Calah got into her house and headed for her room first. She got off her shoes and headed to the bathroom to apply some ointments to her face. It was looking way worse than the early hours of that day.
She sighed and sank into her bath tub, still dressed from work. She picked up her phone to check the news headline for that day. Her mind briefly drifted to the guy from earlier that day.
He could have actually been a spy or a thief.
She got out of the bathtub to change into something comfortable and light. As soon as she had taken off her clothes, hoping to wear another, she heard his voice again.
"How are you, sweetheart?"
She turned around, looking aghast. He had his fingerprint on her house entrance, and she wouldn't dare remove it.
"You look pale, cupcake; have you seen a ghost or something? Have I got something on my face?" His Italian accent ran so smoothly.
"Sorry about yesterday, baby girl. You know I hate it when I hit you. I got you some more candles." He finished, coming closer to hug her.
She unconsciously took a step behind him, which he noticed.
He stopped and looked her dead in the face. "You scared of me now, huh?"
"Um, no, no, hi Zach, what are you doing here? It's late. "
Ah, it's never too late to see Mi Cielito," He said, walking away from her to get a glass of water. "We shall spend tonight together, and I shall make it up to you."
Her shoulders shrank. "But it's totally fine; we don't have to, and I'm not even hurt."
He returned with a glass of orange juice. "Don't worry." He pecked her forehead and went back downstairs to watch something of interest.
Calah knew she had two options: to stay and end up like a battered batter, or to run and save her head for another day. She wasn't considering any other options.
She grabbed her purse and put in pepper spray, her charger, and a couple of other things she might need. A wave of shame hit her over her fear of running out of her own home for a guy who lived off her.
A thought in her head told her that night was the time she should actually speak up. But considering it was late and she didn't want to involve the neighbors or their dogs, she decided to run.
She stepped downstairs, trying to keep it as casual as possible.
"Hey honey, I'll be back. I quickly want to grab something from the store."
He looked back and saw her standing by the stairs, indeed set to leave. "Isn't it late?"
Um, yeah, yeah it is. I know. But um, I need to get something urgently."
Calah, baby, c'mon, it could wait." He sounded so soothing as he walked slowly towards her.
Her knees were giving in, and so was her courage.
If he comes close to her, he'll definitely smudge her up and cuddle her to prevent her from leaving him alone.
She quickly grabbed the pepper spray in her bag and pointed it vertically, directly at his face. "Go away, and don't come closer. I'm not afraid to use this."
Zach got confused for a while. He arched his brow and chuckled, which later erupted into laughter.
Calah felt fear crawl up from her toes and sit on her shoulders.
"Why do you have that pointed at me, Calah, baby?"
In swift movements, he grabbed it from her hand, leaving her trembling where she stood.
He made her reach for her hair. She ran up the stairs, having him follow her every move.
She was at the top of the stairs when he caught up with her, before she could run into any room.
He yanked her by the shoulder in anger, saying, "Were you going to leave me alone?"
She hid her face, still trembling.
"Answer me!" He pulled her head up from where it hid in her hands and rammed it against the wall.
Calah felt everything spin. A sudden headache hit her, and she felt the urge to cry.
"That's all you do, you cry! I leave my busy schedule to spend time with you, but you think of me as nothing but a killer and choose to bolt out on me!"
He brought his face close to hers. "Who were you planning to see?"
"Nobody... she whispered amidst her whimper.
"Answer me!" He threw a slap across her face, which sent her down to the floor. "You'reseeing someone else now, uh?"
All she could do was cry. She felt all her strength drain from her, and she wished her nightmare could just end.
"Where's your phone?"
"Why?" She answered a little bit more confidently than she had expected.
"Where is it? I want to know the bastard you're going to see by this time of the night."
"I'm seeing nobody; just let me be!" She yelled back in anger and frustration. "Just let me be! What else do you want?"
He stared at her in surprise. "What? "
"You heard me right! You've beaten me up again; what else would you want to try out?"
He ignored her and tried to grab her purse for her phone.
She struggled intently for it. She wasn't going to let him.
They struggled for it while he had the upper hand.
He pushed her against the rail of the stairs at the topmost step, where he could dominate her.
As though her life was at stake, she still held on to her purse, which got him angrier. He pushed her over the rail of the stairs in an attempt to snatch out the purse, as that was the only way he could.
A large thud came from below. He had her purse and phone in his hands, but she was nowhere near him. She had gone crashing down the stairs from the topmost step.
Calah was below, without either her purse or her bag, and she couldn't feel her bones.
She felt a wave of darkness overcome her senses.
"Calah!" His sense of desperation had disappeared, and he came to the understanding that he had almost murdered someone.
He took large sprints down the stairs, like he wasn't aware that could have possibly happened, pushing her against the rail.
"Babe, Are you alright?"
Silence.
And Darkness encompassed her.
"I'm sorry, babe, I didn't mean to hurt you. Can you hear me?"
He carried her upstairs and back, through the exact route he could have pushed her, if at all.
There in the bedroom, he took out Calah's phone, thinking of who to call. She had no serious friends who didn't like him. And he couldn't call her parents.
Calah's mom was late. Died in an auto crash where she had just died.
Her husband and child survived, and it was quite expected, seeing the type of crash it was. And worse, she was the driver.
This had been years ago, before Calah's dad had even gone into politics.
And Calah's dad has made it well and sat in the Senate with the President.
That was another reason Zach couldn't call him.
He would be dead meat before he even stated his intentions.
Lori!
She was the perfect person. Lori would do anything for Calah and knew how to act under pressure.
And he did call for Lori.