Gemotions

The scent of cheap perfume clung to Mark's skin long after he hung up the phone. His 'sister', Sarah, it seemed, wasn't aware that her own father had left his own children. He couldn't shake the sensation of being tainted, contaminated. He gripped the phone so tightly his knuckles turned white.

He scrubbed furiously at his arms in the shower, the hot water scalding him. The thought of their shared blood felt like a physical intrusion, a violation of the carefully constructed boundaries of his life. He shuddered, feeling his stomach begin to churn.

Later, he found himself staring at the unfinished painting on his easel. He ruined it, scratching at the canvas until he had to put it away. Everything he touched, he tainted.