The unbuckling of a belt. Pants unzipping and a heart ripping in two. His hand covers her eyes and he tells her not to look. A pillow pressed over the top of her face as he takes over. He hits and snaps at her. She doesn’t move, instead she prays it’ll be over soon.

Finally he rolls over and stands up, looming over the frail creature on the bed. “Git up!” Grabbing he drags her out into the other room and forcefully throws her into the closet. This time she just whimpers and falls to the floor. He locks the door, muttering, “Stay in there for a while, maybe you’ll wanna play a bit later.”

Laughing, he leaves the apartment. He’ll be back in a few hours, after work…

She cowers in the corner. It’s pitch black and she curls up tight. She examines the bruises with her bone white fingers and reaches out for something to cover her nakedness. A blanket is hanging and she pulls it down. Teeth chattering, shaking and with goosebumps she wraps herself up and stares at the door, praying that someone will rescue her.