Chapter 39

“What did you just say?” Cody questioned, not sure he heard her correctly.  Surely, she hadn’t just told him no.

Taking a deep breath, Kerrigan again stated “No.” as firmly as she could.

“No?  NO?” Cody demanded, his voice rising.  “YOU’RE TELLING ME NO?  NO WHAT?  NO YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND ME?  OR NO YOU WON'T STAY AWAY FROM JUSTIN?”

“No, I won't stay away from Justin.” she stated, holding her ground.  Literally considering she was still on the floor.

“God damn it, Kerrigan!” Cody growled as he then kicked her in her side.  “NO?  YOU’RE TELLING ME NO?” he yelled.

“Cody, they’re my friends and I can’t.” she stuttered out, trying to catch her breath from the blows to her side.

“YES YOU CAN AND YOU WILL!”  he yelled.

“NO I WON’T!” she yelled back this time.  “And you can’t make me!”

Cody glared down at her.  He couldn’t believe she was standing up to him.  That she was refusing him.  Reaching down, he yanked her up off the floor and threw her across the room, crashing into the coffee table.

“I can’t make you?” he questioned.  “We’ll see about that!” he said as he made his way over to her and again kicked her in her side.

Kerrigan yelled out in pain as he continued to kick her everywhere from her side to her legs to even her arms.  He’d almost kicked her in her face, but she’d managed to block that blow with her arms.

She grabbed a hold of his foot and yanked quickly, causing him to fall to the floor beside her.  However, he was not deterred.  He was wired on alcohol and pure rage and there didn’t seem to be any stopping him at this point.

Cody quickly sat up and then hovered above her.  “Have you changed your mind yet?” he sneered.

Kerrigan didn’t speak, she was in too much pain, but she firmly shook her head no in response.

“Fine.  Have it your way!” he growled back, reaching out and grabbing her by her throat.

His hands were clasped so tightly around her throat that Kerrigan could hardly breath, as she struggled with her hands to pry his fingers away.  Coughing and spluttering in her struggle.

“YET?” he asked while still choking her.

But Kerrigan couldn’t respond.  She had no air to speak and the only thing she could think to do was to get his hands off of her as she continued to try to pull his hands away from her throat.

“You know you could make this a lot easier on yourself if you’d just listen to me and do what I tell you.” Cody said as he released her throat.  Her face was starting to turn a slight shade of blue, and he knew killing her wouldn’t solve anything.

Kerrigan coughed and struggled to catch her breath.  She couldn’t believe this was happening.  He’d gone completely insane.  Never had any of the altercations before been this bad.  He’d slapped her around a couple of times.  Grabbed her by her arms.  But he had NEVER kicked her while she was down.  And he had NEVER attempted to strangle her.

“You know you’re going to give in sooner or later, Kerrigan.  You don’t have the strength in you to fight me.  We both know that.  And besides I love you and you love me, right?  So if you love me as much as you say you do then why can’t you give me this one thing?  We’re going to be a family.   You want us to be a happy family don’t you?”

Kerrigan stared up at him disbelievingly.  She couldn’t believe the words that were coming out of his mouth.  How could he claim to love her, while at the same time nearly killing her?

“You don’t love me.” she said faintly, still trying to catch her breath.

“I don’t love you?  How can you say that?” he questioned, glaring at her.

“If you loved me you wouldn’t make me choose and you wouldn’t be doing this to me.”

“Justin said that didn’t he?” Cody retorted.  “You see this is exactly why I didn’t want you around him.  I knew he would try to put shit in your head.  He doesn’t like me and doesn’t want us together so he’ll tell you whatever it takes to make you leave me!”

“But it’s true.” she muttered.

“What’s true?” Cody asked, lost in his anger and the thoughts running through his head.

“You don’t love me.”

“YES I DO!”

Kerrigan didn’t have it in her to argue with him.  It wouldn’t get her anywhere even if she did.  He had things stuck in his head his way and there was no making him see them otherwise.

“I can’t do this anymore.” she whispered.  “I can’t take this.”

“Take what?  My love?  Take tough love?  You give me no choice Kerrigan, acting the way you do.  Defying me the way you do.”

“But you can’t do this to me.  You have no right to make me choose.  If you loved me you would want me to be happy.  You would not make me choose.”

Cody’s anger grew at her words.  She was telling him he didn’t love her and that he had no right to make her choose.  That everything he’d done for the two of them was a lost cause.  And if he wasn’t mistake this was her way of ending it with him.  But he wasn’t going to let that happen.

Grabbing her by her hair, Cody pulled Kerrigan up from the floor as she cried out in pain.  He drug her down the hallway to her bedroom and threw her down on the bed.  “YOU’RE MY GIRLFRIEND, DAMMIT!  I CAN DO WHATEVER I WANT!” he yelled, as he proceeded to rip the tiny tank top she’d been wearing from her body.

“What are you doing?  STOP!” Kerrigan said, struggling against him.

Cody reared back and forcefully hit her across her face.  “I’m gonna show you just how much I can do!” he growled back.

He then proceeded to pull, tug and rip the remainder of her clothes from her body as Kerrigan begged and pleaded for him to stop.  But every time she spoke, it earned her another blow to the face.

She didn’t know what to do.  He was so much stronger than she was and there was no fight left in her.  She was mentally and physically exhausted, there was nothing more she could do to fight him off.

The room was silent.  The whole apartment was silent.  Except for the soft whimpers coming from Kerrigan’s shaking form in her bedroom.  She was curled up in a ball in the middle of her bed, clutching a sheet to her body as she cried.

Cody was gone.  After the torture he had put her through, and then pleasing himself he had vanished into the other room.  Where merely moments later Kerrigan heard the front door to the apartment click shut, ensuring her that he had left.

She laid in her bed, her body numb, yet horrifically in pain at the same time.  She wasn’t sure how that was possible, and before she wouldn’t have thought that it was.  But as she laid there and felt it for herself, it became evident that it was in deed very possible.

Her mind was reeling over what had just taken place.  Cody had completely lost his mind as far as she was concerned.  Never in a million years had she thought he was capable of anything remotely close to something like that.

Not only had he physically abused her body by beating her but he had invaded her soul and taken a very personal thing from her that had previously only been given out of love and adoration.

Crying, Kerrigan tried to figure out what to do.  She was terrified of what would happen next.  Her instincts were telling her to run.  To get the hell out of her apartment before he had the chance to come back and do whatever else he saw fit.

But her body and instincts were two very different things.  She could barely move and there was no way she was making a run for anything.  She’d never made it out of the apartment on her own, she needed help.  She needed Justin.

Looking to the phone that sat on a small table a few feet from her bed, Kerrigan tried to figure out how she was going to get to it to call him.  Her body was so weak and it hurt when she breathed, so she had no clue how she was going to get across the room to the phone.

Laying there for a few moments longer, still trying to figure it out she was startled by a sound.  She thought for a brief moment that Cody was back, but then realized it was only the people above her coming into their apartment.

However, that fright put a heavier fear on her shoulders and Kerrigan knew no matter what, she needed to get to that phone.  No matter how much it hurt her.  Or how long it took her.  She NEEDED to get to that phone.

Focusing all of her attention on the phone.  It was her goal and she had to reach it.  Kerrigan slowly began inching her way to the side of the bed, closest to the phone.  Pain shot throughout her entire body with every movement and breath she took, but she would not allow it to stop her.  She HAD to get to the phone.

When she reached the edge of the bed, Kerrigan stilled for a moment.  She didn’t have the energy to stand, so she knew there was no way she’d be able to walk to the phone.  Not giving it any further thought she braced herself the best she could and flung herself over the side of the bed onto the floor.

She laid there a moment, consumed by the pain.  When it finally subsided to a somewhat bearable level, she again began inching her way towards the table.  Once she reached it she grabbed at the phone cord on the wall and pulled until the phone came tumbling off the table, the headset hitting her square in her face.

Taking a few deep breaths to fight off the pain, she finally readied herself and focused her eyes the best she could on the neon keypad of the phone as she slowly dialed the numbers that were engrained into her mind.

She laid there and listened as the line rang several times in her ear before it was finally picked up.

“Hello?” she heard Justin’s voice filter through the phone.

Kerrigan attempted to speak, but no words would come out.  She was so weak and in so much pain.  She tried to focus on speaking as she heard Justin’s voice again.  “Hello?” he repeated, sounding somewhat annoyed.

“J…” she croaked into the line, it was all she could manage to get out.

Justin didn’t recognize the voice and thought someone was playing some kind stupid prank on him.  He looked down at the caller ID, not sure why he hadn’t checked it before answering and saw that it was Kerrigan’s number.

Immediately he knew something was wrong.  “Kerrigan?  Kerrigan, are you ok?” he called through the line, frantically.  Gaining Trace’s attention, whom was sitting on the other end of the sofa watching the TV.

“Help me.” Kerrigan muttered into the phone line.

“Kerrigan, what’s wrong?  What’s the matter?  Talk to me sweetie.” he tried to coax her, setting straight up in his seat.

Trace sat forward quickly.  “What’s wrong, Justin?”

“Justin, I need you…” Kerrigan answered back as best she could.

“Baby, hang on.  We’re on our way!”