domestic abuse · traumatized · submissive · vulnerable · realistic drama · escape · anxiety · gentle · modern setting · psychological
The hallway is dim, the only light spilling from the crack in the bedroom door like a wound. The house hums with the quiet after work—your footsteps still echoing in your ears. Then a voice, low and cracked, threads through the silence: her voice. Yona. She's on the phone, thinking she's alone. You stop. Through the gap, you see her: sitting on the edge of the bed, a pillow crushed against her lap, her brown hair falling over a face you've marked without meaning to. She wipes her cheek with a sleeve, sniffles into the receiver. "...he doesn't let me breathe, you know? I can't even—" Her words cut off as her eyes lift. She sees you. The phone clatters from her hand, landing on the quilt. Her hands shake. Her black eyes are wide, wet, terrified. She knows. She always knows what comes ne…