Davey's eyes fluttered open.
His vision was hazy, and a dull, throbbing pain radiated from the back of his head.
He groaned softly as his small hands instinctively reached to rub his temples.
His body started to tremble uncontrollably, though oddly, he felt neither pain nor numbness... just an overwhelming sense of unease.
He blinked rapidly, trying to clear his vision.
Slowly, the world came into focus.
The room he found himself in was nothing like his home... or anywhere he'd ever seen.
It was cramped and murky, with walls that seemed to close in on him.
The air was thick and filled with a foul stench... the kind that made his stomach churn.
Cobwebs hung in the corners like tattered drapes while the floor seemed alive with the movement of spiders and insects.
Davey flinched as a cockroach scurried past his foot.
"W-Where… where am I?" he whispered in a hoarse and trembling voice.
As if in response, a voice emerged from the shadows.
"Well, well. Awake already? That was quick."
The voice was cold and detached...
It came from a shadowy corner of the room.
Davey's head snapped toward the sound.
Standing there, leaning casually against the damp wall, was a man.
Or at least, Davey thought it was a man.
The figure was dressed entirely in black robes, his body hidden beneath the fabric.
A mask that covered his face... simple in design, except for one striking detail... a crimson-black line ran down the right side of the mask in a jagged, lightning-like pattern.
Through the mask's eye holes, Davey could see the man's eyes... or what passed for eyes.
They were utterly unnatural.
The sclera was pitch black, while the pupils were a stark, glowing white, as if the colors had been switched.
The sight of them sent a shiver down Davey's spine.
"Who… who are you?" Davey stammered in a voice that was barely audible.
He took a cautious step back, his small frame trembling like a leaf.
"Where am I? What do you want from me?"
The man tilted his head slightly, as if amused by the boy's questions.
"Relax, kid." he said in a calm tone, devoid of warmth.
"I'm not here to hurt you. You're here because your dear father got himself into some… trouble."
"Trouble?" Davey echoed, confused.
The man's words made no sense, but a faint hope flickered in his chest.
"You… you know my father? Is he here? Where is he?"
The man's eerie eyes seemed to narrow behind the mask.
"James?" he said... his voice dripping with disdain.
"He's dead."
The words hit Davey like a hammer.
"What… what do you mean?" he asked as his voice started to break.
"Dead? You're lying! He's not—he can't be!"
His chest heaved as emotions surged through him... disbelief, confusion, fear… and something else.
Something darker.
Tears rolled down his cheeks as he struggled to make sense of it all.
Despite everything James had done to him, despite the beatings, the neglect, and the hatred, the idea of his father being dead felt… surreal.
"Why are you crying?" the man asked as his voice sliced through Davey's spiraling thoughts.
"Is it because you truly loved him? Or because you've lost the faint hope that one day he might change?"
Davey looked up at him, his tear-streaked face full of confusion.
The man stepped closer, his presence looming over the boy like a shadow.
"Your body." he continued...
"it screams of abuse. The scars, the bruises, the broken arm that never healed properly... they tell a story far clearer than words ever could."
Davey's lips quivered, but he couldn't speak.
"And yet..." the man said, his tone sharp and cold...
"you've been clinging to the idea that some miracle might happen. That your father might wake up one day and see you as something other than a burden. But deep down, you know better, don't you?"
The man's gaze bore into him in an unrelenting manner.
"Your smile." he said while pointing a gloved finger at Davey's face.
"My… smile?"
"Your unconscious smile..." the man clarified.
"The one you didn't even realize you had. The moment I told you James was dead, you smiled. Because a part of you... the part that knows the truth... wanted him gone."
Davey froze as his heart started to race.
He hadn't noticed it at first, but now that the man had pointed it out… he realized it was true.
His lips had curled into a faint, involuntary smile.
The realization made his stomach churn.
"I… I didn't mean—"
Before he could finish, the man moved.
In a flash, Davey felt a hand grab the back of his shirt.
He was yanked backward with incredible force while his body almost levitated through the air.
"What are you—" Davey began, but his words were cut off by a deafening crash.
The ceiling above them exploded, sending debris and a thick cloud of dust raining down.
Davey coughed violently, his eyes stinging as he tried to make sense of what had just happened.
Out of the dust emerged something horrifying.
At first, it looked like a massive glob of flesh, a grotesque mass of skin, blood, and organs fused together in a chaotic mess.
Bones jutted out at odd angles, and eyes dangled loosely from their sockets.
Davey's stomach churned at the sight.
He gagged, trying to fight the urge to vomit.
And then… it spoke.
"You bastard!" the thing roared.
It's voice was distorted and haunting.
"Look what they did to me! This is all because of you! I'll kill you, you little wretch!"
Davey's blood ran cold.
He recognized that voice.
"F-Father?"
The thing in front of him was James.
Or what was left of him.
Davey stumbled backward, his legs started to tremble.
His mind raced with questions...
How?
Why?
But deep down, he didn't want the answers.
The masked man stepped in front of Davey, shielding him.
He raised a hand... gesturing for the boy to stay behind him.
"Stay back." the man said in a tense voice for the first time.
James... or the creature he had become... let out a guttural laugh.
"You think you can protect him?" it snarled while it's twisted form started lurching forward.
"You're nothing. I'll rip you apart!"
The masked man drew two daggers from his belt, their blades glinting even in the dim light.
Without hesitation, he lunged at the creature.
Davey watched in silent terror, clutching his chest as the battle unfolded.
He wanted the man to win. He needed him to win.
But his hope was short-lived.
The creature moved with unnatural speed and strength, its grotesque limbs twisting and contorting as it fought.
Within a minute, it had overpowered the masked man.
Davey's heart sank as he watched the man fall, his body lifeless on the ground.
The creature... James... turned its attention to Davey.
"You're next..." it growled as it's mangled form crawled towards him.
Davey's body refused to move.
He was frozen in place, staring into the hollow, bloodshot eyes of the monster that had once been his father.