The front door opened quietly, and Kelly slipped inside the house. The lights were out, her parents were obviously asleep upstairs, and she was breathing quietly so as not to make a single peep. She reached up and touched her shoulder, scraped, and then reached to her face and felt her eye, black and sore. She gritted her teeth and wanted to scream, but she couldn't afford to have her folks know what happened. That'd only open a whole other can of worms that she didn't need opened right now. Instead, Kelly went upstairs and took a shower, then went to sleep.
She talked to her therapist about it, not super in depth but in depth enough for her to get the gist. And then...and then she started planning her revenge. She started taking notes. Watching him everywhere he went. She knew his schedule down to a tee, and even knew the days it would suddenly change. Kelly Baker was going to ruin his life the way he'd damaged hers, but she was going to need an accomplice. Thankfully, an accomplice eventually fell into her lap in the form of Jason Tulridge. *** "Are we just gonna follow this guy around all day?" Jason asked, eating a donut from the box in between the seats of Kelly's car. "Until the time is right," Kelly said, "We have a small window and I intend to fit through it." "...a literal window, or?" "No, idiot," Kelly said, laughing softly, "a metaphorical window. Why, you got somewhere to be?" Jason didn't answer. Instead he just shrugged and chewed his donut. Kelly picked up her coffee and took a long sip, then put her binoculars back to her face and continued watching. After a moment, the man exited the house, locking the door behind him, and headed to his car. He climbed inside and then started the car, pulling it back from the driveway and heading out down the street. Kelly started her car and followed a bit behind. "So what exactly did this guy do?" Jason asked, "I mean, I'd like to know that someone deserves something before we-" "Trust me, he deserves it. Far more than the others," Kelly said sternly, so coldly that Jason didn't even respond. They followed him for a bit. He ran some errands - the bank, buying lottery tickets, odds and ends like that - then headed away from the city to the nearby hills. Kelly followed him the entire way, always a few car lengths behind so as not to draw any kind of attention to themselves, not that he ever seemed to pay attention to anything around him, like most people. "Where is he going?" Jason asked. "He always go jogging on this day," Kelly said, "Could you imagine an easier target? It's like he's asking to be attacked." "People never expect these sorts of things to happen, do they?" Jason asked. "They always expect it to happen to other people," Kelly said. The man parked his car in an empty spot near a trail, then got out. Kelly parked nearby and waited. She exhaled then looked at Jason as the man put his hiking boots on. "You do everything I tell you, you got it?" she asked, "No questions, no comments, no hesitation. This is the most important one we're going to take down, and it has to be perfect. He has to suffer. Last thing I need is for you to grow a conscience." "Y-yeah, yeah sure, you got it," Jason said. Kelly took a deep breath, then got out, not even with her mask on. Jason got out too and whispered over the car roof to her. "You don't wanna put your mask on?" he asked. "No," she chuckled, "I want him to know it was me." She shut the car door, which finally caught his attention. The man, who looked about her age, turned and grinned as he saw her. Kelly walked up to him slowly, hands in her coat pockets as she looked around at the area. "What're you doing up here?" he asked. "You go jogging here of all places? Guess what they say is right, people love to return to the scene of a crime," Kelly said. "Did you just follow me out here to berate me?" he asked, and Kelly smiled. "If only," she replied, pulling a handgun from her coat and aiming it at him, taking both him and Jason by surprise; she winced a little and said, "my dad bought this after someone broke into our home last year, and I never wanted to touch it. I think, of all the weapons one can use against someone, a gun is the easiest option. The least fun. Now put your hands up." The man put his hands up as Jason approached her, his mask on his face. "Uh...what should I-" he started, but she shushed him with the singular action of raising her hand. "So David," she said, "it's been a while since we've talked proper. I thought maybe we could have a chat before what's gonna go down goes down. Maybe about that night, in particular? The night you sent me home in pain, terror? The only time I was ever scared in my entire life. That make you feel like a big man? You feel better about yourself?' The man, who Jason now knew was called David, sat on the trunk on his car with his hands raised and glanced fitfully between Kelly and the man standing beside her. He sighed and shook his head. "I won't say I'm proud," he said quietly, "but I also won't lie and deny it happened. It happened, and I take responsibility for it. It was an awful thing to try and do and I am sorry. For what it's worth, it hasn't happened with anyone else since." "Oh, so I was the only one? How special I must be," Kelly said, putting a hand to her heart and adding, "You really know how to make a girl feel good about herself, Dave." "You don't get to act all high and mighty, you hurt me too ya know." "...I was fighting for myself," Kelly said, sounding almost shocked at his insincerity, adding with a scoff, "I think hurting others in self defense is valid. But no, you wouldn't see it that way, why would you? No, everything that you do to others is okay and everything that others do to you is unjustified because you're the main character in your world. You like running from your problems, Davey? Try doing it now." With that, Kelly aimed down and shot him in the knees. David doubled over, screaming in pain as he collapsed onto the ground. Kelly sighed and slipped the gun back into her coat pocket, then turned to Jason as she headed back to her car. "What...what do I do to him?" Jason asked. "I don't care," Kelly said, "Just make it last. I wanna be entertained." Every now and then, Jason admitted, Kelly still managed to absolutely terrify him. *** "I gotta ask," Jason said quietly afterwards, exhaling smoke from his cigar into the cool night air, "...what did this guy do to warrant this level of a response?" David's absolutely ruined body lay in the same clearing they'd parked in, and Kelly and Jason were sitting on her car, smoking a cigar a piece which she'd stolen from her father. He looked at her, and noticed her eyeliner was running from crying. She wiped her nose on her sweater sleeve, as he reached over and touched her shoulder. "Hey, what's going on, are you-" "He tried to...to rape me," Kelly said, "All the people we've hurt, that I've hurt...they're not random. They're people who have tried to hurt me, or my family, or come between us in one way or another. I don't just do this because it's fun, I do it because someone has to pay for the way I, and my parents, are treated. Someone has to defend us. I'm not a bad person, Jason." Jason felt his heart ache for her, as he put his arms around her and pulled her into him, just holding her, letting her cry. "No, no you're not," he said quietly, "it's okay. I'm so sorry that happened. I'm so sorry those people did those things to you, and that this piece of scum tried to hurt you like that. What I did was creepy, but at least it was consensual. You didn't deserve that, Kelly." Jason and Kelly sat there for what felt like an hour, before finally deciding they should do something with David's body. Kelly said she'd take care of it, so they wrapped him in a large piece of plastic before loading him up in his own trunk. Kelly said she'd drive Jason home, then come back to deal with David's body. As she pulled up to Jason's apartment complex and he climbed out of the car, he leaned back in through the window and smiled at her. "Hey," he said, "If we're not doing anything tomorrow, let's do something fun. Let's, like, go to an arcade or do miniature golf or something. Something so...not so bleak." Kelly smiled. "Yeah, okay, I like that," she said. "You going home after you do the clean up or you wanna come over and watch trash TV? I'll even order in pizza," Jason said. "No, I have something else to deal with," Kelly said, "But thanks. Call me tomorrow!" Kelly pulled away, Jason waving at her as she sped off to deal with David's body, before heading to her last errand of the night. Jason had done so much for her, it was time for her to do something for him. *** Sarah swam up to side of the pool and pulled her goggles up, exhaling. She checked her phone and noticed she'd been swimming for almost 2 hours, and it was starting to get late. She should get home, relieve the babysitter, get ready for the move. She sighed and then heard the doors open, and she turned her head to see Kelly entering, in a swimsuit. She waved, smiling politely. Kelly waved back as she stopped at the steps leading into the pool, watching Sarah tread water. "You're here late!" Sarah said. "...well, I had things to do," Kelly said, "Having a good time?" "I suppose, it's nice and quiet, that's for sure," Sarah said. Kelly slowly walked into the water, then swam up to Sarah as Sarah pulled her goggles back down over her eyes. "I'm gonna do a few more laps and then I'm gonna head home, it's getting late. Sorry we couldn't be here more at the same time!" Sarah said. As she turned away to swim to the other end, she suddenly felt a pain in her neck. She reached up and felt blood running through her fingers, then noticed it was flowing down her one piece and into the clear pool water. She turned, stumbling in the water, as she faced Kelly who, once more, was crying. Sarah furrowed her brow, utterly confused, as Kelly put her hands around Sarah's neck. "I'm so sorry," she said, "but I need him." And then she pushed Sarah under. Sarah wanted to thrash, wanted to fight, but she was quickly losing consciousness simply from the neck wound. She could see the outline of Kelly in the dim overhead pool lights, all watery and wavy. She didn't understand, and that's what hurt her the most. She didn't understand. This girl was her gym friend. They'd had brunches together. Why had this happened? Why was this happening? She struggled best she could, before finally, everything was enveloped by blackness, and she couldn't struggle anymore. *** Jason was awoken the following morning, not by his alarm clock, but by his phone. He rolled over and picked up, groggy, running his hand down his face and then back up into his hair. "Yeah, hello?" he answered, "...what? Yeah, that's me. Jesus christ, okay, I'll...I'll be right there." Jason climbed out of bed and pulled his clothes on, then briskly grabbed his car keys as he headed to the front door, opening it only to find Kelly standing there, about to knock; a bag of donuts and two coffees in her other hand. Each seemed startled by the other. "Wow, you're up early," she said. "...I have to go to the hospital," he said, pushing past her. "What about miniature golf?" Kelly asked. "My ex was attacked, and she isn't responsive," Jason said, opening the door to his car and climbing in. Kelly watched him back up and speed away. Once he was well out of view, she smirked, raised one of the coffees to her lips and sipped. She looked at her watch and then, realizing the day was shot, she thought maybe she should do some shopping.
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A rich teenage girl befriends a desperate man in his thirties to kill people that get in the way of her or her family happiness and fortune. Slowly, the mans guilt eats away at him, while the girl ego rises to dangerous heights. Archives
July 2023
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