Hillary_Flesh and Blood (40 page)

Kill her...do it now!

“
Nooooo!
”
Hillary shouted,
“
I can’t, I can’t....
”

“
Can
’
t what?
”
her mother asked nervously.

Hillary couldn
’
t think straight over Caleigh
’
s shouting and whimpering.

“
Shut up Caleigh, or I
’
ll kill Mom, you know I
’
ll do it!
”

“
No,
”
Caleigh cried,
“
please don
’
t hurt her.
”

KILL HER,
the voice roared in Hillary
’
s head.

“
I CAN’T!
”
Hillary shouted. Too much was happening. She didn
’
t feel well. She needed to throw up.

Kathy stood up slowly and began running for the stairs. Once again, Hillary pounced on her. They wrestled on the steps until Hillary stabbed the knife deep into her thigh. Kathy let out a sharp, loud scream.

“
Mommmmmm,
”
Caleigh sobbed.

Hillary
pulled the knife out and watch
ed
the blood pour out of the wound.

“
If you try to run, if you try to call for help, I
’
ll kill Caleigh,
”
she threatened,
“
I
’
ll cut off her head just like I cut off Dad
’
s head...and Joshua
’
s.
”

“Joshua…”
Kathy cried as she thought about the body parts she had seen by his clothing. But she didn
’
t see his head. Where was his little head?

“
Did you like the way he tasted?
”
Hillary asked sneeringly.

Kathy gasped. The realization hit her like a locomotive. A mournful groan escaped her mouth before she doubled over and hurled up
everything she had eaten
.

“
Aww,
”
Hillary said,
“
all that good food, wasted.
”

Caleigh was appalled to hear that her mother had eaten part
s
of her brother. She whimpered softly as she
remembered
how horribly he had died.

“
Walk,
”
Hillary demanded, after Kathy had stopped throwing up. She prompted Kathy to return to Caleigh
’
s side. Kathy
’
s legs felt like rubber as she walked across the basement. She didn
’
t know how she had managed.

“
Sit on the floor,
”
Hillary said and Kathy was happy to comply. She didn
’
t know how much longer her wobbly legs could support her weight.

“
You
’
re going to help me...understand?
”

Kathy nodded slowly. Her eyes were dull and blank as if her spirit had abandoned her.

“
I need you to help me carry Caleigh upstairs...to her room.
”

Kathy stared cat
at
onically at
H
illary. Caleigh
’
s whimpering grew silent. She heard what Hillary had said and was glad that she would be moved out of the basement. Maybe Hillary would let her mother help her now.

“
Grab her feet,
”
Hillary directed, as she positioned herself by
Caleigh’
s head, stooped down and locked her forearms beneath her underarms. She was still clutching the knife in her hands.

“
Grab her feet,
”
Hillary repeated louder and her mother slowly moved closer to Caleigh and did as she was told. Hillary stood up and compelled her mother to do the same. Kathy struggled to get to her feet but managed somehow.

“
If you do anything stupid,
”
Hillary warned,
“
I
’
ll sli
ce
her throat
open
. Understand?
”

Kathy nodded robotically.

“
Now walk. Hurry, she
’
s heavy.
”

Hillary and Kathy carried Caleigh
’
s limp body up the basement stairs then rested a moment before proceeding. When they finally got her up to her room, Kathy dropped her
bound
legs to the floor and began crying.
Under
the
bright
lighting from Caleigh
’
s room, she could see every wound, every blister,
and every
single
speck of blood perfectly clear. She didn
’
t really look like Caleigh at all, with her bruised, swollen face. Her eyes were the worst. They were so dry that her irises looked dull and clouded and her pupils were dimpled inward. Were it not for her frequent moaning, Kathy would have thought she had died. It broke her heart to see her youngest daughter like that. How she must have suffered
….

Hillary dragged Caleigh to
the
far left side of her bedroom and propped her upper body against the wall in an upright position.

Kathy sat on Caleigh
’
s bed on the opposite side of the room. She was afraid that she might faint.

“
Good,
”
Hillary said to her mother,
“Just watch,
don
’
t move.
”

“
I don
’
t feel well,
”
Caleigh cried out and began moaning loudly.

Hillary placed the dangling piece of duct tape back over Caleigh
’
s mouth, using
just a few strips of
the masking tape to hold it in place. It merely partially covered her mouth, but it was better than nothing. There was no longer a need to secure it
properly. S
he was just tired of hearing Caleigh
’
s noise. Her head hurt so bad it was throbbing.

“
Are you cold?
”
Hillary asked,
“W
hy do you have goose
bumps?
”

Caleigh
’
s goose
bumps had nothing to do with the fact that it was nearly twenty degrees cooler up in her room than where she had been cram
m
ed behind the hot water heater and boiler. Rather, Caleigh
’
s body had given up.

“
Yet, you
’
re sweating too...are you confused?
”
Hillary joked.

“
She needs help,
”
Kathy whimpered,
“
please...
please,
Hillary.
”

Caleigh knew she was close to the end. She didn
’
t know how much longer she could go without medical attention, but she knew that this was one of those now-or-never moments. She began shrieking under the tape, and shaking her head. She was trying to say something, but her words
, her proclamation of love to her mother,
w
as
undecipherable.

Hillary could see that
Caleigh was growing desperate. She thought that she was
begging for her life.

“
Haven
’
t you caused enough pain, Hillary?
”
her mother cried. She grabbed Caleigh
’
s pillow and hugged it against her chest, like a child with a security blanket.

The floo
r
underneath Caleigh became wet as she emptied her bladder, unbeknownst to her.

“
Eww,
”
Hillary said scornfully,
“
Caleigh, you
’
re an animal. Don
’
t you smell bad enough already?
”

“
She
’
s going to die,
”
Kathy cried, feeling utterly helpless. She rocked back and forth nervously, clutching Caleigh
’
s pillow tightly.

“
Yes. Yes she is...
”
Hillary said fiendishly, brandishing the knife.

The time had come. She
’
d had enough fun with Caleigh. She had been hoping to prolong her suffering but now she had someone else to torture. She would make her mother watch as she killed her sister.

Caleigh looked up her Hillary. H
er red-rimmed, dry eyes followed her sister
’
s slow movement. They looked even more sunken in than before, especially within the puffy, dark circles underneath.

“
It
’
s not too late,
”
her mother pleaded desperately, rocking,
rocking…
comforting her pillow baby.

“
Shut up!
”
Hillary shouted, turning to face her distraught mother.

Caleigh seemed to be mimicking her mother
’
s pleas. Her cries grew more and more frantic, desperate. Without warning, Hillary walked over to her right side, shoved the knife deep into her upper arm and twisted it fiercely. Caleigh felt it immediately. Even partially muffled by the tape, her agonizing scream was loud and raucous. It made Kathy drop the pillow and cover her ears with her hands.

Hill
ary gave the knife a final sharp
twist before prying it free from Caleigh
’
s arm. Blood poured out of the opening like a fountain. Hillary smiled as she crouched down and stuck her bloodied right index finger into the seeping hole. She twisted her finger within the wound, digging her sharp nail into Caleigh
’
s severed muscle. She poked her finger in and out of the hole, relishing in the squishy wet sound it made, while Caleigh
—
and Kathy
—
cried out.

Hillary pulled out her finger and licked off the bright red blood that covered it. It was a taste she had come to love and she wanted more. She dropped the knife and put her lips over the cut, lapping up the blood as it spilled into her mouth. She bit down on
the
lesion, tearing the wound with her teeth. She bit off a piece of Caleigh
’
s flesh, then another further down her arm and another on her leg. She continued to bite various parts of her sister
’
s body as if sampling a delicacy.

Kathy watched on in terror, unable to move. She was back to hugging the pillow, but instead of rocking back and forth, had her nails dug deep into it. Her knuckles were white from clenching her fists so tightly.

Caleigh was crying and screaming. She had only felt the bites on her upper arm, but knew that Hillary was slowly devouring her body, piece by piece. Hillary was licking up the streams of blood that flowed from Caleigh
’
s wounds. Caleigh shook her head, crying out, begging Hillary for mercy.

Hillary kneeled before Caleigh and ripped the tape completely off her face. There was no longer a need for it. Caleigh would soon be silent
for good
.

“
Please let me go,
”
Caleigh begged,
“
It’s
not too late, no one will know it was you, I won
’
t tell anyone,
I won’t tell....
”

Hillary just shook her head slowly, apathetically. She leaned forward and gnashed her teeth into one of the lacerations on Caleigh
’
s bruised face. Caleigh let out an ear-piercing scream as she turned her head away. With her teeth, Hillary shredded the tender flesh on Caleigh
’
s face like pulled pork. The skin that once covered her cheek flapped down. Hillary could see straight to Caleigh
’
s cheekbone. Blood gushed from the opening like a raging river.