The Badboy Downstairs

Chapter 1

A test floats onto my desk with the answers filled out, and a "A+" is written in the corner with red ink. I keep a straight face as I put the paper in my binders, but inside my head I was having a celebration. Being one of the brightest girls in the school can be exhausting. My eyes dart over my shoulder to see my friend, Jane, holding up her "B-" paper. I hold my thumbs up and smile. She could barely keep her D average grade steady for the life of her; the poor thing.

The bell sounded in each classroom for the dismissal. Like the wind, I was out of the classroom in seconds and onto the bus; ready to be at home for the weekend.

At the bus stop, Jane and I waited in line with the others, chatting about the juicy gossip between people we frankly just don't like or care about. "I heard that Mia and her ex got a little tipsy last night, and some sounds were heard through the neighborhood." Jane whispered slightly for no one else to hear. "Damn, who told you?" I asked her. Jane giggled, "her ex, but Macy keeps denying the fact. Probably embarrassed by it." I laughed, "guessing he's not too good in bed?" "I could guess so!" Jane nudged at my shoulder.

The ride to my apartment felt prolonged than ever, especially since Jane was talking to the star quarterback on the football team. My heavy eyelids were closing slowly to take a short nap, feeling the bus rock back and forth, nodding me off to sleep. Although, before I could slip into dreamland, the bus stops at the entrance of my apartment complex. I wave good-bye to Jane as I exit the bus.

As I approach my apartment, I spy a moving truck with some boxes piled outside the door of the apartment below mine, with the front door exposing the interior. I thought about welcoming the new neighbors, but I decided not to bother. I dragged my exhausted body up the wooden stairs and unlocked the front door; hoping my father wasn't drunk on the sofa.

I enter the dull apartment, with gray furniture and dim lights. I let out a big sigh as I close the door and walk into my room. Setting my book bag down by my working desk, I slip under my sheets, and lay in what seemed like an ocean of dream clouds surrounding me. My eyes close, my breathing steadies, and my mind goes into a sugar sweet dream.

+++++++++++++++

Darkness was all I could see, pitch black. I felt awake yet reality wasn't at my grasp. My arms and legs were bound to what seemed like a chair. The air polluted with cigarette smoke and the sounds of a ticking clock. My mouth feels strained from speaking a word or even muffle a scream.

"Don't try to make a sound, girl," a raspy male voice spoke out, "unless you want your pretty long hair cut right off your scalp."

My knees trembled in the chair, from fear taking over my body and mind. I whimpers softly into the cloth as I wriggle my legs and arms to try to break free. With a quick gesture, I feel my hair swing back with a tight grip in my hair. A squeal leaves my lips as the pain deepens into my scalp. "Do you have a death wish?" The voice whispered in my ear. The touch of the man's lips on my ear sent chills up my spine, along with the sharp, cold metal that touched my neck. "You'll never see the day of light again." A sharp slice broke into my neck with a silent scream following.

+++++++++++++++

Crash! My body jolts with surprise when the sound rings in my ear. A male's loud shouting sounds through the apartment. Dad's home, I thought. I rip the covers off my aching body, and walk my way to the shouting bastard that I call my dad.

When I finally make it to the living room, my eyes start to blur to see my dad cursing at the heavens while taking shots of the whiskey in his hand. The alcohol staining the yellow carpet and the stench of whiskey quickly filling the atmosphere.

"D-dad! Stop this!" I yelled at him as I lunged myself at him, to my attempt to grab the bottle. He dodges my move and grabs my arm tightly, and jerks me in front of his face. Frustration and anger was written all over it. "You bitch! Be like your mother and leave! I don't care for a smart ass like you!" He spits the horrific words at me and twists my arm. I bite my lip, holding in my yell of pain. He throws me at the wall with a loud thud. All the air in me suddenly left and I couldn't breathe. My sore body falls to the ground, my head throbbing and arm stinging. Oh how much I wanted to hurt that son of a bitch.

"Dad p-please st-" I scream and duck at the hurdling bottle smashing above my head, making the rest of the whiskey spill everywhere. He sits down in his chair in front of the television, muttering something under his breath.

I slowly get up and wipe the tears from my sore eyes. My aching arms hold my body up to stand and limp to my room. When I looked back at him, he had a beer can in his hand and a sad drunk look upon his face. Blubbering cursive words of regret and depression. I thought of of going back and giving him a warm hug, but he would deny it and strangle me. He is much stronger when he is drunk and will hurt me even more; maybe even kill me.

Once I entered my room, I felt at peace from everything. I shuffle slowly to my bed and lay down on it. "Just a nap, and maybe everything will be alright." I said to myself. But I knew it won't.