On edge in Byala and losing it

The next morning I called my dad and said I was in Byala at my apartment and although I was safe for now, I had just a few days before Valeri would know where I was and come looking for me. He told me to sit tight until we could work out a way to get me home.

As far as I was concerned the only way was for someone to come to Bulgaria and drive me and Lula home or for me to drive myself back but I needed money to do this and noone would lend me it as not only was I banned from driving in Bulgaria, my family had decided that I had lost the plot!
The general consensus from everyone including the Embassy was for me to get a flight home which it seemed like everyone was willing to pay for so I would be back in the UK in a number of hours and get the medical help that I so clearly needed but I refused point blank as that would mean leaving Lula as no airline out of Bulgaria took pets and there was no way on this earth I was going to leave without her or put her in a dog kennel in Bulgaria which were only there to put strays off the street who were treated cruelly before being put down within weeks! Lula was all I had left and had been through this whole ordeal with me and suffered too so I was not going to abandon her. My dad understood but sadly I was told by everyone else that I was being difficult and acting crazy!

Byala was deserted as the holiday season was over and so I knew that someone would tell Valeri I was back in Byala before long. I needed to get what I needed to try and leave and secure the villa and apartment as best as I could and get out of there before the police realised I was back and would no doubt catch me driving and deregister this car too.

I walked everywhere I needed to go in Byala the next day. There was no electric at the villa either so I had to get everything done by daylight which I did.

I secured all the doors and windows as best as I could, gathered all the keys and all the paperwork and documents that I could find that I knew I had to keep safe and with me just in case Valeri destroyed them in the future. Things such as my deeds to my properties, birth certificate, ownership papers for Lula as well as the paper version of my driving licence which the police did not take as I hoped that this would be sufficient for me to drive myself through Europe and home if need be!

I couldn't relax in Byala and was looking over my shoulder constantly and just wanted to get out of there. I was also heartbroken at the state of my villa and the damage and destruction of it that Valeri had caused. My beautiful dream home had been abused as I had with the evidence visible by broken windows and kicked in doors, my personal belongings broken or missing and the entire place in need of maintenance and TLC.

I was in a heightened state of panic as I knew I had to get out of there before Valeri returned. I was paranoid that he could return at any time and I was not certain that he was not already on his way or even back there already but I knew for sure that he would come looking for me and straight to the apartment or villa and that this time I wouldn't be safe and he would no doubt try to kill me before ever letting me leave him again! I was also full of anger and hatred towards him and the police and the many people in Byala who had just turned a blind eye and allowed this to happen.

I barricaded the smashed in front door with whatever I could find but I knew it would not keep anyone who wanted to enter my home out and that it would not hold in the severe winter weather but I knew that noone wanted to help me in Byala.

The second night I stayed in my apartment without electricity which also had the door kicked in, I was on edge the whole time. Every little noise I heard or the dogs in the street barking, I was up like a shot and looking outside for signs of Valeri.
I went to sleep eventually and woke up in the darkness convinced he was in the apartment and even thought he was standing over me but it was just a bad dream and noone was there! However this nightmare was not unrealistic and could happen at any time.

I couldnt take much more as I was frightened to death and felt like a sitting duck so about 4am while it was still dark, I got a few things together and went to the car and drove out of Byala by the back roads to Obzor which was only 5 kms away but in a different municipality than Byala and governed by a different police district so I felt less likely to get pulled over in my car and if I did then I had the paper part of my driving licence which would probably satisfy them not to check any further. My passport had expired in September but I knew if this was queried that the British Embassy would clarify that I had been in contact with them to obtain emergency travel documents. It was a risk but less risk than being stopped in Byala and the Varna municipality.


I drove to the outskirts of Obzor and over the line out of the Varna municipality and parked the car in a derelict nightclub carpark where I had gone before in the middle of the night to escape Valeri in the past when I had to leave the villa at short notice to avoid his rage. I knew the carpark was safe and Lula and I could sleep in the car undisturbed as we had done on the occasions before.
I felt safer there than I did in the apartment and so we settled down and went to sleep in the car until it was light.