"Dont think youre going to get off the hook that easily!" Brian screamed at me. His eyes were filled with rage. Brian and I had been together for close to three years and after all that time I understood he was just a naturally jealous person. It was just his flaw; no ones perfect.
"Bri, it was nothing. I swear," I cried referring to the afternoon I had spent with a guy I used to know, "We went to high school together. He was my biology lab partner. We went out for coffee to catch up on things. Besides, hes engaged. I promise theres nothing between us."
"Dont lie to me Ana," He said through clenched teeth. I hated when he spoke like that. It made it seem as if he were doing everything in his power to avoid ripping apart my flesh. "You know how I feel about liars."
"Just calm down baby." I cooed trying to remain calm enough for both of us. "Brian you know I wouldnt do anything to ever hurt you." I placed both of my hands on his chest hoping to soothe him. Everything would be fine once I could get him to listen to me. Its how it worked with us. He would get angry, we would scream at each other, he would calm down, we would talk, and everything would be better by the morning.
"I wish I could say the same." He smirked grabbing both of my wrists and holding them tightly, "Do you even love me?"
"Of course I do Brian." I said in a voice just above a whisper.
"Say it," He spat his words like poison, "Say that you love me."
"Please just let me go." I begged trying to pull myself from his grasp, "Youre really hurting me."
"I never loved you either." He released his grasp on my wrists and threw me to the ground.
"Brian!" I called out his name in a tone somewhere between pleading and scolding. My hip throbbed with pain but I rose as close to his height as I could. At six foot one he still stood four or five inched above me.
"Youve never been anything but a dirty whore!" He roared and my jaw cracked with the force of his palm.
I turned my back to him and my eyes stung with tears. He tried to pull me towards him by the hood of my zip-up sweater but I allowed my arms to slip from the fabric. Without a second of hesitation I ran towards the door as fast as my trembling body would take me.
I hurried down the front steps and onto the sidewalk. I felt utterly defeated but looking back to the window where I could still see his silhouette standing in the living room was enough to reenergize myself. In nothing but a pair of boxer shorts and a tank top (I had been ready for bed) I ran towards the corner. It was January in the Chicago suburbs and most of the snow on the sidewalks had been left unshoveled. My bare feet had become numb after the first block but I think that just made it easier for me to keep running. I wasnt sure exactly where I was running to (I really had nowhere to go) but I kept going because I was absolutely sure I had to put as much space between Brian and I as was humanly possible.
Rest In The Results
Everything inside of me quivered and Im not completely sure I was breathing but I couldnt stop running. I felt empty and alone but I had to get away. At some point I stopped seeing. Everything became blurred in what was either darkness or light (mostly it was just dark). I ran until I collided with something I could not identify in my deaden state. I felt myself fly into the air and then slowly fall. Have you ever had one of those dreams where you fall off a cliff and can feel yourself falling but wake up just before you actually hit anything? Thats what this felt like only I didnt wake up before I hit the ground. Instead I laid motionless in the slow as my body regained feeling. My feet burned with frost, my head throbbed, my chest felt narrow, and my left hip screamed with pain (It had been the second time I had fallen on it that night). I heard shuffling all around me but I still couldnt move. I only opened my eyes when I felt myself being lifted from the ground.
A man whose shaggy hair and hat made his face hard to see whispered something I didnt comprehend. It was his arms that lifted me and carried me into a nearby house; I knew that much. The bright lights of the houses interior forced me to bury my face in his neck.
"Hey Pete," the mans throat vibrated with these words, "Look what I found outside. Can we keep her?"
Two voices from where we had entered begged in a sing-song tone, Please!
All of my senses returned to me at that moment. I had no idea where I was or who these guys were. My body shook with a mix of shock, fear, and extreme chill. I closed my eyes tight as I could and hoped it was all a dream
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