It was a dark and stormy night. The loud noise of the water beating down on the ceiling tiles was calming, and at the same time, nerve-wracking. It had been raining for 5 days straight. The sound of thunder disguised her sobbing. She could hear the rain through the boarded-up window. Screaming was useless and she had no energy left, her throat was sore from all the crying and moaning. She hadn’t eaten for almost a day and a half. She looked around for the thousandth time, the place was humid and there was a distinct smell of sweat, blood, and humidity in the air that made it harder and harder to breathe. There was nothing she could use to help her get out of there.
She leaned her head against the corner of the wall, putting her face in between where the walls meet, hoping to breathe better. The cold wall felt good on her facial injuries, it made them hurt less. As she caught her breath, she tried to put the pieces of her memory together to understand what happened..
“Never judge a book by its cover,” they say. She still couldn’t believe how someone who seemed so nice and “normal” could have become such a monster. After 6 months of a relationship, you think you know someone enough, right? Not really. Not this time.
The sound of a sudden and very loud thunder made her jump in fear, the lightning shone through a small crack in the wood.
He never seemed to be the jealous type before. But for the past few weeks, strange things have been happening. He started being jealous about silly things like who talks to her via social media, wanting to know what she talked about with her friends… At first, she just thought “It’s a phase, maybe he’s feeling insecure about something”. And she made sure to always reassure him and make him understand that everything was ok. They were having a cool relationship so far. They had their own “me time”, and they could hang out with their own friends.
But they also did a lot of things together as a couple. So, everything was fine until about a week ago at a party with friends from work, when Ralph, a colleague of hers, said during a group conversation, as a joke, “No one is really taken until they’re married”. At that moment, nothing really happened. It was only when they arrived at his place, after a very silent and strange car ride.
“What’s the matter with that friend of yours?” he asked her while opening the door for them to enter the house.
“Nothing, I guess.” she answered him and walked in. “Why do you ask? Has he said something that made you upset?” she asked.
“‘No one is really taken unless they’re married’ what does that mean?” he asked louder, closing the door behind them.
“Ok, first of all. Calm yourself. Why are you yelling? Second, I don’t know what he meant by that. Did you think it was for me? I don’t think so.”
“I’m going to beat his ass up if he says that again, idiot.” he blurted.
“Wait, what? What’s happening right now? Even if he meant me, it doesn’t matter, I don’t want to be with him. Where is that aggressiveness coming from?” she asked, in confusion.
“I didn’t like it, that’s it. I don’t want you hanging out with him anymore,” he stated.
“Excuse me? You “don’t want” me hanging out with him?” she asked sarcastically, doing air quotes with her fingers to emphasize the “don’t want” part. “Are you crazy? He’s my friend, he made a joke, you can’t expect to tell me wh…
She couldn’t finish the sentence. In less than a second, she found herself falling. Pain, dizziness, confusion… many feelings mixed together. A slap to the side of her face hit her so hard, it made her brain jiggle.
As she tried to recover her breath just enough to stand up and try to understand what happened, he came close, seeming worried.
“I’m sorry, baby! I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to do that, I promise you!”
“WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT? WHY DID YOU HIT ME? GET AWAY FROM ME!!” she shouted from the top of her lungs. Cold tears started running down her face, she was completely horrified.
“Don’t scream! Shut up! I only did this because I love you!” he said.
“LOVE ME? LOVE ME? You don’t love anything, I don’t have to take this, I thought I knew you!”
“Baby, calm down, please! I didn’t mean to hit you. I just wanted you to hear me. I really think it’s best if you don’t hang out with him anymore.
“YOU CAN’T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!” she shouted “I’M LEAVING!”
As she stood up to leave, the doorbell rang. His face turned red with anger. Very quickly, he grabbed her by the arm, and held her tight from behind, covering her mouth with his other hand.
“Who is it?” he yelled at the door, angrily.
“Hey, it’s your neighbor. We heard screaming. Is everything ok? Are you ok?”
“I’m FINE!”
“Are you sure?” insisted the neighbor.
“Yes, it was the TV. Thank you, you can leave now.”
“Ok, then.” the neighbor shrugged.
They both heard the neighbor walking down the steps of the front porch onto the street. After about 2 minutes of silence, he uncovered her mouth, releasing her.
“What are you doing? Please, I just want to leave. Let me leave, it’s all I want.”
“I told you not to scream, didn’t I?” he asked her, speaking really close to her face.
His eyes weren’t normal anymore, they were bloodshot with anger. Every step he took toward her made her step back, basically shoving her with his own body at every step.
“DIDN’T I?” he asked again, louder.
“Baby, please! Calm down! I’m so sorry!” she begged him, crying, trying to defuse the tension by calling him a cute name.
Blank. No memory after that. Another slap, and another, and another. Floor, kicking, pain…
When she woke up, she was in a dark room. She couldn’t really place where the room was, but he couldn’t have taken her far. She suspected it was the room at the back of the house. She had seen it before, but never really understood why the window was boarded up shut.
What had she done to deserve this?
Dogs barking. She hears the sound of the car on the gravel, getting into the driveway. Her heart starts beating faster. What was going to happen now? Would he let her leave? Would he bring her something to eat? The hunger she felt mixed with the pain of her injuries made her very weak.