A Week Without Veles (Book 1)

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 A Week Without Veles

   By Ray Bush

Bryli and Veles split up a week ago today. How had it come to this, Bryli thought as she scrolled the pics in her gallery. She had a large folder dedicated to just Veles and her together. They looked so happy in the pictures, now look at them. She was at the end of her rope with him. She could not believe that he had become a stalker. 

Despite the last week, his blue eyes could stare into her soul. Veles was everything her friends wanted. He had wavy blonde hair and a wide joker smile. He was athletic and he treated her so well during their relationship. There had just been something off at the end and this last week had proved that she had been right. 

It started at the restaurant while she was having dinner with her best friend Sandy. Dinner had been nice, that was until Sandy pointed out Veles in the parking lot. He was not looking at the two young ladies but why would he be there. He appeared to be shouting at someone that Bryli could not see. The two friends watched until Veles got in his car and drove away. He never even looked towards Bryli one time. If this had been the only incident then Bryli would have not thought a thing about it. 

The second time was much worse and ten times more scary. She was at her favorite clothing store in the mall, Bryli was standing in the dressing room in her bra and panties. She pulled the shirt off the hanger to try it on when she thought she heard someone outside the dressing room door. Bryli froze, struggling to hear something that may not even be there. The door knob tried to twist, thank god the doors locked automatically. Bryli screamed, grabbed the shirt, and pulled it over her head. She only struggled with it for a moment. She opened the door, making sure to keep her bottom half behind the door. Veles was running past the last two racks in the store and out the large entrance. For obvious reasons, this scared Bryli. 

After that things did calm down for a day and that was when she noticed Walker. When she saw him that morning at her coffee shop she realized that she had been seeing him for about a week and maybe longer. With the breakup and now the stalking, Bryli had not paid attention to this handsome man. He looked somewhat similar to Veles, his hair was a little shorter and darker, but there were similarities. He looked at her with those blue eyes and her heart skipped a beat. 

He walked to the counter smiling a large smile, Bryli could not help smiling back. He looked at her with sweet eyes that said they would treasure her for a lifetime. That is not the only thing his eyes said. They also said that he would give her a little hair pull and her ass spank when she felt a little naughty. She loved that look but also felt bad for liking that look so soon after Veles. It had only been three days since she split with him. She did not think that she should be having these feelings but she was powerless to fight them away. They exchanged pleasantries and some minor flirting.

The hardest part of the breakup with Veles was that he did treat her like a queen. She still loved him, How could you not love someone three days after a three year relationship. She could not believe that it had come to this with him. She also knew his mother to be one of the sweetest, most kind, women in the world. She loved her little boy but would not tolerate this behavior from him. Bryli would rather not involve his mother but she was not ruling out the possibility. The woman had given Veles everything, he was related to some royal family in Poland on his father’s side. He never met his father but the family supplied his mother with unending funds. He played any sport he wanted, was a black belt in more than one type of martial arts, also very trained with hand weapons. He had been taught discipline and self control for his whole life. Bryli hoped he had not gone crazy, he could be a very dangerous person if he decided to be.

The next time she saw him was the worst day of her young life. She was on a work outing with the people from the coffee shop and her best friend Sandy. They were at the bar drinking and having a good time for a couple hours. Then she spotted him. Veles was sitting at the back corner of the bar at a booth. He looked like a ranger from a fantasy movie blending into his surroundings. Bryli wondered, for a moment, how long he had been there. She then became furious.  Veles must have thought he could hide and she wouldn’t notice. He had never been more wrong. 

The last thing she wanted to do was hurt Veles, but he had gone too far this time. Bryli was too tipsy and angry to think clearly. She walked straight to the bar, tapped the first guy that she saw on the shoulder. He turned around, she didn’t notice at first that it was Walker, she planted a kiss right on his lips. This hot young man had been put here just in time to piss off her stalker. 

Brlyi was surprised by how much she liked it. The kiss became more passionate and she even used her tongue a little. She was not the type that would go home with him tonight but she was glad that he was there for this moment. Bryli did know however, that he would be the next man that she slept with. She turned away from Walker and stomped her way to Veles. 

“I don’t know what’s going on with you,” she shouted, not caring about every eye in the bar on them. His look was enough to make her regret that kiss but not enough to calm her anger. “I know you are hurting,” she went on, “I’m hurting just as much. Stalking me isn’t helping either of us. What’s wrong with you?” She took a deep breath, “I know that I hurt you and believe me that is not what I wanted. But you need to give me some space. I don’t want to get your mom involved or even worse the police. Don’t make me.” Before she could turn away her eyes filled with tears. “Please respect that,” she said with her back to him and walked away. 

She didn’t see him stand, and as he walked past her he said, “You are making a very dangerous decision.” Then stared daggers through Walker sitting at the bar without another word.

Bryli decided not to wait for the next time to speak with Veles’ mother. His mom could not control him, of course, but he did hold her opinion in very high regard. If his mom told him to stop Bryli felt that he would. That is exactly what his mother said that she would do. She expressed her empathy for Bryli’s situation and told her she would speak to him immediately. For the next couple days it had stopped. Veles was nowhere to be found. 

Even better, Walker had come in every morning giving them a chance to talk about what happened. Bryli explained to him who the man in the corner had been and why she did what she did. Walker called Veles a creep but also said he has had a major heartbreak also that changed his life so he could understand a little. 

“He wouldn't really do anything,” she defended Veles, “I think it just hurt him more than I expected.”

“I get that,” Walker said, he seemed to be such a nice guy. “You should still be careful though. And if anything, I will protect you.”  Bryli thanked him for being sweet and did not tell him that Veles could not be stopped by Walker. 

Surprising Bryli, Walker asked her what she was doing tomorrow. She said she was free. Of course it was too soon to find a boyfriend or even have sex with another man. She did not, however, want to spend the week anniversary of her break up home alone and crying over old pictures. But here she was, the date was tonight which was the one week breakup anniversary and she was crying over pictures of Veles. Did it really hurt him that much or had he really always been a little unstable. Had the signs been there? She didn’t think so but here they were in this nonsense. 

She dried her eyes, finished her makeup and hair, then put on her cutest date outfit. Walker would be here in about ten minutes so Bryli walked out of her room and down the hall to her living room. She grabbed keys, gum, and chapstick then put them into her small purse. It was after dark on a warm spring Utah night. She could smell the faint smell of the Great Salt Lake which meant that a storm was coming in. Her large living room window looked west over the flat land preceding the lake. The sky flashed blue with a lightning strike but Bryli knew that it was too far away to hear the thunder.

A car drove past her and under the streetlight diagonal from her house. She thought that it looked like Walker but he didn’t stop so it must not have been. At the  edge of the light stood a dark figure that Bryli recognized immediately. It was Veles watching her house. She was instantly terrified and found herself wishing that it had been Walker that drove by. 

Her terror was quickly replaced with a fury that she had never felt before. She ran from the window to the front door to scream at him but he was nowhere to be seen. She ran across the street and stood under the light giving each direction a thoughtful look. 

“Veles,” She screamed, “ I know that was you. I promise you that I am calling the cops.” 

Bryli walked back to her house still furious at her ex for putting her through this. She now knew that she made the right choice leaving him. He was not the man that she thought that he was. 

She got to her porch when her phone vibrated. It was Veles. “Don’t go in your house,” the message read, “Please come talk to me. Bryli, please come talk to me.” 

“Fuck you,” Bryli screamed into the night then stepped through her doorway. 

She turned to slam the door, she would let him know how she felt about that. Bryli looked down at her phone and started typing, “I told you at the bar you creepy motherfu…..” That was all that Bryli had a chance to type and that message would never be sent. An arm went around her neck and from the other side a hand covered her mouth. Veles had her. He had distracted her with a text so he could get behind her and grabbed her. 

“Don’t scream,” he whispered with his hot breath in her ear. “I will uncover your mouth if you promise not to scream. I don’t want to hurt you.” That gave her a moment of relief. “Yet,” he whispered and her heart sank like a submarine.

“Veles don’t do this,” She begged after he uncovered her mouth. His arm was still around her neck but not tight enough to hurt. “We can talk, I haven’t called the cops yet.”

Veles said nothing, she knew at that moment that he had lost his mind. He dragged her backwards through the living room and down the hallway towards her bedroom. When she felt his body contort inorder to reach the doorknob, Bryli stomped hard onto his left foot. He howled in pain and loosened his grip enough from Bryli to wriggle free. She sprinted down the hall and out the front door towards freedom. 

“Bryli,” his voice chased her as she ran like the voice was on her heels. 

She figured her best bet would be to get to the forest area in the nearby park. That would give her a place to hide while she called the police. Thankfully she had not dropped her phone when Veles grabbed her. Veles was very athletic and even with a hurt foot she would not be able to outrun him for long. If she tried for a neighbor’s, Veles would be on top of her before they would answer the door. She looked back over her shoulder as she ran. A figure stumbled out of her doorway. She could not believe that he was doing this. He was limping so that was good. She ran straight west towards the park and what she felt would be safety. 

It did not take her long to get through the parking lot and past the single car. She was quickly past the playground and at the edge of the woods. Bryli moved into the trees about ten feet and ducked behind a bush. She pulled out her phone and dialed nine one one. They answered quickly. Bryli whispered her name, location, and that she was in danger. She ended the call then held the button to turn off the power. Bryli wanted to be in complete darkness and did not need her phone to ring at precisely the wrong moment. She closed her eyes and focused on getting her breathing under control. 

“Bryli!” Veles yelled, “Bryli come out. I’m here to help you.” She did not believe that for a second. “Bryli!” He was getting closer. She heard his footsteps at the edge of the woods. They stopped, “Bryli,” Now he whispered, “Are you in there?” There was a long moment of silence, then he ran off deeper into the park. 

She waited for at least two minutes without hearing a sound. Having Veles deeper in the park, Bryli now thought she would be safer if she could get behind her locked door. He thought that she was somewhere further in the park and he was running with a limp. She was confident could make it to her house. She got to her feet and ran as fast as she could towards the parking lot. When she got to the parking lot by the restrooms. Bryli saw a dark shape next to the building. 

“Bryli,” he said. How did he get here before her? For like the twentieth time tonight, her heart sank.

 “Veles,” She was exhausted both physically and mentally. He was putting her through hell. “Please, I am begging you. Are you really going to hurt me? I thought you loved me.” She started sobbing. 

He limped from the shadow on the side of the building into the light at the front. “I’m not Veles,” Walker said, “But yes I am going to hurt you.” 

Walker charged her like a linebacker and hit her like she was a quarterback. Bryli fell to the ground hard with a much bigger person on top of her. She felt at least two of her ribs break. Walker roughly rolled her onto her back and sat on her chest with a knee on each arm to keep her still. He wound up and slapped her hard across the face; her cheek exploded with pain. She thought she felt at least one bone in her face break also. 

“You don’t remember me, do ya bitch?” Walker’s face was a mask of pure hate and rage. “Do you bitch?”

Bryli focused on his face fighting back tears that wanted to spill down her cheeks. When she first saw Walker she had thought that he resembled Veles. At that moment she figured out why. It was Veles’ cousin. Walker wanted to be with Bryli before she and Veles got together. Then his family moved away.  She was so stupid to think that Veles was capable of doing this. He was nothing but good to her since the day that they met. Veles loved her and in that moment she knew that she loved him. 

“You’re gonna remember me now you filthy little slut,” she had never looked into such a scary face. He slapped her again on the other cheek this time. 

Walker then stood quickly grabbing Bryli by the hair as he did. He pulled her to her feet by a handful making her cry out because she could feel her broken ribs were moving around inside her body. Her cheeks were burning and she could not fight the tears back anymore. She sobbed.

“Shut up bitch,” Walker said and yanked her towards his car by her arm. 

“You know that I’m going to fuck you up right?” Bryli did not see who it was but she didn’t need to. This whole week Veles had been watching out for her. She knew that Walker was the one Veles was yelling at outside the restaurant. Veles must have been chasing him away from the changing room door. She fell in love with him all over again. 

Walker loosened his grip and some of the strength in his voice was gone. “Get the fuck out of here Veles.” Walker said, “I don’t want to have to kick the shit out of you.” 

“We both know that’s not gonna happen,” She had never seen that look on her exes face before. “Let her the fuck go.” 

Bryli wiggled out of his grip and tried to run. Her whole body hurt so she did not make it far. The two men squared off. Walker charged, Veles side-stepped at the last second and threw Walker to the ground. Veles moved to jump on Walker but he was too quick and got back to his feet. Walker threw a punch but Veles was far too quick. Veles countered with two hard punches, right then left, into Walker’s ribs. Bryli hoped the pop she heard from the right hand broke at least one of that bastard's ribs. Walker did cry out in pain. Veles threw another right and connected with Walker’s temple causing a loud crack. Walker went to one knee, Veles got behind his cousin and put him in a choke hold. Walker was gasping for breath while pawing at Veles’s tight grip around his neck. Veles was not affected in the slightest by Walker’s attempts to break free. She saw Walker’s eyes roll up in his head before they closed.

She tried to cry out for Veles to stop, but a mix of his adrenaline and her weakened state he could not hear her. Veles went to his back keeping Walker on top of him so he could get an even better grip. Bryli tried to crawl to the men, again she was too weak to even move. Walker went completely limp and Veles rolled him to the side. Veles then began punching Walker’s lifeless head. Before she knew it, the night was drowned out by flashing blue and red lights. 

Cops yelled and blurred past her to the two young men on the ground. Three of them pulled Veles off of his cousin and threw him to the ground. Veles did not struggle a bit. They cuffed Veles and took him straight to the back of one of the police cars.  Bryli tried to shout her protest but nobody could hear her pleas.

After what felt like far too long a female officer approached Bryli with a caring smile on her face. As soon as the officer was close Bryli whisper-yelled, “He was protecting me, please officer he was protecting me.” 

 “We’ll get to that darling,” the officer said with a mother’s touch in her voice. Then gently placed her hands on Bryli’s shoulders. Bryli collapsed into the officer's arms.

“No,” Bryli begged, “Veles saved me, Walker is the one that hurt me. Veles stopped him.”

“We will get to that sweetie,” the officer was very soothing, “I promise you will get to tell me everything that happened. Let’s get you to that bench and off your feet?” 

“Please don’t arrest him,” Bryli asked, then began crying the most painful cry of her life. “I should’ve listened to him. He was always good to me.” The officer said nothing. 

The ambulance pulled into the lot adding more brightness to the blue and red night sky. Paramedics jumped out, grabbed a stretcher, then ran quickly to Bryli. They gently put her on the stretcher and hooked her up to an oxygen mask. Bryli did not let go of the officer’s hand as the paramedics wheeled her away, the officer was forced to follow. They pushed Bryli into the ambulance and as the wheels collapsed into the stretcher she removed the mask. “Please do not arrest him,” she pleaded one final time. 

It was too late. Bryli watched the police car drive away with Veles in the back. She cried as the ambulance doors swung shut then locked.