“Magic comes with a price,” her boyfriend said across the room, “are you willing to pay it?”

She shook her head. She wasn’t ready to get married yet. She hoped he would understand, and yet his mouth turned slightly downward. She felt a bit guilty, but it was the right choice for her at the moment. Not at this age, so young, only a naive girl at eighteen!

Her hand touched the turquoise silk dress she wore. Her favorite color; yet somehow he remembered. He seemed to remember nothing but what she wanted him to remember. It was concerning, yet a lot of things in their relationship was that way, she thought. But he wouldn’t let go of her no matter how hard she tried, she knew that by now. That painful, painful day when she tried to run…

She hadn’t noticed him coming up to her until he lay his hand on the ruby she laced her neck with. “It’s your favorite gemstone, right? It contrasts very nicely with the light turquoise, the deep red.” A faint smile appeared on both their faces. It was how the boy smiled always. The girl… well, she had been changing to fit the boy’s romantic needs; quiet, pretty, and mindful were the only three traits she had needed to survive him; that is, she lost half of herself within these two years just from him.

“I’ve never heard you say the three words ‘I love you’ combined. I want you to say them to me tonight, okay, darling?” She wanted to scold him for forcing such a thing upon her, but she stayed quiet, how he wanted her. “Speaking of tonight, I believe it is time to start preparing supper.” He held his hand out to her, and she accepted it, feeling forced to.

The kitchen smelt like lavender, her favorite scent. “I went out and collected some flowers in the nearby field. Do you like them?” She nodded her head and smiled; naturally this time. She loved to talk to flowers like they were humans giving her therapy, but if he knew what she said to them, she wouldn’t know if he would finally let go of this unhealthy habit that was his love.

The cooking process went by so fast she couldn’t even tell that it was supper time already; she had focused on making sure the beef was fully cooked, and the boy had cooked the vegetables and rice for the meal. That was how it always was, the two of them would always make supper together, she would make the breakfast, and he would make the lunch. It always leaded to interesting choices whenever one of them wanted to try something new. Another thing that they would always do is put the different foods into bowls so that each individual could plate themself.

She had stopped eating as much lately. Not that he noticed. Just a note she had made herself. She was just… different. And lately she noticed more about herself than he did, and for her standards, that wasn’t normal.

She made sure there was nothing on the wooden chair before slowly sitting in it and scooting closer to her food. He was a bit more laidback, however; he let his legs levitate away from the chair and put his hands behind his back. She didn’t see why _she _had to sit with her arms crossed. Well, there was only one reason she listened to him, and that was because she knew what he was like when enraged. But nevermind that now, stop going back to that memory, this was the present now, not three months ago.

She tried to get a bite of food after plating herself, praying in her family language, and drinking her water, but to no avail. He stared at her with worry. “Are you okay, darling? Not feeling too hungry tonight? Don’t worry, you can eat it for breakfast tomorrow.” But she felt a lump in her throat. Her stomach felt like it was inflammating. Without a word, like she always was, she ran to the bathroom.

What she barfed out in the toilet was shocking.

A small pill, but she recognized it well enough to identify——

Poison.

And he put it in her drink.

But why?

Could he only let go of her if she was dead?

Whatever the reason, she needed to leave. And this was more urgent than the first time she tried. This time, it was a life or death situation. She wanted to live. So, in her low heels, she started running as fast as she could.

The front door flung open, and off she went, passing sidewalks like an insignificant distance. She wouldn’t look behind her. She already knew he was behind her. She needed to run faster, but she couldn’t. He would soon catch up. Passersby shot them concerned looks, but none of them seemed to be helping. Of course they weren’t. They didn’t know the situation. If they did, they would know better.

She felt tears. Not the emotions that tend to come with them. Just tears rolling down her face as she ran miles faster than she ever had. She would soon lose momentum, but so would he. She just end wanted to live…

The nearest police station to their home was 6 miles away. She felt close to it, but her legs were tiring out dramatically. And he had always exercised more than her daily. She was just lucky her lover wasn’t choking her to near death right then. But she could feel her body slowing down…

She heard heavy breathing behind her. He stopped chasing her. This was her chance. But she tripped over the sidewalk…

“You knew what happens when you try to run, but now you’ve tried to do it again. You can’t keep fighting fate forever.” His words shattered right through her heart; what was it about her that was so special the only way to let go was to kill her?

“Say it.”

She didn’t know what to say.

“Say ‘I love you.’”

She didn’t want to say those words. She didn’t want to say anything to him again. But she knew what would happen if she didn’t—

“For God’s _fucking _sake, say the words!”

He stepped on her bare back. _Hard. _The kind of pain that would break apart a normal human being. But she wasn’t. She was able to handle almost anything.

That was what made her special.

The fact she could survive a variety of deadly injuries.

“I…”

Her voice was strained, but he smiled at her starting her lie. However, he kept his foot steady.

“Love…”

He was so surprised he loosened his foot from her back a little.

“You…”

He let his foot free. That bruise on her back would last for a few days at least.

She stood, wiping off dust from her dress like nothing ever happened. Like she wasn’t almost poisoned, like he didn’t almost break her spinal cord. But those scars, physically and emotionally, would last forever. “I love you too, darling.” He leaned in for a kiss. And she couldn’t do a thing about it. The audience was, obviously, highly concerned.

But this was how daily life was for her. She was stuck with him for the rest of her life, however long that might have been. She tried to pull away, but he forced her head in, possibly even moving her closer. He wouldn’t let her go, now or ever. She went back to her normal senses, playing along by putting her hands on his shoulders.

Only then did he pull away. “Darling?” Inside her mind, she felt disgusted by the word. She stared, quiet as can be.

“I love you.”

She wished she could say the same thing about him in her mind.