Hidden Monsters

 Monsters don't have reflections in mirrors. They don't have green, decaying skin or piercing fangs. They wear bright smiles like rich silks and expensive furs. Only when those silks and furs are splattered in blood, or human meat is stuck between the teeth of those smiles, do we realize the monsters we held so dear. Looking at my father, I saw the monster he'd hidden from us. All of us. Maybe if i'd seen it sooner, he'd still be alive. In an asylum, but alive. Maybe my little sister would've lived past age six. Maybe her blood wouldn't stain his hands. The knife toting his gore dropped from my hand. Bloodshed to mend bloodshed, I thought. If not for him, she would live. Mother, I remembered suddenly. I tore up the stars and into my parents' bedroom. Pulling the key out of my boot, the padlock fell off the closet and hit the wood with a loud clunk. I'd locked my mother and brother in until I was done with my father. "Mom, Kory, it's okay, He's-" My words caught in my throat and the world fell away as I dropped to my knees. I could've sworn I heard a faint crack. Maybe it was my kneecaps. But I didn't care. All I cared about was the prone forms in front of me, or rather, the impossible angle their heads were lying in. He...he got to them too...when I was calling for help. Unfeeling, I crawled into the nook between the bed and deep brown nightstand, closing my eyes and letting the sound of sirens drift closer.