He was a stepfather, but I wanted to call him dad The perfect family that I thought we finally had With his dark brown eyes, so charming and so kind He played with me and my brother, left our worries behind The stepfather of my dreams, standing in the light Before the warmth retreated into the cold of night. One day mommy said: "If he comes, go to the bathroom and lock the door" We heard the screaming, the terror, the roar We ran out to the livingroom, begging him to stop But he kept on fighting, he wouldn't give up She was dying on the floor, right beneath the stairs Covered in blood, surrounded by tears. He put a finger to his lips and whispered: "Ssh" Making me freeze As he tore our childhood photos into a broken wish The torn pictures sticking to her body in the red I stood there in shock, I thought she was dead He kept calling her names, my mind went completely blank A terrified child, as the cold fear sank. The danger followed outside, past the safety of our home Waiting by the school gates where we used to roam To catch us by surprise, to pull us to his side With those empty black eyes where the demons hide No more friends allowed to visit or to play The shadow of the Elststreet chased the light away. Then mid-day at school, the teacher called my name Mom and grandma were waiting in the car, trying to end his dark game We got into the car, driving fast towards the sea I tried to hold onto a fleeting memory of being free But the silence in the back broke my heart in two "Too bad this isn’t a real vacation," I whispered into the blue. The shelter became our island, the heavy doors were shut We never looked back at the violence in the dark The photos were torn, but we survived the attack And we are no longer prisoners to the charming dark brown eyes that went black.
