Nightmare

“Mom, please don’t leave me alone, I’m scared.” The little boy cried as the woman gently hushed him.

“I will be back for you soon, i promise. Just wait here like a good boy while I go and look for daddy okay? I will be back in a minute.” She reassured him and when he nodded even though his big eyes were brimming with tears she patted his head affectionately.

“My brave boy, stay strong for me okay? And no matter what you hear don’t come out until I tell you so.” She hugged him and tried to hide her tears from him.

When she was sure that he was hidden out of sight she left him, running in the opposite direction and some minutes later there was a flash of light and the loud rat tat tat sound of machine gun fire.

The little boy flinched in fear and put a fist in his mouth to stop himself from crying out loud and silently rocked himself while tears streamed down his cheeks and he waited in the damp dark undergrowth of the tree for what felt like eternity for his mother to come back and get him.

*SPLASH!*

Thor started to breathe heavily as the dampness changed to wetness and he felt like he was drowning in a dark sea of water that kept trying to pull him under and he fought breathlessly until he was able to break free and he sat up and realized that he had been having that nightmare again and he had woken up into another nightmare.

The couch that he had been laying on was now soaked with water which dripped down his face and hair and right in front of him stood his wife Garnet looking tousled and displeased in a tiny silk nightgown that stuck to her skin. In her hands was an empty jug of water which he figured had contained the water that was now all over his face and the couch.

Her almond shaped eyes were filled with sleep and annoyance, the frown on her face did nothing to mar her beautiful delicate features. She ran a hand through her short blonde hair in frustration as she eyed the man who was looking around in confusion in disdain.

Thor stood up to his full height and stared down at her while she stared straight at him as if daring him to do anything. There was anger evident in his eyes as he wide chest expanded from his heavy breathing, a result of the nightmare and the manner he had been abruptly woken up from his sleep.

The look in Thor’s eyes made Garnet take an unconscious step back in fear, he looked exactly as he had looked the first time that she had seen him, captivating and powerful. That had been the reason that she had sought him out in the first place and chosen him to be her husband.

With her heart racing she belatedly remembered who was standing in front of her, for all his good looks and intimidating demeanor he was nothing but a pathetic leech who lived off of her hard work and hard earned money while living in her family’s palatial mansion with doing anything reasonable for his keep.

He was nothing but a shell of a man who did not have a penny to his name, she should know after all she had been married to him for three years and he had never amounted to anything in all that time and neither would he in future.

She defiantly took a couple of steps closer to him and slapped him hard on his face, making him turn his head sharply from the force of the blow. The sound of her palm hitting his cheek rang out loudly in the silent night.

“How dare you look at me that way? Do you want me to divorce you?” She yelled at him.

“Yes Garnet, maybe that is what is best for us both. We should get a divorce.” He said calmly and turned to stare at her while she looked at him in shock at his audacity and felt a little fear creep into her heart.

She could not understand his reason for this behavior since usually he was docile and never spoke back to her and she would threaten him with divorce in order to keep him in line which was very effective. She told herself that he was acting this way because she had woken him abruptly and he was not fully in his right senses.

He was just an orphan bum who had nothing, not even a degree. She had been responsible for paying for everything that he had down to the very underwear he wore, there was no way that he could ever dare speak to her this way on a regular day.

If anyone was going to be demanding for any divorce here it would be her and soon enough she was going to be free of this farce of a marriage. Until then he would have to do exactly as she commanded.

Her door flew open and Beth her mother who looked very much like her except older and smaller with longer hair stepped into the bedroom followed by Stan, Garnet’s younger brother.

“What is happening here?” Beth asked and looked at the couple and when she saw the imprint of a slap on Thor’s cheek she sneered.

“What have you done this time? I know that you can never do anything right but could you at least let decent people get some sleep.” She scolded.

“His whimpering woke me up from sleep and he knows how important it is that I get at least five hours of sleep tonight before my very important meeting in the morning.” Garnet explained.

“Maybe he was dreaming about how miserable his pathetic life is. I know that i would be crying everytime if this was my life.” Stan said laughing loudly and Thor lowered his head as he remembered the dream.

“Don’t you know how important tomorrow is for Garnet? Or is it your intention to ruin her night so that when it is time for her to work she will lose concentration and be unable to secure the big deal that she has been working so hard for?” Beth screeched.

*wham!*

When he did not answer she took the few steps left to him and slapped his face hard and he saw stars and blinked furiously to stop the tears that sprang automatically from the force of the blow.

Beth relished being able to torment Thor whenever she wanted to, she hated his airs. Just who exactly did he think he was? When he had first come to live with them after he had gotten married to Garnet she had been unable to resist his good looks and hard attractive body and had tried to flirt with Thor but he had had the nerve to reject her.

That action had humiliated her so she made sure to remind him that he was nothing but trash, the slaps and abuse served as a way to keep him in check so that he could never tell anyone that she had tried to sleep with him. Like anyone would believe him over her anyway.

“When I speak to you I expect an answer. Is it your plan to make Garnet as useless as you are so that the entire family can be plunged into the pits of poverty just like your miserable self?”

“No ma’am.” He said soberly and Garnet felt a little more at ease.

The slaps seem to have reset him back to factory settings, the hint of arrogance and the challenge in his eyes from earlier on were gone entirely and were now replaced by the glint of tears and the subservient beaten down Thor that she recognized.

“You know what? I cannot get any more sleep with you around me in this room so i want you to get out and go sleep under the stairs.” She said.

Thor picked up his blanket and soaked pillow and with slouching shoulders went out the door past mother and son who gave him a kick that made him stumble and fall to the ground.

“Useless.” He spat at him as he walked back to his room followed by his mother.

When they were gone Thor’s eyes hardened as he stared at the closed door of Garnet’s room. He silently straightened up and walked down the stairs and from a locker pulled out a thin pallet and put it on the ground before lying on it.

He was used to being here on the hard cold floor, it was his go to punishment whenever he did or said the wrong thing. He was simply a tool for Garnet who had married him solely because she needed a husband to be able to climb the corporate ladder and she had chosen him because she believed that he was younger than her and did not have any money so he would be malleable.

But that was alright because he had also married her for his own reasons and he was okay being the punching bag and slave for all the members of the family as long as he got what he needed. He would take whatever they meted out on him as long as he was able to remain here being their down trodden son in-law.