Thanks for reviewing and following my story, guys! It means sooo much to me. :) I love knowing what you guys think, so keep on with the reviews and don't be afraid to send me a message! Here's the next chapter, i had some time to write whilst babysitting, so yeah, here it is! I hope you enjoy. - Jade xo.
CHAPTER FOUR: BROKEN PROMISE.
Thankfully, Tia had got home before Marks return from work, so when he walked through the front door she had been settled down on the sofa with a fresh cup of coffee in her hands and another waiting on the coffee table for Mark's pleasure. The evening passed by with very few difficulties, and for once, Mark had been in a good mood and so she wasn't at the receiving end of any violence. And they ended up in the position they were in now, watching a movie together in the living room. Mark had been trying to snuggle up with Tia but she had been hesitant, but she had to comply, or else he would think that she was rejecting him and that would only end badly. So she had ended up pushed against his side with his arm wrapped around her. But she had tried to ignore his strong hands on her waist and was focusing on the movie to try and keep her mind off of it.
"So.. I heard something pretty funny today." Mark hummed into Tia's ear, startling her a little, seeing as they had been sat in silence for the last forty minutes or so. It was unlike him to strike up a conversation with her; then again, it was unlike him to be in such a calm, good mood.
"What is it?" she asked quietly, trying her hardest to sound as interested as possible. If he thought for a second that she wasn't interested in what he was saying, he would flip as quick as a switch.
"Well.. my good friend Tommy told me that he saw something unusual today.." Mark began in a somewhat teasing tone of voice, with that dark edge to it, which worried Tia. She knew that tone well and already she knew that he was slowly progressing towards his angry state of mind where rage and violence became his two best friends. "He said that whilst he was having coffee with his friends he saw you.. with another man." A knot instantly formed in Tia's stomach and she felt her eyes widen as they kept their focus on the television screen, to the point where they began to burn as she forgot to blink – she had completely froze. "And that's pretty funny.. Because I told him that it couldn't have been you because you told me that you were at home." Now she was beginning to feel very, very sick. Sick with complete fear. Her heart began to race in her chest, thudding against her chest like a hammer being tapped quickly against a wall. "But he was sure that it was you.. Because only you have this.." his voice trailed into a sinister drawl as he traced his fingertips over the sleeve tattoo on her shoulder. The contact made her flinch, Goosebumps instantly rising all over her skin, a chill of fear running down her spine. His fingers trailed down to her wrist slowly, before he suddenly gripped onto it with a crushing strength behind his hold, making her bend into his hold and hiss in pain. "Care to explain?" he growled viciously into her ear.
"I.. It couldn't have been me.. I was here all day." Tia lied helplessly, not wanting to admit what she had done to him, not when he was heading into that dangerous state of mind. But he wasn't having any of it. Mark jumped to his feet and leant down over her, forcing her back into the corner of the sofa as she began to cry in complete fear. She was terrified.
"DON'T LIE TO ME!" he shouted, his face inches from hers as his skin turned a deep shade of red, his hands shaking in fury as he pointed his finger at her face in another accusing gesture to go with his words. Tia couldn't speak, she tried to, but all that she could muster was a helpless whimper. He didn't like that one bit. In an instant he had grabbed hold of her shoulders and pulled her up to her feet, only to shove her back forcefully against the wall. Pain radiated over her back as a result of the impact and her tears began to flow quickly, one after the other as sobs sounded from the depths of her throat.
"Please don't do this.." she sobbed. God she sounded so pathetic, but what else could she do but cry and beg for him to stop? Of course, begging was useless because it only spurred him on and he was blind with rage, too blind to see that he was hurting her. Not like he would have cared anyway.
"Do what?" he growled, getting in her face once again, and as she tried to turn her face away so that she wouldn't have to look him in the eye, he gripped her chin in his hand and forced her to look up at him. "This?" he added before quickly pulling back his hand, only to throw it back towards her in the form of a fist, connecting with a brutal force against her cheek. The force made her head quickly twist to the side and a sudden, dull ache throbbed throughout the area.
She was in too much shock to take notice of what happened next. All she felt was pain, an intense amount of pain which didn't want to stop any time soon. And just when she thought it couldn't get any worse it did. Mark took complete advantage of her in her vulnerable state. She was now alone in the house, as Mark had grabbed his coat and left as soon as he had finished with her – probably to go and get drunk somewhere and sleep with another woman. Tia whimpered as she came too, beginning to wish that she could just fall back into unconsciousness, because then she didn't feel the pain that was there to greet her as soon as she came to. It was unclear what her internal injuries were, but it was pretty obvious that she had taken a severe beating, with blood covering her face and bruises and red marks growing on patches of her skin. A sob sounded from her throat as she began to cry, she felt so helpless as she lay there on the ground, unable to move without pain radiating throughout her body.
A ringing sounded from within the room and she came to realise that it was her phone; someone was ringing her, but that was the least of her concerns, she needed her phone so that she could call for help, because by the looks of it, the neighbours weren't the least bit concerned, or they just hadn't heard her screaming and cries. With a cry of pain Tia rolled onto her stomach, which only resulted in more sobs as the pain increased but she fought through it and dragged her way across the floorboards towards her phone which had been knocked off of the table and onto the ground during their struggles. She was panicking because it felt like her life was just draining away, and all she wanted to do was sleep – but she knew never to fall asleep when you were hurt badly, that's when things went wrong. Tia reached out for the phone as the screen lit up again and her fingers just about reached. The caller ID looked like it said Phil, but she couldn't tell, as her vision was completely blurred as she was sure that her eyes were swollen. She swiped her finger across the screen to answer the call and rested her head over the handset, unable to lift her arm to hold it to her ear.
"Tia?" the worried voice of Punk sounded through the receiver.
"Help me Phil.." Tia cried quietly into the phone, desperate for help in her time of need.
"What's wrong? Tia, what's happened?"
"I broke my promise.. I need help.." she sobbed, having promised Punk that she would be okay.
"I'm on my way." And with that, the line went dead and Tia was once again, left alone. She was so cold, probably due to the fact that Mark had shown no mercy when ripping the clothes from her body. She remained still, laying there in silence as time ticked by. She didn't know how long it had been exactly, but she clearly she had slowly begun to slip back into an unconscious state, as the sound of banging at the front door woke her up, but she was still close to falling back into that state.
"TIA!" Punk called from the other side of the door, and all that she could do was groan as she had lost the ability to talk after hours of screaming and sobbing. After a few more pounds against the door, he had clearly been left with no other choice, because seconds later Punk barged through the door, breaking it open as a last resort. "Tia?" he called out again.
"Phil.." she croaked from her position behind one of the sofas and within seconds the sight of someone's shoes fell into her line of sight.
"Oh my God." Was all that the straight edge superstar could muster.