Chapter 8: In The Still Of The Night

When the last person had left the bar Madison helped Sam clean up, when she was done she sat at the bar waiting for him to finish, Sam walked back into the bar with a bag over his shoulder,

' You ready to get outta here?' he asked waiting by the door, Madison stood up pushing the stool back against the bar with her foot and nodded, they walked out into the parking lot, the air was humid and moist and the atmosphere was so still and quiet, it was eerie and it added to Madison's ever growing fear. They walked to her new jeep; Sam stopped and looked at the new car,

' Niceee'

' Thanks' Madison dug her keys out of her bags noticing how much her hands were shaking, she gripped them tightly in her hand and closing her eyes taking a deep breath, she hadn't even heard Sam walk round the jeep to her,

' Madison? Do you want me to drive?' she nodded her head slowly releasing the keys into his hand, she climbed into the passenger seat as Sam threw his bag into the back and climbed into the drivers seat, she gave Sam the address and he started the car. She noticed Sam glancing at her, he looked concerned and she couldn't stand the silence anymore,

' You can ask me about it Sam?' he looked taken-a-back

' You sure?'

' Yeah, go ahead, your thinking about it and I don't need to me a mind reader to know that'

' Was he always violent?' Madison thought about it, she realised if she went all the way back to when she first began dating Drew he had shown violent tendencies, she remember the night they'd lost their virginity to each other, they'd been seeing each other for 3 months and decided that the time was right, she remembered lying on the bed in Drew's parents empty house, she remembered how tightly he pinned her arms to her sides, how he bit violently at her skin and she remembered screaming as he violently thrusted into her, she remembered the pain she felt and how she told him he was hurting her, but that only seemed to encourage him to hurt her more. Even their wedding was a nightmare looking back, instead of their wedding night being a night of perfect happiness and love making she'd spent hers crying on the bathroom floor after the first savage beating he gave her, the first of many, what followed was 5 years of torment and agony.

' Madison?' she looked at Sam realising she'd spaced out and forgotten to answer his question,

' Yes' her voice came out as a husky whisper, Sam didn't talk anymore.

They pulled into her driveway and Sam grabbed his bag walking ahead, she could have sworn he was subtly sniffing the air, he walked into the house ahead of her and turned on the lights, he walked round the rooms, and came back to join her in the kitchen,

' You want a coffee?'

' Love one' he sat at the table as she handed him a cup, he leaned back and rubbed his face,

' Tired?' he looked at her and smiled,

' Been a bit of a long night'

' Tell me about it' she smiled back at him, ' you gonna be ok sleeping on the couch?'

' Yeah I'll be fine, don't worry about it'

' Let me go grab you some blankets and pillows' Madison got up and retrieved the blankets from a closet and brought them back downstairs, she looked round the door, Sam was standing next to the couch, his shirt was off as he pulled a casual t-shirt on, Madison took a deep breath admiring his toned body, she waited a few more seconds before walking into the lounge, she placed them next to him on the couch,

' Thanks Maddie' she smiled and walked upstairs. She collapsed onto her bed pulling her shorts and t-shirt off and climbed under the blankets.

She woke up at 3am to hear a strange scratching noise outside, she felt a feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach, she slowly climbed out of bed and walked over to the window, she looked out to see two dogs running up and down her porch and play fighting in the garden, she smiled as she watched them run into the distance towards the woods, she climbed back into bed, at 4am she woke up again to the sound of barking, she walked back over to the window and looked out, she saw Sam in just a pair of jeans walking across the garden with one of the dogs from last night at his heels, he was sweating and out of breath as though he had been running, Sam scratched the dogs head and walked back into the house, she lay back down on the bed trying to sleep, but sleep evaded her, she turned over and looked at the clock it was 4:30, she threw the blankets off in frustration and pulled on a pair of shorts and a vest and quietly walked downstairs to get a glass of water, a she walked past the lounge she paused, she could hear the strangest noises, it sounded like a dog growling,

"Oh god did Sam bring that dog in with him?" she peered round the door, there was no dog, Sam was alone, lying on his back on the couch and he was the one growling, he was also twitching, Madison paused for minute before deciding to see what he was dreaming about, when she had seen she stood still feeling more confused,

"Why is a grown man dreaming about chasing rabbits in a field?" Sam murmured something incoherent and rolled over onto his side, Madison walked back upstairs deciding she wasn't thirsty anymore.

Madison was running through the house, her head was bleeding and she could hear Drew shouting behind her, she stumbled and fell hitting the cold wooden floor, the next thing she knew Drew had a handful of her hair and was pulling her to her feet,

'You bitch, don't you ever dare disrespect me in my house, when I talk you better respect me and listen to ever god damn word I have to say' he dragged her into the kitchen and threw her against the table so her stomach collided with the solid wooden corner, she cried out in agony falling to her knees,

' If you're going to keep disrespecting me Madison I'm gonna have to teach you a lesson' she heard the sound of his metal belt buckle being unfastened and desperately tried to pull herself up, but it was too late, he grabbed her by the hair again and ripped her t-shirt off, he then ripped the bra straight off of her body leaving red marks where the material had dragged, she felt him run the leather belt down her back and breathed deeply knowing what was coming next, the leather struck her back and…'

Madison's body jolted up from the bed and collided with warm skin, she felt arms wrap around her and a soothing hand stoked her hair, she could feel the sweat trickling down her back, her breath came in pants as she tried to stifle her cries, she knew it was Sam holding her, she buried her face in his chest and for the first time since she'd run away from Drew she cried, she let everything out and Sam sat patiently, holding her close and letting her cry,

' It's ok Maddie you're safe I've got you, it was just a nightmare' she wrapped her arms round Sam and clung to him keeping her face buried in his chest as he continued to calm her.