Caged

One Big Headache

Theo couldn't stop thinking about that girl he had just met, and how she would have been attacked if he hadn't come along. He felt good about himself for being able to do something good, instead of getting in trouble for once.

Savannah though.....God, she was beautiful.

Yet there was something about her that seemed to be intertwined in sadness. He couldn't be sure though. It was late, cold and pitch black so it would make sense for anyone to be that way at that time. The early hours of the morning were often a funny time and caused a lot of strange happenings.

Only time would tell Theo more about that girl.

**********

After steadying her hands from shaking, Savannah finally managed to get the key in the lock and open the door.

She should have been prepared for what was about to happen - but it had been a long night and thus, she wasn't.

Her eyes felt heavy and her body as stiff as cardboard. She was so tired from her busy day and eventful evening that she was surprised she hadn't fallen asleep as soon as she got in.

But even if she had, her boyfriend Matt, wouldn't allow it.

As soon as he heard the key in the lock, he must've got up and waited behind the door. She closed it quickly and turned to face him. If she didn't then she knew what he would say.

"Matt." She greeted detecting a fowl mood.

"And where have you been?" He asked suspiciously.

She stood and frowned at his question. He knew that she had work, so the question he really wanted ask clearly wasn't that one.

"Work. But you know that." She answered calmly. "Can I please get through the door now?" She asked with a sigh.

Not uttering another word, he moved out of her way and allowed her to walk into the living room. It wasn't very big, in fact it was quite small, though the exact size you would expect for an apartment.

The walls were a peachy brown colour and if there was too much furniture it could feel rather suffocating. All they had in the small room was a fifty inch TV, standing on a black glass unit, a small three seater sofa which reclined, one mahogany book shelf and a medium sized coffee table.

Plonking her bag down on the floor, she flopped onto the sofa absolutely exhausted from the long day she'd had.

"Liar!" Matthew called out as he entered the room only seconds after her.

She lifted her head just enough to be able to shoot him a look that told him to back off.

Though he didn't listen.

Instead he sat down besides her on the sofa and grabbed hold of both her wrists, shaking her so that she was more awake.

"Get off me!... And I'm not lying. You of all people should know that all I did today was go to college and then work before coming straight back." She snapped.

"Liar!" He insisted. "I saw you with that weirdo who lives downstairs. Tell me what you were doing with him?" He demanded.

Pulling her wrists out of his grip, she shuffled back on the sofa as far from him as the fabric seating would allow.

"I'm not lying! Look, if you must know, I was waiting at the bus stop after work and this weird man followed me and he nearly assaulted me but then someone came along and the man ran off. Then the guy who saved me made sure I was okay and because he lives in the same apartments, we got the bus together and said a little goodnight. Whatever you think you saw was nothing. I was just saying goodnight and thanking him for saving me." She spilled the whole story.

"Right...but you're not supposed to have any contact with other guys whatsoever. That was what you signed up for when you agreed to be with me. Don't let me catch you talking to him again or there will be trouble. Got it?" He stated, irritated by her story.

"He was just saving me from..." She began to defend but Matt butted in.

"Ooh he was just saving me from being assaulted boo hoo." He mocked. "I bet you weren't even being assaulted. Probably just begging them for s*x since you're such a little w***e at times." He accused.

Her head snapped up, out of her sleepy state, and she glared at him. She was both hurt and offended by his reaction. Most guys would go nuts after finding out that their girlfriend was almost assaulted, but not Matt. No. He would much rather turn it into something that was worthy of her being punished.

The tears began to pool in her eyes but she refused to let them fall. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of watching her cry.

"I just told you that I was almost assaulted and you accuse me of lying and mock me! Not to mention calling me a...I don't even wanna say it. Those kind of words make me sick. Tonight could have been much worse if not for Theo, you should be grateful that he was there to help me!" She half yelled.

Her words only made him laugh though. She sighed heavily, not wanting the drama. All she wanted was to climb into bed and fall asleep.

"I don't care. Get that through your thick head, I don't f*****g care! You deserve to be attacked because you dress like a tart. Never mind that though, just stay away from that i***t or I'm warning you now, I will make you regret it." He raised his voice.

"Why does it matter if I talk to or have male friends? You have a tonne of female friends and I say absolutely nothing. I give you everything, including your freedom - so why don't you give me mine?" She bellowed.

"Haha what so you can mess around with them? I don't think so. Shut!" He mocked.

Savannah really was trying hard to keep her cool, but it was slowly slipping out of her control. He was really pushing her boundaries, but she knew she couldn't walk out. She had no where else to go.

"I wouldn't do that to you! You know that. I love you and wouldn't dream of hurting you that way. Matthew...please, I really need your support right now. But I don't need you tearing me down. Belittling me, telling me what I can do and what I can't do. That's not right. If you loved me then you wouldn't put me through this." She stated, biting her lower lip to keep from crying.

"Nah you're right. I mean just look at you..." He began.

For a few seconds in which there was silence, a glimmer of hope flickered in her eyes. Maybe she had gotten through to him and he would begin to treat her better.

"Who the f**k would wanna do your ugly mug." He cruelly finished.

All glimmer of hope faded away as soon as he finished his sentence. Her heart felt heavy, her stomach was churning, she had a lump in her throat the size of a golf ball and her head was pounding. She just didn't have the energy to fight with him any longer.

"I never signed any contract when I said yes to being with you. A yes didn't mean giving up my freedom and it didn't give you permission to control me. I'm done fighting with you because you never listen so there is no point. Goodnight Matthew." She told him tiredly.

Rather than going into their bedroom though, she walked straight out the door without giving him a chance to stop her.

She had no where else to go, but she wouldn't spend the night sleeping next to someone who had just belittled her and downplayed her almost assault. In fact, she would rather sleep on the cold hard floor in the hallway than sleep with him.

All the trash bags had taken up most of the space on the second floor, so she had two choices - either third floor or first floor.

Too tired to even climb up the stairs to the third floor, she went with the first floor and sloppily made her way down the stairs.

Luckily enough there was a small space on the left side of the door, which wasn't piled with trash bags. Stumbling across to the vacant area she slumped down, finally on her own and able to fall apart.

Laying on the cold, hard tiled floor, she pulled her knees up to her chest to keep warm, put one hand between her head and the floor to act as a cushion and cried until there was nothing left. Until sleep took over her body.

********

Theo awoke abruptly. He was certain that he had heard some kind of rodent either in his apartment or out in the hall.

He had to double check. Rats were an absolute bother around this area. It wasn't grand and glamorous, pretty far from it. These apartments felt more like prison cells, especially in size. So it wouldn't surprise him if rats were invading his space.

Heading out of his bedroom, he flicked on the living room light and began to search from top to bottom. He became baffled when he found absolutely nothing.

Moving on to the kitchen, he repeated the same actions he had in the previous room. But just like before, there was no sign of any rodents or pests.

Before going back to bed, he decided to double check the hall outside his apartment. He quickly and quietly opened the door and peered around, straining his eyes in the dark.

It was then that he caught sight of something moving. From a distance, he thought that his suspicions were correct and that they had a rodent infestation, but as he got closer he noticed that there was no scurrying or squeaking, but instead a slow and steady rise and fall of a chest.

Getting as close as he could, he saw what...or rather who it was when the moon began to shine on that little corner.

He almost couldn't believe his eyes. Curled up on the floor, sleeping rough was Savannah. The same beautiful girl he had rescued earlier that evening.

Confused as to what she was doing there, but not wanting to wake her, he carefully kneeled down besides her sleeping figure. He slowly brought a hand up to her face and felt the ice coldness of her skin. If she spent any longer asleep down there, then she would most likely get very sick.

He couldn't understand why, but he felt the need to make sure that she was safe. Still, he did not want to wake her though, so as carefully as he could he placed one arm around the back of her neck and the other underneath her knees and carefully, he lifted her from the floor.

As he did so, she stirred a little before her head dropped onto his shoulder and she returned to her sleeping state. Pushing the apartment door open with his foot, he carried her inside and straight to his bedroom, placing her on his soft bed and pulling the maroon coloured quilt over her.

After making sure she was still asleep, he went back and closed the door before returning to the room and gently boots off of her dainty feet. Despite being the movement he was making with her feet, she still didn't stirr. He placed the boots carefully besides the bed and then went to the nearby chair to sleep.

He didn't want to leave the room, but he wanted to make her feel safe, so the chair that stood in the corner of the room was the best option.

Once he was sat in the chair, he drifted to sleep while watching her.