Under The Veil of Night

"I’m home."

He opened the door when he suddenly sensed blood thirst directed towards him, making his body tensed up immediately. His eyes shot open abruptly as he looked towards the person before him. His mother was looking like a zombie with her bloodshot eyes and skinny figure. Veins bulged out in unnatural way thorough her entire body.

There was something wrong with the woman. Tommy had never felt such blood thirsty aura from anyone before. It was as if she wanted him to die very badly and cruelly.

"Mother, is there something wrong?"

Before he could ask again, his mother suddenly pounced to him, landing a hit towards him. His reflex worked in time as he used his hand to block the woman’s attack.

Tommy’s eyes widened as he moved to the side. That one hit from his mother was clearly different from the usual hit he got from her. It was too powerful to come from the usual weak mother he had. What made her mother changed so much? Was it steroids or something similar?

No, no matter how stupid he usually was, he knew the power behind using steroids very well. There was simply no way that steroids could enhance someone’s strength this much. It should be a different drug or whatever it was that could make her grew stronger this much.

His eyes caught the sight of a bag of drugs not far from them. The content was spilled to the floor, showing white powders that left mark on the floor.

"Mother, what kind of drug you used?"

The woman didn’t answer him. She dashed straight to him once again with her punch directed to him. Tommy blocked her attack once again as he could feel the power behind the strike.

He frowned. It was still far from his own strength, but he had to be careful in case she hit his vital areas. If any of them got hit by this power, he might not be able to keep his life anymore.

PRANG!

The momentum from the punch made his mother landed on the nearby table. The glass that was previously on top of the table fell to the ground and made the loud noise. His mother stood up again, her feet stood right on the pieces of broken glasses. However, not a slightest reaction came from her.

Blood flowed from her feet as she dashed towards Tommy once again. Seeing the lack of reaction from this woman, Tommy knew that her senses were already numbed. He gritted his teeth as he gathered his resolve.

Sidestepping to the side, he avoided her strike. In the next moment, his hand moved forward and punched the woman straight to her stomach, sending her to the wall. As her body crashed, it slowly slid down to the floor.

Her head was hung low as if she was unconscious. There was some trace of blood around her as there might be some wound from the crash.

"Mother..."

Tommy muttered to himself. Unknowingly, tears have fallen from his eyes. He truly couldn’t bring himself to hit her, yet he still had to do it. There was no way he could possibly make her awake again if she continued attacking him in that crazed way.

Her body would end up in numerous wounds by the time she woke up. If she woke up, she might suffer from great pain. Seeing the woman who was still in sitting position, Tommy didn’t know what to do anymore.

"Mother, wake up... please wake up and don’t attack me again. Please, return to your sense."

Tommy wiped his tears as he straightened himself. He walked out of the room and closed the door before he sat directly in front of the door. Why did he feel so sad right now to see his mother in this situation?

Even when she was thrashing him so much in the past, he never felt this way.

Even when she ignored him so much and lived in her own delusional world, he would still wait for her.

Why was it that when she lost her mind like that, he instead felt immense sadness? Burying his head on his palm, he thought about what his mother meant for him.

Suddenly, he heard loud sounds from inside the room. He quickly stood up and opened the door.

BANG!

He saw his mother sitting a few centimeters away from the previous place. A broken pot was located by her side. Her eyes were still bloodshot and her fragile hands were reaching out everywhere. In the next second, she suddenly vomited on the spot. Strange and unidentified fluid splashed onto the floor.

Veins bulged on her skin, giving scary sight of the woman. Her eyes glared at Tommy as if she wanted to kill him, yet there was sad light emanating from her gaze.

"Mother..."

His mother vomited once more and this time, she failed to properly hold her body. Her body slid down to the side of her own vomit.

Tommy walked towards her as he frowned. From his keen smell, he knew that this woman has just vomited blood. By the time he reached her side, he noticed that his mother no longer moved.

"Mother, are you alright?"

Putting his hand to check her pulse, he felt that his heart was beating fast. It didn’t take long for him to felt as if cold water was pouring straight at his heart. There was no pulse anymore. She had stopped breathing as her chest no longer moved.

"Mother..."

Towards this mother of his, Tommy never had any good feeling as he often felt that his mother didn’t love him. This conviction grew bigger and bigger as time passed by because of how he usually saw her. However, he could never bring himself to hate her because of the past he had with her.

When he saw her lost her mind, he felt immense sadness. Now that she was gone, he felt rather empty. He didn’t know what he should feel or do anymore.