MELISA

The air grows colder when he's close. My skin crawls with every silent breath he takes behind me. And I can't stop the fear in my mind, the constant, gnawing thought? What if I die tonight? What if he finally breaks, and I become just another secret buried in his madness? His boots hitting the floor like war drums echoing through the halls. His voice guttural, enraged, broken.

"MELISAAAAAA!!! YOU CANNOT HIDE AND RUN AWAY FROM ME!" I clamp my hand over my mouth, tears stinging my eyes as I try not to sob. God, please. Please don't let him find me. Not now. Not when I'm so close. My leg's bleeding from the window glass, a deep, jagged slice that won't stop aching and every step feels like knives stabbing into my bones. I'm cold. I'm dizzy. But I keep moving.

Run, Melisa.

Run.

Run as fast as you can. I dart behind a broken armoire, the splintered wood catching my arm. The blood mixes with sweat and dust. But I don't care. Pain is better than being in his arms again. Pain is freedom. But then I see him - At the end of the hall. That silhouette, tall, towering... Eyes wild like fire, lips parted like he's whispering a prayer to me from the dark. He sees me. "Melisa..." His voice drops. Softer. Sweet.

A lie dressed in love.

"Stop running, baby. You're hurting yourself. You need me. You always did." I stagger backward, but I'm too slow. He starts walking, calm, slow, controlled, the kind of calm that's scarier than rage.

"Look at you. Bleeding. Scared. Alone." He smiles, but there's something shattered in it. "You should be in my arms, not hiding in the shadows. You don't belong to the dark - you belong to me." I turn and run again. The world spins. Everything hurts. But I will not be his possession. Even if it kills me. "STOP! NOW MELISA, OR YOU WILL NOT LIKE IT!" But I didn't stop. I couldn't. My body screamed with every step, legs trembling, blood leaving a breadcrumb trail behind me, my vision blurry. The world tilted, spinning out of control. But still, I crawled. Like a wounded animal, clinging to a single thread of hope that freedom might be real. I didn't hear him at first. But then. The sound of boots. A shadow swallowing me whole.

"Oh, poor little bunny..." His voice was laced with venom and something else, mockery, obsession, possession. "Look at you. So desperate to escape from me. But you can't. Not from my arms, not from my sight. You're mine, Melisa." Before I could scream. He yanked my hair. I cried out, pain exploding in my scalp as he dragged me backwards. My fingernails scraped the floor. I kicked. Screamed. Scratched. But his grip was iron. "Let go of me! Let me go!" I screamed, twisting, gasping. He didn't care. He didn't even blink. "Stay back! you fucking murderer! I hate you!" I shouted in fear. The rain gets louder and stronger.

"You should've listened." His voice was low, dark. Almost calm, like a lullaby twisted into a threat. "You were warned, Melisa." He dragged me like I was nothing. Like I wasn't a person, just an object, his property. My head slammed into the floor with every step he took back inside the house, his sanctuary, my prison. The door creaked open like a sigh of defeat. Back into the darkness. Back into the place I swore I'd never return to. The walls seemed to laugh. The cold air wrapped around my throat like a noose. I tried not to cry. I tried to scream louder. But all that came out was a whisper - "Please... don't do this..." But he wasn't listening anymore. He never really did. He threw me back down into the basement like I weighed nothing. My knees cracked against the floor, the cold concrete slicing my skin. My body curled in instinct, trembling. My legs wouldn't hold me anymore, and my neck ached so sharply I thought it might snap. My hair clung to my face, matted, tangled, yanked at the roots. My ribs burned. I tasted metal on my tongue. This wasn't just pain. It was hell in human form. "What do you really want from me?!" My voice broke into a sob as I clutched my side, too weak to stand. He towered over me, his shadow stretching across the basement wall like a monster from some nightmare. His breathing was wild, uneven. His hands clenched into fists. "You." His voice was ragged, his chest heaving. "You are the only thing I want! Why the fuck can't you understand that?! You belong with me, Melisa! ONLY. ME." He stepped forward. "No one else can touch you. No one can even look at you. They don't deserve you. They can't protect you. I can. Only me. So fucking LISTEN TO ME!" I spat on the ground, blood mixing with my tears.

"I'd rather die in this prison than live a second obeying a criminal like you!" He froze. His eyes, so dark and stormy, widened in a crack of silence. The air was still. And then - CRACK. His palm met my face. A sharp sting, then numbness. My head snapped sideways. The warmth of blood slid from my lip, and my vision blurred. I let out a strangled cry, the world spinning again. The betrayal cut deeper than his hand ever could. He leaned down, nose inches from mine. His breath hitched, chest trembling like a man on the edge of completely losing himself. "Don't make me do that again, Melisa." His tone was icy calm - more terrifying than when he screamed. "I told you..." His hand brushed the side of my face, where the skin already burned. A mockery of tenderness. "If you disobey... you'll be punished." And then he just watched me. Watch me break. Watched the girl he claimed to love crumble under the weight of his obsession.