when did things pick up speed? Who: Emilia and Doran (NPC) Where: Hope Fellowship Church --> Doran's home When: Evening Warning: Domestic violence
To say that Emilia was having a bad day would have been the understatement of the century. The office where she worked at the church was what could have been classified as a ‘disaster zone’ and she was dreading the moment the door opened and her father peeked in to see how she was doing and saw. No matter what his very public stance was there would still be that flash in his eyes, the tightening of his mouth and the overall impression that she had managed to fail him again because her emotions had gotten the better of her. This was not a mess that had been caused by a childish temper tantrum, no, the books and papers and that lamp had all gone flying because Emilia could not stop thinking about what Lauren – she always seemed to get her name right when she had done something to get under her skin – had said to her that morning. Just when she thought that she had finally gotten it out of her mind something would happen to bring it right back up front again. Her phone would go off and she would hope it was Nysa, while simultaneously dreading it. (And when it was finally Nysa she did not end the conversation feeling terribly better than when it had started.) One of the members would stop by to ask how her and Doran were doing and of course thinking about Doran meant thinking about Nysa and then Lauren and it was just…
“Emilia?” Her heart leapt into her throat, but it was only Jacob. “Looks like you had a long day… I just wanted to see if you wanted anyone to walk you out to your car. It’s gotten dark and-“
Despite the annoyance that came with it, Emilia still managed a smile. She had gotten very good at calling up smiles when she was around what her father referred to as the church family. Too many of them had witnessed her ‘casting out’s’ over the years – some of them would no longer meet her eyes while others had clasped her tight and said it finally made sense – but Jacob had never taken part. He thought it was painful, though of course Emilia was not supposed to know that and that she did know made her fingers twitch. “My father wouldn’t ever let you forget it if you let me walk out alone, right?”
Jacob’s smile was relieved and he nodded. “Yeah, you know how he is. Doesn’t want anything happening to his daughter!”
Emilia’s smile did not falter at what she could not help but view as a false statement. He had caused plenty of harm to come her way over the years, had he not? He didn’t mean to… “Just give me a minute, alright Jacob? I don’t want to come into this mess tomorrow. I’ll meet you in the foyer.” And then… her throat tightened as she thought of what came next. Next she would go back to Doran; alone. She had already arranged with the Anders’ to watch the children for the night, pleading need for a night alone with her husband. They had not said anything, just thought it rather loudly, just agreed as they always did. Her own mother and father had been the same, but it was different now. “It’ll be fine,” she whispered as she started to straighten up, ignoring the sick, spiky feeling in her stomach. “Just fine.”
When she opened the door the first thing that she noticed was how quiet it was. Not even the television was going. Drawing in a deep breath, Emilia followed a familiar path to the living room. Sure enough Doran was seated on the couch. He was not looking at her, but at the doorframe above her head, toying around with a small orange container that gave off an all-too familiar rattle. “You forgot your medicine, Emilia.” ’Not that you give a-‘
The brunette lifted her chin, hands clenched tightly at her side. “No, I didn’t.”
He shook the container. “It’s right here.”
“Because I left it. I told you, Doran, I don’t want to take it.”
“Your doctor is the one who prescribed it. Don’t get snappy at me because you don’t know how to listen!” Doran finally met her eyes and what she saw there was sadly familiar; tightly controlled anger. She could hear it in his thoughts too, the dark whirl that always preceded him forcing those damn pills down her throat. She was ready for it, she really was, but it seemed worse this time and it did not take much to figure out why. Nysa was intruding on his thoughts. Nysa and the fact that he knew she had taken him sister out to their anniversary dinner. Had he needed to ask anyone? No, he just knew.
“I’m not taking them, Doran.” Emilia remained stood where she was, her fingers flexing open and closed. The nervous energy was starting to build up and if she did not fidget it out then it was going to come exploding out. And Doran was nearly as bad as her father when it came to her abilities; except for one distinct difference: he had done more than just shake her in the past. “Just put them away and let me go to bed. I’ve had a long-“
He was off the couch in an instant, moving faster than she knew she could, the top flying off the pills as he dumped four into his hand. His other one found her shoulder as she whirled to run and thrust her back against the wall. A dull ache started up immediately, but she bit her lip to keep the cry back. Opening her mouth was just what he wanted and she would be damned if she gave it to him that easily. They struggled for long moments, none of his fallback tricks working, and finally he closed his hand over her nose. Emilia’s eyes went wide, panic seeping in, and she saw a grim satisfaction on his face as he realized that soon she would have to open her mouth to breathe and then he would have won. Emilia’s struggles intensified, her nails digging into his arms, but his grip was like steel and she could feel her lungs screaming out to take a breath…
Suddenly Doran staggered and let her go, the hand that had been on her face going to the back of his head and coming away coated bright with blood. On the floor near his feet Emilia could see the shattered remains of the lamp. Shit. They were both frozen for a moment, eyes wide in shock, but Emilia was the first to move as she turned to bolt for the door. She made it a step before Doran tackled her. All of the breath went whooshing out of her body as she hit the ground with him on top of her and there was no resistance as he flipped her over and straddled her at the waist. His eyes - almost as blue as his sister’s - were blazing with a fury she could honestly say she had never seen before and the sight made her blood run cold.
’Goddamn bitch!’ “Trying to run to her?” Doran snarled aloud, face lowered to hover just above hers. Emilia pressed her hands flat against his chest in a vain attempt to lever him off or just get him away, but not even her hours at the gym made her a match for him. She could – and did – bite down when he pressed a rough kiss to her lips, feeling a fierce sense of satisfaction when her teeth tore his skin and he yanked away. The satisfaction vanished when she felt his fingers move from her shoulders to curl around her throat. Normally at this point he would have been reaching lower and she would have been retreating to that deep corner in her mind, but this? This was new. This was utterly terrifying because Emilia could hear what was going through his mind and it was… it was… “You always run to her! Every damn time, Emilia!” ’But I’ll be damned if I let you keep it up. Enough is enough. Enough is enough.’ It became a mantra in his mind that overwhelmed hers, drowning out the words that he was saying about how she needed to take her pills, that she needed to stay there because he was her husband and this was her home… nothing could get past that ‘enough is enough’.
Except for the darkening at the edge of her vision as she struggled to draw in so much as a little breath. Nothing was getting past that iron-tight grip Doran had on her throat, though, and she thought that he knew it. He’ll let go… he will… Except… ‘enough is enough’, right? Her belief that Doran was going to let her go after giving her a scare was starting to vanish and she was becoming more and more certain that he had no intention of doing it. That mantra was still running through his mind, touched by ones about her and about Nysa and them together and that he could not stand that…
Her nails shifted to grab at his face, not caring that she might mark it, desperate to do anything that might get him off of her so that she could take just one breath. Along with the dark sparkles that were dancing in her vision she could see the faces of her children, Nysa and her family. Desperation whelmed up at that and she dug in, hearing Doran grunt as her nails cut into his flesh. Then something was scraping – it sounded so distant - and the pressure on her neck loosened as the full weight of Doran collapsed on her.
Sobbing as she drew in a ragged breath, Emilia shoved him off and scrambled to her feet. Or she tried and managed to make it to her knees before the entire room spun and she had to stay there, gulping down the sweetest air she had ever tasted as the world stopped spinning. Her head was aching and the pain in her throat was unlike any she had ever known. It took a few minutes before she remembered what had caused this and she turned to see Doran still on the floor. And then she saw why he had let her go. The coffee table lay askew right next to him and from the blood caking the side of his head instead of the back where the lamp had hit… Emilia thrust her hand in her mouth to keep from screaming as she had a horrifying thought: I killed him.
But no, there! His back was rising and falling with breath. Carefully, afraid that he might wake up and finish what he had started, Emilia crawled closer and reached out to nudge him. There was a groan that sent her skittering, but nothing else. He’s not dead. He might have – probably had – a concussion, but people recovered from those. Should I call an ambulance? Panic loomed in her throat at the idea of an ambulance and the police. That might end up on the news and Neil would never forgive her for the bad publicity. Plus they would ask what had happened and how could she tell them? They had an obligation to pursue that sort of thing and that would make it even worse…
Emilia had her phone in her hand before she realized it, Nysa’s number on the screen just waiting. Her heart gave a painful thud as she remembered what had happened earlier. But worse than that, what would Nysa do if she saw her like this? There were surely bruises on her throat already. Just as she did not need an ambulance or police, she did not need Nysa storming over to tear Doran apart. Which meant what? Where did she go when she did not go to Nysa?
She was honestly at a loss, but she knew one thing: she could not stay here and wait for Doran to wake up. If no one had heard anything from him by morning then she would come back and make sure he was going to live, but right then all she wanted to do was get away. Away from the man lying on the floor, groaning, whose hands had finally done what she had unknowingly feared for years they would and who she was honestly terrified would do worse now. What would stop him? He had already nearly strangled her… her fingers touched her throat and she felt the tears start again. Who could she go to right now? Mother… no… Emily meant Arwen and likely Gia and Emilia could maybe handle one person, not two or three. Which put all three of them out of consideration. And left… Desi. Doran would never think to look for her there, or anywhere but Nysa’s. She needed to go to Desi’s