Chapter 18

• I harbored the grim knowledge that my father would shift. Dread infiltrated my being, trembling at the mere thought. Nothing terrified me more than his unfettered power. With colossal size and unrivaled strength, his unchecked violent and feral nature would reign free, devoid of any conscious or subconscious restraint. No, there was nothing more terrifying...
• I listened intently to his footsteps above my head. Once he departed, I would have the chance to ascend the stairs, though such instances were few and far between. While permitted to dine upstairs and utilize the washing machine biweekly, I rarely ventured beyond the confinement of my basement. I only dared to take breakfast upstairs on mornings when my father had not yet awoken, or launder my clothes or dine when he was absent.
• The walls served as my prison, with spiders as my sole companions. The pervasive smell of mildew that clung to my body and clothing had become so familiar that I scarcely noticed it. Betrayed, condemned, and subjected to a life of suffering by the very man I had trusted to always stand by me, my thoughts drifted to memories of when my father would lift me onto his shoulders, my fingers entwined in his thick hair. Delightful laughter echoed as he inquired about his favorite girl, to which I would gleefully exclaim, "Me, me!"