Chapter 13 Her Guardian Angel
Celene POV
My heart was beating loudly as I slammed the door on Daniels face. He clearly did not like that by the angry growl that came from the other side of the door.
I locked the doors till they clicked.
That was when my legs finally gave up.
I don’t slide down the door like in movies. I just stand there, forehead pressed against the wood, breathing too hard, like my lungs forgot the rhythm they’ve been using my whole life.
My hands were shaking. Not enough to drop anything. Just enough that I noticed. Just enough to annoy me.
I checked the peephole.
Nothing.
Of course, there was nothing. He was gone, but I waited anyway.
Ten seconds. Twenty. I lost count, but I waited until I could convince my racing heart to calm down.
Just when I was about to relax, a piercing pain enveloped my head and shoulder. The ache behind my eye was so painful. It made it hard to think straight. I reached back and touched my hair. When I pulled my fingers away, there was blood coating my fingers.
“Fuck,” I said quietly.
It wasn’t bleeding badly. Just enough to remind me it happened.
I went to the bathroom in my room and turned on the light.
I barely recognized myself at first. My afro hair was flattened on one side, my curls were disheveled and rough.
Even my eyes were too bright, like my body was still on high alert. My lips looked swollen. I looked at my throbbing neck and it was already darkening with the mark from his hand.
I stared at it longer than I probably should have.
I wasn’t scared. I was angry. I picked my phone and dialed Mariah.
"Maria..." She must have heard the emotions in my voice because she immediately said, "What's wrong"
"Daniel...he..."
"He came back, didn't he? That fucker"
"Maria... he grabbed me...my neck...he...he"
"Calm down, Chica. You're safe, right?"
"Yes. I'm inside my house" I debated telling her about the black car, but thought against it. I did not need her worrying too much about me.
"I'm so sorry I'm out of town. That orangutan really is asking for it. What the fuck? File a report with the police, Chica. I'll help you... you know my father's senior brother is married to a navy woman that knows the police chief, right?"
I almost giggled, but the pain behind my eyes was getting worse. I needed painkillers.
"Lets get him arrested, huh, chica?" Maria continued when I didn't respond.
"Nah, I'll be alright. Let's hope he doesn't come back again. I just needed to let you know" I said and then hung up knowing that if I let her keep talking, I would slumb from the pain raking my body.
I cleaned the cut slowly. Every sting felt personal, like my body was angry too. Like it was saying, see? This mattered. You don’t get to pretend it didn’t.
He came back.
After everything.
After I stopped replying.
After I blocked his number.
After I did everything I was supposed to do to make him go away quietly.
He still came back.
I grabbed the sink, my knuckles turning white.
The moment replayed without warning. Him standing so close to me, invadimg my soace, claiming me like i still belonged to him. His voice changing when I told him to leave. That second where his hand went to my throat and something in his eyes shut off.
That it. That was when I knew i had dated a monster for two years.
I dried my hands and looked at myself again. I didn’t look weak. I didn’t look broken. I looked… awake. Like something in me had snapped into place and I hadn’t decided yet what to do with it.
The apartment felt different when I left the bathroom. My heart jumped in my chest. My house felt smaller. Like it was holding its breath. Like someone else was inside it with me.
"Hello? Hello?" Radio silence greeted me.
I felt like a fool calling out to my empty house, hoping for an answer.
"Jesus, Celene. Gat a grip" i pulled out a drawer and swallowed two tabs of pain relief.
I walked to the window without thinking.
And froze. The black car was still there across the street. Engine off, lights out. Not doing anything illegal. Not drawing attention to itself. Just sitting there. My stomach twisted. It was the same one. I knew it was.
I leaned closer to my window glass. I couldn’t see inside the car from all the way here. The windows were too dark, but I felt a chill run up my back.
I should have been terrified, but instead, I felt relief settle inside my chest for some reason. Even though I knew it was just my mind playing tricks with me, i felt relief with just the thought that this car was there, probably watching.
The thought surprised me enough that I almost laughed.
I didn’t know who was in that car. I didn’t know why it was there. But the idea of being completely alone again, of the quiet swallowing me whole, felt worse than the idea of someone watching me.
That scared me more than Daniel ever had.
I closed the blinds slowly.
Even after that, i still could shake the feeling like someone was standing just behind me. Not touching. Not threatening. Just there.
I checked my door again to make sure it was locked.
"Hello? Is someone here? Hellooo?"
I stood in the low light of my apartment, blood dried at my hairline, my heart still refusing to slow down and waited for a reply I knew would never come.