Chris please" she pleaded in the dark room. She was laying on her side on her bed. Her hands were tied behind her back with zipties and each time she moved they cut into her skin a little more. Tears streaked her face.
"Shut the fuck up." He growled.
"Josh is staying at a friends tonight. Please, just let me go. I won't call the police." She lied.
"Fucking bitch of course you will. You aren't going anywhere and neither is Josh when he gets home."
"Just leave Josh out of this Chris, he's just a boy."
"No. You have to learn to respect me."
She sobbed into the mattress. She needed to find a way to tell Ali not to bring Josh home tonight. Her mind was racing. He had taken her cell phone and turned it off. Maybe she could try to run? She tried to see what he was doing, but the room was dark and she could barely make out his shadow. He had ambushed her when she came home from the grocery store. All of a sudden Josh appeared and the room was light. He looked at her with fear in his eyes.
"Mom?"
Then she saw the knife. She saw the blade go into her son's stomach again and again and again. She screamed in horror.
Ashley sat up in bed sweating. Her heart was racing and she had tears in her eyes. She looked around her dark room scanning for Chris and Josh. Her brain took a minute to realize she had been dreaming. She told herself to breath. She took some deep breaths to calm herself down then put her face in her hands. She rubbed her eyes then went into the bathroom to get a drink. She drank some water then looked at her reflection in the mirror. Her eyes looked at the scar on the side of her neck and she reached up and traced it with her finger. She sighed then went down the hall to check on Josh. She had been having these nightmares since that night her ex had attacked her. The beginning of the dreams were always how it had really happened then it always changed to Josh getting stabbed by her ex, who had the most evil look in his eyes as he did it. She peeked into Josh's room and saw him sleeping peacefully and felt better. She went to the kitchen and looked in the fridge for a snack. She could never get back to sleep after the dreams. She pulled out some yogurt and sat at the kitchen table and ate it then picked up her phone. She looked through her pictures and smiled as she saw Josh's face. She loved him so much. Then she came to a picture of her and Noel that Josh had taken one night when the three of them had gone out for dinner. She smiled as she looked at Noel, who had been slightly annoyed at all the pictures Josh was taking. She thought about calling him, but decided against it when she looked at the time. 4:37 AM. She didn't want to wake him.
* Song inspiration