Hillary_Flesh and Blood (27 page)

“
Where
’
s Mom?
”
Caleigh asked slowly. She was relieved to have the tape off so that she could breathe through her mouth. Her nasal passages were still swollen and she was constantly congested.

“
Dead,
”
Hillary replied callously,
“
I killed her...chopped her into pieces.
”

Caleigh
’
s eyes widened in terror then filled with tears. She began to sob.

“
Look at those long tears,
”
Hillary said, pointing,
“
I told you that you weren
’
t dehydrated...yet.
”

“
Mooommm,
”
Caleigh whimpered sadly, believing her mother was dead.

“
You should have heard her scream,
”
Hillary said excitedly,
“
how she begged for her life.
”

“Nooooo, Hillary…
why?
Why would you kill Mom?”
Caleigh cried softly.

“
Because she deserved it, she let him hurt me...she knew and she didn
’
t do anything about it.
”

“
Oh, God...how could you kill Mommy?
”
Caleigh whimpered despairingly. She knew without a doubt now that Hillary would kill her too...slowly, but surely.

“
Oh please, like you wouldn
’
t do the same thing if you were the one getting abused for almost two years.
”

“
You...you killed our parents,
”
Caleigh yelled, as if just fully comprehending the magnitude of Hillary
’
s actions.

“
They deserved it,
”
Hillary re-emphasized angrily.

“
They
’
re dead,
”
she said loudly,
“
they
’
re dead...oh my God, they
’
re dead...they
’
re
—”

“
Shut up!
”
Hillary shouted loudly, disrupting Caleigh
’
s hysterics.

Caleigh broke down and began weeping. Just the other day her biggest wo
rry was whether Andy liked her. Now s
he was a paralyzed orphan thirsting to death before her crazy sister.

“
I want to have fun with you,
”
Hillary said,
“
but you
’
re not making it easy. You
’
re no fun, Lee Lee. You can
’
t even feel your body.
”

Hillary stomped her foot down on Caleigh
’
s thigh. Caleigh didn
’
t flinch. Her
sobbin
g retained its steady rhythm.

“
See? How am I supposed to play with you?
”

Hillary lightly ran her fingers along the cuts on Caleigh
’
s face as if tracing them.

“
You can feel this, though
”
she said quietly, whispering the words as if to bring them in sync with her gentle touch.

Caleigh shut her eyes, bracing herself for the pain. Hillary didn
’
t disappoint her. She dug the long, rough fingernail from her right index finger into one of the long cuts on Caleigh
’
s face. She broke through the scab and watched as blood rushed to the surface, fleeing from the damaged skin.

Caleigh screamed out in pain, turning her face away instinctively. Her quick head movement resulted in a longer, deeper gash across her cheek.

“
Yep, you can feel it,
”
Hillary giggled,
“
but I
’
m running out of room on your face to hurt.
”

“
Just leave me alone,
”
Caleigh cried.

“
You
’
ll have plenty of time to be alone soon.
”

“
I thought you loved me....
”

“
I thought I was loved too...turns out, people who love you can hurt you the most. I know
…
it
’
s crazy. G
o figure!
”

“
Please don
’
t hurt me anymore,
”
Caleigh pleaded sadly, nervously.

“
Oh, Lee Lee, you
’
re so silly sometimes,
”
Hillary said playfully,
“
how
‘
bout a game of tic tac toe?
”

With the same
long, sharp,
jagged nail, Hillary scratched a tic tac toe grid across Caleigh
’
s forehead. Caleigh winced but kept still as she sobbed softly. She barely felt the pain from the scratches over the torment engulfing her heart. She would never see her mother again. Her mother was dead. Her father was dead. Her sister had killed them both and would be killing her soon enough. Caleigh gasped slightly.

What about Joshua,
she thought, fearing for her baby brother. She was afraid to ask but just had to know. Had Hillary killed little Joshua
as well
?

“
Joshua,
”
she cried out, her voice
unsteady
.

“
What about him?
”
Hillary asked as she scratched an X within the upper left box on the grid.

“
Is he...is he....
”

“
Is he what?
”
Hillary asked, toying with Caleigh. She knew what her sister was wondering...what she was fearing. She smiled impishly as she scratched an O in the box beneath the X.

“
Did you...
hurt
him?
”
she whispered worriedly.

Caleigh held her breath awaiting her sister
’
s reply. Hillary
’
s crazed eyes and wide grin were not reassuring.

“
You didn
’
t hear him?
”
she asked excitedly,
“
he called for you, he begged for you.
”

One of the lines from the X Hillary drew next, in the center square, began to bleed.

“
What did you do?
”
Caleigh asked sadly, ignoring the pain on her forehead and breathing heavily as her eyes filled with fresh tears.

“
Lee Lee,
”
Hillary shrieked, pretending to imitate her brother,
“
help me Lee Lee.
”

“
What did you do to him?
”
Caleigh repeated anxiously. It was growing difficult
for her
to breathe.

“
First I cut off his little itty bitty
thing
then I made him eat it.
”

Caleigh squeezed her eyes shut as she imagined the horrors and pain that her poor little brother must have endured.

“
Is he...is he....
”
Caleigh
’
s voice trailed off in a piteous squeak. She couldn
’
t bear to say the word.

“
Dead?
”
Hillary said it for her, with a big smile across her face. She scratched a final X on the lower right box then ran her sharp, rough nail from the upper left of the grid to the bottom right, digging in deep so that the blood that accompanied the long cut resembled a red line.

“
I won!
”
Hillary exclaimed happily as she brought her bloodied finger to her lips and sucked the blood
from underneath
her nail.

“
Please, no,
”
Caleigh begged,
“
say you didn
’
t....
”

“
But I did...and he cried for you. It broke his poor little heart that you weren
’
t there to protect him.
”

“
No,
no,
”
Caleigh cried. She had loved little Joshua even before he was born. She had practically raised him that first year, always there to feed, change and bathe him.
It
was
like having her
very own living doll. Now he was just her dead brother.

“
Where is he?
”
she whimpered,
“
I need to see him.
”

“
Nope,
”
Hillary said abruptly,
“
I chopped him up too...his body parts are all mixed up in a bag with Mom
’
s...unless, you want me to bring part of his body to you, I can
—”

“
No!
”
Caleigh yelled. H
er eyes
were
still shut so tightly that
her tears could barely escape.

“
Lee Lee, help!
”
Hillary teased, mimicking Joshua
’
s pained pleas.

“
Shut up!
”
Caleigh screamed.

Hillary laughed loudly. It was almost as much fun mentally hurting Caleigh as it was physically hurting her.
Almost....

Hillary
’
s close-mouthed smile stretched across her face as she thought about hurting Caleigh. Fun, fun, fun...there was lots of fun to be had while her mother was away and she didn
’
t want to waste another precious second.

“
I
’
ve changed my mind,
”
she told her sobbing sister.
“
I
’
m going to get you some water.
”

Caleigh didn
’
t believe it for a second. Was she going to poison her? She didn
’
t think she would even resist. At least then she could die and be in heaven with her family. She could hear Hillary
’
s footsteps growing fainter as she walked away from her. She heard the creaking of the basement door and Hillary trudging upstairs. Then it was silent again, except for her mournful whimpering.

They
’
re all dead,
she thought sadly,
they
’
re all dead.

Caleigh gasped several minutes later when she heard Hillary
’
s steps on the basement stairs. Before she knew it, Hillary was back, standing over her. She kept her eyes
closed
. There was no longer a reason to open them.

“
I have some water for you,
”
Hillary said softly,
“
You’re
still thirsty, aren
’
t you?
”

Caleigh
’
s heart began pounding heavily within her chest as she grew progressively more apprehensive.

“
Well?
”
Hillary said agitatedly, annoyed that Caleigh didn
’
t affirmatively respond. She had been whining about water and now she was acting aloof and ungrateful.

“
Fine!
”
Hillary yelled, carefully dropping to her knees and hovering closely above her sister
’
s limp body. She had a mug in her hand which she slowly moved toward Caleigh
’
s head. Caleigh
’
s eyes were still closed and her head was turned on its side. Hillary lowered the mug inches above Caleigh
’
s face and tilted it. The boiling hot water within the mug dripped onto Caleigh
’
s face as her sister cried out in pain and moved her head to avoid the scalding liquid. She turned her head and the water slipped down into her left ear. Hillary laughed maniacally while her sister shrieked in pain, her face splotched with bright burns against the dark bruises.