March 2, 2009

The Last Stand chp. 1
I could not for the life of me figure out how to link this to the blog, so I copy and pasted it as an entry instead... I know it's long, but I promise it's good! *read the post below this one to understand whats going on*

The Last Stand

Four years, ten months, and sixteen days. That’s how long Rachel had been in hell. Fifteen minutes. That’s all she had left until Mark came home from work. Fifteen minutes left before their nightly routine continued. It had not started like this, she hadn't seen this side of Mark until after they had gotten married. Rachel used to be pretty, she was the head cheerleader at Western Hills High School as a Sophomore. Now she was covered in bruises. Cuts and scrapes appeared on her body in dozens. But Rachel couldn't leave Mark, he’d never let her go without a fight. Ten minutes left…“Mommy it’s your turn!” Annie whined waiting for Rachel to focus back on their game of checkers.“Sorry baby, mommy was day dreaming,” Rachel said as she smiled down to her daughter. She looked down at the board and jumped Annie’s last checker piece. “I win,” she laughed as Annie pouted.“Let’s play again!”“ No baby, mommy has to make Daddy’s dinner before he gets home from work,” Rachel replied while she watched a huge smile form on Annie’s face.“Daddy’s coming home?” Annie squealed as she got up off the floor to jump up and down.“ Yeah, he’s on his way,” Rachel said.Rachel couldn't leave Mark. Annie would not only be confused, but devastated as well. As far as she knew her mommy and daddy were still very much in love. How wrong she was. Rachel met Mark when she was in Eighth grade. He was a Sophomore; a superstar on the Varsity Football Team. When they first started dating he was a true gentleman. Holding doors open, bringing Rachel flowers, and letting her hang out with all his football buddies. They dated longer than any other couple at their school. Rachel and Mark were completely and totally in love.At Mark’s senior prom they’d had a blast; dancing together, taking pictures, and going to a friend‘s party afterwards. It was the after- after party that changed everything. Mark had booked a hotel room to make their spectacular night even more “amazing”. And when Rachel refused to be apart of Mark’s charade he got impatient; he forced himself upon her. Rachel cried the whole time, and when it was over she locked herself in the bathroom until the next morning. She never told anybody about that night. When she found out three weeks later that she was pregnant everyone assumed it was a drunken, teenage accident. Mark had wanted her to get an abortion. He said that it was “her fault”, and that she needed to “take care of it” before it became a bigger issue in their lives. Rachel, however, refused and two months later, after threat of rape charges, Mark agreed to marry her. So here she was: four years, ten months, and sixteen days later. A husband who hated her, and beat her on a daily basis to remind her of that fact. And a daughter who loved her daddy more than anyone else in the world.Zero minutes. Rachel was out of time, she could hear Mark’s car turning into their driveway.“Another night, another bruise, another piece of my heart destroyed,” Rachel thought as she hurriedly put dinner on the table.With that her last moment of peace was ruined as Mark swung the door open with a loud “BANG!”Annie came tumbling down the stairs and ran right into Mark’s arms laughing with delight the whole way down.“Daddy!” Annie giggled once Mark had caught her, swinging her in a circle.“Annie, I missed you so much!” he exclaimed. He finally put her down and knelt down to her level so he could talk to her.“What did you do today?” he asked in total seriousness, he liked having excuses to beat on Rachel, and if Annie said the right thing then he was given his golden ticket of approval.“Um, I played checkers with mommy, but I lost.”“You did?” Mark asked, shooting Rachel a death glare. She winced already feeling the pain she would get for that later.“Yeah, she buried me,” Annie laughed; not caring that she had lost the game. “Don’t worry, I’ll beat her later,” Mark stage whispered. Annie laughed again, not comprehending the real malice in his teasing.After dinner was over Rachel washed the dishes, listening to Mark and Annie play a final round of checkers before he put her into bed. Laughs and squeals took over the sound of the sponge scrubbing plates, as Rachel thought back on the happy memories she’d had with Mark…Rough hands snapped her back into the present as Mark wound his arms around her waist, pulling her to his chest. She stiffened while holding back the low whimper forming on her lips.“Do you enjoy humiliating our daughter?” Mark sneered into her ear. He pulled her tightly into him. She didn't answer, not even a bob of the head. She couldn't lose control of herself yet. It was only beginning.“Do you?” He asked more sharply this time, his voice getting louder in frustration.Rachel cleared her throat and shook her head “no”, losing the small bit of herself she’d been keeping a hold on. Silent tears flowed from her eyes as she opened her mouth to speak.“Your going to wake up Annie, she’s barely been put to sleep. Can’t this wait until later tonight?” Rachel whispered. She held her breath waiting for his quick reply.When Mark didn't answer right away Rachel tried to unravel herself from his stone grip. She felt it then, the final snap of his patience had been undone as she tried to free herself. Mark threw Rachel out of his arms and while she fell to the floor he screamed at her.“This is my house! I’ll wake up whoever the hell I want to!” Mark screamed, building up steam for his next outburst.“Mark please, Annie will hear you.” Rachel begged from the floor. “You’ll scare her.”Mark pulled his right foot back, and, like a spring, kicked it forward into Rachel’s stomach. She screamed in agony and curled in on herself, trying to control the spasms of pain that were now shooting through her ribs.“That’s right Rachel, go ahead and scream. Because that wont wake up Annie anymore than me yelling,” Mark said, a sickening grimace playing on the corners of his lips.Rachel rolled over, away from Mark and tried to lift herself off the floor. Once she’d gotten onto her knees Mark kicked her again, only this time on her face. Rachel crashed back to the floor and laid there sobbing.“Stop crying Rachel,” Mark snapped as he listened up the stairs. Annie was awake. She came running the stairs and when she saw Rachel on the floor her eyes filled with tears.“Mommy?” Annie whispered, tears thick in her voice.“Mommy, why are you on the floor?” She croaked reaching forward as if to helpRachel off the floor.“Annie, go back upstairs. Your mommy is fine. She just fell down.” Mark said calmly. “Right Rachel?”Rachel nodded as she tried to stop, or at least minimize the tears pouring from her eyes. She would have tried to talk to Annie from the floor, if she could have found her voice. Rachel knew if she opened her mouth now more screaming would ensue.“How did mommy fall?” Annie asked Mark, looking up at him innocently.“Annie. Go. To. Bed.” Mark whispered, the rage he was trying to conceal seeping through with every word.“No!” Annie yelled running towards Rachel. Mark grabbed Annie by her elbow and jerked her back to the foot of the stairs. She yelped in a mixture of surprise and pain as she landed on the floor.“I said to go to bed,” Mark said as he reached to pick Annie up off of the floor.“Don’t touch her Mark!” Rachel screamed as she pushed herself onto her feet. She was beyond furious. Mark had never been violent with Annie before. Rachel was used to being the punching bag, but she wouldn't let that happen to Annie. Rachel stumbled her way to the stairs, grabbed Annie’s hand and led her now sobbing daughter up the stairs to her room.Once Rachel was safely inside Annie’s locked room she rocked, and sang her daughter back to sleep. She sat with Annie until the clock on her nightstand read 11:29 pm. Rachel got up stiffly, feeling the bruises on her body protest against each movement. She walked across the hall to her and Mark’s room, hoping that he was downstairs watching TV. When she heard Mark’s booming laugh coming from downstairs she knew it was safe to go into their room. Rachel walked straight to the bathroom and flicked on the light. What she saw made her take an automatic step back; The right side of her face had a bruise the shape of a shoe print. She took off her shirt to inspect the rest of the damage. The bruise from the first kick of the night, and bruises from nights prior made discolored shapes on her chest, stomach, back, arms, and neck. Ragged, red lines were raised on her skin from the belt Mark had used to whip her with two days ago. Rachel quickly took off the rest of her clothes and examined the rest of her body. She tried to ignore the tenderness she felt but couldn't help an occasional wince to cross her face.
Tears ran silently down Rachel’s face as she thought about Annie. Would she have any bruises tomorrow? Would she understand how she had received those bruises? That her daddy had given those to her? It made Rachel’s stomach twist into nauseating knots to think about that. It was then at that moment that Rachel realized what she needed to do. This was the turning point in her life. She was going to leave Mark. Not only was Rachel’s own life in danger, but now Annie’s was too…The Next Morning
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
Mark’s alarm clock went off. It was prompt, right on time, 5:45 am. Mark groaned and rolled over to turn off the alarm. He got out of bed and headed to the bathroom to take a shower. Rachel laid in their bed, faking to sleep, like she had all night. She couldn't fall asleep, her nerves wouldn't let her. Today was the day they were getting away. Rachel and Annie would never have to worry about Mark again.
When Mark came out of the bathroom he was showered, shaved, and dressed. He looked like a decent man, Rachel knew better.
“Bye babe, I’ll probably be late coming home today, I’ll pick up a pizza or something after I've left the office.” Mark said as he bent over to kiss her goodbye. Rachel winced as he kissed her bruised cheek. He chuckled with dark humor when he noticed her reaction.“Maybe if you put some thought into what you were doing, instead of just acting out of impulse this wouldn't have happened.” Mark said. “I’ll see you later.”
Rachel fought to keep a smile off her face as he left the room, realizing that, in fact, she wouldn't ever have to see him again.