Her throat throbbed as she began to rise up out of her unconscious state.  She opened her eyes and saw him sitting in the corner.  His knees were drawn up to his chest and he was rocking back and forth, humming to himself.  He probably thought he had killed her and she wondered if she was getting a glimpse of what remained of his sanity as she watched him.

                He looked at her then, his eyes not registering what he was seeing at first.  Then she could see the glimmer of recognition and waited for him to say something.  He didn’t speak; only glared at her with those steely blue eyes.

                “Why do you make me hurt you?” he finally said.  “Why can’t you just listen and be obedient?”  Not waiting for a response, he continued on.  “I don’t want to have to hurt you but as you well know, I CAN and I WILL.  I want to marry you.  Don’t make me have to kill you before that can happen.”

                She mumbled a clumsy apology and said she would work harder to be the woman he wanted.  Her class was starting in about an hour so she got up and walked toward the bedroom door.  Maybe a hot shower would help to soothe her aching throat and neck.

                He grabbed her arm before she could get there and squeezed tightly, making her cry out in pain.  “Just remember I’m watching you when you’re out at class today.  Someone is ALWAYS watching you and I will ALWAYS know what you’re doing.  Don’t do anything stupid or you WILL regret it.”

                She nodded and said, “Don’t worry, I understand.  I’ll go to class and come straight home afterward.  May I go get ready now?”

                He let go of her and she made a beeline for the hallway.  Once she was behind the relative safety of the bathroom door; she burst into tears.  It took a lot of effort to be silent while doing this and she turned on the water in the sink, hoping this would dull some of the noise.  She TRULY believed he had intended to kill her this morning and wasn’t sure how she had managed to escape that fate. He must have stopped choking her at the last second, perhaps realizing that he was about to commit murder.

                Whatever the reason was, she didn’t care.  She was alive by some kind of miracle and she was not going to lose the opportunity to execute her plan.  Not now, especially after what had almost just happened.  She would call her father as soon as she got on campus and let him know she was alright; that she was going to go through with it.  She knew he was worried she was going to back out, but she could do this.  She HAD to do this.  Her life could very well depend on it. 

                All she had to do was get to class and act like it was just another day.  It was vital that he not suspect anything, for she had no doubt that he would follow through with his threats.  He had proven many times in the past that he was a man of his word and she had been lucky to escape his wrath this morning.

                 He didn’t know she was leaving and it had to stay that way.  Her father was going to help her one last time.  He had helped her before, but she kept going back and he had lost patience with her.  The last time he had told her that was it, but when she called him, he must have heard the desperation in her voice. She knew it broke his heart to know his daughter was in pain, but she didn’t think he knew the extent of what she had been enduring.  She hadn’t seen him for months, but she would see him today.  Today she would be unable to hide the scratches and bruises on her neck.  There were reddened palm prints lingering on her throat and she wouldn’t be able to hide those either.  Today her father would see the results of the horrors bestowed upon his daughter and she wondered how he would handle it.

                She decided it didn’t matter and tried to think about seeing her father.  He was coming to save her again.  She hoped he would be successful this time.

Submitted by Mainebikerchick

She lied still in the bed, listening to the sounds of him and his drunken friends out in the living room.  She tried to focus on sleep, tried to make herself enter the dream realm, but her restless mind would not allow her to.  Her mind was racing with thoughts of what he was going to be like in a few hours.  Would he pass out on the couch when his buddies left or would he stumble down the hall to the bedroom? Would he let her sleep or awaken her with a vicious kick to the head?

She kept telling herself she needed to get some rest….she needed to pass that exam or what was the point in being in college anyway?  She hated him now. She hated how he drank all the time, hated the sour smell of milk on his breath after a night-long binge of drinking that disgusting coffee brandy.  She hated that she was scared of him, hated that he controlled her every move and made her feel like a worthless excuse for a human being.  Most of all, she hated the demented look he got in his eye when he was drunk, right before he started in on her.  She always tried to transport herself somewhere else when the pain became too much and the blood began to flow.

His footsteps advancing down the hall snapped her out of her reverie. Her heart was racing and she wondered what was going to happen to her in the next two minutes. She briefly debated talking to him, then decided it would be smarter to feign sleep.  Maybe then he would leave her alone.

It was wishful thinking.

He lay down next to her and after a few seconds, he leaned over and touched her.  She tried not to cringe, not to move; hoping he would give up.  Instead, he started shaking her; giving her no choice but to open her eyes and look at him. She saw that crazed look in his eyes and knew she was in trouble.

She told him she was tired, that she had to work in a few hours.  He became enraged, screaming at her, calling her those names again.  She tried to get up and leave the room; maybe he would leave her alone if she could just get away.  He grabbed her by her hair and threw her on the floor.  She tried to crawl to away and he pounced on her, straddling her with both legs.  She began to scream and tried to kick him; the reality of the situation was sinking in fast.  He pinned her arms with his knees and put his hands over her mouth.  She bit him and he howled with pain. He grabbed her by the throat and started choking her; screaming at her to shut up.

She wondered if this was what it was like to die as everything around her faded to black…..

Submitted by Mainebikerchick