Liberation

by Sian B. Claven

  Quickly she made her way to the house, but luckily no one was in sight. Everyone was either in their rooms or in the garage as she ran upstairs and got changed, washing the mud and blood from her hands and from under her fingernails.

  She went back into her bedroom and was about to collapse on her bed and cry when she noticed her full-length mirror out of the corner of her eye. Blood rushed from her face and she felt dizzy as she read the word written in blood: MURDERER.

  Chapter Four

  As they were finishing dinner, the doorbell rang and the sound of a child crying could be heard.

  Aubrey, frowning, got up and went to see what the commotion was about.

  “Kids,” he called, “please come here.”

  All four children trooped to the front door, looking at Aubrey curiously.

  “The family next door have lost their puppy; you haven’t seen it, have you?”

  Nicky and Mickey nodded, and Mickey said, “We saw it yesterday in the front yard with the girl that’s crying, Daddy.”

  Aubrey tried not to smile at how cute they were. “Okay, but did you see it today?”

  The twins shook their heads.

  “Braydon?”

  “Maybe Evelyn ate it,” Braydon said, crossing his arms. “She’s that kind of a freak.”

  “Braydon!” Karen admonished. “I am so sorry, Mrs …” She paused.

  “Breeze, Mrs Breeze.” They shook hands. “And it’s okay; I know how siblings can be sometimes.”

  Evelyn frowned. “Maybe Braydon stole it and is hiding it.”

  “Evelyn,” Aubrey said in a warning tone. “Mrs Breeze, Mickey, Nicky and Karen will help you look. Please excuse me while I deal with my kids.”

  Mrs Breeze nodded and stepped aside for Karen and the twins to join him.

  Evelyn suffered a huge pang of guilt, as she knew where the puppy actually was. She might not have eaten it, but she had certainly killed it.

  Now, though, she had bigger problems to worry about. Aubrey stood over both her and Braydon, his arms crossed.

  “You two embarrassed us,” he said. “How dare you speak to each other like that, and worse, in front of people who don’t even know us?”

  Evelyn stared at her feet, ashamed of what she had said, and especially because of what she did.

  Braydon, however, was feeling braver, as he said, “I didn’t tell you to bring home a freak, did I? I said I wanted a little sister.”

  “Braydon, stop it.”

  Evelyn couldn’t stop the anger that built up inside her. “What is your problem, Braydon?” she said, pushing him.

  “Evelyn!” Aubrey moved between them.

  “I know you hurt that dog, because you’re a weirdo,” Braydon said and, for a moment, Evelyn panicked that perhaps Braydon did know what had happened.

  “You probably ate it raw,” he added.

  “Screw you,” Evelyn said.

  Aubrey held a hand out for each of them, keeping them apart as he yelled, “Enough!”

  Both fell silent, glaring at each other.

  “I thought you two would have learned what happens when a family fights. Is it not enough that Nicky’s arm is broken? Do you really want to repeat the other day?”

  Braydon pulled away from Aubrey. “She broke Nicky’s arm, just FYI.”

  “To bed with you, mister,” Aubrey said. “I’ll be up to deal with you on your own.”

  For the first time that day Braydon showed real fear, knowing what was coming from his father for his insolence.

  Aubrey turned to Evelyn. “You too, go to your room and stay there. I want you to think about what you have said and done and I want to know what you are going to do to change your behaviour towards you brother.”

  “But he starts with me …” she said, but was quickly cut off.

  “I don’t care who starts!” Aubrey shouted. “I am ending it NOW!”

  Both children ran up the stairs quickly and separated at the top to go to their rooms.

  Evelyn was too angry to cry as she slammed her door shut. This was the most horrid week ever and it was because of Braydon. She wanted to punch something, anything; she just wanted to vent her frustration on whatever she could find.

  But there was nothing to vent to or on, so she chose to calm down by splashing water on her face, feeling all the while hot and bothered and angry. When washing her face didn’t help, she decided to take a shower. At least that would prolong the peace until her father gave her a lecture. He wouldn’t come in if she was showering.

  Feeling better once she had steaming hot water running through her hair and over her body, she stood still for a moment, her head tilted slightly forward so the water ran down her back to ease the tension of the day.

  She remembered the puppy, and how squashed its head had looked from being beaten with the rock. Was there something wrong with her? Was she mentally ill? Why had she done that?

  Next she remembered the lifelike dream she had and how she thought she was being attacked by a large dog. She thought of all the strange dreams lately, of the shadows she saw, and somehow she knew they were all connected to the strange, pale woman that kept cropping up, even in her reality.

  Her parents wouldn’t believe her if she told them. As far as they were concerned, they were as safe as could be. To be honest, Evelyn didn’t want to bother them with stuff that made her seem odd, but she did need to let them know, so they understood her. Her mom said that she was part of their family forever, but she couldn’t help but feel it was not really the case. It felt like any moment they would realise how weird she was and send her back to the orphanage.

  Washing herself as she pondered her problems, she wondered how she was going to fix the situation without alerting her parents or making them worry. She couldn’t think of anything and it was becoming difficult to breathe. The space was thick with steam and the air felt thicker than it should be.

  Shutting the water off, Evelyn stepped out of the shower and wrapped up in a towel. She walked over to the basin and wiped the mirror clean. The problem, though, was that her reflection didn’t wipe its side clean at all.

  Evelyn froze, staring in horror at her mirror image; her breathing grew heavy as though she couldn’t get enough oxygen to her lungs. She felt dizzy; the world was spinning too fast while she was standing still.

  Her reflection smiled, although she did not smile. It raised its hand, when she stood still. Although her hands were empty, her reflection held a knife. The knife lifted to the reflection’s throat and she dug it in, slicing the skin open from left to right.

  Evelyn shrieked and punched the mirror, shattering it and cutting herself in the process.

  “Evelyn!” Aubrey called, running upstairs. “Are you okay?” He ran into the bathroom without thinking.

  Evelyn clutched her towel to her, but it was quickly soaked with blood.

  “What did you do?” Aubrey demanded. “Oh god, Evelyn, really, I expect better of you.”

  “My reflection, Daddy, it was …”

  “Your reflection? Your reflection is just that, Evelyn, a reflection. Get dressed so I can see your cuts. I’ll be outside.” He sighed and left, closing the door behind him.

  Evelyn cried silently as she put clothes on in her bedroom. She couldn’t believe how much she had cried lately, everything seemed to be going wrong. She did her best to keep her clothes free of blood as she got dressed and then called for her father.

  He came in with a bandage and antiseptic wash. He sat with her on her bed and, shaking his head, started to clean her cuts.

  “Your mother is being easy on you because she feels like you are still adjusting, but, Evelyn, I don’t accept this behaviour.”

  “But, Daddy, I really did see my reflection …”

  “I’m talking,” Aubrey said over her. “Your little fight with Braydon was unacceptable to begin with, and now another fight tonight. You are the older sibling; what has gotten into you?”

  Evelyn watched as he tied the b
andage around her arm, and sniffed. “Nothing,” she said.

  “Don’t take that tone with me, young lady. I am not your mother.”

  Evelyn looked away and across the room, her eyes widening when she saw the pale woman in the reflection of the bedroom mirror. She stood there, next to Evelyn, staring at her. Evelyn looked behind her, but there was nothing there. She looked back at the mirror to see the pale woman now staring directly at her, blood running from her mouth.

  She wanted to direct Aubrey’s attention there, but he was so cross with her she knew he would think she was making it up to get out of trouble.

  “I’m sorry, Daddy,” she said finally, when he was done wrapping her arm.

  “You will be sorry,” Aubrey said, getting up. “You’re grounded. Indefinitely.” Aubrey collected her favourite books from her shelf, as well as her phone and her radio. “While you will not be allowed any of your favourite things, you and Braydon also have to spend three hours each day doing chores together,” he explained. “And if you so much as glare at each other, I will add more days to your punishment. Do you understand me, Evelyn Ann?”

  She hated that he used her full name. He had never done so before and it felt like something stung her, deep in her heart. She glanced at the mirror, but the pale woman was gone.

  “Yes, Daddy, I understand.”

  “Good, now bedtime,” Aubrey said. “I don’t want to hear another peep out of either you or your brothers tonight.”

  “Did they find the puppy?” she asked curiously, wondering if her little makeshift grave had been discovered.

  “No, they think it may have gotten hit by a car, but it’s too late to look for it now.” Aubrey turned on the lamp in her room and switched the main light off. “You have ten minutes to turn the lamp off and I’m coming to check.” He left without another word, not even a goodnight.

  Evelyn wanted to get up and smack Braydon for the trouble he got them into, but it would just cause more problems. She couldn’t believe that little brothers created so many problems and could be so nasty. It had been a year and he had never acted like that towards her before; well, before the move. He clearly blamed her for it, which wasn’t fair; it was their parents’ decision.

  She didn’t have time to dwell on it, because she knew her father would be true to his word and come and check if she had gone to sleep. She climbed into bed and snuggled into her pillows. The room appeared eerie through the reflection of the broken mirror in the bathroom. She got up quickly and took one of her smaller blankets, draping it over the mirror. As she was about to leave, the blanket shifted a little and she froze.

  Suddenly a hand reached out through the broken mirror and grabbed her by the throat, choking her. She tried to claw at the blanket, at the hand; she tried to pry away the fingers, but whoever it was, was too strong. She began to lose consciousness when there was a knock at the door and the hand let her go. She collapsed to the floor just as Aubrey walked in.

  “Evelyn, I said it was bedtime. Stop fooling around and acting up and go to sleep,” he said.

  Tears rolled down her cheeks as she made her way to bed, scared that once he left her, whatever body was connected to that hand would come out of the mirror and attack her again.

  “Goodnight,” he said as he switched off the lamp.

  “Night,” Evelyn said meekly.

  Chapter Five

  The days that followed her breaking her mirror were the worst Evelyn had ever experienced. Each day brought with it more challenges, more horror and more restless nights.

  The worst part for Evelyn was that she and Braydon fought almost constantly now. If he wasn’t taking her things without permission, and breaking them most of the time, he wasn’t doing his share of the chores or helping her with the instructions her parents left them.

  The more they fought, the longer their punishment became, and each time Aubrey took more and more of their possessions away from them.

  Braydon often blamed Evelyn for this, saying if she wasn’t around then they wouldn’t have this problem. Evelyn tried her level best to be patient and kind, but Braydon wore her down and more often than not it resulted in her slapping him, snapping at him or retaliating in some form.

  Adding to her stress was the pale woman. She came every night and either stood over Evelyn’s bed staring at her, or she attacked by scratching her.

  Karen noticed the scratches one morning and had a sit down with Evelyn, saying that acting out by hurting herself would gain her no brownie points and, if she continued, Karen would be forced to send Evelyn for psychiatric treatment. This was the exact opposite of what Evelyn attempted to achieve. She wanted her family to be happy, not worrying about her.

  At the mention of getting Evelyn special treatment for hurting herself, Braydon started acting up even more, saying nasty things such as “Evelyn should just kill herself already” or “You didn’t do it right or you’d be dead.” Karen was horrified by what he said, especially for his age, and he was banned from watching any further horror movies, because they clearly were too adult for him.

  This fuelled the fire more.

  Karen and Aubrey juggled their schedules so that one was always home to ensure the children didn’t kill each other, but unfortunately a day did eventually come when both were going to be out of the house at the same time.

  Aubrey laid down the ground rules after Karen left and swore to God, if any one of them fought, or if he heard that they fought, or if they whined when he got home, or the chores weren’t done, he would personally give each and every child, even Nicky, a hiding so hard they would feel it well into their adult years.

  This, of course, didn’t do much and Evelyn knew Braydon wouldn’t be able to hang onto his tongue the whole day.

  Karen did not want to scare her children, so when Evelyn briefly mentioned having nightmares, she said it was just a manifestation of her guilt, and they would soon pass. Something about Evelyn seeing things nagged at her, though, and she couldn’t help but feel as if it was all too familiar.

  One Monday evening she did some research; perhaps Evelyn had read a news report or something similar that had triggered her unease. The only item she found was an article about a family brutally murdered in their beds, survived by their daughter, now held in a psychiatric facility.

  What really piqued Karen’s curiosity, however, was that Evelyn alluded to incidences she would not have gotten from a news report. In fact, the likelihood of Evelyn even coming across an article like this was absurd.

  Karen decided to put her mind at ease by visiting the daughter who had survived the attacks to find out if the few details Evelyn had provided matched those Amari remembered. Perhaps Evelyn was there, and these were memories floating to the surface. The thought gave Karen the chills and she felt she definitely needed to know now, in case her daughter needed psychological care. She would do anything to protect her little girl.

  She planned it for a Friday, when she knew Aubrey should be home. Unfortunately, the night before she planned to go see the girl; Aubrey got a call from a patient he had to meet up with. Her drive there and back would be long and Karen considered rescheduling, but Aubrey pointed out that the kids would be fine and reassured her he would be home as soon as he was done with his patient.

  Karen went ahead with her plan and, after bidding everyone goodbye, she left for the day, telling them she was working.

  The drive to the facility was peaceful and Karen reassured herself that everything would be okay. Their family would be just fine; she would make sure of that.

  She looked in her rear-view mirror and for a second she swore she saw someone sitting in her back seat. She swerved and hit the brakes, narrowly missing another car, which hooted at her. She turned in her seat the moment she stopped, but there was no one there.

  The stress of Evelyn possibly remembering her life was really getting to her. She was even seeing things. If Karen was truly honest, she was most terrified that Evelyn would remember her family, and Kar
en would have to give her girl back. Or worse, Evelyn’s family had also been murdered and the shock of seeing something like that had caused the memory loss.

  Karen pulled back onto the road, pushing the speed limit as she made her way to the asylum.

  The place was not what she was expecting. For one thing, it was bright and colourful and full of life. The orderlies and nurses were friendly and the patients seemed quite content.

  She lied to the nurse and said she was an old friend of Amari’s, come to cheer her up. After hesitating, the nurse finally said it was so nice that Amari finally had a visitor and took Karen to the day room where Amari sat, building a puzzle.

  “Amari?” Karen asked. Amari looked up at her and before she could say anything, Karen sat down and said, “It’s me, Karen, your old friend.”

  Amari eyed her, noticed the nurse watching, and said, “Okay.” She muttered to the nurse, “It’s fine.”

  The nurse left.

  Karen laced her fingers together. “Thank you. I’m in desperate need of your help.”

  Amari seemed confused. “Who are you?” she asked. “And how could I possibly help you?”

  “My name is Karen Jones and I have a daughter I adopted. She has nightmares that remind me of how your family was murdered.” Karen took a photo of Evelyn out and slid it across the table, explaining the whole story and why she was there, ending it with a quick, “Please, if you know anything, tell me.”

  Amari reached for the photo. As soon as she saw Evelyn, her eyes widened and her breathing quickened; she dropped the photo and stood up.

  “You’re not safe!” she screamed. “You’re not safe; your family is not safe!”

  The orderlies and nurses looked in their direction and started to make their way over.

  “What do you mean?” Karen asked, standing up as well.

  “You’re not safe!” Amari screamed again. “She’s the one. She’s Kiara. There’s the proof. She killed my family.”