She was such a beautiful soul.
There was so much more to her than her looks or her occupation, and Sam saw that immediately. After only a few movie-night dates, Sam was head over heels in love with Kierra; there was no doubt about it. She was everything that Sam had ever dreamed of in a person.
Kierra was a single mother to a young boy, and had been dealt a hard hand in life. Not only had her husband been both physically and emotionally abusive towards her; but she also developed an intense sickness that constantly attacked her body.
She was kind and perfectly imperfect, and Sam saw that through hopeful eyes. She loved Kierra with an intensity that she did not fully understand herself. Nothing else mattered, because Sam wanted to spend the rest of her life taking care of and loving Kierra.
Sam would write letters to Kierra often, especially when Kierra was struggling throughout her day. Kierra would read the letters with tears in her eyes, and wrap her arms around Sam. Just hearing Kierra whisper “thank you” into her neck was the greatest feeling Sam had ever experienced.
So when the day came that Kierra ended things between the two, Sam mentally broke.
Kierra explained that she needed to focus on herself and deal with her problems- and she wanted to do that on her own. She had finalized her divorce with the man who hurt her so badly, and said that she needed time to heal.
Sam would’ve done anything to change her mind, but Kierra would not budge. She eventually stopped responding to Sam and cut off all contact with her; further breaking Sam’s already damaged heart.
Sam spent every night doubled over in pain, begging anyone who would listen to explain why this happened.
She didn’t get an answer.
Sam got into the habit of writing letters every time that she wanted to contact Kierra. Some were hopeful, some were the saddest words ever written. As the months passed, the letters piled high and the pain seemed to lessen- if only by a small amount.
Kierra was always on her mind.
The days grew longer and Sam became more numb. The pain would come on in waves, like a sea shore during a hurricane. Sam persisted through, still holding onto any resemblance of hope she could find. She swore that she’d protect Kierra, even if she never spoke to Sam again.
She would always be there for Kierra if she needed her, even if the relationship was long-gone. The fact that Sam did not want to admit was that despite the sudden and unexpected separation, Sam truly loved the woman.
“True love is not a strong, fiery, impetuous passion.” Sam wrote one day. “It is, on the contrary, an element calm and deep. It looks beyond mere externals, and is attracted by qualities alone. It is wise and discriminating, and its devotion is real and abiding.” The quote physically hurt Sam to write, as she closed the journal with shaking hands.
“Always yours” was at the end of every letter Sam had ever written, and that did not change this time.
——————————-
Kierra spent time with family and friends, and her child. That’s all Sam could see through social media, it being the only way Sam felt connected to her.
She began asking herself different questions.
“What if her ex husband was making things hard on her, and that is why she did what she did?” She thought. Other times she’d wonder if Kierra’s sickness had come back, and that was the reason for the break. She prayed every day for a reason, or a simple message that didn’t come.
Sam woke after a late fall afternoon nap one evening with an intense pain in her chest. An impossible fear wrecked her brain, despite Sam having no idea as to why; her breaths even came in short, painful bursts.
Something was wrong, and Sam knew it.
——————————-
That same night, Kierra sat on the living room floor of her house with her child. A movie was playing in the background, and the pair played innocently with a collection of blocks on the ground.
“THUD, THUD, THUD!”
The bashing of the door echoed throughout the home.
Kierra’s heart almost stopped. She knew that the drunk and vengeful ex-husband of hers was back for another fight, and Kierra did not have the energy for it this night. What she did know was that if she did not answer the door, then he would surely break it down- like he had done in times prior.
She trembled and she sighed, standing up and preparing for another night of the abuse that she’d thought she’d escaped. She was afraid, but she was resilient.
Kierra walked calmly to the front door, the powerful banging still reverberating throughout the home. As she slowly opened the door, the giant man pushed his way inside and violently grabbed her arm.
“Stay strong” Kierra thought to herself as he drug her through the house and out into the spacious back yard. It was dark out now, and the young child inside wailed fitfully as the commotion ensued.
Once in the yard, the man struck Kierra with a hardened fist and she fell, crumpling to the ground. His screams directed at her were so intense that she could not make out a word that he was saying, as saliva flew off his dirty mouth.
Her fear began to intensify. She was afraid for her life, as there was no way she could take on the bumbling beast before her. She screamed and fought back, grabbing anything at her disposal in an attempt to make the man to release her arm.
Their interactions were never this violent, and she knew that tonight was different. He was enraged beyond all sanity, and she had no idea how to handle the situation. She knew that her phone lay inside the house beside her weeping child, so she was truly alone with the man and no way to call for help.
He was relentless, and in between roars of anger, he would knock her back to the ground as she trembled before him. There was no escape, and she began to mentally prepare for the worst-case scenario to take place.
Her ex husband had screamed so loudly that he become horse, ending his verbal assault; and then, he would continue to take out his unimaginable and unprovoked anger on Kierra physically.
The assault didn’t last long.
As the man closed his fist and lifted it above his head for another sadistic beating, his hand stopped in mid-air. Kierra could not see what was happening, and cowered below while waiting on the one-sided fight to continue.
Wondering why he had stopped the ensuing altercation, Kierra looked up to the man from her near prone position. She could barely make out a confused look on the man’s face, as he turned his head behind him.
Barely visible behind the large man, was an even larger silhouette. Both Kierra and the man simultaneously gasped at the dark, hairy form that held the man’s hand in the air.
A deep, guttural growl erupted from the creature’s snout. Red eyes gleamed through the darkness, looking from the man to Kierra lying on the ground.
The man turned his attention from the broken woman on the ground to the new threat behind him, with a stiff grunt as the creature released his hand.
Before he had the opportunity to sluggishly scream at the creature, his body was suddenly jerked back into the darkness.
That’s when the real screaming began.
Kierra laid still as a stone, not daring to move, and she heard the tearing and ripping of flesh just outside her line of sight.
She listened as the hateful man’s begging for his life began to falter, with only wheezes and grunts occupying the constant sound of the carnage remaining.
Eventually, the sounds relented, and the yard became still and quiet.
Kierra sat terrified, awaiting her turn to be torn to shreds by whatever beast came from the darkness. She propped herself up on her elbows in an attempt to see what had happened before her.
As her eyes adjusted to the dark and scanned the area around her, a tall, dark creature came into her line of sight.
It’s fiery eyes shone towards her, as the beast came close enough to her so that she could make out it’s figure.
Before her, stood a creature that she had only seen in movies and read about in books. Long, wispy ears rose from its head, and it’s slender, hairy body towered above her. “This is it” she thought, as her mind wandered back to the small child inside of the home.
She shut her eyes tightly, and waited on her fate to be sealed.
After what seemed like minutes went by, she heard a short, loud whimper; causing her to slowly open her eyes again.
The beast before her was now crouched low to the ground, with it’s ears pressed against it’s head. She opened her mouth to scream, but it never came, as it was interrupted by another loud whimper. She could only compare the sound to that of a wounded dog.
Through the darkness, she saw a long, gangly arm reach towards her. The animal’s human-like fist came close enough where she could make out the long, sharp claws on it’s hand.
With it’s head bowed low, the beast gently unveiled a tiny piece of paper wrapped in its tightened fist.
Against all her natural instincts screaming at her to run, she held out her shaking hand. The beast then dropped the paper, and she grabbed it as it fell.
Those deep red eyes stared at her for a moment longer, before it quickly disappeared from sight- accompanied by an almost painful sounding cry.
Kierra laid on the ground, too afraid to move, and deeply and utterly confused. What had just happened?
As her mind ran at an insane amount of speed, she slowly began to push herself from the ground to her feet. She found a way to limp her way back to the porch of her home, with tears streaming down her dirt and blood covered face.
As she came close enough to the home to where a small amount of light shone through the window, she remembered the piece of paper that she still gripped in her hand. A loud, shrill, eerie howl bellowed from far out in the distance.
Unfolding the crumpled piece of paper slowly, she gasped as she made out the only two words written on the page:
“Always yours.”