Late Night Rape

A frightful storm was blowing that night. Fierce winds roaring out of the North brought sheets of rain falling from the depths of a pitch-Black sky. Intermittent flashes of lightning fractured the night, revealing a strobe-light view of my room in monochrome stills.

I hated being alone on a night like that. My boyfriend, Carlos, should have been with me. But, like so many nights before, he was out late with no call or explanation. Being a gang-banger and a dealer of meth, he wasn’t the kind of man who was used to accounting for his time. Not to his friends, and certainly not to his girl.

Time slowly ticked by while the fury of the storm raged on. The icy cold seeped into my room but I managed to stay warm in my nightshirt under the thick covers of my bed. Sometime during that night, and in spite my unease, I managed to fall into a light and fitful sleep.

Unsettling dreams of some forgotten terror made my slumber anything but peaceful. I tossed and turned as I fled some unseen danger until, at some later hour, something woke me with a dreadful and sudden start.

I wasn’t sure what interrupted my slumber. I only knew it was something out of place in the depths of the night. By the time my senses returned, the house was deathly quiet again. I told myself it was just the thunder, but something in my belly wouldn’t let me believe it.

I checked the bedside clock only to find it as dark as the night beyond my window. The storm had knocked the power out and even the lights outside denied me their comforting glow. Fear knotted my belly and a chill came over me that had little to do with the cold.

Desperately, I called out “Carlos? Is that you, babe?” hoping it was his return that so disturbed the night. My trembling voice sounded loud in my ears, but my calls died out unanswered in the hall beyond the bedroom door. It seamed an unearthly quiet was settling around me, as if the night itself was holding its breath.

The flesh on the back of my neck began to crawl as my eyes searched the darkness for any sign of something amiss. I listened intently, but only the ongoing sound of the rain spattering on the sill penetrated the sanctity of my room.

It was then I caught the scent. It was a musky odor, mixed with sweat and a hint of wet leather. It was the unmistakable smell of a man and my heart began to pound as my fear turned to panic!

Instinctively, I fumbled with the light but it refused to come on. Not understanding the cause, my clumsy efforts continued until the lamp fell from the bedside table.

The resulting crash, and the unmistakable sound of shattering glass, sent bolts of terror racing though my already frayed nerves. I searched for my phone but it too must have fallen and was nowhere to be found. A deep helplessness filled my breast and I huddled deeper into my covers, feeling very much like a little girl hiding from the unseen menace of the bogey man.

“Hello?” I called again, this time more softly, as if I actually feared the response. “Is there somebody there?” Again, my words were sucked away and nothing but silence remained.

Seconds ticked by and I was building the courage to rise from my bed when a great clap of thunder shattered the night. For an instant, the lightning flash filled the room with incandescent light, revealing the unmistakable form of a man standing just inside my bedroom door!

The flash lasted only a moment but his image was burned so deeply into my retina that he seemed to glow even after the darkness returned. I was stunned as the reality of what I saw sank in. He was tall and black and his mere presence in my home carried a dreadful and unspoken threat. My heart jumped into my throat and I was drawing a breath to scream when he took the few steps he needed to cross the room. To my horror, he slapped a gloved hand hard over my mouth.

“Don’t scream, bitch!” he hissed darkly. “This shit is going to be a whole lot easier on you if you don’t scream. Do what I tell you and everything will be everything, you understand?”

His eyes were cold and menacing and held my gaze despite my desire to flee. Paralyzed by fear and held tightly in his strong hands, I nodded quickly, accepting his command.

The smell of his wet glove sank into my mind and made me want to wretch. I clasped his hand in mine and tried to pull it away. He was far too strong and I gained no freedom from my effort. My attempt to fight him off only angered him and a moment later he pulled his hand back and slapped me hard across my face. Pain exploded in my head and I was left reeling from the blow. I cried out and fell back hard into my bed.

I hadn’t even seen his hand coming and its impact caused stars to flash in my eyes, stunning me to my core. I was overwhelmed by pain and confusion and hot tears instantly began flowing down my cheek. In that horrifying moment I thought I would surely die at this man’s brutal hand.

Having nowhere else to go, I coward back into my bed. My belly swelled with fear and a desperate whine escaped my lips. At any moment, I expected to feel him on my body, but he grabbed me by the hair and pulled me upright on the bed.

“Where is it?” he demanded harshly.