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“Do you see that ring on your finger? That means you’re mine forever. It means that you don’t get to leave. You need to figure out just what being married to me means. It means that I will never let you go!” He walks into the guest bedroom and I look around in surprise.
Why did he bring me in here?
He drops me on the bed and grabs my face in his hands, squeezing hard. I’m almost certain there will be bruises there in the morning.
“We will talk in the morning when you can stop being so goddamn dramatic.” He releases me, turning and marching out of the room without another word. The door shuts behind him. Until I hear the lock click, I don’t fully understand the gravity of the situation. Rushing to the door, I try the handle even though I already know what I’ll find.
I’m locked inside.
He locked me in the room? Oh my God, he locked me in this room.
With panic building inside me, I rush to the window and try to open it. It doesn’t budge. I’m well and truly stuck. How long will he leave me in here? What will happen if he decides to let me out? All these thoughts twist around in my head on an endless loop as I collapse to the floor, tears welling up in my eyes.
* * * *
I don’t know how long I’ve been in here. I do know that the sun has already risen so if I had to guess, I would say seven hours. Eight, maybe. I’m so thirsty and my body aches from spending the night on this bed. And I’m angry. Angrier than I can ever remember being before in my life. The knob turns suddenly, startling me, and my gaze flies to the door. Ryan walks in and in that moment, I hate him.
“You ready to talk, baby?”
I nod my head, afraid that if I open my mouth, I will just start screaming at him.
“Say it, Emma. I want to hear you say that you are sorry.”
My lip curls back into a snarl and I shake my head. “Go fuck yourself.”
He clenches his fists and his lips form a thin line. I think he’s going to leave but a second later, he’s marching over to me and grabbing me by the arm. He yanks me off the small mattress and shoves me into the wall so hard that I see spots. His hand closes around my neck and my eyes fly open. When I look up at him, there is nothing staring back at me. He’s completely blank.
“Why are you such an ungrateful little bitch?” His hand tightens around my neck and I wonder if I’m ever going to make it out of this room. It’s getting really hard to breathe but he just stares at me as his grip tightens further. I claw at his fingers but he grabs my hand and smashes it against the wall next to my head. Pain shoots down my arm as tears pour down my cheeks.
“Do you know how much I do for you? You wouldn’t have anything if it weren’t for me. You’re going to stay in this room until you learn to have some fucking respect.”
He lets go of my hand and pulls his arm back, curling his hand into a fist. He releases my neck and I duck as his fist comes flying at my face. He barely misses me, his hand going through the drywall, and then he turns and leaves like nothing happened. I hear the lock click again and I collapse to the floor, sobbing. I can’t help but wonder how the hell I got here.
* * * *
It’s starting to get dark again. My stomach growls and my mouth feels like it’s been stuffed with cotton balls. It’s so hard to swallow. I think I’d do anything to get out of this room right now. Even apologize to Ryan, but he hasn’t been back since this morning.
Then I hear the front door open and my heart flips with excitement. I pray to every God that I can think of that he will come to let me out. A moment later, my prayers are answered when I hear the lock click and the door opens.
The look of pity on his face almost has my anger resurfacing but I push it back down. “Why do you make me do this to you, baby?” he asks. I say nothing. “Are you ready to apologize?” I nod my head. “Let’s hear it.”
“I’m sorry.” My voice is so quiet that I’m not even sure he heard me.
“For?” I guess not.
“For accusing you and yelling at you.”
He smiles, swooping down and scooping me up into his arms. He carries me into our bathroom and turns on the water. He carefully strips me and places me under the stream of water.
“Get cleaned up and I’ll make you some food. See how much easier things are when you just listen to me?”
As soon as he leaves the room, I curl up into a ball and sob.
