{"sf1_id":911031,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Victernus - Chapter 17","author":"Baumarius","words":1393,"posted_at":"2015-09-15T19:42:00.000Z","tags":["Abuse","Cybernetics","Science","Transformation","War","Werewolf","Wolf","apocalypse","corruption","dystopia","implants","mind","tf","uploading"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/911031-victernus-chapter-17","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/911031","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=911031\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"\n            Athius slid his keycard through the\nscanner beside the door. The street behind him was absent of most noises,\nexcept for his own presence. He knew he was out late and that it might come\nwith some consequences, but he hoped that his parents would understand. If they\ndidn't, he would have to endure the pain and hope for Namara to return to him.\n            The mechanical lock in the door\nreleased and he cracked it open slowly, not wanting to make any noises.\nHowever, he cringed when a computer's robotic voice announced, \"Welcome home,\nAthius.\" He sighed and closed the door behind him, swearing to himself silently.\nThe lights in the house brightened a little bit so that he could find his way.\nSeeing nobody in the living room, he decided to skip dinner and wait in his\nroom until morning.\n            Athius climbed the stairs slowly,\nbreathing deeply and placing his steps carefully so that he would not make them\ncreak. There were still no noises in the house, which gave him the impression\nthat his parents were not awake. Nonetheless, he felt like his doom was\napproaching with every new footfall.\n            He reached the top and glanced\naround - to his left, the door to his parents' room was shut. Before him, the\nbathroom was open and empty. To his right, his room's door was open slightly -\nexactly how he left it when he had left for school in the morning. He let out a\nsigh of relief and snuck to his room. Victory was at hand! After pushing the\ndoor open and letting it close behind him slowly, he pressed a metal square on\nthe wall that activated the light.\n            When he advanced towards his bed,\nthe big chair before his desk twirled around. His dad sat there with his arms\non the rests, holding his palms together. Athius froze in his tracks when his\ndad asked, \"Is there any reason why you are home so late?\"\n            Caught in his father's gaze, Athius\nquickly felt anxiety building up within him. He struggled for words and said, \"I\njust went walking, and I lost track of time...\"\n            His dad frowned, \"Lost track of\ntime? It's been two hours since the curfew. You should have seen everyone come\nback in. You could get in serious trouble, you know.\"\n            Athius blushed and looked away, staring\nat some old toys in the corner. He spoke nervously, \"I... wasn't in town...\"\n            \"Really now? You weren't at the lab,\nwere you?\"\n            He rolled his eyes, \"No, I wasn't! Some\nstuff just happened at school, and I needed to think about it for a while.\"\n            His dad propped one of his legs over\nhis knee and continued, \"What happened at school then?\"\n            Athius sighed and walked around him\ncautiously before sitting on the bed. \"One of my teachers keeps rejecting all\nof my work, saying that it's not good enough or that I did it wrong. I'm going to\nfail if she won't stop, and it's driving me nuts...\"\n            \"You still should have been here\nbefore the curfew. Tell me the truth. What have you been doing?\"\n            He blushed further and looked down\nat his knees, \"I told you the truth...\"\n            His dad undid the leather belt\naround his waist and then shook his head slowly, \"You're going to tell me the\nwhole truth, or you're not going to go to sleep tonight.\"\n            Fear filled Athius' eyes and he\nbacked up against the wall, \"Dad, no... not again...\"\n            He paused, \"Well, what'll it be?\"\n            Athius shivered and then spoke, \"Fine...\nWhat I told you was true, but while I was walking, I met someone else... someone\nwho wasn't from here.\"\n            His father laughed, \"What are you\ntalking about? There's nobody else here except for us.\"\n            He shook his head, trying to\npersuade him quickly, \"I'm not kidding! He was different, like... he was part\nanimal or something. He said he was from the past, and that he was looking for\nsomething. I saved him from some-\"\n            Standing up, his dad unfurled his\nbelt and lashed him across the face. He shouted, \"What are you going on about?!\nDo you think I'm stupid?\"\n            Athius fell to the side, clutching\nhis face with one hand and his bed with the other.  He groaned and pleaded, \"I'm not lying to you!\"\nWhen his dad advanced, he hid his face and yelled out, \"No, Dad! Stop it!\"\n            His father ignored his cry and\nreached forward, trying to pull him away from the wall. Because Athius resisted\nand attempted to stay curled up in a ball, he ripped him away and threw him on\nthe floor. He shouted \"You have no right to defend yourself from me!\" before whipping\nhis belly and his side three more times.\n            When Athius tried to hold in the\npain, he felt a foot in his side as his dad kicked him over and lashed his back\nincessantly. He cried out as his white school uniform became stained with\nblood. The thought of going to school like this crossed his mind, but was\nreminded of stories where failing students from previous years showed up to\nschool that way, only to disappear shortly after. He continued to scream \"Stop!\"\nuntil he felt that his dad would no longer listen. \n            His dad paused a few seconds before\nwhipping him one last time and threatening, \"If you lie to me one more time,\nthere will be no coming back. You'd better not fail - because if you do, it's\nover.\"\n            Athius heard his dad put his belt\nback on and then leave the room, turning the light off on the way out. He\ntrembled as he tried to stand up, but the pain was too great. A sickness washed\nover him and he felt the urge to vomit, but nothing would come out. Exhausted,\nhe slumped over and cried himself to sleep, assuring himself that he would\nleave with Namara as soon as he could.\n---\n            The next morning, Athius awoke with\na groan. He stood up slowly and readjusted his shirt, cringing because it had\nstuck to his back. The thought of another day at school weighed down on him before\nhe remembered that he wasn't going to go back there. He was going to try to\nfind Namara.\n            Taking one of the school bags that he\nrarely used, he stuffed it with a few of his personal belongings before looking\nover his room one last time. He hadn't noticed it before, but the computer at\nhis desk had been taken apart and a knife protruded out of the side. He shook\nhis head and thought, I hate you too,\nDad.\n            Thinking of his encounter, he\ndecided to show Namara what had happened.  He put another shirt over his bloody uniform and\nleft his room with haste. His mom had already left for work, so he didn't have\nto deal with additional grief from her. He headed down the stairs and stopped\nat the door, thinking about whether or not he should get something to eat.\n            No.\nIt was not worth another confrontation with his dad. He slid his keycard through\nthe scanner and waited for the door to unlock. A little light on the scanner\nturned green and he heard the locking mechanisms inside the door begin to retract.\nBehind him, he heard his dad's heavy footsteps on the kitchen floor. He broke\nout into a sweat as he waited in anticipation.\n            \"Leaving so soon?\"\n            Athius turned to his father and\nnodded, \"Y...yeah, I'm not that hungry.\"\n            His dad smiled and held his arms out\nand beckoned, \"Well, at least give me a hug before you leave.\"\n            Still feeling subordinate to him,\nAthius came close and put his arms around him. His dad reciprocated by hugging\nhim tightly and digging his fingers into his wounds. \"You know I love you,\nright?\"\n            Athius grunted and nodded silently.\n            His dad let go and then said, \"Now,\noff to school I guess. Take care of yourself there.\"\n            He turned and nodded, \"I will,\" and\nthen left with him with no intention of ever returning.\n","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/910621-victernus-chapter-16.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/911536-victernus-chapter-18.json"}