A low, guttural sound rose from Abby’s throat as a wave of pain hit her with force. Every muscle in her body seemed to cry out in pain. She took a deep breath through her nostrils, the sticky sickly smell making her gag. It was tangy, almost like rust, and was followed by a sharp searing pain in her hand which was bound tightly behind her back. Last night had gone wrong – horribly wrong and she realised with horror that she was trussed from her neck to her ankles. Each jerk of her wrists pulled her limbs backwards, each movement of the rope tearing into the flesh around her throat. Biting down on the rag, she caught her tongue between her teeth, swallowing the trickle of warm blood that followed. But the pain of a split tongue was nothing compared to the white-hot agony searing from her left hand. Blinking, she struggled to cope with the invasion of senses. Her breath froze as she caught sight of Matthew watching her intently from his wingback chair. Leaning against the wall, a piece of white card caught her attention. Splashed across it in deep red was one word: ‘SINNER’. Abby gulped back her tears. She wanted to cry, but shock had pervaded her system. It was all too surreal.

‘I had to use red marker this time,’ Matthew said, following her gaze. ‘There were too many letters to write it in blood.’ A freakish smile froze on his face, his eyes barely blinking as they drank in her form. He seemed to be taking great pleasure from her distress, absorbing her muffled cries with obvious delight. ‘Are you sure you wouldn’t like to take the drugs now?’

Blocking out the pain, Abby withdrew into herself just as she had done so many times before. The beatings in her childhood never made much sense. Equally, there was little point in trying to understand the motives of the man before her. She knew when she met her husband that her life would end badly because happy endings didn’t exist for girls like her. She remembered her father’s cruel words as he tore into her room, the stink of beer on his breath. You can scrub your skin clean but you never remove the dirt from deep inside. Because that’s what she was: dirty. Something to be used and disposed of afterwards. People like her didn’t lead normal lives, much less die a peaceful death. Abby closed her eyes, relinquishing herself to the situation. Then she remembered what brought her here in the first place. Her baby. The tiny heart beating inside her seemed to strengthen her own. A flame lit from within. She had more than just herself to think about and this baby had come from love. Just what had gotten into her when she booked a termination? Was this her punishment? Forcing her breathing to calm, Abby focused on the man before her. He was representative of everyone in her life that had hurt her. Her drunken parents, the teachers who did not listen and the care workers who abused her when she was finally taken in. She would not go quietly. She had someone to fight for. A tiny little person who was better than her.

Matthew surveyed her curiously, his head tilted to one side. It was as if he could see the internal struggle taking place and he regarded her with caution as he approached. ‘You look so lovely lying there, how about I take your picture?’ he said, his phone in his hand.

But Abby’s thoughts were ticking over, trying to make sense of it all. She thought of the night before, and how he had refused to have sex. How he had drawn back his fist and punched her to the side of the head. Her gaze return to the piece of board where he had written the word ‘Sinner’ and she recalled the dating website, the ones set up for married people to use. She made a quick assumption of his motives. She needed to play against the persona he had created for her in his head.

He raised his phone to use its camera, disappointment etched on his face when she refused to scream or cry.

Abby forced her face in a neutral expression and stared blankly ahead.

‘Don’t you realise what I’m going to do?’ His breath was hot on her skin as he lowered his face to hers. ‘I’m going to tighten the rope around your neck until you stop breathing.’

Still he waited, before taking the snap. ‘Why aren’t you afraid? What’s wrong with you? Can you feel your finger? Because it’s not there anymore.’ His eyes darted left and right as he searched her face for a reaction. Such a thought was enough to invoke a scream of terror, but Abby simply froze.

She despised this man with all of her heart and she would not give in. Her throbbing hand, her aching muscles, and the terrifying threat that was being made; she pushed them all aside, focusing on the two words that could turn everything around. Calmly, Abby tried to speak, but the cloth in her mouth muffled her words.

‘Be sensible,’ Matthew said, tugging on the frayed material. ‘If you scream I’ll finish you here and now.’

‘I’m pregnant,’ Abby blurted, delivering her words with haste. ‘Why would you?…’ she gasped for breath. ‘Why would you kill an innocent baby? None of this is their fault.’

There was a loud clunk as Matthew’s phone fell to the floor. ‘You’re lying,’ he said, stepping back as if she were diseased. ‘You can’t be.’

‘Why do you think I wouldn’t drink or take drugs? I got scared when I found out I was pregnant. I came out on a date for one last fling. I know it was wrong. I shouldn’t have done it. But my baby doesn’t deserve to pay the price.’

‘No,’ Matthew said. ‘You can’t be. I don’t believe you.’ With each sentence, he took a step backwards, his eyes wide with disbelief.

‘Look in my bag,’ Abby croaked, grateful that she had kept one of the many tests she had taken the day before. She thought about the one she had thrown in the bathroom bin. Had Steve found it? Guilt and shame surged through her. What had she been thinking of, coming here? She could not bear for him to go through the pain of losing both a wife and a baby should she die today.

His hands shaking, Matthew rifled through her bag, throwing make-up and tissues onto the floor. His fingers found a plastic holder the size of a pen in the crumpled cardboard box she had kept.

She had not thrown it out because a small part of her didn’t want to lose this baby, even then. She was certain of it now. Right now, her baby was the most important thing in the world.

‘No,’ he shouted staring at the test. Ripping open the instructions, he glared at it before returning his attention to the blue cross in the middle.

‘Please,’ Abby said, fighting the biting pain. ‘Don’t hurt my baby.’ She closed her eyes, whispering what she could remember of the Lord’s Prayer. It was a cheap test, only cost a couple of pounds, but there was a small chance it may have just saved her life.