Rule

I blew warm breath on my fingers and dug around in my purse for my keys.  Normally I had them out a ready to go but lately I had been so distracted by all the noise in my head and the heavy weight in my chest that maintaining my personal safety had fallen somewhere towards the bottom of the priority ladder.  I had just pushed the key in the lock and was getting ready to turn the deadbolt when a deep voice said my name from over my shoulder.  For a split second I was excited, unbridled relief flooding through me because the only guy that I figured would be waiting at my apartment for me was Rule, plus he knew the code to get in from when we were dating, but before I could turn around and do anything hard hands grabbed me by the back of the neck and shoved me face first into the door.  I gasped in shock, some part of my brain flashing that I should be screaming for help right now but the door swung open with the flick of a wrist decked out in an all too familiar Tag Heuer watch and I went stumbling forward as rough hands pushed me inside.

My purse went flying and I was so stu

“How did you get in here?”  I knew this wasn’t good.  I wasn’t safe with him, didn’t want to be alone with him at all but the apartment was tiny and there weren’t many options to run to.  I had mace in my purse on the floor and the Taser Rule had bought me was resting uselessly in my new car, and right about now I was really regretting I hadn’t let Rule leave his gun over here all the times he had asked when we were seeing each other.

Gabe ran obviously agitated hands through his dark hair and watched me like any other predator watched its intended prey.  “I told your mother that we were working towards reconciliation and wanted to surprise you.  She gave me the code.  I followed you home from work since the freak is obviously out of the picture and the military monkey hasn’t been around I figured now was as good a time as any for us to get on the same page.”  He was so cold, so matter of fact I didn’t even think he understood he had just forced his way into my apartment and that I was trembling in fear.  I crossed my arms over my chest to try and bluff away some of the terror I was feeling but he just continued to watch me like he was mentally taking me apart.

“We aren’t even reading from the same book, Gabe.  You need to go because in like two seconds I’m about to start screaming my damn head off.”

He shook his head and made a tisk-tisk sound.  “Well you see Shaw things have really gone to shit for me.  Ever since your thug of a boyfriend made me look like a pansy and my dad pulled the plug on my credit cards because of that little stunt you pulled with the restraining order things have been going downhill.  I’m failing my political theory class, my fraternity wants me out because apparently it’s not okay to let some guy with the IQ of a sewer rat make you look like a sucker on your own campus, my parents are furious with me over the restraining order and the internship with your mother’s campaign I wanted fell through because she simply didn’t have time to get it together.  So you see Shaw, ever since you decided to be a selfish whore and turn your back on all the great things we could have I’ve been having to work double time to get what I deserve.”

He was crazy, flat-out off his freaking rocker.  I was trying to edge away from him because I knew if he moved close enough to get his hands on me things were going to go from terrifying to unimaginable horrible.

“I’m sorry you’re having a hard time with things Gabe but you shouldn’t have messed with my car.  It pushed Rule over the edge.  I told you to leave me alone or you wouldn’t like what he was going to do.”

I shrieked because apparently bringing up Rule was the wrong thing to say.  Gabe moved faster than I would have thought he was able to.  He chased me as I peddled backward trying to keep as much space between us as I could.  Unfortunately he caught me in the living room and even though I fought he was just bigger and stronger so he grabbed me by the throat and we struggled all the way to the floor.  I kicked an end table over which made a huge racket and earned me a back hand across the cheek that split the side of my lip open.  He sat all the way across my middle, pi

“You think I care what that loser thinks?  You think I give a single fuck what that degenerate wants to do to me?  He’s nothing.  I told you all along that he wouldn’t stick around, now look at you.  All alone and finally doing things my way, I told you I would get my way, I always do.”

I needed to get away from him, he was going to kill me, seriously kill me.  My vision was starting to blur in and out and my lungs were on fire, but he just kept squeezing and sitting on me while telling me all about how we were getting back together and how I was going to call my mother and have her reconsider her actions about his internship now that we were a couple.  I shook my head back and forth trying to gasp for any air and managed to get my hands between us enough that I jabbed my nails hard into the underside of his biceps making him wince and reel up enough that I could crawl a little bit away from him.  I sliced my hand open on a piece of the broken lamp as I scrambled to get my feet under me only to be dragged back down by a cruel hand in my hair.  I grunted as his weight landed squarely on my back and had to blink away a steady flow of blood as the side of my head made contact with the leg of the overturned table.

“Ayden is going to be home any minute.”  My voice was thready and thin from the pressure he had put on my neck but it wasn’t like it mattered anyway he simply jerked me back to my feet and pressed me so that I was folded in half over the back of the couch.  I was trying desperately not to think about how little of a barrier my work uniform offered in the way of deterring him but he bent his face low to mine not seeming to mind in the slightest that blood was getting everywhere.

“Who cares?  You’re my girlfriend Shaw, you belong to me.  If your roommate comes home you’re just going to tell her things got out of hand while we were making up.”

He put so much of his weight on my back that the way he had my hand wrenched up behind my back couldn’t take the torque and with a sickening pop that made both of us jerk my shoulder found its way out of the socket.  I screeched in pain and went limp on that side.  Fear and panic rose up hard and fast in my throat as I struggled knowing that I had to get to my purse for the mace or the kitchen for some kind of weapon to use against him.  He let go of my hands now that one was totally useless and put one on the back of my neck to keep me bent over the couch while he used the other to start tugging and pulling at the bottom half of my uniform.  He was muttering all kinds of broken sentences and talking about how he was going to make sure that I understood we were a couple.  He was rambling about getting married and making our families one and I was starting to seriously cry because there was no way I was going to let him violate me in that way.

Fortunately part of the lamp I had kicked over landed close enough to the couch that a piece was imbedded in one of the cushions. While Gabe was busy tugging and pulling at my clothes I wrapped the fingers of my good hand around it.  I could feel the little ruffly shorts I wore under the uniform start to rip and that was enough to spurn me into action.  The only thing I could reach from my prone position was the meaty part of his thigh and I wasn’t sure that I had enough strength to do any real damaged but I swung the glass shard as hard as I could and heard him swear as he suddenly jerked back.  I slumped to my hands and screamed bloody murder as my weight landed on my injured arm.  I crawled across the floor while he struggled to get the glass out and managed to get to my purse.  I was just struggling back to my feet as he was thundering towards me but I got the mace out and the nozzle turned toward him and gave him a full dose right in the face while he bellowed like an injured bear.  I squeezed the mace in my good hand and bolted out the door.  I was sure I looked like an escapee from an insane asylum, I was crying hysterically, had blood all over my face and could barely talk because of the damage to my throat, but none of that mattered because as soon as I made it to the security door I ran smack dab into Ayden and collapsed into a blubbering mess as she caught me.