The Choice (a Painful Past)

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He had just upgraded in life. I think that was part of the reason why I felt so nervous around him and Sam. They had grown and changed.

They had made a name for themselves. They had money and fame. You could see the confidence in them and the certainty they had about their lives.

They knew that they were big deals now. Colby knew that he was lusted after by millions of girls, from all over the world. Sam knew he was lusted after too, but I don't think he really cared.

I knew he had a girlfriend. A gorgeous one. I didn't remember her name though.

She had been over at their place, when I was on the phone with Colby, one time. He was hungry, so he went downstairs, and she was sitting at the island that was in the middle of their kitchen. She had perfect features and long blue hair.

Colby had introduced me, and flipped the phone camera in her direction, so that we could wave at one another. I remembered feeling really self-conscious, because she was so beautiful and put together, while I lay there in my ratty night shirt, and my hair a total mess. Her makeup was perfectly applied, while my naked face stood out with all its blemishes.

Yeah, there was no way that I could ever compete with the girls in LA. I had let him go as soon as I could, because I realized what he was seeing with me.

I knew that I was being stupid and that I shouldn't care if other girls were prettier than me, or skinnier than me, because there was this whole "love yourself" thing, that my therapist was trying to get me to work on.

I didn't really have that part down yet and I wasn't really sure that I ever would.

Because, if I was so great, then why would Will cheat on me constantly? Maybe if I were prettier or skinnier, then he wouldn't have felt the need to go to someone else. I sighed and pushed the thoughts away.

Now wasn't the time.

I wasn't going to tell Colby that he couldn't film. I would just have to try to tell him that I really didn't want to be in the video, when it was all over.

I watched him pass the camera to Sam, while he set up a different one on a tripod.

"What's that one for?" I asked.

"It's a night vision camera. It might be able to pick up things that we can't see right now. Sam and I will review the footage from it later, when we do all the editing." He replied.

"Oh." I said, stupidly.

I should've known that. I've watched so many different haunted explorations, it really should have been second nature by now. I shook my head a little and rolled my eyes at myself.

He was making me stupid, and for what?

Colby was my FRIEND, so why did I keep getting that fluttering feeling in my stomach?

Why did I keep forgetting the simplest things, like actual words? I had to pull myself together.

"You ready to tell the story?" Sam asked, as he handed the camera back to Colby.

No. No, I was not, but I guess I had to. Damn it.

I nodded, slowly, and cleared my throat.

"Okay, so, there was this man named Leroy Danson. He lived in this little town almost one hundred years ago." I started.

I heard a few whispered "wow's" come from the group, but they mostly stayed silent, and watched me with wide eyes.

I let my eyes find Ben's, then smiled. This was for him. I could do this.

I kept my eyes locked on his and continued the story.

"Our small town was even smaller back then. Mailboxes were fairly new then, but it became mandatory for each home to have a mailbox, or door slot, for their mail to be put into. So, Leroy was the first postman of the town. Everyone loved Leroy. He just had that kind of face. Always smiling, always happy. He was charming and always had a twinkle in his eyes. Some of the single women had their eyes on him, because he was handsome. With dark hair, light eyes, and chiseled features, no one knew why he was still single. He could've had his pick of the ladies. He was always kind to everyone, but he never showed interest in getting to know any of the women better. This was probably because he had a secret. A dark secret, that he kept in the grounds behind his house."

At this point, I was really getting into the story, so I made sure to look each kid in the eye, as I circled my view around the room.

I didn't even feel nervous when my gaze met Colby's again. The type of smile that would bring any girl to her knees spread across his face, but instead of faltering, I smiled and continued the story.

"You see, Leroy had the urge to kill. It was hard, at first, for him to find the victim that he wanted. He was partial to brunettes, but being in such a small town, he sometimes had to settle for a blonde or a red head. Back in those days, there were these things called brothels. It was a place for men to...enjoy the company of many different women. According to the legend, there was a brothel in the next town over, and Leroy visited it frequently. No one seemed to care if those women went missing. It happened all the time. Maybe they just got tired of that kind of work, or maybe they went back home." I shrugged, nonchalantly. "Who knows? But they always went missing, for some reason or another. Not really a crime worthy of the sheriff, in those days. So, Leroy found his victims in that way...until he became a postman."

All of the kids' eyes were on me, wide and attentive.

Even the parents were into the story.

"With his new job, he was able to see details of the townspeople that he hadn't seen before. How inviting they might be, and which home had young brunette women, just waiting to feel his blade."

I knew that this story was a tiny bit gory, but I had told all of the parents beforehand that they would be.

Plus, these were teenagers, and I knew they had probably seen and heard way worse, just by being on the internet.

"So, Leroy started his investigation. Who lived where, when they came outside to water the plants, if their back door or front door was easiest to get into. So many details that he had to take into consideration, because he did not want the noose. He just wanted to enjoy his craft and he definitely considered it a craft. Since he couldn't really do this inside his home, he had a special building inside the woods behind his house. Just a small shack, well into the darkness of the trees so that the townspeople didn't hear the girls screaming. And oh, how they screamed. It was like music to his ears. He liked to let the girls live for a little while, so that they would know what was coming. The fear in their eyes excited him more than anything in his life ever had. It made him feel in control and dominating. He held their lives in his hands, and they knew it."