“Hello, sweetheart,” he said, playing nice. He wrapped his arms around me, giving me a hug, or what looked like a genuine hug to my family, but they didn’t feel the pressure he applied to it. “Smile,” he hissed. My stomach twisted into a thousand knots as I placed a fake smile upon my lips like Mel’s.

“Wha…what are you doing here?” I asked, the surprise clear in my voice.

It’s Mum who answers. “He came to surprise you and take you out tonight.” Mum gave us her genuine smile. Little did she know. Because I’m sure if she did, she wouldn’t be smiling about what was actually going on. Instead, she’d be chasing him out of the house with her wooden spoon and Dad might actually invest in a shotgun.

“Take me out?” I glanced up at him, sweetly smiling. While having a serious battle internally with myself, I wanted to tell him to take his surprise and shove it, but I couldn’t. I sighed inwardly in defeat.

“Yep, something special just for my girl.” He pulled me into his embrace once more. “There’s a surprise in your room to start the night off.”

Melodi jumped off the kitchen bench she was sitting on and walked over to me. “Come on, I’ll help you get ready.” Her smile warmed my heart and settled my nerves. I love my sister dearly and felt I should tell her about what was troubling me some day.

I released my grip on Jacob and followed my sister, leaving him with my mum and dad. A part of me wanted to run and never come back.

Entering my room, I gasped at what laid before me. There were bunches of roses placed all over the room filling every space they could, and lying on the bed was a square blue box with a white ribbon sitting beautifully on top.

“Wow…did you help with this?” I looked to Mel and she seemed as equally surprised as me with her mouth hanging open in shock. Shaking her head slowly, her eyes looked like they might pop out of her head.

“No,” she breathed.

“How did he do it then?”

“He was here when I got home, talking to Mum and Dad.”

“Oh,” was all I could say.

“Go on, open the box,” Mel said, giving me a little shove.

I aimlessly walked over to the box still looking around. My hand was shaking as I opened it. Jacob hadn’t done anything like this for me in a long time. Why now? Inside was a beautiful silk red cocktail dress that took my breath away.

“That’s gorgeous,” Melodi gushed as she stood beside me, her fingers gliding over the material of the dress. “Go have a shower and I’ll help you get ready.” She took the dress from me and practically pushed me out the door.

After I’d cleaned and shaved every part of me, and dressed in the beautiful dress, I stood in front of the mirror. I could see the very faint marks on my arms, but they weren’t too bad. The marks he’d made today hadn’t started to show yet, but I’m sure they would in the coming days.

The dress fitted perfectly, nice and form fitting around the bodice and flowing from the hips down to just above my knees. I picked out a pair of silver heels which matched perfectly. Melodi pulled my hair up while I applied make-up. She was never big on the make-up side of things. She put my hair up in a simple but nice bun. I was ready to go, but my nerves were getting the best of me. I shouldn’t trust him when he was sweet like this. It scared me more, setting me on edge every damn time.

My heart was racing as I walked downstairs into the living area where Jacob was sitting with Mum and Dad. I was trying not to trip over my own feet because I was that unsettled about this whole thing.

“Oh, honey, you look beautiful. You’re one lucky man, Jacob,” Mum gushed. “You better take care of my daughter,” she stated, rushing across and fussing over the dress. She thought so highly of Jacob, but she didn’t see the devil, the other side of him when the switch was flicked.

“Thanks, Mum.”

“Well, you kids better get going,” Mum announced. “Have fun and be safe.” She placed a small kiss on my head and Dad gave me a hug.

Melodi also gave me a hug, which shocked me since we hadn’t been that close for a while. Wrapping our arms around each other, we squeezed tightly. I’m sure she could sense my unease at going with Jacob. We were twins, so we had that special connection, one that could never be broken. She was my other half, my better half, who had always been here for me. I loved her with every fibre of my being.

“Be careful and call me if you need anything,” she whispered, so low only I could hear. A lump formed in my throat as tears threatened to fall. I quickly blinked them away so no one else, especially Jacob, could see.

“Thank you,” was all I could say. We released each other from our tight grips and stood there, our eyes locked. My beautiful, strong sister. Everything about her amazed me, her strength, her happy take on life, her bubbly personality. She was my rock and she didn’t even know it.

“Let’s go, sweetheart,” Jacob said as he wrapped his arm around me, pulling me out of Melodi’s tight grip. I really didn’t want to go. I knew that this was his way of making sure he actually saw me tonight. I had no way of getting out of this like Blake wanted me to. The thought of Blake tore me up inside. Why was it I felt like I was cheating on him more than my own boyfriend right now? Maybe because I didn’t feel a connection with Jacob like I once did.

Walking outside, the fresh breeze danced around me flowing through my dress, making it drift with the wind. My mouth fell open in shock. Before me was a black stretch limo with the driver waiting by the back door.

Wow…Jacob has really outdone himself this time.

I began to think there could be something behind all of this. It rattled me some more. He’s never done anything like this before. What’s going through his twisted mind? I asked myself once again.

“This is too much, Jacob.” I glanced up at him. He was looking at me, waiting for my reaction. His features appeared happy and dreamy, but as I was looking into those green glassy eyes, I saw the hardness in them. It spiked fear throughout my entire body, from the top of my head to the tips of my toes. A shiver raced down my spine and cold chills ran right through my veins.

“Nothing is too much for you, my sweet.” He smiled his wicked devil grin at me that said ‘wait till we’re alone.’ A bright red sign started flashing before my eyes.

This is bad, very bad.

I swallowed the dread that was building within me and attempted to put on my big girl panties. Even though what I was currently wearing was practically nothing, thanks to the lingerie that Jacob had so kindly added to the surprise tonight. I was weak when it comes to him, but I really needed to start trying. From now on I would. My life couldn’t be dominated by the fear of this man before me. I was strong. I was my own person, and no one could tell me otherwise.

After we were in the car driving away from the safety of my family, my body began to blaze with heat—fear. Big girl panties, big girl panties, big girl panties. I kept reminding myself. I sat a little taller, bracing myself for what was to come, and boy was I shocked.

“So, we’re going out to one of my favourite restaurants, which is near my work tonight,” his tone seemed genuine enough, but his eyes read something else, so my guard stayed up. I nodded. He pulled me closer to him, and forcefully grabbed my chin, moving my face to where he wanted it and he held me there. I didn’t try and contest him since fighting him would only cause him to become brutal toward me. “Look at me, Abby.” My chest vibrated and not in a pleasant way. It was like he suffered from some kind of illness. One minute nice and the next aggressive. Perhaps split personality? I met his heartless eyes. If there could be black eyes for hateful people, his would be pitch black. He had no heart.