Chapter 1

Pets for Peace, Not Beats alternate take

In the original version of 'Pets for Peace, Not Beats' Ava was raped by Seeley as well as being abused repeatedly. I know it was a bit extreme so that is why I cut it from the original story.

Background info: Each day Ava would come home to find Seeley in an awful mood. As she says in 'Her Song Has Been Song'; "He was just so nice to me. He treated me right. But when he moved in he completely changed. He started locking me in rooms, hitting me. . ." So, Seeley wasn't always this way but once they moved in together he turned sour. He figured that since she was 'in love' with him she wouldn't leave him not matter what he did. He doesn't abuse her every day but he isn't very kind to her.

I pulled into the driveway and cut the engine. A lone tear fell from my eye and onto the steering wheel. I looked down and let my head fall hard onto the dashboard. Maybe if I lay in the truck unconscious, he would leave me alone for the night. Yet, I knew he would have his way with me whether I was conscious or not.

I opened the door and stumbled out onto the pavement, again, hoping I would lie unconscious wherever my feet had taken me.

I looked over at my house. The house that my grandmother had left me before she died. The house that he took over and made his own. The house that I was afraid to enter.

I held my breath and opened the door. I imaged he would be sitting on the couch glaring at me when I stepped inside. Instead, he appeared to be staring blankly at the wall in front of him, his thoughts apparently light years away.

Giving him a rather shaky smile, I asked, "Hey baby. How was your day?"

"Where were you?"

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, seemingly composing myself, "Work."

He was silent for a while, and then slowly, the words came out. "Why didn't you respond to my message?"

"Huh?" I mumbled, as if I hadn't heard him. confi

"You know what I asked! Why didn't you respond?"

"Sorry, I was in such a rush to get home I didn't have time to respond."

"Ava, you know that's not what happened!"

"What did happen then? Huh?"

Oh no, he's going to kill me.

He got up from his chair and walked towards me, backing me against the wall. I tried to breathe, but my throat caught. Unshed tears blurred my vision. I didn't want to die.

"Baby, I'm sorry. Please, I'm sorry," tears began to flow from my eyes, "Please, please. I didn't mean to raise my voice. Please, just let me go to bed. Please, I don't feel good. Just le-"

Fury struck Seeley and turned his face red. His hand grasped the front of my shirt, and he spoke with such quiet venom that I began to shake. He raised a blade to my neck, showing that he could kill me at any given moment with a simple gesture.

Terrified, I collapsed to the floor, desperately trying to escape Seeley's wrath.

"Ava you need to learn, when there's love, there's pain. Consider the fact that pain shows you aren't dead. I don't want to kill you Ava, but there are consequences when you misbehave."

He took hold of my arms, dragging me into the bedroom. I freed a hand from Seeley's tight grasp and clawed at his face, but his determination added to his physical strength. Tonight I saw a reason to fight back. I saw a reason to live. He hit me in the stomach, again, sending me to the floor. He dragged me up and threw me onto the bed, making me hit my back on the headboard. I took a moment to catch my breath, and then let out a tremendous scream.

He began to remove my clothing, scared I backed up onto the pillow. I closed my eyes and felt a few tears fall onto the sheets. I could hear his zipper being undone but I refused to open my eyes. Whatever was going to happen, I didn't want to see. I would feel a great amount of pain but I didn't want to open my eyes to see his evil smirk.

"Ava, admit it. You like it, don't you? Tell me you like it!" He demanded.

"N-never!" I growled. "Not in your lifetime."

He hit me in the mouth, cutting my lip and causing me to let out harsh screams from the seemingly never-ending torture. Possessed by anger, he grabbed a pillow and put it over my face.

He had his way with me, he always did.

"That's a good girl." Seeley rolled off me and buttoned his pants back up. He rolled his eyes and let out a shallow sigh. "Next time, buck your hips a bit more." A wicked smile grew each second on his demonic face.

He finally grew tired of me and let me stay huddled in the corner.

I cupped my hand over my mouth so my sobs wouldn't be heard. I snuck into the guest bedroom and collapsed onto the bed. I hoped and prayed that he would leave me alone for the night.

Please God, have him let me be. I know I can't escape this horrible nightmare quite yet but please have someone come to rescue me soon.

The door locked behind me, leaving me imprisoned till morning. He may as well have left me to die. I wish I had.