Hillary_Flesh and Blood (20 page)

Caleigh continued with her hysterics, which were muffled but still nearly as loud. Hillary knew she would have to squeeze her sister back into the closet. Her mother would be home soon and it might take some time for Caleigh to settle down and stop being so noisy.

As before, Hillary shoved the closet door into Caleigh
’
s body, pushing it until forcefully until it finally shut closed. Caleigh was still hysterical but turned her head away in anticipation of the slamming door. She didn
’
t want to risk further annihilation of her nose. She continued screaming into the duct tape for nearly t
wenty
more minutes, though she knew it would have no effect. Hillary was going to kill her. She would show no pity. Sh
e would show no mercy. In the
confines of the dark closet, Caleigh wondered just how much
“
fun
”
Hillary would have with her before finally allowing her to die.

Hillary ignored Caleigh
’
s
noise
. With the door closed, she could hardly hear the commotion. Still, she knew that if her mother were to enter her room for whatever reason, Caleigh
’
s
cries would be
loud enough to draw attention. She placed her old iPod on the speaker dock and turned on her music, not loud enough to cause her mother consternation, just loud enough to drown out her sister
’
s noise.

Smiling impishly, Hillary climbed onto her bed and sat up with her arms crossed behind her head. She wanted to pile some clothing over the stains on her carpet and try to find a way to eliminate
—
or at least minimize
—
the odor, but she needed to take a b
r
eak and relax a moment. She was not looking forward to confronting her mother.

Having slept less than five hours the night before, Hillary
’
s eyelids grew heavier and heavier until she fell into a deep sleep. She didn
’
t even wake when her mother knocked on her door. It was her mother
’
s hand nudging her that finally awoke her.

“
Whuuhh...
”
she murmured groggily before her eyes flickered open and she realized her mother was in her bedroom. Panicking, she jumped out of bed, startling her mother who took a couple steps back. She turned her head quickly and looked toward the closet. The door was closed, but she could see a darkened stain
—
blood
—
just under the door. Her mother was saying something, but in her panic-stricken state, she could barely comprehend what she was saying.

“
I...I had a nightmare,
”
she stammered quickly, without even knowing whether it was a proper response to what her mother was saying.

“
Well it
’
s no wonder, your room is a mess and it stinks to high heaven. What are all these stains on the carpet?
”

“
I know...I meant to tell you about it...it
’
s from that project I had to work on from school. I
’
m sorry.
”

“
Do you know where you father is?
”

Figures,
Hillary thought,
all she cares about is
him
, not even the stained carpet fazes her.

“
Yes and no,
”
Hillary said solemnly,
“
but I need something to drink...I
’
ll tell you what I know down in the kitchen.
”

Without waiting for a reply, Hillary swiftly walked out of her room with her mother in tow. She walked down the stairs and straight to the kitchen while rehearsing in her head what she would tell her mother. Her heart was racing
and she fought waves of nausea
.

“
Hillry hurt Storm...not nice, Hillry,
”
her little brother admonished with a frown as she went to take a seat at the breakfast bar. She hadn
’
t even noticed him. She jumped as he spoke then glared at him angrily.

“
Let
’
s go into the dining room,
”
she suggested, leaving the kitchen hastily, again without waiting for her mother
’
s response.

“
Hillary,
”
her mother called to her as she took long strides to keep up.
“
What
’
s this all about?
”

Hillary pulled up a chair beside the dining room table and took a seat, motioning for her mother to do the same. Mrs. Greyson sat beside her.

“
I know you don
’
t believe anything I tell you anyway,
”
Hillary said, pausing slightly,
“
but Dad did abuse me. Now he
’
s moved on to Caleigh. They packed up their things and left about an hour ago.
”

“
What? What kind of sick joke are you trying to play? I
—”

“
It
’
s true, Mom, they
’
re gone. They took some of their things maybe they
’
ll be back for the rest.
”

“
That
’
s ridiculous, Hillary, knock it off, I
’
m not in the mood for your nonsense.
”

“
See for you
r
self, check your room, the suitcase is gone isn
’
t it?
”

“
I have your father
’
s cell phone. He left it on the dresser last night. He never goes anywhere without it. What
’
s going on Hillary? Where
’
s your father? Where
’
s Caleigh?
”

“
My God, why can
’
t you ever listen to me?
”
Hillary shouted, banging her fist on the table in frustration.

“
Something
’
s not right...tell me what
’
s going on,
”
Mrs. Greyson demanded.

“
They
’
re gone and you
’
ll never see them again!
”

“
Where? Where did they go?
”

“
Moooommm-mmmeeeeeeee,
”
Joshua whined from the kitchen.

“
You
’
ll never see your precious husband and daughter again,
”
Hillary said scornfully.

“
What did you do, Hillary?
”
Mrs. Greyson yelled nervously,
“
What have you done?
”

The horrors in her mind waned in comparison to what Hillary had done and was sunshine and roses compared to the horrors yet to come.

“
You
’
re so concerned for them, what about
me?
”

“
Moooommm-mmmeeeeeeee,
”
Joshua griped even louder.

“
Hillary, please...tell me what
’
s happened....
”
Mrs. Greyson cried as she began to tremble.

“
What
’
s happened is that your husband, my father, raped me...over and over again, too many times to count. He made me do awful things, things I shouldn
’
t even know about...
”

As Hillary spoke, her mother shook her head, still in denial.

“
He put his disgusting
thing
in my mouth...he filled my mouth with his disgusting slime, he
—”

“
MOOOOMMM-MMMEEEEEEEE
,
”
Joshua wailed loudly.

“
Shut up!
”
Hillary shouted to him angrily,
“
keep your mouth shut, Josh
ua
!
”

She could hear him starting to cry.

“
Don
’
t yell at your brother like that,
”
her mother reprimanded.

“
Seriously? That
’
s what
’
s important right now? I tell you how I
’
ve been sexually abused and all you can do is yell at me?
”

“
You
’
re lying,
”
Mrs. Greyson said bluntly,
“
there
’
s something wrong with you...you need help.
”

“
Yes, there was something wrong with me, but I
’
m all better now...no thanks to you.
”

“
What did you do to your father? And to Caleigh? Did you hurt Caleigh?
”

“
They left, Mom, just forget about them.
”

“
I
’
m calling the police,
”
Mrs. Greyson said anxiously, abrupt
ly
springing to her feet.

Hillary followed suit, standing quickly and jumping in front of her mother to block her path.

“
Go ahead, call them, I have a lot to tell them,
”
she threatened.

Mrs. Greyson stared at her daughter in disbelief as she weighed her options.

“
What did you do to them?
”
she shouted angrily.

“
What did he do to
me?
”
Hillary shouted back
even angrier. Her clear eyes darkened as they narrowed and glared at her mother.

The lunacy within those eyes looked all too familiar.

“
This is not about you, Hillary, you need to
—”

“
It
’
s all about me now, Mom, this is just the beginning...you
’
ll see...everyone will know one day, they
’
ll know the truth....
”

“
Please, please just tell me where they are. Did you...did you
kill
them?
”
Mrs. Greyson
’
s voice trailed off to a whisper as if saying the words out loud would validate her worst suspicions.

“
BOO!
”
Hillary shouted as she swiftly leaned toward her mother.

Mrs. Greyson jumped back with fright, catching her foot on one of the chair legs and stumbling to the floor with a loud thud.

Hillary laughed hysterically at her mother
’
s reaction. As she advanced forward, her mother cringed further back. It made
Hillary
feel superior in every way.

“
MOOOOMMM-MMMEEEEEEEE
,
”
Joshua resumed his wailing after hearing the ruckus.

“
I said shut up, Josh
ua
!
”
Hillary shouted, eyeing her mother intently, challenging her to reprimand her again.

Mrs. Greyson stared up at her deranged daughter, fearing what she might have done, what she might do.

“
Well, get up, Mom,
”
Hillary said lightly, at odds with the lunacy in her eyes.

Her mother didn
’
t dare move.

“
MOOOOMMM-MMMEEEEEEEE
,
”
Joshua persisted as he sobbed loudly.

“
I
’
ll go check on Josh
y
,
”
Hillary said nonchalantly, still glaring at her mother.

“
No, no,
”
Mrs. Greyson pleaded, rising to her feet.