Page 52 of Chase

“I want to fucking talk to you. Nowopen.The.Damn.Door.NOW!” he shouts, smacking the door once more, which causes Stella to bark even louder.

“T-talk to me through the door, I can hear you,” I say with a small ounce of bravery. “I’m not opening the door. I’ll…I’ll…call the police!”

“And tell them what exactly? Your brother has come around to talk to you?” I’m sure they’ll be wetting their pants to come and rescue you, you stupid bitch!”

“Why? Why do you hate me, Ethan?” I close my eyes and push the words out quietly, giving in to crying because I can’t even begin to hold it in any longer. Stella turns back to me and whimpers before nuzzling her nose into the crook of my neck. “Why can’t you just leave me alone?”

He doesn’t say anything for a moment or two and part of me, a hopeful part, thinks he might have given up and gone. But then I hear him shift on the gravel outside and I know my hopes are wasted.

“Listen, whore, you so much as say anything to lover boy, I will personally make your life a living hell, do you understand me?” He spits out through clenched teeth, and I wonder what more he could do to me that he hasn’t already done. “If I have it my way, he’ll ditch you before this joke of a marriage goes ahead. You don’t deserve happiness. The only thing you deserve is my wrath!”

“Why?!” I scream, yanking at my hair. “What did I ever do to you?”

“You practically destroyed this family the moment you were born!” he yells, giving away nothing but disgust for my existence.

“Get out!” I yell and throw some heavyweight ornament at the door that makes a loud thud and splinters the wood. “Get the fuck away from me and leave me alone. I hate you!”

“Not as much as I despise you!”

Thankfully, after a few intense minutes, I hear him turn and leave, the gravel crunching under his feet as he walks away. I don’t move until a screech of tires can be heard making their way down the driveway in his pretentious car.

“It’s ok, it’s ok,” I gasp as Stella continues to try and comfort me. “It’s ok.”

But it’s not; it never will be.

_____

Izzy

After Ethan’s unexpected visit last night, I took the coward’s way out and cancelled all my appointments for the following day. I even lied about it by pulling a sicky which only means I’ll have a killer of a week coming my way when I have to fit them all back in. But I couldn’t bring myself to leave the house; what if he’s following me? What if he plans on jumping me when I’m out and about on the street? I just can’t risk it.

Max came and got Stella so I wouldn’t even have to take her for a dog walk. The poor guy eyed me with concern and asked if I was ok, so I did what I always do, I put my mask back on and gave him a fake smile before saying goodbye. After that, I remained huddled in the living room with the curtains closed, the lights turned off and remained in silence while reading some of Theo’s boring detective novels to try and distract myself from all manner of fears and bad memories.

As the light faded outside, I began to panic; this is when Ethan turned up yesterday. And when the door creaked open andthe tapping of shoes came down the hallway, I leapt behind the sofa and wrapped the blanket I’d been clutching at all day, around my body.

“What the hell?” Theo’s voice says in shock. “Izzy? Izzy, are you here?”

I can’t convince my fight or flight brain that this is Theo, someone I can trust, so I shake my head, even though he can’t see me. After a moment or two of checking the kitchen, he eventually walks into the living room, turns on the light to shed a momentary luminosity on everything. My eyes flinch under the sudden bright light, and I end up slipping on the floor from my crouched position.

“Izzy, what are you doing?” He quickly closes the gap between us and grabs hold of my arms. “Izzy? You’re shaking!”

As soon as he wraps his arms around me, I crumble.

“D-don’t leave me, please don’t leave me!” I stutter and tremble against his strong, protective arms. Hell, I’m losing my strength with him around; I’ve turned into this blubbering weak mess of a victim again.

“I won’t leave, baby, I’m here and I will stay here for as long as you need me,” he whispers before kissing the top of my head. He’s even begun to sway us a little, like he’s swaddling a crying baby. “What the hell happened, Izzy?”

Remembering how frightened I was when Ethan appeared outside my door, I break into gut wrenching sobs. He pulls me up and lifts me into his arms before carrying me up to my bedroom where he places me gently onto my bed and wraps me up inside of a blanket. He gets in beside me and holds his body close to mine so I can share his body heat. We lie like this for as long as it takesfor me to calm down.

“You have to talk to me, Izzy, please,” he says with an air of authority. “We’re not going anywhere until you tell me why I’ve just found you hiding in the living room.” I nod but make no attempt to say anything. “Izzy!”

“Ethan came over last night,” I reply quietly, “he was banging on the door to let him in, but I wouldn’t. He was threatening me and telling me how much he hated me, how I don’t deserve happiness, only his wrath.”

“And your head the other day?” he says with an angry sigh, his body tensing up against mine.

“He had come up to my room and thrown me against the wall,” I admit before swallowing back the painful lump of emotion that’s threatening to come out all over again. “He doesn’t want me to marry you.”

“And why the hell not?” Theo asks through clenched teeth, his body is wound up so tight, I can practically hear his anger bubbling up though his body. “What’s his fucking problem with you?”

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