March 21st, 2018. 7:39pm.

"Rose, stop squirming this instant! You will have your turn soon enough." whispered my Mother's doppelganger.

Another purge commencing within this wretched country, but unlike the others where I stayed tucked in home and tried to drown the screams out with many bottles of my Father's expensive scotches. I was stuck with my parents in their fucked up church giving thanks to this sick cause.

Something is terribly wrong with this "holiday". My usually sweet, kind, and frail Mother; becomes this blood thirsty beast. Some strange creature that calls for innocent blood, not like my father is any better though. He's right there next to her, craving to quench his blood lust on any poor victim around him.

I still remember once when I asked them why they partake in this sick event, and they said, "Well sweetie, it's quite simple. All that pent up anger that I and your Father have been building this past year needs to be released. And once we let that anger out we shall be cleansed of our sins. That's why sweetie." even then I still thought that whole statement was fucked up.

Back to my current problems.

Sitting in the pews I swear I could still smell the coppery scent of blood from the past victims that had soaked in the wooden planks, slowly dying on the stage for the enjoyment of these fucked up freaks.

I try to desperately think of the road trip me and Ven were planning to take to the west coast, and not of the "sacrifice" desperately begging to be spared. I think I heard something about a family, oh god. Just think of the road trip, beaches, sun, and sexy boys. This is not working.

So hard was I desperately trying to drown out the voices that I didn't hear the Executioner call for me. It wasn't until my Mother nugged me did I realize that my name was being called. Scrambling to my feet I gave a bewildered look around the church.

With a trembling voice I responded, "Yes?"

Pleasantly smiling, the Executioner beckoned for me to step up to the stage. I was extremely nervous and looked to my Father and Mother for advice, but they only gave me their weird purge induced smiles. Not really smiling, but closer to bearing of teeth.

With that encouragement I start shuffling past the other political bigwigs in our pew. Reaching the aisle, I (rather awkwardly) straightened my dress and made my way up to the stage. Reaching the Executioner's platform I looked to my parents one last time for any help, but find the whole congregation staring back at me. In my fluster I stare down at my feet while trying to force my suddenly stiff legs to go up the steps. The sight below wasn't any better, I almost ended up gagging at all the blood stains set into the wood.

Finally making it to the top I turn to the Executioner and try to ask what he wanted, but before I could even speak he starts to preach to his followers.

"As many of you know, this is Miss. Milton's first night participating in the purge." Wait….. WHAT DO YOU MEAN FIRST…. "So her parents thought it would be easier for her to ease into the purification by having her first kill done here, witnessed by us."

I stare doe eyed at the man, hoping he would notice the horror leaking out from them from his statement. Unfortunately the Executioner was either blind or stupid, for the man smiles at me; probably to be encouraging. But all I could see was starting to turn grey and fade to black on the edge. Distantly I hear them wheeling one of those dame dolyies in, and some muffled pleading coming from it. I could hear the Executioner babbling something about me being reborn tonight and becoming a cleansed soul once again, I was too stuck in my panic attack to really pay attention.

I look to the "sacrifice" to at least try to remember something about this unfortunate person before they died tonight. They, no she, is a young lady, probably close to my age. FUCK! She must have dreams, wants, desire, for all I know she probably planned to go on a road trip with her friends this year also. I feel a slow resolve start to build in me, I'm going to kill her. It's best if I do it, cause I will make it painless and quick unlike the rest of these freaks who enjoy the whole bloody mess. That's what I at least keep telling myself.

The Executioner seemed to be done with his speech since he appeared next to my side smiling at me. I wonder if he could see the disgust in my eyes. He gestures at something slightly behind him, I realize it's a goddamn cart of death; knives of all sorts arranged on it, along with drills, pliers, and some other weird shit. I end up just staring at the tools of pain and torture, barely breathing. I think the Executioner thinks my hesitance is from excitement or something cause he ends up laughing and making a joke to the crowd about popping a cherry or something. He comes over and picks up a carving knife, ones that are most commonly used in kitchens for chopping and shit that doesn't involve human parts.

Oh globs… please let this be a joke, please, please, please, please.

The Executioner comes over to me and prys open my hand closes to him, placing the knife in it. I just look from him to the knife and ogle the thing like it might come to life and do something. I can tell the Executioner is becoming impatient with my lack of response, but I couldn't seem to tell my body to do anything besides breath and not pass out. With an irritated huff of air he grabs my hand holding the blade, closing it around the knife in the progress, and positions it over the quivering girl.

"Now please commence your purging before the night is over, child." Whispering his hot breath into my ear.

The girl starts to move a little and make muffled sounds; probably begging for her life. I think that's what made me snap. Before I could make out what her muffled pleas were I shove her head back with one hand then roughly drag the knife across her throat, but at once I knew I fucked up. It was too shallow. Instead of giving her a painless death I watch her begin to choke on her own blood. I watch in horrid observation as blood flows down her neck where I slashed, but she soon starts to cough causing blood to fly out of her mouth. As soon as the first few mouth fulls came out it became like a broken faucet, blood poured out of her mouth as much as her neck. You would think with all the blood coming out of her that she was dead, but nope, she began to make feeble struggles and these god awful mewling noises. My final strand of sanity was shredded at the sight and sound of her suffering; gripping my knife with the strength of an insane, I begin to stab her viciously. I kept stabbing her until she stopped moving, until the noise stopped, until there was so much of her blood on my hands that I loose my grip on the knife.

I begin to gasp for air greedily, feeling my body grow numb and heavy from both mental and physical exhaustion. It was then I noticed the eerie quietness of the whole church and look to the congress. They were all looking at me with eyes of….. admiration? Some even looked a little afraid. I looked over to my parents to see their reactions, I almost wished I hadn't, they were practically preening. Mother had tears of joy in her eyes and Father was smiling broadly at me. My stomach starts to twist with disgust, I quickly look away from them before I start to loose my sanity again.

The Executioner grabs my shoulder firmly, scaring me out of my skin. "Today we have witnessed the return of one of god's precious angels! She has purified her soul from the smut of society…"

I stopped listening after getting over my scare. Swallowing loudly (but ignored by everyone) I gather the scraps of my courage and take a look at my poor victim. She was a bloody mess, quite literally. Where her chest should have been, there was a bloody minced patch of meat. Her throat was a red gash that seemed to smile just for me. There was something winking at me from Her neck, something metallic catching the light.

I feel a tightening in my gut; please, if there is a god or any gods don't let this be true. I pull away from the Executioner as he still babbles away, he's really getting into it, going on and on about the waste of our society and we needing to purge it….. Did he just thank my parents for the sacrifice? Nononononononnonononono…. They wouldn't do that to me, they wouldn't.

I approach the corpse slowly and gently pull the cloth covering its face, almost as if I was afraid to disturb it, her not it. As the cloth fell away I hear a high animalistic keening noise. I take a step closer to her and gently touch her face, as if she might be asleep. We were suppose to go to the West Coast this summer, it was suppose to be our get away from this festering hell, WE WERE SUPPOSE TO GO TOGETHER!

It hits me as a look at her half of the sisters pendant around her severed neck, she's dead and I was the one who killed her. My mind starts to go blank, probably trying to protect itself from what will eventually destroy me. With tears pouring down my face I put my forehead against Vanessa's and began to wail, it was then I realized that animal like keening was coming from me.

I don't know long I was able to mourn for my beloved friend, but it all felt too soon as I felt strong hands roughly pull me from her, and a sniveling high voice that I have came to loath started to speak. "You must forgive this foolish child my friends, since it is her first purging sometimes the act can cause the mind to fight itself and stay in the dark, sinfully lusting to remain outside of God's purification. Let us pray for her!"

My mind is still in despair as the congregation began to chant some nonsense about me to their god. During it all I try to pull from the Executioners grip to be with Vanessa, but the man wouldn't let me leave his side no matter what. After playing his little game for about two minutes I start to grow frantic, but manage to put a leash on it with the thought of being able to put Vanessa to rest at the end of this sick night. Or so I thought; just as the mass quit there annoying chants, the Executioner speaks up, "To complete this cleansing we shall dispose of this stain on society and fully cleanse our newly saved child."

I couldn't believe my ears, dispose? Is she just some type of trash to throw away! My earlier panic renewed itself, and I frantically began to struggle from the Executioner's hold. The man seems surprised by my renewed vigour, causing his grip to slip slightly which is all I needed to wiggle out of it. Scrambling to get to Vanessa I nearly fall onto my face, distantly I hear my Mother shouting at me about behaving or something, I almost made it to Ven when multiple hands grab me. My franticness gives me strength and an animalistic mindset; I begin to claw and bite any I could get a hold of; in our struggles we end up tumbling to the floor. Some of the hands fall away, but are soon replaced by others. I feel my adrenaline fueled strength slowly drain from me and the hands begin to feel heavier, I was loosing.

Then I hear the Executioner yell, "She is being influenced by that soiled soul! We must quickly dispose of it before we lose our newly cleansed angel!" Just as his words left his mouth a man dressed in a white robe, similar to the Executioner's, rushes out and proceeds to wheel Vanessa away.

I watch the whole thing in horror; my whittling strength grows anew with the sudden change in things, but I knew it was too late. By the time I was able to shake off enough hands to get away, Vanessa was already gone. I begin to wail again screaming my pain and despair to the world, the hands reclaim me but I don't care all I can think about is Vanessa.

Vanessa the only human who accepted me and understood me. When the purge started, she was the only one who agreed with me about the horror of it. She was the one to comfort me when my parents started to purge, bring home their "sacrifices", making me listen as they slowly slaughtered the person. All the screams and begging, making the house smell like the coppery scent of blood for days, weeks. And when the bullying started, the kids who lost someone they loved because of my parents killed them or they thought they did, it was Vanessa who saved me, protected me.

Now she's gone. Somewhere in my chest I feel something crack. As the hands hold me down I think about how this all happened, how it was my parents who set this whole fucked up situation; the crack begins to grow. Even though I would love to blame my parents for everything it wasn't them who killed her, no they only laid the feast before the wolves. In the end it was my choice to kill her, it was me who dragged the knife over her throat and me who stabbed her heart over and over again. The crack becomes a gash.

Slowly a warm darkness begins to devourer my awareness, my body grows heavy and numb, but before it could devour me whole, I hear a conversation above me.

"Seems she has passed out, after disposing of the waste."

"Thank you Priest. I didn't expect such an aggressive response after her first purge." I recognize the voice as my Father and realize one of the hands holding me back was actually him. I noticed something moved in the gash that formed in my heart.

"It happens once in awhile; where the purger is so disgusted at the sight of the thing that dirtied them, that they enter a frenzied state just at the sight of the trash."

"Ah, I see, then thank you again. Malare and I are going to take her back home for the night, I think this little one had enough excitement for tonight."

The Executioner chuckles to himself, "Alright, be careful on your way home then."

I feel my body being lifted, "Will do, happy purging Priest."

I didn't hear his response for that thing in the crack starts to move again, but this time it whispers to me.

"Poor poor Rose, betrayed by those you love and killed the only other. But don't worry little Rose I shall be your thorns and make sure none shall harm you any more."

Before I could comprehend what just happen, the warm darkness loses it patients and takes me under.