Wildfire

Chapter IV

I jumped at the sound of the front door slamming. I heard Ivy start her car and drive away. I found my way to my knees and crawled from the bathtub to the bathroom floor. I used the edge of the sink to help myself stand. Cracking the door open I peaked into the bedroom. The evidence of our fight was all over the room. The dresser was knocked over, the bed flipped, lamps broken, and pictures smashed. I crept to the window to make sure Ivy's car was gone but not wanting her to see me if she was still here. I didn't see her car so I walked back to the bathroom and sat on the edge of the bathtub and cried. I don't know what went wrong or rather what I did wrong. Looking in the mirror I saw the blood. My body was covered in cuts scraps and bruises. I had a black eye and busted lip both swollen and both damn near black. As I continued to look at myself I cried harder. How could she do this to me? Why would she do this to me? It was Wednesday I had just gotten home from work, I was extremely late getting home but I had new patient forms to fill out plus the insurance forms not to mention the regular office things. It had been a busy day and all I wanted to do was take a bath and go to sleep. By the time I walked in the house it was about 10:30 and Ivy was sitting in the kitchen waiting. I almost walked right past her but I caught the glint in her eye as I walked through the room. "Ooohh!! baby you scared the shit outa me! What are you doing sitting here in the dark?" I asked her as I tried to catch my breath. She said nothing. I turned on the lights put my bags down and walked over to her. I wrapped my arms around her neck and kissed her cheek again asking "Vee baby what are you doing sitting in the dark?" After what felt like an eternity she turned her head to me. Something was very wrong it was all over her face and it scared me more than anything. As I tried to walk away from her she reached up and grabbed my forearm. "Ouch baby! Your hurting me!" I exclaimed trying to pull my arm free. CRACK! I heard the sound but couldn't place where it came from. Confused I looked around for a moment thinking something in the house had broken. Then I felt it. That shooting white hot pain that seemed to consume my entire face! It felt like someone took a lit candle to one side of my face. I touched at the place where the pain was coming from and when I looked at my hand I saw the little droplets of blood. I looked at Ivy with a mixture of confusion, hurt, and terror. She wasn't even looking at me it was like she was looking through me. One hand still gripping my arm the other at her side. It took me a few minutes but I finally realized that Ivy had hit me. What did I do? What did I do? Was all my mind could say but my eyes. They were a completely different story. I felt the tears fall before I could stop them. With tears streaming down my face I remembered where I was and what was happening or rather about to happen. Panicking I tried to break free of Ivy's grip on my arm. OH MY ARM!! I was so stunned by the smack to my face I didn't even realize that her grip on my arm as slowly getting tighter. I shook and pulled at my arm but it didn't budge. It was like having my arm in a steel vise. Again I looked at Ivy hoping for some pity I think at this point I'm not really sure. SMACK!! My face burned for a second time. It was getting a little hard to focus but I did notice Ivy was finally looking at me. She looked so strange and foreign to me. Her eyes were hard and cold, hair was up in a high ponytail, her nostrils were flared. That's when I realized she was out of breath. She had literally put her all into hitting me. I tried to free my arm one last time. I used my nails to claw into her hand hoping the pain would cause her to release me. She grabbed me around my shoulders with both hands looking into my eyes for a second. Then she slammed my body into the wall behind us. The force of her arms caused me to bang my head on the wall as well. Dizzy, in pain and hurting I cried more but Ivy just looked down at me with and empty face. She didn't look angry, hurt, or even remorseful she just looked at me. Through my tears I found my voice "Ivy stop please! What did I do? Baby I'm sooo sorry I'll fix it I promise just please stop! Your really hurting me!!" I pleaded to her. But it seemed my pleas fell on deaf ears because still she said nothing. As I said a silent prayer begging the heavens to help me I felt her arms loosen their grip on my arms. I looked up and saw that Ivy had let me go all together and was walking back to the table. She picked up her beer bottle and that's when I noticed the countless bottles laying on the table. She was drunk!! I slid down the wall and fell to the floor the dizziness taking over I could no longer stand. I used the bottom of my shirt to wipe at the blood now pouring from my mouth. The pain in my arms was searing it felt like I had been lifting weights all day and when I rolled up my sleeves I saw the handprints in bruise form two on each arm and one around my wrist. Before I could collect myself and attempt to stand. I felt the swift kick to my side. Knocking me over Ivy stood over me and kicked me again and again. I screamed this time. The pain in my head, on my face, arms ,and now side was completely unbearable. Through kicks I started to hear Ivy. She was finally saying something so I tried to focus on her words and not the pain she was inflecting on my body. "STUPID BITCH!! WHATCHU THOUGHT I WASNT GONNA FIND OUT HUH? ABOUT YOU AND YOUR LITTLE SIDE BITCH HUH? COMING HOME A FULL 5 HOURS LATE WHEN I KNOW YOU GET OFF AT 5!! WHATCHU THINK I'M STUPID? HUH? HUH? ANSWER ME BITCH! WHATS HER NAME HUH? YOU WANNA BE WITH THAT BITCH? WELL FUCK YOU AND FUCK HER TOO!! YOU CANT LEAVE ME!! NOT UNTIL I SAY SO!! DUMB BITCH! WEAK ASS SAD EXCUSE FOR A FUCKING WOMAN!!!" She screamed at me as she kicked me one last time. Squatting down near my face she grabbed me by my hair and stood me up. Slamming my body once again into the wall she never let go of my hair. "SO YOU BEEN OUT FUCKING HUH? YOU FUCKING SLUT!" Ivy yelled at me while ripping my clothes. "SO YOU BEEN OUT FUCKING RIGHT? YOU A FUCKING WHORE RIGHT? YOU LIKE FUCKING SO BAD WELL COME ON SHOW ME WHATCHU GOT BITCH" She took her free hand and ripped my pants and then tore my panties right off of me. Taking three fingers she rammed them into me. But this wasn't the loving or sexual act I had grown so accustomed to, no this was pure malice and anger. I felt myself rip and tear as she forced her fingers into the dryness that was my womanhood. I yelled and screamed pushed and struggled to get out of her grasp I even begged her to stop but she wouldn't even look at me, she just kept driving her fingers in and out of me. Finally she stopped her assault on my body, she let me go completely and walked back to her beer. Without waiting for her to continue the beating I got to my feet as fast as I could. I ran upstairs to our bathroom and locked the door falling to the floor I laid my face on the cool tile and cried. As I laid there and cried I heard Ivy coming up the stairs. Pounding on the bathroom door she screamed for me to let her in. She knocked and banged for awhile and then everything went quiet. Slowly I opened the door and looked around the room. Nothing was out of place and Ivy was nowhere to be found. Sticking my head out the door a little further I felt the instant pull on my head. It was Ivy grabbing at my hair and throwing me out of the bathroom. I scrambled to my feet and tried to avoid whichever way Ivy was coming. "Baby I wasn't with anyone I was at work late finishing up paperwork. You know the Doctor has added all these new patients and things that's my job and I cant leave until its done I'm sorry if I worried you but I wasn't with anyone. Please calm down baby and let me make it up to you." I pleaded with her as she just looked at me like a lion stalking its prey. Here hair was down now and the honey blonde locks framed her face just as a mane would on a lion. The ferocity in her eyes was more frightening then the knowledge of the on coming beating. I had to find a way out, if she wasn't going to listen I needed to get out before she seriously hurt me. I must have been thinking too much and not moving enough because in about 2 seconds she was on me. Throwing me to the bed she climbed on top of me and punched me. BOOM! The sound thundered in my ears loud and clear. I felt myself slipping out of consciousness but I had to hold on I had to get myself somewhere safe. Ivy climbed off of me and went to the closet she threw all my clothes on the floor tearing some of them in her haste to get them off the hanger. I tried to sit up but the pounding in my head kept me on the bed. CRASH!!  I looked around and saw that Ivy had thrown the lamp that normally sat on the bedside table shattering it. I was finally able to get off the bed and I tried to make it to the bathroom but Ivy grabbed me by the torn up scraps that were my clothes and slung me into our floor length mirror. I fell and pieces of mirror and wood fell all around me slicing my back, legs, arms, head, and neck. I laid there for a moment and when I didn't feel Ivy walking over to me I got up and ran for the bathroom and locked myself in. Finally feeling safe I crawled into the bathtub and curled up into a ball and just waited. I mean I couldn't stay in the bathroom forever I'd eventually have to leave but right now I didn't want to move. I could hear her in the room yelling and breaking things but I didn't dare leave my safe haven. Snapping out of my mini daydream of the events that had just occurred I started to clean myself up. I wanted to take a shower but the pain between my legs called for a bath. I had a difficult choice to make, did I clean up the house and stay here or did I grab some clothes and leave. I'm sure for many this wouldn't even be a question but for me it was one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make and I had to make it quick because I had no clue as to when Ivy would be back. If I stayed there was no telling if she would still be angry and beat me some more when she came home. And if I left there was almost a guarantee that the fighting would continue but I could go where she'd never find me atleast for a few days. I thought long and hard about this and decided that I needed to leave. I cleaned up the now dried blood from my mouth and bandaged most of the cuts and scrapes. Finding one of my Victoria secrets pink sweat suits and a pair of tennis I dressed and packed a bag all at the same time. I grabbed my makeup bag and some basic toiletries I didn't know how long I'd be gone or even where I was going but I was going to be prepared. Grabbing my Betsy Johnson suitcase out of the closet and began to throw clothes in it. I packed pajamas, underwear, and work clothes even though I doubted I was going to work tomorrow. Mostly everything in my bag was lounge clothes I didn't really see myself going anywhere looking the way I did. Once packed I dragged my bag down the steps and stopped in the kitchen. I was scared to walk in my blood was all over the floor as were broken beer bottles. I walked in and picked up my purse my phone and charger and placed them all next to my suitcase. I opened the fridge and grabbed two bottles of water and the subway sandwich I had been saving for dinner. I picked up all my bags and walked to the front door stopping only at the mirror that hung in the hallway. Looking at my swollen bruised and bloody face I could feel the tears coming but instead of letting them fall I just put on my baseball cap and started to walk out the door. But something was holding me back and I couldn't figure out for the life of me what it was. Was it that I still loved Ivy and knew that this was just her fucked up way of expressing her fear in losing me? Was it that I was more scared of what would happen when I did eventually come back to this house? No that wasn't it I thought as I played with my necklace. That's it! I took the necklace that Ivy had given me the same necklace I never took off and put it on the hallway table. I could no longer wear that necklace what it stood for was no longer true. With that I walked out the house and into my car without looking back or feeling sad I drove off destination unknown but feeling free. See that's the problem with loving fire, eventually you do get burned.