Facade

I live by myself, in the middle of a barren plain where the grass is 
too tall and there’s never another living human in sight for miles. No, 
no it’s not some fallout world, but that’d be cool. No, sadly it’s not 
that interesting a story. My aunt had won it in an auction online and 
left it for me in her will. I sometimes wish I had kids, or even a 
simple roommate to help fill the empty space and kill off the dreaded 
silence. I can understand why nobody wants to live out here though; 
you’d have to drive thirty miles just to get into a rinky dink town. 
I’ve left tons of adds in the local papers, hoping someone would answer.
 Living in a giant house by your lonesome kind of drives you to the 
brick of insanity.
3:23: I was sitting on my porch by myself reading one of my 
aunt’s old Stephen King books when a nice looking car pulled into my 
gravel driveway, I didn't look up at first so the only indication was 
the sound. When I DID look away from the gruesome paper made scene, I 
saw a nice sleek car with shiny black paint and the number five 
stenciled in red on the hood. I was baffled by the visitor being as I 
had no family members that didn’t hate me. Being your rich aunt’s 
favorite nephew or human for that matter can cause some tension.
I mark my place in the book by bending the corner of the page and
 stand up. The windows had too dark a tint for me to see who was in the 
vehicle. I walk over thinking it was some big-shot city boy who needed 
directions to a night club or something. Yet to my surprise, a tall 
slender woman in a teal button down shirt and normal jeans walked out. I
 stood frozen, slightly confused as to why a woman like her would be out
 in the middle of nowhere.
She looks back inside the car and signals for someone in the 
passenger seat to follow her. I force myself to snap back to reality and
 walk down the steps to her. She smiled widely at me causing my heart to
 skip a beat. She was rather pretty.
“Hi, I’m Jessica Gates. I’m here about your add. Um … you’re the 
one who was looking for a roommate right?” I say nothing yet nod 
uncontrollably. She looks back in the car and calls for her friends to 
exit.
“Come on, girls. Won’t you at least try to be excited?” Two 
small, barely audible sighs comes from the car followed by a, “okay mom 
…” The woman turns back to me and begins talking about how a life out in
 the country side seem quaint and peaceful perfect for raising a family.
Out of the car stepped two girls, one a bit taller than the 
other. The first had long silky black hair that reached her shoulders 
and deep blue eyes; she looked like Jessica’s reflection but younger. 
The second one was short and glum, had long nappy, stringy brown hair 
and half lidded green eyes that were locked in a glare.
“Oh and I hope its okay but … these are my daughter Nicole, and 
Olivia.” I look at her and laugh. “Jessica was it? This house is plenty 
big enough to support twenty kiddos. I was planning to sell it but … it 
was my aunts and she wanted me to live here and … well I’m not sure. 
Guess I’m just her spoiled brat.” We both laugh heartily at my remark.
“So no old man. I hope you don’t mind my asking but what happened
 to-“”Oh he’s … He isn't with us anymore I'm afraid, he lost his life in
 a car accident with our son Richard about a year ago." 
“I’m really sorry for asking mame…” The entire time she spoke I 
could see the corner of her mouth twitching. Olivia looked like she was 
ready faint, from the long drive I suppose, the other one shifted 
awkwardly fiddling with her long sleeves, the purple jacket a bit too 
big for her, even with her unappropriated arms.
We talked for a while, about normal things. Jessica and I had 
plenty in common despite our different appearances. By which I mean 
she’s a young pretty girl dressed in clean clothing and I’m an over 
educated redneck who’s been wearing the same shirt since the dawn of 
time, or at least three Thursdays ago, yeah laundry isn't really a top 
priority around these parts.
After a while she called some people, who I assumed were her 
friends, came over with her things. It only took about a day and a half 
to move everything in. We set her daughter Nicole up in the room down 
the hall, and Olivia next to her. Miss Jessica got the room next to the 
bathroom, which used to be my aunts room.
I even told her it was where she spent her last moment. She said 
it was fine and set up shop. It didn't take long to get used to the new 
family in my home. I kind of liked all the new obnoxious noises and 
yelling.  I was just happy knowing there were other human beings in my 
house.
7:03: I sit up and stretch my arms out as the light from the sun 
peeks threw my blinds. Right away I hear Olivia running around getting 
ready for school. The patter of her feet hitting the oak floor became so
 familiar that I’d freak out if I didn’t hear it.
My only complaint was the fact that she awoke way to early, 
meaning she’d also go around and wake the rest of us up. I sit up and 
groan loudly.
“Nikki, get up!” She Olivia yelled at her younger sister. I smile
 and walk out of my room there on the floor laid the small brown haired 
child. Olivia had dragged her out of bed and into the corridor. She just
 laid in her purple night dress with her bear clutched tightly in her 
arms.
“Come on guys you’ll be late.” I lightly shove Nicole with my 
foot moving her out of the walk way. Olivia chuckled as her sister 
jumped up. Her normally half-lidded eyes widen in shock. She looked 
around as if searching for someone. Once her eyes meet mine she locks 
them in a glare and storms back to her room, slamming the door behind 
her.
After the girls got dressed they piled in the cars. Jessica drove
 Olivia to the Library; it was down the street from her job at 
Starbucks. I took Nicole being as her Middle school was next to the 
public library, where I planned to get a few things done, just stupid 
stuff about the house.
I waved bye to Jessica and Olivia who waved back happily. The two
 drove off blaring what sounded like death metal, not really what I 
pictured either or them preferring in music, leaving me with grumpy 
little Nicole. She climbed into the car, and threw her bag on the floor.
 I get in my seat and take off.
Needless to say it didn’t take long for an awkward silence to 
develop. She kept her gaze out the window, even though there was nothing
 but grass, a long wire fence and, the forest.
“So kiddo, wanna talk about something?” No response. She kept 
staring out the window at the plains. I felt like I was being ignored. 
Then I looked closer, she wasn’t just gazing out the window she was 
staring at the trees beyond the fields.
“I'm fucking sixteen, seventeen in a month, so stop calling me 
kiddo.” she huffed. I rolled my eyes, typical teenagers. The silence 
slithered back over us soon, enveloping both.
"Oh and, it ..wasn't a car crash" She blurted out a hint of 
annoyance in her voice. I was so shocked I almost swerved. “Ma' just 
likes to cover up ya know.” 
“That’s your father, how can you talk about him that way?!” She looked away from the glass and stared intently at the wheel.
“If I decided I wanted to die right now in the truck, I’d grab 
the wheel and end the both of us. We’re such insignificant creatures 
that ours deaths will mean nothing. Humans … what pitiful animals, and 
one more thing Steven!” She looked back to the window.
“That man wasn’t my father, he was my step-dad, and his death 
meant nothing to me being as we had no bounds, not to mention he was-” 
she cut herself off, I was never able to find out WHY she cut her 
statement off, or what was so bad about the man who attempted to raise 
her. I swallowed the lump in my throat and kept my eye straight ahead. I
 knew Jessica wouldn't believe me if I told her about this, about 
Nicole, who awful she felt towards the world. She's a kid, why should a 
kid have these kind of thoughts?
“I get that he wasn’t your real dad, but he was still a living 
breathing human. He probably loved you, Jessica, and Olivia too!” She 
scoffed at me and crossed her arms. “Listen Stevy, you know my name, not
 my story."
I was relieved when I saw the school.Nicole seemed like she could
 care less, and slowly left the car shuffling her feet across the grass,
 the dew without a doubt getting into her sneakers. I wait a few minutes
 before I take off, my mind set on one of the only places I believed 
that could possibly get me any of the information I needed.
11:22: I sat in the back of the library reading old papers. 
Though my intentions were to read about the house, I ended up looking 
for anything with information to Nicole's Step-father’s death. 
By the time I’d finished it was almost time to pick up Nicole. As
 I begin to sort all the papers I notice one picture that stood out. A 
horrific picture where the poor man laid face down in a bed, a large 
gaping wound in the back of his head, and under it was two words. 
"Issac Gates"
I must say I didn't really believe Nicole at first but, ... Gates...
3:03: I wait outside the school, waiting for the girl to coming 
running out with the rest of them. Though it took a minute for her to 
get out into the yard as she walked at a slow pace with her hands in her
 jean pocket and a scowl on her face. I greeted her hesitantly, earning a
 glare.
We pile in the car and take off back home. Once again she stares 
out the window, ignoring my every attempt to make contact. It wasn’t 
until we got half way there she even spoke at all.
"Your father's name... it wasn't by any chance Issac Gates was it?"
“You read the papers didn’t you, oh and again, STEP father.” Her 
voice seemed rasp and gravely, almost angry. I nod gripping the wheel.
“Then you know that he wasn't truly in a car accident” I nod slowly. 
"But, what about Richard. she said he had died with Issac."
She gripped her knees and bit her lip, I could almost detect a hint of sorrow masking her face.
"He deserved to die after what he di-“She stopped herself in 
mid-sentence. I take my eyes off the road for a moment, and in that 
small period of time, I saw something in the girl's I hadn’t seen since 
they day I met her. Fear, whether or not it was legit terror or a false 
attempt to make me uneasy I'll never know.
“You have to promise you won’t tell Ma'! If she found out I told 
anyone … “I nod my head in agreement. After all, if she had tried to 
cover up two deaths, it may have been for a reason.
“He was an awful man, and Ma' knew it, She watched him do B...bad
 things to all of us... and I guess she just, couldn't take it anymore."
The lines on the road seemed like a blur of yellow and white as I
 fly by at an ungodly speed. I had to get home! Nicole buckled her seat 
belt and grabbed what the world seems to have deemed the ‘oh-shit-bar’. 
Once the house came into view I released the throttle and my breathing 
became calm. To make sure I knew what I was getting into I looked to the
 child in the passenger seat.
“Are you sure ...?” 
"That's the thing about maniacs, ...they look just like everyone else."
She nods signaling for me to pull into the driveway. Jessica and 
Olivia were already home, the black car was pulled in. I swing my door 
open and storm inside. Jessica sat on the couch watching law and order 
with Olivia sitting on the floor in front of her. My hideous glare turns
 into a confused gazed. Her eyes seemed too happy and bright. I thought 
to myself there was no way in hell that she killed that man, then again …
 it doesn’t make sense!
I walk to my room and slam my door locking it behind me. I needed
 time to rethink life, and all that was in it ... My lord that felt 
terrible to write down, my apologies for being terribly generic. I plop 
down in my bed and let the soft sheet surround me. I try to keep my eyes
 open but the bed was just so comfortable. My eyes shut as I embrace my 
sleep, why fight it, a nice nap seemed to be a rather nice thought...
It was a short dreamless sleep, though when I awoke hours later in a 
total haze the sun had already hidden behind the horizon. I yawn and 
stretch like a nimble hillbilly cat. Well my nimble cat ears happened to
 hear what sounded like sobbing, faint soft sobbing, from someone not 
exactly a child, but not exactlly an adult.
I leave the comfort of my small stuffy room and venture out into 
the hallway which was a bit darker than I’d like. Ignoring the little 
voice in my head I search for the source of the sound. It seemed to be 
coming from Olivia’s room. Hesitantly I open the door and flip on the 
lights.
Right away I wished I hadn’t. The sight before me was beyond 
horrific; Olivia laid on the bed with her arms spread out wide sewn to 
the bed with red thread, her cherry red dress shredded though still 
concealing a small portion of the blood. Her eyes had been gouged out 
and replaced with two roses, the pestles falling over her pale colorless
 cheeks. I knew she was still clinging to her life. Her stomach moved up
 and down slowly and tears still fled down her cheeks mixing with the 
blood. Her head had been completely shaved with one little patch on the 
side, bruises ran up the side of her badly tore body along with the 
words "YOU'RE WELCOME" carved into her collar bone, from one side to the
 other.
I race to her side and try to pull the thread out but it wasn’t 
just one piece of thread, it was several. A few even made their way into
 her eye brows.
“Olivia! Olivia, oh god! Jessica call 9-“I clamp my hand over my 
mouth. Jessica! Jessica, the woman I trusted and welcomed into my home. 
She slaughtered her own husband and now her daughter. What kind of 
mother kills her own child? I felt tears falling down my cheeks. The 
little girl before me was suffering, bleeding out.
I hated myself for it, I still do, I always will. I took the 
pillow next to me on the floor and held it over her face. I knew she 
couldn’t kick so I relied on the slight heaving of her chest to tell if 
she was still alive. After a moment I gave up and threw the pillow to 
the door.
I began to cry harder than I’ve ever cried in my knowing life. I 
killed her, I killed a little girl. Jessica murdered her, but I killed 
her. I wanted nothing more than to drag a razor blade across that 
bitch’s neck then spit on her corpse.
Just as I clench my fist and begin to yearn, a scream, Nicole’s 
scream. All logic left my mind in a split second. I leave a blazing 
trail behind me as I dash to her room. The rug in the hallway nearly 
flew from underneath me.
When I try the door I find that it’s locked, pissed off and 
terrified for this young girl I grab the ebony table and smash it into 
the door a few times. When my muscles feel like they’re on fire, I give 
it one last bash sending it flying open.
The first thing I see is Jessica tied up in a chair with a gag in
 her mouth. Confused I rush to her and pull the cloth out, half tempted 
to feed it to her. She sobs and coughs like a pathetic child.
“She-she did this! It was her! She … she killed him, I-I just 
wanted a fresh start I swear! … Oh god oh god oh god... She hurt my 
baby... my god please not my baby!" Jessica's face was stained with 
tears, her eyes puffy and red with black mascara running down her face.
My face twisted into a new horrified look I didn’t believe I 
could make. Jessica wasn’t the killer, but then who was, I mean my god 
who else was there!?
“Jessica, who did this? Olivia,Nicole, who did this to them?” I 
put my ear next to her heart, her pulse was slowly declining. She 
coughed up blood, spilling it on the top of my head.
“It's my fault isn't it, It's my fault for not leaving him, for not standing up, for trying to live out a god damned facade!"
“Olivia … he, he did things to my Olivia, She was just trying to 
help her big sister and I beat her for it. We called her STABBY. I'm a 
terrible mother aren't I?!"
“Nicole … it was Nicole wasn’t it? She … she did this?” I can tell
 my voice cracked. I trusted her, I listened to her, and I even believed
 her when she told me that her own mother did it. God I felt so naïve 
and stupid, I was ready to snap.
“Oh now you speak up, typical bitch.” The voice of a girl echoed 
throughout the room. I bite my lip in an uncontrollable rage. I turn and
 see tiny Nicole, her purple Jacket tainted with blood, brown hair in a 
nappy mess masking most of her face leaving only one bright green orb to
 gaze out through the matted curtains of hair.
“You little bitch!”  I have to speak through gritted teeth. “What
 the FUCK are you?”  She showed no fear as she walked towards me. Slowly
 she reached into her pocket and pulled out an old kitchen knife with a 
damaged hilt and soiled blade.
“I am Nicole, I am the beaten, I am”  she turns to look at her 
mother " The one that isn't DISCIPLINED?!.......but I like the other 
name a lot more, so why don't you, little Mister Stevy call meeeeee..." 
Within seconds she was right in front of me with a knife over her head. 
“STABBY~!” I grab her wrist and try to keep the tip of the blade away 
from my skin. Nicole, or shall I, Stabby struggled and broke from my 
grip. I give her no time to react as I kick her to the floor.
She was about to pop up and begin swinging when I set my foot on 
her chest and kept her suspended on the ground. I bent down and grab the
 knife from her. The child screams bloody murder and bites my hand as it
 retracts, my hand red with bite marks. I leave her on the floor, 
thinking she was helpless without a weapon. I cut the ropes on Jessica 
releasing her. Right away she grabs the knife from my hand and pushes me
 aside. I wasn’t expecting her to so I ended up on the floor, a bad 
bruise quickly developing on my ass.
“This is for my real baby!” She screamed as she went berserk and 
plunged the blade into her left eye. I shield my eyes and jump up. I 
grab her shoulder and pull her away from the child. Jessica fought and 
screamed begging for me to let her go. She's just tried to murder her 
own last remaining daughter in the name of revenge. Have we humans no 
limit? I know it was wrong, but this thing ... I have no words to fill 
the blanks I'm leaving.
“That’s your daughter! Please just walk away!” she declined and 
grabbed Stabby by the rim of her jacket tearing the fabric a bit. I plea
 over and over for the girl’s life, but she wanted vengeance for her 
daughter and husband.
“NO! She killed my baby, that’s not Nicole anymore … it’s that … 
Stabby.” She manages to pick her up and throw her far enough to where 
she went through the window. I was amazed by the sudden wave of strength
 and the fact that this woman had just threw her child, her youngest 
daughter out of a window, it was a second story window at that.
I shake her harshly by the shoulders screaming at her, asking why
 … why she would do such a thing. Murder always seemed like a coward’s 
way out.
After enduring ten minutes of my lecturing and crying she broke 
away and ran down the hall. I followed close by to make sure she didn’t 
do anything else she’d regret.
She pulls the front door open and looks back to me, “you don’t 
know what it’s like … she killed my husband, and made me watch he kill 
my baby girl!”  After that she just sobbed and stared at me, it took at 
least five minutes of silence before a maniacal laughter took over the 
room. I tried to pull her back in but I just wasn’t fast enough. I can’t
 help like feeling if I had caught her, she’d still be here. I missed 
her by a second.
Stabby, in the confusion of the moment, appeared from behind her 
and pulled Jessica down by her long black hair. Instead of diving in and
 saving her like a hero, I backed away like a coward. I only saw enough 
to know she slit her throat with a shard of glass. I covered my face in 
my hands, I could faintly hear the gurgling of blood as Jessica choked 
on her own blood. The metallic tang wafted to my nose, I hate that foul 
scent, I HATE it!
It lasted longer than I wanted; I sat through ten minutes of the 
sound of tearing flesh and blood dripping to the floor. It wasn’t until I
 heard her feet creak on the old oak floor that I knew she was 
approaching me.
I sat at the edge of the stair case still weeping like an infant.
 A small cold hand rested on my shoulder. I couldn’t stop the tears, 
they just kept pouring.
“You can’t tell anybody about me. Ma'did this … you know murder 
suicide.” I somehow manage to break my hands away from my face, my pale 
trembling hands. Stabby grabbed them and held them.
I steal one glance at her and gag. The once grungy yet like-able 
little girl was now a dismembered monster! Her left eye was gone 
revealing the inside of her head, A giant shard of glass stuck out of 
her right shoulder, a few smaller ones stuck from her skin like a 
voo-doo doll here and there, and she was covered in scars, scraps, and 
blood, needless to say it wasn’t all her own. Her dark purple jacket was
 tattered and soiled with blood.
I turn to my left and emptied my stomach content. That horrific 
face was too much for me to handle. She slaps my cheek hard. Hard enough
 that a trickle of blood ran down my chin.
She looked at me hatefully tilting her head "And you where the only one that could almost understand.."
“Tell them what I told you to say, or share their fate!” I nod 
and wipe the rest of the bile from my mouth, I’d never felt fear like 
this before in my life, this girl, this child could kill me at any given
 moment.
“You’ll tell the police that She did this … my body is hidden in 
the woods somewhere. Tell them you saw her do it and said nothing!” I 
nod like a mad man sending tears flying off my cheeks.
“Call them … when you wake up.” The last thing I remember was 
Stabby slamming my head into the hand rail knocking me out cold. I’m 
ashamed to say it but I did what she said. I called the police and 
reported a murder suicide. I told them I dropped “Nicole” off at home 
then went back out to the store. When I got home she was just gone, I 
found Olivia up stairs sewn to the bed and I witnessed Jessica slit her 
own throat. I even managed to say it all without my voice cracking.
To this day that girl’s face haunts me. Same goes for Jessica and
 Olivia, I couldn’t save them. I hear their screams every night. I can’t
 keep living like this, they’re torturing me. Why though, is because I 
lied, or is this all because of Stabby. I can’t really tell you, but one
 thing I can let you in on … I’m going insane I can’t wait for death any
 longer. I only hope somebody will find this note and spread the word 
maybe even find her. 
I'm still under going therapy, I even often have night terrors, I just 
don't feel safe anymore..
As I write this note on my worn cherry oak desk, I can't help but
 constantly replay that scene in my head. I'm tired of this fight in my 
head. I'm slipping away, I only pray that what ever god there is sees 
mercy upon me. My eyes keep glancing at the 50 caliber  next to my bed 
side table. I think I'm contemplating on something, but what?
I don't want to die, but I don't want the image of that girl in my head any longer!m
I'll work something out, the good guys always win!
Right?