Nightmares

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February 21, 2017.

Twenty four - Emma

"No, James, please. I can't. I have so much school to catch up on and I have to work. I can't afford to do this again." Hot tears fell down her cheeks and gathered on the collar of her shirt.

"Emmy, I pay for absolutely everything. I pay for this apartment. I feed you, I cloth you, and all I ask is that you pitch in every once in a while for a trip. This is fucking pathetic. You are fucking pathetic."

Emma's voice shook in both anger and fear. Making him angry wasn't what she meant to do, but she could tell where this was heading. "I will try my best, I always try my best. I won't be able to do this unless I work twelve hour days all week on top of all of my classes."

"Then do it. I've already told you there's no point in getting a degree. An art degree doesn't get people anywhere. It especially won't get you anywhere, I've seen your paintings. Don't put all your eggs in one basket, Emmy, because that basket is about to snap."

Emma wiped her tears away with the sleeve of her long sleeved shirt. He knew what he was doing. He was becoming the basket that she had no choice but to put all her eggs in, and he was right. He was hanging on by a thread. He kept snapping more often, the loving person she had fallen for disappeared long ago. Now she had no money and nowhere to go, no choice but to stay with him.

"No. I won't do that. I'm not going to overwork myself to give in to your exhausting demands and I will not drop out of school."

Her sudden boldness had been rewarded with a sharp pain in her cheek. "We are going away this weekend. You will have a much better time if you do what I tell you."

She knew there was no point in postponing the inevitable. This was all part of his plan and she couldn't escape from his reach no matter how hard she tried. He had waited until the last minute on purpose, he knew she didn't have enough money for this. If she worked all week, she would be too tired to complain much on the trip. If she didn't complain, he wasn't as aggressive.

For some reason that day she was feeling brave. It may have been some kind of messed up adrenaline or spiked coffee. Maybe it was just how fed up she was with the bullshit that seemed to consume her more and more each day. So she told him his least favorite word for both the second and third time that night. "No, James. No. I'm not doing that. I'm going to stay here and start saving up my money and graduate college. You can go if you want. Nothing's stopping you." She was begging for him to go by himself at this point.

"I'm telling you that we are going. I'm not asking. What could you possibly need to save money for? To leave me? I could make your life hell, Emmy, you know that right? And if I can't find you then someone else would do it for me because no one would ever like you for you. You are worthless and no one could ever love you without wanting to hurt you. I hope you know that."

He got close to her and put his hands on her shoulders, squeezing them tightly. He moved his hands to her neck. He didn't tighten them, but she stopped breathing anyway. She couldn't breathe, this time it wasn't even directly his doing. She needed to go, but she couldn't. She felt paralyzed, like she was watching herself and willing something to happen but it wouldn't. She wanted to run, to do anything, but her feet were glued to the floor, not letting her move away from his grasp.

She opened her eyes and jumped at the feeling of arms draped over her torso. He was here. He was lying right next to her. Everything was much too dark to be able to see where she was and why he was here. She tried to move away from him but the arms tightened around her.

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