Escape to Heaven (Heaven on Earth Book 1)

Escape to Heaven

Reana Malori

Copyright © 2010 and 2014 by Reana Malori

All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or shared in any form, including but not limited to: printing, photocopying, faxing, or electronic transmission, without prior written permission from the authors.

This book is a work of fiction. References may be made to locations and historical events; however, names, characters, places and incidents are the products of the authors’ imaginations and/or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons (living or dead), businesses, events or locales is either used fictitiously or coincidental.

Dedication

To every woman who has ever felt that she had no way out. Your strength will guide you and I know you’ll find your escape to heaven as well.

—Reana

A
uthor’s Note

This book deals with the very real subject of domestic violence. Some of the scenes are graphic in nature and may be challenging to read. If the subject of domestic violence is difficult for you to read or you do not wish to be exposed to this topic, please be forewarned.

Very Respectfully,

Reana Malori

Prologue

Oh, God, please make him stop. I don’t deserve this.

At that moment, Adele Bittner was scared that her life would be cut short by the man who she had sworn to love until death parted them. As she cowered in a ball to protect herself as best she could, she leaned back against the closet door, her body tense and tight with fear and frustration. She tried to protect her body from the brutal force of his blows as her husband used his fists to pummel every inch of her body. Peeking through swollen eyes, Adele watched the man who had made her life a living hell in such a short time. Her thoughts rushed through her mind at a furious pace as she asked a question that no one but she could answer -
how could I have put up with this for so long?

Under the guise of shifting her hands to cover her face, she glowered at Joey Bittner, her unfaithful, abusive husband of two years. He, on the other hand, continued to stare at her with loathing in his eyes as he stood over her body, poised to strike at her like a snake. Once he found a weak spot, an opening to take another opportunity to hit her, she knew his fist would fly.

Passing out and falling into the abyss was not an option for her, as it would simply give him time to rain down blows on her without anything to stop him. In order to stay awake, she did everything she could think of to stay clearheaded for a bit longer. Yelling at him to stop, to leave her alone, to get away from her may not have stopped him from his chosen path, but she was still alive and awake and that’s all that mattered. The one and only time she had fallen unconscious, he had become even more enraged. Her body had been riddled with bruises, her eyes and face had been swollen shut and he had even left bite marks on her arms and legs. The pain had been almost too much to bear. She had laid in bed for almost a week trying to recover, all while hiding the fact that her husband had almost killed her from her closest friends.

Playing the role of attentive and loving husband, Joey had called her supervisor and fed him a story about Adele having the flu and was unable to get out of bed. To this day, Adele would swear her boss knew exactly what was going on, but every time he probed and tried to ask about her home life, she had changed the subject. Fool that she was, she had always believed that some things should stay behind closed doors. A person should never air their dirty laundry outside their home. At least, that was what her mother had always told her.

If I can hold on a little more, he’ll stop. I know he will. He always does.

Knees pulled up to her chest, she wrapped her hands around her head. The pain was excruciating. No matter how she tried to move away and block his fists, he always seemed to find an opening. Although her mind was screaming at her
FIGHT BACK
, the fear was paralyzing. Tucking her body into a tighter ball, she tried to make herself a smaller target. Maybe the punches and slaps wouldn’t hurt so badly if they didn’t connect with soft flesh.

“You fucking bitch! You always start this shit with me. I’m tired of always having to answer to you.” Spittle flew from his mouth as he blasted her with his rage. “I can come and go when I damn well please. You don’t question me. Ever! I never wanted to marry your stupid ass anyway!” Her neck jerked from the force of his fist landing on the side of her face and the pain exploded behind her eyelids. Damn, that hurt like hell, but if she could just hold on and keep her mouth shut, he would eventually leave.

“You always make me do this to you, Adele. You will learn to mind your own fucking business and leave other people alone.”

He leaned close to her face, and she could smell the alcohol on his breath as he yelled at her simply trying to be a good wife. The cloying scent of cheap perfume clung to his clothing and skin. From his night out with that whore he had been sleeping with since before they got married, no doubt. He continued screaming at her, as if he were trying to shatter her eardrums. “You shouldn’t have gone to her husband and opened your big mouth. You need another lesson on who’s in charge here! I’ve tried to warn you about what would happen if you didn’t learn your place. Why didn’t you learn your lesson?”

Although her arms were raised in an attempt to block her face from his attacks, Joey violently yanked one of her arms down and out of the way. His strong, punishing grip prevented her from reclaiming her limb and covering her face. He threw another punch, this time directly to her eye, landing on the bone with precision accuracy.

“No, please stop!” She couldn’t help crying out loud.

The tears were flowing freely down her face. There was so much pain. She’d been through this so many times before, but this time his anger seemed unreasonable. It was then that she knew that he would most assuredly kill her tonight if she did not get away. Without the strength to stop him from doing whatever he wanted to her, she knew he would stop only when he was ready.

Finally slowing down and pulling back, he stood up straight and started pacing the floor in front of her. His voice was low and angry as he talked to himself. About what, she couldn’t really understand, but as he continued to glance at her while flexing his fists and gritting his teeth, she had no doubt that it was about her. Although he was distracted by his own mumblings and internal demons, she knew his attention was still focused on her enough to stop any attempt at escape and it would be stupid to try and get away.

As the blood and tears continued to flow down her face and blur her vision, she thought about her situation and couldn’t believe her life had become such a joke. Why had she married this man? Why hadn’t she seen his true nature before now? Had she been so blinded by the thought of someone so handsome and desirable to other women actually wanting her? Hindsight was always twenty-twenty, and she could now see there were signs from the very beginning that Joey was not the man of her dreams. If she had opened her eyes a bit more, the telltale signs that all wasn’t how it appeared to be had been staring her in the face the entire time.

More than three years ago, shortly after they had started dating, she and Joey had been driving to dinner one night and a very odd conversation had ensued. At the time, she’d had no idea where the topic had come from or why the discussion had started in the first place. Glancing at her as he tilted his head in her direction, he asked what appeared to be an innocent question. “So, you know Terry Johnson, right?” He gave her a sideways glance, maybe judging her response to his question, then continued, “You and he dated for a bit is what I hear.”

She wasn’t sure how Joey knew this bit of information because she had not really discussed her past relationships with him. Plus, she had always thought he and Terry had moved in different circles, as they’d always seemed so different from one another. However, New Bern, North Carolina wasn’t a very big town, and it seemed that most everyone knew each other in some form or fashion. After he finished his question, Adele was hesitant to answer because she hadn’t really wanted to discuss her prior relationships, but didn’t want to lie to him either.

Trying to keep her voice light, as if it were no big deal, she answered him. “Yeah, we dated for a bit, but it didn’t work out.”

“Hmm. I saw him a few times at the club and he mentioned this bitch Adele he was seeing. I guess that was you.” He smiled at her after making that comment, as if he had said something funny.

Shock was the first thing she felt. Then she quickly realized how hurt she was that he would make such a casual remark about her. Adele hadn’t responded at the time and had just let it go. If only she had heeded her gut at the time, she would have realized a mean streak existed within Joey and left him a long time ago.

Not one to start confrontations if she could avoid them, several months after that conversation Adele still questioned why Joey would bring up Terry’s comments about her so casually. Even with those doubts and constant second-guessing, when he got down on one knee and asked her to marry him, she had still said yes.

It was quite sad when she looked back at the situation. She had fallen into the trap that so many women do when it comes to men. For some strange reason, she had actually believed he would change for her. That she had some special magic love that would make him a better man, someone who loved her as much as she loved him. Stupid. That was what she had been, and now she was paying the price.

Jarred back to the present when Joey grabbed her hair and slammed her head against the hard closet door, she screamed, “Joey, stop doing this! Why are you always hitting me? I don’t deserve this.”

“Fuck you, Adele. I’m gonna show your ass not to fuck with me.”

He stalked from the room, and she listened as he rummaged around in the kitchen. A loud banging caught her attention, and she knew time was running out. Not sure what the hell he was doing, Adele began to lift herself off the ground and realized that he must have broken one of her ribs. Intense pain shot through her body. Her knees buckled underneath her, dragging her back down to the ground. This motherfucker had done this to her again. They’d been married for only two years and during that time, he had broken two of her ribs, given her numerous black eyes, bruised every inch of her body, and split her lip on at least three occasions.

He had always claimed it was because of something she had done. Somehow it had always been her fault when he felt the need to beat her. As if that could explain away what he had done to her for almost two years. His excuse this time was that she had talked to the husband of the woman he was cheating on her with. How was it her problem that the man was caught off guard when she mentioned to him that Joey and Regina were in Atlanta visiting mutual friends?

How the hell was she supposed to know Regina had never told her husband she was going out of town with Joey? Hell, everybody else seemed to know about the two of them having an affair and sleeping with each other for years. Adele hated the pitying looks thrown her way when they were around their friends. The son of a bitch had even brought his whore to their house for almost every major holiday and special event. Everyone knew what was going on, and no one had said a damn thing to her!

Adele realized she was probably the stupidest woman in the world. At one of their summer parties, she had walked into the kitchen where a group of people were playing cards, including Joey and Regina. Glancing down, she saw Regina’s hand resting on Joey’s thigh, as if it belonged there. Once Joey caught her looking, he laughed it off and made a comment about how his wife was going to get mad at him. Everyone around the table had laughed. All except Regina. Even with her standing there, she had been slow to remove her hand from Joey’s leg and then she simply picked up her glass and took a drink. Adele had even allowed her man to leave town with another woman, no questions asked. Well, allowed was really too strong of a word. Even if she had told him not to go, he would have. God, she had been such an idiot.

Realizing she only had a few more seconds to pull herself together, she tried getting up from the floor again. This time, she moved too quickly and slipped on the blood that was gushing from her nose and mouth. Her right eye was almost completely closed from Joey’s repeated punches, and her mouth felt as if it was swollen to twice its normal size.

Oh God, what am I going to do now? I can’t take this shit anymore.

Hearing Joey walk back in the room, Adele knew that her time had run out. She curled into a ball on the floor, not only making herself smaller, but not giving him an easy access point. Her anxiety increased as she waited for the blows to begin. When she didn’t feel the punches raining down on her, she looked through her fingers to see what was going on and her blood ran cold. A large butcher’s knife was in his hand, and it was pointed menacingly toward her face. The sick fuck was slowly twirling the handle around in his hand. Oh God, this was it. He had finally lost it and she was about to die at the hands of her husband, a man who was supposed to love her above all others.

“I told you to quit fucking around with shit that you don’t know about. I’m done with you, Adele. I could kill you right now and no one would give a shit. You don’t have any family to speak of. You and your mother haven’t spoken two words to each other in years. I was all you had to keep your sorry ass from being nobody.” His laugh was almost crazed. “My family told me not to marry your trifling ass. You’re not even that fucking pretty.”

In a small voice that even she was disgusted with, she pleaded for her very life, “Joey, please stop. You don’t want to do this. I’ll leave. I’ll give you a divorce and you can just walk away. I promise not to tell anyone about tonight. I’ll say that I fell. Aaaggghh!”

He plunged the knife into the closet door right next to her head and she knew that he was too far gone to listen to anything she had to say. “Oh God, please, Joey, don’t do this! Please let me go.”

“I can’t stand you. I wish I’d never married you.” Hate and anger was laced through every word. Another plunge and the knife landed on the other side of her head and lodged in the closet door. Adele didn’t know what else to do. She now realized he was truly capable of killing her if he wanted to, and dammit, she was
not
going to die like this. Cowering on the floor and afraid of the man she had married was a bunch of bullshit. There was no way in hell she would let this man be the one to bring death to her door. Damn, she needed to get a fucking backbone, and fast. There had to be a way out of this.

Thinking quickly, Adele rolled back onto the floor and rose on her knees. She had to get into a position where she could jump up quickly. She wasn’t in the best shape, but she wasn’t a slouch either. Fuck this shit! It was now or never and she was done being scared of this sorry son of a bitch. He had put his hands on her for the last time. It was time for her to take her life back and get the hell out of here.