Chapter 1

It had been almost two years since she saw his face - about the same time as the nightmares ceased. His crooked, angry smile and sarcastic laugh stopped haunting her sleep. She thought it was all behind her. She couldn’t have been more wrong.

Beth jolted up in bed. The sweat rolled off her face as she blindly fumbled to pull the sheets away from her skin; in a state of panic from how tightly they stuck to her wet body. Instantly, Scott was sitting up next to her.

“Are you okay? What’s wrong?”

He pushed a piece of damp hair out of her eyes and even with the darkness closing in on her, his touch calmed Beth. Her breathing slowed from its panicked rate.

“Nothing. I’m okay. I just need to get a drink.” She tried to get up but the sheets still held her captive in their wet embrace.

Scott gently reached for her arm, “When did they start again?”

She knew what he meant. He was with her when the nightmares began. He’s the reason they finally stopped. She was safe with Scott. She loved Scott. But she didn’t want to talk about the reason for their sudden return. She wanted to forget Chris again.

She shook her head and stammered through a vague answer, “I don’t know. The past few days. They haven’t been bad. Don’t worry. I’m sure they’ll stop again.”

“Want to talk about it?”

Beth knew he couldn’t see her face, but she smiled gratefully at him and leaned over, kissing him gently, “No. Go back to sleep. I’ll be right back.”

“I’ll wait up for you.”

Beth sighed. She had hoped to go out to the living room and watch some television. If he came out to talk with her there, it might be better. Back inside the darkness of their bedroom, however, she’d get no additional sleep tonight. So, instead, she got a cold drink and stared wistfully at the picture of the two of them at the beach this past summer. She felt the nervous shiver spread down her back and wrapped her arms up around her shoulders as she confirmed her suspicions - she wouldn’t sleep again tonight, even with Scott’s strong arms wrapped snugly around her. It felt different this time.

Her mind drifted off as she recalled the events that preceded tonight’s nightmares. A few troubling weeks that she told no one about. Looking at the calendar that hung on the wall, Beth confirmed it was only three weeks ago when she first heard the rumble of a muffler that was all too familiar. She had teased Chris once that she could always tell when he was near; the sound of his after-market muffler was hard to disguise and became engrained in her memory. Three short weeks ago she heard it as she walked to her car through the parking lot after work. It was late and dark, and she tried to convince herself that there were thousands of trucks that could sound the same. As the rumble followed her day after day for weeks, however, it became more difficult to convince herself. As she found herself more certain that it could be Chris’ truck, she also found herself daydreaming. The thought of him coming back for her, searching for her, excited Beth. She reminded herself of all the reasons she left him - the abuse and the fear. That simple act of remembering her past was enough to bring back the nightmares.

Scott walked out of the bedroom. Beth jumped and spun around when the floor creaked.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t want to scare you. Are you sure you’re okay?” Scott reached out to Beth and pulled her against his chest.

She nodded. “Go back to bed. I promise I’ll be in soon.”

Scott looked down at Beth closely. There was something she wasn’t telling him. As much as he swore to himself he’d not allow the insecurities of his past to interfere in his relationship with Beth, Scott began to lose his grip on that resolve.

“No, I won’t go back to bed until you tell me what’s going on. You can’t suddenly begin having nightmares again, but decide you don’t want to talk to me about what caused them. You need to trust me and let me help you. I need to know you are going to be honest with me!”

Beth recoiled at his accusations; then guilt took over and she began spilling out the details of the past three weeks.

“I’m so sorry. Don’t ever think I don’t trust you. I just don’t want you to worry. I feel like Chris has been watching me at work the past few weeks.”

Scott opened his mouth to talk, but Beth held her hand up to stop him and continued quickly. “When we were together, I always teased him that I’d never forget the sound of his truck - the after-market muffler was really loud and had a distinct rumble. The past few weeks as I was leaving work, I heard a truck start up and it sounded just like his. I couldn’t tell where it was coming from and really didn’t want to, anyway. So, I’ve just rushed to my car and gotten in as quickly as I could.”

“That’s impossible. He’d never know to look for you here.” Scott’s voice had softened to a gentle tone, full of sympathetic pity. She could tell he thought she was crazy to believe Chris could be nearby.

“I know it sounds crazy, but I never heard it at the university before. Over the past few weeks, though, as soon as I walk out the door and step down towards the parking lot, I hear the engine turn over and the rumbling begins. It hasn’t mattered if I was leaving early, late, or right on time. The second my foot hits the first step, it starts. Like someone is watching for me to leave. The past few days, I’ve flown out of the parking lot so quickly I almost don’t remember leaving. I’ve even been afraid to walk to my car.”

“Get someone to walk with you.”

“I don’t want to be a pain.” Beth looked into Scott’s eyes, “I’m being silly, right? There’s no way I’m really hearing his truck.”

Scott bent down to kiss her forehead. “You’re not being silly. You heard something that reminded you of a horrible experience and your mind is playing tricks on you. Come back to bed with me and we’ll talk more tomorrow.”

Beth smiled and took Scott’s hand. She breathed deeply, happy to have the weekend upon them. She knew Scott wouldn’t bring up this conversation again. He’d pretend it was all just another bad dream. But at least there would be plenty of time for Beth to relax and convince herself that she was only a little crazy before returning to work on Monday.

Impressum

Texte: Heather M. Borger
Bildmaterialien: Heather M. Borger
Lektorat: Kelly Bocich
Tag der Veröffentlichung: 10.01.2014

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