Page 1 of Like An Animal
PROLOGUE
THE GHOST
“Iwant a divorce.” The words flow out a lot easier than I thought they would. I expected them to get caught in my throat, but I’ve never really been invested in this marriage to begin with.
Kyle is as bland as a box of unsalted pretzels and that's not just his personality. Four years of faking enjoyment in bed is enough for me. Plus, I need to prepare to go on the run again and Kyle would just hinder that.
He has no clue about the darkness of my past or the shadow lurking just around the corner. All he knows is that I’m an orphan with a big inheritance. He wanted to dip his fingers in it, but my condition for entering this mundane union was that we would have a prenup. It has served me well and will continue to.
The records of my past are a matter of public record, but he never cared to look into the woman he was marrying outside of “filthy rich parents”. If he had, he would’ve realized that Winnie Parker didn’t exist four years ago. I was only a paycheck and I didn’t mind funding our lifestyle as long as I could hide behind his last name. I considered it my payment for him being the shield that guarded me from the monster that plagues my nightmares, my shadow.
Kyle lifts his head, clearly lost in a fog. “What?” he asks as he sets down his short glass of whiskey and I drop the divorce papers in front of him.
“I want a divorce,” I repeat. “I’ve already signed them. When you sign it, you can turn it into my attorney and they’ll file it for you. You can keep the house if you can afford it on your own. I have no more use for it.” I grab my purse off the chair opposite of him as he jumps from his seat, grabbing the papers. He flips through them, his eyes erratic.
“What the fuck? Why?!” He turns his gaze to me and I stare at him like he’s grown another head. This wasn’t a love match. It was for survival and convenience. It’s no longer convenient for me. Simple as that.
Kyle is disposable. He means nothing to me. Nobody does.
I just need to leave before my shadow manages to track me down and if I leave before severing my ties with Kyle, he’ll be in danger.
He will do ungodly things to Kyle if he finds him before our divorce.
“Why?” I repeated his question back to him, my eyes narrowed. “It’s time to move on.” I roll my eyes. “I’m done and ready to leave. I don’t need a better reason. Don’t tell me you did something stupid like falling in love with me.”
Only one man ever made that mistake and he’s on his way here. He was gone during bed checks this morning at the halfway house. I expected it to take him less time after being released from prison to come after me, but considering he was across the country, I knew I’d have plenty of time to leave.
My mother would say all the time that my mouth would get me in loads of trouble because I never know when to shut it or when to hold my tongue.
From the look Kyle gives me, I know I’ve reached that point.
“Are you fuckingKIDDING ME?!” He hurls his glass across the room and I barely manage to jump out of the way of its trajectory. The liquid and glass splatter the wall as rage takes over his face.
Kyle has always been rather docile. What is with this change in behavior?
“What is wrong with you?” I press as I throw my purse strap over my shoulder.
“You fucking bitch,” he growls. “You’re not leaving. Sit your ass down.”
I can’t do that. I have to leave before my shadow reaches us.
“No. I’m leaving and you need to sign the papers.” All I can assume is that his reaction is due to how he’ll lose access to my inheritance. Granted, it was an inheritance I stole and never really wanted, but it was my best weapon to escape.
“Winnie,” he warns with his tone, but the air has shifted.
I know the feeling of danger when it enters the air. I’ve lived it. It’s something no one ever forgets. That’s exactly what’s filling the air as Kyle looks at me like he’s ready to kill me.
Without another thought, I run.
I dash out of the kitchen, feeling him hot on my heels, as I make it into the living room. I round the couch before I feel fingers grab my hair and throw me to the floor. My face slams into the ground, pain splitting across my jaw. I’m so out of sorts from the way my brain is rattled around in my skull. It takes me a minute to get my bearings. Next thing I know, he’s on top of me, his hands around my throat. Kyle squeezes tight until my airway closes and I claw at his wrists and his fists.
I try to get away, but when I tilt my head back, I swear I see a ghost from my past. It’s all inside my head.
I remember the smile he used to hide from everyone else in the world. Why out of anyone else in the world is ithimthat I see right as I’m about to die?
Just as I’m about to fade from the land of the living, the hands around my neck are ripped away and I take a deep breath. My eyes slowly flutter open and I wonder for a moment if I’m hallucinating or if my shadow is really standing over me with his face painted in the same way he would do before every show.
One side of his face is red and the other white with zigzag stitches across his jaw and his temple.
