Chapter Thirty-Four

Maddie

 

The sound of Isaac’s voice, warning me and explaining why I left, shook my soul. I remembered. I was running from Rob, willing to go anywhere, give up everything, just to get away.

My cheek burnt from his slap, and tears filled my eyes as he jerked the phone away from my hand. It rang again, and I knew it was Isaac, worried after what he’d heard. Rob’s eyes were pitch-black as he pushed the button on the side of my phone to turn it off. “We’re leaving,” he demanded.

I didn’t want to leave. I didn’t want to go anywhere with him. My memories flooded back like a wild tidal wave through my mind. He hurt me, a lot. He was jealous, and that’s why I didn’t have much of any sign of Isaac in my life. I’d erased Isaac from my life for Rob but memorized his number.

I was stupid.

“You need to leave,” I demanded of Rob.

He chuckled, his lips curling into a crooked smile as he glared at me. “I’m not going anywhere without you,” he hissed. He inched towards me, his hands reaching out to grab me. I stepped back. I looked over his shoulder at my front door. I didn’t think I could make it past him and unlock the deadbolts, and he’d shoved my phone into his pocket. I had nowhere to go, no one to call, and no one to save me from this monster.

I took another step back and then turned to run down the hallway towards my bedroom. He was right behind me. I could hear the loud stomping of his feet, but I didn’t turn to look. I made it to my room, rushing inside and quickly grabbing the door to slam it shut. Rob’s hands pressed against the wood, stopping me from creating the barrier between us. He was strong, much stronger than me, and no matter how hard I pushed on the door, it wouldn’t close with him on the other side.

My throat burnt as a scream roared through it and out into the room. “Go ahead, scream. No one is going to help you now,” Rob snarled.

“Leave me alone,” I cried out as he pushed open the door, knocking me to my backside onto the floor.

“You’re just a dirty little whore. I gave you a ring, a promise of a better life, and what’d you do? Ran off to Miami with some scumbag that did nothing but lie to you. He doesn’t care about you. I’m the only one who cares. You have no one, Maddie, just me,” he hissed, reaching down and gripping my right arm tight in his hand. He jerked me upward to my feet. His hand squeezed the flesh of my arm so tightly, I cried out.

Rob jerked me violently from the bedroom and back into the hall. I pulled back with my feet, but his strength was too much to fight. I struggled as we entered the living room where my suitcase sat on the floor.

“We’re going to my place, and you’re gonna be punished for what you did,” Rob growled.

Rob pushed me down onto the couch while he gathered a few belongings to add to my suitcase. I was remembering his place as he spoke. It was just outside of town, once a small baked goods factory, now converted into a large gym with an apartment above. It was late, so the gym would be closed, and there were no houses nearby, only businesses that were already shut down for the night. I couldn’t go there. I wouldn’t go there. He could do whatever he wanted to me there, and no one would hear. At least there are neighbors here, and they would surely call the cops if I continued to scream for help, wouldn’t they?

“I’m not going anywhere with you,” I blurted.

Rob looked up, his eyes still black, but his smile filled with amusement. “You’ll do whatever I say,” he ordered.

I shook my hand. “No, I’ll scream, and someone will call the cops.”

He laughed. “No, they won’t. A neighbor called once, and you scolded them for interfering with your personal life, don’t you remember?”

Mrs. Carter, yes, I remembered. She called the cops, and I’d refused to press any charges for fear of what he might do after. She’d come to my door that next morning to me answering with a black eye and busted lip. “Oh dear, are you okay?” she asked.

Rob was there, standing behind me at the door, but out of sight of Mrs. Carter. He’d threatened to set a fire in the building in the middle of night, one so strong and furious that it would burn up my neighbors as well as myself if they ever called the cops on him again. I’d pleaded with him that I couldn’t control them, that it was his fault the cops had come. That’s when I got the black eye. I looked at Mrs. Carter with as much anger as I could muster.

“Do not interfere in my personal life ever again,” I scolded with a cold and sour tone.

Her eyes filled with confusion and pain. She was a lovely lady, one so sweet and kind that it crushed my soul to talk to her like that, but what choice did I have?

“Get up; let’s go,” Rob demanded, pulling my arm hard and jerking me to my feet.

His chest pressed into mine, his hot breath so close it washed over my skin like an evil, slithering snake. “I missed you,” he whispered, pushing his lips into mine. I struggled, but he held me tight, pulling me in close to him. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I cried out for help once again.

Rob’s hands moved to my ass. “I’ve missed this too,” he hissed, squeezing my ass cheeks in his hands.

I swallowed hard, realizing that there may not be a life away from Rob. This may be my fate. I wish I’d never left Isaac.