Gabriella's POV

I was in a room filled with dark red. The room wasn't entirely unfamiliar. The closing in walls and shallow ceiling brought on nightmarish feelings in the pit of my stomach. Suddenly, a loud thud echoed in the air. It echoed over and over again, getting louder with each long second gone by.

The whole room violently vibrated. My ears hummed uncomfortably. My brain felt as if it would swell and crack open my skull. I swayed as I tried to walk, bumping the square dining table in the middle of the room. The echoing thuds were coming from the next room. Somehow, I knew it was a kitchen on the other side. My old kitchen.

There was a subtle smell of old pennies in the air, which grew stronger with every struggling step I took. As I entered through the doorway to the kitchen, the veil of garnet lifted. I was blinded by the bright white room. The vibrating thudding sound stopped echoing. The room went still, and the air sour. I could hear something wet being hit with something blunt. It was as if someone was tenderizing meat.

As my eyes adjusted to the bright room, I noticed a black figure crouching over a strange creature sprawled out on the white vinyl floor. Blood pooled. My curiosity forced me to take a closer look. As I took a few steps forward, the more details I started to notice. The animal didn't have fur but long brown hair matted with old blood. It had petite fingers instead of paws. I thought, why would someone act so savagely toward this poor animal.

As I stepped closer, I turned to the dark figure. Black scaley skin with sharp horns sprouted from the demon's head. He held a wooden bat in his clawed hand. He crouched down while his arm swung with unenthusiastic motion.

My foot sloshed in the pool of blood. The demon stopped swinging and turned his head slowly towards me. The blood in my veins suddenly froze. Dozens of voices in my head started to scream at me to run. But my legs couldn't move. Only my eyes could move. They looked upon the poor creature again. All the blood and gore had disappeared. Shockingly, I had a clear look at the bruised corpse sprawled on the now clean floor. I was looking at myself.

"I know where you are, Gabby." The demon's lips were suddenly brushed against my ear. His harsh whisper made me jump back.

I backed into the wall and watched the demon turn into a human. Though he was still very much a demon in my eyes. My ex-husband Adam stood above my corpse with the wooden bat still in his hand.

In a flash, he stood just inches in front of me again. His eyes were black, and his voice eerily calm. "I'm coming." His arm suddenly swung the bat towards my head.

The next thing I knew, I was sitting in bed drenched in sweat. Gray held me from behind, gently kissing the back of my neck.

"You're alright. You're alright. Shh." His warm embrace instantly relaxed my body.

"I'm sorry." I leaned back further into his chest.

"No need to be sorry, love. I'm worried about you." Gray brushed my hair away from my face. "What's been going on with you?"

I straightened up in the bed. I knew I would have to talk to Gray about this eventually. The timing never felt right, but I should have known there was no such thing.

"I've been having a hard time lately. I thought I saw Adam in town one day and it scared me. I haven't seen him since he went to jail."

"Jail? Is he out now? What did he do?" Gray's eyes widened. He squeezed my hands. It seemed that he already suspected.

I started to tremble. It was something I never talked to anyone about. Both my parents were gone, and I didn't have any siblings. Any friends I had while I was married I only knew through Adam. I never talked to any of them again after the divorce.

My breath shook, "Our last fight. He beat me. A neighbor heard me screaming and called the police. They had to rush me to the hospital. I was unconscious for two days in the hospital." Tears started to roll down my cheeks. "I had a nightmare that I was watching him hit me with the bat. I saw my own dead body lying on the floor."

I sobbed into Gray's shoulder. He held me tight against him. I had never felt this safe with anyone before. It felt like a great weight had been lifted from my heart.

"I called my lawyer. He said Adam had been released from jail a month ago." I sobbed. "I'm sure I saw him. He's in the city."

Gray continued to listen to me and held me tight as I cried. Eventually, I must have fallen asleep. I remember hearing him humming sweetly in my ear.

I woke up to a pale face with swollen eyes. I hadn't cried so hard in such a long time. It felt good. I didn't want to keep anything from Gray. He asked me more questions about my marriage with Adam, and I was honest with him.

We married young. I had no experience with men. Adam was the only one who paid attention to me. He started gambling and drinking. Most of our money was gone. He blamed everything on me. Eventually, he began to have multiple affairs with other women. It got to the point when he didn't feel it necessary to hide it from me anymore.

One day, he called me by another woman's name, and I snapped. I screamed at him. Everything I had buried deep inside me was coming out. I wanted him to know exactly how I felt about him. But that only lasted a few minutes before he lost it. 

I had never seen him so enraged before. We fought a lot, but never like that. He slapped my face before racing into the bedroom and grabbing his baseball bat. I remember seeing it coming, but after that, it was a blur.