Shades of Blue

Chapter one

Darkness crept into the white, dull bedroom as Kane's hot breath burned the back of Sedona's neck. Trickles of sweat slid slowly down Sedona's tan skin as she laid completely still, being ever so careful not to disturb the massive beast that snoozed behind her. Kane's toned forearm draped across Sedona's middle was a silent reminder she was trapped. Trapped in this tiny bedroom. Trapped in this unforgivably small apartment. Trapped with this cruel, foul monster. Sedona's chest started to rise and fall faster with each passing second, and every bone in her screamed for her to run. Sweat pooled across the outline of her thin, curvy body as she thought of how to possibly escape without waking her boyfriend. She would waste too much time if she worried about grabbing clothes on the way out. She would have to settle with running in her red, cheeky underwear that exposed the majority of both her buttcheeks. Kane had removed her shirt and bra in the earlier hours of the night, which left her with no other option other than to cover her breasts as she ran for her life. The whole plan seemed foolish, but what if it was her only opportunity to escape for another month or so? If Sedona was going to run, it would have to be now while Kane was in the deepest part of his slumber. Sedona breathed in through her small, round nose and out of her full, pink lips. She slowly grabbed as much of Kane's wrist as she could fit her in hand and moved his muscular arm until the only thing his body clung to was the black sheets beneath him. Sedona crept slowly to the door hidden in the corner of the bedroom and reached for the golden doorknob. The metal knob felt like ice as Sedona's clammy palm rotated it slightly to the left. She held her breath until she successfully pulled the door open wide enough for her slim body to squeeze into the hallway. A wave of relief rushed over Sedona as she tiptoed into the living room and spotted her car keys hanging up on the coat hanger beside the main door. She could not stop the smile from spreading across her face as she wrapped her bony fingers around her keys. She reached for the doorknob the same time as...

"Where do you think you're going, young lady?" The familiar male voice sent vicious chills down Sedona's spine. "It's near freezing outside, you can't leave without a jacket." Sedona turned around to find Kane standing at the edge of the long hallway. She could see his crystal blue eyes gaze from her ghostly face to her bare chest and then down her right arm to the car keys in her hand. The look in his eyes turned deadly as he pieced together the fact that his beautiful girlfriend was trying to escape him. Sedona trembled, but it was not the 6'3 man peering over her half naked body, or the enormous muscles chiseled into every inch of his freckled skin that frightened her; it was the calmness lacing his words that made her cringe with fear.

"I was.." Sedona looked for the lie she needed now more than ever, but nothing came.

"You were just coming back to bed, right darling?" Kane's lips cracked into a slight smile, the features on his smooth face softened. However, darkness danced in his bright blue eyes as he disappeared behind the hallway walls. Sedona swallowed down the tears, her eyes full of defeat, while she hung up her hope of freedom back on the coat hanger. As she walked around the corner, a hard force met her stomach that sent her to her knees. Kane stood overtop of the broken girl, laughter roared from his mouth. Vomit rose in Sedona's throat, and the leftover pizza she consumed for dinner threatened to spill on the hardwood floor. She tried to speak, to ask for forgiveness, but when she looked up at the handsome man chuckling before her, his knee met her nose and microscopic stars danced around her head until her vision was flooded black. 

A blanket of frost coated Sedona's olive skin when she woke the next morning. Her muscles and joints were frozen stiff from the long night trapped out on the balcony. Kane's punch to the stomach and knee to the face sent her into an unconscious state for the majority of the night, until she awoke shaking from the harsh winter air. She attempted to break the glass balcony door with her bare fists, but she had no success. Only bloody knuckles confirmed her feeble attempts. After hours of trying to trap in what little body heat remained, Sedona gave up and let the cold consume her. Thankfully, in the early hours of the morning she continued to sleep, snow did not fall and the rare London sun shined down on her bare body. She winced at the pain that shot throughout her whole face when her fingertips grazed her broken nose. Kane's figure appeared in the glass doors, his shaggy blonde hair was drenched in grease; Sedona studied his facial expressions for any signs of guilt, but he was unreadable. Whatever emotions were flowing through his mind, he hid perfectly from the girl with ice laced throughout her wavy, blonde hair.

"Let's go princess, you need to be at work in ten minutes." Sedona latched onto the massive hand held out in front of her, the weight of her body made her knees buckle.

"It takes me at least twenty minutes to get there," Sedona whispered, the words barely managed to break past the layer of ice sealing her lips together. No kindness lived in the blue eyes that met her own; perhaps years ago they were once full of love and life, but not anymore, not the eyes she stared deeply into.

"You better hope your boss grants mercy on
fools like you then."