She felt an uneasy tremor take hold. It rendered her immobile, seizing her sound and mind, anchoring her stagnant with a shameful, paralyzing fear.
Her chest ached something hollow and her hands began to quiver with it. She felt depleted, a mere shell of her once happy self, a self that proved non-existent.
Darkness enveloped her, confining her to the evil that lurked. She spun wildly, turning every which direction, seeking the light she so desperately yearned. Not a sound roused, nothing of which to forewarn her of that impending danger that now loomed from the everlasting obscurity.
Danny was coming - she felt it in her bones.
And suddenly he was there, peering with all hells fury.
A gust of wind struck her unexpectedly as if prompted by that fiery rage glinting so sinisterly in those black eyes. She felt it tugging, pulling at her hair as it whipped fiercely about her face in a tangled array.
She collapsed, falling to her knees with a sudden echoing cry. Her hands splayed the cold floor beneath her, grappling with the urgency to get to her feet.
Her eyes peered beseechingly, catching the wry grin that distinguished his underlining cruelty. But as suddenly as it appeared it vanished, placed with a heinous scowl as that granite stare fixed intensely on something beyond her.
Kate turned and felt that darkness shudder with another ominous presence.
She felt that heated, gray stare before he emerged, his tawny hair pulled taut to accentuate the chiseled lines of his face and that hardened curve of his jaw.
Her heart jolted at the sight of him. He stood immense, a formidable figure against the blackness, all muscle and suppressed rage. She felt his fury just beneath the surface and it radiated a current so deadly that it robbed her solely of every breath.
She was riveted to the floor; incapable of moving, realizing she was trapped between the two.
She felt tears burning at the backs of her eyes as she sought an escape. She had to get away! They would surely be her ruin.
The perilous air thickened with the masculinity that mastered it.
She cast a fearful gaze upon Ronan and felt her blood run cold. His eyes had changed, they were no longer that piercing gray but illuminating silver tinged of a malevolent red. Her mouth went slack, watching as a transformation came over him.
His massive, broad shoulders bowed, his muscles constricting as if seized by an unimaginable pain. His throat thickened and the veins began to protrude.
Kate pushed up on her hunches, watching in a horrified trance at whatever monstrosity came over him.
For a moment their eyes locked and Kate was snared in that heady, silver stare.
"Beast!" Danny proclaimed his words laced of a trembling menace.
Her heart hitched as she scrambled to move, but the suddenness of a growl so inhuman resounded, riveting her frozen.
"She's mine!" Ronan roared his voice fastened between something feral and fragment of human. His eyes dulled of their silver, beaming a sudden vivid red. His fingers splayed with elongated claws.
And a scream tore from her.
Kate awoke with a scream and it died instantly as she caught sight of the ceiling fan suspended above her, swinging its circular dusty motion and stared momentarily dazed.
She felt the rise and fall of her chest, moving with short, rapid breaths and closed her eyes as relief swept over her.
It had only been a nightmare.
But her relief was short-lived realizing her nightmare had only just begun.
She scrambled into a sitting position, noticing she was on her bed. Immediately a panic tore through her as she swept the room frantically.
Where was he?
She sat there a moment, waiting for Danny to lunge from the shadows that clung to the room. Remembering the gun she scrambled to the side of the bed only to find the lamp overturned on the wood. Her heart pitched with an alarming fear. He had the gun.
She hastened from the bed, realizing her error as the room spun madly out of place and she was forced to rely on the wall to maintain her balance.
He had struck her hard enough to knock her cold and now her momentum was off and he had the 9mm. The likeliness of her escaping this was slim to none.
Pressing a hand against the knot forming at her temple, she slid against the wall, easing closer to the doorway to peer tentatively into the hall. For a fraction she merely listened, straining for the slightest cringe of a sound to betray his presence.
Maybe he had left? Don't be stupid, Kate. Her bruised subconscious chided. Danny wouldn't simply let her walk away unscathed. He had a plan in motion and she was the prime target of his malicious intentions.
She stepped gingerly from the room, careful not to cause a stir in the floor. Her throat felt unbearably dry as she forced a swallow. Her heart beat so profoundly she was certain Danny could hear it. Her hands trembled as they sought inanimate objects in the dark to keep from tipping them over.
If she could just make it downstairs to the kitchen she could call the police. With each step, her fears heightened all the more and her tremors worsened, so much so that it took every bit of strength to keep her legs from buckling beneath her.
She made her way downstairs, cringing at every step that protested noisily beneath her feet. Her head was beginning to throb, prompting a dizziness that intensified the longer she stood upright.
She gripped the banister, peering fearfully at every shifting shadow. And it occurred to her then what he was doing. He was toying with her - playing a game of cat and mouse, something he thoroughly enjoyed. He was allowing her to believe that she could possibly elude him. But this was his game and he was in control.
She slipped down the hallway, making her way to the kitchen fearing at any second he would appear and seize her up in a mindless rage.
Once in the kitchen she dashed for the phone. She may have regretted never having bought a cell phone but knew the trees and mountains would have interfered.
Her hands grappled nervously with the phone, her fingers trembling as she attempted to press the numbers. She placed the receiver to her ear only to have a stark fear immobilize her in a cold sweat at the flat line on the other end.
The line had been cut.
Her face paled as the phone clamored to the floor.
And then that ominous clicking.
Kate stiffened as terror washed over her. Danny loomed in the doorway, flipping that incessant lighter, its little flame a perilous warning.
She felt herself retreat, the counter suddenly pressing into her back.
Black, granite eyes fixed coldly on her. The only light provided was the substance of the moon, casting him in sheer moonlight. It seemed so unfair, Kate thought, to have something as beautiful as the moon bathing someone so heinous.
"Did you need to make a call, baby?" he asked, the question oddly lacking any malice but she wasn't a fool, she sensed the evil buried beneath that icy disposition.
"What do you want?" she demanded, her voice cracking with the fear she tried desperately to keep at bay.
His black eyes narrowed, studying her intensely with a glint of ire and she wondered how she could have ever loved this man.
"I want you back." He said icily.
She shook her head, "No."
He inclined his head as if her answering were shocking and pushed away from the doorway, stepping further into the kitchen.
Her heart pitched with every step that brought him dangerously closer.
"I came all this way - " she watched as he withdrew a cigarette, using that foreboding lighter to lit the end before drawing heavily on it and releasing a wisp of smoke, "-only for you to pull a gun on me?"
That pungent odor of cigarette struck her senses, cuing haunting memories that had lain dormant, until this point. Her fear magnified, spurring her to react. She swung open the counter drawer at her hip and drew out a butcher knife.
Her fingers gripped the hilt with a surprising steadiness as she raised its sharpened end. "Stop!"
He halted against the upraised blade, that cigarette caught between his fingers as he raised them defensively. He simply grinned, his humor causing her grip to waver uneasily.
He was still but a moment before reacting, reaching behind him and withdrawing the 9mm.
Kate stiffened as she peered down its sleek, menacing barrel to Danny's snickering face. "Drop it." He demanded his aim unmercifully steady.
Her fingers trembled about the hilt - her only lifeline.
His face darkened at her hesitation. "I said - drop it!" he hissed.
Tears began to form, blurring the cruel lines of his face. When she made no move to release it, he growled something intangible and wrenched it from her.
The tears came relentlessly then as she felt that cold 9mm pressing against her temple. He loomed so close that she felt his stale breath on her forehead and his chest against her own. He reached up and wrapped his fingers about her throat, tightening just enough to allow but a scarce of air.
She latched onto those fingers, wrestling desperately against that threatening grip.
"If you so much as pull another weapon on me again I'll kill you now, do you understand?" he spat viciously, his face turning a violent shade of red, those black eyes peering desolate and cold.
She managed a nod, all the while struggling to breathe. He released her suddenly and she gasped for air, massaging her throat where his fingers had been.
"What are you waiting for then?" she rasped, "Get it over with."
He stepped away from her, smirking as he put the gun back in his waistband. "Is that what you think? That I drove all this way simply to put a bullet in you?" he dabbed the butt of his cigarette into the smooth surface of her countertop and turned back to her.
Kate felt a dread come over her.
"I told you, you're mine. We're going to live this life out together even if I have to shackle you to me."
She shook her head, "You're crazy."
He chuckled, the sinister sound resonating. "Does my insanity not appeal to you?"
He wanted to frighten her. It was another tactic he used for submission. She straightened and raised her chin, "I'll not go anywhere with you without a fight."
She touched a nerve. A fire lit behind that granite stare and he was suddenly towering over her again. He seized her blouse, jerking her close enough to feel that hot breath once more. "You'll do as I please!" he growled, "Damn you!" and shoved her away.
She grabbed the counter and peered earnestly at the front door just beyond the hallway. Could she make it if she ran?
"Why must you defy me at every turn?" he shouted, "I have given you everything!"
Despite her perilous situation she felt hysteria come over her and suddenly she was laughing. "What have you done for me, aside put bruises on me and break my bones?" her laughter dissipated all at once and tears began anew, "You put me in the hospital and left me to die!" she pushed away from the counter, feeling a swift and fleeting bravado unlike any other come over her, propelled by an onslaught of emotion. "You killed my baby!"
The moment those words escaped her she regretted them. She hadn't meant to disclose the one thing she had vowed never to mention. It was something so precious to her, so incredibly innocent that she had wanted to spare it from this ugliness.
He straightened and peered at her incredulously, his face twisting something evil. "What the hell did you say?"
She quivered beneath that black, icy stare and whispered feebly, "You killed my baby."
"You were pregnant?" he exclaimed. She felt him turning this over in his crazed head and he advanced towards her, his expression blackening. "You were sleeping around on me?"
Immediately she realized the direction of his thoughts and felt outrage. He was accusing her of being unfaithful? "It was our baby!"
He grabbed her arm, wrenching her against him. "I find that hard to believe!" he reached up and seized her chin, forcing her still. "Who is he? How many men have you slept with?"
Kate scrambled against him, shoving against his chest, "You're ridiculous!
"How many!"
She felt a swift and rising panic. His grip was bruising and felt his temper flaring beyond control. "Danny, please!" she cried.
He shoved her and she went sprawling across the floor.
"It doesn't matter." He seethed, "When I'm done with you no man will want you."
Those chilling words left her breathless and she hastened to her feet, making a dash for the front door.
She felt him behind her and as she grabbed the doorknob her world went black.
Kate awoke with a groan, realizing how unbearably her head ached. How many times was he going to knock her senseless?
He had moved her to the couch - why bother she mused with a hint of sarcasm. He was simply going to knock her around some more. Why not leave her bloodied on the floor as he had done numerous times before?
She sat up and peered around the living room. Were we at this again? Her stomach churned at the violent havoc that reverberated throughout the house. He was in a rampant rage, and Kate’s horror doubled over, deepening to a moment of despair.
She practically leapt from her skin when he suddenly appeared, crossing the room in swift, angry strides to wrench her from the couch. She could see his hazy distant stare, one proclaiming of a heavily-drugged stupor.
Her heart jolted with an immeasurable fear. He had taken a drug and whatever that drug now fueled his inner demons, pronouncing him tenfold the monster.
"Where is the money?" he demanded.
Kate blanched, paling beneath that obsidian, blank stare. "Money?"
He shook her violently, snapping her head back with enough force to rotate the room uncontrollably. "Don't lie to me!" his fingers twisted in the collar of her blouse as he jerked her about, "Where is it, Kate? You didn't get all this -" he motioned about the room with a wave of his hand, "-without a little money."
She cried out as he grabbed a fistful of her hair, "Tell me!"
"It belonged to my great aunt. There is no money!"
"Damn you - " he slapped her so hard that her head whipped to the side with an explosion of pain. "Stop lying to me!" she had little time to recover before he jerked her upright, wagging a finger in her face. "I'll ask again, where's the money?"
She had stowed her money for safekeeping and as a means to escape. She'd be damned if she told him where it was.
"I told you there is no money."
Kate could see the rage in his red-rimmed eyes. It completely distorted his face, twisting those once handsome lines into harsh edges.
"Well then - " he sneered, "- I'll just have to tear this place apart and you're going to help me." He seized her hair once more and tugged viciously.
Kate bit down to keep from crying out, knowing he delighted in her torment. As they started up the stairs she caught sight of his path of destruction dispersed through the house. Furniture toppled over. Porcelain figurines shattered. Kitchen cabinets disturbed. He had destroyed everything belonging to her and knew he had only just begun.
Once upstairs he shoved her into her bedroom, immediately blocking her escape. He swiped a hand across her nightstand, throwing its contents to the floor before searching the drawers.
Kate stood trembling, backing from him as he proceeded in his rampage. When he started for her bureau she felt a cold sweat take hold of her. He would find her wad of money that she had stashed within it, and then he would unleash all his untamed fury upon her.
She braced herself, casting fearful eyes to the door, taking a tentative step toward it.
He proceeded in tossing her clothes and shoes aimlessly to the floor, muttering curses beneath his breath, all the while destroying her garments, shredding some in his search, some even belonging to Julie.
Her heart sank at the sight of it.
When he suddenly stilled, she felt a tremor slip down her spine. He straightened and with steeliness in his voice, "I warned you about lying." He turned, clutching her money and then simply pocketed it, dashing all her meager hopes.
She felt a whimper rise up from her throat and quickly suppressed it.
Her body visibly shook as he stalked across the room to the door, slamming it with deafening force, enough to prompt a wince from her. Kate felt the blood all but deplete from her face as it proceeded to run cold through her veins.
When he turned to face her he was undoing the buttons on his shirt, his black, almost lifeless eyes taking on another gleam entirely that incited a new and terrifying fear in her.
"Despite what you may think -" he said as he undid each individual button with a chilling calmness, "- I have missed you."
Her stomach clenched with a sickening feeling as she backed into the far corner of the room. "No - I won't."
Those obsidian eyes narrowed heatedly, "But you'll lay with another man?"
Her tremors were uncontrollable now, "I'm n-not yours anymore." Her voice shook, betraying the terror that threatened to consume her.
He had taken everything from her – her sense of security, her happiness and even her love. But not this, never this!
He left his shirt hanging open and when he started for her she nearly shrieked and made a lunge for the door.
He caught her about the waist and flung her roughly on the bed. A sob rendered her breathless as she tangled in the blankets desperate to escape his clutches, the moment she felt his weight she rounded on him, fighting like a hellcat. She arched, attempting to throw him off the side but it proved futile. She felt his hands tugging at her clothing and with that she brought her nails sharply across his face.
He gave a gratifying cry and toppled backward.
Kate seized her moment and scrambled for the door. She staggered onto shaky legs and yanked it open, fleeing for the stairs. Her heart rang in her ears, its flurry of beats propelling her madly down the stairs and for the front door.
A cold draft struck her tear-ridden face, prompting a gasp and rendering her frozen for but a moment, and then she heard him coming. She dared not look over her shoulder, dreading the sight that came barreling upon her, and so she lunged into the night.
The midnight hour was chilling against her skin as it whisked through her torn blouse to settle coldly into her bones. She felt that wayward breeze tugging cruelly at her tangled mass of hair, slipping down her nape with a sliver of trepidation. And in all her terror and disorientation, it drove her blindly to the looming silhouettes of the trees.
Her legs felt as lead, weighing her down as she plummeted through dense vegetation, slipping further into a darkened, unrelenting void. She could almost feel Danny's pungent cigarette breath on her neck and it further intensified her terror, propelling her to run faster, harder.
She screamed when something snagged her hair, terrified that Danny had captured her only to realize that skeletal limbs snared her clothing and hair, tugging like ruthless fingers. A delirium came over her and she spun frightfully to escape their dreaded entrapment, fearing at any moment the unforgiving earth would produce him. She felt the terrain's remnants digging into the soles of her bare feet as more feeble limbs whipped madly at her face.
And then Danny's voice resounded angrily through the darkness, forcing Kate frozen. He was coming! She could hear his thunderous, violent chase as he clamored through the trees. He would not relent and Kate knew he intended to kill her.
She spun around and forced her leaden legs to move. Her heart all but threatened to explode from her chest and with each ragged breath, it ached a little more. She felt its fleeting, rapid beat, pounding ever so fiercely in rhythm to her agonizing fear.
And then suddenly, so startlingly, it was as if the terrain had released her. Her bloodied soles felt the suddenness of nothing and a panic tore through her as her limbs flailed within disintegrating earth, and she was falling. She felt the grittiness of soil as it hastened over her and the pain that encompassed it was numbing, and when she no longer felt herself falling, Kate succumbed to what was certain to be death.
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