Page 5 of Reaper

I’m curled into a ball on the floor, trying to protect myself the best I can. It’s a hard thing to do.

Do I protect my stomach so I don’t have internal bleeding? Or my head so I don’t lose any more brain cells? What about the back? If he hits me too hard there I could be paralyzed.

Lord only knows what he would do if I was unable to follow his directions exactly as he lays out.

Is tonight the night he will finally go so far and kill me? Surely death would be better than this.

He leans down, yelling in my face, but I’m not here in this moment anymore. With every fist or foot to my body, I’m pretending I’m somewhere else. Anywhere, but here being abused by the man who claimed he would love me.

I have no idea how long passes with him throwing verbal abuse in between the physical.

His phone rings, drawing his attention away from me. I wheeze as I attempt to breathe. Thank God for whoever is on the other end of that line.

“Yeah?” He pauses. “Fucking Kingston. Our Lotus contact doesn’t know where it is?” William curses before pacing. After several moments of silence, he huffs out a breath. “Fine. I’ll handle it.”

He comes over to me, leaning down into my face.

“Clean this shit and yourself up. You’re a fucking mess.”

I listen to the tapping of his shoes as he walks away and flinch when he slams the door. I let the tears silently fall when I hear the lock click.

He’s gone.

I lie on the floor for a long while, trying to will myself to move. Breathing has become harder.

He may have even broken a rib.

One thing is painfully obvious. I can’t stay here much longer. If I do, he’s going to end up killing me.

I don’t want to die. This isn’t the life I envisioned for myself. How much more can I take?

I need to leave, but I have nowhere to go.

He controls my entire life.

I know he keeps some cash in his dresser drawer. Emergency cash, he called it. I could take it and run.

Where would I go though? Anywhere I try to run, he would likely find me.

If I stay, I die. If I go, I’ll probably end up dead too.

A brief memory plays at the edge of my mind. A name that he spoke that instilled fear in him.

Someone who may be worse than the monster I’m running from.

Could he be my savior?

Finally, I manage to stand. Leaning on the wall, I walk slowly to the bedroom.

Thankfully, he only hit me the once in the face. He doesn’t like to leave too many bruises where people can see. It ruins his image. I mean, I can only walk into so many doors.

Once in the bedroom, I change as quickly as I can out of the dress he demanded I wear for dinner. I pull on a pair of his sweats and a T-shirt. Nothing of mine would work for what I need to do. Digging into the back of his closet, I pull out the dark hoodie he keeps.

Then I pull it over my head.

I grab the money from the drawer, taking the entire roll. I contemplated only taking a couple hundred, but I may need money to buy this guy's help. Besides, it’s not like my punishment will be any less severe if I get caught with less money. The punishment will be the same no matter what.

I take one last look at the bedroom, praying this is the last time I ever see it.

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