Chapter 2
CHAPTER
TWO
JULIETTE
My exhale is so loud that I’m pretty sure he can hear it on the other side of the door.
He found me again. I ran, and he found me, just like he always does.
His fist slams against the door, and I jump backward.
Leaning forward, I pinch one eye closed to take him in again.
He is standing on the front porch, his eyes wild as he searches the peephole.
He can’t see me, yet it feels like he can.
It feels like he can see into my damn soul.
“I can hear you, bitch,” he growls from the other side of the door.
He’s always on the other side of the door, claiming that he can see me, that he can hear me, that he knows I’m there. I stay where I am, unable to move, unable to breathe. I’m holding my breath, wondering if he can really hear me.
“Bitch,” he grinds out, “it would be wise of you to open the door.”
I refuse. I don’t say anything, but I also don’t open anything. I watch him, waiting for him to walk away from me. I want him to just go away, but I also know him better than that. He’s not going to just disappear. Even if he walks away tonight, he’ll be back.
I trust myself to take the next step. I am stronger than this moment.
I trust myself to take the next step. I am stronger than this moment.
I trust myself to take the next step. I am stronger than this moment.
I don’t say anything as I watch him. I don’t know what the fuck is going to happen next because I know that this man could and would kill me. He doesn’t give a shit about me. It’s about control and nothing else. He wants a toy, a pet to control.
He doesn’t love me, doesn’t give a shit about me.
What he cares about is who he can hurt.
Who he can fuck.
Who he can control.
Who makes him feel good.
That won’t be me, not anymore. So I don’t open the door. In fact, I have the phone set to dial 9-1-1. I’m ready to call it a day and have him hauled away. All I have to do is touch the green talk icon.
Holding my breath, I don’t look away. I keep my gaze on him. I want to watch him walk away, knowing that he can’t hurt me unless he gets into my house. I’ll never invite him in. He can fuck all the way off.
I have been able to get away from him and stay as far away as possible. I am not going back. Not ever. I refuse to let him take me. He doesn’t control me any longer. Not my life, not my body, not my soul.
Never again.
I watch as he brings his foot back and then slams it against my door. Once, twice, three times. Then he screams. And his scream causes me to jump back slightly. He is pissed. His face starts to turn red, and as the minutes pass, he gets redder and louder.
“You better watch your fucking back, you cunt,” he shouts. “I’m coming for you.”
Reaching for the handle, I start to turn it, and while every single part of my body screams at me not to open the door, I just know that he’s not going to stop.
It’s been months, and I thought that maybe this time, he was over me.
Maybe he’d found someone else to torture, but now he’s here, and he’s ready to take whatever he’s feeling out on me.
So, whoever she was, she must have gotten away, and he’s back to torture me again. A voice inside me stops me from opening the door. I don’t know who it is or why it speaks, but I’m thankful for it. Because it saves me for another day.
Victor turns around, stomping hard against the porch, then stomping down the steps and walking away. I know he won’t be gone for long, but it gives me a moment or two to breathe. And another moment to pack my shit and get the hell out of town.
I thought I could get lost in Vegas.
That he wouldn’t find me. But now I’m going to go somewhere else because clearly, he did.
Maybe I’m thinking too big.
Throwing as much of my shit into my bags as I can, I wait for the clock to pass the time, and when it hits two in the morning, I begin loading everything up. I don’t know how far my car is going to take me.
It was on its last leg the last time I ran, which was six months ago. I’ve tried to keep from using it too much, knowing that everything seemed ready to blow. I just hope it makes it out of the desert and to a town.
Sinking down into the driver’s seat, I grip my steering wheel, close my eyes tightly, inhale through my nose, then exhale through my mouth before I open my eyes again. I’ll have to contact the landlord and let him know that I’ve moved out.
It was a month-to-month lease anyway, so he won’t be upset that I’m gone. Plus, the furniture I added to the already semi-furnished house, he can keep.
Shifting the car into Reverse, I back out of the driveway and head out of town. I head south and hope for the best, whatever that looks like, hopefully to a life without any sign of Victor. I honestly never want to lay eyes on him again. Not now, not ever.
The moment I pass the “Drive carefully, come back soon” sign, tears begin to fall down my cheeks. Another town, another world over, and another beginning. But not necessarily one that I wanted to start again.
Maybe this will be the one, or maybe this will just be another stop on the way to wherever the future leads me. All I know is that my future will not be Victor. I refuse. I am better than that. I am stronger than that. I am Juliette, and I will not be used, abused, or tortured by him ever again.