Part One|Part Two|Part Three|Part Four|Part Five|Part Six

– – – – – TRIGGER WARNING (Sexual Violence) – – – – –

As Eva sat in the bathroom awaiting the arrival of the police, she thought about all of the events that had occurred. Nobody had access to her vehicle to mess with her radio. Nobody had had access to her apartment to leave a letter on her bed. Nobody except Ford. That’s when it began to click; maybe Ford wasn’t assisting Dave in tracking her down, maybe Ford was Dave. Disgust took over, and then anger, suddenly she was filled with rage toward a man she had thought she loved. She heard the front door slam shut, and footsteps were barreling closer and closer to the bathroom door.

“I know you’re in here, Eva. Come out; I promise I won’t hurt you. I just want to take you away before they come.” The voice didn’t sound like Ford’s normal voice, but Dave’s.

Eva stayed silent, now riddled with anxiety and frustration. If he came in for her, she would stab him. The door handle jiggled, the sound sending Eva into a dark place she had never been. She slowly unlocked the door when it sounded like David had walked far enough away and prepared herself. She quietly opened the cabinet under the sink and grabbed aftershave. She opened the bottle and prepared herself to attack. The footsteps grew closer, and this time when the door handle jiggled, the door opened behind it. Eva caught a quick glimpse of Dave’s face before she threw the aftershave in his eyes and ran past him, nearly knocking him over.

“Get the hell away from me, you psychopath!” she screamed.

He was holding his face, hands over his eyes. This was her opportunity. Eva charged toward him, knife in hand and slammed it into his back. She was surprised at the difficulty it took to pull the knife back out. Dave hollered at the top of his lungs.

“You bitch!” he yelled, falling to the floor. “How dare you! I’ll have you killed for this! I’ll kill you myself!”

“You won’t be able to, cause you’re dying today. I’m putting an end to this. You fooled me! You made me fall in love with you!” She yelled back, tears streaming down her face.

She could hear police sirens in the background. They were close; relief began to flow through her.

Dave scrambled back to his feet, and his blue eyes were stained with red from the attack. He opened the end table nearest him and pulled out a pistol. Eva stopped in her tracks, now terrified, and in the back of her head, she hoped the police would make it in time to save her.

“Take one step near me, and I’ll shoot you,” Dave demanded.

“If I am going down, you’re going down with me,” Eva replied, fearlessly.

Dave cocked back the hammer of the pistol, finger on the trigger.

“Eva, all I ever wanted was for you to love me. You look so much like her. I should have killed you and had you stuffed. Then I wouldn’t have to go through all of this work to be close to you.” A huge grin came over his face. “Then I could do whatever I want to you, and I wouldn’t have to hear you scream. Remember those days, Eva? Remember when I had you tied up, and I was free to do whatever I wanted to that beautiful body of yours? Remember how you cried? How you begged me not to, but I did anyway? It felt so good. You felt so good. Remember when you had the baby? How you begged me to kill her so she wouldn’t have to bear having me as her father?”

Eva remembered the events as if they had just happened. He’d raped her a few times a week, and one of those times he had gotten her pregnant. She’d spent eight months hoping the stress she was under would make her miscarry. She’d punch herself in the stomach whenever David would leave the room. Of course, he’d had her trapped in his childhood home. All of the windows were cemented, and the door that led out was hidden. He told her the place was booby-trapped so she would never get the urge to escape. The baby had been born early, and he’d immediately ripped her away from Eva the second she was born. Then he would tie Eva up to the pole again, and bring the baby within arms distance, just out of her reach, and leave her there all day. Eva had no clue where he would go, but when the baby would cry, it would break her heart. She would sing to her whenever she would cry, and the baby would slowly lull to sleep. After a few days, the baby began to look incredibly sick and skinny. Eva begged David to let her feed the baby, to hold her. She tried to convince him to let her keep the baby alive. But he was heartless. Eva watched the baby grow weaker every day, and she begged and pleaded him to let her help, and then she began begging just to let the baby die so she wouldn’t be tortured anymore. She had named the baby Mira, short for miracle, because she had survived so much at such a young age, and it was exactly what it would take to get them both out alive. On the final day that Mira was alive, Eva had watched her struggle to breathe. Mira did not cry that day. She just laid there and struggled to stay alive. Eva had prayed many times since being captured, but this day, she prayed for God to make Mira’s death as quick and painless as possible. She prayed for God to forgive her for bringing the baby into this evil situation, and she prayed for the baby to forgive her for not being there to help her. Mira slipped away, quietly, and Eva silently cried.

Eva snapped out of her flashback to the sound of a gunshot. Suddenly, her stomach was burning. She pulled her hand up to it, confused, and when she pulled it away, it was soaked in blood. She fell to the ground and held herself, dropping the knife. Dave walked over to her and looked down at her, pointing the gun toward her face. This was it. This was the moment she was going to see before she died. She wasn’t afraid of death anymore; it would be easier than living in this hell that he had created for her. Dave knelt down, held the gun to her head, and gently kissed her lips.

“Goodbye Eva, I lo—” The sound of an explosion rang through the room, and Dave crashed to the ground, falling atop Eva’s body.

“Eva!” someone’s voice rang out. She looked up and saw a police officer standing over her, pulling Dave’s body off of hers. That’s when everything went dark, and she drifted off peacefully.

She awoke in a hospital bed, with her mom and brother sitting in big white chairs. They were asleep, and she was so happy to see them. Later, she found out that she had been placed in a medically induced coma after some complications from the surgery to remove the bullet. The bullet had done significant damage to her body, but they were able to repair everything.

After three more days in the hospital, Eva was released. She had made prior arrangements with the police department, which allowed her to go to the morgue to confirm that David was dead. This was the closure she needed to move on with her life. When she arrived at the morgue, she felt nervous. She walked in and met a detective in the waiting area. One of the workers came out and led them to a dreary room where autopsies were performed. A body laid beneath a white sheet. Eva took a deep breath and uncovered the body, bringing the sheet down to the shoulders. She stared for a moment in disbelief. He was dead. Dave was dead. He would never be able to hurt her again. A smile crept over her face, and she knelt her head down, so her mouth was nearly touching his ear.

“Rot in hell, you sick bastard,” she whispered. She pulled the sheet back over his head and walked away.