Gun by Erick S. Gray

Author:Erick S. Gray [Gray, Erick S.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-07-05T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty

KIZZIE AWOKE FROM her sleep abruptly. She had been jolted awake in the middle of the night by another nightmare. She shot upright against the headboard, breathing sharply and looking worried. It had been her eighth nightmare in the past week. Her breathing remained heavy, and her mind was spinning with fear. The room was dark, so she quickly reached over and turned on the small lamp on the nightstand near the bed. Her eyes danced around the room, frantically looking for an intruder inside her bedroom, but she was alone.

It felt like she was being attacked again, and it felt like they were inside of her. Her disturbed sleep was becoming a problem and occurring more frequently. Memories of the assault were returning to her like lightning strikes inside her mind—without warning. The flashbacks of the attack were becoming so vivid it felt like she was reliving the experience of the assault.

A few tears trickled from her eyes as Kizzie felt scared and alone. She wanted to close her eyes and pray but feared seeing their faces again. She stressed over the experience of her attackers wickedly thrusting themselves inside of her and assaulting her, all while laughing. She often felt dirty, ashamed, and weak.

For a moment, she experienced a period of emotional numbness. But she was drowning in emotions inside.

“God, please help me,” she cried out. “Make me strong and make me whole again. I’m begging you. I need your help to get through this, Lord.”

Sleep wasn’t happening anytime soon for her. She was fully awake, wanting to pray, and she wanted the nightmares to stop. She didn’t want to become angry, scared, bitter, and a recluse.

She removed herself from the bed and walked to the window. She wiped away the tears that fell from her eyes and breathed out. Her room felt stuffy. She opened the window to allow some air into the bedroom. She gazed outside into the balmy night and felt somewhat uneasy. The Ville had been her home for years. Now, she felt like a victim and a casualty in her own neighborhood. She wanted to believe that she was OK—that she was strong and in control of the situation, especially around her family and friends. She tried to put up a front line of defense against the overwhelming feelings and reality that she had been brutally raped and assaulted. But at night, she was falling apart with nightmares, anxiety, flashbacks, guilt, fear, and so many other feelings.

From her bedroom window, Kizzie fixed her attention on a figure approaching her building, a man in a black hoodie moving with obscurity and coolness. She couldn’t distinguish the face from her viewpoint, but something about him seemed familiar. He walked with his hands in the front pockets of the hoodie as if he were clutching something inside. His eyes were glued below, not once looking up. And he moved quickly.

She watched him come near the building. And in the distance, she could hear police sirens blaring, indicating another crime had been committed in the area.

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