//------------------------------//
// Chapter 17 
// Story: Tavi and Vi 
// by Master Koschei 
//------------------------------//

	“How dare you think you can run away with a fag and his bimbo!”
Flutters cried out in agony as Turner’s hand struck her hard across the face once again, causing her to spit out blood.  She stayed on her hands and knees for a second, staring down at the red drops staining the floor, before rising once again to face her attacker.  “I’m sorry, sir, I –“  But she was cut off by another strike.
“Sorry isn’t good enough, you bitch!”  Turner kicked her in the gut as the poor woman tried to stand, causing her to collapse in a wheezing mess on the floor, clutching at her stomach.  She lay on the ground with tears in her eyes as the man loomed over her.  “You’ve hurt my feelings, and now it seems I’m going to have to hurt you.”  He reached down and grabbed her by the throat, picking her up slowly and pinning her against the wall.
“T-Turner,” she tried to say, but her choked words were stopped with a little more pressure.  All the woman could do now was squeak and gag, trying her hardest to simply catch her breath.  Turner glared mercilessly at her as he choked the very life from her.  She clawed frantically at his hand, but he ignored it, intent on teaching her a valuable lesson.
At last she fell limp, her head lolling to one side, her eyes in the back of her head.  He dropped her to the floor, watching her collapse unconscious.  After a minute, he knelt down and smacked her a couple of times on the face, making her blearily open her eyes.  “We’re not done.”  He picked her up, this time by her arm.  “You’re going to make this up to me, one way or another.”
He tossed her onto the couch, glaring down at her.  “Turner…”  Her voice was barely more than a whisper, and trying to speak threw her into a massive coughing fit.  When she finally regained her composure, she looked up at him with fear in her eyes.  “Turner, please don’t…”
But the man wasn’t listening.  He stripped off his pants, standing there in his boxers.  “I think I’m gonna enjoy this.  You?  Maybe not so much.”  He smirked evilly as he got on top of her, pinning her to the cushions.
“Don’t…”  But the woman had no strength to resist as he started to pull off her pants.
Just then though, the front door busted open, and Octavius ran in, taking in the sight before him of Turner holding down a badly beaten and bloody Flutters.  “What the hell are you doing to her!?”  Octavius glared angrily at the man, who quickly stood up and squared off with the cellist.
“Whatever I feel like, friend,” Turner replied cockily.  “Now I suggest you go, or I’ll call the cops for a breaking and entering!”
“I doubt you do that,” Octavius said coolly, maintaining eye contact.  “You call the cops, they’ll see what you’ve done to that poor woman.”
Turner growled angrily, but didn’t back down.  “You best move along, boy.  Or else your fat whore might not get to see her beau again.”
Octavius kept his composure, staring down the man.  “Try me,” he said, standing his ground.  “You might be surprised.”
And suddenly Turner was on him, faster than Octavius had anticipated he could move, raining blows on his head and chest.  All Octavius could do was raise his hands to try to fend off the strikes.  Turner grinned manically above him as he continued to hit the younger man.  “I warned you, didn’t I?”  Every one of his words were punctuated with another strike.  “Now who will save you?”
Octavius continued to try to defend himself, finding no opening to strike back.  He tasted blood in his mouth, and his right eye felt badly bruised.  In fact, it had already started to swell shut.
“This’ll teach you to meddle,” Turner growled, still hitting Octavius.  “This’ll show –“  Suddenly, the punches stopped, and Turner froze mid sentence.  His eyes were wide with shock.  Then he fell forward onto Octavius, blood slowly oozing from the back of his head.  Above them stood Flutters, who was clutching a heavy looking pan like a weapon.  When the realization of what she’d done finally hit her, she dropped the pan and covered her mouth in shock.
“I-I just…”  But her words were stopped by a sudden coughing fit.  Octavius pushed the unconscious man off of him, standing shakily.  He looked down, then back to Flutters.
“We should go,” Octavius said quietly, reaching for the woman’s hand.  “Before he wakes up again.”  Flutters nodded quickly, taking Octavius’ hand.  They headed to the front door together, stepping out onto the porch and into the bright sunlight.  “It’s a beautiful day today,” Octavius noted, looking up at the sky for a minute.  “Too bad he had to ruin it, eh?”  He turned with a halfhearted smile to Flutters, who nodded with a weak smile herself.
“I always liked the sunshine,” she said as they descended the steps, Octavius being sure to keep a steady eye on the shaky woman.  “The warmth on my skin, and the light breeze across the grass.”  She coughed again, though not nearly as bad as before.  “I love the summer.”  She looked at Octavius.  “What about you?”
“Me?”  Octavius thought a moment, then smiled.  “Well, I really like the winter.”
Flutters tilted her head quizzically as the reached Octavius’ car.  “Why’s that?”
Octavius opened his door and looked in at Vinyl, who had a very concerned look on her face when she saw how beaten up he was.  “That’s the time I met this beautiful girl here, and my life changed forever.”
Flutters smiled kindly as she listened.  “You two seem so happy together,” she said quietly, almost to herself at this point as Vinyl fussed over Octavius’ face.  “I’m almost jealous.  You’re what love should be.”  She looked down at herself.  “I… I want that.  I want love.  I want to love and be loved in return.”  She turned her gaze to the window, looking out at the yard she was once more leaving.  Finally, Octavius started the car, and they were on their way out of there.
Flutters watched the trees quietly zoom by the car window.  She watched a mother bird land at her nest with a worm for her babies, and she watched a butterfly flit around a small patch of flowers.  She slowly reached a hand up and touched her neck tenderly, noting that it was still sore.  She then looked to Octavius and Vinyl, who were discussing the approaching due date of their daughter and potential names.  Quietly, Flutters longed for this.
She wanted someone to be with her, to have a child with her, and to say that they loved her every day.  Instead, all she had was someone who beat her down and called her worthless.  That’s not what she wanted at all, and she hoped that with Octavius and Vinyl’s help, she could have so much more.