Amissis Imperium

Praefoco Fire

"Natalie, sweetie!" Mrs. Hale called out to me while holding her cell phone in her hands. My eyes flickered to hers from the ground.

My fingers brushed against the material of the dark blue dress that I was wearing. My brown hair fell in front of my shoulders, and I could see the curls that looked like they belonged to a woman out of a storybook. Black heels were on my feet, and they dug into my heels uncomfortably. The longer that I stood there, outside, the longer that I felt like I was Evan's doll.

"Natalie?" Mrs. Hale called out at seeing that I didn't respond the first time.

I didn't want to do this. I didn't want to take pictures and act like everything was normal. None of this was right and it wasn't okay.

How could they all pretend that it was?

The queasy feeling in my stomach slowly increased.

"Get closer to Evan, honey," I felt rigid as all the hair on my body stood upright in repulsion. I didn't want to move any closer to the maniac standing by my side. I thought I was close enough already. "You look like you hate him from this angle, and I know that's not true!" She teased with a smile on her face.

I stared at her with mild confusion but didn't open my mouth.

With this family my words meant nothing.

I really did hate Evan Hale.

I took a step closer to Evan who gripped the side of my waist tightly. His fingers dug into my sides. He dragged my body towards him, my chest colliding with his. He was making it a point to be as possessive as possible. Or, maybe he thought in his diseased mind that we really were a happy couple. I knew that he wasn't living in a fantasy, but just a sick obsession.

"We all know that isn't true," Evan spoke lowly. His voice was low, but his words were hauntingly loud. They taunted me and for a split second my mind debated in itself – I want for him to eat his words, but at the same time I needed to comply and be good.

I didn't want to look up at him to see what horrible, triumphant expression he was making. My entire body was lightly trembling –

I didn't want to be here.

I felt sick.

I was getting sicker just standing this close to him. I would never forgive what he did to me – I could never forget. His touch was vile and tainted. Whenever he touched me I had flashbacks as to when he raped me without my consent. I would think about the times he would touch me inappropriately and I had to keep my hands out of the way because he hated when I fought back.

I withheld the urge to scowl and pull away in disgust.

I can't pretend to happily be with him, not even for pictures. My face was stretched in a thin frown. I didn't want to smile. I didn't want to feed into his demented obsession with me.

"Smile for the camera, Nat..." Evan ordered. I narrowed my eyes at the ground. There was a threat lingering in the air. The silent 'or else' was just that...it was silent. But, that didn't meant that it wasn't there, and that didn't mean that I shouldn't obey.

I lifted my head up slowly and stared at Mrs. Hale while Mr. Hale was off to the side drinking a cup of coffee. She was holding her cell phone, practically beaming and mumbling what was meant to be wholesome and affectionate comments under her breath.

From my stance it just felt patronizing and dehumanizing.

The flash went off and I didn't smile. Well, I tried to smile, but it came out wobbly and timid. I knew that it would be enough to satiate Evan's order. I hoped that my smile showed every ounce of pain that I was experiencing – I hope that it reflected that each and every member of his family were monsters.