Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Elsie had met him at the bar that night. Something was different about him. He wasn’t the generic bad boy or American hottie. Perhaps something was off; perhaps something was just abnormal; something was definitely on. He made her feel hot. He made her feel wanted. He made her feel… turned on. That one thing was for sure, he turned her body on.

The slight tilt of his body towards her made her feel special. The attention itself was abnormal for Elsie. Normally men were distracted by her older sister, Martha. Marty, as Elsie had called her since childhood, was flashy. She was much more confident, perhaps containing a hint of s**t within her confidence, but whatever it was, men were attracted to her. Not Elsie. No, Elsie was never seen within the shadow of her sister.

Somewhere between the time she had met him and taken him to her house, she had drunken more alcohol than she had in the two years since she had reached the legal age. Within in the drunk atmosphere she had created with the mind-numbing drinks, she must have given him directions and unlocked the house.

She wasn’t even sure if she knew his name. Had she even heard him mention it? She didn’t believe so, but behind the haze it didn’t matter. Behind the haze, all that mattered was the feel of his body pressed against her as he trapped her against her own couch.

The pressure from his groin which dug into her lower stomach only caused her to heat up more. Her body was reacting on its own, molding her lips into his. Supplying the movement and noises to the demand of his hands and body. Behind the drunken haze, everything was instinct. The room only felt like it was heating up.

Would the temperature ever decline? She wasn’t sure, but her body wouldn’t let her move away. Not even when she could herself laying across the couch with his body hovering over hers, did she break free of the haze. The sheet covering her eyes and the instincts of her body brought Elsie to strip the unknown suitor of his shirt. She wasn’t even sure if she was wearing hers either.

Only one word broke through the cover over her mind, “F**k.”

She barely heard herself answer him. “What?”

“Someone knocked on your door.”

The words barely registered. She leaned forward to mold their lips together again. Whoever the man was, was quick to invade her mouth with his tongue, yet he pulled back. “They’re still knocking.”

His voice caused her to pause; the heaviness tinting his pitch caused her body to light up further.

“Let me check.”

“I’ll come with.”

She numbly nodded, moving to stand. When had he gotten up off of her? Elsie wasn’t totally sure. She was barely able to recognize Marty and their brother, Brandon, on the other side of the door.

“Oh f**k, Elie! I was worried sick!” Marty lunged at her with a hug.

The man cleared his throat behind her.

“Who is this?”  Brandon narrowed his eyes, glaring at the space behind Elsie.

“We’re her brother and sister, and you?” Brandon’s voice was deeper than normal, though it barely registered to Elie.

“Do you even know his name?” Marty stepped back now, space taking hold between the sisters.

“What,” Elie said, not really understanding.

“You don’t even know his name?”  Brandon’s voice made Elsie’s ears hurt.

“Well,”

“No, I don’t give a f**k. Whoever you are, get the f**k out of my little sister’s house!” Brandon had interrupted Elsie as he shoved past her, causing her to stagger. Marty had to help her to continue to stand.

Not long after Elsie found herself standing in her kitchen with her brother and sister glaring at her. Her body was still hot, a feeling of primal need having settled into her stomach, but she felt embarrassed but more so angry.

“Elie…”

“No, don’t ‘Ellie’ me! I just wanted to have fun; you do this almost nightly,” Elsie said. Stepping forward as she interrupted her sister.

Elsie shoved her palms into Marty’s chest, sending her back. The momentum caused the drunken girl to also stagger, but she surprisingly kept her balance. Without a second look, she turned on her heel and stormed to her room, her stride uneven from exhaustion, alcohol and anger.

“You can show yourselves out,” and she decided to go to sleep.

Sometime later she woke up to the noise of a knock on the door. Elsie rolled to her feet, and she staggered. Consuming her entire thought was a sudden headache that hit her. What had happened? She wasn’t totally sure. Surprisingly, she was in a clubbing dress.

A groan slipped from her lips. What had she done exactly?

A knock distracted her from her thoughts. She winced, the noise seemed to bang against her skull. Of course, she had to answer the door. Almost tripping three times before she neared the door, she was lucky to be able to open it in one piece.

Everything rushed back to her in the moment as she came face to face with the dude from that night. Her mouth slipped open slightly; she was unable to say anything.

“Miss me,” he said, his grin twisting into a smirk.

She blinked, “I don’t even know your name.”

Her words sounded with much less confidence than what she had hoped for, but it was all she could make up.

He grimaced. “Richard.”

“Oh,” was her ingenious reply. “So, what’re you doing here?”

“You left something in my truck,” Richard said, hanging his head for a moment, “I thought you would like it back.”

“Yeah.” God, this conversation was awkward, Elsie wanted to add, but kept it to herself.

He turned around and started along the path heading to driveway. She stood there for another moment before following after him. The truck was surprisingly pristine. Why hadn’t she remembered this before?

“Where is it?”

“In the back.” His reply confused her, but she continued to follow, as he moved to the tail of his truck and lowered the hatch. “Right in here.”

She turned to look but stopped. Her mouth opened. She needed to say something. She found she couldn’t mutter a word. She couldn’t breathe. Her breath was stuck in her lungs. Why wasn’t it working? Was this a dream? She wanted to scream.

In front of her she saw four bodies, all hog bound and tied; all bloodied and beaten; all recognizable. All of the bodies were her family: Martha, Brandon, her mother and her father. God, what had Elsie done?

“What, you don’t like it?” Richard’s voice had twisted into something wicked and suddenly a shot of pain raced across her skull. Her sight went black.