Nightmare...a short story

They’d attacked her before, but had graciously stayed sulking in their dark corner for nearly 6 months. Wasn’t it bad enough that she had to live through it, that she shouldn’t have to relive it in her dreams, her nightmares? They come at random; she couldn’t hold them back whenever they came at her from the dark. She’d been enjoying another peaceful sleep next to her boyfriend. He never knew about her dreams; she didn’t think that it was important if they never came when he was next to her. It had slipped in through her defenses, slunk in like a dark shadow over her mind. She was just about to wake up, when it pulled her back under. His face flashed in front of her. She pulled back--pulled out of the dream and curled into Will. “Please hold on to me.” she begged him. She felt his arm around her, and thought it safe to fall back into oblivion. . .but it was waiting for her there. His hands were holding her arms down, even as she struggled. She could feel his breath on her neck as he whispered into her ear ‘If you fight, it’ll only hurt more.' She knew it was true but it didn’t stop her fighting. Please don’t hurt me. she pleaded with him. His hands were like spiders crawling over her skin. His fingers were insider her, scraping her raw. She screamed with fear as she kept fighting. His hands came back to hold her down. All she could think was Please stop! Please stop hurting me. She fought as hard as she could. His hands were grappling for her so he could placate her enough to get himself off again. Suddenly, he was gone. The dream that tortured her, that left her raw, had drawn back. She woke with a jolt. She could still feel his disgusting hands on her. She shuddered with the same fear she’d felt over and over again over two years ago. She prayed it wasn’t violent, that it was soft on the outside to Will. But when her gorge rose her in throat, she knew what it had been to him. She didn’t trust herself to move, when he looked over at her. “What the hell happened?” He looked more concerned then angry. “Nothing--it was just a memory, a dream.” She tried to cover it up. Her gorge rose again. “Jesus I’m gonna be sick.” She leapt off of the bed and ran to the bathroom. He knew her well enough to stay back, to stay in the room until she came to him. She just sat there on the floor. She wanted to crawl away--make it go away! The dregs of the nightmare calmed. The only thing that showed was her constant shaking. She had to go face her boyfriend. God, she didn’t want to. It was her only choice. He saw her schlep into the room. His arms came around her and held her like she requested. He waited for the tears that he’d never see from her. “ Are you going to tell me what happened?” He thought he knew. He knew he knew. “ No.” she simply said. “ Marie…” “ No. Just leave it alone.” He sighed. How could he help her? He couldn’t bear seeing her hurt, see her shaking in his room when he could do nothing. All he could do was watch her struggle, and shake. All he could do was…nothing. “It happened two years ago. It wasn’t necessarily rape…it was his fingers not…um…him.” Christ how could she do this without falling apart. “ I figured. What happened in your dream?” “Just a memory. Just a flash. It doesn’t mean anything. Don’t worry about it.” Just a dream. . .just a dream. . . “ You’re strong. You pulled your hands out of mine. I tried to wake you up, pull you out of whatever you were going through, but I couldn’t. So I left you to finish it by yourself.” He felt guilt for not trying a little harder to get her out of her fears. “ Did I really fight…hard?” Marie couldn’t help but feel shame and embarrassment. “ Yes.” They left it alone. She was still tired but she didn’t want to dream again in front of him. From that night on, she couldn’t fall asleep as easily around him. The nightmares would attack her again, she knew it. They came less frequently now, then they did a few years ago. At first it was nearly every day that they put darkness into her mind, but now, thank God, they only came every few weeks, or months if she was lucky. Will stayed with her. He knew about the abuse that she’d absorbed when she was young, and he made it a point to show her that he loved her, and wouldn’t ever hurt her like she’d been before. * The ending is kinda wonky but i'll be working on it.*