WARNING: This chapter is Rated MATURE; it contains descriptive and graphic scenes of abuse. Please refrain from reading if this dark content bothers you. Proceed with caution

Hey guys! I'm so sorry it took me forever to update. Life sucks sometimes, ya know? But anywho, I'm back! Okay so this is it. The Chapter. This is the story y'all have been waiting to hear You're gonna learn a lot about Iris, and I am again issuing the warning of the dark content in this chapter as stated above. I did mention before that it's not gonna be pretty what happened to Iris, and I meant it. You've been warned. The song inspiration for this chapter and the chapter's title is the song Runaway by Bon Jovi, and the song featured in this chapter is Dream of a Witches Sabbath from Hector Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique. Enough of my rambling, on with the chapter!

Chapter 8: Runaway

10 Days Ago

It was a beautiful sunny afternoon on the beach, one of the rare days I had actual time to myself. Paul had left early this morning, work I'm assuming. Not that it really mattered to me, I got to pretend I truly had the place to myself for the majority of the day. The house, though was suffocating beyond belief, so I spent that time outside near the water digging for clams to make for dinner tonight.

I sat on the sand looking out into the ocean, feeling a moment of peace even though I was always terrified of the ocean, but I loved feeling the ocean breeze blow through my waist length blonde hair. I snapped out of my thoughts when I heard someone walking towards me. Paul was home. My time of peace had ended.

"Good afternoon, Princess." Paul's deep voice greeted me with a kindness I wished was real.

I looked up at him with my practiced smile painted on my face as I looked over his three piece royal blue suit. "I love a man dressed for clamming." I gently teased.

He chuckled as he squatted down to my level. "I had to take care of some work in the office." He then frowned in displeasure. "And on our vacation no less. Can you ever forgive me?"

Luckily that was one of the easiest things to forgive when it came to him. I simply smiled at him with a nod.

"What do you think?" I asked, lifting up the heavy bucket filled to the brim with fresh clams. "I thought they'd be great for supper tonight. Cook them in some white wine, maybe toss it in some linguine?"

Paul frowned in discouragement. "I went out for clams for lunch after my meeting ended." Paul hated eating the same food more than once on the same day. He shook his head in remorse."And after all your hard work." He then let out a dejecting shrug, "It's okay. I'll just have them again." He rose up to leave for the house.

I rushed to stand up and call out, "No, it's okay!" He turned to face me. "I can just dig fresh ones up tomorrow!" I finished with a grin that hopefully was bright enough to show him I was happy to do it, and to ease the temper that was sure to rise if I didn't accommodate him.

It appeared to work as his face relaxed into a satisfied smile. Crisis averted.

He strutted towards me until he stood right in front of me. His intimidating 6'1 frame towering over my 5'2.

"I missed you this morning, Princess." He said as he leaned down and claimed my lips in a kiss that once upon a time gave me butterflies.

He pulled me into his arms and held me in a loving embrace. I closed my eyes for a second, dreaming that this side of him was real and constant. The tide hitting my feet reminded me I had spent the day in the sand and water. I abruptly pulled away and sure enough to my horror, I had gotten sand all over the front of Paul's suit.

"Oh no, look what I've done." I said apologetically as I tried my hardest to wipe the offending sand off his expensive suit.

Paul was surprisingly calm. "That's alright. I was already going to change." He replied as he held up my left hand to kiss my wedding ring. He turned and made his way to the house, wiping the sand off his suit along the way.

I let my smile drop as I dumped the clams into the water, letting the tide drag them away. I took a deep breath of the ocean air before I started my walk back to the house to find something new to make for dinner.

I was in the kitchen prepping the food for dinner; I opened the cupboard to look for the garlic sea salt, and my stomach dropped when I noticed how unorganized the cans were. I'm sure Paul hadn't noticed yet, I would have been told about it otherwise. I rose up on the tips of my toes and rushed to reorganize the cans, adjusting them to have the labels facing forward. It was a struggle to reach, but Paul doesn't want me to have my legs on the counter. I would've grabbed the stool, but then he definitely would have noticed my mistake, and I've managed to go all day without being punished so far.

"What's for supper?" I jumped at Paul's voice that whispered in my ear right behind me.

Luckily the cans were now organized and I found the garlic salt.

He held me close from behind, I gave him a shaky smile as I replied, "Roast lamb seasoned in garlic and rosemary. With creamed spinach and brown butter radishes."

"Sounds wonderful." He stated with approval, his hands rubbing up and down my sides.

"I was going to make that herb bread you like so much." I finished with a compliant smile. Keep him happy. Just keep him happy.

"I can hardly wait." He replied, kissing me a kiss on my cheek.

He pulled away and directed his attention outside where he saw a man outfitting a sailboat on the dock.

"Looks like we got a new neighbor." Paul said as he made his way out the door. "I'm going to say hi."

I let out a breath of relief at the extra bit of time to myself and continued preparing our meal.

Paul

"You must be our new next door neighbor!" Paul called out to the young man who was just stepping out of his boat.

"Hi!" The young man replied with a smile. He walked towards Paul to shake his hand. "I'm Dr. Todd Bishop."

"Paul Burney." Paul replied with a firm handshake.

Todd nodded his head at Paul's house. "That beautiful glass mansion yours?"

Paul chuckled at the description, "It sure is."

Todd smiled, "So that must've been your wife that was looking at me through the window today. Beautiful wife and the best house on the beach. You're a lucky man."

Paul's body stiffened, his smile more strained. "Yeah, that's my Princess." He clenched and unclenched his fists before he changed the subject, nodding at the sail boat. "That's a beautiful racer you have."

"Thanks! You a boating man too?" Todd asked.

Paul shook his head. "No, I wish. I've always wanted a boat. I've always wanted to go sailing."

"Wife got your balls in a vice, huh?" Todd asked, nudging at Paul in amusement.

Paul narrowed his eyes at the neighbor. "No. My wife hates sailing. She's terrified of the water. Nearly drowned when she was a child."

Todd sobered up his amusement. "Oh man, I'm sorry." He then perked up. "Hey, I'm sailing at around 7 tonight. I actually checked the weather for tonight, it's supposed to be super calm and smooth out in the ocean. Great weather for sailing. It would be perfect for you and your wife to come join me and ease her into it."

Paul, not willing to turn down the chance to do something he wanted, nodded in agreement. "Sounds great. I'll press it to her gently."

Paul then made his way back to the house to have a chat with his wife.

Iris

I had the lamb in the oven, the radishes were chopped and ready to cook on the stove. I was mixing the cream for the spinach when I heard the door open, Paul was back.

"I just spoke with our neighbor." He started. I could feel his eyes burning into my back. "He's a good looking man, the doctor."

"Doctor?" I asked out of curiosity.

"He said I have a beautiful house. 'Best on the beach'." Paul replied stiffly as I heard him walking towards me. The room went dead silent with tension. "When was he in here, Princess? This morning? While I was at work?"

My stomach twisted and my heart stopped at where I knew this was heading. I turned to face him.

"Paul, sweetheart, I don't know the doctor." I replied, my voice shaky and my body trembling. It didn't matter that I was telling the truth though.

"Sure you do." He replied, his voice low and deep with an underlying rage. "Young, handsome, outfitting his sailboat next door. Says you've been staring at him through the window all day."

SMACK!

Nothing could've prepared me for the excessive force he put into his fist as he backhanded me. The impact causing me to scream as I was knocked down to the floor, spilling the cream mixture all over me and the floor. I burst into tears as I felt the extreme pain in my temple.

Paul looked down at me in disgust. His face twisted with rage. "Does it give you so much pleasure to humiliate me?!"

I shook my head no as I tried to control my tears. My crying only served to anger Paul even more.

"STOP IT!" He roared as he then gave a harsh kick to my stomach, making me cry out even more.

Paul looked down at his foot, his anger rising even more at seeing the spilt cream on his shoe.

"NOW LOOK WHAT YOU DID!" He yelled, kicking me once more.

I made the mistake of hastily crawling away, or at least trying to. Unfortunately, I didn't make it far.

"Where do you think you're going, you little whore?!" He growled as he delivered a third kick to my stomach, making me collapse on my stomach.

I was crying so hard, I thought I was going to throw up. Paul grabbed me by my hair and dragged me across the floor.

"No! Paul please! I'm sorry!" I wailed and pleaded. My words were obscured by my hysterical crying.

Paul didn't listen, nor did he care. He hurled me to the floor, letting go of my hair but had yanked some strands out of my scalp at the process. He grabbed my arm in a death grip and gave me a backhanded smack once more, this time cutting my lip from the impact of his ring.

I curled into a ball, feeling broken and bruised. Paul started to calm down.

"Now you're going to sulk." He calmly declared as he crouched down to my level.

"No!" I weakly cried out, terrified he was going to start up again.

"Yes you will." He replied, almost taunting me.

"No I won't." I sobbed, begging for him to not hurt me anymore.

"Yes you will." He said with false pity as he caressed my bruised and bloody face. "You'll pout, and spoil our supper. Our beautiful supper."

He gently sat me up and ironically tried to calm me down.

"There, you're okay. Can you smile for me?" He asked me, like he's always asked me after these moments "Come on, give me a smile, Princess." He cooed.

I forced my lips to rise up in a pitiful excuse for a smile. It was enough to please Paul as he kissed my cheek.

"I'm sorry." Another one of his empty apologies. "Now, we're going to join your doctor friend on his sailboat tonight."

I stiffened in fear of going out in the ocean. Paul was quick to respond. "Now, now, I'll have none of that, okay?" He spoke to me sternly like I was a child. "I know you're afraid. What happened to you as a child was terrible. But we can't spend the rest of our lives hiding from what we're afraid of, now can we? We have to face our fears. And it's about time you faced yours. But don't you worry, Princess. I'm going to be by your side the entire time. Okay?"

I stared blankly into nothing as I gave a shaky nod to please him.

He smiled and kissed my cheek before he stood up to leave. "I'll be back later."

And I was alone once more.

I numbly reached up to grab a hold of the counter to pull myself up. The pain from his kicks shot through my body instantly and caused me to stumble back to the floor. I allowed myself to break down into the sobbing mess Paul didn't want to see.

I wished Mom was here. I wanted her to hug me and protect me from Paul like how she protected me from the imaginary monsters that lived under my bed.

She can't save you anymore. Nobody can. You've got to save yourself. Now wipe your tears and get up and do what needs to be done.

I quickly composed myself and wiped my tears before I pulled myself up, ignoring the stabbing pain I felt in my body. I proceeded to clean up the mess that was made, put together a new batch of cream for the spinach, and cleaned my wounds.

While dinner was cooking, I took a moment to go outside while Paul was still gone. I walked out in front of the house where the row of lamp posts stood high above me. I bent down to grab a handful of pebbles and concentrated my aim on the two lamp posts that stood in front of the house.

I held my breath as I threw the first rock and succeeded in breaking one lamp. One down, one to go. I threw the second rock. I missed. I held my breath once more as I hurled the third rock at the lamp, breaking the second lamp. I let out a sigh of relief and rushed back into the house. Paul should be home any minute.

I was sitting on the couch looking out the window when I heard the door open and shut. I closed my eyes in dread knowing what was next.

"Bonjour, Mon Amour." Paul greeted lovingly as he came up behind me, presenting a bouquet of roses, even though he knew that daisies were my favorite flowers.

"They're beautiful." I commented flatly without actually looking at them.

He walked around to kneel in front of me, handing me a small gift wrapped boxed.

"I'm sorry we quarreled." He apologized. Just another one of his empty apologies for our 'quarrels'.

I said nothing as I unwrapped the gift. I opened the box, revealing a silky red slip dress.

"If you don't like it, I can return it." Paul offered gently.

"No, I do. I love it." I replied with my practiced smile on my face.

My response made a satisfied smile rise on his face. He held out his hand for me to take, pulling me off the couch and into his arms. I wrapped my arms loosely around him in an embrace; then I felt his hand unzip my white dress.

I closed my eyes briefly, this was the part I always dreaded.

He slid my dress down to the floor, leaving me in only my panties in the middle of the living room. He took the red slip from my hands and I held my arms up as he slid the silk material on me.

"It's not too early for this?" He asked as he rubbed his hands all over my silk restrained body, pulling me into a dominating kiss.

The only sounds present in our bedroom was the music of that terrifying Symphonie Fantastique, and Paul's grunts as he's vigorously thrusting into me.

My eyes were shut tightly waiting for this to be over.

Sex with Paul was sometimes more painful than being beaten. I never once had any pleasure from the act, he never cared to give me any. It not only hurt, it made me feel used and dirty.

He bit into my shoulder as his violent thrusts sped up even faster, until he finally stopped and slumped over me, climaxing inside me. He lifted his head from my shoulder, I quickly curled my lips into a smile to show that he pleased me.

I was just pleased that it was over.

Paul rose up from the bed to take a shower, leaving me a few minutes of peace. I dropped the smile and reached for the sheet to wrap protectively around me, covering my shame. I gazed longingly out the window, praying tonight goes as planned.

Paul was seated at the table on the patio overlooking the ocean as I arrived carrying our plates full of the dinner I prepared.

As I sat down to eat, Paul's eyes burned into me.

"You want something." He stated with a knowing smirk. "I know my Princess. What is it?"

I cleared my throat before I responded. "Mrs. Roberts from the music store called me. She said they can use me Full Time now."

Paul shook his head. "Out of the question. You already work three mornings a week, and I respected that. Especially since I know how much you love music. But what about our home? Don't you love our home as much?" He asked, trying to make me feel guilty.

I clenched my fists under the table as I innocently asked. "Has your dinner been late to the table even once?"

"Oh I remember a time it was late." He replied with an accusing stare. "About two days."

I let out a sigh of frustration. "That was six months ago, Paul. My mom was all I had. And I'll never forgive myself for not bringing her here to live with us."

He gave a comforting smile. "Don't beat yourself up. You've always treated her with love."

My voice cracked, "She died, Paul. How could I not go to her funeral?"

"If you had told me, I would've taken you, and give me a chance to pay my last respects. But you sneaked off into the night." He finished with a condescending sneer.

"I didn't sneak off." I replied in defense.

Paul spoke through gritted teeth. "Need I remind you how I worried?"

"No." I snapped. "You reminded me enough the night I came back."

That night left so many scars that would never fade.

Paul stiffened. "You're not suggesting I enjoyed that?"

I scoffed, feeling stupidly bold. "God, no. That would make you a monster."

The tension in the air could be cut with a knife at that point.

Paul let out a chuckle. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were trying to provoke another quarrel so you wouldn't have to go sailing tonight. But that's a conversation we'll have later when we get back tonight."

My blood went cold at the meaning behind those words. I had to force myself to eat at most half of what was on my plate.

Tonight.

The sun was setting by the time I was dressed for sailing. I looked out at what I hoped would be my last sunset in this horrible place.

I looked down at the small bronze sculpture of a woman playing the piano.

"Remember our honeymoon?" Paul asked as he came up behind me. "I bought that for you. And I taught you how to dance."

"Those were the happiest days of my whole life." I replied on autopilot, the words as empty as I felt.

Paul lifted up my hand to kiss my wedding ring. "We'll always be together, Princess. Nothing will keep us apart." He smiled. "Let's go. It's time."

It certainly is.

Paul

What was supposed to be 'perfect weather for sailing' ended up being the complete opposite. It was one of the worst storms of the year so far.

"I thought you said the weather was supposed to be calm!" I yelled over the harsh winds to Todd.

"It was! I don't know what happened! Just a little squall I guess!" Todd replies.

Paul looked over at his wife who was sitting at the rear of the boat, shaking head to toe in fear and grasping the railing like her life depended on it.

"Don't worry, Princess! Everything is going to be fine! Just hold on, okay?" He called out to her.

She gave a shaky nod, holding the railing even tighter.

The winds blew even harder, causing the rope to one of the sails to come loose.

"Shit!" Todd yelled as he rushed over to the sail. He turned to Paul. "I need your help, man!"

"I'll be right back, Princess!" Paul called out behind him as he ran from the helm to help Todd.

The storm raged on even harder as the two men struggled to tie up the sail, causing the boat to rock harshly back and forth. The boat rocked so hard, it nearly tipped all the way over, causing Todd to almost fall overboard. Paul was quick to reach for him and were both able to remain aboard.

They finally got the rope tied down tightly enough to keep it secure. Todd was checking the other ropes when Paul looked over to see how his wife was holding up.

Only to find an empty space where she was sitting!

Paul's stomach dropped. "Oh god NO!" He screamed as he rushed to the other side of the boat. "PRINCESS! BABY!"

He turned to Todd, crying out desperately, "SHE CAN'T SWIM!"

"Oh my god!" Todd replied filled with remorse for possibly being responsible.

"We've got to find her! We've got to save her! I can't lose her!" Paul yelled hysterically as he was about to jump in the water.

Todd was quick to pull Paul back. "You can't go in there! You'll get sucked underneath! You wouldn't be able to help her then! We'll call the coast guard!" He reasoned with him.

Paul knew Todd was right, but he went into hysterics. He hated not being in control, he hated being helpless. And now he's possibly lost the woman he loved.

With a desperate cry, praying his wife would hear him, he called out.

"LILY!"

Iris

Ahead in the distance, far enough to where the boat was barely visible in the storm, I rose up from the water, now stripped down to my underwear, grabbing hold of the buoy as I took a much needed breath. I proceeded to start swimming my way back to the house.

That was the night I died. And someone else was saved.

Someone who was afraid of water, but learned to swim.

Someone who knew there would be one moment where he wouldn't be watching.

Someone who knew the darkness of the broken lights would show the way.

I swam with haste until I finally reached the shallow water of the beach in front of the house. I stumbled on the shore, my legs were so tired.

Now it's Go time. Hurry up, we're on borrowed time!

I rushed across the sand towards the house, but not before I stopped and yanked off my wedding ring. I immediately felt the dead weight lift off not only my hand, but my whole body. I didn't spare it a second glance before I threw it into the ocean where it'll be lost in the storm.

I ran into the house and got to work. I grabbed the step stool in the linen closet, I opened the secret compartment that I had hidden behind the towels and pulled out my backpack that was stuffed with clothes and shoes, dry snacks, and the most important thing. $5,000 that I had spent years saving up; from doing odd jobs for the people at the YMCA on the day's Paul thought I was working at the music store, and also from Mom.

When I left for those two days to move her to the nursing home in New York, she gave me her jewelry to pawn for money at her insistence. She said she didn't care about the jewelry, she just wanted me to get out of this awful life.

I tucked the money back in the backpack and quickly got dressed. I ran to the bathroom and pulled out the scissors from the drawer. I took one last look at my old self before I grabbed my long hair and cut it above my shoulders.

I flushed the hair down the toilet, making sure it all got sucked down the drain. I then grabbed a towel from the dirty clothes hamper and quickly wiped down all the wet footsteps I tracked through the house, wiping down any and all traces of me.

Satisfied with my finished work, I threw on my new jacket, grabbed my backpack, and ran out the door. Leaving my personal Hell behind without a second glance.

I walked through the ongoing storm to the closest bus station and bought my ticket for the next bus to New York.

Present Day

"And here I am. So now you know everything." I finished, feeling more drained than I did yesterday.

The apartment was silent as Matt was processing everything I just told him.

I couldn't get a good read on his face that was almost in a stone daze, I had no idea what was going on in that head of his. It was making me nervous the longer I waited.

"Matt?" I gently called to him. "Say something."

He stayed silent.

The longer he stayed silent, the more nervous I got. I realized that my instinct was right. He was angry with me.

My vision went blurry with the tears that were threatening to shed. I tried to calm down my rapid heartbeat, but I was on the verge of a breakdown.

"I'm so sorry I lied to you." My voice cracked with the sobs I was suppressing. "You have every right to be mad at me. I shouldn't have told you, I knew you were going to hate me for this. I was such a fuckin coward for doing what I did."

I was in hysterics now, I jumped up from the couch and made a beeline to the door, not noticing Matt abruptly snap out of his daze.

"I shouldn't have put all my stupid problems on you. I'll stay out of your hair now. I won't be a burden anymore." I was sobbing at this point.

I opened the door to leave only to have Matt's hand appear and quickly shut it. I turned to face him, feeling confused.

His face crumbled into a frown, his eyes shone with unshed tears as he pulled me gently into his arms and held me in a warm and comforting embrace. I was sobbing uncontrollably into his chest. He held me tighter as he rubbed his hand up and down my back, and pressed his lips to the top of my head.

"I don't hate you." Matt spoke softly, his lips lifting slightly from my head. "I could never hate you. Least of all for that. I care about you more than you can ever know."

I tightened my arms around him as he continued on. "You're not a burden; you're the first thing I think about when I wake up, and the last thing I think about when I go to sleep." My pulse was rising with each word he was saying. "I am angry. But not at you. I'm angry at the bastard that was hurting you. He's a shitty excuse for a man who has never deserved you."

He pulled back to lean his forehead against mine, making our eyes meet. "And you're not a coward." He lifted his hand to caress my cheek and wipe away my tears. "You are the bravest woman I have ever met. I know you're scared, and you've been through what nobody deserves to go through. But I promise you here and now, that I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe."

My heart soared, it felt as if it was beating at record speed. I have no idea what I did to have this sweet, amazing man in my life, but I thank whatever god is up there for bringing him into my life.

I rose my small hands to his angelic face, I lifted my face up and leaned closer to his until our lips met in the purest and sweetest kiss I have ever had in my entire life.

We both let out a sigh of relief, as if we were breathing for the first time. It felt as if a huge weight lifted from my chest and I truly felt free.

I pulled away slightly, our lips just barely touching when I whispered. "You already make me feel safe."

Matt's sightless eyes light up to a honey brown, his smile beaming even brighter. He then gave a light smirk as he pointed out. "You haven't told me everything, you know."

I frowned, confused at what I could have possibly left out. To which he then finished. "Your name. Your full name."

I smiled as I replied. "Lily Iris Williams."

Matt beamed once more. "Lily is beautiful. But I like Iris even more."

I gave a blushing smile in return. "Me too."

He ran his fingers through my hair with one hand, and caressed my cheek with the other as he replied, "I'll protect you."

He gently pulled me in for another kiss, and I just knew in my heart that everything was going to be okay.

Annnnd that's Chapter 8! I'm not gonna lie, I got emotional writing this chapter, I actually cried a bit. Iris is my baby, I love her so much! And it kills me to put her through this, but it had to be done. But yay for super happy ending for the chapter! I adore Matt like no other! Thank you so much for reading, I love y'all 3000! There's plenty more story to tell, so be sure to follow me and this story, and PLEASE leave a review and tell me what you think! Well that's all for now. Until next time…*kiss noise*