In the hallway, a boy with purple hair was peeking through a bead door. The boy had glass bottles filled with different liquids and others that had some sort of object in them. But in the boy's hands was a long and sleek silver revolver with pulsing purple stripes.
The time had come, and he would be back at any moment now. The traps had been set, all the weapons had been gathered, and the only thing left to do was wait, and that was what he did.
The boy sat in the corner of the hallway and occasionally peaked through to see the other side of the living room.
The living room looked different than before. The TV and its nightstand that kept it up were now on the ground, and the couch cushions were thrown willy-nilly across the floor.
Oddly, the cushions looked different than before; they were lumpy and uneven, and in some spots, something sharp could even be seen barely poking out from the cushion cover.
The couch had long been toppled over onto its back, so only the boy could notice the small wooden spikes protruding out of the punctured leather.
The adjacent kitchen had long been ransacked. As the cabinet doors were wide open, all contents were gone, and what was left of the drawers was all on the ground.
"When will he get here? Can I actually do this? Do I even know how to fire this gun? Is all this even enough to take him down?"
Too many questions and uncertainties flooded his mind.
He had sat there in the hallway for too long; the fear and anxiety had even begun to cloud his mind.
He could hear loud steps in the bedroom, and the wooden floors creaked even though no one stepped on them.
He got down to his knees and closed his eyes, trying to make sense of all of these things that he was sensing. He began breathing in and out slowly.
Remember what my brother taught me?
For as long as he could remember, his older brother was the only one who truly stuck up for him. As the oldest of all of the siblings, his brother was also the first to fight back against his father.
One day, Big Brother just had enough of his father's abuse, so he stood up and fought back.
But it was all short-lived, as my father quickly took the upper hand, and my brother never stood a chance.
I could tell that Father was beyond angry; being in the background was a good thing. Other than staying hidden when Father was mad, I noticed things that others never could.
Like how mother was poisoning father every day with his morning coffee, but that didn't go on for long. I don't know how he found out, but he did. Father cornered her in the bedroom one day, and I never really saw her the same after that.
After my older brother and mother were gone, there was no end to my father's wrath. If he wanted to hurt one of us, no one could stop him.
From seven to five
five to four
three to two
and now one
I was the last son and the last child, and surviving was easy. In the beginning, my siblings had so many hiding places that I spent a week in the vents, hiding from his view. Initially, I believed that he had completely forgotten about my existence. But after the week passed, my father came back home with someone.
A loosely dressed, pale lady who sashayed when she walked The pale lady walked over to Father as they sat down to cough together.
"I paid you to find him for me; why are we sitting down?" Father said angrily
The pale woman looked down at her wrist, where she looked at a gold watch.
"I'm usually in my apartment right now, watching my bank account increase around this time."
Father uneasily moved on the couch, moving away from the pale lady.
"You know you should be glad that I even took this job; I hate overtime." The pale lady continued to look at her golden watch as the hour changed.
With a sigh, she stood up. "The payment should be in now; I guess I should start."
The pale lady slightly shuddered.
A soft popping noise was heard in the room as two eyeballs floated away from the pale lady's head.
The father looked at her in disgust as he saw the lady's eyeballs fly out of her sockets.
"I'll look around your apartment for a little bit. It should take long."
Father looked at her empty sockets and slowly nodded.
The pale lady stood in place as her two eyes began floating around the living room, looking at everything.
"These space freaks are only good for one thing," Father hatefully whispered.
It didn't take long until that pale lady found me. I was really freaked out when I saw an eye looking at me.
Seeing the eye, I quickly pushed back, trying to find another place to hide.
"I found him," the pale lady unenthusiastically said as her eyes flew towards her head.
"That boy is hiding in the vents," the lady said, lifting her head as the two eyes floated down towards the sockets and entered them with a crack and a soft pop.
The pale lady fluttered her eyes and looked toward Father. "My work here is done." Not staying to hear a reply, the pale women swiftly walked towards the door.
"Hey wait!" The father got up from the couch.
"How am I supposed to get him out of there?"
The lady turned around and rolled her eyes at her father. "How am I supposed to know if he smoked him out or something? It isn't my problem.
The pale lady continued walking to the door and swiftly left.
"Smoke him out, huh?"