stockholm syndrome; k.th

[four]

library serenade

Taehyung's blackened heart bounced frantically around inside the confines of his rib cage. His eyes widened in pure fear as he heard the sickening crash.

The white plate, which was previously being held carelessly in his small, bandaged hands, was now in broken fragments at his feet against the kitchen tile.

The loud sound it had emitted woke up the drunken monster in the next room over.

"Kim Taehyung! What the hell was that damned noise? I told you to be quiet, boy!" It shouted, it's heavy footsteps approaching the room with an uneven gait.

His father staggered into the kitchen where Taehyung stood, tears of terror streaming from his black eyes and burning the old cuts that painted his cheek. The tall, overbearing man raised his hand as he saw what his son had done, the younger bracing himself for the impact he knew would come.

"You clumsy little shit!" He hollered, his rough voice - as rough as the hands that rained blows upon Taehyung's small frame - echoed through the nearly empty house. His hand flew across Taehyung's cheek with skull-cracking force, the loud slap 
stinging his ears almost as equally as the sting on his face. It only took seconds for an ugly red welt to imprint on his skin in the exact same shape as his father's long, calloused fingers.

The young boy trembled and his voice stuttered like a broken record as he attempted to apologize. However, before he could his body was pushed into the opposite wall, making him stumble into the pile of broken glass and causing the shards to impale his bare feet. Taehyung cried out in pain and fell to his knees, unable to hold himself up on his fresh wounds.

He watched the blood pool up underneath him.

Taehyung's father scoffed, "Weak." He uttered, "Clean up your mess, finish the dishes and go the hell to bed. I don't want to see your pitiful face for the next twenty-four hours."

The boy nodded, squinting his eyes in an attempt to hold in his tears.

"Speak!" The man commanded, pure fury had replaced the blood in his veins.

"Y-Yes, s-sir." Taehyung mumbled, shrinking back into the wall as if he could camouflage.

Then, he watched as the monster - with the same exact pitch black eyes that he had as well - turned away and lumbered back into it's lair.

xox

Taehyung awoke with a start, his whole body jolting forward into a sitting position as his chest heaved up and down, pleading for oxygen. He was drenched in a cold sweat and his heart raced a thousand beats per second, flitting around against his ribs.

After he realized it was all just a horrible nightmare - or more precisely a memory - he sighed in relief and layed back down in his bed attempting to slow his heavy breathing. Then, he rolled over and pulled open the draw of his nightstand table, sifting through his things until his fingers curled around the smooth edge of an orange pill container.

He read the prescription even though he had it all memorized from years of being on the useless things,  "serotonergic antidepressant; fluoxetine (prozac) TAKE BY MOUTH ONCE PER DAY"