Viper's Gambit

Trigger Warnings: This story contains themes of stalking, obsession, sexual assault, violence, drugs and psychological suspense. Reader’s discretion is advised.

“The wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round, round and round, all day long.”

I sang the nursery rhyme under my breath as cold water ran over my skin. It didn’t wash anything away—not the blood, not his touch, not what I’d done.

I folded my hands and prayed. Not for forgiveness. For understanding.

Would God understand why I did it?

I wasn’t proud. I was terrified.

People say children are innocent. I wasn’t. My mind was always full of dark thoughts—running away, fighting back, making it stop.

What choice did I have?

He made me this way.

You’re probably wondering who I mean.

My father.

The man everyone trusted. The man who promised to protect me. The man who smiled, laughed, and played the role of a loving parent so well that nobody saw what he really was.

At first, there were signs. Small things that felt wrong. I ignored them. It was easier to blame myself.

Maybe I shouldn’t have said that.

Maybe I shouldn’t have been there.

Maybe I was the problem.

But eventually the truth became impossible to ignore.

The monster always came at night.

He would crash through my bedroom door without warning. In my eyes, he wasn’t my father anymore. He was something worse. A devil wearing human skin.

Why did he hate me?

What had I ever done to deserve it?

The water kept running.

I wished that bus's wheels would crush one of us.

We couldn’t keep living like this.

One of us had to die.

And as the cold water poured over me, I realized something.

It wasn’t going to be me.

The games had begun.