Hillary_Flesh and Blood (39 page)

Kill her....

“
Joshua...
”
Kathy repeated as she entered the hall and walked to the staircase. She slowly walked up the steps. She wanted to run to the bathroom and throw up, but she wanted to find Joshua first. Where was he hiding? Why didn
’
t he answer?

“
Joshua!
”
Kathy shouted. She walked into Caleigh
’
s room...looked around.
She looked under the bed.
She was growing nervous. Something was very wrong.

“
Answer me, Josh!
”
she yelled loudly
as she
enter
ed
Hillary
’
s room. Everything was quiet except the heavy thumping of her heart.
She was about to peek under Hillary’s bed when she remembered the nasty piece of meat she had seen on the carpet. She remembered how Hillary had tossed it into the garbage can.

Kathy slowly walked to the small trash can and looked in. She could smell it in there, underneath the wet paper towel sheets that looked stained with blood. She wanted to pry it out of there and examine it closely, but she was too disgusted. Alarmed, she left Hillary’s room.

“
Where are you, Joshua?
”
she
cried
nervously
, walking quickly to her own bedroom. There was no movement, no response.

Kathy ran downstairs, back to the dining room
where Hillary was still seated at the table.

“
Where was he hiding
before
?
Did you see which way he went
?
”

“
I don
’
t know,
”
Hillary said, shrugging her shoulders,
“
my eyes were closed...I was counting.
”

Hillary ate her last spoonful of stew. She was obviously not concerned about Joshua
’
s whereabouts.

“
Maybe he
’
s in the basement,
”
Kathy said worriedly, turning to leave.

Kill her....

“
You want me to check?
”
Hillary asked as she abruptly stood up.

“
I
’
ve got it,
”
Kathy said on her way to the basement door.

Kill her now....

Hillary grew nervous. The basement door creaked open. She followed her mother. Kathy flicked on the light and quickly descended the stairs. The stench hit her hard. She gagged and covered her nose and mouth.
Another bad
smell?

“
Joshua?
”
she called out loudly as she reached the last step.

Hillary was just steps behind her, unbeknownst to her. Caleigh began
yelling
. Hearing her mother, she grew excited. She had to
get
her mother
’s attention
. She had to find a way.

Kathy coul
d
hear the muffled cries.

“
Joshy?
”
she said, listening intently for the direction the sound was coming from.

She was so engrossed in finding Joshua that she didn
’
t even notice the bloody footprints on the
floor.

Caleigh thrashed her head wildly as she screamed behind the tape and rubbed the side of her mouth against the rough concrete floor, trying desperately to remove the tape.

“
Joshua, where are you?
”
Kathy yelled.

Caleigh repeatedly scraped the tape along the floor until she successfully removed enough of it to shout out.

“
Mom!
”
she shouted, her voice cracking.

Kathy stopped in her tracks. Her heart raced.

“
Caleigh? Caleigh is that you?
”
she asked
,
rejoicing
frantically.

“
Help me, Mom!
”

Kathy ran toward the storage area where Caleigh
’
s voice seemed to be coming from. Hillary jogged behind her nervously. The smell
grew
more
distinct
and...coppery. It was the smell of blood.

“
Help me,
please Mom!
”

Kathy looked down and finally spotted the blood. She let out a loud gasp as she walked forward. Her grandmother
’
s quilt was on the floor. More blood was seeping out from underneath.

“
Mom? Where are you?
”
Caleigh cried out frantically.

“
I
’
m here, Caleigh, I
’
m here,
”
Kathy said as she stepped around the quilt and leaned forward, following Caleigh
’
s voice.

“
Please, hurry before Hillary comes.
”

“
Hillary? What did she do to you?
”

“
See for yourself
,”
Hillary said jumping in front of Kathy.

Kathy screamed, startled by Hillary
’
s sudden appearance.

“
Mom, get her,
get her,
”
Caleigh yelled.

Kathy was breathing heavily. She didn
’
t understand what was happening.

“
Here
’
s Caleigh, Mom,
”
Hillary said, pushing aside some of the containers.

Kathy gasped and let out a high-pitched squealing sound.

“
Caleigh?
”
she asked, leaning in closer to pull off the mask. But there was no mask.

“
Oh my God!
”
she
shrieked
hysterically. Her knees became weak and she fell to the floor, almost on top of Caleigh. She was crying hard and shaking like a leaf. It was hard to think, as if her brain
had stopped functioning
. She could hear Caleigh calling to her, crying for her, but it took all of her effort to reply.

Finally, she said
“
what...what happened to you?
”

Kathy forced herself to look at Caleigh
’
s disfigured, bloodied, blistered face. She gasp
ed again she stared at
Caleigh
’
s dry, lidless
eyes
.

“
Hillary...
”
Caleigh cried,
“
I...I can
’
t move....
”

“
What did you do?
”
Kathy shouted, turning to Hillary. She stood up, grabbed Hillary by her
tee
shirt collar and shoved her
back
violently.

“
What did you do?
”
she screamed loudly, anguished.

Hillary lost her balance and fell back. Her face turned beet red with anger.

“
Keep your hands off me!
”
she shouted back furiously.

Hillary lifted the quilt and threw it violently to the side, revealing the bloodied remains and the knife, which she snatched up.

Kathy
’
s eyes widened when she saw the pile...the bones, the bits of flesh, the entrails...all within Joshua
’
s blood-s
oaked
clothing
.

“
NOOOOOOO!
”
she wailed
sorrowfully
, dropping to her knees and lifting up Joshua
’
s little
red fire engine
shirt
—
the same shirt she had put on him earlier. She shook her head back and forth and opened her mouth as if she was going to say something, but nothing came out
for a long while
.

“
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
”
she
finally
lamented, hugging Joshua
’
s shirt. She began sobbing uncontrollably.

“
Mom!
”
Caleigh shouted,
“
Please
help me!
”

Kathy felt too sick, too weak to even move. The air felt too thick to breathe. Kathy struggled to catch her breath. She thought for sure she would have a heart attack. She trembled helplessly where she was.

“
Please, Mommy,
”
Caleigh
’
s voice piteously squeaked.

“
Caleigh,
”
Kathy replied,
“
get up...get up
,
Caleigh
….”

“
I can
’
t,
”
Caleigh cried,
“
I can
’
t move...I can
’
t feel my body...I
’
m, I
’
m
—”

“
Paralyzed,
”
Hillary said, finishing her sentence.

“
Why, Hillary?
”
Kathy cried
sadly
,
“
why did you do this?
”

Hillary laughed maniacally. It sent a shiver up Kathy
’
s spine.

“
Why do you think?
”
she said angrily when she finally stopped laughing.

“
You
’
re sick, you need help...I should have taken you to someone, I should have
—”

“
Shut up!
”
Hillary screamed,
“Y
ou should have stopped him from hurting me,
that
’
s
what you should have done.
”

“
Please, Mommy....
”
Caleigh begged.

“
No, Caleigh, Mom
’
s not going to help you. She didn
’
t help me...she
’
s not going to help you.
”

“
Yes, Caleigh, I
’
ll make it right.
”

“
Ha!
”
Hillary exclaimed,
“I
t
’
s too late to make anything right now.
”

Kathy leaned forward and hugged Caleigh
as they sobbed in unison
.

“
I
’
ll get help,
”
she said softly as she released Caleigh
’
s body and stood up slowly. Hillary stood in her way.

“
No, Hillary,
” Kathy begged, “P
lease...she needs help.
”

“
She needs help...I need
ed
help...did it ever occur to you that
you
need help?
”

Kathy tried to step around Hillary, but Hillary blocked her way
again
.

“
Please,
”
Kathy sobbed,
“
no more, Hillary...look
at
what you
’
ve done....
”

“Not me…
you
did this,
”
Hillary
replied
,
“
you and Dad...it
’
s not my fault, it
’
s not my fault,
”
she shouted.

Kathy pushed her way passed Hillary and began running toward the stairs. As expected, Hillary caught up in no time at all, used all of her weight to ram into Kathy and knocked them both to the floor. Her mother squirmed under her body, trying to stand.