Page 15 of The Sound of Silence

His eyes flashed and before I could even think to react, the back of his hand slammed against my face, the blow forcing my head to whip to the side.

I cried out, not so much from the pain, but from the surprise of being struck. I’d never been hit before, not even when my mother disciplined me. I’d seen my father hit her when I was young, but that’s as far as my knowledge about the pain went. There was no way I could have known the pain was so much more than skin deep. I felt this hurt in the depths of my heart, so shocking it rattled my soul. I reached up and brushed a finger over my lower lip. When it connected, I felt something warm and sticky beneath my fingertips. I poked out my tongue and swiped, the metallic taste of blood coating my taste buds.

Rage built up inside me, an instinctive need to fight back. Yet… somehow, I knew I couldn’t. Ethan was so much bigger and stronger. I wouldn’t stand a chance.

“Calm yourself down, Gianna! You’re hysterical,” he snapped, then took a deep breath and adapted a softer tone. “I’m sorry it had to come to this. You just say things you shouldn’t. You need to learn to hold your tongue. Behave like you should, and this won’t happen again.” He spoke so calmly as if he hadn’t just slapped me at all.

Visions of my mother rushed to the forefront—I saw her sad, tear-filled eyes as she apologized to me after my father had hit her.“I’m so sorry, my sweet. You shouldn’t have had to see that. I won’t let him do it again. I promise.”But he did hit her again, and again… and again.

I still didn’t know why my father eventually left. Did she throw him out? Did she press charges and force him away? My mother and I never talked about it, and I never wanted to ask. All I knew was that I never had to see that sad look on my mother’s face again. I had often wondered why she didn’t leave after that first blow, but I dismissed it as being a complicated situation, one of my faint childhood memories I couldn’t quite piece together. I loved my mother deeply, but I didn’t want to become that woman with the sad eyes.

I wanted to be stronger.

I glared at Ethan and took in his words as time passed. It could have been seconds, minutes, or hours. I wasn’t sure. All I could do was stare. Things hadn’t been good between us, but I had no idea how bad things really were beneath the surface. He had hit me—actually hit me—and somehow thought it was my fault. A bitter cold seeped into my bones, a cold so chilling, my heart turned to ice.

“Don’t do that ever again,” I stated, my voice matching the calm tenor of his despite the fact every part of my being was shaking.

“Don’t do what? Are you saying I can’t hit you?”

“No. You. Can’t.”

I should have seen it coming, but I didn’t until it was too late. The fist he landed on my face made me see stars. I fell back, landing on the hardwood floor with a crunch. I laid there in shock, disbelief rocking me to the very core. Slowly, I turned to look up at him. He stared down at me with disgust as if I was a misbehaving child who he didn’t want to deal with.

“I pay for this house; therefore, it’s mine. My house, my rules. And if I want to hit you, I will.”

No. No. No. This isn’t happening to me—it can’t be happening.

I would never allow myself to be somebody’s punching bag. Rolling to the side, I slowly got back to my feet. He took a threatening step toward me. I braced myself and put up my hands in a fighting stance. Ethan began to laugh.

“Oh, my girl. My silly, silly girl. Don’t be foolish. Do you honestly think you can fight me? Come on now. I’m a man. It’s basic physics. You can’t overpower me.”

“You arenotallowed to hit me,” I reiterated, trying to summon all the courage I could muster amid the implausible situation. He took another step toward me. I stepped back. This continued until my back was against the doorframe leading to the basement. My body shook in terror.

How could I be so afraid of the man I’m supposed to love?

It was as if I was living in a dream. Everything was surreal. My stomach rolled as I battled with the urge to vomit. I breathed deeply, in and out, focusing on the rise and fall of my chest. Once. Twice. Three times.

“That’s my girl. Deep breaths. Don’t you see? It’s better that you know the truth. I was getting tired of hiding it anyway. Going forward, instead of telling you I’m going to work, I’ll just tell you I’m going to meet Cynthia. Now there’s no need for me to sneak around,” he said softly.

His hand came up to caress my cheek, and I flinched. Pure instinct drove me to push it away, unable to stand his touch any longer—a foolish move, given my situation. It only angered him once again. He grabbed my arms, squeezing them so tight I thought the bones would break.

“Let go of me!” I yelled. “I’m done, Ethan! I’m leaving!”

His demonic laughter filled the room before he leveled a glare at me, and his eyes turned black as midnight.

“Do you honestly think I’d let you leave me?”

“I said let go of me, you bastard!” I repeated frantically. I fought him, struggling to free myself from his vice-like grip. The man before me was a stranger—a wolf in sheep’s skin. How could I have been so blind? How did I not know he was capable of such cruelty?

I stepped back to get away, completely forgetting I was so near to the basement stairs. My foot caught nothing but air and I began to fall. My back hit halfway down the stairs, knocking the air from my lungs as I tumbled the rest of the way down. Sprawled at the base, I couldn’t breathe.

And the pain.

Pain rocketed through my body, over my skin, until it felt like my internal organs were on fire.

“Ethan, I…” The whisper trailed off and I clutched my abdomen. That’s where the pain was the worst. It took me a minute before I remembered.

The baby.

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