Page 324 of Phobia
My body feels like a bolt of electricity is shooting through it: alive, alert… shaken to the core. I’ve fantasised about finding Dom in my room many times, but not like this.Not now.“What are you doing here?”
Dom says nothing. He just stands, walks towards me, and tries to step past me.
I jump in front of him, blocking his entrance to my ensuite. “I asked you a question.”
Dom slowly raises his hand and gently strokes my cheek. “It’s been too long, Treacle. Now please move.”
“No!”
The hand caressing my cheek now cups my jaw, and his eyes lock on mine. “Did you really think I let you go?”
My body burns, fear, anger, and total confusion, making breathing hard.He knows.
I’m frozen in fear, unable to move, so Dom picks me up, puts me on my bed, then walks into my ensuite and emerges with the test.
I close my eyes but hear him step closer and feel him kneeling in front of me.
“Open your eyes, Naomi. There’s nothing to be afraid of.”
It’s negative!My eyes dart open, Dom smiles, and then he hands the test to me, screen down. I eagerly turn it over, then drop it to the floor as if it burned me.
“No!” I shove Dom away and jump to my feet. “It’s wrong.”
“Naomi…” Dom approaches me cautiously. “You’re pregnant.”
I run into the bathroom and lock the door, my life all but flashing before my eyes. The hospital bed, the blood, Mum… me. “I’ll take care of it,” I shout through the door. “Accidents happen, but I’ll make it go away.”
The room spins, and it’s too loud, the phantom screaming, deafening me. The same wailing that haunts my nightmares, only this time, it’s coming from me.
“Naomi!” Dom tries the handle. “This wasn’t an accident.”
Ringing through, loud and clear, his words awaken something more welcome than fear: the need to punish. Yanking the door open, I charge at him. “I took my pill every day. What are you trying to say? That I did this on purpose? You are such-”
“I did,” he says calmly.
“You…” My head is spinning. “You did what?”
He steps closer, firm but calm, ready to fend off an attack. “Idid this on purpose. You haven’t been taking your pill for over a month.”
I shake my head, unable to process what he’s saying.
“I switched your pill with a placebo the week before we struck our deal.”
“You… what?” Fight gone, I slump to the floor, hoping it will ground me as my legs give way and my world implodes.
“I wanted you pregnant, and I made it happen. So, any thoughts you have about getting rid ofourchild end now.” Dom opens my bedroom door. “Pack it all up. We’re leaving.”
Billy and Tommy enter my room, open my drawers, and start shoving the contents into their duffel bags.
I sit and watch for a moment, but then it all sinks in, and I jump to my feet and lunge for Dom. “You fucking bastard! How… why would you do this to me?”
“Calm. Down.”
“You’ve murdered me, Dom!” I burst into tears.I’m going to die.
His face drops, and he shakes his head.
“Just kill me now!” I scream. Shoving him away, I grab the first bag I can and tip everything back out, clothes scattering across my floor. “Get out, or I’ll call the-”
