Entanglement

Ember's Pov.

“Will you marry me, Ember?” Kelvin, an abusive, obsessive man,  had asked with hopeful eyes as he got down on one knee and showed me a ring. 

And “Yes, I'll marry you” was what I would say if I were crazy. But I wasn't so I replied

 “No”. My reply came out weaker than I wanted it to and the fear in it was apparent. Why wouldn't I be? My boyfriend of one year had just finished beating the hell out of me and was suddenly asking for my hand in marriage while I was sprawled on the floor in my own blood. 

“What did you say?” He asked in a confused tone and with heartbroken eyes, as if he didn't understand why I would reject him. 

“I said, No Kelvin. I can't do this anymore, I want out. I want to break up” I said with a whimper as I struggled to stand up, my sides hurt so bad I think I cracked a rib. He never held back when he kicked me and being a gym rat didn't help matters.

I was done. I couldn't bear the constant abuse anymore, I was tired of covering my wounds with makeup and living in fear. 

Growing up as an orphan in the foster care system has been a nightmare, and after being sent packing by my recent foster mother, I ended up stranded in the streets as a 20-year-old for months. It was there that I encountered Kelvin, who was very sweet and generous to me. He let me stay at his house and took care of me without asking for payback. We began dating soon after, and that was when everything started to go downhill. 

He became verbally and physically abusive over time, and I couldn't leave because I had nowhere else to go. If I left, I would have to go back to the streets, and I would have nothing.

I couldn't afford to lose this much.

So I stayed and as months went by, my sanity started to slip away. I was a shadow of my former self, I was always inside the house, cleaning up my wounds. 

He had gotten worse so much that I feared that I might not survive the next beating. I finally realised that I would rather beg in the streets than endure any more of this, and now he was proposing marriage.

Over my dead body…

“Come on, babe… are you still mad about me hitting you earlier? I have said I'm sorry countless times. Why did you have to push me, huh?” he questioned and began to move closer to me.

I immediately pulled back in fear.

 “Don’t you dare come any closer, you said I pushed you to hit me? The floor is freaking stained with my blood just because a guy approached me on our way home to which I immediately refused him. How the hell did I push you?” I was getting angry and my voice went a little higher. Every time he hit me, he always blamed me for pushing him, which was outright ridiculous.

“Don’t cuss or raise your voice at me, goddammit!” Kelvin hissed angrily and raised his hand to hit me, and I flinched as I shielded myself with my shaking hands, but luckily, he stopped mid-way and brought it back down.

He continued.

 “You see what I'm talking about? You know that I can't control my anger and you keep making me angry. You are mine, Ember. You belong to me. I can't stand it when another guy looks at you that way" Then he paused before he went on to finish his rant,

" I just got so angry, and I lost it. It is why I thought of us getting married instead, I want you to be fully mine. With my ring on your finger, no man will come close to you,” he said with a hopeful, almost dreamy smile. 

At that time, I had managed to stand up with the support of a couch, and I staggered a bit and limped past him to the door. There was no point in taking anything with me. They were all his, and I wanted nothing to do with him anymore.

“Goodbye, Kelvin” I muttered in an audible whisper as I placed my hand on the doorknob.

For so long, I have feared doing this.

 I thought he wouldn't be able to let me off so easily and was terrified of his reaction. And now, it looked easier than I thought, maybe I could actually leave this place smoothly.

Or did I speak too soon?

I suddenly felt a yank on my arm, and I was flung backwards to the ground with great force, I cried out in pain from the impact on my already injured body. I had to leave somehow or I won't survive his anger.

“I see you have grown wings because of all the boys outside looking twice at you. You want to leave me so you can have a chance with them, right? Let me remind you that you are nothing without me; I MADE YOU,” Kelvin barked out as he marched towards me.

“Please… please, Kelvin, just let me go,” I pleaded breathlessly on the ground. My throat was clogged, and it felt hard to breathe; every part of my body ached badly.

“I can't let you go, baby. I can't let anyone else have you, so if you don't want to marry me, then I'll make sure to give you a peaceful rest instead.” He crouched down and raised my face to look at him. His words made my heart skip in fear, and I eyed him cautiously; his eyes looked dead serious about killing me.

While I contemplated what to do, he began leaning toward me and attempted to kiss me on my bruised lips. I immediately felt disgusted and flared up. I couldn't hold myself back from spitting on his face, and I regretted it as soon as I did it because what followed was a resounding slap. 

My cheeks stung, and the metallic taste of blood filled my mouth; I started coughing up blood, and tears flowed down my face from so much pain.

“How dare you, Ember?” Kelvin was shaking with rage this time; his eyes looked crazed, and his face contorted into a sick expression. He grabbed me by the neck and started squeezing very hard. I thrashed around wildly in an attempt to free myself, but he was too strong. My airways were completely cut off, and I saw death staring directly at my face. 

I began to feel dizzy with every passing second. I was growing weaker by the second; who knew I would go out like this? Sadly, with the way my life has been, I wasn't expecting much. 

I was about to give up struggling when I heard a loud bang on the door. Kelvin immediately let go and I gasped for air desperately while coughing. 

“Mr A, you are here” I heard Kelvin say in apprehension.

“Yes, I am Kelvin. Did I meet you at a busy time?” An unfamiliar deep voice replied.

I managed to look up to see who he was talking to, some men had barged into the house. The one who spoke was tall and muscular with an intimidating aura. He had green eyes that looked indifferent and bored despite the scene he had just met. He looked way older, but it was hard to tell with his ripped body struggling in his loosely buttoned sleeve and suit pants.

“No no, not at all. I um… I was planning to come see you later.” Kelvin sounded genuinely scared, and it made me wonder who exactly this Mr. A person was. 

Meanwhile, I had finally been able to stabilise my breathing, but my neck hurt so badly, it was painful to move. I slowly moved away from my monstrous ex-boyfriend. 

“You’ve been planning to see me later for over six months? That's a long time, Kelvin and you know I'm very impatient when it comes to debtors. Where is my money?” Mr A collected a cigarette from one of his men and lit it up with a lighter; he inhaled and puffed it back into the air while staring down at Kelvin.

“Please, I need more time; I'll make sure it's ready in two weeks… no, one week. Please, I swear on my life, I will pay you back this time” Kelvin pleaded, his face fearful with quivering hands.

So Kelvin borrowed money from goons? I had no idea. Then again, he never told me anything, this was probably his karma catching up with him. I will have to leave before I'm entangled in his mess. 

Mr A suddenly chuckled and nodded at his men. Two of them immediately charged at Kelvin and held him down from moving, while the third one threw heavy punches at his stomach and face. His grunts in pain and whimpers unapologetically sounded like music to my ears. I couldn't help but feel grateful to the goons for helping me fulfil my wish of hitting Kelvin.

After a minute or two, Kelvin was bloodied and breathing raggedly; Mr. A stepped forward and used the butt of his cigarette to imprint a scar on his arm. Kelvin screamed out in pain, and the man didn't even flinch, which made me gulp cautiously.

Who exactly was he?

“Next time will be worse, Kelvin, and I can't guarantee that there will be some life in you afterwards. In the meantime, I will be taking your little girlfriend with me, think of it as collateral. If you default, I will put her to good use in a brothel or sell her to my hungry investors. I am going to get my money back one way or the other” He threatened.

“No!” I blurted out, along with Kelvin, in shock as my stomach filled with dread.