As we sat there sipping champagne and eating an incredibly delicious pizza she started giving me details of how we were going to take care of the bodies – and all the evidence. First, the poor guy out in the pig pen would soon be totally consumed. She said we could check on the progress of the pigs after dinner. Then we would burn all the clothes we would wear in working to dispose of everything – including the clothing of the couple that Vincent had murdered. Then we would wait until early the next morning to get rid of the rest of the evidence. She sighed, “I have something to show you if you can go check on the pigs. I think you’ll be really impressed.”
We finished our meal and went to work. I walked out to the pig pen and from what I could see the pigs had accomplished a great deal. All that was left was the man’s head, scarlet red, with eyes and skin gone, as well as part of the backbone and rib cage. Two of the pigs were fighting over what was left of the pelvic bone as well. I went back to Bethany to update her and she was waiting at the door, smiling and dangling a key in front of her face in a child-like, teasing manner. I called out, “Not much left!” and she was extremely pleased. She said she would do the dirty work with breaking the skull later, if the pigs had not been able to.
She led me back down to the basement and to the door that I had wondered about so many times. She unlocked, switched on the light, and stated, “Vincent had looked forward to the end of civilization. This was his pride and joy for the apocalypse.” I was amazed, I have to admit. The room was almost as big as the basement I had been housed in for so long. There were guns, food, medical supplies, you name it. As I looked around she stooped over and pulled out a crate from underneath the shelves. She said, “Guess what’s in here!” and before I could venture a guess she opened it up – it was a box filled with explosives! She explained, “He bought this stuff from military people who had stolen it. It was really scary to be with him on these buying expeditions. We used to meet very strange people in the middle of the night on deserted desert roads. I always feared they would kill us and steal our money.” And at that she directed me to a safe in the corner.
She stooped over and entered the combination. The door popped open and she directed me to look. Inside was a pile of money, envelopes and some bags. She laughed, “Now neither of us have to strip or serve coffee for truckers anytime soon.” I could not believe my eyes. She yanked out the stacks of one-hundred dollar bills and then opened up one of the bags. It was filled with gold South African coins. She handed me an envelope and inside were thin gold bars sealed in plastic. In a mocking tone she proclaimed, “Behold, the last of the Elkington fortune! It’s all ours now! Oh, what’s this? She opened up a little bag in the corner. Inside was my cell phone, wallet and a copy of my book. She asked, “Do you want these?” I examined the contents and said, “Sure, why not?” She nodded and said, “Fine then. Let’s go upstairs and I’ll give you details of the rest of the plans.”
We returned to the fireplace. She opened up, “I am totally and completely disgusted with Vincent! And everywhere I look it reminds me of him. He built this house, and for us to start fresh, it must die with him. Do you agree?” I nodded to show agreement. “Great! So here is the plan. We dress the woman downstairs in my clothes. I took the teeth out while you were outside and put my wedding ring on her finger!” She held up her hand with a bare ring-finger. This place will go up in a blaze tomorrow but my wedding ring, with my name engraved on it, will be there when the police look over her corpse.”
I asked, “We are going to burn the house down?” Bethany nodded, “That white tank under the stairs is full of gasoline. Kind of dumb really that he installed the connections to the generator you two built right next to it. We will add to that deadly mix the explosives, position Vincent and the woman at the foot of the stairs and after we detonate the explosives the police will just assume he messed up with the wiring.” I asked how the detonation would take place and she grabbed the new wire, “Simple. Once we are ready I’ll yank this cord out and lay it on the open box. Once the wind blows a current will be generated that will ignite the packing materials and then…boom! And after the gas heats up the whole house will be bathed in fire! And since nobody suspects Vincent was ever a murderer they will do a quick investigation and figure a wacky survivalist and his wife messed up and blew themselves to smithereens.”
In regards to anything that might cause the police to open up a full investigation we needed to meticulously go over the pig pen to make absolutely sure that nothing of their last meal or any other meals that could leave human DNA traces. Everything had to appear totally free of anything suspicious – just in case some investigator had enough intuition to realize something beyond a careless old survivalist was involved in this mishap. Bethany explained, “We don’t have much time with the bodies. We will get up early tomorrow before rigor mortis sets in. If we don’t it will be impossible to dress them and set them into a more natural pose. Besides, if we wait too long the stench will make our work quite unpleasant.” She also noted, “We can load the pig pen with dry hay so everything will burn up. Why don’t you get dressed in that outfit Vincent bought you and we’ll take care of that now?”
So with that we went about getting things ready. We went out and surveyed the pig’s living area; there was absolutely no bones or any other evidence any human had been eaten there. After that we emptied the hay bin. I have to admit I felt a little sorry for the pigs but they had to perish along with all other evidence. Bethany was confident that even if we had missed anything the heaps of dry hay insured the ensuing fire from the house would undoubtedly incinerate that area as well. As we returned to the house I had to ask, “Are you sure the pigs have to be burnt alive? Couldn’t we just set them free first?” She turned and gave me a look that made it clear there would be no change of plans. She answered, “It has to look entirely like an accident.”
I sat down as Bethany volunteered to make us dinner. I was still full from the pizza but I said, “Sure!” While she was preparing the food she warned, “If we mess up at all there will be four bodies for the police to identify. Just follow my directions and I’ll make sure the stage is set downstairs for blowing this place up. Remember though, one miscalculation in anything as that will be the end.” I asked, “What if there is no wind tomorrow to get the windmill going?” She sighed, “When we have our ritual tonight we better pray there is wind. We only have a few hours before the bodies go stiff.”
While dinner was cooking she opened the cabinet and took out the ritual materials. She directed me, “Take off those clothes so I can burn them. I have put the clothes of the people downstairs, including what Vincent had on, in the fireplace. I’m going to burn up all the items he bought you as well. We can’t leave anything that might raise suspicion.” I got up and began to unbutton my blouse, “Bethany I would have helped you with gathering the things downstairs you know.” She shook her head, “No my dear. For all the bad he did Vincent was my husband and it would have been inappropriate for you to undress him.” I thought that was odd considering what he had done to me but I left it at that.
For dinner we had some calzone with red wine which of course was mixed with my offering. Once we were done Bethany set fire to the clothes and submerged all the blood extraction equipment in bleach to make absolutely sure nothing of me was left behind. We gathered things we wanted to take and put them by the door.
She suggested we immediately go to bed. While we were laying there naked under the quilt she had made me I asked, “Don’t you or Vincent have any family that might start probing into this?” She sat up and sighed, “I have three brothers but I have not seen them in years. I doubt they will ask questions. And Vincent was an only child; heck, he didn’t even have any cousins. His family line is quite dead. Oh, want to see something?” She went over to her purse and pulled out a birth certificate and her driver’s license. She handed to me and said, “That’s me…Bethany Jones, or at least who I was born as. Now look at this.” She handed me the license,
“See? Bethany Purvis. It’s all very confusing but it was part of Vincent’s plan to get off the official grid, as he called it. We looked into records and found a family had died in Mississippi in a car wreck the same year I was born. They had a daughter named Bethany so I took her identity to use on records like the DMV, health records, and the like. So while Bethany Elkington will officially die tomorrow Bethany Purvis lives on
She got back under the quilt and we both were looking up at the ceiling. Bethany in a reflective voice said, “In a way it is sad that this beautiful house is going to be nothing but smouldering rubble by tomorrow. Have you ever heard the 1970s song “Dust in the Wind?” I sighed, “Yeah, kinda depressing.” She laughed, “Perhaps. Yet it really does speak to what life seems to be about.” Then she looked at me and said, “Maybe we should dedicate the rest of our lives to just having fun – just the two of us!” I remembered Nicole talking like that before, but at this juncture in my life the message sounded way more appealing. Bethany perked up, “We can travel and then we can buy a house, a couple of horses and then open up a riding school for kids!”
The idea sounded appealing for some reason, maybe because it was so different than any life goals I had previously set. Maybe in a few years Bethany and I would be living a cowgirl existence out in the middle of nowhere. Just as I was letting my mind wander Bethany said “Well, good night Jennifer” and she leaned over, kissed me on the lips for maybe two seconds, and then turned over and fell asleep within seconds! Great! Now all kinds of thoughts were running through my mind. I turned over and held the large teddy bear that had been next to the bed. Maybe after all that had happened this day one would think it odd that my mind was flooded with thoughts of Bethany and I rather than the violence I had lived through earlier, but what had happened had happened; what could develop in the future was far more interesting to contemplate.
Before I finally fell asleep I thought about what was down in the basement. While most people would think it odd that we were sleeping in a house with two dead bodies. Yet again, my relationship with Bethany filled my mind with more questions. For one thing, it did not help that Bethany had rushed us off to bed without even getting dressed. I could not help but think to myself, “What would she do if I would test the waters, so to speak?” Yet I still felt totally awkward about doing anything like that. Besides, I thought, if we were going to live together for the foreseeable future maybe I should just give it time. Now that Vincent was gone the future was filled with infinite possibilities. I looked at my teddy bear companion and wondered if Bethany might like to play the role of grandmother someday – not to my existing kids but to some new ones. Then again, since my mom was dead could something work out to where Bethany might assume the role of a surrogate grandmother to my kids? My idea quickly evaporated as I realized I could not take being in my children’s lives but only as a part-time mother…assuming Vincent had been truthful that Nicole had taken my place. However, if we had a ranch maybe everyone could come and visit in the summers. I buried my head in the soft fur of the teddy bear when I realized how awkward that would be. I finally decided to just let life take me to whatever fate it had in store. Like the proverbial dust in Bethany’s song for once it might be best if I just let the winds blow me wherever they wished.
Chapter 14
I awoke the next morning to Bethany gently shaking me and saying, “It’s time to get started my dear.” It was still dark outside, not even four o’clock yet. She had already been up and had prepared a cup of coffee for me. As I sat up she said, “Drink this and take this little pill. Truckers use these to stay alert.” I did as she asked. Bethany sprang up, “We can’t afford any mistakes we might make if we’re tired.” Neither of us were dressed as we went into the kitchen. Then came the really disgusting part I had not looked forward to – preparing the bodies. She handed me a pollen mask which she had sprayed some of Vincent’s cologne on. She said, “I hate dead things. I am sorry Jennifer but by now those bodies will not be so nice to work with.” She was right too – when we went down to dress them I lifted my mask for only a second and even though decomposition had not really set in I certainly appreciated the mask – except from that day forward I developed an aversion to the smell of men’s cologne.
Rigor mortis had not set in too much but the bodies were certainly stiff and hard to work with. Bethany directed me to put the clothes she had picked onto the woman’s body while she dressed Vincent…again citing appropriateness. Yet before I could put the blouse on the body I had to remove the strips of cloth in the mouth and wound. My nose itched so I again took the mask off but when I did I almost gagged on the smell; the air quickly filled with a spoiled hamburger odor. I quickly scratched my nose and put the mask back on.
Once we had both bodies dressed we placed them into the position that Bethany claimed would look most realistic, yet would propel them into a spot that might insure the fire did not totally disintegrate. I made a joke, “So what was your major in college, physics?” She turned, pulled her mask off and said, “As a matter of fact it was!” Afterwards we cleaned the area where the bodies had been stacked and prepared to leave. Bethany threw the wads of cloth that had plugged the mouths of the bodies into the fire. And as they burned away we took one last bath in the house. This time Bethany put on her emerald necklace. She noticed me staring at it and commented, “It’s beautiful isn’t it? My great-great-great grandmother was given this by Queen Victoria. There’s a legend surrounding it…I think it is what gives me special insights. Now let’s get rinsed off and grab some breakfast!” Bethany dried off and left only to return with some of the clothes she had bought me. Once I was dry I realized the only clothing I had left were the outfits Bethany had bought – the wardrobe Vincent had purchased had been stained and was nothing more than ashes in the fireplace. I looked in the mirror and, even though we were in a hurry, I quickly applied make-up in manner that fit the revealing outfit I was wearing. When I walked into the kitchen Bethany smiled and said, “Jennifer, you look really cute. Now let’s get the rest of our stuff and get out of here!” We gathered the things we had placed in the pile in the kitchen. We made several trips to my car with bags. When we went back into the house she also grabbed the last bag, the ritual stuff, and said, “Time to go!” I hesitated, “Wait!” I ran into the bedroom and grabbed the quilt she had made for me as well as the toy horse and the large teddy bear next to it. Bethany rushed in, “Jennifer we can’t take everything. Leave the rest honey.” I was actually sad as I took one last look at our bedroom. I realized it too had to be destroyed.
She was right about the toys. We barely were able to stuff everything into my car. Bethany tried to shut the trunk but a large carry-on bag was in the way. She sighed, “Can’t leave that! That’s the bag with the money in it!” I asked, “So everything is in there?” She adjusted everything and successfully closed the trunk, “No. I left about twenty thousand dollars and some of the gold. The safe will survive and with all the money that will insure the cops think no foul play was involved in all of this.”
There was an early morning wind propelling the windmill so there was only one question at this point – would Bethany have the time to get out of the house before the exposed wire set off the explosives? The sun was beginning to come up over the horizon. Bethany stopped and gazed eastward, “Look Melanie! The dawn is here…a new dawn…a new life!” She handed me my keys, “Get it running and be ready to floor it no matter what!” She rushed into the house. I was nervous at that point. The engine started fine, even after months of sitting idle. I sat there and waited, and waited, and then suddenly she came running out of the house and, as she jumped in the car, she screamed, “Let’s get out of here now!”
We sped out of the driveway but slowed down once we were on the road so as not to attract attention, in case someone was actually out here in the middle of nowhere. Bethany directed me, “Turn this way and over to the left you’ll see a back road. Take it!” As she made her request a sound that can only
be described as a dozen thunder storms all coming together pierced the morning air. The explosives had gone off! We did not stop but then, maybe two seconds later a sort of hushed explosion took place. We looked towards the house and saw a huge fireball rise up over the tops of the pine trees. Bethany excitedly urged me to quickly go up the road and park for a second at the top of a hill overlooking the house from a distance. We decided not to take too much time there but we just had to see if we had been successful. We were indeed!
Through the raging fire we could see that the house was totally destroyed. Flames were everywhere – even the windmill looked like some Pagan idol set ablaze. When I looked through the binoculars I could also see that the pig pen was engulfed as well. It all appeared like a scene from a Medieval depiction of Hell itself. Yet I was comforted in two respects. First, the raging fire would erase any evidence of my ever being there. Second, it felt like a form of catharsis as the house and yard that I had lived in all summer, a place that held bittersweet memories for me, was now being baptized in fire; everything, including Vincent, was being converted to ash like some ancient sacrifice on an alter to the gods.
Bethany took me by the waist, “We have to get going now.” We drove a few miles until we reached the main road. It felt nice being able to be behind the wheel of my own car again. As we drove off I asked, “Where should we go now?” She sat back and said, “Our first destination is Boise. We have a lot of valuables in the trunk and we need to find a bank and get a large safety-deposit box.” I asked, “Can anyone track us if we do that?” She laughed, “No. Remember, Bethany Elkington died this morning and nobody is looking for Bethany Purvis.” She showed me the driver’s license with that name and smiled. As she returned it to her wallet she said, “You can co-sign so you’ll have access to the box in case something were to happen to me.” I inquired, “And what about after we stash the money?” She replied, “Who knows? We can do whatever we want now – we are both free!”
Deliverance from Evil Page 22