Silent Prayers

Chapter 17

She was a horrible person. But so was he.

Elena dropped her purse off on the table near the door and took her jacket off too, draping it over the back of the chair. Her goal was to go upstairs, take a shower and then sleep.

The moment she grabbed ahold of the banister at the bottom of the stairs, she sensed his presence, even before he spoke. Elena turned around quickly to find Stefan standing behind her.

His eyes were glassy and bloodshot and his face was flushed. All signs that he had been drinking. A lot. Not to mention, he reeked of alcohol and there was visible perspiration on his forehead.

Stefan staggered forward towards her, lost his balance and swayed for a moment before regaining it.

Elena felt her heart beat faster as she watched her husband's every move carefully. His eyes were distant, yet angry. He was going to be mean. Nasty mean. She had seen it too many times before to be mistaken. "I was just going to take a shower and head to bed" Elena said under his intense glossy gaze.

Stefan took another drink out of the bottle he was holding, closing his eyes momentarily to savor the alcohol. "Who is he?" he asked with an accusatory tone, opening his eyes again.

Elena gripped the banister beside her. The tension in her body was unbearable. After a nice night out with friends, coming home to deal with her drunk husband was not something she had hoped for. "Who is who, Stefan?" Elena asked with a sigh. She really was too exhausted to deal with him.

Stefan glared at her as his shaky hands raised the bottle to his lips again. He missed his mouth and the liquor dribbled down the front of his shirt. "That asshole you're screwing" he said maliciously. He again raised the bottle to his lips and this time was successful. Stefan partly inhaled the whiskey and coughed. He leaned forward for relief, lost his balance and stumbled onto the ground. "Ughhhh" he groaned, rolling on his back and looking up at the ceiling. Then he held up his bottle and turned it upside down, coming to the conclusion that his bottle was empty. "It's fucking empty" he announced, tossing it.

Elena moved quickly to dodge the flying bottle. She jumped when she heard it shatter against the wood steps behind her. "I would never cheat on you" Elena said, biting her lip to keep from crying. "I love you" she reminded. Even after how horribly he treated her when he was drinking, she still loved him.

Stefan closed his eyes again and laughed, his head lulling to the side. "I don't fucking care Elena" he sighed.

His words stung and her anger surfaced. "Get up" Elena said, stepping towards him and kneeling down. She grabbed his bicep and used all the strength she had to pull him to a sitting position.

"No no no" Stefan groaned, pushing her hands off of him. He rolled over onto his knees and then used the wall to help himself stand back up. He reached into his pocket and fumbled for his keys. "I need ... need more ... whiskey" Stefan slurred, blinking a few times to try and focus his eyes as he looked at his keys, trying to find the one to his jeep.

Elena blinked back horrified tears. "You can't drive Stefan!" she said, raising her voice. "You're drunk!" she said angrily. She was beyond devastated that her husband was acting so foolishly.

"You ..." Stefan slurred, pointing his finger at her. "You don't tell me ... what to do" he warned, his tone threatening and angry.

Elena stood frozen, her breath caught in her throat as she took in the look in his eyes. She didn't recognize the stranger staring back at her. She didn't know who it was, but it wasn't Stefan. "You want to hurt yourself?" she asked angrily. "Fine. But I'll be damned if I let you hurt someone else!" Elena yelled at him, reaching out to take his keys from him.