Kate saw his hand fly forwards, and before she even registered the instinct of shielding herself, a painful jolt rocked her back, making her stumble against the wall. His knuckles were like rocks against her cheek. The force made her bite down on the side of her cheek, hard, and blood immediately filled her mouth. It spurted out a little in the corner as she fell back against the wall with a crack, shock creating a kind of electric haze around her. She couldn't see him, only the blurry image of his old sneakers. His legs were spread widely apart, in some kind of defensive stance, like she was going to hit back. Her hand immediately found her face. The skin there was raised and red hot, already looking puffy. The corner of her eye sagged the tiniest bit as it swelled.
Kate braced herself for more. This must be it. This must be some kind of huge freak-out. He couldn't just hit her once, and then be finished. He had to have more in him. He couldn't just stop in midair. He would keep going, keep hitting her, Kate was sure of it. He would keep falling.
Kate flinched when he dropped to his knees right in front of her. She had slid down the wall, half-laying on the wooden floor. She didn't even think about running, it would be no use. His hands reached out toward her. God, he's going to strangle me, she thought. But he took her face gently- very, very gently,- and his eyes burned into hers like they never had before. Kate couldn't tell if he was blinking or not. All Kate could feel was the blistering heat covering the left side of her face, and the pain that was added with his touch.
"I'm sorry," he whispered to her, looking at the puffy redness now consuming her left cheek, jaw, eye, and temple. Like it was slowly spreading, like venom. His eyes were wide, looking at what he had done, like he was scared. He didn't know the first of it. "I'm sorry," he repeated, over and over into her ear. He got closer and closer until he was kissing her ear instead of speaking into it, crouched there on the ground.
And then she realized. He wasn't the one falling. She was. She was falling, falling, falling toward something that would finally end it all. People had kept throwing her ropes, something, anything to grab hold of, but she never took any of them. She just… fell.
He was overtop of her now, creating a shadow that hid the bruise now forming on her face, running his fingers through her hair and down her neck and across her chest. His lips covered the soft membrane of her earlobe, probing with his tongue.
She just sat there like a rag doll, slumped against the cold wall with open eyes as he worked on her. Her arms hung at her sides, sagging onto the hardwood. She wasn't numb; she could feel every trace of his fingers against her skin. But she was just so tired.
He wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth with sad eyes. He was right in her central vision, but she just looked past him, watching the blank wall opposite her. He kissed her lips softly, but she didn't react. He started to get caught up in it though, and kissed her deeply. He had to taste the blood. Maybe that's what was working him up so much. Maybe he liked it.
He picked her up after awhile and cradled her in his arms, walking to the bedroom. He laid her down on the bed and the cell phone slipped from her pocket. She immediately curled up onto her side, hiding her bruised cheek, but he unraveled her and kissed her neck seductively. Him towering over her didn't have the same effect it once had; one of safety and comfort. Now she was trapped between his steel arms on either side of her shoulders and knees straddling her legs. She wanted to sink into the bed, to hide forever in the forest of springs below them. She imagined herself there, climbing up the silver coils like trees when she was a kid. She wasn't a kid anymore, though. She wasn't sure what she was, even as he slid the shirt from over her head. Was she his love? True love? How could that be, when he treated her like an object? A punching bag, and a hole. She laughed at that without thinking.
"What's so funny?" he murmured in her ear, nipping at the skin of her neck.
God, he was clueless. No matter what she said, he would get what he wanted. She wouldn't stop him, though she didn't know why. Was she scared of him, or scared of leaving? Scared maybe that he was the only thing she was clinging to, no matter how unstable. As she fell to her end, he was her one last hope. He was her rope, tattered and weak as it was. The only thing keeping her from whatever lie beneath.
So she kissed him back tentatively, ignoring his question. Her participation excited him, and he struggled to undo her bra. She arched her back to help him, and the game began.
***
Kate felt herself being shoved. A sudden movement, and then she was still again, but she started to feel a throbbing ache on the side of her head. She opened her eyes in alarm; maybe she had fallen off the bed. But Greg was bounding away furiously, leaving the mattress to bounce and creak for a second.
"You filthy whore," sounded in her ears like a siren. She looked up, clueless, into his livid gaze.
Oh, she thought. He hit me again. The pounding in her head took on an edgier thump, now that the cause had been identified. It made it hurt worse. "Greg, what did I do?" she was brave enough to ask. Her voice was thick with sleep, but the fear could be heard still. She was wildly curious.
"You know what you did," he growled at her, stopping on a dime at her feet. She was like a bird in the eye's of a snake; she was frozen, holding herself up by her elbows, staring at him fuming only feet from her. Her expression didn't change, so he decided to explain, angrily. "I know you messed around with Logan. I know you did."
"What? No, I didn't," she replied, puzzled as to how he came to this conclusion.
"DON'T LIE TO ME!" He ripped the comforter from the bed, exposing her.
"Greg, I'm not." She was scared now. Terrified. His eyes were burning her. "I wouldn't. Why…why would you think that?" She was breathing hard, though she hadn't moved a muscle.
"Why would I think that." He laughed, looking up at the ceiling and running a hand over his mouth. "Maybe because you said his name last night." Kate gasped, and tried to think of good response. She knew this was going somewhere bad. Somewhere she may not return from.
He looked down, just now noticing what was under the sheets he had pulled away. And then his eyes were narrowed in the most dangerous kind of lust.
Kate's heart stopped. "No," she muttered. He wouldn't.
"What'd you do for him, Katie?" Greg asked quietly, staring at her body.
"Nothing!" she belted, and scooted a little farther up the bed.
He slithered toward her and bent over the side of the bed. "Was he good?" he whispered evenly, always keeping his eyes on her. "Was he better than me?"
"No! No, I swear I didn't-" She started to cry, but he didn't seem to notice.
Yes. He would.
He knelt toward her and swung a leg over her. He sat down on her hips heavily, putting all his weight on her. All the air in her chest escaped in a loud huff. His anger was about to explode, she could tell. It was brimming, but he was somehow keeping it at bay under the surface. All the same, he would kill her this time, she knew it. Or maybe she just wished he would.
"Let me guess," he began casually, taking her by the forearms and running his own fingers up them as he raised them up over her head, "you say he's special."
"No-" A fist collides with her jaw and she feels a tooth knocked loose. Blood fills her mouth, and a bead escapes. It's dark, and in it you can see his deadly face.
"Shut up." He spoke in a low voice, but danger drowned every syllable. Kate's mouth formed a large, shaky pout as her fat lip grew. She tasted the metallic of her blood, and a sob came from deep within her chest. She kept her now aching teeth clamped together, trying to stop the outbursts that clawed at her throat.
He continued as if nothing had happened. "You say he's the most important thing to you…" She was shaking her head back and forth, back and forth, but afraid to say anything. He led his fingers across her bruised cheek, her tangled hair, her stressed neck. "You lead him on…" Across her collarbone, down the valley between her breasts, and back up.
"Did you talk sweet to him?" he murmured, sliding his palm up her chest, thumb separated from fingers in the shape of an L. She watched his hand creep towards her until it was overtop the hollow of her throat. Kate shook her head frantically, but he wasn't even looking for an answer. She daren't move her arms, resting on the pillow above her.
Her head throbbed with the pulsating ache of blood pumping through her veins. She prayed for it to stop. Just stop my heart, stop it all. He continued. "What does he have that I don't? Huh, Kate?" She couldn't see his face through the tears but she felt his fingers and thumb curve slightly inward, pressing on her. "Answer me." And then his fingers were around her neck. He stared down at her with fiery eyes and clenched teeth.
"Nothing!" she gasped. She took hold of his arm with both of her shaking hands. The muscle felt like stone.
"Liar," he said, gripping her neck tighter. Her breathing was constricted; air couldn't pass. Her face reddened.
"Please," she choked. Her nails dug into his arm, clawing to free her airway.
He wouldn't listen. "I knew it. I knew you would." Her face was purple. Her grip was slackening.
The last thing Kate heard was a loud, drawn out ringing. A siren.
I'm not really sure where this came from. It just all spilled out. If I get enough good reviews, I'll add a beginning, haha. And maybe even and ending, what the heck. so REVIEW! (:
Oh and PS: this has nothing to do with Double-Dealing. I just couldn't think up new character names. haha