As I drove to Jacob’s, I couldn’t help the tears that had begun to fall. Nothing seemed to be stopping them; they were like a leaking tap that you couldn’t fix.
Everything I once knew was about to change forever.
Pulling up outside his place, I mentally set my emotions in check. I grabbed the blood bag I had stored in a small cooler box and put it in my handbag. My hands hadn’t stopped shaking; it actually felt like my whole body was trembling, like an electric current was pulsating through me.
I glanced up at the front door and saw Jacob was there waiting for me in the doorway. He was like a hawk, always watching and waiting for its prey. Putting on a fake smile, I began to set this plan in motion. As I stepped out of the car, I thought the night air was cooler than usual. I didn’t know if it was just me, or if it really was the weather.
I arrived at the door, ready to greet Jacob, who was standing there with a stone cold look of disapproval on his face.
“What’s wrong, baby?” I asked, acting all doe-like.
“You’re late, dinner has been ready for the last ten minutes, and you can’t even bother to call or text me and tell me you were going to be late?”
“I’m sorry. I got held up. Melodi needed some help with a few things.”
“Save your pathetic excuses for someone who actually cares.” After that punch to the gut with his vulgar words, he turned and stalked back inside. Just what I needed was him in a foul mood. But, there was a plus side, maybe it would work in my favour.
I walked in, closing the door behind me. I kept having to remind myself to breathe because I was so frightened of what was going to happen. For all I knew he would kill me for real, or do some serious damage, and then I’d be stuck in the hospital for who knows how long and I wouldn’t have an opportunity to get away.
“Smells delicious in here, baby,” I announced as I walked into the kitchen. His dining room adjoined it. The dinner table was set perfectly aside from the horrid carnation flowers that sat dead centre. He was taunting me as he knew I despised this type of flower. He went all out with the gold rimmed crystal goblets filled with a lush pink bubbly wine he had just finished pouring. I doubt he would have done this, or even cooked the dinner himself for that matter. It was probably prepared by one of his lady maids that he employed. I guess when you’ve got money you can have what you want without worrying about consequences.
I didn’t get a reply from him. Instead, all I got was a grunt. Seriously, he was like a child who didn’t get his own way.
“Oh, come on, don’t be like this. Isn’t this meant to be a nice night?” I smiled, trying to simmer down his temper that was already brewing. I hoped he couldn’t hear the fakeness that was in my voice.
“It was going to be a nice night until someone decided they were going to be late and lie about why they’re late.” He stopped what he was doing, and turned to what I was sure was my ghost white face. I felt all the blood drain away since he seemed to know why I was actually late.
“What do you mean? I told you why I was late.” I tried to keep the nervousness I was feeling from my voice, but I was absolutely sure I’d failed.
“You’re lying!” he yelled at me. It was not the first time he’d yelled at me or the second or third or the one hundredth for that matter, but I sensed something in his tone that frightened me right to my very core. I took a hesitant step back, bumping into the wall that I didn’t realise was so close behind me. It had been a little while since I’d been there because so much had been going on. I couldn’t even remember the last time Jacob and I were intimate. I said nothing but waited to see what he did.
“I know you were with him. Did you forget what I said about the fact that I know everything that’s been going on? Especially with Blake.”
I swear my eyes bulged out of my head at his words. “Are you saying that you’ve been watching me?” A mixture of emotions roared through me. I found myself getting angrier, but at the same time more frightened. My body was tense and I was unable to relax. I was angry because of the foolish person I had been for so long. I put so much time and effort into this relationship. I was always being made to feel like I was the one that had done something wrong, and never feeling good enough. Why was I so blind to all of this?
“You have no idea, Abby. I know about your stay-overs with my half-brother while I was away. You are mine, not his!” He was beyond angry now and I wasn’t sure what I should do. Abandoning the plan was looking good at that exact moment.
“Look, I might just go until you cool off because this is not going to get us anywhere,” I said as my voice trembled. I began to turn and walk away, but not before he swiftly grabbed my arm, dragging me back into the dining room. My foot slipped and I tripped, hitting my head on the corner of the table. Pain radiated throughout my head and I felt warm liquid sliding down my face. I touched my fingertips to it, softly pulling them away and noticing blood staining them. My breath hitched and tears began to fall fast.
What just happened? He had never been this forceful.
“Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry, baby.” Jacob instantly forgot about his outburst and became this caring person. He reached out for me, and I immediately recoiled from him and the pained expression touched my heart ever so slightly. I didn’t want these gentle feelings from him. My head was throbbing, and I winced from the pain. “Please, baby, let me help you.”
“I don’t want your help,” I whispered as I struggled to pull myself from the ground. I didn’t get far before a dizzy spell struck. I stopped and leant against the wall till it passed. Jacob stood there watching, there was no remorse on his face for what he had done.
“Please, I’m really sorry. I don’t know what happened. I just snapped.” I knew he didn’t care for me. He thought of it as punishment for what I’d caused him lately.
“It’s what you always do, Jacob,” I talked slowly trying to catch my breath. “You haven’t treated me the right way for a long time now. You’re so angry and possessive. How can you not see the way you’ve been treating me is so totally inappropriate. And then when you injure me, all of a sudden, you want to be the loving man that I once knew?” I walked away toward the bathroom with Jacob following behind.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with me, Abby. Truly, I’m very sorry.”
My eyes moved to his and I could see the remorse in them, but it’s not lost on me this time. This was the worst he’d ever hurt me.
I glanced in the mirror and my heart dropped. Looking back at me was a blood-splattered woman I didn’t even recognise. It half looked like me, because one side was covered in blood but the other wasn’t. Grabbing a towel and running it under the tap, I began cleaning myself. On the outside, I may have looked calm, but on the inside I was screaming with alarm bells sounding loud and clear. I needed desperately to get the hell out of there.
“Look, I’m just gonna go.”
“No, please, stay, and get cleaned up. I’m going to go for a walk to clear my head. I am sorry. Please believe me.” He tried to reach out to me, but once again I couldn’t bring myself to allow him to touch me. His touch was poison. I didn’t meet his eyes. I nodded and moved away from him, continuing to clean the blood from my face.
I heard the front door slam shut and it caused me to jump. I don’t know what came over me, but as soon as that door slammed, a switch inside me flicked and I went into planning mode. I raced to my bag, my heart pumping with adrenaline. I grabbed the bag of blood and spread it where Blake had told me, in the bathroom over some towels. Though I was still actually bleeding a little from my head wound, and it was thumping like crazy, I needed to get this done quickly.
After about ten minutes, I was done. I’d gone and smashed a few things, photo frames, and destroyed the lovely dinner setting that was on the dining table. The final thing I did was to remove my necklace and I left it in amongst the blood splatter and blood-drenched towels as Blake had requested so he would know that I was safe. Little would he know about the head wound that was inflicted by Jacob.