Intruder Inside My Soul (EDITED)

13

I was sitting on a couch in Tyler's living room with a hot cup of cocoa in my hands and we were talking and laughing like we were best of friends...

Ha! If that ever happened, please shoot me.

I was sitting on his sofa but we weren't talking, or laughing, neither I had a cup of hot cocoa in my hands. I was just shooting daggers at him with my eyes while he was sitting on armchair looking at me with stone face.

Neither of us had spoken a word for a while. This was getting ridiculous, and Tyler seemed to think the same. He broke the silence first.

"So, Greg?" He asked, and I wished he had kept quiet.

"What about Greg?" I didn't even blink.

"Why don't you tell me about him?" he asked, smiling at me. But it was clearly a fake smile, as it didn't reach his eyes. No. It was more than a mocking smile or annoyed one.

"I am not going to tell you anything." I crossed my arms and legs.

"I think we kind of established that you don't really have a choice unless you want me to tell Alex what I know." Tyler didn't move. He just kept looking at me.

"Why are you doing this? What is in it to you? Huh? Why do you want to know so much?" I spat at him. I really couldn't think of a valid reason for him to blackmail me into telling him about Greg. We weren't close. I mean, we barely knew each other for a couple of weeks. And all of our encounters weren't exactly pleasant. So, why?

He shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know. Call it curiosity, good act of will by helping my friend's sister. Whatever makes you feel happy. Now let's start with the beginning. Who's exactly this Greg guy?" I looked at him. My blood was boiling, but I realized that I was trapped. There was no good way out and Tyler was the lesser evil in this situation. At least, I hoped he was. God, please let me be right.

"Greg is my ex boyfriend. I dated him 3 years ago and last year I broke up with him. End of story," I said.

"Details. I need details. So start from the beginning." Tyler was not going to back down. So I took a deep breath to calm down a little and got on with it.

"Greg and I met shortly after I left the town. He approached me one night while I was at the drugstore picking up some medication for my roommate, who got sick. He looked like your typical hot bad boy. Dangerous. Yet he was sweet and charming. He asked me out, but I refused and we went separate ways. I thought that'd be the last time I saw him, but I was wrong. We bumped into each other about 4 days later in the park while I went for a run. We talked, and he asked me out again. This time I agreed. I had a great time and kept meeting with him until we became an item. He was perfect, and I fell in love. Soon I moved in with him." I stopped there. I didn't want to continue.

"By the message you received from him, I take that things didn't go well." Tyler, on the other hand, wanted for me to continue. Fuck.

"No it didn't. It turned out that our accidental run into each other in the park was planned. He'd followed me home the first night we met and somehow he got information about me. He was kind of possessive and jealous from the start, but I thought it was cute. After first few months, he started to get a little too possessive. He would get angry if I came home later than usual or if I met with my friends. He'd lose control if any guy would talk to me. Would try to beat the shit out of them. As for me... at first he'd just yell and throw things around. But on one particular night he... he..." I closed my eyes. I had tried to forget about that night for so long. Greg had beaten me and taken me against my will couple of times, but that first time was the worst.

"He did what?" Tyler demanded. When I looked up at him, he was looking at me with his jaw and fists clenched. He looked scary.

"He..." It seemed almost impossible to say those things out loud. Maybe because I had never done that before. "It was November 3rd. I remember everything so clearly. It's like I can still hear the faint music in the background, smell his scent, feel his hands on me, the pain..." I hugged myself and pulled my knees to my chest. Then I continued.

"That was the first night Greg abused me physically. He'd come home drunk and furious. He yelled about me cheating on him with Adam, who was one of my best friends. Greg told me that he had seen us hugging and laughing in the small cafe where I used to work. I was tired of him not trusting me and started to yell back. In the heat of our argument, he punched me in the face. He broke my cheekbone with that one punch. God, he was so strong. When he realized what he'd done, he took me in his arms and tried to apologize and swore that he'd never do that again. He tried to kiss me, but I pushed him away. I told him that we were over and that I was moving out. That was my biggest mistake. He dragged me to our room and threw me on the bed. He..." I cleared my throat.

"I am not going to tell you details of what happened. But... When Greg finished, he told me that I was never going to leave him, that I belonged to him and if I ever tried, he would find me and kill me, because if he couldn't have me, no one would." For a moment, none of us spoke. The silence was full of tension and all I wanted to do at that moment was to run away.