I scramble upright, forcing my legs to move even though my whole body is screaming at me to collapse. A door slams. Then the sickening sound of fists pounding against wood.
She locked it. Smart girl.
Craig’s fists hit the door over and over. “Let me in!”
“Leave her alone!” I grab a nearby vase and slam it against the back of his head. Pieces of glass shatter around us, and he stumbles forward. Blood trails down his back as he slowly turns to face me once more. I freeze for a second. A sickening realization washes over me.I hurt him.
Oh God, what have I done?
Craig turns, slow and deliberate. Blood streaks the back of his neck, trailing down his shirt. He looks at me with something worse than rage.
This is going to cost me.
I try to run, but I’m not fast enough..
Craig lunges with a scream and tackles me to the ground, landing his body on top of mine. “Stop! Get off me!” I try to fight back, but it’s useless. He’s stronger. He always has been.
I knew better.
Pain sears my skin as his fist collides with my face, and I attempt to block his attack. “Please,” I whisper, though I already know pleading won’t help. Another hit. And then another. I lose count.
My vision blurs. My body goes numb.This is it. This is how I die.
Then-
A scream…
A crash…
Craig’s body goes limp on top of mine, and I use this opportunity to pull myself from under him. I gasp for air, blinking through the haze of confusion and pain.
Charlie stands to his side with a baseball bat in her hand, crying. I look down at Craig’s still body and then wrap Charlie in my arms. “It’s okay, baby. Come on.” I pull her toward her room to grab her go bag I have packed in her closet.
We have to run now.
My body feels like lead, but I force myself to move. Once she has her backpack on, I pull her toward my room to grab my bag as well. “Put your shoes on, baby.” I set them out on the floor for her. I have to keep it together. My voice calm, steady-fake it to shield Charlie from the fear I feel inside.
While she puts them on in a hurry, I quickly run to my closet and grab my bag. I don’t take much. I grab my 9mm handgun from my dresser by the bed and make sure it’s loaded before sticking it inside, along with a change of clothes.Are we really doing this? How are we going to survive?Panic sets in at the thought of being without Craig—without the man who has been with me for more than half my life. Am I truly capable?
I look down at my five year old for the first time since the chaos erupted and my heart studders. She looks at me with such a dewy-eyed gaze as if she trusts me with her whole heart. That look is enough to snap me out of my spiral. I swallow hard and shove my panic down. There is no time for fear. No time for doubt.I have to do this.
“You ready?” I whisper, holding out my hand to Charlie.
Her sad eyes meet mine, but she places her hand in mine. I try to block her from Craig, who is still lying on the ground in the hallway, and rush us down the stairs.
Once we are at the front door, I grab our coats from the rack and throw them across my arm, holding the door open so Charlie can walk through.
Just as the door is about to close, I hear a groan from the top of the steps.Fuck.
We rush to the car and toss everything in the back seat while Charlie gets into her car seat so I can strap her in. “I need you to be brave for Mama, okay?”
She nods, and I quickly kiss her forehead before going around the other side of the vehicle and getting into the driver's seat. I have to get out of here before Craig makes it down those stairs.
I don’t even know where we will go. I can’t go to my mother’s, that will be the first place he looks, and I don’t want to bring any danger to her house. I just need to get as far away from here as possible.
As I strap her into her car seat, I remember our medicine is sitting on the counter. “Fuck! I will be right back, baby.” I slam the car door shut and rush back inside the house.
I hear Craig groaning upstairs when I open the door and run as fast as possible to the kitchen. I have to get my anxiety meds and Charlie’s medication for her chronic ear infections, or we won’t be able to survive this mess.
