Okay everyone, this theme is 'Dark'! I decided to write about Gabriel when he was young, being abused by his stepdad.

Just a forewarning, this chapter and the couple of chapters are a little more, er, dark than the other ones, and probably when the 'T' aspect of the story is going to come into play! But enjoy anyway.

Gabriel Désiré was never scared of the dark. He didn't know why, because most kids his age were. They were afraid that monsters were going to come out of the closet and eat them, or something weird like that. But Gabriel, he was never afraid of the dark. He liked the dark. He liked the skeleton and demon and monster costumes that were out on Halloween. Gabriel, to a lot, was a creepy little kid, if they got to know him enough.

So most people didn't. And this brought it's own set of problems. Gabriel needed a friend. In his whole six years, he had wished for one. But alas, he was still eating by himself at lunch, and playing on the monkey bars by himself at recess.

But now, Gabriel wasn't at school, which he actually grew to like somewhat. Well, anywhere outside his home. He was inside a dark closet, one where the shadows of jackets and other various items might have scared another little kid. But not Gabriel. He seemed to see the shadows bend into shapes, shapes of creepy things that nobody else would like.

Gabriel wasn't afraid of the dark. He wasn't afraid of scary shadows. He wasn't afraid of monsters of skeletons. Gabriel wasn't even afraid of being lonely.

Six-year-old Gabriel was scared of his stepfather.

His mother had married a few years before, and for the first two years, everything had been peaceful. But then, when Gabriel had started kindergarten, his stepfather had started doing horrible things to him. His stepfather had started to come home, angrier than anything Gabriel had ever seen. Once, when Gabriel had been trying to escape to his room, it had first happened. His stepfather had lashed out and hit him on the cheek, which soon turned into a big, brown bruise.

And then he was done. But that was only the first time.

The next few times, it had become worse. Bruises showing up on his arms and legs and stomach. He even bled some.

And now, his stepfather was looking for him again. This time, Gabriel had decided to hide. Maybe the tall man would forget what he was doing, and go somewhere else. Or maybe he just wouldn't find Gabriel, and he could escape to school the next morning. Maybe he could find his mother.

But his mother didn't seem to care. She sat by while he got hit, seemingly uncaring. Gabriel had cried out, begged his stepfather to stop, begged his mother to help him, but she hadn't. Wasn't his mother supposed to love him? He'd seen movies in which mothers loved their sons more than anything else in the world. So why didn't his mother?

"Gabe! Gabriel! Bastard, where are you?" He had heard his stepfather call, somewhere on the other side of the house. His stepfather used words like that all of the time, and his mother told Gabriel never to repeat them. They were 'bad words', never to be used. Then why did is stepfather use them? Why were adults aloud to do these things?

Then Gabriel heard crashing: things being thrown around the house, toppled over. He heard his father overturn the couch in their living room, and immediately following it was the sound of a glass shattering. Then, Gabriel heard his mother scream something at his stepfather. They started shouting words back and forth at each other, words Gabriel could only make out a few of. And then, he heard something that made his blood curdle. His mother screamed, one long, eerie scream that would be heard in nightmares. Then, there was silence. Gabriel seemed to sit there forever, in that closet, while there wasn't a word. Nothing moved, nothing made a sound.

Then, eeriely, the closet door opened. Gabriel held his breath deep in his throat, hoping that hs stepfather wouldn't notice him among the coats and boxes. But he wasn't very well hidden, because after a few seconds of looking, his stepfather spotted him, and pulled him roughly from the closet. Gabriel yelped at the sharp tug on his arm, and was soon flung out into the hallway.

"Why were you in the closet, boy?" His stepfather asked in a brusque voice. Gabriel took a step back and his stepfather grabbed his arm and squeezed it hard, his untamed nails digging into Gabriel's forearm.

"WHY WERE YOU IN THE CLOSET?" He demanded, and Gabriel noted an odd, vulgar smell coming from his mouth. He'd smelled it before coming from his stepfather's mouth, and found it disgusting.

Gabriel looked up at the hulking form of his stepfather, eyes wide. "I . . . I d-don't know."

"You don't know?" His stepfather said in a low voice. He let go of Gabriel's arm and stepped back, then threw his head back and roared in laughter. "You hear that, Morgan, he don't know!"

There were now four red, large nail marks on Gabriel's arm, and two of them were bleeding. Gabriel grimaced and then his face went tight. He looked back up at his stepfather, then his eyes quickly went down to the ground, for his stepfather was staring at him, his hateful animal eyes boring into Gabriel's face.

"So, if you don't know, that's okay," he slurred, and took a few steps closer. Gabriel flinched and stepped back, but his stepfather grabbed him, by the same arm, which caused Gabriel to cry out.

"I'm sorry," Gabriel mumbled, a few tears coming to his eyes. "I didn't mean to."

Gabriel's stepfather smirked coldly. "You didn't mean to?"

Gabriel shook his head silently.

"Oh, that's a good one, you little shit," his stepfather whispered in his ear, so close that Gabriel flinched at the sound of his slurry voice.

"Little bastard," his stepfather breathed in his ear. And then Gabriel felt a hard fist on his stomach, and the wind was knocked out of him. He grunted, but didn't have the time to cry out, because his stepfather landed him with another swift punch, another one to the stomach. He hit him again one more time, this punch catching Gabriel on the shoulder, and then threw his stepson to the side of him.

Gabriel felt hot tears streaming down his face as he breathed heavily in and out, trying to get rid of the pain on his stomach and shoulder. Blood rushed in his ears, blocking out most sounds, and his eyes were a little fuzzy.

His stepfather staggered down the hallway, but then turned around and glared with loathing in his eyes down the hallway. He staggered back over to Gabriel, while screaming something unintelligible.

Then he landed Gabriel with a sudden kick to the stomach, then another two. Gabriel's body racked with sobs as the man walked away, back down the hall. Through the fuzz buzzing through his ears, Gabriel heard the front door to their house slam, and then his stepfather's car sped off down the street.

Gabriel started coughing while still sobbing, the pain in his stomach almost unbearable. He didn't even register the pain on his arm or shoulder, because his stomach was hurting so much more. Gabe was coughing hard, so hard, that something spilled out of his mouth, and when he looked down through bleary eyes, he saw something bright red. It looked like water that had bubbled over too long, dyed a psychedelic red.

Finally, Gabriel slumped over on the floor.

Later, he wasn't sure how much later, the little boy felt himself being picked up by someone, and then he was carried somewhere. First, the person cleaned up his arm and mouth, then took him somewhere else, and put him on something soft, tucked him under something warm.

Over the next few years, Gabriel would become so used to the beatings that he wouldn't even flinch.

Sorry for the profanity and violence, but that's why this is rated 'T'. X(

Mino didn't really give a description on Gabe's life, just the fact that his stepfather beat him, so I kind of had to take his life and use my imagination. ;P I hope this is okay, Mino!

By the way, as you all should know, Gabriel is Mino's character. ;) And remember that he is a little kid in this one-shot, so he doesn't act like the Gabriel we all know and love. Duh. :P