The man tried to stand up, but his body refused to move. He tried to speak but his teeth were glued together. He tried to breathe but his lungs remained still.
"Boy, I asked if he hits you." Even from up close, even with his black aura flooding the three humans, the Void felt that the child was still more afraid of his father than of the stranger. "You don't have to be afraid.
"Just be honest with and I promise you this nightmare will end." He said as the fangs in his mouth formed a grin that nothing had of reassuring. "Boy, this is your moment. The occasion you've dreamed about every day of your miserable life.
"If you don't stand up for yourself, no one will. No one is going to come and save you so I'll ask you one more time. Does. He. Hit. You?"
The boy looked in his father's eyes and for the first time in his life he saw no threat or rage in them, only fear. The same fear that plagued the boy's heart.
"Yes." He said amid swallows.