Mrs. Right

Night Sounds

*Trigger warning - gun violence

That night, I lay in my bed unable to sleep. I had opened my bedroom windows, allowing the gentle evening breeze to cool my body. I closed my eyes and listened to the crickets as I imagined the breeze was Jimin's fingers softly gliding across my skin. I listened to the sounds of the house--the blinds tapping against the window frame, the ceiling fan spinning, the ticking of the grandfather clock located down below on the first floor, but just a few feet from my bedroom door, with the eventual chime every quarter-hour.

The moon was shining brightly through the slats of the blinds. I tried covering my eyes with the pillow but still couldn't bring myself to sleep. All I could do was think of Jimin. I decided to try to count the ticks on the grandfather clock when I suddenly heard a new sound. It was a creaking sound coming from the oak floors in the kitchen. It sounded like Dad was dealing with another case of insomnia. I worried that it was his discovery of the truth that was keeping him awake, and I began to feel guilty.

Then I heard my dad call out, "Who's there?"

A loud pop echoed through the house and I heard my dad yell out. Then I heard my mom scream, "Al!"

My heart leapt out of my chest, and I quickly reached under the mattress to get the gun Ted had given me for protection. I ran down the stairs, stopping a few steps short of the first floor to peer around the corner. I found myself in the middle of a nightmare. My dad was lying on the family room floor, blood trickling out of his shoulder. Standing next to him was her--the wackadoo--and my mom. She had her hand clasped over my mother's mouth and was using her body as a human shield as she held a gun to my mom's temple and worked her way closer to the stairs. My mother had tears streaming down her face and my dad was groaning in pain as his blood stained the carpet. I trembled as I released the safety and brought the gun up to aim it at her.

Having caught a glimpse of me, she fired a shot, missing me and hitting the wall behind me "I warned you, BITCH! I told you to stay away from Jimin. You corrupted him, you fucking whore!"

My mom proved to be a good defense strategy for her, as I struggled to get a clear shot. Thoughts of all the times I practiced rushed through my brain. I hated guns, but Daniel insisted I learn how to fire one.

"I've been watching you for weeks--first at your brother's house and then here. I have been tracking your every movement--trips to the store and the doctor, visits to coffee shops. I tracked your internet use, too. When I saw you mostly stayed at home and never contacted Jimin or the others, I was hoping you got the message to stay away. But, no. You couldn't help yourself, could you? You had to lure Jimin into your web the moment he flew to Denver. You had to seduce him again, you fucking whore!"

"Look, I realize you are upset about this, but Jimin and Namjoon came to visit me, not the other way around."

"NO! You lured him here!" She yelled at me. "I don't know how you did it, but you did. Then you seduced him again. I saw you. I saw you take him to his car. I followed you to that farm. I saw you trick him into fucking you. Do your parents know what a slut you are? Do they know that when they were here with Namjoon, you were out defiling Jimin?"

"Look, this is between you and me. Leave my parents out of this. Let my mom go."

"Don't say I didn't warn you. This isn't my fault. It's yours. Take some responsibility for your actions, Addy. Look at what you've done, you selfish bitch! You made it so I had to shoot your dad to get to you. You made your mom cry."

She turned the gun back on my mom, pressing the muzzle into the side of her head. "Now, you either put the gun down and come down here so I can kill you, or I'll have you watch your mom die and then I'll kill you. I don't want to kill your mom, but I will if you give me no other choice. Don't continue to be a selfish bitch, Addy! Don't make your parents suffer anymore. Let me put them out of their misery by killing you. It must be torture for them to have YOU for a daughter."

"Let my mother go. Please! She has nothing to do with this."

"It's a simple solution, Addy. As soon as you're dead, I'll let her go. Fight me on this, and you'll both die. Now, I'm telling you one last time. Put your gun down and come here so I can kill you."

I took a deep, calming breath and steadied my shaking hands. Just then, the grandfather clock chimed the quarter-hour . . . and a shot rang out into the night.