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 danced around and began to dance. Twirling and dancing as she remembered her friends in the dance studio she attended with him, but due to work and jealousy, he didn't even let her attend on her own. "It's too dangerous, you should not be alone at night". At the time it seemed like he was only looking out for her safety, but now she felt it was something else. She continued silently dancing and soon enough his attention shifted towards her. As she innocently danced, he saw her body swayed and called 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 how he did the same thing with other women. How he touched them the same, kissed them, whispered to them, promised them I love yous that would never come true. 

     She tried to gently push him away, but he always brought her close to him. His grip was tighter and tighter, suffocating her until he violently pushed her away. Her arm caught her fall but sprained it in the process as well. 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! You are not like this. Who the hell have you been talking to? Is it at work, do you have to leave work now? No, 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? I think it's time for us to have a baby?". 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 forward as she stood in front of him. She found out that he was texting another woman, she had dreams of traveling and he led her on implying of traveling the world with him. She said she would leave her fiancee, work, and sell her things to go with him. Yvette felt the hole in her stomach become wider as his words became white noise. 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. So if he was lonely, and this woman could alleviate that loneliness, then she would step aside for him and his happiness, she still held love in her heart for him. 

     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 the man in front of her. She said she loved him that they could still run away together and that he kept denying that he knew her and how much he loved his girlfriend. He made the poor girl seem crazy as he walked off with his buddies. As she pondered on 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 for how long she could take it.

     She finally came to the final scene. They had gotten a notice from the landlord that the apartment would be getting a renovation and they could stay at a paid apartment covered by their insurance or get their deposit refunded and find another place. The couple had fond memories of this place but 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 he 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 waited on moving his things due to his request to move them on his day off. But on the day before the move, when it was time to move his things, he decided to surprise her with a date. He took her to her favorite ice cream place, her favorite fountain, and bought her flowers at the end as they walked back to the apartment.  She was happy as she felt she could see the boy she thought she lost. It was a perfect day, a day that she could only dream of. And in 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 stopped her as her heart couldn't take it anymore, "You're right. I hope you two have a good life together", and as she stepped away, he stopped her, trying to get Yvette to stay. The fuming woman saw red and 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. Connecting, she saw the woman stumble back. As she stood she heard through her adrenaline rush, she heard a stranger scream to break up 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 because she knew it wasn't him. 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 he saw 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 and that was there was avoid 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 the person next to her. 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 as she sat on top of him. She wondered what he was dreaming about. She held the tip of the knife to his jugular, and swiftly a beautiful red hue engulfed her. Pieces scattered as she carved away. She felt like she was being covered in roses as she found a solution to her problem, but, why was she still feeling hungry? 

     Yvette's eyes fluttered open as she saw the first ray of sunshine and her phone sounding her alarm. She smiled at a new day as she tried to remember what she dreamt, but, couldn't remember what it was about.