What Exactly Is Needed To Get An Order Of Protection From My Stbx?

Location: South Carolina. I may not be able to check responses until this evening so please don’t worry about me if I don’t respond to comments right away. I’m scared to try and get the order/any legal help/go outside for help because if it doesn’t work (or if he even knew I was trying), my husband would be dangerously upset and vengeful.. and I’d have no where to go or hide from him and he has many firearms in addition to his anger and judgement issues.

We’ve been together like 10 years married for 5ish. I have no friends or family or job or anything I’ve been trapped and deteriorating for so long but I was honestly in deep denial about how bad he/this was. I just wanted love and peace. I tried so hard to make him happy before I understood that this was impossible and that it was never my fault that he was so unhappy. We have 2 kids under 6. This man is super controlling, he’s emotionally and verbally abusive, and mentally unstable in a way that scares me lately. I have many hours of audio recorded “arguments” between us, from over the years but also from just the last couple of days where he has really gone off the deep end. He often knows I’m recording (and even verbalizes this IN the recordings) but it doesn’t stop him from being horrible and saying wild accusatory things to me. It’s very scary to think that he believes those things about me. I have barely slept the last 2 nights because I’m afraid he’ll come hurt me in my sleep after his most recent blow-up. In the recordings you can often hear our children in the background while he says very vulgar horrible things to me and about me. I ask him not to speak that way in front of the kids but there’s no stopping him. He’s used to acting however he wants in this house with just me and the kids to witness it; he’d never act this way if others knew/saw/heard how horrible he was (he has a very public job). He has no respect for me on any level - he genuinely, genuinely hates me in a way that blinds him to objective reality.

Last night my 5 year old was asking why daddy hates me. Guys, I’m beyond horrified. I need to get us out of here. I never speak negatively about him to or in front of our children btw.

A couple nights ago he laid out that “he has always hated me” “he only convinced me to marry him at all so that he could take/have his kid from me” etc. yes this part is recorded too. It’s stomach turning. I have no words. I’m so ashamed and disgusted. Please understand that right before this, he was playing along and saying we can get a divorce and work together “for the good of the kids” “I still care about you and I’ll get you your own place” etc.. and then he dropped his mask entirely on Thursday night.

There has been no physical violence yet but plenty of intimidation. He has kicked me out of the house in my literal underwear before. He has told me that he wanted to hurt me but he didn’t. He has told me that what he does isn’t abuse, but it makes him “want to show me what real abuse is.” He has screamed at me until I was backed up and cowering in a corner and feared for my life. He has screamed at me until I nearly passed out in the tub in the bathroom and I was trying to speak but my words came out garbled like I was having some kind of seizure. He frequently screams and attacks me verbally and if I ever dared to match his energy I’m quite sure he’d be physically violent, but ofc I haven’t. I generally do not try to speak the truth on things or try to defend myself anymore because it only pisses him off and if he can’t control his anger while I’m NOT trying to argue, I’m genuinely terrified of how much he’d “lose it” if I actually spoke my mind. So I don’t. I try to survive the storm and then ig he gets paranoid because he’s been so mean, he won’t go into work for the next day just so he can stalk me around the house and “make sure I’m not trying to leave or do anything.” He has also threatened this before in a recording “I just won’t go back to work at all unless you [do wherever I’m demanding]”. There are cameras so I can’t even leave the house without him knowing immediately. If I go Monday morning to the court he will know right away that I have gone somewhere with the kids and he will freak out.

I need to know if I can get an order of protection. This home is for our children and I don’t want us to be the ones who have to leave: he should be. He is genuinely delusional and very angry at me, he blames me for literally everything negative that happened to him in his life while I was a part of it (so, the last ten years, anything bad that happened was my fault). Even when he forgets to feed and water his own dog he blames me for it (I’m serious). He believes that my period is the source of any disagreements between us.. The list goes on. He mocks me for having no friends or family, tells me to go cry by myself since nobody loves me, etc. There’s no line he won’t cross when he’s upset.

So yeah, he’s objectively a horrible person. Sure. But that’s just context for, legally: What do I need to get an order of protection? Does a court care about the things I’ve described or is that just “being mean” and they won’t care unless he gets physical? What EVIDENCE do I need to be ready to show them? I’m going to transcribe some of the audio recordings and go through them tonight to search for certain keywords and moments. What is the most potent stuff to look for in these recordings? What is going to be taken seriously by the law?

Can I go Monday morning to the court and get this order of protection? Will a police officer be with me when my stbx finds out?

I’m TERRIFIED. I don’t know what to do.

Please help. Any direction, clarity, advice, anything. Please be kind to me also. I know the mistakes I’ve made to get myself here. I’ve learned my lesson. I just want out (safely) and I’m so scared that one wrong move will put me in serious danger. I know the rules say “simple question” so I’m not sure this qualifies- if it’s not allowed in this sub, please direct me to a place where I can post this and get help. Thank you.