Father: Drunk

As Libert walked toward home--his bewildered mind only thought of one thing, 'What the fu*k just happened'. But what baffled him the most was the fact that his mother claimed that no one in the seat was next to him.

The sight of the poverty-stricken neighborhood reminded Libert of his status of existing as a peasant.

The buildings were old and dilapidated, with peeling paint, crumbling brickwork, and rusted metal. The streets; are narrow and winding, with cracked pavement and potholes that are filled with murky water.

"A-are y-you sure I was sitting alone..." Libert questioned his mother with a tone of confusion and terror.

"For the last time- yes!" his mother provided an answer infused with fury.

"S-sorry," a tinge of anxiety emitted from Libert's words.

'Am I crazy,' the boy began to question his mental state. He was aware that he would never be taken seriously, at least while retaining the status of a serf; which was equivalent to being a peasant, and that did not help in the slightest.

But it wasn't justice he was looking for, it was answers.

But at the moment he had more pressing issues than finding answers, his father.

His house was a dilapidated old structure, its paint long since peeled away, its roof sagging and in desperate need of repair. The windows were boarded up, and the front door hung crookedly on its hinges.

Inside, the walls were stained and peeling, the floors creaked and groaned with each step, and the air was thick with the musty smell of neglect.

The house was a sorry sight, but a true and precise embodiment of his life.

As Libert approached the broken doorknob, he felt a complex tide containing wrath, bitterness, fear, and terror wash over him. It was an emotion he had experienced hundreds of times, but could never become accustomed to.

His house was not a place of warmth and love, but rather a place of unrelenting horror and fear.

After letting out a sigh he twisted the doorknob.

With one step into the living room, the stench of alcohol invaded Libert's nostrils. "Honey, we're home," Mrs. Nexus announced as she entered the house after her son.

Bang!

It wasn't a verbal response, but every cell within Libert's body fully acknowledged that it was his drunk father.

"...I'm here..." a gruesome voice broke through the ambiance, it contained a distorted tone; as the words became slurred. The ghastly voice came from the nearby bathroom that was about twenty feet away.

The only thing Libert could hear was the relentless pounding produced by his heartbeat.

In the split of a second, Libert felt the space behind him diverge.

He knew what was coming, but was powerless.

Libert swerved his attention behind him; turned to face a portal glimmering with an intense red light, swirling and pulsing with otherworldly energy.

But before he could process his situation, an enormous and gruesome hand reeking of liquor grabbed Libert by the collar and dragged him into the vortex.

"Why didn't you say hi...," A tremble went through his Libert's spine as he recognized his father's slurred voice.

Libert felt as if the world closed in on him, as he was sent face-first into a toilet.

"I could-," he struggled to release the words from his mouth, as his jaw and nostrils became sealed with water.

"...just die..." The aggressor's tone became injected with malevolent laughter.

"S-sorry..." Libert's vision became blurred, he became lightheaded, and nausea ensued.

His world went blank.

----------------------------------------------

"Ahh-," Libert felt an intense pain on the right side of his cranium.

The adolescent lay curled up in a ball, his small frame shaking with sobs as he clutched his bruised and battered body.

His father's words echoed in his mind, a constant refrain of pain and fear that he could not escape.

It took him a while to process everything, but the fact was; Libert was quite familiar with this predicament.

Creak

After realizing that the door was opening, Libert scrambled to the farthest wall, as he awaited his father to enter and induce further abuse.

"Why didn't you greet him, you know he gets heated cause of that," Libert's mother said as she opened the door slowly. Her tone became a complex mixture of sincerity and sadness, but it also included a tinge of fear.

"I-I w-was about t-to," Libert still shook from the series of traumatic events that had unfolded.

Mrs. Nexus proceeded to get on her knees as she treated the wounds on her son's neck, "Just don't let it happen again, you know what he can do to."

Bam!

The conversation was suddenly interrupted as the door blasted open.

Libert yearned for an escape, but couldn't, he was trapped; entangled in a prison of no escape.

As the drunk father cruised into the room sluggishly, the atmosphere harbored a drastic change. Every breath felt like a challenge, and every movement was sharp and aggressive.

"Oh yeah, if you don't pass that test, I'll kill you," the pounding that resided in Libert's chest returned as he gazed into the bloodshot eyes of his father.

"...Don't get any funny ideas-- once you pass I'm gonna sell your test..." the slurred speech ensued.

After the drunkard delivered his distorted speech, he left the mother and son duo to themselves.

"C-clean up and go to your room," Libert's mother had an unstable sentiment in her voice.