Strongest Among the Heavens
Chapter 306: Devil and Me

Chapter 306: Devil and Me

In the province of Ontario, sending children to Kindergarten was optional. But for the mother, there was no option.

’Away! Go away!’

The longer he was away, the more she could relax. The more she could live and breathe. She was a stay-at-home mother. She thought that would always be her role until their family fell into financial troubles, forcing her to take up a job. She was glad. So, so glad that she could talk to someone other than her own flesh and blood.

But when as they got deeper into the school season, it all went to hell again.

"Your son learns exceptionally fast—"

"There’s a school in the city for exceptional children. It’s the best in the country—"

"I already taught him arithmetics and algebra. I think he’s ready for more and I can’t help him with that."

Everyone wanted to help him. Everyone wanted to see him succeed. The teachers, the principal, everyone. Everyone was wrapped around his little finger.

Why was she the only one wanting him to fail? Why couldn’t anyone see the problem? The female university tutor spoke highly of him without once being afraid. Spending that much time with him, the mother couldn’t understand where the awe and constant need to shower him with affection came from. He never reacted and it was not out of being shy.

Why did she have to drive him everyday to school? Why did she dread it? Why did it feel like she was driving toward her own doom with every drive?

One day, she became sick. She couldn’t take him to school. Her husband decided to call his workplace and inform them he was coming late. Today, he would take him.

Sitting on the couch and wrapped in blue blankets, watching television, she heard the door open and her husband talking. She eyed the two.

Her husband was a quiet man. A smart, kind man. Not just good but great. He was tall, he graduated from a prestigious university in their country, and he did not complain about working in fields that did not match that old prestige. Their marriage was strained only by extraneous factors: money, culture, and the desire for home, for Singapore. As immigrants, they could only rely on each other. Sometimes, she lost her temper and yelled at him. He was always quiet and never yelled back. He was her anchor even in moments she didn’t want him to be.

In the deep, dark recesses of her mind, she resented him because she no longer had ’me-time’. She hated him for giving her children. But everything else? He was perfect. She wished she could spend all her time with him. She wished to be with him forever and ever.

Her eyes dimmed.

’But that thing...’

A non-human wearing the skin of a human. That was what her child had become. She looked at him, standing there with what she imagined was a triumphant expression, and she felt a deep, overwhelming dread. Everyone saw a blank expression. The mother did not.

’My son.’

She imagined it. Dasha at the front door, his small hand reaching out for his father. Holding his father’s hand, Dasha peered back at the hall, at his mother who decided to sit in the living room. She did not want to see him off. From here, she could see the waves rolling off the hall. The blackness that engulfed him was too clear.

"Let’s go," her husband said.

The door closed. They were off.

Her husband believed. Closing her eyes, she too forced herself to believe.

A decade and a half passed.

Home. Was this home? She had been in this foreign country for so long, nearly as long as her life in Singapore. So was it? She moved through the days on autopilot, her mind clouded with memories of a past that seemed both distant and painfully present. She had tried to forget, tried to move on.

But the monster in her son’s eyes was always there, lurking in the corners of her mind. Lurking and living. A crime.

And then, one day, the monster returned home.

She heard the front door open and her heart skipped a beat. She was sitting in the living room, watching television absentmindedly, when she heard his footsteps. They were confident, purposeful, just like the man he had become. Her husband rushed to greet him, his face lighting up every so slightly. Her love did not outwardly show emotion. This was a rare occasion of the monster’s work; of bringing out emotion that she rarely witnessed herself.

The mother stayed seated, her hands trembling slightly. The father shook his hands and brought him over.

"Hello, mother."

The monster had stepped foot into her space. The monster dared to trick her husband. His voice was calm, respectful. She steadied her breathing, bottling down her fear, and looked up, her dark brown eyes meeting his. The darkness was...

’Warm.’

Their eyes had always been the same: a deep, dark brown that edged toward black. Toward total darkness.

Today, her brown eyes, her bestowed gifts, were full of emotion she had never seen in him before. It was as if the darkness had lifted, replaced by something almost human. Before she knew it, she tasted salt in her mouth. Tears ran down her cheeks, unbidden and uncontrollable.

She ran up and hugged him. He stiffened ever so slightly and hugged back.

"My son," she wept. "My little man...!"

He was no longer little. He was a big, towering man whose brain earned him the awe and respect of many politicians and professors. He was...he was perfect. Her fears, suddenly sated, made way for relief that he had done it. He had become the young man she always wished he would be. He was smart and tall and with education. He always sent money. He always made sure they, their parents, lived comfortably. Ever since he turned eighteen, he did everything he could do to bring them comfort without being there. He was a doctor, a scientist, everything a parent could want their child to be. At long last, she saw he was no longer a monster.

Indeed, the eyes of the monster in human hide had opened.

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