When Tess pulled the car in the drive the house looked vacant. All but the dim light shining in the living room window shadowed behind the drawn curtains. That is the way he like them – closed. So the neighbors nor anyone driving by could see what went on behind them.
Aaron didn’t always used to be like this. A car accident five years ago took the real Aaron away. The one who used to buy her cards for every occasion and none in particular. He was injured with sever head injuries that he was never capable to overcome.
Somehow a switch inside his brain flipped and now he bounces between his own alternate worlds. One where he is controlled and behaves properly when he takes his medications properly and is not over-stimulated by the children or life in general.
The other he become a monster who loves to belittle the entire family until he makes everyone cower down to him – especially Tess. He’s his own Jekyll and Hyde. When he is Jekyll he is fine to be around, but when he is Hyde…you do just that.
It took Tess several minutes before she had enough confidence to shut the engine off and step out of the car. She left the keys in the ignition just in case she would need to make a quick departure.
She slowly walked up the path toward the door and reached for the handle and froze looking through the window for any kind of movement. She wasn’t sure that she was brave enough for a confrontation but would interact if she had to.
Her heart was racing, the pounding was so loud in her ears it made it impossible to hear anything else. A lump formed in her throat, she couldn’t swallow. She gripped the handle firmly and started to twist it until the latch clicked.
