Chapter Text
Present day, February 20XX
I wonder… if I somehow slipped peanut oil into the food, would it be enough to kill him? How much would be enough? Is he deathly allergic or just the kind of allergic where he breaks out in hives? How am I even going to get peanut oil into the house without him noticing? Or what if-
Poppy heard the keys inside the lock of the front door, breaking her out of her murderous thoughts.
Wow, I was really just standing here contemplating murder. Why didn’t I think of peanut oil sooner?!
Poppy watched from the kitchen island, where she was standing and cutting vegetables, as Julri came through the door. Watched as he went through the same routine he did every day: lock the door behind him, link the chain over the door, set the security pad, drop his keys into a lock box that only he knew the code to, drop his work bag and take off his shoes.
Same shit, different day as Tora would say.
Just thinking about him and what was about to happen had Poppy’s heart racing in her chest. Excitement, nerves, and absolute terror that this plan wouldn’t work made her breaths come in a little shorter, shallower, and a cold sweat break out along the back of her neck.
She gently set the knife down on the counter and placed her hands beside the cutting board, trying to look as nonthreatening as possible.
“Popsicle, I’m home! Where are you?”
Briefly, Poppy’s upper lip curled in disgust. It would be a day too soon if she ever heard that stupid nickname ever again in her life.
She cleared her throat, “I’m in the kitchen.”
Julri came around the breakfast bar and smiled at her. She knew the routine like she knew every nook and cranny of this house.
“How was your day Julri?”
“Oh, it was good. Same old, same old. Benjamin from HR gave us…”
Poppy zoned out as he droned on and on about his day. Being a financial analyst was honestly as boring as anything could possibly be, but even Poppy could acknowledge that he was extremely smart and made really good money. Doesn’t make him a good person, but it’s still a fact.
“Then, we broke for lunch, and while I was in the break room…”
To assuage his ego, Poppy nodded and hummed in the right places. Letting him know she was listening. It went in one ear and out the other, but she had this dance memorized.
“By the time I looked at the clock, it was time to go home. Also, before I forget, Jeremy and his wife are having a get together at their house next weekend and they invited us. I already told them yes so be prepared to cook and take something over there. Don’t want to show up empty handed, ya know?”
Poppy nodded her head and looked at the food on the counter in front of her, seeing how the knife reflected Julri’s face at her in a warped image. His face was so distorted she wondered if this wasn’t a true reflection of what he looked like on the inside.
“Good, now come over here an give your boyfriend a kiss welcome home.”
Julri spread his arms and smiled at her. For the first time in a very long time, his smile looked genuine. It reminded her of who he was when they were back in high school. The boy she fell in love with back then had made a reappearance.
But it changed nothing when it came to who he was today.
“We’ve been over this. Multiple times over the last few months. My lips will never willingly touch yours.”
She watched as his smile dimmed and was replaced by a sneer while his arms dropped to his sides, his eyes hollowing and becoming vacant. Poppy held her breath as he wandered further into the kitchen and around the island to stand next to her. Goosebumps raised along her arms as the silence dragged on.
Quicker than she could track, Julri grabbed her throat and brought up to his face. She didn’t know how she never noticed, but he had gotten faster, stronger, his arms beginning to swell with prominent veins as he squeezed her neck. When he had time to work out, she didn’t know, but it was working to his advantage now. “How fucking hard is it for you to do one simple thing without talking back?!”
He let her go as he lifted his other hand and backhanded her to the kitchen floor. She tried to catch herself as she fell and felt a sharp pain radiate up her arm as the fire bloomed in her face. Her arm was tingling, like ants were crawling beneath her skin. She cradled it to her stomach, watching and waiting as his work shoes moved, each foot landing beside her legs.
As he crouched over her, from her spot beneath him, she took note of how much bigger he had actually gotten. His work shirt was tight around his shoulders and his pecs had filled out what used to be loose fabric billowing around his chest. With his sleeves rolled up, she saw that his forearms had also damn near doubled in size. If he was smart about his workouts, which she didn’t doubt given the way her life had been for the past six months, he didn’t skip leg day. Which, in a nutshell, basically meant she was fucked.
Poppy flinched before she felt his fist connect with her face again, her head bouncing off of the floor from the force as it knocked her to her back.
Definitely been working out. I’ve never been hit that hard.
It was the same spot he had just hit when he backhanded her, his heavy body now pinning her to the dusty floorboards she refused to clean. She knew his anger had been set off because she didn’t shut up and listen like he wanted her to. Because she didn’t bow down to him like he wanted her to, like he tried to beat into her. Because she didn’t cower, refused to be pushed back into that small, meek, cowardly girl she used to be because of him.
You would think that after all this time, with the snarky comebacks and attitude, he would know that she would never simply “shut up and listen” to him. Ever.
He punched her again, this time on the other side of her face. “Why must you always say some slick shit back to me when I give you a command?” Julri stood up and kicked her as she rolled over, a foot connecting with her ribs and forcing her further into the open kitchen, her breath whooshing out of her immediately at the crack reverberating inside her torso. He may be a bit on the smaller side when it came to men, even with the newfound muscles, but he still had strength. Obviously that strength was enough to definitely break a rib or two.
A second kick followed, the tip of his shoe catching her forehead and breaking skin if the sting of the newly opened wound is anything to go by. “Just do what the fuck I tell you to do!”
Poppy’s breathing became labored, her body trying to avoid the rib currently digging into her insides. Not only was her face on fire and her lip thoroughly split open, but now she was beginning to feel everything else, like her wrist throbbing, telling her that she either sprained it or broke it in her fall. She might have a concussion with the way her head was pounding to beat of her heart and her vision was slightly blurry. But that could be from the tears.
Julri panted as he stood above her raking his hands through his disheveled hair. He took a deep breath and simply stared down at her, nostrils flared and eyes narrowed; the eyes of a man completely and totally unhinged looked back at her as she waited for his next move.
As he turned to begin pacing the kitchen, rounding the island that had food still scattered across the counter, Poppy shoved her body from the floor and booked it towards the living room, trying to find her balance as she maneuvered around other furniture and knocked into the small side table holding a candle beside the couch. She spared no glance as she hauled ass to the back door, not noticing the flames that instantly took over the couch with its old and worn fabric serving a fuel.
Poppy took advantage of what she hoped was Julri’s momentary distraction and burst through the door, the door that had separated her from her freedom, the door that kept her trapped in an endless loop of verbal, mental and physical abuse for months on end. As she began running towards the trees, her long developed escape plan finally unfolding, she let out a loud, drawn-out whistle.
*Huff* *Huff*
Run.
*Huff* *Huff*
Run. Faster.
*Huff* *Huff*
Don’t stop.
Poppy couldn’t stop. There was little time for her to get from the house to the edge of the property. This was her only chance at freedom. If she didn’t make it, she was going to die. It was a given at this point.
The sound of rapid, dull wet thuds of paws that fell in beside her gave her reassurance that she might just make it out. The other noise, the one that started up behind her, that made her question the time she had left was the engine roaring behind her. She briefly glanced back and caught a glimpse of Julri riding out of the locked-up garage on a large ATV.
Fuck!
Poppy had been trying for months to get into that damn garage to see what was in it, but there were no windows to see what was inside and it stayed locked with no way for her to break in. Now, she knew why: because it was the only advantage he had over her, and he wanted to keep it that way. There was no way she was going to be able to outrun a fucking ATV.
Over the last six months, she had taken her time getting to know almost every inch of this god forsaken place; how far the edge of the property was from her cage, how long it took to get there, what obstacles were in her way, and where the best place was for her to finally leave and be free of the monster she had been living with. What Julri thought was her trying to lose weight for him turned out to be her plotting and planning her escape.
For a while, that fake reason had worked in her favor, until it didn’t. Some lies and half-truths sprinkled in conversations saved her ass a few times when she wasn’t in the house when he came home looking for her. Ultimately, she paid for it, but to her, it was all going to be worth it in the end.
But unfortunately, she could only go so far in her time alone. It didn’t help that in the beginning she had to try and avoid the two dogs that constantly patrolled the property throughout the day. What Julri never found out was, in spite of them being trained to herd her back to the house, a little love in place of his abuse was enough to make them friendly. Constant affection and attention (and maybe a few well-placed treats) to Anubis and Sasha when she did run into them allowed them to let her wander further and further every day. She had befriended the dogs to the point of them joining her on her explorations, them playing in between the trees as she took breaks. They were her saving grace, a soothing balm to her fractured soul, and they provided just enough genuine love and interaction to help keep her sanity.
Poppy considered herself lucky as she continued to push herself, in between trees and bushes and towards the final clearing before she hit the property line where everyone was waiting for her. Where he was ready to save her.
He was there to take her home.
Tora.
He’s here.
He found me.
The engine roaring behind her was getting louder and Poppy felt herself growing tired, slowing down. Julri had beat her more than ever before she was able to get away, her more than likely broken rib making it excruciatingly hard to breathe. She could smell the smoke of the house burning in the distance, a sick feeling of pride flowing through her, knowing that the prison she had been in was going to be a pile of ashes by the end of the night.
If only Julri was in there, burning with the house.
Poppy felt her foot catch on a root, making her stumble, every ache and pain she had been so diligently ignoring making their presence known. Her heart beat faster and faster knowing she was that much closer to her freedom, the property line a clear picture in her head, knowing that Tora was waiting there for her. The idea of being back to her old life with the man she loved the most brought tears to her eyes, once more blurring her vision as she heaved herself through thickets of trees and shrubs.
She pushed herself harder, the cuts and bruises and broken bones hammering in time with her heartbeat. The noise of the ATV behind her was closing in on her small gap of time, getting closer with each second of precious time. Her vision was turning a terrifying shade of pink, blood more than likely running down her forehead.
Through the pink haze, Poppy could see what she thought were headlights as the trees around her were finally starting to thin out.
“Anubis, Sasha! Go!”
The dogs briefly looked back at her and followed the line of her arm pointing into the distance. The sound of their paws quickened as they left her behind. She watched as they both dashed through the overgrown grass of the open field, the blades parting as their large bodies made headway to their new home. Poppy knew they had made if to safety when she saw them vault over the low-slung fence.
Throughout all of this secret planning, Gyu was able to find the breaker for the electric fence and disable it. They had agreed that the fence would be pulled down so her and the dogs could make it over. Once the dogs made it over, all she had to worry about was herself.
Poppy pushed her legs even harder, the fire in her thighs telling her she still had power.
POW!
Right as Poppy had made it through the tree line and into the last stretch, her back burst into flames. Her feet once again stumbled, but she kept her body upright. Unbeknownst to her, she had slowed. In her mind she was still running, still gunning for her life, for her getaway from the psychopath chasing her.
Her knees finally buckled, her body falling right past the trees. She was so close she could see him, seeing his face contort into what she thought was a scream, but she couldn’t hear anything. The blood rushing in her ears was blocking out what her heart knew was happening, what the final outcome of all of this was going to be.
Trying to pick her body up was hard, her brain yelling to move but her legs weren’t responding. If she could just get her legs to listen, she could make it.
Then it was quiet.
Eerily quiet.
This is it.
Her name was being called off in the distance, the sound warbled as if she was underwater. The ATV engine had been cut off and there were muffled footsteps coming up behind her. She tried to yell out to whoever was calling her to stay away, that Julri would kill them both, but her voice wasn’t working. Only a croak she knew nobody would hear left her dry throat. Her body felt broken beyond repair.
The sounds around her came rushing back into focus with the distinct click of a hammer being pulled back on a gun. Poppy refused to give up and attempted to stand with gritted teeth, her legs immediately giving out, crumpling back to the ground and landing face first.
This is it, she thought again.
Breathing a long-winded sigh, she let her body give in to the pain.
Ha, you fought and tried so fucking hard, and for what?
You weren’t strong enough Poppylan.
But hey, you get to be with your dad now, that’ll be nice, right?
The snide sarcasm of the voice in her head didn’t go unnoticed. In a moment of out-of-body clarity, Poppy saw herself lying in a heap in that field. On the other side of that fence line, Tora was watching her, knowing she had given up. She watched as he broke down, his friends holding him back as he fought to get to her.
I love you, Tora. I hope you know I tried, that I stuck to the plan.
But it wasn’t enough, I wasn’t enough.
I wasn’t strong enough for you.
A pain in her chest bloomed making her crumpled body curl in on itself. Her heart stuttered in its slowing rhythm, her signal that she was on her way out.
One of her last thoughts as she closed her eyes, resigning to the fact that she was dying at the hands of the man she hated the most, was that she loved Tora.
Their time together may have been brief, but their love was transcendent. Poppy knew that if she left this world now, she would see him again, whenever that may be.
Nobody… in this life, the next, or any after that, will love her the way Tora does.
Poppy lifted her head from being buried in the dirt and grass. Tora was standing there, tears glistening on his face in the fading sunlight. She could feel the pain of inevitable separation building between them; a void spreading, an endless chasm created as she transitioned from this world to the next.
Dropping her head again, she smiled to herself, letting the vision of Tora, broken as he may be, be the last thing she sees on her way out.
She felt something brush against her arm, the last bit of light from the sky shadowed by Julri as he crouched down beside her.
“I hope this is what you wanted. After all the shit you’ve put me through, only for you to fail. For you to not. Quite. Make it,” Julri knocked the barrel of the gun against her head each time, emphasizing her failure. “To your fucking pack of degenerate pieces of shit.” The gun was shoved to the back of her neck. “This is why you were never going to be anything in life. AFTER I GAVE YOU EVERYTHING! Now look at you, dying face down in a field with a gun to your head. Me, behind the trigger. How does that make you feel?”
With her last bit of strength, Poppy raised her head and stared Julri in the face.
“Fuck you.”
Julri laughed as he stood up, the maniacal sound echoing through the trees. She watched as he turned towards her family. He spread his arms as he walked just past the final line of trees that led to the clearing.
“Even as she’s dying, she’s still a defiant fucking bitch to the end! And this is what it gets her!”
POW!