(This is something that I've started to write and I'm not far on it either.)
Chapter One
The
atmosphere in the one bedroom apartment reached the point it felt oppressive. Emanating
from the radio’s speaker was the song, “The Four Horsemen,” by Metallica. Hard
rock and heavy metal music added its own special ambiance to the tense antagonistic
situation. Angered at the argument that they were having, Carla stared at John
sullenly. Her sour expression broadcasted loudly her displeasure and blackened
thoughts. In her rage she considered strongly throwing various things at him
like the vase on the end table next to the chair she was sitting in.
Quite
often arguments, it would escalate into shouting matches between the couple. It
would all start over something that was quite innocent but would be taken wrong
by either herself, or by John. Soon, they would once descend into a morass of
invective. Of course, neither of them would remember the initial reason for all
of the acrimony next day. The only way to soothe their bruised egos was to let
time pass and maybe put a little distance into the equation. That is why John
would head to the gym, and Carla would take a walk around the block.
"Why
are you always such a nagging bitch?" John’s blue eyes blazed with fury.
"That's
one too many times that you’ve called me that. You are so impossible. Just
impossible to be around." Through her clenched jaw, she growled the words.
Deciding she was done with the whole situation, she didn’t want to continue to
blow up at him like she had so many times before. It wasn’t helping anyhow so it
obviously wasn’t the answer to the problem. And besides, she was tired of it
all.
They
had devolved to the point there was so little happiness in the relationship. It
didn’t take a genius to realize it just wasn’t working out for them and it was
time to do something since it wasn’t getting any better. She got up from her
chair and stormed across the living room of the apartment. The fact that it was
the middle of the night wasn’t even crossing her mind, she was so furious she
wasn’t thinking clearly.
"So,
where in the hell do you think you’re going?” He thundered at her as she swung the
door all the way open and slammed it against the wall. The doorknob made a
perfectly round dent in the wall.
Stopping
momentarily in the doorway she muttered as she shook her head, “why do I even
bother?”
Hearing
what she said, in his most authoritarian voice he responded. “I forbid you to
leave now.”
“Hrmph,”
she took off down the hallway not answering further. He heard her footsteps
clomping down the stairs to go down to the bottom floor. A few moments later,
he faintly heard the entrance closing. He wanted so badly to run after her,
grab her, and drag her back. For a moment, he could picture himself like a cave
man carrying her over his shoulder. How dare
she leave the place like she just did! She had no right to refuse him!
There was no way he was going to put up with that from her.
Then,
he remembered what happened the last time when he ran after her and caught her.
She hit him with a vicious uppercut which knocked him out. On top of that, the
neighbors had called the cops and since they pressed charges, he went to jail.
Having lots of time overnight to think about it, he begrudgingly realized that
he respected her. At least the way she could hit him was something he could
respect.
It
was no fun to be in the jail either and knew it was the last place that he
needed to be. The place was cold, the lights stayed on and everyone made noise
through the night. He was thankful the next morning though when they let him
out with just a warning since she wouldn’t press any charges against him.
Still,
he learned something important from the whole mess. If she walked out like that,
to let her go until she had finally calmed down. Picking a chair, he sat down.
Closing his eyes, he began to breathe deeply and slowly in an attempt to defuse
his ire.
In
her fury she ignored everything that was going on around her as she walked
along. That included the pair of eyes that noticed her from the darkness of a
shadow. Their interest thoroughly became captured when she tripped on one of
the edges of the damaged concrete. Her watcher decided that she wasn’t paying
much attention so she would be a good target.
Being
in the middle of the night, the city was quiet with all of the bustle decreased.
As the darkness enveloped her, it felt comforting to her as her thoughts began
to slow. How could it have gone as wrong as it had? Once he’d seemed so very
perfect for her and then something had changed. She wasn’t sure what it was
either, but whatever it was it wasn’t the same anymore. If he were to disappear
from her life she wasn’t sure it would hurt her feelings at all. It seemed that
he wanted to do anymore was to control her completely.
