Impulse

Emma stood in front of the full length mirror, she ran her fingers over her stomach, tracing her hip bones quietly. Bruises covered her inner thighs, her ankle was swollen and a unhealthy black color. Her jaw line bruised, her hair tangled and frizzy. The cut on her forehead was scabbing over, and the swelling underneath the cut on her lip had gone down.

The night before left Emma sore and rigid. Her throat was raw, her face flushed from crying. Her skin was a tinted red color, stinging whenever she would touch it, throbbing when wind blew past her. Her lips were chapped, bleeding. She ran her fingers through her hair, pulling at the tangled strands as she limped to her bed.

Emma sat down, taking her weight off of her ankle, feeling the area pulsate. She sighed, laying back on to the bed, feeling the blankets surround her, making goose bumps rise to her skin. Exhaling softly, Emma ran her fingers over the scab on her forehead. Letting her hands fall, she hit Brian’s stomach, making the man mumble and turn over.

Staring at him was enough to make her cry. With her head turned, she sighed, blinking sadly before staring up at the ceiling once again. Her breathing was slow, shallow as she thought back on their younger years. If you were to ask how they got where they were today, she wouldn’t be able to tell you, simply because she didn’t know.

She had no idea where things went wrong, or why Brian had such a dramatic change in attitude. She remembered her honeymoon night, he had snapped, something inside of him changed drastically, and Emma wasn’t sure what it was that made him act this way. That night was full of terror, and anger. Emma wanted the old Brian back.

The Brian she met when they were young, the smart, funny, kind, and lovable boy that he once was. She wished everyday that he would come back, that Synyster would vanish, and let Brian take control once again. Her phone began to ring, spinning in circles on her nightstand, the loud noises meshing together gave Emma a headache and made Brian stir.

Emma reached over, grasping the phone in her hand, she looked at the large screen, the name displayed on the screen made her chest cave, and her heart beat just that much faster. She sighed, running her fingers through her hair, scratching her scalp before touching the screen with her index finger. She stared at the screen, hearing the faint voice on the other side.

“Hello?” She answered.

“Emma, its your father” He said.

“Hi Dad” She sat up.

“Emma. How are you?” He asked.

“I’m fine. How are you?” She stood, walking into her bathroom.

“I’m doing good, just missing my only daughter. Emma, I haven’t spoken to you in months, me and your Mother are worried” He spoke.

“I know, I’ve been so busy, getting things ready for the road and stuff, I’m sorry” She ran the large brush through her hair.

“I understand. Listen, how about we all go out to lunch, huh? How does that sound? Me and your mother, you and Brian”

Emma stood frozen, the brush stuck in her hair as she stared into the mirror. Her expression was full of fear, shock, and worry. She didn’t know how Brian was going to respond to this, he would get mad if she said yes, yet he would get angry if she said no. He didn’t want her making decisions, she knew he didn’t want her to, he made that clear one year ago.

She turned on her heel; watching Brian’s sleeping form. She could hear her father’s voice on the other end, calling out his daughter’s name. His voice was dull, fading away, all she could think about was Brian, how he was going to react. She swallowed, a large lump forming in her throat. She walked out of the bathroom; arm at her side now.

“Emma. Answer me” He demanded.

“I’ll call you back” She hung up the phone.

Emma took a seat next to Brian, his face peaceful as he slept. She ran her tongue over the large cut on her lip, debating whether or not she should wake him. She didn’t know how he was going to act. She reached for him, placing her hand on his chest, pressing down before moving her arm in a rocking motion. His eyes opened, Johnnie Walker looked into sky.

His eyebrows furrowed, his hand wrapping around Emma’s small wrist. He pushed her hand towards her body, giving her a look before turning on his side. Emma looked down at the blankets, she knew he was in a bad mood already, she didn’t want to make it worse, but he would get worse if he didn’t know what was going on.

“Brian?” She called, he responded with a grunt.

“Uhm… My parents, they want to have lunch with us today” She said, Brian turned around.

“What did you tell them?” He asked, his tone aggressive.

“I haven’t told them anything, I wanted to ask you… Let you make the decision” She said, Brian rolled onto his back.

“I guess” He said, Emma smiled.

“I’m going to get ready then” She said, getting up and walking into the bathroom.

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Emma ran the brush over her face; covering up bruises on her face. Her hair hid the cut on her forehead, as well as the bruises on her chest and collar bones. Her eyes were surrounded in black make up, her eyelashes coated in a thick layer of mascara. She rubbed her lips together, she looked in the mirror, watching Brian stand in the doorway.

“Why are you wearing that?” He asked.

Emma looked down, bruises were visible. Her wrist was covered in a large bruise, as the rest of her arms. She bit her bottom lip, running her hand over her short sleeved shirt. She sighed, looking down into the sink, fearing what he was going to say.

“It was all I had… The rest of my clothes are dirty. I’m sorry, I’ll make up an excuse” She said softly.

“Make it believable, don’t feed them that bullshit you fed Charlotte. Stupid bitch” He muttered, leaving the bathroom.

Emma looked up into the mirror, staring at the woman. She ran her hand over her face, body shaking as she let out a loud sigh. She bent at her knees, holding onto the sink with quivering hands. Her arms trembled, the fear fading away slowly. She stood up again, dropping the large brush onto the counter, leaving the bathroom.

Brian wore a V- neck shirt , a pair of baggy black jeans, and a three row black studded belt. She looked down at his right arm; graced beautifully with a gory scene of monsters performing some type of torment on one particular monster. She remembered being by his side; watching intently when he got his tattoos. She smiled at the memory.

“Are you ready?” He asked.

“Y-yeah. I just need to grab my bag” She said, walking back into the bathroom.

The car ride to the pier was silent, Brian’s fingers tightened around the steering wheel, nails digging into the leather. Emma sat in the passenger’s seat, her head swimming, her anxiety high. She sighed, feeling the heat float in the air. Brian hadn’t turned on the air conditioner, telling Emma that she couldn’t. Her palms began to sweat as they got closer to their destination.

Brian and Ivan didn’t like each other. Emma knew deep down that they didn’t, although her father never showed it, Brian did. He didn’t care that Emma’s parents didn’t like him, and let them know that he didn’t like them either. Brian and Ivan had a bad relationship; he would always tell Emma that he was trouble, and Emma would always ignore him, or push him to the side. Today, she wish she had listened.

The car came to a immobilize, Emma looked out the window to see her mother, Kathryn, and her father, Ivan sitting at a table outside. Emma unbuckled herself, happy to see her parents, having not seen the two in almost a year. Brian kept her on a short leash, only letting her speak to his friends, people who wouldn’t get in the way of their relationship.

Stepping out of the car, Emma felt a rush of heat hit her. She sighed, looking over to see Brian walk around the car, stuffing the car keys into his back pocket, a pair of aviators covering his eyes. Emma walked beside him, trying to keep herself from running over to her parents. Approaching the doors, Emma opened one of them up, letting Brian walk in before she did.

Following behind Brian, she let him lead her outside. Hearing her father’s voice made her smile, and made the hurt vanish. She smiled up at him, he smiled back and held out his arms for her. She ran to him, her arms wrapping around his middle as she held tears back. She inhaled deeply, taking in his smell, reminding her of home.

Her mother pulled her into a hug next, making Emma smile and tighten her grip. She could hear her father and Brian talking to one another. She pulled away from her mother, looking up at her she smiled. Kathryn’s eyebrows furrowed softly, and her thumb ran over the cut at the bottom of her daughter’s lip. Emma smiled and took a seat next to Brian, feeling his hand grip her thigh.

“We ordered for you guys” Ivan said, motioning to the sushi laying out in front of the couple.

Emma smiled, reaching for a piece. Ivan’s large hand wrapped around her wrist, reminding her of Brian. She looked down at the table, her hair blowing in her face as she felt her body tense. Her head began to throb, and her hands began to shake. Ivan examined his daughter’s arm, ignoring the scars, paying attention to the many bruises.

Emma could hear her heart beat in her ears, loud, almost deafening. A lump formed in her throat, she knew he was looking at her, she could feel it. His hand loosened, she brought her arm back quickly, cradling it softly as she looked into her lap. Her mother was worried, her father angry. Brian placed a cucumber roll into his mouth, masticating before looking over at Emma, inside, he was on fire.

Emma felt light headed, her breathing becoming short, she felt as if her throat was closing. She knew what was going to come, that question was going to fly from his mouth. She wasn’t prepared, she realized she hadn’t thought of anything, the excitement of seeing her parents pushed the priority away. She had a hard time concentrating.

“What happened?” Ivan asked, his voice demanding.

“Uhm… I got in a fight with some girl… Which is why I have a busted lip too” She said, nodding.

“Yeah? With who?” Her mother asked, placing a piece of sushi in her mouth.

“Uhm… Just some girl, I didn’t know her” Emma shrugged, taking a sip of her water.

“Brian, do you know what happened?” Ivan asked.

“She told you, she got into a fight” Brian muttered.

“Doesn’t look like a fight, Brian. Looks like something else” Ivan said, looking at Brian.

“Yeah? What does it look like, Ivan?” He asked, his tone dangerous.

“Hey, its not that big of a deal” Emma said.

“Shut up” Brian barked, standing up.

“Don’t talk to my daughter that way, Haner” Ivan said, standing up as well.

Emma watched the scene helplessly. She knew that her father was aware of what Brian was doing. Kathryn had always liked Brian, Ivan never did, she thought she was a nice boy, and was glad to call him her son in law. Why Ivan said nothing before, he hadn’t seen the bruises, or the scars. Now that he had proof, he was going to expose them, show Kathryn Brian’s true colors. Emma couldn’t let that happen.

“Dad! Please. I got into a fight. Brian had nothing to do with it, he was at home, I went out shopping. Just please, calm down. Don’t fight” Emma said, standing up. Ivan looked over at her.

“Emma. Tell me the truth, did Brian do that to you?” He asked, staring at his daughter.

“No, Dad. He didn’t” She said.

“Come on Emma, lets go” Brian said.

Emma had no time to protest before she was pulled away by Brian, almost tripping over the chairs that sat in front of her. Her feet were moving too slow for Brian’s liking, he gripped her wrist tighter and pulled her forward, making the girl trip and fall to her knees. People looked at the two, some were watching in shock, others speaking in disappointment.

Emma was pushed into the car, the door slamming behind her, impact making the car shake. She sat up, her arms shaking as she held herself up. Brian got into the car, starting it quickly, muttering curses underneath his breath. Emma was well aware of what was coming, he glanced at her in the rear view mirror, his eyes lethal.

Emma pushed herself into the corner of the car, holding onto herself as she closed her eyes tight, burying her face into her knees. She wasn’t going to cry now, she wasn’t going to let him know that she was afraid, she wasn’t going to show him that he scared her, the beating was only going to be worse. Her fingernails dug into her palms as she looked out the window, they were pulling into their driveway.

He was angry, angrier than Emma had seen him in a while. She knew what was going to come, and the fact that she couldn’t get away was enough to send her into a state of panic. She was scared, although she knew that Brian was going to hurt her, she knew that he wasn’t going to let up, he wasn’t going to leave her conscious tonight.

He wasn’t going to get tired of hearing her scream, he wasn’t going to get exhausted and leave her laying there. He was going to make it hurt, he was going to make her cry, he was going to give it his all. All his frustration was centered to her, he was going to make sure that she wasn’t able to move when he was finished with her.

The facts were enough to send her running.