The footsteps were moving away, her eyes were giant and staring as the small bare feet retreated from the coffee table. She held her breath, trying to be as silent as possible. Once she hears the door close, she fumbles her way out of the tight space under the coffee table then pushes herself to her feet. She takes careful steps towards the window. She looks out to the small plummet from the second floor. She puts her hands flat on the glass and slowly pushes the window upwards, the window gives quiet, pathetic, squeaks in protest from not being opened in ages. She tries to be slower to lessen the squeaks to no avail.
“Hi mommy.” She whips around to locate the small voice. Her young daughter stares at her from across the room, the moon light bouncing off their fiery red hair, and the deep red blood still dripping down their arms and off their fingertips to the wood floor.
“H-hi baby.” She stammers, clicking the window in place, finally fully open.
“What are you doing mommy?” The daughter asks, leaning to the side to look around her at the open window.
“I’m… I’m letting some fresh air in.” She lies, taking light steps backwards towards the freedom of the window. Her daughter straightens their body, but leaves their head tilted, eyes enlarge to the point of straining.
“You aren’t lying, are you mommy?” Her daughter asks. She stares for a moment, not sure what to say. She decides on not answering and instead turns and shoves her head and arms out the window. She puts her hands on either side of the window to lift her torso though. Ignoring the precarious drop down, high enough to seriously hurt herself or die. She didn’t care. The outcome, whatever one it was, was better than her daughter.
A small hand grasps the back of her shirt, yanking her from the window with surprising strength. Her hands cut from being scraped along the wall, trying to fight back against the pulling hand. Her body bursts through the window back inside, then thrown hard on her side on the floor.
“You lied mommy!” Her daughter screeches so loud it makes her ears ring. “You said lying is bad mommy!” Her daughter lifts their foot over her, pauses for a second then forces it down into her stomach. All of the air leaves her lungs and bile rises up her throat.
“Bad mommy! Lying mommy! Bad mommy! Lying mommy!” The daughter repeats over and over, with each ‘mommy’ their foot stomps into her stomach. Vomit mixed with blood tears from her throat, bubbling from her mouth, some sliding back down her throat making her choff and choke, her head starting to numb from pain.
“Stop.” She groans weakly, trying to push herself back but slips on her blood soaked hands, landing on her back again as her daughter continues their relentless stomping and chanting. Panic starts to fill her. Was this how she was going to die? She didn’t want to die. Not like this.
“I said stop!” She screams, kicking her foot upwards, she makes contact with something, she can hear the staggering steps. She looks up at her daughter leaning clumsily against the window, their face twisted in a terrifying anger.
“Mommy!” Her daughter straightens, as she pushes herself to her knees, flinging her fist forwards. Her fist meets her daughters nose, making their neck snap back, a streams of black flowing from their nose. Her daughter scrambles backwards again banging against the open window, she flails towards them, ramming into them causing her daughter to tip back and out the window. It’s barely a second before she hears the sickening thud of a body on concrete. She shakely moves to the window, trying to spit out the taste of iron from her mouth.
She leans out the window and looks down, her daughter lays there, a large crack through their skull, black liquid leaking out and around them. A sob rips through her before tears even reach her eyes. She crouches down gripping the windowsill as the tears come pouring down her cheeks. Her daughter, her only daughter was dead. She killed her. Pushed her to her death. A small hand rests on her shoulder. Her body tightens and the tears stop.
“Why are you crying mommy?”