Amber hugged her brother tightly as he trembled in her arms.
"You didn't do anything wrong, Nath."
"Yes I did! He's gonna kill me!"
"It was two points. You lost two points on a test. That is great considering it was a standardized test and you almost had a perfect score. Mom even said she would try to keep him calm if he freaked out."
Nathaniel shook his head.
"It wasn't perfect, though…"
The sound of stomping feet came closer and closer until they could see the shadow of evil blocking the light that seeped under the door from the hall.
"I'll try to talk to him if he gets angry or I'll distract him or something."
BAM! BAM! BAM!
Their father beat on the door.
"You have three seconds to open this door!"
Nathaniel and Amber exchanged looks.
"One…"
She kissed his cheek and hugged him tightly.
"Two…"
She hurried to the door.
"Three-"
"Hello, daddy. With all that yelling, you scared me. I thought you were angry."
"I am, but not with you sweetheart. I'm sorry you have to live with an idiot like your brother."
"He's not an idiot, daddy. He's really smart."
"Not according to his test scores, he isn't."
"I saw his scores and they're way better than mine."
"Yes, sweetheart, but you make up for it by doing other activities. You getting the lead role in the school play and putting so much effort into the orienteering race shows that you can accomplish anything. Unfortunately, your brother cannot keep up with you. What is he? Student body president? Pathetic. He's useless."
"But daddy-"
"Here's my card. Why don't you take yourself shopping? You can have whatever you want in the store."
She looked down at the card in her hands before looking back up at her father. He started to close the door but she grabbed it.
"Wait. No…I…This is wrong."
"What?"
"Please don't hurt him, daddy."
Their father shook his head and looked over to Nathaniel, who was now standing in a corner, trembling as he watched the man.
"This is your fault. You have your sister feeling bad for you. Now she's unhappy because of you too."
The man turned to Amber, and smiled.
"Don't feel bad for him. He deserves this. Go enjoy yourself."
With that, he closed the door, leaving Amber standing on the other side.
"So what made you think it was alright for you to get anything less than perfection on that test?"
"I…I…I…"
"You nothing."
"Please-"
The man took off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves.
"I'll do better next time-"
"Shut up. You said that before and I went easy on you. You're damn straight you'll do better. If you want to keep drawing breath on this earth you will."
His father came towards him and he held his arms up to protect himself. The man didn't even bother taking off his wedding ring before rushing at his son.
Out in the hallway, Amber heard the sounds of things breaking and her brother screaming in agony. She ran outside to find their mother, who was watering her flowers.
"Mom! He's attacking Nathaniel!"
The woman dropped her watering can and ran into the house. They weren't even up the stairs when she heard her child screaming.
"Oh my god!"
They hurried to the bedroom and tried to open the door. The man had locked it and was inside viciously beating their son. She ran to their room, looking for anything with a flat surface. She found a coin and ran back, unlocking the door and rushing in. They tried to pull him off of Nathaniel, who by now was barely conscious and reaching for anything to hang on to. It was no use, as the man simply twisted his arms out of their grip, sending them falling backwards as he went back to attacking their son. He slammed Nathaniel's head against the bed frame and he immediately stopped moving. Their mother screamed when it happened and put herself between the man and their son.
"Stop it! You're killing him! Get off of him!"
He finally stopped and after catching his breath, he walked over and picked up his coat before walking down the hall to their room. He closed the door. Meanwhile, their mother held Nathaniel in her arms, trying to wake him up.
"Nat?! Wake up for me! Come on, baby!"
His head fell back and his arms hung limp at his sides. His mother hugged him as she wept. She had no idea if he was alive or not. All she knew was he wasn't moving, and his chest was not rising and falling. If it was, it was so minor it was unnoticeable. Amber reached for his hand.
"Nathaniel…"
She wiped her eyes. Sirens were heard coming and moments later, the police came running through their front door, which their mother had left open when she ran in. They hurried up the stairs to the room where Amber and their mother sat, trying to wake Nathaniel.
"We got a call from one of your neighbors about domestic violence in this house. What happened," an officer asked.
"My baby…" the woman cried.
"Who did this?"
At the end of the hall, their father opened the door and walked out.
"What the hell are you doing in my house?"
He started to walk towards the officers, who pointed their weapons towards him.
"Stay where you are!"
He continued to come at them.
"If you do not stop, we will use deadly force!"
The man continued to walk towards them.
"LAST WARNING!"
"Stop it already! Just stop!"
The men all looked over to the woman, who still held her unconscious and still-bleeding child in her arms.
"Stop fighting and call an ambulance!"
Their father went back to his room, followed by one of the officers who kept an eye on him while the other called for an ambulance. After he hung up the phone, he began to tend to Nathaniel as best as he could. They tried to stop the bleeding but it was just too much. By the time the ambulance got there, Nathaniel had lost a dangerous amount of blood from his torso, arms, and legs. The lacerations on his neck and head were a whole other problem. He was strapped down to a gurney and taken to the hospital. Amber and their mother followed close behind.