Because You Were Born

If you don't have a good stomach, I don't advise reading it. Even though I -did- clean it up a bit.

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The way most people saw it, there was nothing spectacular that stood out about Jackie Willos. She was just a normal twelve year old girl. Average height, weight, and intellect. She was pale in complexion, with shoulder length curly brown hair that accented her eyes. Eyes that never seemed to rest on one object, but darted back and forth curiously, happily. Innocently.

Jackie wasn’t the most popular girl in school, but she wasn’t a loner either. She helped head up the Drama committee, along with Alex, one of her best friends. She didn’t aspire to be great, but she had her own hopes and dreams. Dreams of Broadway, dreams of being married and having a family one day. To put it simply, Jackie was simply one of a thousand girls just trying to live life and find their place. Stardom could come, but it didn’t necessarily have to. This isn’t to say she wasn’t driven, because she was. But instead of partaking in the rat race, she just went with the flow. Taking what she could when she could, but never fighting the impossibilities. In a grown up world, she remained a kid. Alex, her best friend, always like to joke how doors opened for Jackie, but Jackie never noticed. Things happened in their own time according to her.

Jackie’s family was average as well. Middle Class. Her father worked at the local steel plant, and her mother at the grocery store. She had two younger brothers, Matthew and Thomas, the twins, who were ten, and a five year old sister, Amber. Amber was the doll of the family. With white blond hair and glowing deep blue eyes, she often drew attention to the rather plain family. Her outgoing, happy personality helped this. The young girl had the voice of an angel. She stole the spotlight but Jackie didn’t mind. Her little sister could be annoying, but she was family – special. The twins could be equally and more so annoying. Trouble makers to the core, the brothers were never without a prank or practical joke that usually came at the expense of Jackie’s pride. Personal space was impossible, quiet time unimaginable, but the love of family covered it all. Life was good. Even with the petty squabbles over the remote control, and the twins putting salt in the sugar, she wouldn’t have changed anything.

This particular day started normal, Jackie awoke to the sound of the barefooted twins racing down the hall and stairs to the kitchen where they knew breakfast would soon be served. Stretching and rolling out of bed, she crossed the room to a smaller bed and gently shook Amber awake.

“Time to get up, sleepyhead.”

Jackie figured this was one of her favourite parts of the day. Watching her little sisters blue eyes sleepily open, a small smile already on her pale angelic face. She loved the innocence she found in her sisters eyes, the love. Assured that she was awake, Jackie grabbed a pair of jeans and a t-shirt from her dresser and crossed the hall to the bathroom.

A few minutes later she emerged, clothed, hair combed and ready for the school day. Walking quickly she followed the scent of peanut butter toast down the stairs and into the kitchen. Like normal, her father had already left for work, leaving her mom to do the basic cooking, cleaning, and seeing off of the kids. Jackie always thought that if she could pick one person she would like to be like, it was her mother. She was loving, busy, but always had time to make the kids feel individually special. She glowed, inside and out. Jackie thought she was beautiful.

Breakfast passed quickly and Jackie helped her mom get the twins and Amber ready for school, and then met Alex and walked the rest of the way to the high school. They chatted some on the way, like most teen girls do. About the class’s cute boys, the latest gossip, the school musical they planned to both try out for, the math test they both were scared to fail. Jackie was happy, and minus a few difficulties the day past without a problem, and with more than a couple hundred laughs.

After school, Jackie and Alex walked to her house. Since it was a Friday the girls planned a sleep over, it would be great. After grabbing a sandwich and making sure the twins weren’t anywhere they could cause permanent damage, Jackie and Alex dashed up to her room to watch TV and chat. Sitting on her bed, Alex and Jackie talked, jokingly planning about the future and how they would always be there for each other. Never failing to tell the other when they looked terrible, or when they crushed on someone else. Alex told her how she really liked the new shy boy, Tony, and how she thought that he might like her. The idea made Jackie smile. She knew it was special to have a friend that would be with her through the dating years, through high school. She couldn’t have picked a better best friend to spend her time with. Hours, or perhaps minutes later her mother called them down for dinner.

Dinner: mashed potatoes, steak, and beans, was quickly consumed. Smiles never stopped, even from her dad who looked exhausted. After helping do the dishes Jackie and Alex took off to her dads’ office to watch a new movie. Fifteen minutes in, the doorbell rang and the screaming began.

It started at the front door. Her mother, the first to the door opened it. She was expecting a friendly neighbor, or a girl scout selling cookies, but Jackie who had glanced away from the TV saw what it really was, as she heard and saw her mother’s scream cut off as a man clothed in black raised an axe and cut through her stomach and spine. She watched in slow motion as the man jerked the blade from her mother, a sick twisted grin on his face as the blood splatted on him and the wall and her mother fell to the ground. Jackie froze momentarily, and then came to life as she heard Alex’s blood curdling scream. She wanted to tell her friend to run, so she could help her mother, but her voice wouldn’t work.

The man just stood over her mothers fallen body, grinning at Jackie. Then he raised the axe again, this time cutting through her mom’s chin and neck, blood poured and she wanted to beg him to stop as he raised the axe again and began hacking her mother’s body to pieces. She watched as the white hall became blood red as a body parts spread across the floor, like a wave of death slowly coming towards her. She wanted to scream, to fight, to warn her family, do anything, but she just stood there, Alex pulling on her arm and then finally giving up and dashing up the stairs. The man just looked at her and smiled. Dropping the axe he began to walk towards her, muttering, cursing. He was God and he walked right up to her and brushed a stray piece of hair from her face.

He kissed her cheek and whispered, “Even daddy can’t save you, only I can.”

She would never forget the look in his eyes, it looked like love…love so strong it was hate and black, and then the silence was broken as her dad charged down the stairs, screaming for her to run, bat in hand. The man turned from her slowly, not worried, not caring and took the bat from her father, like he was taking a toy from a baby.

Jackie backed away as he sent it crashing into her father face. Blood poured from his nose, and he staggered back towards the stairs, his eyes more terrified then she had ever seen, he mouthed “run” as the bat came down a second time, crushing his skull, killing him sending him crashing into the china cabinet which fell and broke over him.

Jackie stared at her father’s blank eyes and bloody face, and cried. Mentally she willed him to come back and save her and the family, but he didn’t. The man smiled again, crossed the room and grabbed her and dragged her up the stairs. From down the hall she heard the boys screamed being stifled by a panicked Alex. She wanted to scream and warn them but the man clamped a hand over her mouth and opened the door. She saw the look in their eyes, terror, as the man let go of her and grabbed the twins by the arms. Without even looking back he dragged them screaming, kicking, to the bathroom. Next to her Alex screamed and kicked at him, but he brushed her off and threw her against the wall.

Alex stared at Jackie, her body crumpled against the wall. Her arm hanging at a weird angle, tears pouring down her white face as she muttered something about the phones not working, how she was praying, how everything would be okay, but the boys needed help. It was the last thing she said as a bullet came from nowhere and formed a perfect hole in the center of her head. Jackie whirled and saw the man standing in the hall, beckoning for her to come to him, she heard the boys screaming for her. She froze as the man turned and walked to the bathroom, the boys screams suddenly cut off.

“You should have come sooner.“ She heard the man yell.

Jackie rushed down the hall, but was too late. The man held both the small boys under water, their feet kicking. He took them in and out, on the edge of death. She had never seen the terror that their eyes displayed. Jackie tried to help but the man threw her against a wall and told her to sit down and shut up. She hated herself for not being braver. Hated as she watched her brothers go limp. Hated how the man laughed and played with their bodies. She felt numb and dead, and silent.

Then she heard the whisper that woke her up, Amber, crying, calling for her. The man dropped her brothers and held Jackie down as the Amber walked around the corner and surveyed the scene. She was sobbing, blood covering her pink pajamas, pajamas her mom had put on. She had seen the bloodbath downstairs, Jackie realized numbly. Briefly she wondered if she tried to put their moms back together?

Jackie opened her mouth to tell her to run, but the man with inhuman speed reached out and grabbed Amber. Jackie attacked, but the man strode down the hall to the little girls room, unfazed. She watched in horror as the man ripped her sisters clothes off and made her scream. The blue eyes that she had woken up this morning stared at her in absolute terror as the man crushed himself on top of her, Jackie beat him with her fists, kicked him shoved him, screamed, but he continued to destroy the young girl. Blood now coated the pink sheets and then Amber was limp. The man stood, fixed his clothes, and stared at Jackie. She wondered briefly what he had planned for her, how much pain would she suffer before for gratefully dying. Her heart pounded in her ears as the man grabbed her and kissed her, begging her to “Please, fuck me, so you can live.” She didn’t want to live, she didn’t move, she was dead inside. But the man kept probing pushing, moving his way into her until she screamed, and screamed, and then graciously blacked out.

Jackie awoke to the smell of gasoline, and him cradling her in his arms, stroking her hair. She tried to run but he tightened his grip and kissed her. She noticed they were now in the living room, the bodies of her family and best friend were stacked against the wall, as if the man had made a sick attempt to clean up. She could see, even from where she sat in his arms that her little sister was alive but covered in gasoline. Her small chest heaving as she sobbed.

Standing the man carried Jackie to the front door and handed her a lit match. Guiding Jackie’s hand, he threw the match and the trail lit up all the way to her Amber. Jackie tried to rush back in, to help her, to stop the screaming but the man held her until they died out. Then he let her go, and with a kiss he stood and faced the rising sun.

“Why?” Jackie whispered.

“It’s the price for you being born.” He said simply before walking away.

God hated her.