Hidden Demons and Gaudian Angels

A boy is abused by his father regularly, but he finds some happiness thanks to a friend.

Jordan Baxter, a skinny, brunet from the bottom of the upper class, sneaks into his house late at night, preparing himself for the overwhelming stench of the property.  It reeked of different kinds of alcohol, smoke, and waste.  His father had stopped taking care of the place after the loss of Jordan’s mother in child birth, falling into a drug and alcohol filled depression and blaming Jordan for all the broken family’s misfortunes.  Yelling at Jordan whenever he saw him, and even hitting him occasionally. The marks were always easily hidden and the young boy was scared of what would happen if anyone knew, so he kept it secret.  Society tended to push anyone who was considered abnormal into the lower class district, were it was impossible to crawl up to the upper class.  Any middle class had long been destroyed long ago when warfare consumed the world and almost everyone was left with nothing.  Instead he poured himself into school and avoided going home to keep him and his father from being thrown out. 

Jordan found the front door unlocked with a new pile of trash stopping the door from opening fully.  His father was nowhere to be seen and Jordan hoped he could make it to his room without seeing his father. His father was the most abusive when he came home late, he was also highly unlikely to be home, but this never stopped the small boy from fearing contact with the man.  Jordan much preferred coming home to find the man passed out and leave early before he awoke, if the man came home at all.

Today luck seemed to be on Jordan’s side, as he made it to his room without any indication that of his parent would see him tonight.  He only had to push past the new pile of trash by the door.  He fell into his bed exhausted from his day at school.  He had to walk to and from school every day, which was a three and a half miles away from his home.  Feeling safe in his room for the night he began to analyze his day.

The girl from down the street had followed him to the park after school again, asking if he would play with her.  She always did this and once every blue moon, when some of the boys decided to tease him; she would stand up for him saying that he was her friend and not to bother him.  The boys at school all respected her; she was good at everything, often beating them in any activity.  Jordan himself fond her quiet clever seeing how she beat the boys by combining her brains with her brawns, whereas the boys were only used their brawns.  Regardless even with this respect, everyone always teased her for defending Jordan.  The boys who teased her for protecting him would be sporting bruises and the occasional black eye the day after bullying the two.

Jordan appreciated this as much as he hated it.  He wished he didn’t need anyone to stand up for him, that he could do it himself.  Unfortunately he had always found that staying quiet and hiding was the best way to avoid conflict.  He always felt bad when he rejected the friendly girl.  Every time he refused to play with her, she would say it was okay and smile at him, like he was important, then walk away or sit by him and watch the sky quietly.

He lay in his room thinking about the girl; bundled in the pile of blankets atop the old mattress he called bed.  His thoughts were halted when the house suddenly shook from the front door being roughly thrown open.  Jordan soon heard his father’s voice yelling a string of curses as he most likely tripped over the trash surrounding the door.  The small child subconsciously hid deeper in the pile of blankets.  If his father came to see him there was no hiding, but he desperately wished he would be forgotten by his father tonight.  Holding completely still the boy listened to his father stumble through the house, until there was a loud thud fallowed by complete silence.  After a few minutes of silence, thinking his father had passed out in the hallway, Jordan relaxed into his bed.

Suddenly the door to his room was thrown open, shaking the house again.  The sound woke the boy from his half-conscious state. In the doorway looking murderous and swaying, was Jordan’s dad.  Seeing his father woke Jordan up completely as he frantically looked for a way out as his father approached him. 

The child tried to run past his father and out the door, but he was too slow and the man took up most of the door way.  His father caught him by the arm and carelessly threw him back against the wall, knocking the wind out of him.  Jordan lay there coughing and clutching his chest, trying to regain his breath. 

“You worthless little s**t,” his father growled.  “Think you can run away from me,” he yelled, picking the small boy up by the collar of his oversized shirt.  Jordan closed his eyes expecting a blow, but none came.  Instead he was dragged out of the room and into the living room.  “Well then go ahead runt, run!”

As soon as his father dropped him he was on his feet, but Jordan didn’t run.  He knew he had nowhere to go, and that he wouldn’t get away anyhow, this was just a cruel trick.  The boy’s father always did this to tease the child.  Last time he actually tried to run when offered he got a half empty bottle a beer to the head.  He had to wear a beanie for weeks in the middle of summer to hide the wound it left.  Instead he stood in front of his abusive dad, staring at the floor, glassy eyed. 

“Aww, the little s**t doesn’t want to run,” the older man cooed, “that’s too bad I was only going to offer once.”  Jordan stayed where he was, unmoving.  “What’s wrong kid?  Cat got your tongue,” the man laughed.  Then attacking the child, he grabbed the boy harshly by the jaw, slamming his head against the wall.

Jordan cried out in pain, tears threatening to fall from his eyes.  He pulled desperately at the hand squeezing his jaw and cutting off his air.  The man he called father just watched as Jordan struggled to breath, smirking in satisfaction.  Jordan wanted to yell at him to stop and hide away forever, but the hand on his jaw wouldn’t let him move.  Instead he went limp and closed his eyes, blocking out his father who had loosened his grip enough to let Jordan breath, and was now yelling at him, blaming him for something went wrong today as well as the loss of his mother.

Ignoring all the nasty things being yelled at him, Jordan retreated to the depth of his mind.  Thinking about how tomorrow someone would ask him why he had a bruise or was limping, and he would laugh and tell a story that was nowhere near true.  That girl wouldn’t believe him though, she never did.  She would laugh with everyone else and call him clumsy, but there would be sadness in her knowing eyes.  He wished she could save him now like she did from the school bullies.

Jordan’s attention was ripped back from the innocent girl to the harsh reality in front of him.  He was curled up, lying on the floor before his father’s feet.  His father stood over him, laughing again and holding a blooded kitchen knife.  Jordan’s eyes went wide with panic as he tried to get away.  He realized now that the pain that had pulled him from his daze was his father cutting at his chest.  There was a deep, bleeding cut running across his chest now.

The older man just laughed harder and pulled the boy back up against the wall by his hair.  “So I finally got your attention again, huh?  That’s good, I was worried that worthless mind of yours finally quit working.”  The knife was slicing into him again, this time from him left shoulder down his arm to the tip of his elbow.  “Not that I would care, if you were gone my life would be shitload easier. In fact,” the man smiled cruelly placing the knife over the base of the boy’s neck, “maybe I should get rid of you myself.”

This made something in Jordan snap, suddenly he was just watching though tear filled eyes as he grabbed the hand that held the knife to his throat.  “Do it then,” he yelled.  Jordan watched and listened in horror as his body said and did this without his permission.

His father stared at him, looking shocked at the now smiling boy.  “What did you say?” he whispered.

“What’s wrong old man, losing your hearing?”  The boy laughed, as the knife now began to push into his skin.  Jordan watched in disgust, having no control over his own body and unable to feel the pain as the blade tore through his skin.

“What the hell is wrong with you Jordan?” the older man spat, letting go of the knife and releasing the small boy.

“Oh so you do know my name. I was beginning to wonder, what with you calling me names all the time.”  The child laughed again, looking at the blooded knife now in his hand.  Jordan tried to yell out, but he found he had no voice.  He heard laughter coming from the voice in his head.

The shock on his father face faded, regaining as much composure as he could while drunk.  “Did that f*****g worthless, little s**t of your mind finally snap?”

“Probably…” the child pondered, lost in the blade in his hand.  It had a good amount of blood on it but he could still see himself in it.  His eyes were blood shot and his pupils fully dilated.  He noticed that he had begun to cry.

The stunned man to finally come back to his senses.  He lunged at his kid, pinning him to the ground, taking the knife back and cutting the boys hand and arm in the process. 

Jordan hissed in surprise.  He slowly lifted his now blooded hand to his face and wiped the tears from his face. Eyes lost in pain meeting the angry eyes above filling with disgust.  The stand still did not last more than a second as Jordan unexpectedly head-butted his father.  This caused the man to release his hold on the child as he scurried towards the door.

His vision was bleared from blood and tears and he tripped or the trash thrown about by his father’s entrance.  He slammed into the door, landing in the pile of empty bottles and cans.  This gave his father enough time to recover and come charging out of the living room like a mad bull, toward a very disorientated Jordan. 

Before he could move his father was on him again.  The knife sunk into Jordan’s side before he could understand what was happening.  He cried out in pain and instinctively curled up to protect himself.  His father would have none of that however grabbed him by his hair and attempted to slit the boy’s throat.  This caused Jordan to loss it entirely, he blacked out welcoming the blissful nothing that came with it.

 His vision was began coming back slowly and blurred as he dropped under a tree.  He realized it was the one that he would always read at after school and the girl would often sit by with him.  He was back in control of himself and that he was sobbing now, teetering on the edge of conciseness.  He didn’t care if anyone saw him, he was losing blood quickly, his arm was going numb, and he was all alone.  He just gave in and fell asleep hidden in the only place he ever felt happy.

 

He woke the later to someone shaking him and desperately calling his name.  He looked up to see that girl who always tried to play with him.  Her glasses were crocked and her short blonde hair was a mess on her head.  Her hazel eyes were filled with fright and tears.  She was chanting his name over and over, like it was a secret code to a lost treasure.

He tried to move his hand to wipe away a tear that was falling down her face, but his whole body seized at the thought of movement.  He let out a moan remembering what had happened to cause the pain.  Hearing him the girl stopped her chanting and tried to get him to look her in the eyes.

“Jordan!” the girl beamed at him.  “Jordan can you hear me?  What happened?  Who did this to you? What’s hurt?  How long have you been here?  I heard yelling and came as soon as I could, but you weren’t home.  I thought you might be here though.  Are you okay?” she said too quickly for Jordan to process right now.

He smiled weakly and tried to tell her he was fine, but attempting to talk hurt everything and threw him into a coughing fit.  A look of pure concern was back on the blonds face and he felt bad for making her worry so much.  No one ever worried about him, so this girl shouldn’t have to either.

She said something to him before running away.  Jordan didn’t hear any of it, the coughing fit had made him dizzy and the world was fading in and out of focus.   He settled back down wounding, faintly, where the girl had gone off to.

 It felt like hours of silence before Jordan heard the sound of feet running towards him.  The girl was quickly standing over him again, she was talking, but Jordan couldn’t understand her words anymore.  Soon there were two more people next to her.  Most liking her parents he thought. 

The mother quickly said something before running off.  The father carefully picked him up and the girl held Jordan’s hand protectively all the way to the car waiting for them.  The mother was in the driver’s seat talking to someone on the phone.  Jordan as just watching again it only hurt too much to do anything else. 

The ride to the hospital should have taken longer but the mother was diving as if the car had a siren.  When they arrived at the hospital Jordan was rushed into an emergency room and the rest of the night went by in a blur of strange faces and strong medicine.  Jordan would try to lash out violently whenever someone seemed threatening to him, but then the girl would come back every time calming him and allowing the professionals to do what they needed.

The next week went by quickly, with Jordan drifting in and out of consciousness, thanks to all the medicine he was on. Whenever he did wake up the girl would be sitting nearby, loyally watching over him.  Sometimes she would be talking to him even if he wasn’t awake, and other times she was asleep in the visitor’s chair next to the bed.

This time, however, when he woke the only person in the room was a doctor checking on how his injuries where coming along.  She seemed really young, probably a new doctor hopping to do well at her new job.  Her hair was a dark brown that complimented her dark skin perfectly.  The most surprising feature were her light green eyes that were looking straight at him.

Jordan blushed noticing that he had been staring at her.  She just smiled warmly at him and finished what she was doing before she caught the boy looking.  When she finished she sat in the chair and looked over his chart a minute. 

“So how are you feeling today?” the doctor asked.  This startled Jordan who had been struggling to keep his eyes open.

He tried to answer her and tell her he was okay, but he found no sound coming out.  Only immense pain in his throat.  He grabbed it in fear looking to the women with pure panic in his eyes.

She looked at him calmly as she got out of the chair and walked towards him.  “We were worried about that.  The cut on your neck was really bad, but we have this for you to use until you can write again,” she said picking up a board off the table next to the bed.  On it were the word “yes,” “no,” and “I don’t know”

“Oh, I’m Dr. Taylor by the way,” she beamed at him.  “Now I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions about the other night.”

Jordan instantly tensed up and began to panic.  He had tried to push those memories away.  He looked at her and slowly pointed at yes with a shaky hand.

“Great,” she said gently. “Now that little girl, Audri, said that you were attacked at home?” she asked gently as possible.

He nervously pointed to “yes” again.

The doctor smiled sadly “and you knew who did this to you didn’t you?”

Another “yes” more shaky and hesitant this time.

“Was it your dad?”

At this Jordan’s whole body seized up and he began to cry, taking most of his energy.

“I was afraid of that too,” the doctor whispered sadly petting the hair away from his face to calm him down.  “That girl knew a lot about you, you must be close,” she pondered aloud.

Jordan began to calm a little at the thought of Audri, she had come to save him after all.  There was a knock at the door and in came his heroine.  She quietly came over and sat in the visitor chair behind the doctor smiling at Jordan.

The doctor turned to her seeing that Jordan was completely calm again. “How did you know what happened to him?” she asked.

Looking down she answered, “I always watch him walk home, so I knew he yelled at you a lot, and that night I heard him scream.  It sounded hurt, so I decided to go check on him.  I knew that when he come to school hurt it was because of him.  I always sit with him until he goes home and he never does anything that could hurt himself like that.”

Jordan had watched her as she spoke meeting her eyes when she finished.  He blushed and tried to look away.  The doctor smiled at the interaction.  “So you never saw his father?” she asked.

“No I never saw him come in or out just heard him sometimes when Jordan went home.  Mean words kinda like the other from school, sometimes they make fun of him, and we fight.  Because he doesn’t deserve to hear that from everyone he’s super smart” She answered like it was no big deal.

Jordan just stared at her a moment, while she smiled innocently toward him.

“You’re a very nice young lady Audri, and an amazing friend” the doctor smiled genuinely.  Then turning to Jordan and noticing that he was losing his fight to stay awake she turned back to Audri.  “You are welcome to stay her if you like, I have to go to work.”

“Of course Mama says I’m his Guardian Angel,” she beamed.  “I’ll always be right here next to him from now on.”

Jordan smiled to himself because of this.  He began drifting off to sleep, feeling safe with Audri the watching over him like a true angle.