You Know Me

6| He's Back

  WARNING: The beginning of this chapter may be disturbing to some. This gives you a look into Josie's nightmares. For anyone that can relate to my character, I feel for you deeply, and you're not alone. I love all of my readers and do not wish this on ANYONE. Many of Josie's nightmares will be scattered through the rest of my story, and I will try to put a warning label on any chapter that does. This is a work of fiction and is not related to me in any way. Thank you for reading, my lovely viewers. 

Thursday

May 19, 2020

"Josephine... Josephine!" His shouts echo down the narrow halls, and the pounding at my door matches the thumps of my heartbeat perfectly. "Let me in; I just want to talk."

I cover my ears with my pillow, waiting for the noise to stop, but it never does. I'm hopelessly glued to my bed, and even wanting to hide; I can't break myself from the mattress. It's only a matter of time before he jolts the lock loose or breaks the door down. I'm just counting down the final moments.

I hear the lock dismantle and the heavy footsteps nearing my bed. "What have I told you about locking your door?" he shouts and tears my blanket from me, letting it slide off into the floor. His eyes are fiery red, and I can tell from just that, that whatever is about to happen will be bad.

I sit silently, swallowing back my tears as I sit up and bring my knees to my chest. My silky nightgown falls down my thigh, revealing only a glimpse of my panties to him before I quickly pull it back down. He grabs my wrists tightly and brings me closer to him. I can smell the liquor and stench of stale cigarettes escaping from his breath, causing me to hold my breath.

"Please leave me alone, Dave. I want to go to bed," I manage to say as I let out a deep breath, finally letting my tears roll down my cheeks.

"No, you have to learn," he barks, not caring about what I have to say. His spit hits my face, and as I try to wipe it away, he slaps my cheek hard, leaving a sting. I cry out, but no one is here to help me. No one is ever here to help me.

He pins me down on my bed with his legs and unbuckles his belt, slowly pulling it from the loops in his jeans. I close my eyes like I always do, to save my mind from at least some of the awful images. He reaches into his back pocket and pulls out a cigarette along with a lighter. He lights his cigarette and places the remaining light on the metal of his belt. My eyes set on the orange flame, distracting my mind from the worst.

Breathe in, breathe out.

I take deep breaths to control the beating in my chest, but it doesn't help. Hot ashes fall from his cigarette and onto my skin, making me jump only slightly from his forceful grip. He takes the light away from the metal and places it on my left bicep. I let out a scream as the hot metal burns into my soft skin.

"Shut up, whore. No one is coming to save you."

•••

"No! No! No!" I scream myself awake for the second time this week.

I grab my left bicep, tracing the small scar embedded in my skin. I look down at the dark ink covering it and trace the thin lines that make out a little lavender flower. My breathing calms from my most aghast state, a feeling I haven't felt in so long. Before Sunday morning, I hadn't had a nightmare of him since I lived in Missouri. That was just two years ago. When I moved to Florida, I didn't have to look at the same walls, the same scenery that he...

"Jo-Jo, what's wrong? Why were you screaming?" Stella asks, groggily but on high alert. Her eyes squint as she turns on my overhead light and her in her cropped shirt and panties tells me that it's way too early in the morning. Christian stands behind her with a bat pressed to his chest and pushes past her to search my room.