A/N: Hey guys. This kind of story is really new to me, where there is a lot of violence and problems. It challenge that made me want to try out a story with these kind of themes. WARNING: This story and especially this chapter deals a lot with violent physical abuse and a lot of swearing. I also feel that I should say that I have never experienced such a thing and I am not making light of the situation. I hope that you enjoy the story anyways.

Chapter 1: Get me out of here!

"You little bitch!" I suddenly felt a stinging sensation on my right cheek as I fell backwards from the blow, "did you really think you could keep your little affair to yourself?!" He grabbed my hair, forcing me to look at his face. It took all of my effort not to give him the satisfaction of screaming.

"No! For the last time, he's only a friend! A friend, I swear!" I couldn't stop the tears from running down my face. He jerked my head closer to his, unleashing a new wave of pain,

"Don't give me that bullshit!" His fist connected with my face again, causing an involuntary shriek to betray my facade - I was scared; scared for my life.

"Please, Colton, no!" I pleaded, close to breaking. With his other hand, he grabbed my chin, making sure that I was paying attention to his words,

"You are mine, you hear me?! Mine! I fucking own you!" Colton replied, "I fucking own you..." he repeated quieter, probably to try and make it sink in. He finally let go of my hair, throwing my face to the ground, turning away and walking to the fridge; probably to get another beer to fuel his intoxicated rage. I barely kept my head from smashing into the cold tiles. Immediately, I scrambled to my feet and went into the bathroom, locking the door behind me. I waited in agonizing silence for a few seconds before the sound of a fist pounding against the door made me jump out of my skin, "You can hide in there all you want: you're going to have to come out eventually..." he snarled through the piece of wood separating him from me. I then heard the scraping of heavy furniture, and then nothing. I waited for half an hour. Still nothing. I was about to unlock the door when I heard an empty glass bottle break against it. I whimpered inaudibly with my hand over my mouth. Please stop. Someone please make it stop... my legs fell from under me and I crashed onto the floor. I couldn't stop the tears; hot burning tears of absolute terror, but also tears of self-loathing and pity. I could taste the fear in my mouth; or was it blood? How could I let someone do this to me...? Reduce me to this... I thought as I climbed into the bathtub and turned on the shower head, letting cold water run over my small frame. I could feel the sticky blood and sweat and tears wash away, leaving only my bruised and battered body lying in the bottom of the tub. I watched it all swirl down the drain. I turned off the water when I couldn't stop shivering and I waited. I waited and waited and waited; hours passed by in the evening, turning into the small hours of the morning. I listened carefully for any creak, any indication that Colton was awake. I heard nothing. Slowly and tentatively, I creeped over to the bathroom door and slowly undid the lock, peaking through the smallest of cracks. There I saw Colton on a sofa chair from the living room, passed out from his drunken stupor with beer bottles littering his surroundings. I placed my hand over my mouth, he was waiting for me to come out, I thought, tears threatening to drown my eyes out of fear. Quietly, I opened the door and snuck into the bedroom, grabbing all of the necessary items I was going to need. As I grabbed my hairbrush, I saw some money sitting on the bedside table. I left it; I don't need your money. With my necessities in tow, I gingerly made my way to the front door. I had to pass Colton on my way out. As I walked past, he stirred in his chair, causing me to freeze. He rolled over onto his side facing me, dread filling into my chest. I quickened my pace, It's right over there, all I need to do is turn the handle and I'm free. I stretched my hand out to the final obstacle when I heard Colton for what I thought was the last time: "I love you... But I'm going to kill you, you little bitch..." I turned around fast, expecting a hand to grab me at any time, to rip freedom from my grasp when it was so close, but all I saw was a drunk man, sleep talking about what was undoubtedly his dream. I didn't stick around long enough to find out how it ended, as I turned the doorknob and stepped out of that house for the last time. As I walked down the affluent side of California, I allowed myself to cry. How could someone like Colton, an aspiring doctor, a rich boy from an affluent family, be an abusive loser...? How could someone with a perfect childhood be such an evil person? I had to get back to my apartment, back to a place where I knew he couldn't get in.

I had a few hundred dollars saved up for this occasion and so I walked towards the train station. As I walked, I felt hopeful, like an enormous weight had been lifted from my shoulders. When I got to the station, I was the only one there and it was peaceful. I walked to the teller and asked for the last thing that would ensure my freedom: "One ticket to Sacramento for the next train please."

-φ-

It was 5:00am when the train finally got in to the station. As the time wore on from when I first got my ticket, more and more began to fill the station; early commuters living their everyday life going to work. This made me feel safer The more people here, the less likely Colton can hurt me... He was probably still passed out anyways, I concluded.

After a 2 hour train ride, I was finally back home. Well, almost...after moving in with Colton a few months ago, he made me get rid of my apartment, not an uncommon thing to ask among couples, and I complied. Sort of. I was between jobs at the time so I thought I might just rent it out so that I could earn a bit of money for safe keeping, just in case. Good call.

I stood there nervously. I had knocked on the door out of courtesy as I had the keys of course. I should have called from the train... I chastised. Luckily, there didn't seem to be anyone home so I decided to call for permission.

"Hello?"

"Hi Megan. It's Lily Brooks, your landlady?"

"Oh, hi! Good to hear from you! What's up?"

"Well, um... I've had to move on short notice and I wasn't able to find a place before I had to go... I know it's an invasion but I'll only be there for two days; three days max-"

"Hey, don't worry about it! Of course you can stay for a while. Take as long as you need! I'm away on vacation for a week anyways and I trust you. It is originally your apartment too, I'm just your tenant!"

"Thank you so much Megan, this means a lot. I promise to be out of your hair as soon as I can."

"No problem! Talk to you later!"

"Bye-bye!" *click*

I looked around the apartment, remembering its familiar layout and looking for the couch. She's letting me stay in her room, I should be courteous and just sleep on the couch. It looks comfy anyways. I found some extra pillows and a blanket in the closet she described and set myself up to go to bed. I stood there in a daze, fatigue finally catching up with me; I've been awake for 24 hours... I slowly crawled into bed. I passed out as soon as my head touched the pillow.

-φ-

I was sitting on the couch reading a book. Colton was sitting next to me, watching TV. I found it hard to read with something speaking in the background but there was nothing I could do. I felt his arm drape around my shoulder and I immediately stiffened but he didn't seem to notice, or maybe he just didn't care... He suddenly started smothering my neck with kisses, moving up to my jaw line, then quickly grabbed my face forcefully, looking into my fear-filled eyes. His eyes were completely calm, almost peaceful, as if he had found something he had longed for this my entire life.

"Lily..." He whispered. His hand let go of my chin, travelling to my neck instead. I was paralyzed with fear but the sudden clenching of his hands choking the air out of my lungs made me thrash frantically to get free. My body was screaming in panic, my sight became fuzzy and black around the edges; I was slowly losing consciousness. My senses became dulled; my hearing was muffled as if I were underwater and I could feel the blood pounding in my ears and extremities. I faintly heard Colton mumbling,

"I love you, but I said I was going to kill you, you little bitch! I always keep my word..."

My body was in its last attempts of desperation. My lungs were on fire and regardless of how hard I tried to breathe or stop Colton, nothing would happen. I lost control of my body and my lungs exploded-

I woke up gasping for air in a cold sweat on the floor of the Sacramento apartment, taking large gulps into my chest. I checked my phone to find 50 calls from Colton with just as many voicemails. I deleted all of them without listening. I had slept font an entire day, waking up at 9:30 am two days after I had left. I didn't have a computer with me so I looked in the newspaper font possible apartments. I found two that were still in Sacramento and affordable for me. I also had to find a job. Before I moved in with Colton, I had just finished. University studying video editing and post production. Seeing as I lived in California, I thought that there was probably a job opening somewhere. Okay. First, find an apartment FAST so that Colton will never be able to find you again. Second, visit an internet cafe to find an editing job. I took a quick shower, avoiding the mirror at all costs so I didn't see how broken I looked, grabbed a single piece of toast then headed out.

A/N: Hello again! I just thought that I'd say that things will get better in this story as it does it real life. A quote that I generally remember in bad times is "Everything turns out alright in the end. If it's not alright, it's not the end." So please, review if you'd like; I enjoy hearing from my readers, especially on new endeavours like this. Thank you very much!

~Ateles