My Worst Nightmare

This is another finish the story prompt that I wanted to take in a different direction. “The moment I woke up I knew something wasn’t right…” However, that week I had had two separate nightmares concerning my ex. I always make it a point he never physically hurt me, but there was abuse. I chose to use this prompt to explain the nightmares I had.

TRIGGER WARNING: Mental and Physical Abuse.

My bed feels cold, and the light is coming in at the wrong angle. My body is tense, and the breath sounds next to me are unfamiliar. I open my eyes and realize that this is not my home. I’m scared. Where am I? slowly and quietly I turn to see who is in bed with me and I almost let out a scream. How did I get here? I haven’t seen this man in years. I’ve built my life without him so why is he here next to me?

Adam opens his eyes and my heart speeds up. He somehow always had a hold onto me. His strawberry blond hair and his striking blue eyes hold me still. Now all I feel is fear. I’ve always known what he could do to me, so it makes no sense why I’m here.

“Good morning beautiful” he sighs. I know that sound as if it were yesterday. He is confident that he has what he wants and I’m not going anywhere. He kisses me and rolls out of bed. “Come on get up. We are going out for breakfast”

At the diner down the street that we walked to, I still haven’t said a word. He has had a grip on my hand a little too hard the entire time. He lets go to eat but he is next to me in the booth, preventing me from getting up. When we are done eating and are ready to pay the bill he looks at me expectantly. That is familiar as well. I was always that one that had to pay.

When we got home, I sat on the couch not knowing what my routine should be. In my life I have a husband, daughter, job and house to take care of. I tried to sound sincere when I asked what we should do today, but it sounded forced. Apparently, I forgot about the party at Ellen’s that day. Even though I don’t know who that is, I play along. Though the look on his face says that he is annoyed that I don’t remember the party. I will have to be careful not to make him mad at me.

When we arrived at Ellen’s I was shocked. These are my family and friends. My real ones yet none of them are being themselves. They act like they know me but from this world. Not mine. Thay are all polite to me and act like they are Adam’s best friends. At some point I’m mingling with a woman who is my mother in real life but shows no recognition here. She asks when we will be moving, and I mumble something about as soon as possible. She says she thinks it will be so much better when I leave. That is when Adam comes out of nowhere and has me on the ground in seconds.  He puts a foot on my stomach and has both my hands in his. He screams at me that I can’t leave him. He will always be here. I cry out that he is hurting me. He presses down harder with his foot, says that I will always belong to him and he releases me. When I look around everyone is looking at me like I did something wrong.

He doesn’t speak to me on the way home. I’m trying to figure out what to say to get him out of this bad mood. We pull into the driveway and there is a guy there racking the grass. And though Adam pays him no mind, I see that it is my real-life husband. These two men never interacted before. I had left Adam before meeting my husband. So why was he here and not acknowledging me? Adam notices my hesitation and yells at me to hurry up.

Once inside Adam turns to me and pins me to the wall. He has my wrists in each of his hands. All his body weight is pressed into me, and he is trying to kiss me. My natural instincts kick in and I try to pull away from his kiss and push him off me. My body is panicking now. That’s when the man from outside, my husband, is somehow inside with us now. He pulls Adam off me and smashes him into the ground.

I shoot straight up out of bed. I heard the loud snoring coming from next to me and found my husband. I look around, I’m home, it’s dark outside, but this is my house. As my heart returns to normal rhythm, I take a few deep breaths. I lay back down and curled up against my husband. I let the tears fall as I thank God he gave me such a good man to protect me even in my worst nightmares. My husband wraps his arms around me as I try to get some more rest. Adam may never leave me alone, but I can face him with my husband’s continued love.