RED: Welcome To Fayetteville | Complete ✔️

Chapter 15: Natalie

"It's not Derrick. It can't be Derrick."

"Natalie, you've been pushed away and hidden for so long. Please, listen to me and get out of there." Zach was desperate, and she could hear it in his voice.

Derrick's presence was hovering in the open door frame. He managed to creep the door open without her noticing. It wasn't like most front doors; it was quiet. And he used that to his advantage. He stepped out onto the cold, wooden front porch.

"Okay. I'm sorry, Zach. I'm leaving." Natalie told him on the phone, not knowing Derrick was standing right behind her. If only she knew... she would never have to live with what happened next. The wrong place, the wrong time. It was one word. One name.

He snapped.

Derrick lunged forward, knocking Natalie off the porch and onto the shivering blades of grass and mud puddles.

Natalie's hair flung around her face, some of the frosty red mud splashing on her now rosy cheeks. She landed on her hands, letting her phone rumble to the grass. Zach was still on the phone listening to the struggle.

Derrick bucked his shoulders up, trying to show his dominance over her. He hopped off the porch and landed on his feet in front of her. He pushed her foot out of his way with a kick.

"You did that to Genni," she tried to gasp out. Her lungs were struggling for air from the impact of the ground. Her breath was long gone.

"I didn't touch Genni."

"Shocking," she tried to snap as much as she could. The fighter in her was loading up and ready to launch. She bundled the grass in her fist, and when her breath was finally back... she didn't let go of the tension in her hands. She ripped the grass up, roots and all, to try to punch him. She was on the ground, but close enough to go for his knees.

Derrick was too big. Too strong.

He grabbed her grass-filled fists and slung her down on her back. He leaned down over her.

"Help! He's going to kill me! Just like he did Genni!" she yelled, praying Zach was listening. The phone had dimmed, but the two bars of signal was enough for Zach to hear enough.

Derrick grabbed both of her cheeks with one hand, covering her mouth from any cry for help.

Derrick's anger was like a pot forgotten on a glowing red stove. It was boiling to a new temperature every minute. Sometimes, he was able to turn the temperature down, but not now... definitely not right now. His anger was bubbling over the brim of the pot. Blinding. Red. Sizzling. Powerful.

He couldn't see anymore. His brain was spinning into darkness, with his strength pressuring his "girlfriend" into the ground. At this point, she was so helpless. Any move she made he would counter it. There was nothing she could do, but she was trying everything.

Natalie was the noodle stuck in the boiling pot. No way out. Not anymore. The pot was boiling over, and you couldn't even see her anymore.

In the distance, a buzz. A hum. A spinning siren.

Blue lights dancing in circles with red ones. Bouncing off the naked trees and pavement. The lights were coming down and coming fast, waking everyone on this back road in Fayetteville.

She was crying and yelling at Derrick. But, Sheriff Mullins was louder.

"Cool it, kid! Step away and put your hands up. Now!"

Author's Note:
If you or anyone you know is experiencing abuse in any way, call 1-800-799-7233 or go to thehotline.org for more.

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