TWO YEARS PRIOR
Red and flashing blue lights lit up the street, as police walked past her a dozen or so times, each one chatting to one another quietly. Anette stood there, raising her hand shakily to her face and sucking on her cigarette, her brain churning to try and make sense of what had happened tonight. A woman stepped in front of her and spoke, but she didn't even notice until the woman gently tapped her on the shoulder and broke her trance. Finally Anette looked up at the female cop - the very same one that Jason had met a dozen or so times while living in his car a few years later - and blinked rapidly, confused. "Y-yes?" she asked. "Are you okay?" the cop asked, "I'm Officer Leslie Bellman, I was just wondering if you needed anything." Anette waited a while, then shook her head. Leslie nodded, turned and started to walk away before stopping and turning back to face Anette, her voice low, her eyes cast to the ground so she didn't have to see the look of heartbreak and despair on Anette's face. "...I'm sorry about your loss," Leslie whispered, before walking off. Anette didn't even respond. She just continued standing there, letting all time pass her by as she stared at her house, thinking back to just an hour prior, when her life as she'd known it had abruptly changed, and she shut her eyes and felt warm tears sting her skin. She shouldn't have tried to help. She should've just talked to police immediately. Now she was paying the price, just as Tati had said she would. She felt her cigarette ash on her blouse but she didn't even bother to wipe it off. She swore then and there that she'd never fuck with Kelly Baker again. *** Jason was lying on the couch, staring at the television in its off state, when Kelly re-emerged from the kitchen, pulling open a bag of chips. She seated herself on the arm of the couch by Jason's head and started eating from the bag, occasionally glancing down at his distraught self. "...I can't even be mad," he said, "I did this to myself. Everything I lost I lost because of my actions. She deserves to do something new and different. I just...I guess I kept stupidly thinking that maybe, if I gave her enough time, we'd eventually get back together, you know? Find a way to work through things." "You shouldn't lose access to your own child though," Kelly said, licking salt from her fingertips as she added, "I mean, I know that if my parents were to get divorced, I'd lose it. I would be so upset, and I wouldn't want to have to choose between which parent I wanna be with. No child should have to choose such a thing. A child should have both parents." Jason looked up at her and furrowed his brow. "You're eating my Funyuns," he said, making her shrug. "I didn't have breakfast." "I don't think those count as breakfast," he said, chuckling. "Well, I'm going to the gym later anyway, so it all evens out," Kelly said, rolling the bag up and clipping the top before tossing them onto the table in front of the couch as she cleared her throat, wiped at her mouth and said, "you going to see your kid before she leaves?" "She said it'd be okay, yeah, we're just trying to schedule a time," Jason said, groaning as he rolled from his side onto his back and looked up at the ceiling, running his hands over his face. Kelly reached down and patted him on the head, then stood up and started pulling her sweatsuit jacket on. "Well," she said, "I gotta run, literally, as I have a meeting at the gym." Little did Jason know that the person she was meeting was the very person they were discussing. For the last few weeks, Kelly had been meeting with his ex at the gym she'd joined, to keep close tabs on her. She'd even gone so far as to buying a year long membership - despite never going when his ex wasn't there - just to appear more believable. She needed Jason in tip top shape, and that meant making sure he wasn't pulled away from her, which meant making sure nothing in his life caused him greater distress as his ex was seemingly about to do. She played nice, she played coy. She acted like his ex's best gym buddy, and she even went to get an after gym snack with her everytime, just to show her that she could be a good friend. But the more time she spent with the woman, the more she grew to hate her. Oh sure, on the surface she laughed and chatted and told her that she loved her new earrings, but inside Kelly was seething with rage, wanting to do her harm. She just had to be patient, she knew this. If she was patient it would all work out on its own. If she could just carefully convince the woman that leaving the area wasn't the right move - that, as she'd told Jason, if her folks split up she would be devastated - and that she should stick around solely so he would be closer to his daughter. But the thing is, and Kelly found this infuriating as well...she didn't seem to care. Well, Kelly thought then, I'll MAKE her care. *** Kelly was 15, and she was hungry. She wanted a late night snack, but she couldn't decide on what, so she figured she'd go to the kitchen and the pantry and scavenge for something until she was satisfied. She flicked on the lights in the kitchen, then dimmed them so as not to draw attention, and began searching. Nothing in the fridge caught her eye, nor did anything in the pantry, and then she saw it. The old cookie jar they got from her grandmother when she was a little girl. She walked over to the counter and pulled the lid off, reaching inside, only to find that the only thing inside was a bottle of pills...a bottle of pills with her name on them. Kelly felt the life drain out of her. Her mother had been secretly medicating her? This therapist that she'd been so trusting of how betrayed her trust and convinced her mother to medicate her? She couldn't blame her mother, not fully anyhow, but Anette...Anette she could blame, and blame she would. This was all her fault, after all. Her decision, her ability to write prescriptions, her reasoning with Stacy...Anette needed to pay for this. Kelly sat down at the counter on a stool and stared at the bottle in the dim lights, gritting her teeth, holding back rage. What could she do? How could she do it? Anette had taken something special from her, her autonomy, so she would, in turn, need to take something special from Anette. And she knew just the thing. *** Kelly stirred cream into her coffee as she and Sarah sat in a small coffee shop near the gym that they'd been frequenting often after their workouts. Sarah had even bought a small box of pastries for them to share. "A lot of people seem to think that, just because they're young, they don't need to take care of themselves physically, but I think the sooner you start the better off you'll be down the road," Kelly said, "That's part of why I wanted to join a gym." "And I think that's smart," Sarah said, "I think you're doing the right thing, because you just never know when your body might turn on you. That's part of why I wanted to start working out, because when I was a teenager, I wasn't a strong swimmer, and so I wanted to get better at it so I could confidently take my daughter swimming without worrying about her drowning." "Understandable," Kelly said, "My mother just has a personal trainer and my father just works out at home if time allows. But I don't like the idea of doing it in solitude or with some sort of teacher, so I figured I'd take the plunge and do it myself." A moment passed as Sarah picked up a pastry and bit into it, letting the warmth fill her mouth as Kelly finally lifted her coffee to her lips and sipped carefully. "So," Kelly said, "any thoughts on leaving? Any thoughts on when you might leave or whatnot?" "Not yet, but it's probably soon," Sarah said, "I appreciate your input, about you telling me how a child might feel in the situation, but in this particular situation I think my daughter needs to start fresh just as much as I do. She still loves and misses her father, that's true, but she also needs a chance to start different. Everyone deserves that chance, don't they?" Kelly waited, then shrugged, nodding. "I suppose so," she said, "I just hope you know what you're doing." "I never know what I'm doing," Sarah replied, laughing, which in turn made Kelly laugh a little. Kelly tried not to let herself get close to those she was studying, but in the case of Sarah, it was difficult than usual. Sarah was a smart woman, and did seem to genuinely want the best for her child, which made Kelly hesitant to do anything that might dissuade her. But...but she needed Jason on her side more than she needed Sarah, and that alone drove her decisions. Then again, it wasn't like Kelly didn't harbor some sort of ill will towards her own mother. After all, she had decided to medicate her against her knowledge and will, so she was always cautious when it came to women making decisions for other women, even if those other women were children themselves. As Sarah excused herself to go get a stirrer and a few handfuls of sugar, Kelly sat and watched. She picked up a pastry from the box and bit into it, her eyes never once leaving Sarah. How could she convince her that she needed to stay? How could she convince her that, without a father, a little girl would be lost? She knew from experience that without her own father, she herself wouldn't be alright. Then again, one could perhaps make the argument that she wasn't alright, but that was neither here nor there. She thought back to what Sarah had said about learning to be a strong swimmer, and she felt bad. Here was a woman doing what she could to be the best mom she could be...and still it seemed like she was making all the wrong decisions. Why was it always up to Kelly to show these women what they really needed? *** Anette couldn't wait to be home. Tati had promised to make dinner, and they had plans to just spend the night in bed, watching television and relaxing. It had been an awfully stressful week, and all Anette wanted to do was be held by the woman she loved. As she pulled into her driveway, she saw the lights in the house were all on, and she could see someone's silhouette in the kitchen. She smiled to herself. Tati was still getting things prepared, and she felt loved. Anette shut the car off, climbed out and headed up the walk, heading in through the front door. Once she got inside, however, she didn't hear any sounds from the kitchen. Anette put her purse down and then headed to the kitchen, only to find it somewhat of a mess, with a half cooked meal sitting on the stove. "Tatianna?" she called out softly, "Tati? Everything okay? I'm here." She headed through the kitchen to the hall and looked down, seeing a light on in the bedroom. She walked down the hall and pushed open the door to the bedroom, only to scream. Lying on the bed, her wrists bound behind her back to her ankles, there she was. Anette walked into the room, stumbling over her own feet, as she tried to reach the bed, only to feel someone wrap a stocking around her neck and pulling her backwards, until she heard Kelly's voice. "I trusted you," she whispered, "I whispered you and you gave me drugs without my knowledge." "K-Kelly?" Anette stammered, both confused and terrified. "You took something away from me," Kelly said softly, "So I'm gonna take something away from you, and you're gonna have to watch me do it." She slapped a pair of handcuffs on Anette's wrists and pushed her against the wall, where she stood as she watched Kelly walk to the bed. This fifteen year old blonde girl, this weird little teenager that Anette had greatly underestimated, reached forward and grabbed Tatianna's hair, pulling her head up so Anette could see her face clearly. Anette fought back tears, and just bit her lip. "How could you do that to me?" Kelly asked, "How could you take something like that away from me? You could've just asked me, I might've agreed, but no, all you've done is taught me to trust even less, especially from those with authority." "Kelly, I'm sorry, I didn't-" "You don't get to apologize," Kelly said, "because I know you'll be sorry after this." Kelly pulled a letter opener from her pocket and looked at it up close, smiling. "I got this for my dad for his birthday last year, it's a bird, see? The opener is the beak, isn't that clever?" she asked, showing Anette, "the thing about letter openers is they can open more than just letters. Very useful little tools. See?" And with that she pushed the opener into Tatianna's neck, her eyes widening as she began to cry. Anette slid down the wall, crying, begging Kelly to stop. Kelly, leaving the opener deeply into Tati's neck, her hand still on the grip, looked back at Anette and shook her head. "But the thing is, and I didn't realize this until after I gave it to him and he showed me," Kelly said, "it's kind of dull, and it requires a bit of force in order to actually open something. You can get it in there, but if you want to actually open something, you really need to apply effort, like so." And with that, Kelly tightened her grip on the end of the opener, pulling it across Tati's throat from the inside, cutting it wide open, before letting go of her head. Tati's head fell forward, blood spilling out down the bed, and onto the floor. Anette wanted to scream, but she knew better than to do that, lest Kelly decide to do the same to her. Kelly stood back up, pulling the opener from Tati's neck and looking at it in the light. "I like the color of blood in light," she said, "It shines, it's beautiful, and that's not something everyone gets to see. You're lucky, you get to see it. Isn't that night?" Kelly turned and walked back to the wall, kneeling in front of Anette, who refused to look up at her. "When I leave," she whispered, "you're going to call the police, and then you're going to tell them that when you got here, you found her like this. You won't tell them who did this, because, if you do, I'll take away more people who mean anything to you. Your mom, your dad, anyone you may ever love or ever meet, I will take them away from you, because you took something from me. Understand? From now on, we're gonna do therapy my way, not yours. I'm in charge now, got it?" Anette nodded weakly, making Kelly smile. Kelly stood up, sighed as she looked around and then, as she exited the room, peaked back in at Anette and smiled. "See you this Thursday," she said before leaving. After she left, Anette waited a few minutes, then did exactly as she had been instructed. She called the police, who, with an ambulance, not only took Tati's body but also Anette's statement. Nobody questioned Anette, her grief was all too real and obvious, and in fact one cop even offered her a coping with grief group she could frequent if she wanted to. She took the card, but she never anticipated actually going, nor did she ever attend. After they'd left, Anette decided she couldn't spend the night here, so she would head to her parents and spend the night at home. As she went back inside to gather her things, she found an envelope sitting on the coffee table in the living room, along with a single orchid. She picked the flower up and smelled it, then picked up the envelope and opened it, pulling the card from inside out and opening it. She wanted to cry, she wanted to scream, she wanted to be the one who was dead. She had been about to have the life she'd always wanted, and now it was all taken from her in a split second all thanks to a choice she'd made. Revenge sounded good, but how do you get revenge against someone not only unhinged but who reveled in that fact? She didn't know what to do, so instead she just did what she told Tati she'd do...she'd continue to have sessions with Kelly, if only to try and keep her from doing these sorts of things to anyone else. Tatianna deserved that much at least. *** Sarah was swimming. She'd been coming to the gym at night to swim alone, because she felt self conscious about her abilities in front of others. As she felt the water surround her, she couldn't help but feel good about herself. Since her marriage had fallen apart, this was the best she'd felt, and she was proud of herself for it. Little did she know that, from the nearby locker room, Kelly was watching, planning, detailing. She had grown to like Sarah, which made this all the harder. She didn't want to hurt her, but Sarah was starting to leave her no choice. Kelly sighed and ducked back into the locker room, and, unlocking her phone she called Jason. "Hello?" he answered, mouth half full, clearly eating. "I think I've gathered enough information on the next target," she said, "We'll be doing it this coming weekend, so prepare yourself." Kelly hung up and looked back out the door at Sarah, who was now climbing out of the pool, sitting on the edge and kicking the water with her feet, gently treading. Her work, it seemed, was never over. She always had to keep these older women in line. She always had to teach them not to take things away from people. She always had to teach them a lesson. She hoped with Sarah it wouldn't get to the point it had with others, but the more Sarah resisted, the more likely that outcome became. Still, Kelly thought, she had to try. She didn't want to hurt Sarah. She really didn't. And that, above all else, scared her.
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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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