No replies to this topic

[Sarah Shanks]

Prologue

Sarah lay curled up in the corner of the bedroom, weeping silentley. She knew that it was only a matter of time before her dreaded, abusive partner walked in to beat her up again. She continued to cry into her knees when she heard the door of their apartment slam shut. Sarah pulled in her knees tighter and felt as if she was about to throw up. She hurt all over from the bruises left on her body as a result of the last time she was thrown about like doll.

Shortly after the slamming of the door, she heard loud, thunderous footsteps coming up the hall, the bedroom door swung wide open and hit the wall, almost coming off the hindges.

"Why’s the apartment in such a mess?! What’d I fucking tell you before I left?!" He walked closer to Sarah.

"Ty please!" Sarah screamed at him as he grabbed her shoulder and held her to his level. Sarah whimpered in pain and let more tears fall from her bruised, bloodshot eyes.

"What did I tell you before I left this place?!" Tyler spoke in a harsh, angry whisper. Sarah cried harder, which caused Tyler to shake her wildly and pull her even closer to his face.

Sarah answered between the shocks of pain that radiated through her entire body, "To clean up... the apartment… but I-I"

"I don’t care, it's not done! I'd be better off doing it my fucking self!" Tyler was shouting so loud that it hurt Sarah's ears; he lost his temper and threw her back to the ground. She screamed in angony and lay on the floor waiting for him to leave.

When he slammed the door behind him Sarah felt a sense of relief. She still didn’t quite understand how something as simple as cleaning up his mess would anger him so much. She used every last ounce of strength to stand up, she held her shoulder and shut her eyes tight, crying in pain. She tried walking but collapsed on her bed. She tried to ignore the extreme discomfort and thought about whether she should put herself throught her dance classes the next morning, but she knew that it was her only chance to get away from Tyler. Sarah loved getting out and away from him and loved that her career helped her to focus on anything but her life of misery. It was her escape from a living nightmare.

#######################################################################

After Tyler started clearing up the apartment from the party he held the night before, he fell asleep on the couch; he was probably too hung-over and drugged up to cope with the aftermath of his mad get together. He always had crazy parties to go to or dates with some other women. He thought Sarah didn’t suspect a thing about his cheating, but she knew. He would have a great time with other woman behind her back, but Sarah didn’t care much anymore; as long as she had a roof over her head, to her that was all that mattered. Tyler had tried to have sex with Sarah before, but she kept pushing him away, she didn’t feel she was ready, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to, especially with him. One night he threatened to tie her to the bed if she refused, but he was drunk. There was no way in hell he could have completed such a task in his state. She kept fighting him off and running away till he finally gave in. She wanted nothing to do with him, but in a way, she needed him. She was alone and had no one else to turn to. Her parents cut her off and refused to see her after she made the choice of continuing dancing instead of further education. They said her decision was stupid and immature, she would never make a living with dancing, so, they refused to pay for her funding or help her, she was to face the world alone. That was until she met Tyler.

They both met when Sarah was dancing in a club. She had next to no money and the only way of paying for her single roomed apartment was to accept money from desperate men. She danced in a strip club every night to make the money she needed, and if meant dancing in next to nothing on a bar in front of guys, or working around a pole on a stage, then she had to live with it. After one of her shifts ended in the early hours of the morning she was getting ready to leave, when a tall, black man strolled up to her. Her first impression was that he was one of the bodyguards from the club, but she had never seen him before. He complimented her about her performance and requested to buy her a drink. She was a little nervous, but accepted his offer. They talked until the club was due to close, about their lives, occupations, interests, the list went on, but it was when Sarah told him about her struggle to pay for dance classes and keeping a roof over her head that he felt he had to step in and help her. He thought about her for a few nights after their encounter, when he finally asked her to move in with him. Sarah declined, but he insisted. He convinced her that it would be for the better; she would have less to think about, she wouldn’t have to worry about paying for her apartment anymore, and she could focus more on her dancing. Sarah eventually accepted his offer.

Tyler was really good to her at first; let her do what she wanted, paid for some of her dance fees. He really helped her get up on her feet again, Sarah was so grateful and they soon became good friends. After about a year they became a couple. They never married or got engaged but they began to love one another. Sarah appreciated all he had done for her but she started to question if he truly loved her when he started taking drugs. Sarah didn’t believe in drugs or drinking, and seen it as abusing the body, and as his addictions spiralled out of control, as did his behaviour. He started to see Sarah as the servant that should run around after him. Sarah thought it was nothing since he had given her so much, and seen this as how he wanted to be repaid. He became protective of her; she was his and no one else’s. Over time, things got out of hand; simple tasks that were incomplete would lead to extreme consequences, and she wasn’t aloud out the house unless she was going to her dance school. If she failed to do as he said, he punished her, with his fists, and his addiction became worse, as did his punishments. They apparently started before he met Sarah, but she knew it couldn’t have. It grew worse over their time together and she blamed it on the people he was friends with. Over the years, Tyler had completely changed, the once kind and gentle man had turned into an overly protective and abusive monster. Sarah felt trapped, his home was once a place she would feel safe in, but now she lived with danger. Sarah wasn’t sure if she loved him anymore; as he changed, so did her feelings. She thought about running away on more then one occasion, but she didn’t know what Tyler was capable of anymore. Once he found out would he hunt her down? Would he keep her prisoner in his home once he caught her? Stop her dancing? Or would he even go as far as to kill her?

Sarah wondered if all this pain was worth it.



** Hope you liked this, please tell me what you think. I know it doesn't include Michael just yet, but stories need a beginning to set up an understanding of what's happening for the reader. If this is good then the rest will be easy for me. Thank you **

Edited by Sarah Shanks, 09 August 2011 - 10:28 AM.