Salem body shrivels into the corner of the room as his father steps closer, the same belt in hand that he has felt not only on his ass, but his face, arms, stomach, legs.
Salem covers his face as Marissa clings to his legs trying to stop him from moving closer.
Marissa: "Viktor please! Not my boy! Please!"
Marissa gets slapped by Viktor, his arm heavy as the back of his hand slammed into her face, at such a fast speed.
Salem can't even move from the area he is currently at. His body not only mentally scared, but physically scared. His blood runs so cold it feels like he's been hit with a mentally barrage of punches.
Salem shrivels even deeper into the corner of the room. His back wanting to faze into the wall instead of even trying to stop the interaction.
Viktor turns away from Salem now, the belt clanking against each other, as Viktor gets close. Dangerously close to Marissa.
Viktor, pulls the belt far back into the air behind himself, then with a quick motion, Whip!
Marissa lets out a gut wrenching scream, as her face is hit hard. Marissa then picks up her hand to now defend herself, but her face already has a dark red mark against her whole right side of her face.
Her tears spew out as she huffs for air.
Salem watches as his father smacked his mother with a belt across her face.
Viktor then looks back to Salem.
Viktor: "This is what happens when you don't want to listen!"
Salem tries to remember what he did that caused this scene, his mind pushed it so far back so that it never resurfaced. He never wanted this memory to resurface, he never wanted to think about this again.
Salem: "mom..."
His voice was a whisper.
Viktor looked back to Marissa.
Marissa cowered back crawling with her hands behind her back as she tried to crawl away backwards.
Viktor: "Where are you going Marissa?!"
Viktor was quick, his body had to be. He was a construction worker, that always went on a run in his free time. Along with his military time, he was a scary person.
Viktor tried to grab at Marissa but he missed her shirt.
He got angry. His voice dropped.
Viktor: "Keep the f*ck still."
He brought down his fist to her face. At the top corner of her head, that his long since healed since, but now the scar is fully new.
She was bleeding, Marissa grabs at the spot with a scared look on her face. She cries her tears slowly, scared that if she were to be any louder, she'd get another punch of Viktor's fist.
Viktor gives Marissa a saddened look. As if, the now young boy was the root of the problem.
Viktor: "See what you did Salem?! You caused that to happen! You made your mom bleed!"
She looks at Salem with a frightened look.
Marissa: "No... No Viktor.. please don't tell him that... He doesn't understa..."
Viktor struck her with the belt going wildly. She was hit on her stomach. Her free hand grabbed at the same spot and she cried out.
Viktor: "Shut up! You know I told him not to go outside! He doesn't deserve to go outside."
Marissa was so scared she didn't want to be hit anymore.
Marissa: "I told him he could go outside I didn't know you told him not to."
Salem remembered why they were in this position now. He asked his father if he could play with his friends and Viktor said no. So then he walked away and Marissa was then asked in his place. She looked at the sky outside and saw the sun was up, she told him to come back before the sun went down and Salem left.
Viktor looks at her with a snarl.
Viktor: "You know not to let him do anything without asking me. He's. My. Child."
Marissa: "HE'S MINE TOO!"
Her out burst way loud. Very loud. She felt brave for the second that she said that. Happy that she did, then Viktor's angry look, pushed that bravery so far away that it didn't matter what she felt.
She was scared.
Viktor: "Did you just yell at me?"
His voice was dropped. He no longer needed to yell, nor did he want to.
He was just angry. His face couldn't be anymore red that before. His body shifted, and he took steps, one after the other, after the other, after the other.
Marissa tried to crawl away from him backwards but she was trembling too much. Her arms were failing, the arms that was being used to cover her face felt to slippery on the tiles to move. Her other arm, just felt like a bad structured jello, to water to take a from, so it just slumped.
Salem looked in horror as his mother was on the ground like a weak animal and as his father stood tall over his mother.
Viktor took the belt and raised it so high, that if Viktor was two inches taller it would have touched the roof.
Marissa sees this and covered her face with her arms to prepare herself from the pain of the belt. Her face was already red and throbbing heavily. As her eyes drifted to Salem just for a second, showing the young boy that she was scared.
Viktor turned to Salem his voice felt heavy on Salem shoulders as he said these next words.
Viktor: "Your the reason she'll bleed tonight."
Viktor brought the belt down hard. Really hard. Her arms like they were singed with a cast iron pot that was blasted with a flame thrower.
She let out a cry. One, so loud that her lung felt like they were on burning and that her throat couldn't make her breathe her next breath.
Viktor brought the belt up once more, then he brought it down again.
Salem watched as his mother was hit once, then twice.
Viktor did it again then again, then again, then again, then again.
Marissa arms were hit so many times that she felt her they were going to fall off.
Salem, he watched his small body felt it was growing smaller.
Marissa: "Viktor... No more... It hurts..."
She tried to plead with Viktor but his face was fully red, with beer and anger in his mind.
Marissa: "Stop... Viktor. Please..."
Marissa now began to hyperventilate. She couldn't breathe, and Salem couldn't move no one was going to help them.
Viktor never stopped his belting, just continued till his hands felt to weak to move, which felt forever. Before he stopped Marissa's arms were tearing, scratches marked her skin as she could barely breathe out of her nose.
She had to take deep breath to even feel like not fainting. Marissa felt herself try and come back mentally so that she didn't let Salem be the next one.
Viktor turned to Salem and took a few steps to him.
Viktor: "When I tell you not to do something... You better f*cking listen, because if not."
Viktor raised his hand high into the air, as he stood, now inches away from Salem.
Marissa saw this and immediately got up and grabbed Viktor's arm, to stop him. He looked at her in anger, but her face was flushed with sweat and as of now, there was no other way for Viktor to calm down.
Marissa: "No... No more Viktor... Let's... Let's go to the room to... Calm down... Okay..?"
She tried to sound as seductive as she could for Viktor.
Viktor, read her movement then he read her lips, a smile climbed his face as she took the belt slowly from him.
Viktor: "What do you suggest?"
Marissa, smiled the bruise on her face stalled her slightly as she did, but she did smiled anyway.
Marissa: "You know how..."
Her voice was low and tickled Viktor's drunk brain in a certain way.
Then both Marissa and Viktor walked away, as the younger Salem was sat in the corner afraid to even move.
The room that Salem was in felt like it was distorting. Fire began to crawl into his vision, and he gripped his face even more, afraid of it.
Wonder appeared from the flames as they began to rip and burn the surrounding area.
Salem: "Why..? Why... Why did you do that to me?"
Wonder: "You need to become braver."
Salem: "No!"
Salem got off the ground and stood his ground against Wonder.
Salem: "No you are just mentally torturing me."
Wonder: "No. I'm helping you get better."
Wonder turns it's giant bird body and steps away.
Salem walks fast to try and grab it but, as his hand grips the first flaming feather from it's butt. Wonder disappears and then the same wall from before forms again.
Salem drops back to his butt as he cowers back into the corner of the wall. His heart feels like it's going to jump out of his chest.
The whole thing repeats. From Marissa yelling to her walking back into the room with a less angry Viktor.
Then again. And again. And again. And again. And again. And again. And again.
Salem doesn't want to move from his spot in the corner.
Salem's finally had enough.
Salem: "Wonder! Make it stop!"
Salem has his tears flow from his eyes. His body has endured it to much.
Wonder: "No. Salem your older now. Stop him Salem. Stop him."
The process restarts, Viktor is being held back by Marissa.
Marissa: "VIKTOR NO! NOT MY BOY!"
Salem gets scared but he lunges forward, fist first his body feels small as he makes full knuckle contact with Viktor's face. Slowly his body feels like he is the same height as his seventeen year old self.
Salem does it again. This time he Viktor goes flying across the room. Behind Marissa.
Wonder: "You have finally conquered your fear and now you can stop."
Salem doesn't make the moment pause though, he rushes into Viktor his body mounted on top of him, as his legs hold down his arms along with the belt.
Salem feels the heat from deep within his body take hold and transform his body into The Burning Man.
Salem then begins to punch Viktor in the face, slightly burning his face in the process.
The first punch makes teeth fly out as his face flies sideways, then another punch sending Viktor's face flying right, blood start to flow out of his mouth, then another punch makes Viktor's cheek grow red and big. Another, his tooth flies again.
Each punch slightly burns Viktor's face. Turning the dark skinned face to black smoothie.
Another punch, another punch, another punch, another, another, another, another, another, another.
Salem's fists now covered in blood.
Every punch making his face worse than the last. It never stops, never finds an end. Until Wonder physically makes it have one.
Wonder: "SALEM STOP!"