Seven Matches

I expect to see his retreating form, shoulders sunken with defeat, footsteps heavy against the concrete floor. Instead, I feel a hand gripping my throat, squeezing tighter and tighter every second, and I open my eyes just in time to see his face. The face that haunts my every waking hour. I was wrong before. The fire is not his touch. No. It's in his eyes. "You've made a fool of me, Victoria. Do you think you've won? Refusing to fight alongside your lover? You haven't. There is no sweet relief for people like you. Monsters like you."
I can't breathe. My hands claw and scrape at his, begging him wordlessly for release. Not for him to let go, but to squeeze tighter and tighter until the life drains from my body. The only ending fitting for a monster.
He doesn't listen.
"I'll kill him. I'll murder him while you watch. You're mine Victoria Desai. My Victor."
His hands leave my body, but he has not released me yet. I realize now, as I collapse to the floor, gasping for breath, he will never let me go