's happening.
"If you refuse to submit to my will then I shall make you." He whispers in my ear, "You remember that much don't you boy?"
I shiver in fear, because I know exactly what he's talking about.
He's going to take me into the basement, and beat me into submission just like he always does, such as:-if I mouth off, or when he doesn't like what I said, or if he doesn't get his own way.
"Okay, I'm sorry." I grunt, "I won't move out, just let me go please." I'll say anything to get him off me.
What he will never know is that I'm playing the long game, not just with moving out when I'm old enough, but also with this girl, I refuse to let him hurt this girl, unless she's just as bad as him.
He lets me up, and gives me money to get breakfast out, which is what he did yesterday too, so he clearly just wants me out of the house at this point. Just once I would like a home cooked meal though.
This time when I try to leave he let's me thankfully, I see my face reflected in the hallway mirror, and already see my cheek is swollen, it makes me want to cry again.