Falling In Read Online Free Page A

care then and I don’t
care now.”
    His
vile, contemptuous words cut through Audrey like a blade.  Never once had she
seen him act this way: like an animal out for blood.  It was like someone
flipped a switch and sent him into attack mode.  Even his eyes didn’t look the
same.  Their usual sheen was gone and made his normally light brown irises look
as dark as chocolate.
    Audrey
watched him cautiously and tried to convince herself that it was just the poor
lighting.  But as they sat there and sized each other up for a silent few
minutes, a creeping uneasiness started to grip her.  He looked much angrier
than anything that she remembered.
    Audrey
snatched the framed picture of their wedding day up and forced it just an inch
from his nose.
    “And
what about this,” she screamed.  “What about the promises that you made to me? 
I’ve given you everything, Max, and now you’re just spitting on all of it like
it was nothing.”
    Max
yanked the picture from her arm, raised it up, and smashed it back down onto
the counter.  Splinters of wood and sparking bit of glass exploded from under
his clenched hand as their battered portrait fluttered to the floor by Audrey’s
feet.
    When she
looked up, Max still gripped the only solid piece of the frame in his hand. 
From it, a steady pattering of blood started to fall.  It landed on the broken
pieces and spread seamlessly through the glittering glass.
    Audrey
only took one step back, but that was all that it took to draw Max’s cold,
blank stare to her.  It was a look that a person only sees a handful of times
in their life; that thousand-yard stare of someone who is no longer human;
someone who has resigned to the animal nature that most people try so hard to
keep in check.
    Her
heart fell into the pit of her stomach.  She wasn’t dealing with Max anymore.
    Before
she could retreat, he lunged around the corner.  Audrey made it as far as the
oven when she felt his hot, bloody hand close around her arm.  Little bits of
glass that were still wedged in his palm tore through the delicate skin of her
wrist.
    She
yelped with surprise and tried to jerk her limb away, but that only made it
worse.  The biting cuts opened up even deeper, allowing a sticky mix of their
blood to start to roll over her flesh.
    Max spun
her around and grabbed both of her shoulders.
    “You
started this,” he insisted and threw her back.
    Audrey’s
feet went out from under her as she flew a short distance and slammed up
against the stove.  Her body smashed into the white top and fell to the right,
forcing the side of her head to smack into the cabinets nearby.  Like a rag
doll, her body sank down onto the floor as the few lights that were on in the
house started to dance and swirl.  At the very edges of her sight, she could
see a looming circle of black that started grow.
    Closing
her eyes, she listened as Max stomped back out to the garage and started up his
car.  It peeled out at the end of the driveway and sped off into the night.
    Only
then did she allow herself to cry.
    Shaking
her head to try and clear the cobwebs, she pulled herself up into a sitting
position and let her head hang low.  Soon, her gentle sobs transformed into
all-out wails of misery.  A steady rush of tears flooded down onto her lap,
where her bloody wrist sat limp.  It soaked up the brackish liquid and made her
entire arm feel like it was on fire.
    Audrey
wrapped both hands around her throbbing head and bawled.  The moment that Max
put his hands on her, time slowed to a stop.  Her job, their rent, the
recession and even the arguments that they had before fell to the way-side.  It
was that one simple act--one shove--that stormed to the forefront of her
conscience and kept her there on the floor for hours as she wept and bled,
alone.
    It was
almost midnight when Audrey’s desperate cries started to die down and she
slipped her phone from the pocket of her jeans.  Through her swollen eye lids,
she could see just