Page 35 of Red Zone Awakened

The buckle struck his side, and lightning shot through him.Mace knew if he didn’t count aloud, his grandfather would add to the number until he did, so he forced the word past his clenched teeth: “One.”

The belt swung again, and fire exploded through his hip.He’d never made it to fourteen before passing out from the pain.And he expected that today wouldn’t be any different.There was no escape.Nowhere to hide that his grandfather couldn’t find him, no one to come to his aid.All he could do was endure.

“Count!”

“Two.”Mace swallowed a sob.Tears made the old man angrier, and anger made him swing harder.

“You’re evil.There’s nothing good in you.Nothing.You come from depraved stock.”The blow struck his shoulder this time, and he felt blood trickle down his chest under his threadbare shirt.

It would pool beneath him.The blood.He’d lie in it until it congealed and glued his skin to the floor.And when he managed to get up, the places where he’d fused to the floor would rip open, and he’d bleed all over again.

It was the pattern of his young life.First, his da had hit him when he tried to save his ma from beatings.Now his grandfather hit him for not saving his ma.He closed his eyes tight and held on to the image of his mother.Her honey-colored hair falling around her shoulders.The gentle warmth in her clear blue eyes.Her hands, soft and comforting, as she held him close…

Thwack!

The memory shattered, and he was all alone on the floor of his grandfather’s house.

“Three.”The word was a croak, but he made sure it was loud enough for his grandfather to hear.

“I won’t let you grow up to be like him.You’re gonna learn your lesson, boy.Learn it good.”

Thwack!

The pain from the individual strikes began to blend, turning his body into one large open sore.

“Four.”He managed to find the strength to cover his head with his arms.

“Begone, demon!”

Thwack!

“Five.”To his shame, he cried.He’d promised himself there would be no more tears, and he couldn’t even do that properly.The old man was right.He was no good.Just like his ma.Just like his da.

“Evil… monster…”

Thwack!

“Six?”It was a guess.The agony racking his body made it hard to think.His thoughts blurred as his mind fought to distance itself from the pain.

He barely felt the next blow.His mind was leaving, taking him away from the hell he lived in day after day.A hell he deserved.

Because he’d been born a monster.

“Stop him,” a stranger’s voice shouted.“Ambulance.We need an ambulance.”A hand on his head.A strange, soft caress.“It’s okay.I won’t let him hit you again.”

“He’s the devil!”his grandfather screamed.“A monster.”

“Monster,” Mace whispered as his mind shut down.“Can’t remember the number.”

“Where’s that ambulance?”the woman shouted.“We need it now.”

Mace blinked several times, bringing his reflection back into focus.He’d been unconscious when they took him from his grandfather.He never saw him again and never found out who’d saved him.Just someone who’d heard him crying in his grandfather’s garage.His life in the months after that beating had been a blur of hospitals, courts, offices, and finally, foster care.

At nine years old, he’d been placed in his first foster home, and he hadn’t been surprised when his new parents turned out to be monsters too.He’d known for years that the world was filled with them.

He was living proof.His father’s and grandfather’s genes lived on in him.

“Hey.”Keiko’s voice snapped him back to the present.“Stop admiring your pretty face and come with me.I found something.”