Page 5 of Shattered Echoes

“Fuck you!” she yelled. Hitting me hard across the face.

What the fuck! I thought.

I stared at her in disbelief. I held my face with both hands. My jaw tightened and my eyes glistened with anger. I was livid.

Then I noticed something trickling down my face. I touched it, and it was blood. I had a cut in the top corner of my eye. A part of the vase had cut me when it shattered against the wall, sending shrapnel towards me, and I didn't notice until now. I grabbed a paper towel by the kitchen counter and wiped my face.

One look at her, and I couldn’t even bring myself to do anything. I couldn't even recognize who she’d become. Her hair was disheveled. Mascara was smeared all over her face, mixed with the faint pink lipstick she wore. She looked like a mess.

Cassie was pouncing around the house and throwing down everything in her path. She threw down the television on the wall and broke the glass coffee table. Glass pieces littered the entire living room.

“Calm the fuck down, Cassie!” I shouted. I ran up to her and took both of her hands, holding them in a tight grip. She kept throwing tantrums, but I held her til she was calm and then led her to the couch so both of us could sit down.

Any other guy would've maybe reacted differently, but there was no way I was going to lay a finger on her. She was so tiny, and I was double her size. I sat in silence like that with blood trickling down the corner of my face while she kept muttering unintelligible words that I didn't care to hear.

At that moment, I was going over my decision to be in that relationship. I had never been open to any girl like that before her. Before Cassie, I'd never gone all in with any girl the way I'd been with her. I kept people at arm's length. Heck! Some girls I'd been with couldn’t even tell what my last name was. But my perspective on love changed once I saw how Leo was with Gabi. They looked incredibly happy, and I wanted that. Then, once I met Cassie and got to know her, it seemed possible that I could attain that level of happiness.

——

The memories pull my mood down like a weight. I shake my head in regret. These are not moments in my life I like reliving because every one of them has led me up to this point. If I hadn't met her, my life would've turned out differently–if I had left her after the first incident…

I let out a deep breath, feeling exhausted. I walk around the house until I find myself in my childhood bathroom. I take a shower and go to bed. Tomorrow, I will embrace my new reality, which is being back in this small town again.

3

Colette

The darkness presses in around me, heavy and suffocating, as I grope blindly for the elusive light switch. My fingers brush against cool metal, but it slips away from my grasp, leaving me stranded in the abyss.

"Why is it so dark?" I murmur to myself, my voice trembling with apprehension.

Suddenly, a hand closes around my shoulder, fingers like vices digging into my flesh, the touch injecting me with fear. I recoil instinctively, screaming, my heart thundering in my chest as I realize who it is.

His breath is hot against my neck, tainted with the sickly scent of alcohol, and I know I'm in danger.

"No, no," I gasp, my voice a strangled plea. "You can't do this to me anymore. I already left you. This can’t be happening again. YOU CAN’T TOUCH ME!!"

But my protests fall on deaf ears as he wrenches me back, tearing at my dress with violent determination. The fabric rips with a sickening sound, leaving me exposed.

“Help! Help me! Somebody help me!” I scream. My tears mingle with the sweat on my brow as I struggle against him, my screams echoing through the empty void of the night.

Panic surges through me, a primal instinct urging me to fight, to break free from his grasp. I continue to struggle against him, tears streaming down my face as I scream for help, but it's futile. His grip tightens around my neck, crushing the air from my lungs.

I don’t want to die.

His touch is invasive, repulsive, as he presses himself against me, his member grinding against my flesh. I twist and turn, desperate to escape, to deny him the satisfaction of breaking me once more.

I must not allow him to put his dick inside me again... Never again!

Desperation claws at my throat as I feel his weight pressing down on me, his vile presence overwhelming. He's relentless, his hands roaming over my body with predatory hunger.

And then, in a burst of adrenaline-fueled defiance, I twist my head and slam it back into his face, eliciting a roar of pain and rage. In that moment of distraction, I break free, scrambling to my feet and fleeing into the darkness.

I must escape.

“Help me! Somebody help me!” My heart pounds in my chest as I run, the ground uneven beneath my feet. I stumble and fall, pain shooting through my body, but I refuse to give up. I claw at the earth, dragging myself forward, away from him, away from the nightmare that threatens to consume me.

But just as I think I'm safe, his hand snatches my ankle, yanking me back into his clutches. I scream and kick, desperation lending me strength, but it's no use. He drags me closer, his hands roaming over my body once again with vile intent. I feel his hands on my ass as he gives it a tight squeeze.

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