Criminal Essense

Chapter 4: Nightmares and Lawyers

Chapter 4: Nightmares and Lawyers

\March 6th, 2013 2:58 a.m.

Room 210

The door opened and closed, waking Piper, and she yawned, sitting up in her bed. “Dad?” she called. She heard a grunt and scuffling sounds coming into the hallway before the door to her room opened, the light flickering on. “What’re you doing?"

He went over to her bed and grabbed her wrist, yanking her out of bed. She felt a fist connect with the side of her face, and she cried out, falling against the bed. Her father leaned over her, holding down her hands so she couldn't move her arms. She started screaming, trying to resist, but he was too strong.

"Dad! What're you doing? Please! Please don't!"

"Shut up!" He yelled, slapping her across the face. "It's your fault! Your fault she's gone!" 'She' meaning her mother.

"I'm sorry!" She sobbed, though she didn't know what she was apologizing for. She was hysterical, trying to get away before he could hurt her again.

"Shut up!" He leaned over her, eyes bloodshot, breath reeking of alcohol. He pulled her up from the bed and threw her against the wall. She cried out, falling to the floor. He grabbed a lamp from her bedside table and threw it at her. She covered her head with her arms, turning away with a scream as it shatter against her back. She felt shards of glass pierced her skin, and she arched her back, yelling in pain. She didn’t need to check to know that the warm liquid trailing down her shirt was blood.  

She was screaming and crying, the pain overwhelming, and she felt weak and helpless, because she had never imagined anything like this--not even in her nightmares. "Please! Please stop! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

"I said shut up!" He grabbed a wad of her hair and used it to bang her head against the wall, then, everything went black.

Detective Reynold’s had been woken by screaming coming from the other room, and the first thing he did was grab his gun before rushing into the living area. When he saw Piper tossing and yelling, beads of sweat glistening on her forehead, he put his gun away, trying to think of what to do. “Please!” she yelled, and for a moment he thought she was talking to him, but he noticed her eyes were closed, and that she was crying. “Dad, please stop! I’m sorry!”

Realizing she was having a nightmare, he tried calling her name, but when that didn’t work, he grabbed her shoulders and started shaking her awake.  

Piper woke with a start, gasping, sweat clinging to her clothes, tear stains on her cheeks. Reynolds was shaking her, though she didn’t know why. When he saw that she was awake, he stopped, not quite sure what to do. All was silent for a moment, but then tears started rising to her eyes and she knew that she had been screaming in her sleep.

“It’s okay,” Reynolds said, sitting on the edge of the sofa, placing a hand on her shoulder as she began to sob. “It’s just a dream.

Piper shook her head. It wasn’t just a dream. It had happened. And it forever haunted her.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Piper lied.

“You want to talk about it?

“No.”

Reynold’s hesitated. “You sure?”

Piper nodded, sniffling. She couldn’t stand to make eye-contact with the man she had insulted freely who had come to her rescue. She felt embarrassed. Humiliated was more like it. She was practically eighteen for crying out loud, she wasn’t supposed to be having nightmares.