Emma

Part 9

As soon as her husband turned to ransack the living room, Emma burst through the French window and started to run barefoot on the still cold, wet sand. The only alternative she could think of was the ocean. It was her only mean of escape, even though some people considered it a dark and ominous mass. As Denis could hardly swim, he'd never venture there. The question was, could she get there before he caught up with her? She stared at her goal without turning around, the slightest second crucial to her escape. Denis was running faster than her despite her head start. She certainly had an advantage regarding the environment as she was used to running in the sand and she was definitely in better physical shape. But she was well aware that her husband's strength was increased tenfold by the rage thundering inside him. She felt him behind her, close by and chasing her. So, she ran at full speed, breathlessly, toward the ocean, hoping it would save her life.

***

Alex reacted immediately to Nicolas's shout. She left everything in a hurry to rush toward her car. She started it with trembling hands; the engine roared and she took off with a screech of tires. No, no, no... Please, not that, no! Nicolas couldn't hold her back. As he stayed behind, he hastened to give instructions to one of his friends, who was attending the session, apologized to the children and parents still present and jumped in his car.

Alex arrived in front of her house and stopped in a cloud of dust. She ran to the front door and opened it violently.

"Emma!"

Her frightened gaze fell on her living room, its coffee table overturned, her stuff scattered about, her television screen cracked. She went into the bedroom and saw it was in the same state.

"Emma!" she shouted.

She looked around, quickly checking every nook and cranny, but she could find no evidence of Emma.

She went to the bay window to go to the terrace, always searching for the slightest clue that could give her an answer. Suddenly she saw them: two figures at the water's edge, one on the ground and the other towering over it.

Alex hurried and ran as fast as she could. The closer she saw them, the more her rage grew. Too busy shouting insults to his wife's face, Denis noticed her only when she was on him. Alex crashed into him with all her might and threw him to the ground one meter away. Alex felt a violent pain when she hurled herself against him but she disregarded it, lost in her fury. She stood up at once to step between Denis and his wife.

"Do not touch her!"

Denis hadn't expected this charge. He got up, a bit stunned, before glowering at Alex and advancing toward her, his fist curled.

"And you think you're gonna stop me?" He spat, full of hate. "Is this a joke?"

"Do you see anyone else here? Come on! Come and show me how strong you are! Oh no, I'm stupid, you only hit your wife, right? Is that it?"

"Don't worry, you'll find out soon enough," He shouted as he raised his right arm and brought it down toward his opponent's face.

Her feet solidly anchored in the ground, Alex protected herself with her upper limbs and managed to parry his powerful blow. She kicked him on the outside of his knee, and he fell down at once shouting in pain. Decided to finish with him, she took his head between her forearms and struck his face violently with her knee. Denis collapsed backward on the sand.

Alex turned to Emma, who was still lying down, and fell to her knees. The young woman looked up with tears in her eyes. Her puffy, purple face made Alex want to vomit and she didn't dare touch her.