Chapter 1 – The Situation

"Stop it! Just stop it!" Elizabeth cried as she ran down the small hallway into their master bedroom. She had to get away from him. She had to survive.

Tears running down her face, Elizabeth squatted down beside the closet door and opened the door to shield herself from being seen by him. Her heart beat thumping in her chest – She thought her husband would find her at how loud it was beating. The adrenaline was rushing through her body. Fear was overtaking her as she listened carefully for any sign that he would find her. She held her breath as he yelled at her.

"Where are you?!" Her breath caught in her throat as tears continued to stream down her face. She could hear him running through the house, throwing things against the walls. Glass breaking. Furniture overturning. How did her husband become so aggressive towards her? How could she be so stupid to marry him after her friends and family had told her how he acted? She didn't want to believe it at the time, but now she wished she could get away. Away from it all. Start over fresh. She needed to run and she needed to run soon.

Before she knew it, the door she was hiding behind flung wide and in front of her stood her abusive husband. "No! No! Please no!" Elizabeth yelled as she threw her hands at him as he picked her up and flung her against the wall behind her. "You are going to listen to me and do what I say!" he said as he continued to throw her against whatever was in their bedroom. He flung her against the wall, against the dresser, against picture frames that held the memories of the years passed between them. He continued to slap her face and beat her into submission for defying something so small that she did against him.

25 minutes prior…
Elizabeth had come home from work and was fixing dinner for her husband. She fixed his favorite – Chicken and dumplings. She smiled as she stepped back and looked down at the food she fixed. "I know he will love it!" she thought as she continued to clean the dishes in the sink. She turned and looked at the clock. "He should be home in a few minutes." Elizabeth removed her apron and proceeded into the laundry room to check on the clothes in the dryer.

He pulled into the driveway and proceeded inside, locking his SUV with his key fob. He had a terrible day and couldn't wait to just get home and eat dinner and relax. His boss had fired him from his job and he didn't want to explain things to his wife, so he would just act like nothing was wrong. His boss had stated he was fired due to his "temper", whatever that meant. He walked inside the front door and the aroma of dinner hit his nose. He took in a deep breath, relaxing little by little as he strolled into the kitchen. He kissed his wife on the cheek and sat down at the dinner table. "What's for dinner? It smells really good!" He sat his briefcase down in the chair beside of him and reached for a napkin on the middle of the table. Elizabeth brought over a big bowl of chicken and dumplings. "I fixed your favorite – chicken and dumplings. I hope you like them. I tried something different with the flavor." She smiled as she proceeded back into the kitchen to get a bowl for herself. He took a big bite of the chicken and dumplings – a frown quickly appeared on his face. Angered, he stood up, yelling at Elizabeth.

"You call this slop food? I wouldn't feed this to pigs!" He threw the bowl across the room, where it shattered against the wall, spilling the food all over the floor. Elizabeth flinched at the bowl hitting the wall, unsure of what was causing this new outburst of anger from her husband. It didn't surprise her that he was mad, as it was a daily occurrence. He just never threw things at her. "Please honey, calm down! I can fix something else." Elizabeth tried to get him to calm down, but the more she tried, the angrier he got. "Shut up! I don't need you telling me what to do!" He said as he continued towards Elizabeth with a hate in his eyes so evil, it made Elizabeth shudder. "I don't need anyone to tell me what to do. I've had it with people bossing me around, treating me like I'm nothing!" He sprung towards Elizabeth, grabbing her wrist as she tried to get away. "No! Leave me alone!" Elizabeth tried to get away, finally breaking free as she ran into their master bedroom to hide.

Back to the present…
After about 5-10 minutes of beating, her husband finally stopped, letting her go. To Elizabeth, it seemed like the beating would last a lifetime. Her tears never stopped. The pain never went away. Her husband walked back out to the living room, where he turned on the television to watch a football game.

Elizabeth walked into the bathroom and assessed the damages down by her husband. Her eyes were red and puffy from where she had been crying. Her neck was dark red from where he had tried to choke her. There was a cut under her left eye that was bleeding. Her arms were red as well, with scratches and bruises beginning to form. Her lip was busted. She reached for a tissue and began to try to stop the cuts and scratches from bleeding. She could only hope her eyes weren't going to bruise up like they had so many times before.

A few hours went by and it was time for bed. Her husband came in, got ready for bed and lay down beside of Elizabeth. Elizabeth had tried to go to sleep before he came in, but sleep didn't come. Instead, she lay awake in bed, crying, looking at the ceiling fan going around. She kept a close watch on the clock on her nightstand. Time seemed to stand still or inch by. Finally, she made a plan. A plan to end the abuse once and for all.

She slowly rose from the bed, pulling the covers off of her ever-so-gently. She didn't want to wake her husband. She quietly walked in the kitchen, looking for something that could do what she needed done. She scanned the kitchen and then she saw it. The knife collection that someone had bought them as a wedding gift years ago. She slowly walked up to the counter, pulling out the largest knife. The knife shined in the light. "Yes, this will have to do." Elizabeth thought as she slowly turned and looked back towards the master bedroom.

She walked to the doorway of their bedroom, watching her husband sleep. He looked so peaceful. To him, everything was perfect. He had the perfect life – a perfect wife, a perfect job, a perfect family. But to Elizabeth, nothing was perfect. Far from it. She hated this life with her husband and just wanted to be rid of him. Rid of the abuse and torment that she suffered daily.

She came to the side of the bed, holding the knife in one hand as she tried to steady herself on what she was about to do. She watched as he continued to sleep, breathing evenly. She slowly held the knife up, taking a deep breath before she continued. In a matter of seconds, the abuse would be over. She wouldn't have to put up with him any longer. She would be free. She thrust the knife down, plunging into her husband's chest. She continued to stab him until she knew he was dead. Blood splattered on her as she continued, crying. She stepped back and dropped the knife. She leaned against the wall, her back sliding down the wall. She couldn't stop crying. She put her hands over her eyes and everything went black.

#Hearties: Don't hate me for this chapter! But, can anyone guess who is Elizabeth's husband? I took this chapter as inspiration from an old country song by Garth Brooks & my love for "Columbo" and "Murder She Wrote". Enjoy!