Echoes of Us

Chapter .4: The Fight

A flicker of hope ignited my mind. Finally, I thought, someone is here to save me.

Before I could even react, his finger pressed hard against my lips. Don’t make a sound,” he hissed, his eyes full of threat. Or l’ will hit you harder.” The fear gripped me again, silencing the small bit of comfort I started to feel.

I heard another bang, louder this time, with a loud scream that cut through the air like a knife. “Derek! Open the door. I know you’re in there!”

I recognized the voice, and for a split second, hope surged in my chest. But Derek stood frozen, making sure not to move a muscle, determined not to make a single sound. His coldness sent a chill down my spine.

“Derek, don’t make me break this door down!” the voice shouted, filled with anger and urgency. The familiarity of the voice was too much to ignore. My heart raced as I realized it was someone I knew, someone who could save me. Gathering all the strength I had left, I had to scream for help.

But before I said another word, his hand landed on my face again and harder this time. The pain made my vision blur, I sobbed uncontrollably, wondering what I did to deserve this.

The humiliation, the fear, it all felt suffocating and unbearable.

And then, suddenly, the door burst open with a deafening crash.

Relief washed over me the moment I saw Liam standing in the doorway. For a brief second, I felt safe again. His eyes met mine, filled with pity and concern, but that quickly changed. I watched as his gaze shifted, his expression darkening with a fury l have never seen before. His eyes burned red with anger as they locked onto Derek.

Without hesitation, Liam lunged at him, fists flying. Derek barely had a chance to react before Liam had him pinned, his blows raining down, one after another.

“Liam stop it!”

I struggled to breathe, and my voice was barely audible. I managed to squeeze the words out of my mouth, but I felt like they were stuck in my throat. I didn’t want the fight to escalate further. The thought of more violence terrified me, even if it was aimed at Derek. But Liam didn’t hear me or if he did, he didn’t care. His focus was singular, consumed by the need to make Derek pay for what he had done.

My cheeks were drenched with tears as I witnessed their attempts to grapple with each other, fists, and verbal abuse like a sea of anger. He was slumped on the cup, refusing to quit arguing and attempting that, even though it made his head sore. So I kept on pleading with him,

“Liam stop it!” but the more I cried, the less were the chances of my voice reaching him.

I could feel that my stamina was depleting by the second. Everything around me was unclear, and the room appeared to spin due to the excessive burden of everything. I was trying to hold myself together, but I could no longer stand it. The fatigue that was both so emotional and physical finally caught up with me and as the shouts and sounds of their fight slowly faded away and got tucked into the back of my mind, I could feel myself letting go.

The last thing I saw before everything turned pitch black was Liam still striking, still positioned to defend me in some way.

I fainted…

When I came to my senses, it was almost nine in the morning the next day. I opened my eyes slowly, still a little dazed and really weak. My head was killing me and there was some wet cloth gently resting on my forehead. As soon as my sight cleared up, I found Rose sitting by me staring into my eyes with a concerned expression on her face.

“Liz! Liz, oh my God you are awake, are you okay?” I took a deep breath and gathered all the strength I could muster to sit up. My body still felt heavy, but I managed. It took me just a few seconds to recall what had happened the night before and the feeling of panic rose over my chest.

“Where is he?” I asked, my voice shaky.

“Who? You mean Liam?” Rose replied softly. Trying to reassure me.

“He left a hours ago. He's fine, just a few bruises. He told me everything that happened last night.”

I looked down, my mind spinning with the weight of it all.

“What happened to Derek?” I whispered, almost afraid of the answer.

Rose signed, her expression darkening, “He’s in the hospital. Liam gave him a serious beating. I heard you passed out, Liz. You must have been through so much.”

Her words hung in the air. I could barely process them.

“But… how bad is Derek?” I asked, guilt and relief mixing in a confusing whirlpool of emotions.

Rose hesitated for a moment before answering. “According to what I’ve heard, Derek’s in pretty bad shape. Liam really let loose on him after what he did to you, he’s paying for it now.”

I closed my eyes, trying to push away the flood of conflicting emotions. Part of me felt a twisted sense of justice knowing Derek was suffering for what he had done. But another part of me couldn’t shake the feeling of guilt, the weight of everything pressing down on me.

From now on, we’re not going to want more parties, Rose said, her voice firm but racing with guilt. “Every time we go to one, something happens to you. I don’t think I can handle it if something worse happens. I just... I can’t.”

She looked down, her fingers nervously twisting the edge of the blanket. Her words hit me hard, but I could see how much she was struggling with what had happened. She blamed herself, even though it wasn’t her fault. I could hear the pain in her voice when she added…,

“I’m so sorry, Liz. I should never have left you with Derek last night. I didn’t know he was …. An animal.”

Her voice broke on that last word, and I could see the guilt weighing heavily on her. It wasn’t just fear of what had happened, but regret for not seeing it sooner, for not protecting me from him.

I reached out, placing a hand over hers, trying to calm the storm of emotions swirling between us.

“Rose, it’s not your fault,” I said softly, even though I wasn’t sure I believed it myself. “None of us knew he was like that.”

“I want to talk to Liam. Pass me his number.” I said, my voice too weak but steady.

Rose raised an eyebrow, half-amused, half surprised. “Look at you, Liz. You don’t even have the number of the guy who risked his future for you?” she teased lightly, though there was warmth in her words. She rummaged through her bag, scribbling Liam’s number on a piece of paper before handing it to me.

I’ll be heading out to grab something to eat, she said, standing up and smoothing her clothes, “Make sure to thank him, alright? He really came through for you.”