part 2...

Summary: Just what happened to Lindsay? Wait and see...
Parings: CMonroe/BMonroe
Characters: Lindsay Monroe

Autumns in Montana meant cuddling up to the one you loved around a fire, carving pumpkins for Halloween and watching the mystical color change of the leaves. It has always been a favorite time of year for Lindsay, but not for long.

She had tried to forget about that fateful day, but the demons of her past kept enticing her, tempting her to remember.

It had been the day before the annual Montana state fair and Lindsay was ecstatic. She loved going to the fair. Ferris Wheels and games were an escape for her. Before she could go to the fair, she had to do what every child hated to do for generations: she had to clean her room.

Lindsay stood in the kitchen eating an apple when her mother asked her to do that simple request. "Mom! I hate cleaning my room!" Lindsay said, sulking down at the kitchen table, 'Mama we are losing our house. Nobody else has to clean their room before they can go to the fair, why do I have to?"

Cathy Monroe looked down at her resisting daughter and picked up the apple core the Lindsay had intentionally left on the dining room table. Lindsay always knew how to push the wrong buttons with her. She got that from her grandmother, god rest her soul.

"Well, Lindsay, I'm not everybody's parent, I'm YOUR mom and all I asked you to do is to clean your room," Cathy said, "Now just do it now!"

Lindsay started to take off towards her room, grumbling under her breath when she heard the familiar crunch of gravel on the driveway. She glanced out of the window to see her father stumble out of his truck. Her mother stood behind her and placed her hands on the back of Lindsay and turned her around.

Cathy started to panic. He's drunk again and I know how he acts when he's drunk. He's got a crazed look in his eyes again. How do I protect my daughter from this monster that she calls her father?

"Lindsay, forget about cleaning your room, just go to your room now!" Cathy said, pleading, "Please go honey, go." Lindsay saw the look in her mother's eyes and stood frozen in place. She didn't want to leave her mother, but she did what she was told. She ran into her room and locked the door, and curled up on the floor beside the wall, clinging to the old teddy bear that had been her favorite.

Bill Monroe slammed the front door behind him as he entered the house. His blood shot eyes and the small of whiskey on his breath were his companions now. He had run off every friend since the bank was going to foreclose on the ranch.

Cathy stood in the kitchen wringing her hands in fear; she knew what was about to happen: he was going to hit her.

"Cathy, baby, I'm so sorry," he said, sadness prominent in his brown eyes, "Can you forgive me?" He held his arms to coax Cathy into his arms and she gingerly stepped into his embrace. He held her for awhile and reached to the side of his jeans for something.

Lindsay hearing her dad come home, opened her bedroom door. Still clutching her bear, she snuck into the kitchen just in time to see her father shoot her mother in the head and then he turned the gun on himself.

The blood spattered on Lindsay and the bear and she let out a wailing scream, for the entire world to hear.

To be continued