Nothing Happens by Chance

I ran as fast as I could, the wind blowing in my ears. Even over the wind and the sound of leaves under my feet I could hear Ethan. He had been surprised at first, but had snapped out of it. He was chasing me now, and catching up quick. I tried to pick up speed, but I was going as fast as I could. I pushed back a low branch and let it go behind me. I heard Ethan let out a noise. The branch must have hit him.

I smiled to myself at the thought of freedom. It was possible I might actually get away. I was almost out of the cover of trees when I stumbled over something sticking out of the ground. I looked down to figure out what it had been, distracting myself from where I was going. I ended up falling on my hands and knees. My left wrist twisted underneath me, and I felt a sharp pain go up my arm.

I tried to get up, but Ethan was already there. He grabbed me by my hurt wrist and jerked me towards the house. I whimpered in pain as his grip tightened on my already sore hand. He didn’t say anything, just dragged me towards the house. He was breathing heavy, and the look in his eye was pure rage.

He opened the door to the house and threw me inside. I fell to the floor and stayed there. Ethan was circling me, angrily.

“What the hell was that?!? God, you are so stupid. Did I not tell you to stay with me? I swear you have pushed me too far this time, Kelsey. You may have broken your promise about running away, but I’m going to keep mine. I will make sure you regret that.”

“Ethan, I-”

“Shut up! I don’t want to hear anything from you. Now stand up.” He wasn’t yelling, but he was defiantly pissed. It was obvious in his tone and body language.

I stood up slowly. When I was on my feet, I cradled my swollen wrist. He watched me for a second before coming over to me. He walked behind me, and before I could turn to look at him he grabbed my hands and brought them behind my back. He took my hurt hand and jerked it upwards, making me scream out from the pain. I was already crying at this point.

“Please stop. I promise I won’t do anything like this again,” I choked out between sobs.

“Damn right you won’t. I’ll make sure of that,” his voice was quiet, making me even more nervous.

He seemed to be thinking of what to do to teach me a lesson. He was still standing behind me holding my arms. I kept praying that he would let go, and eventually he did. He walked back into my line of vision.

“I’m really sorry-” I tried to start, but Ethan quickly stopped me.

“Sorry? You aren’t sorry, you stupid bitch. Now keep quiet while I think.”

“Just listen-”that was all I got to say. Ethan had brought his arm back and hit me in the face. My head jerked back, and I was stunned. I didn’t know what to do so I just stayed there, not moving or saying anything. He stared at me for a long time, not doing anything. Finally he grabbed my arm and led me back upstairs to my room. I went over to the bed and sat down. Ethan had the pair of handcuffs in his hand, and put it on my wrist that wasn’t hurt. Then he attached me to the bed once again. He hadn’t handcuffed me the past couple of times, but I guess he lost all his trust in me. I just laid on the bed and continued crying.

He sat down on the chair and glared at me. I couldn’t meet his gaze. We were both silent for a long time. Then Ethan’s phone started vibrating, making me jump. He grabbed it out of his pocket, looked at the number, and rolled his eyes.

“What?” he said as he answered the phone. I assumed he wasn’t talking to his dad like that, or there would have been yelling on the other end. Instead the other person laughed and said something back the Ethan.

He slightly smiled before replying “there has probably been a reason for that then. We will party as soon as I can, but now isn’t a good time.”

The other person responded, and Ethan said “Can’t bro. Sorry.” He ended their conversation by hanging up the phone. I looked at Ethan and we sat in silence again.

I reached up with my free hand and felt my face. The spot where Ethan had hit me was warm and extremely painful. His hands were big, so he pretty much made contact with the entire side of my face. It hurt to move my jaw, and around my eye was swelling a little bit.

I was losing track of time just sitting here, so I was starting to relax a little.

A car horn beeped from outside, and Ethan jumped out of his seat to look out the window. He cursed and rushed to get downstairs, forgetting to shut the door behind him.

I heard him go to the door and try to dismiss whoever it was. Then it sounded like they came in the house, because their voices became much clearer.

One voice was trying to convince Ethan to come to a party with them. Ethan declined the offer and the third guy started complaining about how Ethan never goes anywhere anymore. I assumed they had both ganged up on Ethan, because I heard Ethan yell at them to leave and he would see them soon. I wasn’t sure if they had left or not, until I heard the third guys voice again.

“This house is getting really gross. I almost threw up going into the bathroom. How is the one upstairs?” the guy asked.

Ethan told the guy to sit down and started talking to the other guy. I didn’t make out any specific things they said, but I did hear footsteps on the stairs. I tensed up, not knowing what was going to happen and who to expect. I could see down the hall perfectly, and waited for the guy to come up. The guy reached the top of the stairs, and I could make out what he looked like. He had light hair that was kept on the short side. His outfit was just jeans and a t-shirt. This guy was not as tall as Ethan, but he was a little taller than me.

He looked down the hall for the bathroom, and spotted me. He froze where he was and his eyes got big. He looked confused, and then called down to Ethan.

I heard Ethan cuss and come running up the stairs. His other friend was trailing behind him. This one had short dreadlocks and slightly tanned skin. He was a little bit taller than the other guy.

The first guy still hadn’t moved, and looked at Ethan. Ethan walked towards my room, with his friends trailing behind him. When he went to shut the door, one of the guys stuck his foot in the way, stopping him.

“What is this?” the first guy asked.

Ethan shrugged, like it wasn’t a big deal.

The other guy glanced in again, and asked Ethan “this isn’t some kind of kinky sex thing, is it?” he seemed very uncomfortable. I made a face at his remark.

The first guy pushed past Ethan and came in the room. He didn’t get too close to me, but he did notice the handcuff.

“What have you gotten yourself into, Ethan?” the guy asked, never once taking his eyes off me.