Haunted

When I got home that evening, I wasn’t surprised to see that Liam had already gone to the pub. I sighed, searching through the kitchen for something decent to eat. There wasn’t much to choose from. Until I went to Wal-Mart, fish fingers would have to do. I cleared up a bit, sweeping up the floor, wiping down surfaces and putting all the empty food packets in the trash can. I ate my dinner in front of the TV but nothing good was on as usual so my mind started drifting to other things. I was annoyed that Liam had let the house get in such a state. He was wasting his life away. I found that thought rather depressing. It was clear, he didn’t love me anymore. Let’s be honest, who did love me? He was willing to put up with me, and for that I was eternally grateful and would do anything and everything I could to pay him back, even if it meant living off freezer food and spending every evening alone in a cold dark house, waiting for a drunken Liam to arrive home and collapse on the sofa without so much as giving me a kiss.

My eyes snapped open at the sound of a knock on the door. I must have drifted off, I thought as I quickly went to answer it. “Xander, what are you doing here, have you seen the time?”
“What are you doing back here?” he said angrily, rushing into the kitchen. I shook my head. “You’re being an idiot. Please get the hell out of here!”
“No.” He couldn’t tell me what to do.
“Why? Why do you need him? You promised you wouldn’t go back,” he sighed.
“Things change Xander,” I cried.
“Yeah but Liam hasn’t. He’ll only do it again.” That thought scared me so much but I’d managed to put it to the back of my mind until now and the last thing I needed was Xander to remind me.
“Wouldn’t you do too if a girl did to you what I’ve done to him!?” I screamed.
“No, I would never lay a finger on a girl! How could you even think that? It’s not right. Danni, please wake up. He’s manipulating you into thinking you’re the monster. You have to get out before it’s too late!” I sighed and we sat in silence for a few minutes. Xander didn’t know the whole story. Liam hadn’t done anything wrong. I was the one that had. I’d messed Liam around for too long and I had to make it up to him. I owed him big time.
“Why are you here Xander?” I asked quietly. He sighed and dropped his head in his hands.
“It’s about Leven,” he mumbled, his voice barely audible.
“What about her?” I was getting impatient, especially since Liam could arrive home any minute.
“We made up.”
“See, I’m happy for you? Maybe you can be happy for me too.”
“Shut up, she has one condition.”
“What might that be?”
“I can’t see you ever again.” My stomach started turning, my vision blurring. I thought I would be sick…or faint…or both. Sliding down the kitchen counter till I was sat on the floor, I dropped my head in my knees and tried desperately not to cry. This couldn’t be happening. I squeezed my eyes shut then opened them again, praying I would wake up soon and find this was some nasty twisted nightmare. Deep down though, I knew it wasn’t. I’d had enough disturbing nightmares to last me a lifetime but never had I felt a pain quite like this one.
“I’m sorry,” he said quietly.
“Just go,” I muttered, not bothering to look at him.
“I can’t leave you like this,” he cried, and I could tell from his tone of voice that he was crying now too.
“You don’t really have a choice,” I sighed. He stepped forward to give me a hug.
“I said just go!” I screamed, pushing him away. Looking up into his beautiful shining blue eyes only made me feel a thousand times worse. They were filled with confusion and sadness and anger. It took everything I had not to run into his arms and beg him to stay with me. He nodded, turned and headed for the door – just as Liam walked in. Talk about kicking a man when he’s down. My heart started beating even further, I was pretty sure it could be heard for miles. I started shaking with fear and I couldn’t get up, so I just sat there, watching them from the cold, dirty kitchen floor. “What the fuck are you doing here?” Liam screamed angrily.
“I came to see my friend,” Xander said calmly.
“Get the fuck out before I call the police.” Liam’s eyes were bloodshot and his speech was slurred. I could tell he was drunk and that meant hell was to follow. Xander lowered his voice.
“I swear down, if you touch her I will kill you. She’s a person, she has feelings. Show her some god-damn respect.” Oh yeah, cos that was at the front of Xander’s mind when he told me he never wanted to see me again.
“I mean it, you touch her and I’ll kill you. That will do everyone a favor.” With that, Xander carried on towards the door and left.

Xander’s POV
I’d barely made it to the end of the driveway when I had to sit down. Never had I felt as terrible as I did right then. Isabelle and I were all Danni had left. What did I do? I go and tell her I can’t see her again. She was probably getting beaten up at that very moment. That thought killed me. The worst thing was I couldn’t do anything about it. I loved her so much and just thinking about what Liam had done to her made me feel sick with anger. When I thought about never seeing her again, I felt…I don’t even know. Without her I had nothing, my life meant nothing and I was nothing.