Page 3 of False Idols

“You’re safe now, I promise.” I keep my voice low, I don’t know how far the killer went. If he comes back, I don’t know what I’ll do. You’ll run. Run like the coward you are. I flinch at the voice but I push it away and keep moving. I’m doing the right thing now. That’s what counts.

I need light. I reach for the flashlight still tucked in my back pocket and flick it on. My hand shakes as I lift it to shine on the ground around me. I see the blood first. There’s so much of it. I don’t want to look but when I hear a footfall, my hand jerks and I see everything.

It wasn’t the girl that was trying to crawl. She’s not moving. She’s not breathing, either. And she’s not alone.

I don’t have to see their face to know who it is. “Beau?” I whisper.

He’s bent over her and my heart breaks when I see the blood on his hands. It’s all over his chest and jeans. His head whips in my direction and I nearly drop my flashlight at the look in his eyes.

They’re wild. The blue isn’t the summer sky blue I know. He looks wild. There’s a light to them that isn’t right. He bares his teeth at me and all I can think of is the rabid dog that roamed the trailer park last summer. They had to put it down when it killed Ms. Samson’s chickens and tried to go after her. Beau isn’t the boy I think I might love, he isn’t even human right now when he roars at me.

“What are you doing here?!”

I shake my head. I can’t speak, but I know Beau isn’t right. I look at the girl and that’s when I see the familiar white dress that’s now a shade of dark maroon. It’s shredded where she’s been stabbed and I almost throw up again when I see what’s happened to her perfect body. She’s mangled and in pieces. The only thing that looks right is her hair. It’s blonde and shiny, perfectly splayed around her in a halo but the strands are starting to turn dark from the blood pooling around her in the dirt.

“She’s dead,” I choke out.

“And so are you!” Beau leaps at me when I speak and grabs my arms. I can feel hot sticky blood smear over my skin where he’s got hold of me. I scream and jerk away from him, but I can’t break his hold. It’s the first time he’s touched me. How can it be like this? It wasn’t supposed to go like this.

“Let me go!” I scream and swing the flashlight at Beau, but I miss. He drags me forward and I don’t know how to feel. I wanted to court him. I wanted to be the girl he kissed and said goodnight to while my mom looked on proudly and all the older girls at youth group stared in envy. I wanted Beau, but he’s going to kill me. I know it. Beau is a killer and I’m next.

“No!” This year in gym class the coaches showed us how to do self defense moves when they needed to fill an extra two weeks at the end of the year. I took them seriously when my mom told me about what can happen when you clean for the rich. I did good enough in class that the coaches always used me for demonstrations. I use everything I learned in those two weeks as Beau drags me towards the dead girl.

His date. He killed his date and now he’s going to kill me.

I slam the heel of my palm into Beau’s face and wince when I feel my hand hit his nose. Beau’s head snaps back and I throw myself forward, using the momentum to slam my knee into his groin. He drops just like my gym coach showed me and I don’t wait. I take off running down the path, straight for home. I still have my flashlight, but I don’t need it. I don’t think I could stop even if I wanted to, so it doesn’t matter what’s in front of me. I just keep running. I don’t stop, not even when I see the familiar lights of my trailer. I trip on the steps as I sprint up them and try to open the door, but it’s locked. I start pounding on it immediately. I don’t know if Beau is behind me or not. Even if I got the head start, he’s still bigger and faster.

“Mommy! Open the door! Mommy, please! Mommy!” I scream and slam my hands on the door. I don’t let go of the flash light and start hitting the door with it. “Mommy!”

I hear my mom storm up to the door and she’s moving fast, stomping from the sounds of it. A second later the door flies open and hits me in the face, but I don’t fall back. I shove past my mom into the trailer and only stop when I trip on the rug and land on my knees.

“Nevaeh? Nevaeh, what’s wrong? Where were you?” My mom’s voice is sharp and she shuts the front door with a click. “I knew you snuck out! Were you out in those damn woods? You were, weren’t you?”

“Mommy, he killed her.” I turn to face her and I see fear flash across her face. Her eyes widen, but it’s only for a beat before she points a finger at me.

“What were you doing in those woods, young lady? You went to see a boy, didn’t you?”

I shake my head. “No ma’am! I went to-”

“Where did you go?” She cuts me off with a glare and snaps her fingers at me.

“Bloom Point. I went to Bloom Point and-”

She slaps me hard. “You slut!”

I see stars from the second slap she lands on me. I hit the ground and taste blood in my mouth. It makes me think of the girl. Oh god, he killed her. I start to sob and stand even when my mom hits me again. This time it’s on the side of my head and my ears ring, just like when I fell off the path.

I hunch over, my hands on the floor and hold back the vomit that’s rising in my throat. “No, I didn’t do anything! I’m a good girl. I promise, I promise.”

“Dirty slut. You sinned in those woods, I know you did, and now you think you can come back here and lie to me? Make up some lie about what you saw to get away with it? Do I look stupid to you, girl?”

I raise my hands and try to fend her off, but it’s no use. “No, mommy, please. I didn’t-”

“Get to your room. You’re filthy!” She jerks me to my feet by my arm and starts to pull me down the hallway towards the bathroom, but it feels too much like Beau and I scream and shove her away from me.

“He killed her!” I scream. “I-I saw him do it! We have to call the cops right now or he’s going to kill me, too.” I turn and run back to the kitchen where the house phone is. I have it off the hook and I’m trying to dial it when my mother speaks.

“Why is there blood on you?” She whispers. When I look at her, I see she’s looking at her hands. There’s blood on them from where she grabbed my arms.