Jed avoided my eyes as he turned away and started toward the front door. I followed behind him, stepping through the door he had held open for me. "Thank you." I said sweetly, stepping onto the porch. Something to my left caught my eye, and I took a step back. Startled, I nearly bumped into Jed. An old man was sitting in a rocker on the porch, rocking slowly. "Wh-Who is that?"
"Grandpa." Jed mumbled. He moved around me, walking toward him. "Grandpa, this's Ev'lyn."
"Uh, huh..." The older man glanced at me. "Who's she?" He growled out the question as if it were difficult to speak.
"Like us." Jed said simply before turning to me. "Come on."
"Nice to meet you." I said quietly. I turned to follow Jed down the steps and into the yard. I could see the spot coming up where I had beaten John's head in, a large dark stain on the ground from all the blood. Trying to keep my eyes focused on where I was going, I told myself not to look.
Don't look... Do not look. We walked in silence, the hot Texas sun bearing down on us. "Whoa.." I muttered, as we came upon their pig pen. "Those are some big pigs.." I gaped, leaning in toward the fencing to get a better look. Jedidiah was watching me, his expression borderline amused.
"Ain't ever seen pigs before?" He asked.
"Not that big." I replied, taking a step back "Has he been here the whole time?" I nodded toward the porch.
"Yeah." The boy began walking along beside the fence. I stayed at his side, keeping up. "Stays in his room a lot." I glanced over at him, before looking back ahead.
"Uhh, is that smoke comin' from behind the house?" I stopped walking, seeing thick smoke billowing from behind the house.
"Hn.." Jed grunted, trudging toward the house. Should I go with him? I thought about it for a moment, concerned about what was on fire. Screw it.
"Jed, wait up!" I called, following behind him. He slowed a bit, allowing me to catch up. We rounded the house together to see a large drum barrel containing a fire. Two older boys stood around the fire, big grins on their faces. One of them looked just like Nubbins, but his hair was shorter. When they saw us approaching, their grins widened.
"Well, well, well! Miss us, little brother?" One of them asked Jed, who snorted.
"No." He replied gruffly, to which the other two laughed.
"How'd I figure that?" His grin faded a bit. "So this is her?"
"Yeah." Their younger brother, who was standing close to me, nodded.
"She's pretty." The other one said. "Evelyn, right?"
"That's me." I leaned a little closer to Jed, suddenly feeling uncomfortable.
"Mama told us about you." He stuck out his hand. I took it wearily, glancing at the boy beside me. He gave me a reassuring look and I relaxed a little. "They call me Chop Top."
"What a name." I said playfully. He laughed, letting my hand go.
"Drayton, eldest of these morons." The older brother shook my hand quickly.
"Ahhh, what an ass you are." Chop Top joked. "Jed, where's Nubs?"
"Dunno." He replied gruffly.
"What are you two doin' out here anyway?" He pressed, and I noticed Drayton watching his younger brother.
"Jed was givin' me a tour of the place." I bumped him with my elbow. His lips twitched upward, but he didn't quite give me a smile as his eyes darted to the ground. "I thought the house was on fire." I mentioned sheepishly, to which Drayton chuckled.
"Nah, just burnin' that guys stuff." He looked at me, something dark in his eyes. "You know.. The one you killed." His words caught me off guard, but I tried to recover quickly.
"Sorry about that." I shrugged. "Guess it's not everyday you see someone brutally murdered in your front yard."
"You.." He huffed out a half laugh. "You have no idea." Jed snapped his head up to look at his brother, giving him a slight glare. Unsure of what to say, I just kept my mouth shut, the silence growing eerie.
"Shall we continue the tour?" I turned toward Jed, not realizing how close he was standing. We were only inches apart, our eyes locking as I looked up at him, hoping he'd agree.
He said nothing, just started walking. I waved at his brothers as I trudged behind him. What did he mean by that? "You have no idea"... His words kept running through my head. Who are these people? My thoughts raced, the reality of the situation beginning to set in. Maybe I had been in shock before, not realizing that something about this family, this whole place, was off.
I had took a crowbar to my father in their front yard. I had killed him right in front of Verna and Nubbins..and it was like it didn't even phase them. Verna had seemed more curious than anything, which I had brushed off at first. But for them to see me do that and they not call the police... Verna had brought me into their home and treated me like a guest. After watching me brutally murder my abusive father. That wasn't something that normal people did.
"Does all this land belong to your family?" I broke the silence, trying to stop my own storm of thoughts.
"Yeah." Jed said quietly, kicking the ground with his boot as we walked.
"It's beautiful out here." I mentioned, as I stopped and looked around us. The sun was hot, making me feel sweaty. "Hot as hell, but..can't deny the view."
"Cows are out that way." He pointed to a pasture in the distance.
"Well, come on!" I started toward it. He gave me a grunt and I could hear his footsteps behind me. We walked along the dirt path toward the fence that lead to the cow pasture. Once I reached the gate, I opened it and started inside the fence.
"What are..what are you doin'?" Jed asked, his eyes watching me wearily.
"I wanna see the cows." I answered simply, before turning and continuing toward them. I heard him give a light snort, but he followed behind me. I stepped cautiously up to the closest cow, a large dark brown animal with round almond eyes. "Hi, there..." I whispered, inching closer. The cow just stared at me, munching away on grass. Reaching out slowly, I touched its head.
Jed stood back watching me, and I suddenly felt self conscious. Glancing up at him, I gave a little grin. He smirked, squinting in the sunlight, his dirty blonde hair matting at his forehead from the sweat. For a moment, I didn't want to look away, but I also didn't want him to think I was staring because of his face. Looking back to the cow, I gave it one last pat on the head. Stepping back from the animal, I turned back toward Jed.
"Should get back." He mumbled, and I nodded, walking with him toward the gate. I noted the way he walked, a slight dip in his step. He swung the gate open, allowing me to step through first. After closing and securing it, we walked slowly back to the house. I was enjoying the fresh air, soaking up the sun as we walked. But despite the sense of home this place brought to me, it still gave me an eerie feeling.
"Jedidiah?" I stopped walking as we reached the front porch. He stopped, hesitating a moment before turning back to look at me. "What..uh, what did your brother mean when he said I had no idea?" The boy stared at me for a moment, his face unsure. Then he shrugged, before turning back toward the porch.
"Guess you'll see." I heard him mumble as he took the stairs. I took a deep breath before walking toward the porch. What does that even..mean?
I had sat out on the front porch stairs, Grandpa in his chair, and watched the sun begin to set. The warm oranges, red, and purples swirled in an array of dull and bright colors. When the sun had begun to to disappear behind the horizon, I went inside the house and took a bath. I hated to feel sweaty and gross. The warm bath took away my stresses and once I felt clean, I got out and dressed into a pale yellow night gown that Verna had given me.
Leaving the bathroom, I took my dirty clothes into my room, dropping them in the little basket by the door. A pile was accumulating and I knew it would be time to wash them before long. Leaving my bedroom, pulling the door shut behind me, I padded down the hallway toward the kitchen. The wooden floor was warm under my feet. As I made my way to the kitchen, I could see the warm glow of the lit room. Voices and laughter echoed through the air as I stepped through the doorway.
"Well, look who's all cleaned up for dinner!" Chop Top grinned.
"Is that comfortable?" Verna asked, glancing at my gown.
"Oh, yes, ma'am." I said surely. "I like it a lot."
"Bet Jed will, too." Nubbins mumbled teasingly. I felt my face burn and I tried to keep my eyes on the floor to avoid them seeing the blush creeping along my freckled cheeks.
"That's enough." His mother snapped at him. His smirk faded and he kept quiet as Jed came up behind me. I stepped to the side so he could walk past me toward the others. Verna looked at Jed then to me. "You two make a plate. Evelyn, there's regular barbecue in the bowl on the left and a..special recipe on the right." She smiled, something oddly wicked about it.
"Thank you." I said quietly, stepping up behind Jed. I watched as he scooped meat from the bowl on the left, and I noticed Verna giving a slightly disapproving glance. When Jed moved away from the food, I decided to get barbecue from the left. Something told me to go with Jed's choice. I wasn't sure how I felt about the "special recipe".
Scooping the meat onto my plate, I added some green beans from the pot that sat behind it before walking over to the table. Jed pulled my chair out and I sat between him and Drayton. "Such a gentleman." I whispered softly, causing him to look down at his food. As soon as their mother sat at the table, the boys began to eat. I picked up my fork and dug in, my stomach feeling empty suddenly. I hadn't realized how hungry I was until the food was in front of my face.
"So what were you two doin' in the cow pasture today?" Nubbins asked, looking from Jed to me.
"I wanted to see the cows." I said, drinking water from my cup.
"Really?" He pressed, sounding skeptical.
"Really." I countered, putting my cup back on the table.
"What'd you think?" Chop Top asked, his eyes on mine.
"Well, one let me pet it." I snorted out a half laugh. "It was, uh, cute." The boys all stared at me a moment before Drayton and Chop Top burst into laughter. Jed was suppressing a grin, I could tell. "What?" I asked, but Nubbins caught my eye when I noticed he wasn't laughing. He glanced at Verna, giving her a look. She shook her head slightly and I quickly glanced over at Jed to avoid her seeing that I had seen that silent interaction.
"Cute? A cow?" Chop Top was still laughing. "Cute to eat!"
"Yeah, well, I try not to imagine that part." I joked. He just shook his head with a smile as he continued eating.
"The pigs need a good feed." Nubbins said suddenly, his voice holding an odd tone. Everyone at the table paused for a moment, looking to Verna.
"We'll talk about that later." She said.
"Found somethin' in the woods today that might help with that." Nubbins informed, to which Verna cut her eyes at him, giving her son a stern look.
"We will talk about it later." She said sternly. "Jed, is it good?"
"Yes, ma'am." He replied without looking up at her. An awkward silence hung over the table, making me uncomfortable. Everyone finished dinner, the boys filing out one by one. Jed had disappeared, leaving me alone in the kitchen with Verna.
"Dinner was great." I said quietly. "Can I help clean up?"
"You look tired, why don't you get some sleep?"
"Might just take you up on that." I handed her my empty plate.
"You sleep good, Evelyn." Verna's vibe had changed completely from earlier. She was back to her soft spoken and sweet side.
"See you in the mornin'." I turned away and left the kitchen. Padding down the hall, I reached my room and stepped inside. I shut the door and climbed into bed, pulling the covers up to my chin. Before I knew it, I was enveloped in darkness, sleep taking over.
RUN. My head spun, my brain screaming. I was silent, unable to scream or say anything, but everything inside of me was telling me to run. I grabbed the door handle and jerked it with a strength I didn't know existed. Jumping from the truck, I ran.
"EVELYN, GET BACK HERE!" He was screaming at me as we ran. I couldn't stop. I couldn't stop, because if I did.. It was all over. This was my last ditch effort for freedom, and getting caught now would surely mean I'd get it worse than I'd ever gotten it before. I couldn't take that risk. Fight or flight had kicked in and I knew that I was going to fight.
Suddenly, I was being grabbed, the image of the farm house fading slowly, farther and farther away. I was kicking and screaming, trying to get away from him. "YOU STUPID LITTLE WHORE!" He was trying to keep a hold on me, grabbing my side hard. I kept fighting. A loud RIPPPP made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. He had ripped my dress.
He's gonna... He's gonna kill me and worse, I thought. Before I could think of a move to make, I was sent flying. He had pushed me away from him hard, sending me stumbling to my knees. "You foolish little girl." He taunted, lurching toward me. Grabbing me by the shoulder, he spun me around hard, forcing me into a sitting position. The dirt road was grainy underneath my legs.
"Don't!" I yelped, trying to scramble backward. He jumped on me, slamming me down onto my back. THUD. The sound of my back hitting the dirt road was loud and I couldn't breathe for a moment.
"You did it this time, Evie... You really did it this time." He shook his head. Grabbing my torn dress, he began to yank hard, ripping it even more. "You ain't gonna run from me!"
I screamed.
I sat straight up with a gasp, my heart pounding so fiercely that I thought it might jump out of my chest. Breathing hard, I was frozen for a moment, the realization that it was just a bad dream slowly hitting me. My body was shaking like a leaf and I felt as if I were freezing cold. Trying to calm my breathing, I laid back onto my pillow, my eyes on the ceiling. I pulled the covers back up to my chin, shivering underneath the blanket.
I started to roll over and curl up into a ball, but a noise stopped me. Propping up on my elbow, I listened carefully, unsure of what I had heard. It sounded like a girl- The noise rang out again from somewhere outside. The unmistakable sound of a scream. Though it didn't sound as if it were right outside, it didn't sound too far off. "What the hell..." I whispered to myself, throwing the covers off.
I swung my legs over the side of the bed and stood. Starting toward my door, I hesitated for a moment when I heard voices outside of my room. Listening carefully, I could hear Verna and Drayton talking, but their voices were too muffled to understand what they were saying. Maybe they heard it, too.. I thought as I opened my door. The two were at the end of the hall by the front door, talking in hushed voices. "What.. What's goin' on?" I questioned sleepily. "I heard screamin'."
"Everything's fine, Evelyn. Go back to bed." Verna assured, but her face said something totally different.
"Are you sure, I heard-"
"You don't need to be out here right now, get back to your-" She was cut off by the screaming growing louder outside. Another noise rang out, maniacal laughter echoing outside. The tone was a familiar sound. Was that..Nubbins? Something was very wrong. Very weird.
"You should go back to your room." Drayton spoke softly, and I frowned.
"But what about all that noise? Who is that out there-" I got cut off by stomping from somewhere down the hall.
"Evelyn, get out of the hall!" Verna yelped. Before I could react, the door down the hall slammed open, Jed standing there. I was confused until I saw what was in his hands.
"What the hell-"
Uh, oh.
Exit Jed, enter Leatherface !
How is Evelyn going to react to Jed with a chainsaw? Especially after her first impression of him being such a sweetheart...
I don't know about you guys, buuuuut. Jed can chase me with a chainsaw any day ! I'd be out there like, "CHASE ME GOTDAMN."
Somebody stop me. Jesus.
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~Kaila