More Than Anyone Else in the World by Jessica VanderWerff

Our next prompt is a line of dialogue (mostly). And our first story up is by Jessica VanderWerff. The prompt we are working with is, "It was just the wind." Jessica's story is eerie and creepy and perfect for the Halloween season. Please enjoy and feel free to please comment!!

Trigger Warning: Abuse and Gore

 

            Amy was happy for her mom. She hadn’t seen her smile like that since before Amy’s father died. She had forgotten just how beautiful her mother’s smile was. But men certainly noticed. One man in particular, Davy: a broad shouldered, barrel chested rich man who drove into town on a Harley one day. No one knew where he’d come from, no one knew how he’d made all his money. He stayed at The Little Hoosier Inn for a few months before he started dating Amy’s mom, Candice. Davy moved into their house pretty quickly, his clothes occupying the space in the dresser that used to belong to Amy’s dad. Amy felt a bit of sadness at first, like a tiny pinch deep in her gut, but she quickly got over it. She loved her mom. She loved her more than anyone else in the world, even more than anyone else probably ever could.

            The warning signs crept in slowly, like how fall slowly creeps up on you at the end of summer: the slight chill in the air in the morning, then the leaves start to change color way sooner that you think they should. First, Davy would raise his voice, or slam his first on the table if Candice had opinions that differed from his, then Davy bought a new car, then another, then another, till their driveway was full of luxury cars. But Davy never did offer to help pay the bills, and since he had no job that anyone knew of, they had no idea where he was getting all that money from. Candice never asked though, because she swiftly began to fear the man who had made her smile during the early days of their relationship. Amy wasn’t surprised at all the day her mom came downstairs to the breakfast table with a black eye. Candice knew Amy saw it. Amy knew better than to say anything about it. After months of hearing her mother cry at night, and seeing her covering up bruises with makeup, while Davy came and went as he pleased, treating Amy like a little Cinderella and taking it out on her mom when Amy didn’t clean up after him, Amy decided she’d had enough. She needed to get rid of Davy. She wasn’t sure how, but she knew she just had to.

            One day, Amy sat alone in the cornfield, smiling at the crows standing right on top of the scarecrow. Nothing scared them at all! One crow, bigger than all the rest, jumped down from the scarecrow’s head and pranced right next to Amy. Everything around her went silent. The other crows stopped cawing, the wind stopped blowing. She turned and looked into the crow’s eyes, not black but a deep blue. How had she never noticed before that a crow could have blue eyes? When he finally spoke to her, Amy didn’t hear his voice out loud, nor in her head. Rather, she felt his words deep within the marrow of her bones.

We will eat.

You will dig.

            Amy nodded and abruptly stood up. There was no time to waste. She went inside and told Candice to take advantage of Davy being out.

            “Treat yourself, Mom. Go get your hair done.”

            Amy handed her mother a wad of cash.

            “Amy, I can’t take your babysitting money!” her mother protested. “You know all Davy does is spend. He used to have a lot but it’s all gone now and he doesn’t help with bills, honey. This money is yours.”

            “Mom, no offense but your greys are growing out like two inches from your head. Please get your hair colored. I miss seeing it how you used to have it. It would make me happy.”

            “Ok. You’re right. I deserve it, don’t I?”

            Amy nodded and without another word, her mom got in her old Jeep and drove away. Amy ran upstairs to the closet in her mom and Davy’s room. She took out Davy’s duffel bag and stuffed it with clothes from his dresser. She had to make it seem like he’d left in a hurry. Then she went out to the shed and got the biggest shovel her mom had. She went out to the edge of the cornfield and began to dig. She dug until sweat poured down her face and into her eyes, she dug until her hands bled, she dug until her lungs burned from the exertion of it all. Just as Davy was pulling his Cadillac into the driveway, Amy threw the duffel bag into the grave.

            Davy stumbled out of his car. As he came closer, she could smell the alcohol on his breath.

            “Where’s your damn mother?” he growled.

            Amy didn’t answer. She shrugged and grinned. Without any warning. Davy slapped her across the face. “I don’t like that damn look you gave me, girl.”

            Amy winced for just a second, tears welling up in her eyes. She wouldn’t let him see her cry. Instead, when she looked up at him, she gave him her biggest smile. Without a word, Amy turned and ran into the cornfield. Davy stumbled after her. Amy looked up. Her friends were on their way. She could barely make out the outline of the approaching crows in the night sky. By the time Davy caught up to her and grabbed her shoulder, he was bitten by the first crow.

            “Son of a bitch!” he screamed.

            Then another crow bit, then another, then another. Davy tried swatting at them, but they were too fast.

            “What the hell is this?”

            He was crying now. Good, Amy thought. Soon this will be done with. Amy turned and walked calmly out of the cornfield. Her friends were flying in a frenzy around her, but they never even touched her. She stood with her back to the field. Davy’s cries soon turned into a gurgling noise, then nothing at all. Amy sighed and hugged herself. One by one the crows landed in front of her, like an army awaiting her next command. She nodded at the biggest crow. He nodded back. Amy turned and walked back into the field. She took the shovel and pushed what was left of Davy into the grave, right on top of his duffel bag of clothes. (He was a lot lighter now.) Then she filled in the grave.

            Amy sighed and headed back into the house. She went into the bathroom and started a hot shower. She scrubbed away all the dirt and scraped the muck from under her nails, then she threw her clothes and shoes into the washing machine. She wanted to get rid of every piece of evidence. Even if her mother found out, she’d never tell, but the last thing Amy wanted was to have her mother implicated in her crime. Who would believe it anyway? A man being picked to shreds by crows. Highly unlikely. As Amy put on clean clothes, she relaxed even further. No one will ever know. Amy heard her mother’s Jeep pull back into the driveway. Amy got downstairs just as her mother was walking through the front door. Candice carefully peeked her head in. Amy smiled.

            “Don’t worry, Davy is gone.”

            “When will he be back?” Candice asked.

             “I don’t think he’s coming back. Some guy picked him up at the end of the driveway. Davy looked panicked, like he was in a big hurry. He only brought one bag of things with him but I don’t think he’s coming back.”

            “Well, he’s probably on the run from the law. His cars are either stolen or he probably bought it with money from selling drugs or something like that,” Candice said.

            After that evening, life carried on as it had before Davy’s arrival. Candice and Amy spent their evenings eating dinner together and watching their favorite movies. Amy was happy again. So was Candice. Every so often, they’d hear screams in the night. Not loudly, of course, but like they were floating in from far away.

            The first few times they heard it, Candice jumped up and screamed: “Oh God, what is that terrible noise?”

            “Don’t worry, mom, it’s just the wind,” Amy explained.

            After a while, Candice learned to ignore the sounds. No one loved Candice more than Amy did. She loved her mom more than anyone else in the world; more than anyone else ever could.

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We hope you enjoyed this first story! If you want to read more of Jessica's work you can find her books HERE.