Lex's eyes fluttered open and the sharp rays of the sun made him shut his eyes back. Slowly, he opened them back and then his eyes met with the ceiling above him. At first, his head was blank for a few seconds but then, soon enough, the memories started flooding back in.
He remembered coming back from the library where he works part time as a librarian…and then he got to the silent alleyway where he was attacked by the thugs. The rest of the memories came flooding in and he immediately bounced up from the bed, his eyes widening in horror.
It must have all been a nightmare - the beating, him almost dying, how he woke up and killed the thugs, it must have all been a terrible dream. He then remembered that he had transformed into something else in the dream, something he couldn't even comprehend.
What a terrible dream! He thought to himself.
"No, that wasn't a dream." He heard a voice and immediately looked behind him, he saw no one.
He looked around him but still couldn't figure out where the voice came from. He was still trying to comprehend what was happening when the door barged open and he instantly jolted from where he was sitting on the bed.
He looked up to see his foster Mom, standing by the door with her eyes filled with anger. He immediately realized he was doomed. How did he even arrive at home yesterday?
"You bastard! Where the hell were you?! Because we both know you just came in this morning. And I'm interested in how you entered without me noticing" his foster mother yelled in anger.
Lex immediately got down from the bed and went down on his knees. "I swear Mom-"
"Don't you dare call me your mother. Your real mother is in hell right now looking at how useless her son has become!"
"I swear ma'am, I don't even know how I entered the house. I just met myself on the bed this morning," he said in fear.
His foster mother laughed, "what do you take me for, Alex? A fool? You're telling me you don't know how you entered the house?"
"I must have been tired,"
"Or you didn't want to be sent on any errand and then went to your stupid friend's place to sleep only to come back here this morning" his foster mother said, as if she knew exactly what had happened the previous night.
Lex wasn't surprised, anytime his foster Mom questioned him about his whereabouts, her first guess was always that he had gone to his friend, Bryan's place.
He tried to speak but she interrupted him.
"You're nothing but a burden, Alex! A useless, ungrateful boy who only knows how to waste our resources. You're not even worthy of being called our son! You're just a pathetic, unwanted orphan who should be grateful for the scraps we throw your way!"
Her words cut deep, like a rusty knife scraping against his soul. Lex felt a stinging sensation in his eyes as tears began to form, but he fought them back, refusing to give her the satisfaction of seeing him cry.
She took a step closer, her voice dropping to a menacing whisper. "You're lucky we even took you in, you orphaned brat. You should be grateful for the roof over your head and the food on your plate. But do you appreciate it? No! You just take and take and take, like the selfish little leech you are!"
Her hand shot out, her palm connecting with his cheek in a resounding slap. Lex's head jerked back, his eyes stinging from the force of the blow. He felt a warm trickle of blood oozing from the corner of his mouth, where her ring had cut him.
"You're so ungrateful, Alex," she spat, her face twisted in disgust. "You don't deserve our love or our care. You're nothing but a worthless, unwanted child, and you'll never amount to anything in life!"
Lex felt a wave of despair wash over him, threatening to drown him in its depths. He knew that he was trapped, that he had no escape from this living hell. He was at her mercy, and she showed him none.
Lex's eyes remained fixed on the floor as his foster mother's verbal barrage continued. She stood over him, her face red with rage, her eyes blazing with a fierce intensity.
"You know what, I don't have your time this morning. Just get out of this room now and clean the house." She said simply and walked out of the room.
Lex sighed and stood up, ready to leave the room but he heard the voice from earlier again. "Ah, I'm beginning to regret choosing you as my host."
Lex's eyes navigated around the room, trying to depict where the voice came from.
"I'm in your head, the one who saved your life," The voice said again. He sighed and shook his head. The dream must be messing with his brain, so he thought.
He immediately went out of the room before his foster mother came back. As he cleaned the house, his mind went through how he became someone living in foster care.
At a very young age, his parents had died in a burning house, leaving him all alone in this cruel world. Then came the Millers, a couple who came to adopt him from the orphanage home. At first, he thought he was finally free from the bullying from other kids in the orphanage home but little did he know that he was in for something worse.
His foster parents had completely turned him into a houseboy whose job is only to clean the house, receive insults and be treated like a slave. He was only able to go to high school with a scholarship since they didn't even care about his education.
He sighed, slumping on the couch after he was done with the house chores.
"I guess you are now ready to listen to me."