I stared at the double barrel shot gun that was pointed at me. My legs started quivering as my knees locked in place. A wave of heat ran through my body. I could feel the cold sweat droplets forming on my forehead. Was this really how I was going to meet my estranged father for the first time? He took a step forward. His breathing was uneven as he studied me from behind the gun. Was he still too much of a coward to talk to me without a weapon? I guess so.
I swallowed hard and said, “What would you like to know?”
He grinned, “What are you thinking right now?”
“Are you going to kill me?” I asked.
He lowered the gun and laid it on the bed. “No, of course not, sweetie. Now, if you don’t want to end up like gramps back there, just come spend some time with me. I want you to know exactly what happened between me and your mom. I’m going to give you a moment to collect yourself. I’m going to go in the kitchen and heat up some leftovers. You must be starving.”
He turned quickly and stepped over Jim’s body in the hallway. Didn’t look down, didn’t think twice. I realized I had been holding my breath and let out a huge breath. I stood taking short breaths while I heard the refrigerator door open and close. The clanging of dishes began to echo down the hallway. I needed to think fast. I still had my backpack on. I needed to subdue him, get my shit, and leave. I reached around and pulled the skillet out of my bag. I figured that one quick smack to the face would at least knock him out.
I carefully stepped over Jim and made my way to the edge of the hallway. I could smell the familiar scent of potato soup, my favorite as a child. I could hear him humming the tune of “What a Friend We Have in Jesus.” I could never understand how he just shot his father and then started singing in the kitchen.
I took in a deep breath and yelled, “Hey dad, I’m scared to walk over this body. Will you come help me?”
“Of course, baby girl, I’ll be right…”
As he rounded the corner, I swung the pan with all I had into his face. I could hear small cracks as it made impact. His body fell to the floor. Blood gushed out of his nose and his body laid still on the floor. My hands were shaking by this point as I flew to the kitchen and grabbed all six vials of insulin out of the refrigerator. I swiped all of the pump infusion sets and spare syringes out of the box beside the fridge. I ran back to the bedroom and picked up the shot gun out of the bedroom. I immediately ran out of the house and got back in the truck.
My mouth started to feel like the desert as I knew my blood sugar was climbing. The familiar film that comes with high glucose covered the inside of my mouth. As I continued to drive, I felt nauseated. When would this nightmare end? Everyone I cared about was dropping off the planet. I figured that I would drive back to the lake house. I thought Jim was trying to tell me something about the fireplace. I knew I should at least check it out.
Before I got outside city limits, my phone buzzed in my pocket.
“Hello?”
“Emily! Hey, sis! It’s Peter. I’m sorry I haven’t called before now, but you know how hard it is to get away from work sometimes. What’s new?” He asked, chipper than ever.
“Peter, you have no idea how good it is to hear your voice. Everything is falling apart. Can you come home? I really need you right now.” I said, my lip starting to quiver with the request.
“Oh, I don’t know, Emily. I’m in Alaska right now and I really can’t get away. Whatever is going on you can handle it. You’ve always been able to keep things going.” He said with a sneer of sarcasm.
“Mom is dead, Peter. Now, Kayla is dead, too. What the fuck do you want me to keep going? There’s nothing left here. I’m literally running away from a serial killer. What the hell do you want me to do?” I screamed back at him.
“I know mom and Kayla are dead. Don’t worry, though, it will be fine. As the Good Shepherd always says, ‘To everything there is a season.’ I’m sure they died for a specific purpose. He’s not a serial killer, Emily. He’s cleansing the world from those who would oppose his teaching. You really have no idea what you are talking about.” He said.
I sat there in silence as my brother just reassured me that my father serial killer meant no harm. “What are you talking about, Peter?”
“You are the chosen one. You were the only female born out of all the women that conceived by the Shepherd. You are chosen to carry on the new race of cleansed people. Look, you don’t need to be afraid. Just go along with what he says and you’ll be fine. I’m going to come home for the gathering tomorrow anyway. I’ll be seeing you.”
The call ended and I threw my phone in the floor. Now another member of my family has been sabotaged by this bastard.
I turned on to the road that led to the lake house. I passed by the clearing where my car used to be. My car was gone. I revved the engine to make it up the hill. I turned into the path that led to the garage. I pulled in and killed the engine. I immediately started looking in the glove box and under the seat for ammunition. When I came up empty, I hopped out of the car and looked around the garage. I found an old, metal toolbox that sat on a work table. I opened it to find it full of shot gun shells. I locked the box and took it with me. From the garage, I sprinted to the house. Once I got inside, I looked around the house to make sure that I was alone.
After putting a blockade against the door, I slumped down on the couch to take care of myself. Just like I suspected, my blood sugar was extremely high. I changed the infusion sight and started to feel the relief after a few minutes. I sat staring at the deer head mounted above the fireplace. So much shit has happened in the last few hours. I met my biological father, but I lost all of my family at the same time. Why had I been so stupid? Why did I ask so many fucking questions? I should have left it alone.
I could feel myself drifting to sleep. I knew I shouldn’t, but my body was exhausted.
I awoke to the sound of my phone. I reached my hand over and saw that it was late. I rubbed my eyes and sat up to read the message.
“Pumpkin, what you did was not very nice. I know you’re mad at daddy, but you can’t hurt me. That’s not acceptable. Tomorrow, I’m having a little get together. I expect you to be there. I will make sure of it. I’ll be seeing you.”
After the recharge in energy, my adrenaline kicked in full force. I remembered Jim talking about the fireplace. I turned the flashlight on my phone and walked over to the fireplace. I laid down and shined the light directly up through the chimney. At first, it just looked old and abused. The black soot caked the inner walls of the fireplace. I was losing hope that I had assumed something was there. I shined the light against the wall once more. The light reflected off of something on the left side. I reached my hand up in the chimney and felt tape over an envelope. I struggled to tear it down, but once I did, a pile of soot came crashing down.
Exiting the black cloud, I started coughing as I went toward the kitchen table for light. I sat down and wiped off the soot from the package. On the outside, my name was plainly written. I didn’t recognize the handwriting. I opened the envelope to reveal a letter and a large amount of cash. Emotions started to surface, again, as I read through the letter.
"Emily,
I can’t believe I finally got to meet you. I know that we are meeting under bad circumstances, but it was such a pleasure to see you. You are more beautiful and wonderful than I could have imagined. You remind me of what your father used to be when he was young. I hope that you can come to trust me. I would love to be able to get to know you better.
I wanted to write this out so that you could know the truth, once and for all. When your father and I started that single mother’s group, my only hope was to help women that needed support. Your father kept convincing me that they needed a male’s example. At the time, I felt like it made sense. One by one I noticed the women getting pregnant. Forgive me, Emily, I didn’t want to believe that my son was cable of this kind of thing.
When I found out that your mother had given birth to you, I went to the hospital and gazed at you through the window. You were the prettiest baby I had ever seen. Your dark hair and green eyes stood out with the pink blankets. You were sleeping so peacefully while I stood there. I knew from that moment on that I wanted to protect you. I didn’t care what the cost was.
I joined your father’s movement in an attempt to keep him from killing your mother and grandmother. He was also threatening to kill my wife. In the end, he killed my wife anyway. I didn’t know what else to do but continue with the movement. I never meant to hurt you. I never meant for any of this to happen.
Be careful, Emily. Your father is capable of things far beyond your comprehension. He is crafty and plays with your emotions. You have his intellect. I can tell. Use this gift to your advantage. I have left you $10,000 to start over with your life. I know it’s not much, but there will be more to come later. I want you to get out of here. I don’t care where you go, but I want you to leave this place behind and save yourself. I will make sure the rest of the money gets to you when you need it.
Hang in there, kiddo. You are so special and have so much potential. I know that we can get through this together. Leave all the bad stuff up to me. I love you.
Grandpa”
The tears welled up in the corners of my eyes. He really did care about me. I can’t imagine the things he went through. I neatly folded the letter and returned it to the envelope. I then took the envelope and put it in my backpack.
After all of this, I realized that I hadn’t gotten cleaned up in a while. I could feel the dirt accumulating on my body. Before going to the shower, I loaded the shot gun and took it with me to the bathroom. The warm water felt amazing as the dirt flowed down into the drain. I continued to feel guilty that I got Jim killed. If I hadn’t gotten him involved then he would be fine now. I was also mourning the fact that a man that cared for me so much was unable to be a part of my life.
I stepped out of the shower and back into my clothes. As I was drying out my hair with the towel, I heard a knock at the door. I grabbed the shotgun and tiptoed toward the door. I could hear multiple voices outside. I immediately grabbed my phone and dialed 911. The same obnoxious dial tone flowed through the phone. I hung up and slammed the phone down on the table. I went to the toolbox and grabbed a handful of shells out of it. I brought them over to the kitchen counter. While I was loading the gun, I heard a key going into the lock. I watched as the lock slowly turned to the right.
“Pumpkin? Daddy’s home! I brought some people with me. I hope that’s ok.”
My father stepped in the threshold of the house. He didn’t look at all terrified that I stood holding the shot gun pointed directly at him. Then, the rest walked in. At first, I thought I was hallucinating. There was no way this could be happening.
Through the threshold walked my mother and my grandmother. Both alive and well. They were smiling and laughing like some damn family reunion. My face twisted with confusion. I just saw my grandmother in a casket. I saw my mother laid over the couch pulse less. There was no way, right?
“Sweetie, I’m sure that you’re confused. It’s simple, really. Your father helped orchestrate this to isolate you. We needed to get you alone so that we could come and take you back to be with the rest of us. It’s your time to shine. I’m so proud of the woman you have become. Come on, it’s time to meet your destiny.” My mother said as she walked toward me.
I stepped back. “No, don’t come near me. You were dead yesterday. I don’t know what’s going on, but you can’t trust him. He’s lying to you.”
“No, Emily, he’s not. I love him. He’s our Shepherd and he takes good care of us. He always has. He chose me out of all of those women to conceive a little girl. He chose me! Put the gun down and come with us. You’ll be happy there.” She looked back at my grandmother and smiled.
Before she could turn back to look at me, I pulled the trigger. A circle of blood formed a hole in her abdomen. She fell to the floor. I knew exactly what I had to do. I couldn’t let them do this. My own mother had betrayed me. She had helped him set me up.
My father and grandmother didn’t flinch when I shot my mother. They stared at me. I turned the gun toward my grandmother. “Do you think he’s telling the truth?” I asked with tears streaming down my face.
“Yes, Emily, I do.” She replied.
I loaded another shell and shot my grandmother. I started sobbing as I turned to my father.
“You sick son of a bitch! You took my family once and now you’ve made me take them again. I hope you choke and die on the lies that you’ve spewed for decades. I hope you rot in the filth of your transgressions. I hope whatever demon has been lurking inside you devours you over and over again. Die, you bastard.”
Without giving him a chance to respond, I loaded the shell and pulled the trigger. After that, I loaded it once more and walked over and shot him in the face.
I moved to an unidentified location. I can’t disclose where I am or my brother might find me. He’s the only one left that is looking for me. It’s hard to explain to my daughter why we have to move all the time. I do my best to be honest with her at her young age of five.
Always remember, some secrets are better off staying in Pandora’s Box.
Submitted August 18, 2017 at 04:51AM by spaswimmer1023 http://ift.tt/2uVaBR3 nosleep
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