Cory’s groggy voice slurred from the other side of the room as he woke from one of his drunken stupors.

“Kerry.”

A violent shudder ripped through me as I curled into myself. He wasn’t fully alert, still drowsy and slow. I only had a few seconds before he got to me, before he realized I wasn’t where he left me. I only had a few seconds before he tried to put me back.

The only thing standing between me and him was the lamp. The moment his bleary eyes landed on me, something inside me snapped. I didn’t think. I didn’t hesitate. I lunged. My fingers wrapped around the heavy base, my grip tightening as I lifted it with every ounce of strength I had left. And then, I swung, hard and desperate. Like my life depended on it…because it did.

The crack of metal against his bone echoed through the room. Cory roared in pain, stumbling backward with blood trickling from the gash. His hands flew to his head, and his eyes flashed between rage and disbelief, like he couldn’t believe I’d dared to fight back.

I didn’t wait a moment further. I swung again. And again.

His screams fueled me. His pain, his shock, the way he buckled to his knees—I relished it. The tables had turned. The fear that had lived in my bones for years was gone and replaced by something new—power.

But I didn’t have time to bask in it. I had to go. With all the adrenaline I could muster, I bolted out the door and into the street, where I screamed for help.

A porch light flicked on. A curtain shifted. A door cracked open but then closed. Some neighbors wanted to help. Some of them didn’t. And some were too afraid.

I made it as far as the front lawn before my adrenaline dissipated and the pain hit. A deep, searing, and almost blinding pain. A pain that didn’t come from my battered body, but from inside me. I collapsed.

My hands clutched my stomach. My breath increased. And I knew. A deep, broken sob wrenched from my throat.

“No,” I gasped. “No, no, no, no. I fought for this. I survived for you.” I cried for what I was losing.

I cried to myself, for myself, while my neighbors all watched. My body was wracked with unimaginable pain, loss, and grief, and for the first time that night, I felt hopeless. So hopeless that I didn’t even care what happened next.

I heard the police sirens, and I saw the flashing lights, painting the night in violent streaks of red and blue. They finally came.

But not to save me. They came to save him.