Page 10 of Like An Animal

THE SHADOW

I ’m invisible. Most of the time Mommy and Daddy notice me no matter what I do, but with Mommy screaming, neither of them have picked up on me crawling to the table in the kitchen. I hide under the table and peek at them through the see-through cloth.

Mommy looks so mad, but there’s tears down her face as she screams. She’s had that look on her face since she picked me up from Aunt Kathy’s house.

I don’t like Aunt Kathy. She makes me do things and keep secrets from Mommy and Daddy.

Mommy screamed at Aunt Kathy earlier when she saw the secret things she made me do.

Mommy made me get dressed and brought me home.

The whole drive she kept asking me questions I couldn’t answer.

How long has she been doing that?

Are you hurt?

Was that the first time?

Did she threaten you? Is that why you didn’t say anything?

Aunt Kathy said bad things would happen if I told anyone what she had been doing or how long it had been going on. I didn’t tell Mommy anything and the longer I didn’t speak, the more Mommy cried.

She kept saying how sorry she was, but she didn’t do anything wrong. I don’t think she did anyway.

I don’t like it when Mommy cries.

Maybe if I didn’t misbehave so much, she wouldn’t cry. Is that why she looks so sad and mad? Is it because of me?

“I don’t know. It doesn’t make sense. Maybe you misunderstood what you saw,” Daddy says as he stands in front of Mommy, his arms crossed. He doesn’t look mad or sad. He doesn’t look happy either. I can’t tell what he is feeling right now.

“I know what I fucking saw, Ivan!” Mommy yells.

“Your sister was molesting our son. He was crying and she was touching him. She had him in her bed. The only reason I didn’t kill her myself was because I knew your father would have worse torture planned for her when I tell him.

” More tears fall down her face and my chest hurts.

Mommy shouldn’t be crying. I miss her smiles.

“Let’s not do anything crazy, okay? There’s no need to involve my father yet.”

Mommy’s mouth drops open and she stays still for a moment before she explodes.

“Crazy! Do you want me to show you crazy? Our son was just violated and we have no idea how long she has been hurting him! He’s four years old, Ivan.

He’s a fucking child and you’re siding with your sister over our baby? He was assaulted !”

“I know, I know. I believe you, okay? I just think we need to calm down and look at this with some rational thought.” Daddy reaches out and takes Mommy’s hands before he says, “My father is not going to believe his precious daughter did something like this without concrete proof and the truth is that we don’t have it.

We have nothing against her except your eyewitness account and, like you said, Jeremy won’t say what she did.

What we can do is keep him safe, keep him here with us.

No more day trips or anything of the sort.

We only have a year until my father hands everything over to me and at that time we can deal with my sister, okay? ”

Mommy cries more as Daddy hugs her and she holds on tight to him.

“Mommy?” I call for her. I hate seeing her cry and I just want whatever is making her and Daddy fight to stop.

Mommy pulls away from Daddy when she hears me and I peak my head out from under the table.

She frowns as she whispers, “Oh, Jeremy. Come here, baby.” She leans down and as I start to crawl out from under the table, the ground shakes and I hear a loud boom before my whole world breaks apart. The last thing I see before the room turns into a tornado is Mommy’s scared face.

She was always so pretty with big brown eyes and long dark hair.

The walls break and shake as Mommy and Daddy disappear and everything goes black.

“Do we have any clue what happened?” A voice pulls me from sleep and my head hurts, but I can’t move or speak.

“The investigators said that explosive devices were placed all around the exterior of the house. They were detonated remotely. Anyone could’ve been behind the attack. However, the Italians are denying any involvement and have offered their condolences for the loss of your son and his wife.”

Someone laughs. “Sure, they are. I want your best men figuring out who was behind this and I want the head of every last person involved on a platter including anyone who knew what was going to happen beforehand. No one involved survives.”

“Papa…” My body trembles when I catch Aunt Kathy’s voice. She’s here. No, where’s Mommy? I want Mommy and Daddy. “The most important thing we should be focusing on is Jeremy and his recovery. We’re lucky he survived. His life could be in danger. What if whoever did this comes after him?”

“Miss Kathy is right, sir. Little Jeremy’s protection should be our top priority. He’s the only male heir your family has left. We should deal with his safety first before we worry about the culprits behind the explosion.”

“Fine, fine,” Pawpaw mumbles. “Kathy, can you take over as his guardian? You’re the only one in the inner circle who can disappear easily.

We need to keep him hidden from our enemies far from here.

Somewhere in the South perhaps. Once you’re settled, I’ll send the Volkov’s and the Aronin’s as an added shield of protection.

An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us and we need to make sure all three families are safe. ”

“I’ll care for him as if he’s my own, Papa.”

“It’s time, Jeremy,” Aunt Kathy says as she holds open the car door. I hold my small backpack against my chest before looking back at the hospital. I don’t want to go. I want to be with Mommy and Daddy, but Pawpaw said Mommy and Daddy went to Heaven.

I wonder where that is. I hope it’s nice and I can go be with them some day. Maybe they’ll come visit us wherever we’re going.

I don’t want to go with Aunt Kathy. She’s just going to keep doing the secret stuff and I don’t like it.

“Come on, Jeremy.” She smiles, but it’s not nice or sweet.

I frown before climbing into the back seat. I buckle myself like Mommy taught me before pulling my backpack against my stomach. Pawpaw filled it with a bunch of stuff from Mommy and Daddy, like pictures. I will keep it safe until they come back.

Aunt Kathy gets in the front before she drives away from the hospital. It’s completely dark out but she doesn’t have a problem driving, not like Mommy would.

“Everything is going to be just fine,” Aunt Kathy says before she whistles along with the song on the radio.

“Mommy?” Maybe Aunt Kathy can call her and I can tell her I love her and can’t wait to see her again. She was so upset the last time I saw her. I just want to know she’s okay.

Aunt Kathy lets out a loud breath before she says, “Your mommy is dead, Jeremy. I’m your mommy now.” Dead? What does that mean? Is Mommy not coming back? Tears fill my eyes as my bottom lip shakes.

“This can serve as a lesson. After all, your parents are dead because of you. If anyone finds out our secret, they die. Do you understand, Jeremy?”

I hug my backpack tighter as I cry harder. I slowly nod, but I don’t speak. Why would I? There’s nothing left to say.

Mommy and Daddy are gone and…it’s my fault.