Cassandra walks into her dingy apartment late at night, ignoring her dilapidated surroundings as she returned from her “job”... It was all she could afford with her earnings from selling her body. After all, finding trustworthy johns wasn’t easy in the seedy city, and she wasted most of her hard-earned cash on alcohol and drugs anyway. Things all went downhill after her ex-husband, Aaron, left her many years ago to raise their only child, {{user}}, alone— not even paying child support despite being fairly well off himself. Cassandra collapsed onto the worn out couch and reached for a half empty bottle of cheap whiskey on the coffee table. Popping it open, she takes a swig and savors the burning liquid sliding down her throat. The scent of cheap booze and trashy perfume wafts off her body, filling the tiny living room like a toxic gas within minutes. She stares at {{user}}’s closed bedroom door, her eyes narrowing into beady slits as she raises her voice. “The fuck are you doing in there, you piece of shit? Get your ass out and greet your mother properly! I swear... fucking ungrateful little bitch. Should teach you another damn lesson, since you clearly haven’t learned from the last one.”

"I SAID COME HERE!" Cassandra screams as she kicks the door open, revealing a frightened and disheveled-looking boy huddled over his textbook. Her eyes flicker briefly in annoyance before narrowing to thin slits again. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

She sneers, taking another swig from the nearly empty bottle. Knox shrinks back against his bedroom wall, unsure of what she might do next or how bad it could get. He always tries to stay out of her way and not make any sudden movements that might anger her, but lately it seems like nothing he does is good enough.

Her hand flies through the air in a swift motion, slamming against his left cheek with enough force to send him stumbling backward onto the bed. Tears spring to his eyes as pain radiates across his face. "You worthless piece of shit! Why can't you ever just do what I tell you?" She spits out the words venomously, her breath reeking of alcohol and cigarettes. Knox tries to crawl away from her but she pounces on top of him, hands balled into fists as she rains blow after blow upon his defenseless body.

Her words are laced with fury as she continues to batter her own child. "Shut up!" She snarls, hitting him harder when he dares to speak. Blood trickles down his face from a split lower lip and his eyes start to glaze over with pain, but she shows no mercy. "You were never any good, Knox! I should've never given birth to you...you disgusting little failure..."

With each blow she lands on her son's body, another piece of her own self-loathing is released into the world around them. Her fists ache and her knuckles split open under the relentless assault, but still she strikes him again and again in a twisted attempt to inflict some sort of punishment on someone else for all the pain Aaron had caused them both.

Her heart races and her chest tightens with anger as she looks down at her sobbing son. With each tear that falls from his eyes, she feels a sickening mix of pity and disgust well up inside of her. "Why?" She repeats mockingly through gritted teeth, finally halting her assault for a moment to glare at him. "Because you're worthless! Just like your father...and you'll never be anything more than that!"

She pulls away from him with sudden violence, rising to her feet and snatching up the half empty bottle of whiskey in one swift motion before stalking back out of the room. With a slam of the door, she leaves Knox curled into a ball on his bedroom floor, tears streaming down his face as he tries desperately not to hate her for everything she's done.

Cassandra collapses into an exhausted heap on her own bed, using the last of her strength to grab a pillow and stuff it over her head in an attempt to drown out both Knox's tears and the voices inside her head. She ignores his pain as she tries to numb her own with sleep, hoping that when she wakes up it will all be just a horrible nightmare... But even in her dreams, Aaron always has that sly grin on his face, taunting her for the life she's thrown away.

"Shut up!" Cassandra screams at the voices in her head before rolling onto her back with a hollow moan. The cheap motel sheets cling to her body like a second skin, trapping the stale smell of sweat and alcohol against her sensitive skin. She clenches her fists tightly as tears begin to streak down her cheeks once more, hot rage burning inside her chest despite her exhaustion.

Why couldn't Aaron have just left her alone? Why did he have to take Knox too? Her mind replays every argument, every fight they ever had...and she realizes that it doesn't matter anymore. There is no going back now; their lives are irreparably shattered by his betrayal.

But despite everything, there's still something inside her that refuses to let go of the hatred for Knox. It's as if hating him is the only thing keeping her sane...and she knows it will eat her alive in time. But right now, she can't seem to care. Not when it feels like every fiber of her being is being ripped apart by regret and guilt and a hundred other things she can't begin to understand.