A Little Piece of Heaven - {Synyster Gates - Book 1} -

Chapter 1

“Enjoy your week off. And don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!” Leo called out of our shared office as I grabbed my jacket from the coat-tree.

“Never. You know, I still got some dignity.” I laughed at her when she stuck out her tongue at me.

“Bitch!”

“Love you too, babes. I’ll let you know how it was … Oh wait, I forgot. We will be spending half of it together!” I winked at her and grabbed my bag and mobile phone, “See you later, hun.”

“Yeah, you need to take me out. I’ll give you a call tonight!” Her beautiful laugh followed me outside the office.

You must know that Leo was in every part a very beautiful person. Not just by her looks – she was the typical tall-slim-blonde-model type of girl – but also in her personality. She was fun, caring and overprotective when it came to her friends, clever and super talented. Not everyone was able to get her weird sense of humor and way of thinking but from the moment we met on my first day in the office we immediately clicked. We weren’t just colleagues but best friends – which happened to me only twice before I met her. My other two best friends weren’t around though. One went back to her hometown to live with her family after our graduation from college. The other one left Germany entirely to work with Christian social projects in L.A. I missed them both dearly but was more than happy to have found Leo. We were both working for a mayor guitar producer that opened his first German branch in Munich some years ago – the famous Gibson Guitar Corporation (A/N which is not true btw). We were part of the Sales department and responsible for the European shipments. And we were really proud to be working for such a great company since we were both great fans of their guitars. We both even owned the same Les Paul-model and jammed quite a lot together with her brother and his best friend. So as you can see, music really meant a lot to us and bound us together.

****

„Please mind the doors.“ The automatic voice blasted out of the tubes speakers. It was close but I managed to jump on it as the signal of the closing doors sounded through the station. I sat down and put on my big headphones. The first song that came up was by Simple Plan. This band and their pop-punk-music just made me feel like jumping around wearing a beaming smile. Which actually resembled my mood at this very moment. After some exhausting months of hardcore selling I finally had a week off and I couldn’t wait for it. I was looking forward to sleeping in, making music with Leo and the guys, going shopping and seeing a lot of movies. But mostly I was happy about seeing my parents again. They still lived in this little crappy town in the eastern part of Germany – so quite far away from me now. That’s why we saw each other only every three to four months. Sometimes even only twice a year. I didn’t have a car so I was dependent on the train, which mostly sucked like hell. But still I was eager to see my family again after half a year now. It was also my first visit home after this dreadful incident with Lenny. Right as his face popped into my head, “Face Down” by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus came up on my playlist and accompanied these horrible and demeaning memories in my head.

Lenny was my ex-boyfriend. My abusive ex-boyfriend. After he beat me to a pulp again Leo and my other friend Jules called the police and soon after a trial the judge decreed that he wasn’t to get anywhere near me under the penalty of imprisonment. I was still ashamed that something like this could ever happen to me. I have always been quite confident and independent.

Leo and Jules helped me a lot after I was discharged from the hospital: Jules and I found a nice flat in a different and secure neighborhood and Leo was distracting me with all sorts of things. My parents didn’t know about what happened. It was better that way.

Anyways, I was very happy that I got rid of him for good now and I promised myself to never let that happen to me again. The fear of him finding me was always there and it was very hard for me to overcome it and begin to trust any male person again. Of course I knew that not every man was such a heartless monster but still. The shock of all what went down was profound and I stayed away from men and dating.

As I turned into my street the music suddenly stopped and I heard the ringtone I had set for Jules contact. I took off my headphones and answered it.

“Hey Jules, what’s up?”

“Hey, not much. Are you still at work?”

“No, I’m like 5 meters away from our flat. Well now only 4.”

“Ahh cool. I thought we could cook tonight. What do you say?”

“Sure thing. Let’s meet at the supermarket at around 5?”

“Yeppas! I’ll be there, girl.”

“Alright, see ya!”

I grinned as I put the phone back into my pocket and searched for my keys. I entered the five-story building where our flat was in and checked our letter box. Nothing was in it besides some leaflets of the Chinese and Indian restaurants in the neighborhood. While putting them into my bag I climbed the steps to our flat on the fourth floor humming a random tune. But as I took the last step to our floor I almost chocked on it. The door to the flat was open. You could tell by the pieces of wood on the door step that someone forced entry by kicking the door in. I took my phone again carefully and dialed Jules number. My other hand clutched the keys tightly, ready to punch whoever was in behind the broken door. My heart was racing hundred miles a minute and I felt the tight knot of fear in the pit of my stomach. Cold sweat was forming on my palms and I had goosebumps everywhere. Slowly I made my way towards the apartment. Everything inside my head screamed to turn around and run but my legs wouldn’t listen. Jules hasn’t picked up yet so I redialed her number and pressed the phone to my ear. With my free hand I pushed open the wooden door that hang loosely in one of its hinges. I froze and gaped at the total destruction of what used to be our hallway. Shoes, jackets and coats were lying everywhere and were partly ripped to shreds. The intruder pushed everything from the cupboards: plants, keys, leaflets, everything. The photos of us were lying on the floor amongst shattered glass. He had destroyed our mirror and kicked in the drawers of the furnishings. I carefully stepped over the mess and tried to tiptoe towards the living room and the kitchen. On my way there I got a glimpse of my bedroom and it was the same picture: Clothes and personal stuff was scattered over the floor, the screen of my laptop was pierced with a knife and my music stuff – like CDs and papers with lyrics of our songs – were broken and ripped to shreds. I was slightly relieved that my Les Paul was still locked in its box from our last jam session. No one else but me could open the case, lucky me.

Again Jules voicemail answered my call. I hung up and dialed Leos number. I slowly walked onto the battlefield that was our living room and looked around. Suddenly I heard a crack of glass behind me and turned around. My insides turned upside down and it was as if all the air was knocked out of my lungs. I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t move or think. I just starred at his once so beautiful face that was now distorted by hatred and anger. His piercing blue eyes that used to smile at me were now burning with insanity.

“Hello sweetheart. Long time no see.” He said in a creepy voice. Right in this moment Leo answered her phone.

“Hey babes. You miss me already?” She sounded so happy. Every part of me wanted to scream into the phone for help but I couldn’t. It seemed like I was under some kind of spell that kept me from moving or making some kind of noise.

“Hello? Katie? Are you there?” ‘Yes! I am here! And HE IS HERE TOO!’, was forming in my head but these words never reached my mouth.

“I have missed you a lot, you know? I woke up this one day and you were gone. I didn’t know where you went. You didn’t leave a message, my sweet love.” He stepped towards me and reached out to caress my cheek gently.

“Katie, god dammit, say something! What’s going on? You freaking me out over here!” Leo nearly jumped through the phone. I just wished she would.

“Why did you leave me, sweetheart? Wasn’t I good to you? Haven’t I given everything to make you happy? I gave up my life for you and what did you do?” He whispered the last question into my ear. His hot breath sent cold shivers down my spine. I didn’t dare to breath nor move. I just waited anxiously for what would happen next.

“YOU UNGRATEFUL BITCH CALLED THE GODDAMN COPS TO LOCK ME INTO A FUCKING CELL!” He screamed and slapped me brutally across the face. This blow sent me flying to the ground and my vision blurred. I could taste blood in my mouth. Lenny had never attacked my face before. He usually went to hit and cut me on those body parts that no one would see unless I was naked. So I knew, this time he has come for one purpose only: To wipe my very existence off of this earth.