Trigger warning for domestic abuse, spoiler for everyone’s mental health.

>!Lately, Dad’s been acting… weird. He’s stopping drinking, stopped yelling, stopped hitting. Lily and I are both kinda freaking out, Mom’s just been euphoric. She tells us to just enjoy it while it lasts, but I don’t buy it.!<

>!He’s acted like this with her before, I’ve heard. When they were first married, he loved her all up. Bought her expensive gifts, took her on lavish vacations, gave her complements, and never touched a drop of alcohol. That all ended with me. Once she got pregnant, they decided to settle down. He had to get a stable job which he hated, so he started drinking. First it was a beer or two after work, then a six pack every day, but after he started drinking whiskey, that’s when he got bad. At least, that’s what Mom told me, I was too young to remember the times when he was good.!<

>!My oldest memory is of him screaming at Mom, then throwing a flask at her head. I can still hear my little voice telling him to stop hurting her, I can still feel the pain when he smacked me across the face. I was three. When I was five, Dad didn’t bother to buy new condoms after his old pack expired, and that’s how I got myself a little sister. I love my sister, ever since she was born I’ve risked everything for her. Ever since I could, I’ve taken most of the beatings for her. I would die for her. !<

>!About a month ago, Dad changed. He just went to sleep one night and woke up different. His personality is totally different, it’s nice, too nice. He talks all sweet, but I’m convinced this is some sort of crazy trick, some sort of ploy to keep me from going to the cops once I get out. I won’t be fooled though, just two more years then I’m leaving and only coming back for Lily.!<

>!timeskip!<

>!That’s not Dad, that’s some sort of demon wearing Dad’s skin, but I don’t care. The demon is more of a father than Dad ever was. He took us to a baseball game as a family the other day, and last week he took Lily for icecream after she got a good grade on a test. Dad never cared about our grades, and that was the first time Lily had icecream in her life. I… don’t think I could make it on my own, not to mention while taking care of my sister. Before, anything was better than staying with Dad, but now? He’s actually acting like a good person, a good husband, and a good father.!<

>!‘How do I know he’s not Dad?’, you ask. Well, have I got a story for you. The only weird, at least by normal standards, thing that he does that he didn’t before, is that he disappears on the full moon. As soon as the moon comes up and the sky gets dark, he disappears, only coming back with the sun. One full moon, I happened to be sitting out on the porch, and I saw him materialize. He just… appeared out of thin air. His irises were blood red, and the whites of his eyes were just the opposite. His hands were like claws, his ears were pointed, and I could’ve sworn I saw horns poking out from his less-greasy-than-before hair. No, I don’t take a picture, I don’t even have a phone. I did tell Lily, though, how could I not?!<

>!I don’t know what I’m going to do, he seems nice enough, but I don’t take chances, not when it comes to Lily. He could be sucking out all our souls and I wouldn’t have a clue. You know what? He can have my soul, I don’t care about myself anymore, but if that thing lays a hand on her, I’m breaking out the holy water.!<