The Target

A Horrified Past

I pulled mum down on the couch as I started. Adam sat beside her. I didn't want to tell her but right now, I had no choice.

"Mum, Brian..." I started. Mum flinched at his name. "Brian didn't die in the car crash. He was killed." Mum's eyes widened. She slapped her hand on her mouth and started wailing. I looked at her. "He was... killed? And-and you k-new ab-about it?" She asked under gasping breaths. I nodded and she looked away. She buried her head into Adam's chest and cried. I placed my hand on her thighs and apologized for not telling her before. "Mum, he had just died and- and I saw you go through so much, I just didn't have the courage to tell you. I am sorry." She turned to me and nodded. "How? How did he...?" She couldn't complete the sentence.

I continued, "Beverly and I were best friends. You know how close we were," I said, pointing to mum, "Brian liked her. And she did too. I had no idea. Until I saw them snogging at school. I had no problem with them being in a relationship. But then, Beverly started behaving weirdly in school. I kept asking her what it was but she was too scared to tell. She ignored Brian and sometimes lost her temper with me. She started coming to school with bruises all over her body. I was worried for her, but I couldn't do anything until she told me what it was. Remember, when I brought Bev home?" I asked. Mum nodded. "That day she got a call from her home. She was scared. I drove her home to find out her da-" I took a deep breath before continuing, "Her dad was violent with her. Physically and mentally." I closed my eyes as the sight of Beverly being dragged into her house flashed before me.

******

"No, dad! Stop! I didn't mean to. I am sorry. Amy! AMY! Help me, please. I can't take it anymore. I'll die. He'll kill me." She was shouting as her dad gripped her arm so tightly I could see it going blue.

"Hey, stop it!" I said as I pulled her dad's other arm. He pushed me back and I fell to the ground with a minor blow to my head. The door slammed shut in front of me and I could hear Bev screaming and things being thrown faintly.

******

"Amy? Are you okay?" I felt a hand on my shoulder. I opened my eyes and mum told me to stop if I didn't want to. But I did. I have to.

"I'm fine. Bev didn't show up the next day at school. I was worried about what her dad did to her. I waited till the end of the school to visit her but then it clicked on me. Brian was absent the whole day as well. I went to Bev's house calling on Brian's phone. But he didn't pick up. Mum, that day was 9th March." Mum looked like she just fell into a never-ending abyss. She took in a deep breath and struggled to hold her tears. It was the day my brother died.

Suddenly, I realized it. It was also the date when Grace went missing almost three months ago and was found dead. The killer, whoever it was, was trying to recreate my worst experiences.

"I reached Beverly's house," I continued, hoping that I would finish it soon, "When the door opened, I saw a body on the floor. It was hard to see with Bev's dad's plump figure, but enough to make out that it was a boy." My eyes were sewn shut once again.

******

I looked at him with shock. He just returned the glare with a smirk. He stepped aside to allow me to see the body.

"BRIAN?!!" I ran up to him and heard the door shut. "You killed HIM?! Why? What did he do?" I asked as I held my brother close to my chest. I saw the stab wounds, there were marks on his neck. Blood was all around him. Brian's hazel brown hair was drenched with his thick red blood. "Go ask your little friend." he snarled.

I flinched as I remembered Bev. She wasn't in the living room. I ran up to her room, reluctant to leave my brother. Her bedroom door was locked from the outside. I opened it and saw Beverly curled up in the corner. She was white with shock and fear. She raised her head when she heard the door. She ran to me and hugged me tightly. She whispered apologies for Brian. She told me "Brian came to see me. I was careful that my father doesn't see him. But he did. He dragged both of us into the house. I tried stopping him but he just beat him black and blue. But I never thought that he would go to the extent of killing him until he drove a knife through him."

We both dropped to the ground crying. "You need to go, Amy. He won't let you go without... He doesn't care who he hurts. You need to run!" My eyes widened and I took her hand signaling that she is coming with me. She pulled back wincing. I looked at her hands. It was covered in bruises of all colors and some cuts. "No! I can't leave. He'll find me wherever I go! You have to go. You can't fall into his grasp. GO!" She shouted but it was too late.

Bev's dad was towering over both of us.

******

Adam was looking down to his feet. He was holding mum tightly as she jumped on me. Hugging me tightly. Both of us were crying.

"The next thing I knew I was putting Brian's body in my car, wincing with every movement because of the bruises and cuts on my body. I don't remember crashing my car on the tree and waking up in the hospital two days later, but I do remember that Beverly changed for the worse after that day. She bullied me every day since. She hadn't an ounce of sympathy or empathy for anyone. I knew her dad was arrested and she was put to foster care but she never supported me after that. She blamed me for sending Brian to her house. My life was a living hell in school. She became her father! These cuts..." I pull up my sleeve to show them. Mum was shocked and Adam was sobbing. "Adam, a lot of these cuts are from way before you saved me. When I moved to Melbourne, Grace and her friends gave me some comfort and I swore to never come back here until my friends started dying."

There was a long silence after this.