Hillary_Flesh and Blood (37 page)

Caleigh was frantic. She had cried so much that she was having trouble catching her breath. She inhaled several times before sighing heavily.
She could tell by the silence that Joshua was dead. She turned her head to face her sister.

“
You...you killed him,
”
she cried sadly,
“
you killed Joshua.
”

“
It
’
s not my fault...it
’
s your fault, and Dad
’
s fault and Mom
’
s fault....
”

“
He was just a baby.
”

“
He would have grown into a monster,
”
Hillary said, her sympathy dissipating fast.

“
You
’
re the monster!
”
Caleigh shouted.

“
Yep,
”
Hillary acknowledged proudly,
“
I
’
m the monster now.
”

She picked up the knife and stabbed it into Joshua
’
s tender body while Caleigh cried out. Caleigh knew that he was already dead,
that he could not feel it. N
otwithstanding, she couldn
’
t watch Hillary desecra
te
his body. She turned her head
again
and sobbed.

“
Don
’
t miss the show, Lee Lee,
”
Hillary said,
“
let me show you what else I did to Dad.
”

Clutching the knife firmly in her hand,
H
illary began cutting off Joshua
’
s body parts, starting with his little hand. It was considerably easier
for Hillary
to saw through
Joshua’s
softer bones and cut through his
tender
, youthful flesh. She picked at the meat on his upper arms and legs as if deboning a chicken. She had a great pile started. She would need it.

Caleigh refused to look over, but she could
clearly
hear the sound of snapping bones, tearing flesh and the squelching sound of joints being wrenched apart. Even with her head turned, the sound effects provided unwelcome mental imagery to plague her mind. She was the unwilling spectator of a gruesome horror show.

Hillary was covered in blood from her fingertips up to her elbows. The knees of her jeans were forever stained. She had specks of blood on her own face and all over the front of her shirt. Her clothes were ruined. It was the least of her troubles.

The most difficult part of dismembering Joshua
’
s body was decapitating his head, though it was a simple task compared to what she had to do to get her father
’
s head off. She plunged the knife between his upper cervical vertebrae, effectively dislodging his head from his spinal cord. It felt like a large coconut in her hands. Her brother
’
s curly blonde locks of hair were matted down with deep red blood. She lifted the head by
the long tufts of
hair and dangled it in front of Caleigh
’
s face.

“
Give Joshua a kiss,
”
she taunted.

Caleigh could feel something touching her cheek. She lowered her head as close to the floor as it wou
l
d go. Hillary lowered Joshua
’
s head, making sure that Caleigh could feel it.

“
Take a look,
”
Hillary demanded.

Caleigh remained still and silent. She didn
’
t dare look at what Hillary was trying to show her.

“
If you don
’
t, I
’
m going to hurt you,
”
she warned.

Caleigh knew it was no bluff. Hillary would hurt her. She didn
’
t want to feel any more pain, but she just couldn
’
t bring herself to look at her brother
’
s dead body parts.

Hillary grabbed the knife off the floor and placed the blade along the back of Caleigh
’
s ear.

“
I
’
ll slice it right off,
”
she said menacingly,
“
you know how much that
’
s gonna hurt?
”

Caleigh whimpered as she slowly turned her head. She was glad that her eyesight had been compromised, but even so, she had seen enough. Her brother
’
s head was hovering just above her own. She screamed out, once again growing hysterical. In an attempt to avoid eye contact with his head, Caleigh turned her head but caught sight of the bloodied pile of his body parts. Overwhelmed with grief and terror, her pupils rolled up and she passed out.

Hillary laughed in delight as she dropped the knife and walked toward the laundry area. She grabbed the small, round empty laundry basket and carried it over to her Joshua
’
s body parts. She grabbed handfuls of his remains and tossed it into the basket along with his head.

Feast,
the voice advised her.

Her stomach rumbled loudly. She
was
hungry. She picked up a small piece of his flesh and put it into her mouth. She played with it using her tongue, allowing the coppery, metallic taste of blood to tantalize her taste buds for a few seconds before chewing apart the succulent flesh. It tasted so good to her, far better than her father had tasted. She reached over and ate some more.

Wiping the dripping blood from her mouth, Hillary picked up the laundry basket and walked upstairs. On the last step, she kicked off her blood-soaked socks and left them behind so that she wouldn
’
t leave bloody footprints on the floor as she walked.

She left the basement door open as she walked quickly to the kitchen. The veggies in
the
chicken stock were simmering nicely on the stovetop. Hillary mixed some cornstarch in water to thicken the broth. Then she placed the dripping laundry basket on the countertop and began shoveling Joshua
’
s remains into the pot. When she lowered his head in, some of the broth spilled over the edge. She had to empty some of the contents.

Sighing in frustration, she placed his head back into the laundry basket. She used a big pot spoon to scoop out some of Joshua
’
s bigger pieces of flesh and most of the potatoes and carrots. She picked up the pot and emptied out a good amount of broth into the kitchen sink. She then placed the pot back upon the stovetop, put Joshua
’s head in it and
sniffed the rising steam.

“
Mmm,
”
she said with a smile.

Hillary added as many pieces of Joshua
’
s remains that would fit in the pot then covered it with a large lid. She tossed the remaining pieces into the garbage can. She carried the bloodied, moist laundry basket to the open basement door and flung it down the basement stairs. Caleigh began whimpering again, startled by the sound it made hitting the concrete floor.

“
I
’
ll be there in a little while, Caleigh,
”
Hillary called down to her sister
before
slamm
ing
the basement door.

She grabbed a few sheets of paper towel and wiped up the drips of blood that had fallen to the floor from the basket. She then ran upstairs to her room, took off all of her clothes and walked to the bathroom. She t
ook a quick shower and
wash
ed
away all of the blood that had dried on her hands and arms.

Feeling refreshed, Hillary walked naked to her room and dressed quickly. She brushed the tangles out of her apple-scented hair then kicked the heap of clothing under her bed. She pulled on a pair of socks and her canvas sneakers then sprinted down the stairs. She cou
l
d smell her delicious stew simmering all the way from the stairs. Her mother was in for a real treat.

The only thing that ruined Hillary
’
s moment was Caleigh
’
s incessant screaming. Cursing, Hillary opened the creaky basement door, picked up her stained socks and tossed them into the washer on her way to Caleigh.

The basement, in addition to the stench of shit, piss and body odor, now had that gamey, pungent smell of fresh-killed meat.

“
Shut up, Caleigh, you
’
re giving me a headache!
”
she shouted.

“
Pleeasssseeee,
”
Caleigh begged,
“
why are you doing this?
”

“
Do we really need to go through it again? You know damn well why.
”

Caleigh sobbed loudly.

“
He was just a baby,
”
she cried.

“
Not anymore,
”
Hillary said,
“
now he
’
s a tasty meal for Mom. Did you know it
’
s Mother
’
s Day?
”

“
Where
’
s Mom? Where
’
s Mom?
”
Caleigh yelled frantically.

“
Oh, she
’
ll be back soon.
”

“
Please,
”
Caleigh begged.

“
Please
what?
”
Hillary asked, annoyed.

Caleigh herself didn
’
t even know what exactly she was begging for. Life? Death? Food? Water? Her mother? Did it really matter anyway? Whatever her request, Hillary would surely deny it. Yet, the word kept escaping her lips. Her head hurt, her arid eyes hurt, her bulbous, damaged nose hurt, her lesions hurt. For someone who couldn
’
t feel most of her body, she was certainly in a tremendous amount of pain.

Hillary didn
’
t have the patience for her noise and nonsense. She used the quilt to cover up Joshua
’
s bones and the parts of his body that she had left behind. She was careful not to step in the pool of blood at her feet. It was no easy task getting the tape over Caleigh
’
s mouth, but she did so as best as she could
,
reaching over the bloody mess
while
struggling against Caleigh
’
s erratic head movements.
She was grateful that the pieces of masking tape were still sticky enough to secure the duct tape over Caleigh’s mouth.

Hillary picked up the bloodied knife and placed it just under the edge of the quilt. She had been greatly tempted to use it on her sister right there and then, but it wasn
’
t time to kill her yet. There was more fun to have. Besides, she had just showered and didn
’
t want to get all dirty again. Her mother would be home soon.

Caleigh
’
s familiar muffled cries followed Hillary as she walked toward the basement stairs, becoming less pronounced and barely audible by the time she started ascending the stairs. Hillary closed the door behind her before walking to the kitchen. The time displayed on the range was 3:24. Hillary knew that Storm had to be picked up by three. That meant her mother was on her way home now, probably
not too far
away. She lowered the heat setting from medium to low. Her food would cook nicely and be ready in time for dinner.

Bored, Hillary waited on the couch for her mother to return. She had started getting nauseous again but convinced herself that it was just nerves. Today was a special day. It was going to be unforgettable. It was just nervous excitement causing her nausea.

It was almost four thirty when Hillary heard Kathy
’
s car door slam. She jumped up from couch and ran to the hall.

“
Ready or not, here I come!
”
Hillary shouted, as Kathy entered.

“
I
’
m back,
”
Kathy said, as Storm
hesitantly entered the house then
ran to her dog bed in the living room.