Hillary_Flesh and Blood (22 page)

Before Caleigh knew what was happening
—
what
had
happened
—
her mouth was full and filling further with puke. She made a loud gurgling sound as the thick spew became caught in her throat, choking her.

I
’
m going to die
,
she thought frantically, fearing her imminent death.

Death would have released her from her prolonged misery had Hillary not noticed her erratic head movement and realized her dire situation. She reached over and quickly tore off the tape, turning her sister
’
s head so that the puke would empty from her mouth. Like an avalanche, the thick and sour-smelling vomit poured out of Caleigh
’
s mouth, spilling over Hillary
’
s hand in the process. Cursing, Hillary withdrew her hand, shaking the excess puke off. Had her sister not seemed so close to death, she would have lashed out
in fury
.

When her mouth had sufficiently emptied to clear her passages, Caleigh coughed and gagged violently, gasping for air. She was making so much noise that Hillary considered putting another piece of tape over her mouth. Instead, she slammed the closet door quickly and turned the music up. She knew she was taking a big risk, not just by leaving Caleigh
’
s mouth un
-
taped, but by having the music so loud. Her mother had often complained about Caleigh
’
s loud music playing, and
used to
reprimand
Hillary
her
self
way back, what seemed like ages ago, when she had an interest in listening to her music. She hoped Caleigh would get over her coughing fit soon.

Hi
llary walked to her bedroom
door and placed an ear to it, listening for signs of her mother. It seemed quiet on the other side of the door. She was torn between staying there to listen for her mothe
r and running back to see how Ca
l
e
igh was doing. She couldn
’
t
hear her sister over the music
which was both a good thing and a bad thing.

Hillary opted to stay put beside her bedroom door for a while longer until she heard the screaming. She jumped, startled by the ear-piercing sound. Clearly, Caleigh had stopped choking.

With her heart racing, Hillary quickly grabbed the duct tape on her way to the closet. She tore off a long piece, threw open the door and desperately fought Caleigh
’
s spastic head movements to get the tape over her mouth. Even muffled, Caleigh
’
s cries were noisy. Hillary quick
l
y shut the door again hoping that her mother didn
’
t hear anything. She would make Caleigh pay for causing her such stress.

With the overload of adrenaline within her system, Hillary could not bring herself to calm down. She felt nervous and antsy as she paced her room. Even though she could barely hear Caleigh
’
s blaring over the loud music, she could hear her clearly within the short pause between songs. How long was s
he going to continue wailing
?

Furious, Hillary marched over to the closet and opened the door little more than a crack.

“
Shut the hell up, Caleigh, or I
’
m going to kill you, I mean it...are you ready to die now?
”
she said coldly.

Caleigh
’
s screams subsided to a softer, quieter whimpering. Her teary eyes were wide and despairing.

“
If you behave, I
’
ll bring you something to eat later. Okay?
”

Caleigh
’
s whimpering continued. She stared blank
l
y up at Hillary. She felt so helpless. She didn
’
t care whether she ate or not, she didn
’
t have an appetite at all. Yet, recalling her near-death experience just moments ago, she knew that as hopeless as things were, she didn
’
t want to die. Maybe if she just cooperated...maybe if she did whatever her sister wanted, Hillary would take pity on her. Maybe Hillary would realize how cruel she was being. Maybe she
’
d feel guilty and....

“
Is that a yes?
”
Hillary asked banefully, her eyes so full of contempt that Caleigh shut her own eyes as she slowly nodded her head. She stopped whimpering, didn
’
t make another sound. She knew that there were no
“
maybes,
”
just one cert
ainty: Hillary was a monster…a
soulless, uncaring, unfeeling, scary monster. No matter what Caleigh tried to do to please her, her fate was sealed. She felt crippled with fear as she slipped further into hopelessness.

“
Good,
”
Hillary said, clear
l
y pleased by her sister
’
s submissiveness. She had a smirk on her face as she slammed the closet door.

She reluctantly lowered the music, hoping that Caleigh would keep her word and behave. Over the sound of what used to be one of her favorite songs, she could hear her mother and brother in the hall just outside her door. Her brother was crying and having a fit, complaining that he didn
’
t want to take a bath. Her mother was shouting that he was going to take a bath, end of story.

There was an edge to her mother
’
s voice, an unusual harsh tone that Hillary seldom heard. She knew her mother was greatly frustrated and worried. She also knew that her mother suspected that she had done something to her father and sister. It was just a matter of time before she searched her room, or worse, called the police.

You
’
ll have to get rid of her too....

Hillary heard the voice. She knew what it meant. Yet, she could not bring herself to acknowledge what had to be done. She ignored the voice.

Things will be better,
she told herself,
when it
’
s just Mom and me.

Remembering her promise to Caleigh, she walked over to her computer desk and grabbed a few sheets of paper from the tray under the printer. She crept slowly to the closet and opened the door.

Caleigh opened her puffy, red-rimmed eyes slowly and looked despondently at her sister. She didn
’
t make a sound. What good would it do?

Without saying a word, Hillary stooped down and began shoveling Caleigh
’
s vomit onto the paper, using her hand. She folded the paper into a make-shift envelope. Still, the liquid portion of Caleigh
’
s puke d
ripped from the side. Its foul, sour
smell mingled with and added to the already rank odors clinging to the air. She carefully balanced the papers over her other hand as she stood up, kicked the closet door shut with her foot and walked slowly out of her room. She was careful to close her bedroom door behind her.

From the hall she could hear the water running in the bathroom. Her little brother had lost his battle. His bath provided a perfect distraction. Hillary slowly walked downstairs to the kitchen. She had tried her best not to drip Caleigh
’
s vomit, but some leakage was inevitable. Hillary made a note to clean up the nasty spills after she had completed her task.

She grabbed a bowl from one of the cabinets and slowly emptied the contents of her paper envelope into it. Without washing her dirty hands, she carried the bowl over to the stovetop where the pot of soup was. She lifted the ladle and emptied a small portion of the soup into the bowl. She walked over to the kitchen drawer where the utensils were stored and grabbed a spoon. She used it to stir the soup and puke mixture. She sniffed it without thinking and made a face. It spelled mostly like soup, but the stench of Caleigh
’
s vomit was still faintly noticeable.

Hillary smiled, pleased with her concoction and her cleverness. She
’
d keep her promise to Caleigh and continue tormenting her at the same time. She was so excited to feed Caleigh her dinner that she forgot about having to clean up the drips on the floor.

Hillary quietly carried the bowl back to her room. The music was still on, though much lower than she had it earlier. Caleigh was silent. Closing the bedroom door after she entered, Hillary walked directly to the closet and opened the door. As before, her sister
’s eyes fluttered open. She
looked
despondently at Hillary
. Seeing the bowl in
her sister’
s hand, Caleigh smiled thinly. At least she wouldn
’
t be starving to death.

“
Hungry, Caleigh?
”

Caleigh nodded even though she had no appetite whatsoever. If she was going to eat, Hillary would have to remove the duct tape. Caleigh had spent the last several minutes contemplating whether she should try to scream and get her mother
’
s attention, or whether it would be best to be cooperative for now. She kept going back and forth between her options, trying to use sound reasoning to support her choice. The music
was
lower, after all.... Her parents
’
room wasn
’
t too far away from Hillary
’
s.... She had a big mouth, she could yell really, really loudly.... What more could Hillary possibly do to her? She was already miserable and suffering. If Hillary killed her, it would only end her misery. She didn
’t want to die
she was praying to be rescued. But she knew that if she did nothing at all, she was just prolonging her inevitable death. At least now she had a chance....

“
Okay, Caleigh...I trust you...I
’
m going to take the tape off now, okay? You won
’
t scream, will you?
”

Caleigh shook her head to assure Hillary that she would cooperate.

“
Good, because I brought
some delicious soup
for you
.
”

Hillary quickly tore the tape off Caleigh
’
s mouth, purposefully trying to inflict as much pain as possible. Caleigh groaned softly, not daring to shout out just yet.

“
Hey, it
’
s like getting your upper lip waxed,
”
Hillary exclaimed.
“
Remember when we used to talk about being actresses? Remember? After we saw
‘
The Sound of Music
’
we used to sing all of the songs together.
”

Caleigh
’
s thin smile returned as remembered. Was her sister coming back to her?

“
The hills are alive...with the sound of music...
”
Hillary sang, smiling at her sister with a twinkle in her eyes.

Maybe, just maybe,
Caleigh dared to hope.

Caleigh
’
s eyes grew misty. Hillary almost felt a bit of pity for her forlorn sister. Almost.

Feed her the soup....

“
Well, that was then, this is now,
”
Hillary said sprightly, bringing the bowl of tainted soup close to Caleigh
’
s mouth. She lifted a spoonful to Caleigh
’
s lips.

“
Open up, Lee Lee,
”
she said sweetly.

Caleigh opened her mouth and ate what was on the spoon. It tasted normal at first, but had a sharp, acrid aftertaste. Caleigh wondered if it was spoiled chicken broth.

“
No more,
”
she said softly, shaking her head as Hillary prepared the second spoonful.

“
You have to eat, Caleigh,
”
Hillary said firmly,
“
you don
’
t want to get sick.
”

“
I don
’
t like it,
”
she replied nervously.

“
What? I made it myself. Mom and Joshy both loved it. Why are you being so difficult? Just eat!
”

“
Please, I
—”

Hillary rammed the spoon into Caleigh
’
s mouth. Most of the soup made it in, with the exception of the little bit that dripped down Caleigh
’
s neck.