The End of a Nightmare

The sunlight burns her retinas momentarily as she throws the covers over her head, attempting to escape the dread that washes over her.

I don't want to do this anymore. Maybe if I run away....

But he'll find me. He always finds me. And he'll kill me if I escape. Better get up before he yells.

Shirking the covers over her shoulders, she slowly rises, and with her eyes only half open, she pulls a long-sleeved shirt over her naked body. She pulls her pajama pants on, and glances in the mirror. Finally opening her eyes, she takes herself in.

Nothing to really look at. Mousy brown hair, green eyes, pale skin. Nothing really pretty. Maybe he is right.

She runs a brush through her hair, when she hears it.

WHAM. Front door.

WHAM. Car door.

Vrrooooooom.

Well, shit, there goes my ride to school. Fuck.

She grabs her backpack by the one functional arm strap it has, and bolts out the door, just in time to catch a glimpse of his bumper rounding the corner down the street. Defeated, she turns and starts shuffling her feet in the opposite direction.

And it’s then she realizes she’s hungry and cold, and it’s the middle of November, and she didn’t grab a jacket, or even a hoodie.

“Hey, pretty lady, you lookin’ for a good time?” She hears the familiar voice, and a wave of nausea hits her. She looks over, and it’s one of the jocks from school, waiting at the bus stop, smiling and thrusting his pelvis in her general direction. The jackass next to him is practically crying, he’s laughing so hard. She looks away, pretending not to know him, not to hear him. Pretending not to exist.

“What’s the matter? Haven’t you ever smiled before? I could show you a really good time..”

For fuck’s sake. Does it ever end? She kept walking, past the bus stop, past the voices. She could never afford even a ride on the bus to school, nonetheless a session of therapy that bus ride would earn her, especially if they were on board together.

Then he’s running. Running to catch up to her. FOR FUCK’S SAKE, does he ever give up?

“Okay, listen, if me ignoring you doesn’t give you a hint, I’m not interested.” She glares daggers at him, but it doesn’t affect him. He knows her better than that. She would never admit it, but they’ve known each other for over a decade.

“Aww come on, I was only giving you a hard time. Besides, my type is more like her,” he says, pointing to a shapely blonde with too many highlights and too short a skirt.

“Real cute. What do you want?” Brush it off. What a moron.

“Listen, tonight, there’s a party at my friend’s house. His parents are out of town for the next 4 days. Business trip or whatever. You should come. Not that it’s anything to me, but I figured, you being my friend and all, I should extend the invitation to you.”

“We are so not friends. Never have been. Just because you’ve heard of my name and have had it committed to memory for the past 11 years does not make us friends.” Just to make it clear.

He feigns injury to his heart. “Ouch. That hurts. Come on, please come hang with us. It will be a blast.”

She stops for a moment. Which poison would actually be worse? Going home after school or hanging out with….them? I mean, if I go home, he could be there, and that would be a nightmare. But if I go to the party, they could see what a nightmare I am. What a loser I am.

She gives him a hesitant look. “Give me the address. I’ll have to think about it. I have to talk to my dad about it, see what he says.”

He pulls out pen and paper. “Oh come on, he won’t mind at all!” She heard him say under his breath, “Not that he cares about much anyways.” Handing it to her, he says, “Give it some thought. It’s nothing huge. Just some of us hanging out.”

“Kay. By the way, the bus passed us a while ago. You sure you want to walk with me?”

“Of course. Because unlike what you seem to think, I don’t mind you.”

They continued to walk in silence. The icy wall she put up began to crack, ever so slightly.

                                                           ------------------------

The school doors shut behind her, and she looked up. There he was, waiting for her.

“Where did you go this morning? I needed a ride.”

“Well, obviously fucking not, or you wouldn’t be here right now,” he said, his greasy hair hanging in front of his eyes. I see you didn’t bother to change your clothes from 3 days ago. Fucking great. “Get in the car.”

“I was going to get a ride. I didn’t know you—”

“What, from that loser jock boyfriend of yours? Whatever, just get in the car, so we can go home. You have chores to do,” he said with a sneer.

“Hey, you ready to go?” the ‘jock boyfriend’ said, placing a hand on her shoulder. She froze.

“I’m sorry, but my dad made it. Thanks for the offer though,” she said, trying to appear as normal as possible. Please don’t catch on. I don’t want trouble. I’m already in deep shit as is.

“Alright, just please think about tonight,” he says, turning away towards the parking lot.

She starts to walk towards the car.

“Think about what?” her dad says, more than slightly irritated as she opens the car door.

“Nothing, was just invited to hang out,” she said, then got in and shut the door.

SLAM. “Good thing you’re not going,” he said, as he slid his hand up her thigh and squeezed hard, making her cringe in pain.

Tap tap tap tap. OH SHIT. She looks up, and it’s him. Her dad rolls the window down.

“Hey, you dropped this.” It was the piece of paper with the address on it. Should I take it? She looked over at her dad, who was busy trying to light a cigarette.

She grabbed it with a quick thanks and shoved it in her backpack. Her dad whipped out of the parking space, and sped towards the exit. He must not have heard what he said.

“So, how was your day?” he said eerily as he grabbed at her chest. She could feel the vomit wanting to rise, but she forced it down.

“It was alright. Nothing happened.”

“Did your boyfriend say anything else to you?” he said mockingly at the term boyfriend, as if anyone could find her attractive enough to want to date her, nonetheless sleep with her.

“He’s not my boyfriend, and no, he didn’t.” She slid over towards the door as close as she could get.

They finally pulled in the driveway, and she hesitated. She knew once they went inside, she was no longer safe. I mean, I’m never safe, but especially here. She didn’t have much time to hesitate before he yanked her door open and grabbed her arm and pulled her out. She forced herself to not tear up. There’s another bruise to cover up.

As soon as she walked in the front door, he shoved her against the wall. She froze. Why can’t I move? He’s barely holding me, but I can’t move. He slid his hand up her leg again, and this time, he didn’t stop. He started groping her, and she twitched. Oh shit.

SLAP. I can’t see! Fuck I can’t see! She felt her face, and she could barely touch it. “Don’t you dare move! You fucking whore, don’t you dare move!”

It was like it finally clicked. She got the urge to run. He went to hit her again, but she ducked, making him lose his balance. She slid out of the way and ran out the door.

And she ran.

She ran til she couldn’t breathe.

Then she kept running. She thought she was going to throw up.

She finally stopped in an alley. Shit, I’m on the other side of town.

Voices echoed in the entryway to the alley. She looked up, and it was her friend. He stopped walking. “Didn’t think I’d see you on this side of—hey, what’s wrong with your face?” His face suddenly showed dire concern.

And then they came. The tears wouldn’t stop, couldn’t stop. She could barely breathe, nonetheless tell him, tell anyone what had happened. Then arms. Stocky, muscular arms were around her shoulders. The world began to spin. She heard him say, “I’ll catch up with you guys later.” And then she was lifted, and taken farther into the alley. After a couple turns, she was lost. I pray to whatever God is out there that he knows what he’s doing. Through a back door, and lights. Neon lights and pale yellow tiles. “Dad, this is the friend I was telling you about. I found her in an alley.” A man in black stopped in front of her. She looked up to see the rest of him, and her eyes stopped on his badge.

Badge.

Cop.

SHIT.

She kicked until he dropped her, and went for the door, but the cop grabbed her. “It’s okay, hon. Please don’t run.” She tried to pull out of his grasp. “You haven’t done anything wrong. Please calm down.” She managed to get out of his grip, but right into the arms of two more cops. “Take her to one of the rooms. I’ll be in in a minute.” Kicking and screaming, she was dragged into a room with a really big window. The door shut.

Panicking, she tried to open it. Trapped. Fucking trapped. He’s going to kill me if he finds out I’m at the police station. She curled up in the corner, shaking.

After what seemed like forever, her friend came in. “They got him.”

She looked up, but couldn’t find the words. Who the fuck is he talking about? Her eyes were wide with fear. She was quivering. She was ready to fight.

“The cops got your dad. They’re processing him now.”

Wait…what? She straightened up, if only a little.

I can stop fighting? No more hell? No more nightmare?

She took his hand.