Territory

Chapter 8

"He's out there somewhere. He has to be fucking outside, waiting for you to respond." Owen was furious, pulling on a hoodie and then a denim jacket; he always looked good in layers. He searched through a couple drawers in fury before pulling out a thin leather case. I wasn’t sure what it was, until he opened the top and slid out a large knife. I gasped, surprised that my innocent Owen could ever own a weapon like the one he clutched delicately in his hands, let alone know how to use it. My bottom lip trembled as I tried to figure out what to say to him.

“Owen… what are you doing with that?” no response.

“Owen put it down, okay? He never used a weapon and neither should you. Just calm down, we can approach this differently.” I thought my words would comfort him, but his frown increased emphasizing deep lines in his forehead. His neck muscles tightened before he spoke.

“Beth. This has gone too far. You told me you would leave him, but you didn’t. And now my apartment is involved, and my best friend is still getting hurt. This is my fight to finish B, whether you like it or not.” He motioned to Chaz and Hunter who had also put on their coats. Hunter still held onto his bat, Chaz held nothing besides the tight clench in his fists and an angry glare. Owen hugged me tight,

“Go up to my room and don’t come out until I get back. Get some rest, you need it.” And at his final words, he moved away towards the door, Chaz and Hunter following closely behind in a tight triangular formation. They almost looked like professionals; as if they’ve done this before. Chaz gave me one last empty stare, and then shut the door, leaving me to imagine what could possibly be going on beyond the crimson barrier.

Without many options, I made my way upstairs with the blanket wrapped tightly around my figure. I didn’t want to upset Owen, so I decided to obey his words, making my way down the hall into his room. The air mattress had been pulled out but wasn’t set up, so I plugged it in. While I waited for it to inflate, I sat on his bed sipping my tea and looking through pictures on his laptop in an album called ‘Beth and I’. I typically would have played some music but there was no way I could hear over the motor of the air mattress. There were hundreds of pictures, mostly from when we were little but a few from our teenage years as well. There was a picture of us eating ice cream and the following image he was wiping sprinkled off my upper lip. I was 6 and he was 8, and even then he was the most gentle with me. The next picture left me a little confused; it was of me sitting on the beach watching the waves. I looked about 13 and my hair was its longest back then. I wore a giant football jersey, probably Owen’s. I had never seen this picture before, and you could tell he had spent time editing it so that the ocean would sparkle and the sun would shine brighter than they originally had. In the bottom right corner, ‘forever’ was typed in a cursive font, strategically flowing the way the ocean was.

I quietly uttered the short yet powerful word to myself, “Forever”.  However, the smile on my face was quickly lost when I heard the creak of the floor boards just before Owen’s door. I must not have heard someone come in, the air mattress still running even though it was finished. I quickly unplugged it and listened carefully for movement outside the door. I remembered what Owen had said though, telling me he would come get me when he was done. I laughed at myself for being such a worry wart, and happily swung open the door. I quickly regretted my actions though, when I saw Lucas towering over me in the doorway to my best friend’s room.

“Lucas… what are you doing here? How did you get in?”

He avoided both my questions, “You didn’t answer my text””

“I know, I’m sorry I dropped my phone and the screen cracked so I left it in my purse. How did you find me?”

“I don’t appreciate it when my girlfriend walks out on me. You know that, baby, don’t you?”

“I told you, Lucas, I’m not your girlfriend anymore.” I shouldn’t have reminded him. By now he had cornered me against the wall next to Owen’s bed and he swiftly through his fist in the plaster beside my head leaving a large hole.

“Why are you in his room? Are you sleeping together, Beth? Is that why you’re trying to avoid me?” His voice thundered throughout the room. I slid down the wall and sat on the floor, hoping I was making myself less of a target for him to take out his frustration. My actions backfired, as he took his boot to my ribs, kicking me twice.

“Lucas! Lucas stop it, right now! You can walk away from this, okay you don’t have to do this! Just forget about me, I shouldn’t mean anything to you!”

“Beth when will you understand that I fucking love you! I can’t let you go, Beth, you’re mine!  We were 16 when you promised me forever. Don’t break that promise!”

“And we were 17, Luc, when we watched that guy slap his girlfriend at the movie theater. I watched in horror but you held me and told me not to be afraid, that you would never do that, that I was safe with you. But look at you now, Lucas. Look at us.” He grabbed my wrists, pulling me up from the floor and pulling me across the room. I dug my heels into the carpet in protest,

“Where are you taking me?”

“Back to my apartment. You’re mine”

“You don’t own me, Lucas. You don’t decide where I go or what I do. I’m staying here, and you need to leave.”

“Don’t talk back to me, Bitch. Do what I fucking say. I’ve given you everything, I even proposed! I think I have a fair say in where you spend the night.”

“In case you forgot, Lucas,” I pulled my wrists away from him as I spit out his name in disgust, “I rejected your proposal. Can’t you take a fucking hint?” I turned, beginning to climb onto the bed hoping he would leave. But he moved fast, grabbing me by the waist and carrying me out of the room and down the hall. I was flailing, screaming, and begging him to put me down. He obeyed my request, but to the extreme. Without giving me the chance to fight back, he threw me down the stairs, watching as I tumbled over myself before falling to the floor with a thud. My feet still hung on the second or third step, but my arms were draped helplessly on either side of my body. My face pressed to the floor sideways. Before everything went black, I watched the door swing open. Owen ran to me, screaming my name.

“Fucking Lucas. I’m going to fucking kill you.” He stared at my attacker, watching him as he came down the stairs, stepping over my body.

“The whore got what she deserved.” Before Owen could react, Lucas had already shoved both Chaz and Hunter out of the way before leaving.

 “I’ve got you Beth, you’re safe with me” Owen pressed his lips to my forehead, caressing my body against his. It was the last thing I felt before I was unconscious.