Emerald Summer

Chapter 24

He stands and pulls his pants back up. I stand and look at him, terrified by the words that had came out of my mouth. He jumps up. His face is so close to mine, but I'm too scared to move away. "Do not do tell me no. I control you," he grabs my hair and slings me into the chair. It falls over and dumps me out. I wince and sit up quickly. He towers over me. Jade runs over and squeezes in between him and me.

"Are you okay?" She asks, kneeling beside me. I nod. She glares at Todd. "What's wrong with you? She didn't do anything. She just said no. She obviously doesn't feel like it. Did you know she cried last night because you hate her? She loves you. She'll make it up to you later."

"Bullshit," he scoffs, "she doesn't love me. She didn't cry for me. How dare you lie to me." He hits her, it knocks her to the ground. She's back on her feet as soon as she hits the ground. "And all she did was say no? I told both of you to do what I say. That's not all she did. She hurt me, twice, broke my heart. All I've done for her and she still despises me. Now it's my turn to make your lives Hell. As for saying no, I just don't want her to get the wrong idea. I control her and what she does, I control both of you." He turns his attention to me, "As for you, you're about to regret what you did." He grabs me up by my hair.

As soon as my feet leave the ground, he throws me into the wall. I hit the ground and wince. He kicks me. Jade runs over to grab him. Before she can, he whirls around and points his finger at her. "Don't you dare," he growls, "get over there and don't say a word or you're next." He continues digging his boot into my ribs and back until I'm crying and screaming in pain. Stop. Please. I can't breathe. Don't think just breathe. Breathe. I try to make myself calm down and ignore the pain. He lands another kick. I try to scream, but no sounds comes out. Finally he stops. I ball up even tighter. The pain courses through me. Why do I do this to myself? He pushes his hair back. "Now. I hope you understand I'm in charge." I try to answer but can't gather enough breath. I nod and let out a groanish noise instead. As he leaves the room, he casts an evil glare at Jade. He slams the door.

Jade runs over to me. I'm so sorry Jade. I'm so sorry. I look up at her with sad eyes and a sorry expression. She kneels beside me and wraps me in a hug. She strokes my hair, "It's okay. Just breathe." I groan. If I don't stop breathing like this I'm going to hyperventilate. My ragged breaths finally stop after a while and I can breathe normally again. We just sit on the floor for a while staring at each other. "Sheri?" I look up at her, "how about from now on, you just do what he asks you to." I nod. The door swings open.

"Come on. It's bedtime," he walks through the door. Excuse me? Bedtime? He's kidding. Jade and I exchange glances. "I said come on," he growls. We slowly stand and walk over to him. He walks across the hall to his room and we follow closely behind. He climbs into bed and slides to the middle. "Get in bed," he barks. I get on one side and Jade gets on the other. "Goodnight," he says, kissing me, then Jade.

"Goodnight," we mumble back in unision. Why do we have to sleep with him? I hate this so much. This is going to be such an agonizing plan. I snuggle up to him like I normally do and closed my eyes. This sucks. Sunlight hits my face, I open my eyes slowly. I look around. Gah it's so bright. I never realized how much I hate the Sun. Where's Jade and Todd? My throat tightens and I jump up. I go through the upstairs rooms looking for her. Is she okay? What's going on? I go downstairs. I hear commotion and Todd yelling at Jade in the kitchen. I run in. Jade's getting up out of the floor. Really Jade? Causing trouble and it's not even 10:30. They both look at me. I wave. Jade waves back and Todd has an annoyed look on his face. "Good morning," I smile.