Chapter 1: She Will Be Loved

”What did you say?” Andrew bellowed at Kyla after he had grasped her hair and pushed her to the wall.

Kyla collided into the wall with a loud thud and fell onto the floor in a heap. She looked up at him, her vision blurred, eyes brimmed with tears, daring to overflow onto her pale face. Smirking, Andrew squatted beside her and said, “Do you think it’s easy to do it?” She shook her head wildly, her hand on her face where it had hit the wall. She couldn’t believe that he hit her.

”What?” Andrew yelled.

Kyla shook her head even harder and faster, not wanting to be hurt any further.

But too late. Andrew had already grasped her arm tightly and pulled her up with so much force that made her stumble backwards. Finding her balance, she closed her eyes and braced herself for the blow. But none came. One, two, three seconds passed. He didn’t hit her. Kyla opened her eyes to find Andrew’s face centimeters from her face.

”You selfish little,” he whispered. Kyla winced at the smell of alcohol in his breath.

Without warning, he had gripped her neck and was starting to apply pressure. It took a moment for Kyla to regain sense and realize that he was actually choking her. She instinctively placed her hands on his, trying to remove the hands blocking her air passageway. Andrew said some more words, probably insults, but she couldn’t understand him as the grip grew tighter and tighter. It felt as if all the air in her lungs was being sucked out which wasn’t a pleasant feeling. She felt her whole body go numb as an odd cloudiness started taking over her vision and thoughts. Even though she couldn’t think straight, she knew that she had to do something and fast. She could no longer breathe. And she could only go for so long without air.
Regaining the feeling in her legs, Kyla kicked but only collided with his shins. Andrew laughed at her feeble attempt to free herself. She attempted again and succeeded at kicking him in between his legs. He immediately let go of his grip on Kyla’s neck and doubled over, groaning and cursing loudly. Kyla fell on the floor, coughing and gasping for breath. She felt a wave of relief as the cold air filled her lungs. Her head was still cloudy, but she knew what she had to do. She started crawling, dragging her feet behind her. She staggered toward her room, her sanctuary. She could feel him getting up. Getting closer. She ran inside, locked the door that probably wouldn’t hold him but gave her the illusion of safety, and fumbled for her keys somewhere in her bag. She broke into a run towards the door just as she heard Andrew getting up behind her.

”Come back here you,” she heard him yell just as she slammed the door shut and opened the window in panicked haste, ran down the stairs which was used as a fire exit to her car.

She slid inside, the tears that were daring to fall earlier streaming down her face.

No, he’ll stop. He’s just drunk that’s it. Kyla started the car and the engine roared to life.

Almost instinctively, she pressed down the accelerator and drove into the street. Not really realizing where she was going, she started thinking again.
See, this wasn’t the first time Andrew hit her. Heck, this wasn’t even the second or third. The pair first met almost right after Kyla won their college’s pageant in their last year. After two years, they confessed their feelings and got together. They have been together for almost five months. But two months into their relationship, Andrew started hurting her. But wait, why does Andrew hit Kyla? If you asked her, it was because she was nagging him, irritating him or did something wrong. But in reality, it’s all Andrew’s fault. The status on his job wasn’t as stable as it was a couple of months back and he takes out all his frustration and anger on his one and only girlfriend. He also sometimes decides to drink in a bar before going back home to release some more. Plus, his insecurity due to his peers, he would hit her just because he wanted to feel superior to the woman. After every beating, she would convince herself that he would stop and he didn’t mean it. And almost every time, she would go away from him and spend the night somewhere else like a hotel or her best friend, Jonah’s place.
Speaking of Jonah, without realizing how she had gotten there without really thinking, she arrived at his place. By now, her head was throbbing so much as if Andrew was seated behind her, hitting her with his fist a bit softer than he usually would.
Kyla climbed out of her car with difficulty and proceeded climbing the stairs to the entrance of Jonah’s apartment building. Fortunately, she didn’t meet anyone going up, not counting the guard who was quietly sleeping in his chair behind the desk. She weakly pressed the up button of the elevator and the doors immediately slid open since no one was using it at that time. She staggered inside and grasped the handle bars, breathing heavily. The pain had started to increase, her head throbbed even harder, her whole body ached but her throat was the worst. It felt like as if she swallowed hot sand and it stayed in her throat. The elevator ride seemed to last for hours even though it was only seconds until it reached the third floor and it slid open with a small ding. Kyla stumbled out and automatically turned right, towards room number 305.