Everland

Chapter 3

"God you are such a whore!" Paul shouted as he threw his empty beer bottle at the wall near her head. "Despite everything I'm doing for you, you treat me this way!"

"I'm sorry," Wendy whimpered as she remained frozen in place. She knew it was too dangerous to move right now, it would just upset him even more. "I didn't know."

"Don't lie to me!" He roared. "How dare you make me buy your ex's shoes! You did this on purpose just to get back with him! You are such a slut!"

"I'm sorry," she repeated even though she knew it wasn't the truth. She honestly had no idea that those shoes Paul had been obsessed with for months were Nathan's brand. She tried to explain that to Paul but it was just pointless, he refused to believe her.

"Get me another fucking beer! And clean this shitty ass house! That's all you're good for," Paul said as he gulped down the last of his beer. "Where's my fucking dinner?"

"Here," she mumbled as she passed him his ice-cold beer. "We don't really have many options as we haven't gone grocery shopping."

"And why the fuck would I go do your job for you?! It's the woman's job to do the grocery shopping and provide the meal for her husband!" Paul roared in her face as he punched the wall near her head. Wendy was beyond terrified as he hadn't lost his shit in a long time.

"I'm sorry," she whimpered as she rushed back over to the fridge. "I'll go later," she promised as she started to pull things out for spaghetti.

"Fucking worthless," he grumbled as he stumbled into the living room and fell onto the couch.

She blinked back tears as she worked on cleaning up the broken glass while she waited for the water to boil. Thirty-seven minutes later the food was done, plated, and waiting on the T.V. tray in front of Paul. The living had been swept and mopped, along with all beer bottles cleaned up. She made a small plate for herself but stayed in the kitchen so she didn't accidentally do anything to upset him. Hearing snores coming from the living room she cautiously walked in to find him fast asleep on the couch with an almost empty beer bottle in his hand. Since it was tilting to the point that it was about to spill, she slipped it from his hand and sat it on the TV tray.

Taking this time while he was asleep, she grabbed her wallet and purse then left the house. Now would be the perfect time to get a few groceries. What she wasn't aware of was someone had watched everything from the shadows reporting to a group who were none too happy. Seeing her get in her car and leave for the store had them planning a way to make contact. Parking her car, she took a deep breath and then entered the store.

She grabbed a buggy and started walking toward the dairy section. She grabbed a gallon of milk and sat it in the cart then grabbed some eggs. She shivered as she walked toward the yogurt. She slipped her hands into the long sleeves as she tried to decide on what flavor sounded good to her. Shaking her head when she didn't like anything she saw, she started walking away to go look at the various cheeses. She knew she needed to get some more as that was something that Paul was adamant about keeping in the house. Tossing a couple of bags into the buggy she shivered again while tossing some lunch meat into the buggy as well. She was regretting not grabbing her hoodie before she left.

Just as she tossed a bag of frozen chicken into the buggy, warmth surrounded her. She turned to see Luke standing there in front of her. He grabbed her hand and slid her hand into the sleeve before doing the same without saying anything. He zipped up the hoodie and then smiled, "Hey Wendy. Where are we heading next?"

"Luke?" she blinked in surprise.

"That's my name, don't go wearing it out, or better yet go ahead and try," Luke sang out as he grabbed her cart and started walking in a random direction.

Tears started to gather in Wendy's eyes but she tried her best to push them down as now wasn't the time to get overly emotional. "Luke, what are you doing here?"

"Well a favorite little birdy called out and you know I'm the one to answer," Luke muttered cryptically as he looked at her from the side while tossing her favorite snacks into the basket.

Wendy was at a loss of words. After all this time they still remembered! "Luke," she whimpered as she wiped at her eyes.

"Hey, no tears, Cupcake," he smirked as he grabbed some candy and started tossing it in the cart. He faced her and chuckled as he wrapped his arms around her, not being able to hold back any longer. "You know we would never forget about our little Wendy bird. I promise we will do whatever it takes to make sure you are safe and happy. Just say the word, and all your problems will be taken care of."