Damaged Souls

Chapter 15 Liars

Even though I was fine, my father still insisted on staying close to me at all times. I guess since he hadn't had a situation like that before, he didn't know what to do, and wanted to be cautious. As I sat in the living room, reading a book, my father closely watched me while he cooked dinner in the kitchen. I tried to ignore him, but he got pretty distracting. "Hey dad...? Could you uh, look the other way please?" I asked politely. "I'm sorry Caroline, it's just after today's incident, I don't want you getting hurt again..." he replied.I looked at my father with a small smile. "Don't worry daddy, I'll be fine," I assured him, and he smiled before turning back to the dinner he was preparing. An hour left.

"Dinner's ready kids!" My father shouted happily, and Dustin and I came to the table. We prayed, and dug into the meal my dad made us. I ate my steamed broccoli in thought. "Maybe I should ask dad about signing me up for school...?" I wondered, and dipped it into some melted cheese. As I finished eating my food, I looked at my dad. "Hey, dad...? Can I go for a walk? I need to clear my mind..." I asked. "I don't know Caroline, it's getting kind of dark..." my father replied, biting a nail. "Please dad, I'll be back in like an hour, maybe less, I just need to go ease my head," I exclaimed, and he complied.

I put on my shoes, wrapped my scarf, and pulled up my hood. As I waved to my brother and father, I smiled, not knowing I wouldn't ever see them again after leaving that house. Taking a breath of the fresh summer air, I walked down the sidewalk to nowhere in particular. I guess I started to get lost in thought because I ended up walking my former route I had used to walk to the grocery store from the garage every day for about a year. Upon snapping back to attention, I found myself walking right beside Jack's house, and I nearly freaked out. I quickly ran passed it so he couldn't see me if at all possible.

Part of me wanted to look back, but I kept my attention forward. I had an odd feeling crawl up my spine, the feeling of being watched. I felt the eeriness and kept going. He watched me from his window, a sly grin on his lips. "Run along now doll, wouldn't want any strangers taking you now..." he whispered, watching me disappear around the corner. Eventually I happened upon the store, I didn't go inside, I just happened to come across it. For a while, I just stared at it, watching people go in and people come out. As I stared, I contemplated everything, from the moment I was born to the moment of then. While some had awful lives, others great, I could relate to those in the middle. Through every bad thing, there was still good. 30 minutes left.

I took a breath and walked back in the direction I came. I once again became distracted, and knocked into someone, she fell to the ground with a yelp. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" I said apologetically, and held out my hand to the girl. I recognized her. Kaylee Jennings. She lived in the same neighborhood as Jack Privet, and the one I lived in before the incidents of the last few months. I knew her name because of how people would talk about her, and sometimes saw her walking home from school. "It's alright, there was no harm," she replied with a smile, and pulled herself up. She'd never see me again after, not even remember me.

I kept walking. As I took each step, my legs felt heavier, my brain felt fuzzy, and my arms and thighs were numb. Each step I made took me closer and closer to the end. I felt strong arms grab me from behind and their hands cover my mouth to stifle my screams. Jack knocked me out and carried me away, with no witnesses in sight.
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Upon awaking, I was laying beside a small river in the forest outside of town. "Hello sleeping beauty, or should I call you traitor instead?" Jack asked with a chuckle, his face smiling but filled with hatred. He sat inches from me. "Leave me alone!" I yelled, and lurched forward, only then to notice the knife in his hands, point barely from my heart. The psychopath laughed. "I wouldn't move Caroline, or your story will have a very depressing end indeed..." he muttered with a grin. It was ironic in a way, because his words didn't matter, my actions didn't matter. Nothing could save me.

After stripping me down and throwing my clothes onto the bridge that went over the small ditch containing the river, Jack began grabbing at me, I cried and screamed. I had only just escaped this man, only to be thrown back. "LEAVE ME ALONE! PLEASE!!" I sobbed, and he silenced me by holding the knife to my lips as he laughed. The blade sliced up my lips as it shushed my sobs and my screams. For the first time Jack hurt me the most. It was warm and painful all at once. He didn't take himself away, but grinned down at me. "Caroline, do you know what happens to naughty little girls who make themselves liars?" He asked quietly. I shook my head, which made the knifes blade press harder over my mouth. Two minutes.

Jack laughed as he took the lethal blade from my bleeding mouth, and started to make deep sliced gashes on different parts of my body. He was experimenting. I screamed and cried at the burning pain, all over my body. I felt like I was on fire. He sliced parts of my arms, my legs, my cheeks and my chest. He started laughing even harder as he started physically stabbing me, making my sobs and my screams louder. Slicing above my eyes, my vision blurred to red. Everything was painful, everything was just, pain. The last thing I ever saw in mortal form was my killer smiling down at me, holding the knife eerily still, and the letting it fall and slice into my slender throat.