The Street Fighter

Chapter 16

His scratchy hands grazed against my tender, bruised stomach. His finger marks almost engraved into my skin with the amount of pressure he was putting on the skin. Although, it wouldn't have made a difference, it would have just added to the ugly, multi-coloured skin. Blues, purples, greens and a sickly yellow plastered my skin, not an inch left untouched by the man's fists.

The bruises all added up from the beatings over the last few days just like they did nearly every month. If I was lucky I would be able to convince Mum that Dylan and I would be safe on our own at home. And we would be, safer than here anyway. But she didn't know that.

My body shook and overwhelming pain overcame me as he slid his member into me. He had done this so many times yet the pain never became any less bearable. My sobs became muffled as his mouth covered mine, his tongue slipping into my mouth, successfully cutting of my whimpers of pain but not reducing the pain any less. His mouth left mine and my scratchy voice and his grunts resonated around the room. As predicted, my pleads fell on deaf ears.

His coarse whisky tongue licked at my skin, stubby fingers curled in my hair. Every time I closed my eyes he bashed my head backward onto the headboard demanding I open them. I didn't want to, I closed them over and over, anything rather than to watch his face light up with power and lust. Lust for me.

Then as usual, the pain became overwhelming and darkness enveloped me.

***

I sat up straight in bed, my breaths shallow and chest rising and falling with every breath I took accompanied by a thin sheen of sweat glistening on my skin.

The nightmare I had wasn't my first and definitely wouldn't be my last. Not as long as he was out there, looking for me.

The worst part was it wasn't just a nightmare, it was a memory relived in my sleep. And these were the worst because it's not as if I could say they weren't real. Because they were.

I looked to my left then my right to make sure Dylan and Shaun were still sleeping and sure enough they were.

Getting up, I made my way to the bathroom thankful for being able to sleep in just underwear. If I didn't, I'd wake up drenched in a sweaty top each morning rubbing against my skin. Not the best feeling.

I turned the shower on, the warm water pelting my skin.

A shiver ran through me as I felt his grimy hands touching my body. As if he were actually here. I scrubbed harder, wishing I could scrub off the skin that had been touched by him. By the end, my body felt raw and red but it was clean of him.

I watched as the soapy water ran down the drain along with my nightmares and feeling satisfied, I got out.

The towel wrapped around my body dropped to the floor once I found my sports bra, shorts and hoodie. I put them on then filled my water bottle with water, grabbed hand wraps and a few other bits and bobs before stuffing the items into my bag.

The note placed on the counter informed Shaun of where I'd be. My hand rested on the door knob and I turned back to make sure everything was okay, only to find Shaun staring at me from the bedroom door.

I held back a smile, he knew I couldn't sleep he just didn't know why exactly. He didn't completely know what the nightmares were about and I liked it that way. He would be on the next flight to the other side of the world if he find out what happened to me. Why I became like this.

"Stay safe, okay? And be careful, call if you need anything."

I nodded at him and lifted my hand up in a wave. "Love you Sheep. Always."