She continued sweeping and the song they would often dance to started to play on the radio. That sweet feeling welled up in her chest as she twirled around and began to dance. She remembered her friends in the dance studio she used to attend, but due to work and his jealousy, she stopped going.

      She continued dancing, remembering the freedom it brought her, and soon enough, his attention shifted towards her. As she innocently danced, he saw her body sway and call him towards her. It had been quite a while since they were intimate, so he decided to initiate. 

     He crept up to her and began dancing with her. But his hands began to wander, his embrace tighter, his breath on her neck. Yvette, who used to feel butterflies in her stomach just by touching his hand, now felt repulsed by his skin on hers. She could only imagine him with other women. How he touched them, kissed them, whispered to them, promised them I love yous that would never come true. 

     She gently pushed him away, but he always brought her close to him. His grip grew tighter and tighter, suffocating her until he suddenly, violently pushed her away. Her arm caught her fall, but she sprained her wrist in the process. He looked at her with eyes she had never seen before. 

     The gentleness was gone, the sweetness gone, all replaced by something bitter and unappetizing as he seared her through. "YOU BIT ME!", he screamed as he scrambled to get a paper towel for his wound. "Are you sick in the head?!", he waited for a response as she realized the question was not rhetorical. Her eyes wandered as she picked herself up and only responded with the first thought in her head. With a tone of almost a whisper and her head low, she spoke, "I'm sorry, I was hungry". 

     His eyes became somber, and he screamed and spat at her, "No... No, no, no. You...you aren't like this. Who the hell have you been talking to? Is it at work? Do you have to leave work now? You know you don't need to work now. I can take care of us both. You can just stay here, Yvette, don't you think that's a good idea?". He said those ridiculous words out loud as she felt herself slipping from reality. 

     She felt as if the ground beneath her crumbled, and she fell through. Then, a question she never thought she would ask herself popped into her head, "Is this the kind of love she wanted?".

     The memories went astray as she stood before him, confronting him again as many times before. She found out that he was texting another woman; she had dreams of traveling, and he led her on, implying that they would travel the world together. The woman said she would leave her fiancé, leave her work, and sell her things to go with him. Yvette felt the hole in her stomach widen as his words became white noise, trying to defend himself.       She saw him on his knees, crying and clutching her clothes. What was he saying to her? She tried to focus, and she finally heard him. "Please forgive me. I was just feeling so lonely. You've been so distant lately that I just wanted someone to talk to". 

     She didn't like to see him cry; it reminded her of the harsh times she wanted to leave behind. Yvette then offered to step aside if this woman could alleviate his so-called loneliness; she still held love in her heart for him, and thus grant him this happiness. 

     However, the moment she mentioned this, his anger was apparent through his tears, "Are you trying to leave me? You can't leave me? You love me, I know you do. If you leave me I won't be able to live, so you can't leave me. Please... don't leave me". He cried as he tried to kiss her.

     Yvette later heard through the grapevine that a woman showed up near his place of work. She was holding a suitcase as she cried, screamed, and questioned why he was acting like he didn't know her. She said she loved him, that they could still run away together. He kept denying knowing her and proclaimed how much he loved his girlfriend. He made the poor girl seem crazy as he walked off with his buddies. 

     As she pondered what she heard, she thought about how much more of this she could take. The growling in her stomach was getting louder, and she didn't know how long she could take it.

     She finally came to the final scene. The couple received a notice from the landlord that the apartment complex would be renovated. They had an option to temporarily stay at another location if they wanted to wait or find a new place to stay. The couple had fond memories of this place, but they felt it was time to move on. 

     Yvette searched for apartments with the help of the lady landlord, who had grown fond of her. Searching and searching, she found a place across town that she could afford with only her salary. The place was decent and was in a quiet neighborhood. She thought it was a perfect place if they ever wanted to save money for a house. As the days led up to the move, she worked tirelessly to get her things in order and moved them little by little. 

     She offered to move both of their belongings, but insisted he could do it himself. He slowly packed and was ready to go, but on the day before the move, he decided to surprise her with a date. He took her to her favorite ice cream place, her favorite fountain, and bought her flowers as they walked back to the apartment.  She was happy as she felt she could see the boy she thought she had lost. It was a perfect day, a day that she could only dream of. But, as they approached the front of the apartment, fuming with anger, was another woman screaming for him. 

     The woman confronted him and grabbed him to her side. The woman screamed at Yvette about being the other woman. Yvette's heart sank. She couldn't take it anymore, so she decided to play along, "You're right. I hope you two have a good life together", and as she stepped away, he stopped her. 

     He gave Yvette a familiar look as he whispered, " What are you doing? You can't leave me". The fuming woman heard this and immediately attacked Yvette. Scratching, kicking, and punching, Yvette tried to protect herself as she felt anger well up. She gathered all of her strength in her fist and aimed at the woman's face. It connected, and she saw the woman stumble back. As she stood, she heard through her adrenaline rush a stranger scream to break us apart, and luckily, many gathered and held the woman back. 

     The police arrived a little while later. She wondered who called them, but whoever they were, she was grateful they did. The police took her statement and everyone involved. They surmised Yvette was defending herself due to a jealous ex. They took the woman away, and the crowd dispersed. 

     He looked at her as if he was the one who was just beaten on the concrete. Yvette was crushed; she was attached, and he did nothing but watch. She stood and tried to leave again, but she suddenly felt a painful pull that lunged her into the steel rail of the stairs nearby. Her head bled, and her vision became dizzy.

      He panicked as the sound reverberated through the neighborhood. He checked his surroundings to make sure no one saw that. He quickly supported her and took her inside.

    He gently cleaned her up and treated her wounds before putting her in bed. He kept apologizing, saying that when they moved, it would be different, things would change this time. 

     The glimmer in her eyes was gone; there was only a void that started at the abyss.

     As she lay awake in that bed, he slept soundly next to her. She sat up as she stared at him. She tried to dissect the person in front of her and could no longer recognize him. Where did the love of her life go, and who was this imposter in his place? Where was her sweet Silas, who made her feel full? No, this was him, but he was becoming rotten. She needed to do something quickly before he went completely bad.

      Silently, she held a carving knife in her hand and sat on top of him. She wondered what he was dreaming about as she positioned the knife. She held the tip to his jugular and swiftly plunged the knife down.

     He suddenly opened his eyes and began to flail frantically. His hands reached out to Yvette as he clutched her shirt, trying to fling her off of him, but she just kept stabbing. Yvette smiled as a beautiful red hue engulfed her, her beloved Silas losing strength as he still tried to reach her.

     Yvette then sighed as she held out her hand, intertwining her fingers with his as she stabbed one more time. Pieces of him scattered about as she looked into his eyes. She felt like she was being covered in roses as she found a solution to her problem. As he slowly passed on, she leaned down and gently placed her mouth on his arm. The softness of her skin on her tongue and the bouncy texture on her teeth. She slowly chewed and swallowed, her blushing face feeling satisfied with the taste, but... why was she still feeling hungry? 

     Yvette's eyes quickly fluttered open as her alarm went off. She blinked slowly as she stared at the ceiling, trying to recall her dream, but couldn't. She sighed, but her mood was quickly flipped as she heard a notification on her phone. It was a good morning text from Estelle.