05. The Incident

Sam immediately gets to his feet and looks at the door. Shandra also gets up from the bed, feeling chills once again, but for completely different reasons now.

The voice of the young girl's mother enters in tandem with her father's, also shouting and cursing.

"Are they wanting to beat you up because you've been missing all day?" He asks loudly.

"Sssssh! They can hear you!" Whispers the girl.

Sam makes a negative sign with his head.

"People only hear me if I want them to hear me. Everything is under control, don't worry."

The door is almost going down. Shandra's father shouts once again, his pasty voice indicating that he is drunk as usual.

"YOU WILL REGRET THE DAY YOU WERE BORN."

The girl knows she should be armored against that kind of verbal violence that is so unnecessary. Most of the time, it was as if the words went in one ear and out the other.

But that particular day was the most difficult one she had ever faced. It was incredibly challenging to listen to that mountain of curses and not kick the furniture out of frustration at the injustice.

Before she can say anything or even think of a plan, tears come into the girl's eyes. Then she sits back down on the bed.

Sam looks at her and at the door being punched before speaking:

"Shandra?"

The sound of wood being struck is terrible, and makes the girl's head hurt. She covers her ears and cries copiously.

"Shandra," Sam insists.

"I can't do that."

"Of course you can."

"No, I can't." She dries one of her tears with the back of her hand. "I can't allow you to break up with my parents."

"And why not?"

"They are my parents, dammit! You can't do that to the people who begot you."

"People doomed to damnation are all bad. Whether they had children, grandchildren or great-grandchildren was a mere detail."

"Yes, but I as a daughter can't be the one who damned them."

"What are you going to do then? Sit around and cry waiting for the slaughter? You need to fight, Shandra. Give me the order and I will make this over in mere seconds."

She continues crying as the insults and screams continue. Until...

The noise of the beatings simply ceases. Had Sam done something without her permission?

Before the young woman can ask, she hears the thud of something falling down the stairs. Soon after, her mother's scream and her footsteps go down the stairs.

Shandra runs to unlock the door and freezes at the scene.

Apparently, due to the large amount of alcohol ingested, her father had become unbalanced and fallen in a free fall down the steps.

Kneeling beside the man, her mother flailed around in utter despair. Shandra put one foot out of the room, ready to go down, but looked back first.

Sam had an impassive expression on his face. The two of them stared at each other for a few seconds.

Hurrying, the young woman put on her jeans and blouse, and immediately started running down the stairs, ready to help her father who, seconds before, was threatening her with a beating.

"Call the ambulance, quick!" Her mother ordered as she cried beside the fainted man.

Trembling, the girl went to the living room phone to dial the emergency number. But Sam was there instantly, appearing as a translucent shadow.

"You don't want to do that."

His voice was different, probably sounding only in her mind.

"Of course I want to do it. He's my father."

She tries to lean against the phone, but the device is hot as the very realm of hell. She quickly removes her hand, shaking it repeatedly and glaring at him.

"You can't do that!"

"Of course I can. I'm protecting you from your own stupidity."

"How dare you-"

"If he were well now; if he were standing up and in full health, he would be beating you right now."

Shandra's fingers tremble at hearing that, even though she knew it was true. Her voice trembles as she replies:

"I know, but I can't leave him collapsed on the stairs. That's an omission of help."

"What do you mean?"

"Helplessness is when you see an accident and take no action to help the victim. It is a crime.

"Even if the victim himself is a violent drunk who beats up his own daughter?"

Shandra swallows dryly, indecision welling up in her heart.

"You are a very good girl, Shandra. But you need to understand that kindness should not be given to those who don't deserve it."

Hearing a demon talk about kindness was on the short list of things that would make her laugh, this after the initial shock of such a creature being in her presence. At that moment, however, it was impossible to even think of finding anything funny.

The girl's lips quiver as she finally asks:

"Why are you doing this?"

The silence of response indicates that the man wants an explanation of the questioning. Shandra insists:

"Why do you care whether my father would beat me or not? Is it part of the demonic code of honor or something? Or is it because I summoned you to protect me?"

Sam sighs and puts his hands in his pockets.

"Does it matter?"

She is about to answer when she hears her mother scream:

"HAVE YOU CALLED THE AMBULANCE YET?"

The girl freezes, unable to think of a response fast enough.

Fuming with rage like a locomotive, the woman appears angrily in the room.

"What are you waiting for?!"

Sam remains at Shandra's side, watching with disdain the woman with aging skin, slanted eyes, and disheveled hair. She, on the other hand, obviously does not see him.

The girl swallows dryly and picks up the phone, which is now at its normal temperature. The demon stares at her at the same instant, his fire-colored eyes seem to be asking one last time if this is what she wants.

"Give me the order, Shandra, and this will all end immediately. I just need your permission."

His voice sounds directly in her mind this time. Shandra decides to respond mentally as well:

"I can't."

When the girl's slim fingers finally dial 911, without any kind of warning, the young girl's mother puts both hands on her chest and, gasping for breath, falls to the floor as she passes out.