Footsteps In The Hallway
tick, tick, tick. The clock on the wall was going to be the death of her. It was just a constant reminder that he wasn’t home yet. It wasn’t that she needed him to be there, if anything, she didn’t want him home at all. She knew if she left, though, the consequences would be worse than she could imagine.
She had to stay home, in bed, and wait for him to arrive. He would more than likely be drunk for the fifth night this week, but she was prepared. Daphnee was always prepared. She didn’t know that this night was going to be worse than any other night before. The lights were out in their small, one bedroom apartment; it wasn’t an cozy little place anymore. The walls had been beaten in by fists and doors had been kicked off their hinges. The hallway was matted with spider webs and dust bunnies. The hallway was the worst place to be in the house. You could hear everything that happened there from any room in the house. If a mouse were to scuttle across the floor, you would hear it whether you were in the bathroom, bedroom or kitchen. It made no difference. The hallway was the place where all the beatings before had taken place. Daphnee would never walk through there unless she was home alone and the lights were on. That place was like a living hell for her. She checked the clock again – it read 2:30 AM. She sighed as she watched the second hand make its way around the clock. The phone rang, stealing her from her trance and making her jump in shock. She picked up the closest phone to her. “Hello?” She said. Her voice was dainty and trembling. If it was Danny, she was fucked royally. He never called unless it was something major. Thankfully, the thick, British accented voice that came from the other end wasn’t him – it was his best friend. “Daph, you have to get out of there,” It was Cameron. Why Cameron was calling her at 2:30 in the morning was beyond her. “I-um, excuse me, what?” She still didn’t speak up. She had to keep an ear open for the front door. “I’m serious, listen to me. He thinks you’re fucking around with me because Ben had to go run his mouth and make a joke. He’s pissed beyond words and you’re in some serious trouble,” “Cameron, what makes you think he’s going to hurt—“ ‘We’re not stupid, Daph. We know he’s been beating you senseless. We’ve been trying to figure out a way to help you, but we can’t. I’m telling you now, you have to get out of there. The minute you hear his footsteps down that hallway, you’re not going to have much time. Get your ass out before it’s too late,” With that, he hung up. Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck. The front door squeaked open and slammed closed with a loud crash. Daphnee jumped in bed, pulling the covers closer to her. He was home. Danny was home and that terrified her. She wasn’t going to let it show, not if she could help it. She could hear him enter the hallway, gaining closure to the bedroom. He was almost there. Only a few more steps and he would be bashing open that door. thunk, th-thunk, thunk, th-thunk. She could hear the sound of his boots hitting the old, damage hardwood floors as he made his way there. Every other footstep was out of beat, which meant he was stumbling in. He couldn’t manage to keep an even tempo as he walked. He was pissed drunk again. She didn’t even have to smell the alcohol on his breath. The bedroom door slightly opened, a small amount of light pouring in from the rest of the house. She could see his silhouette in the doorway as he stood there shakily, trying to regain his balance. Then he spoke, his loud, brute of a voice barreling through the room. “I heard about you and Cam,” She tried to stay as calm as possible. It wasn’t going to last that way for long. “What do you mean, Cam and I?” “I heard you’re sleeping with him you ungrateful bitch!” he stomped closer to her. “I’m not sleeping with him,” There was no lie in that sentence. They had done nothing at all, they were just good friends, the same as she was with Danny’s other mates. She wouldn’t do anything to really piss off Danny. “Don’t lie to me!” his hand swung out and met her cheek, leaving a deep red print in its place. She wanted to cry, but at this point, she had become immune to most of what he did. She had also learned that crying made the situation worse. It just pissed him off even more. Before she could properly form another sentence, she was being hurled across the room. She fell into the wall with intense force, causing every part of her body to ache immediately. Her wounds hadn’t healed from the night before. This was just starting to pile up on one another. In another instant, she was being pulled up by two, strong hands. Her small frame was lifted off the ground. He brought her into the hallway, where he repeatedly beat her again. This was all the same old, same old to Daphnee. She didn’t know anything else but this. The repetitive blows to the head or stomach were all redundant at this point in time. Pain was all in the head. The beatings almost didn’t hurt anymore. He finally stopped and she pulled herself up from the ground slowly. She didn’t know where he had gone, but she knew she had to heed Cam’s warning; she needed to get out. Maybe he was waiting outside for her, or at least willing to help. She had to crawl down the old hallway for a bit before she could manage enough energy to hoist herself to her feet. She was nearly to the living room when she got back up. Unluckily for her, Danny was right there with her – knife in hand and ready for blood. “This is the last time you fuck with me,” he growled, lunging toward her. She quickly moved away from him, just missing the blade. She quickly ran towards the door – something that suddenly seemed miles and miles away. Danny stumbled to his feet again and tried to make pace with her. So far, he wasn’t having much luck in catching up. She had almost reached the doorway when she felt a blade sink into her shoulder. This time, the pain was noticeable. She screamed in agony as the knife ripped down from the weight of the man who held the handle. He eventually let go and fell to the ground. She stumbled, a reaction due to agonizing pain, but finally continued on. She wasn’t going to let him kill her. She was going to make it out of this. The blade was still lodged into her back as she made it out the front door. Danny was trying to get back to his feet. She looked around and there was nothing – the street was completely and totally empty. She carefully pulled the blade from her skin, trying not to let him notice was she was doing. Blood was seeping into her t-shirt as she got the blade free from her flesh. Danny had just gotten to his feet and was stumbling towards her angrily In a moment’s notice, she had thrown the blade with all that she could. It lodged itself into his thigh, causing him to fall back down. She wasn’t taking this anymore. She was going to win this, whether he died in the process or not. He screamed loudly, rolling about the grass as he clutched onto his leg. She felt around her person, trying to find the cell phone she had on her all the time. It must had fallen out when he was hitting her in the hallway. Panic hit her like an oncoming train; there was no way she could make it into town without bleeding to death. She held onto her wound and she stumbled away. Danny would be down for a while, she was sure of it. She quickened her pace, just in case. She figured she could make it to Ben’s house, which was only four blocks from theirs. She quickly hobbled to the front porch. Danny was still far, far behind her. She wasn’t even sure if he had gotten the blade out of his leg yet when she knocked frantically on Ben’s front door. He opened it a few seconds later wearing only a pair of boxers shorts. His hair was a tangled mess. He was gotten out of bed. He looked at her sleepily until he noticed her arm wound. “Oh my god, Daph, are you okay? What the fuck?” He pulled her inside carefully. “He tried to kill me, Ben. You fucking told him I was screwing Cam or something and he tried to kill me,” Ben quickly tried to find the phone to dial an ambulance. He got them on their way and he sat with Daphnee, pressing towels to her bleeding arm. “Daphnee, I’m so sorry I didn’t –“ “Don’t apologize, Ben. I’m okay,” “You haven’t even cried, have you?” He stared at her, amazed by what he was seeing. She was stronger than any of them had imagined. “No, I haven’t. I had to get away. I didn’t have time for that,” He pulled her a bit closer, still keeping pressure on her arm. “You can cry now, Daphnee. You’re safe. You’re here and he’s not going to ever fucking hurt you again,” So she cried. She cried until the ambulance arrived and took her to the hospital. They healed her up and while she was there, Cameron, James, Sam and Ben were all right there beside her. When Danny tried to pick her up, the cops were right there waiting on him. They all watched as their best friend was pulled away by police officers, screaming threats and apologies her way. She didn’t let herself cry then. She wasn’t going to let him see the pain he had really put her through. The physical wounds would only be there for a moment’s time. Everything else was going to stick to her like a parasite. She wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of seeing what he had done to her. Once he was gone, however, she cried again, harder than before. Ben wrapped a skinny arm around her shoulder. “My dad used to beat my mum,” he said softly. She looked at him, confused as to why he was saying this. “And once we got away from him, she always told me, ‘Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent,’. It’s over, Daph, and if I have any say in it, it’s going to stay over,” She fell into him as she continued to cry. It was over.
