Chapter 1
Beverly Crest, Los Angeles – 2022
She stared at her reflection in the black tinted windows of the large car, in hopes of diminishing the nausea. Two young children were waiting patiently inside – one a younger boy, the other, a slightly older girl -both too engrossed in their little game of make-believe to notice their Nanny's momentary lapse.
Sarah blinked her grey-blue eyes a couple of times, and she felt a moist layer cover her eyeballs. However, the motion seemed to increase the roaring sensation of vomit, which was threatening to spill onto the tarmac of the Supermarket parking lot.
Es-ca-lade. Es-ca-lade. She thought continually inside her head. It was one of the first new words she had learnt on arriving at the Greenhill's home two years ago. Mrs Greenhill had been sure to correct her when she had mistakenly referred to the family vehicle as a 'van'. It was a top-of-the-range Escalade; it came with heated cup holders, for Christ's sake. Unfortunately this model did not come equipped with every useful item, such as a sick bag.
The cause of the nausea was no mystery to Sarah. Tonight, was the Annual Purge – a fairly recent and horrifyingly successful event that was treated like a national holiday. Even as Sarah cautiously looked up, her brown bangs hanging slightly in her eyes, she could see a massive banner outside the supermarket, advertising the 'Best Deals on Purge Night Essentials'.
Sarah swallowed loudly as she read those words, and then closed her eyes. She remembered her first year in America, on her first ever Purge night. That was when the reality of her situation had dawned on her, and it had become twisted beyond all recognition.
On that warm Spring night the previous year, they had watched the Purge Feeds on the TV. Even though the Greenhills had invested in the finest home security system, which included huge metal shutters on all the doors and windows, Sarah had never felt so vulnerable.
Gruesome images flickered on the 50'' Plasma screen, as the family had gathered round and watched in the name of the new Founding Fathers. Mr Greenhill had mentioned to Sarah that you could even watch the Purge in 3D, but he didn't think that was right. The Purge was akin to a religious experience, and wasn't meant to be broadcast for entertainment.
A gentle knock on the window snapped Sarah back to reality. She opened the door gingerly and smiled at the two pouty children sitting inside.
"Sarah, I'm bored. And you promised we could have Ice Cream. " The little blonde haired girl looked up through her eyelashes. Beside her, her brother perked up at the mention of Ice Cream, and almost dropped his patchwork lion.
"Yes, Tory, you and Thomas can have Ice Cream," Sarah unbuckled the younger boy, and helped him out of the car, making sure he had a firm grip on his favourite toy, "but only on the condition that you behave, which I'm sure you will."
Tory looked up at her Nanny speculatively, and appeared to be weighing up her options.
"We will, Sarah. Cross my heart and everything!"
"Good girl. Now let's go get a trolley, shall we?"
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The coolness of the Supermarket air con was a welcome relief to Sarah, and it appeared to help alleviate her queasiness. Taking a deep breath, she glanced down at her little charges. Thomas was settled in the toddler seat and was busily chattering away to his toy lion, whilst Tory was walking besides Sarah. She stopped for a moment to dig out the shopping list out of her handbag, and handed it to Tory.
"So, what's the first item on the list?" She asked the little girl.
"Um, milk."
As they headed towards the Dairy section, Sarah clocked a large crowd of people hovering around one particular section that they had to walk through. It was an area that seemed to dominate the centre of the store, and was wholly dedicated to the sacred night of the Purge. Huge neon coloured adverts and video screens of Purge propaganda were scattered throughout the shelves, and people watched with an interest that bordered on the perverse.
Sarah kept her cool as she traversed past these disturbing shelves and started to approach a group of preppy college students. They would have looked harmless enough, but unfortunately Sarah could hear them talking. They were lounging on the counter of the 'Gun and Ammo Kiosk' asking for a gargantuan amount of ammunition, and laughing loudly about the dirty pigs they would undoubtedly slaughter tonight.
Automatically, Sarah worried about the children overhearing their gory conversation. She couldn't speed up her pace, as Tory was walking so nicely at her side humming a pretty little tune, so she decided to try another tactic.
"I have a little story for you two!"
The children both looked up at Sarah, expectation plastered all over their little faces.
"Once upon a time, there was a poor little girl named Natalie whose parents were very ill. They needed a doctor badly, so Natalie set out to find one and bring him back. Along the way, she met a lot of beggars. Being a kind hearted girl, she gave away everything that she owned, apart from her shift. Without her shift, she would be completely naked!"
The children giggled at that part, and Sarah arched her eyebrow. Out the corner of her eye, she saw they were coming closer to the group of college students, and was painfully aware that she had caught the attention of one of them.
She was too frightened to look straight at them, and instead focussed on telling her story. However, she couldn't shake the feeling of being stared at intently.
"So, Natalie only had her shift on. After a while she entered a forest, and met with a poor orphan girl. The orphan girl begged Natalie to give her the shift, which Natalie did..."
Sarah was looking at Thomas, and didn't see Tory step away from her side. The little girl had been tempted by a brightly coloured toy on one of aisle endcaps. She stretched up on her toes to try and reach the toy, and had almost touched it with her finger tips, when she heard a male voice emerge from behind her.
"Allow me, little one."
Sarah's head whipped round at the sound of the voice. The student who had been watching her, was now handing a toy to Tory.
Tory, took the toy from the young man. Sarah sprang into action and raced over to the pair. She picked up Tory and gave the young man a tight smile and tried to walk off. But he was having none of it.
"I apologise if I have offended you in any way. By the way, how does your story end?"
"I..." She stuttered. He was staring at her in the most unsettling manner, and her mouth dried up in an instant. "I didn't know I had an audience."
She watched him as he seemed to assess her reaction. A small smile appeared on his lips and he spoke softly in response, "It was nice to listen to something so innocent, especially before embarking on a night of cleansing our country...and ourselves...of sin."
This young man (he looked to be at least a couple of years younger than her) and his stare were powerfully hypnotic, like a snake about to strike. She slowly took in his appearance, to try and drag her eyes away from his. He was clearly wealthy as his formal college uniform seemed to suggest, and he had a good-looking, blond, all-American appeal to him.
The young man politely asked again: "So, how does your story end?"
"Natalie's guardian angels send stars to fall from the sky. The stars turn out to be silver coins, and suddenly she's wearing a dress of the finest silver cloth."
"And with her silver coins, she can hire a doctor for her poor parents, I presume?"
"Yes, that's right." Sarah nodded curtly, "I don't mean to be rude, but we really must get going."
"No, I completely understand. Get home in time for lock down, young Miss. Unless...you wish to partake this evening? I know quite a few of your fellow countrymen who are campaigning to bring a Purge to your...green and pleasant land."
"NO! Um, no, thank you...I don't feel the need to partake."
He shrugged his shoulders , "Well, let me write down my number if you change your mind." He took a brown moleskin notepad and silver pen from his inside pocket and started writing.
"My friends and I would just love to have you join us." He gestured towards the group behind him, who were noticeably intrigued by the scene. The young man ripped a page from the notepad and handed it to Sarah. "My name is Malcolm, by the way. And I neglected to ask for yours. How rude of me. "
A whisper was all she could muster, "I'm Sarah."
"Thank you for the wonderful story, Sarah. And I hope that we shall meet again." Malcolm picked up her hand, and very gently, laid a kiss on her knuckles.
Speechless, Sarah simply took her hand back and smiled thinly at him. Malcolm walked back towards his group of friends and inspected the ammo his friends had been buying at the kiosk.
I wouldn't meet you again, if you were the last man on earth.