It was a pretty standard Halloween night for Peter Stanley. Every so often, there’d be a knock, he’d open the door and cute kids would yell “Trick Or Treat.” and he’d hand out some candy. Dum Dum lollipops

He opened the door to see her soaked and sobbing on Halloween night. This wasn’t the first time that she had shown up this way, and as he led her inside, he saw the clear signs of abuse again on her. The eye that was starting to swell, the new bruises on her arms. His heart cried out for her, as he led her to his couch and motioned for her to sit down. As he had done before, he did again, heading to his kitchen for what seemed like the millionth time. He got out a cold pack and wrapped it in paper towels, before bringing it to her for her eye. He handed it to her, and she knew instinctively what it was for.

“What was it this time?” He asked with a sigh, hoping no other tricker treaters would show up while he tendeed to her.

It was always another excuse, something was crooked, or the food had gotten cold for some reason, or something. He had seen it too many times. There was always a convenient excuse. He had tried to protect her by calling the cops, but the cops ignored the calls. He tried to get her to leave him, but she never would. At this rate, the asshole would kill her.

“The Halloween candy was the wrong kind.” She explained. “He wanted Reese’s. I got Kit Kats.”

He shook his head in disgust. Candy? What was the guy a kid now?

“That’s stupid, Liz.” He said.

He was right, she knew he was right. How many times had he done this to her? How many more would it take before enough was enough. Was it ever going to be enough? Why didn’t she just stand up for herself? She could’ve protected herself long ago. Can of mace would do it. Came at her and Bam, right in the face. Would that work though?

“I know, Peter.” She sighed.

“This has been stupid from the first time you showed up at my door.” He said.

“I know.” She said.

She pulled away the ice pack and wiped her eyes. She was going to have quite the black eye this time.

“I care. You know. I don’t like seeing you like this.” He said with a sigh.

“I know, but...” She started.

“You’re not, you know.” Peter piped up before she could finish her sentence. “In love with him, I mean. You’re in love with the man he portrayed himself to be, not this.” He explained.

“You’re right.” Liz said. “And I have to do something about it.”

“So, you’re going to leave him then?” Peter asked.

Peter saw that she seemed to be actually considering it.

“Leave him, yeah.” Liz said.

Thoughts were racing in her mind. Leaving him wouldn’t be enough. He’d come after her for sure. But what could she do? Peter wouldn’t fight for her. No, he was more interested in her mom. Like that song “Stacy’s Mom”. She’d always be second fiddle in his mind when comparing to her mom.

“You should go to your mom’s house, and have your brother help you get your stuff after. Break it off over text, and have your brother ready to grab your stuff right after.” Peter told her. “You can take my car.”

Even the suggestion was to go to her mom’s house, not her brother’s, her mom’s. No, something else had to be done.

“That’s a good idea.” Liz said. “I’m going to head to my mom’s house.” She added.

He handed her the keys. She stood up, put the ice pack down, and headed out the door. Peter was worried, so he grabbed his cell and texted Liz’s mom that she was on her way. Peter had always loved Liz’s mom, even after she had rebuffed his advances. Though Liz’s dad had gone, Liz’s mom just didn’t want him. Peter sighed. Liz would be on the road for hours once she started. Handing over his car to her was probably the best idea. There’d be no way Michael would let her drive their car, especially if she was about to leave him, even if he didn’t know it.

Peter ended up crashing on his couch for the night. He knew Liz would be alright and fell asleep in front of the tv. Liz felt Peter had been right. Liz didn’t want to admit it at first though. She had to get away from Michael, but that wouldn’t be enough, would it? Across town, Detective Ned Finkle was hanging out with his buddies. They had shown up at his place, on their bikes and they rode off and found a quiet place to talk. Kids wouldn’t be running up and down the street here. It wasn’t that kind of neighborhood.

Liz drove to the bad part of town, where she found the detective’s biker group. She got out of the car and walked over to them. They quickly spotted her, and even in the rain the lights from the car’s headlights, they knew she had been beaten.

“I need some help with a problem.” She said.

“I bet.” One said.

“What do you need us to do?” Another asked.

“Nothing Illegal. I just need you to kick in my apartment door and make sure my prick of a boyfriend is home.” Liz said. “But there’s cameras, so you’ll need to wear a mask, cause I don’t want you to get in trouble for breaking and entering.”

The detective nodded. He was easily the biggest and most intimidating out of them all. He walked over to the car and got in. She got in and explained what had happened. How she had bought the ‘wrong candy’ and how Michael had beat her for it. She convinced him, without even knowing him, that she didn’t want him to do anything other than help her put the fear of god into Michael. She explained that he was going to kick in the door and leave. She’d then show up and tell Michael that the next time he laid a hand on her she’d have 12 more bikers show up like the one tonight and he wouldn’t be so lucky as to just shit his pants.

Soon after, they arrived. As the Detective went to kick in her apartment door, Liz moved to get the cameras cut off. She didn’t want to be caught on camera. She knew where this was going to go, she didn’t want to admit it, but she did. He kicked in the door with one swift kick. Michael jumped off the couch.

“What the fuck?!” Michael said.

The big guy pointed his finger as a father would to his child.

“Sit the fuck down.” The big guy growled. “I SAID SIT DOWN!” he said more sternly before brandishing a gun in his waistband.

Michael sat down on the couch.

“Now, your little lady is going to be in here in a minute to tell you something. You better listen. I’ll be just outside, so don’t think you’ll pull anything this time, mother fucker.” He said coldly.

The big guy turned and walked out of the apartment and as he did, Liz pulled the camera plug. She walked into the apartment.

“What the fuck is this?” Michael asked as Liz walked into the kitchen.

She was done. The big guy played his part nicely as Michael walked into the kitchen as well.

“Michael, you hit me one too many times. He’s going to make sure I come and go easily. I’ll be leaving you, and while I’m grabbing what I need, you’ll be seeing a big guy like that to help me get my shit.” Liz said.

“Pfft. Sure bitch.” Michael said as he turned from her.

She ripped open the knife drawer as fast as she could, grabbed a big one, and stabbed him in the back. Liz was lucky. She had penetrated thru his back into one of his lungs, puncturing it, and forcing him to only gasp for air. He couldn’t cry out as the second stab on the other side pierced the other. He couldn’t breathe. Michael fell forwards to the ground as the blood began to pool around his body. He slowly lost consciousness as the biker from before walked in.

“Well, Damn, little lady. I think you had enough of him.” He said.

“Guess you’re gonna call the cops on me now.” She said.

“Little Lady. I’m the lead detective of the homicide department.” He said.

“Oh, I guess you’ll arrest me then?” She asked.

“Why would I do that?” He asked. “I didn’t see anything, and just found you in the room with a murdered man. Circumstantial evidence. There’s no hard evidence pinning you to this.” He pointed out. “Even if I did, I doubt the jury would convict. You’d probably take a short plea deal to get out of it. A battered woman killing her boyfriend out of fear of being killed. Yeah, I don’t see that going anywhere.” He sighed.

“So what now?” She asked.

“What did you have planned?” He asked.

“Well, I was going to head to my mom’s house.” She said.

“Yeah. Well, I guess you’d better, and act like none of this happened. I’m sure someone will call it in tomorrow.” He said. “Why don’t you drop me where you found me, and try to make up for lost time on the highway.”

Liz did exactly that, dropping off the detective where she had found him, then drove to her Mom’s. She was still in shock as she made the drive.

The next morning Peter was awoken from his slumber by his cell phone. He reached and grabbed hit, hitting the button to take the call.

“Hello?” Peter asked.

“THANK GOD. PETER, TELL ME YOU KNOW WHERE LIZ IS!” A voice came thru the other end.

The other person was Eddie. He was a mutual friend to the both of them, and had been fawning over Michael for a while, though Michael had no interest in Eddie.

“Yeah, why?” Peter asked.

“I just found Michael. I showed up to take Liz to Yoga, and found the door smashed open, and Michael with a knife in his back on the kitchen floor.” Eddie said, obviously trying to hold back crying.

“A knife? Is he gonna be alright? Did you call 911?” Peter asked, shook awake by this news.

“He’s dead, Peter! He’s dead!” Eddie said as he began to cry.

“Listen, Liz should be at her Mom’s by now, or at least nearly there.” Peter said. “Listen, I’m on my way over there.”

Peter hung up quickly, only to realize his car was with Liz. He groaned in frustration. He called Eddie back letting him know that he had lent his car to Liz. Eddie let Peter know that they had the police there, and they were just trying to track down Liz or anyone else who might have known what happened. Peter told him to send the police his way so he could at least give them his information.

The police arrived, and the detective, from the night prior who had been with Liz, took his statement, which Included Liz showing up on foot, having been beaten again, and then taking his car and heading to her mom’s house. As he stated this last part, his cell rang. He answered it.

At her mom’s house, Liz was chipper to be there. Finally free of that area, and it felt like a weight had been taken off her shoulders. She decided to call Peter to let him know she had arrived safely. She made sure she sounded chipper, so she didn’t give away that she had known what was going to happen or did happen.

“Hey, I called to let you know I arrived at Mom’s house. Her and Harry are being super supportive, and they’ve both offered me a place to stay.” Liz said, more cheerful.