Articulate Submission

Prologue

"Sarah, do not make me ask you again," his voice rose little over a whisper, but the commanding aura around him caused the woman in front of him to bow to his words and scamper into the kitchen to prepare his tea.

He placed his work bag in the middle of the room on the floor and sat down on the dark brown leather chair in front of the television; his chair. He picked up the remote control for the television and DVD player and turned both on, waiting patiently for them both to load before pressing play and relaxing back into the comfort of leather as classical music began to play softly from the speakers.

Sarah Rebecca Harris cried silently as she placed the chopped vegetables into the pan of boiling hot water. What had she ever done to deserve this? She was a good person, always on time for appointments, work or social, helping the old lady across the street by getting groceries for her and walking her dog every morning. Why did he pick her, out of everybody else in the world, why was she the one he laid his sights on? It wasn't fair. Her left hand pressed against her stomach and she looked down at the bulge. She had t get out of here, she couldn't stay and allow him to do this to not only her, but her now growing baby, they were innocent, and he or she didn't do anything to deserve the life they would no doubt live if she stayed.

His tea was placed on the table in front of him, along with a knife and a folk before he even realised she had entered the room.

"Good girl," was all he said before pulling her into his lap and wrapping his arms around her stomach, "You are not going to run away from me now, are you, honey?" He smiled while softly nuzzling her neck with his nose, trailing soft kisses as he went.

She didn't reply. How could she? She had every intention of leaving and he would know if she was lying.

"Are you?" He asked, quite shocked at the knowledge that she might actually leave. Wasn't she happy?

"No," She whimpered, staring outside the window as a woman walked by with a dog, "I think I'm going to be stay here for a long time," She sighed as she said it, she knew he wouldn't allow her to leave.

That morning she woke up 10 minutes before the alarm was due to ring. She climbed out of the bed, placed her feet inside the cream slippers and wrapped the matching dressing gown around her torso. Breakfast wasn't going to cook itself. Once in the kitchen, the kettle was filled and turned on and bread was placed in the toaster.

"Morning, darling," he called as he climbed down the stairs. She winced at the sound of him coming closer, but continued her work none the less, no time for distractions.

"I said, good morning, darling" he seethed as he latched onto her hair and yanked her head backwards, so she was staring up and his face.

"Good morning" she cried after a few seconds. She fell forward as he let her go, throwing her forward in the process.

"What happened to us, Sarah? A month ago, we were perfect, but ever since you found out about this baby, you have become difficult, like you enjoy being rude to me. I know your hormones are a little tampered with, but this is going too far. Why?" He smiled gracefully as he took a sip of his coffee, taking a seat on the pine dining room chair in the process.

"This baby, it changes things, Edward. I cannot allow him or her to suffer. Let me go, Edward, please, I'm begging you, let me go and we can pretend this never happened," she begged, tears falling down her face as she spoke, surely he had mercy? He would let her go if he knew how much she didn't want to stay with him?

"You want t leave me that much, Sarah?" Hurt spilt into his face. They were perfect together! Why would she want to leave him, them? She got everything she ever wanted, she got everything he could give her, why wasn't it enough?

"Yes, please, Edward, let me go. Your child, our child, you can see them whenever you want, I won't stop you, just please let me go home."

He sighed and rose to his feet, shaking his head in the process, "okay, Sarah, if you want to leave, I understand. Go, pack your things, I won't stop you. I'll help you leave if you want?" He asked with a sad smile on his face.

She started dumfounded at him for a few seconds before mumbling a no and running up the stairs to go pack. He was allowing her to leave, without any form of fight. She wasn't about to argue with him about it, or give him time to change his mind.

Once she left, he silently picked up the fish knife and followed her upstairs. If she wanted to leave, as he said, he would help her.

She jumped as she heard the bedroom door open, but didn't turn around, instead she continued to throw her things into the suitcase, no real order in it at all. She just wanted to get out.

"I told you I'd help you leave," he whispered as he grabbed her arm with his free hand and spun her around. Fear danced in her eyes when she saw the knife in his hands, and she knew at that point, that when he said she was allowed to leave, he in no way meant it the same was she had.

Silently he pushed her backwards onto the bed and straddled her waist before pressing the knife against her temple.
"I'm going to help you leave, Sarah. I'm sorry I wasn't good enough, but I'm doing this for you, I'm allowing you to leave," he smiled down at her as he grabbed her hand and held her ring finger between his, "we'll start here. As you so desperately want rid of me, let's make sure I can't put anything on here," and with a quick and painful slice, her ring finger fell to the bed while her hand stayed secure in his grip.

She made some form of a scream before he covered her mouth with his, swallowing her cry. She sobbed as he pulled away and he placed a pillow over her mouth, leaving her eyes and nose free to the world, he wanted her to see this, see that he was letting her leave him.

"Where should be next, Sarah?" He asked while the blood stained knifes point was held against his head, "I have the perfect place."

Soundlessly he placed the object to her left forearm, and sliced it down, taking a chunk of her skin off with it. She howled in pain but the pillow covered most of it; nobody would come and destroy this moment for him.

Next came the right hand, the knife went through her wrist like butter and it rolled off onto the floor. A deafening cry left her lips, but he backhanded her and her cry was silenced.

He continued to work, painfully slow, and before she lost consciousness, he had removed her left ear, sliced part of her gums, removed her tongue and sliced into her kneecap and elbow.

"See, I let you leave," was the last thing she heard and his face the last thing she saw before he ripped open her windpipe and hacked away until her head rolled to the side and left her body.

He left the house, changed for work and his bag in his right hand. Work waited for nobody, and he would be late if he didn't get a move on. Maybe a visit to his mother would do him some good after work; after all, it wasn't like he would be going home to anybody. With that final thought, a smile graced his lips and he strolled into work; just another day at the office.