bloodthirsty // heathers au

eleven

Veronica

Living in the new house with JD was easy. We made a rather good team at housework and parenting Grace, even when he got a job. He worked from eight am to four pm, which wasn't an awful schedule. He got to relax a little bit before dinner, which he appreciated. It was easy for quite a while and we ended up celebrating Christmas and Grace's first birthday before we knew it.

Christmas was good. Her first birthday was an emotional day. Especially because I had found out that morning that I had gotten pregnant, despite the fact that we had been using condoms. Grace opened her presents as best she could and smashed up her cake. JD and I took lots of pictures, even one with a timer and a stand of all three of us.

I didn't tell him until that night, to which he cried. "I promise you I'll do right by you." He told me beneath the mist of his tears.

"JD, I'm scared." I admitted to him.

"I know." He said quietly. "But we've got time to get even better. This is a gift." He added, to which I got annoyed.

"Did you get me pregnant on purpose again?" I accused him angrily. He put his heavy hands on my shoulders.

"No, I didn't." He told me, looking straight into my eyes. I didn't see any sign of him lying.

"Okay, I'm sorry. I'm just emotional as hell right now." I laughed it off as he lifted his hands.

"I remember." He teased lightly before brushing my hair out of my face. "Hey, we can do this." He said.

"Okay." I replied.

Jeez, didn't take much convincing for you, Veronica.

Shut up, Heather.

I had gotten pregnant in November and it was January when I went to the doctor since Grace's birthday was the last day of the year. It was now 1992 and 1989 felt like yesterday still. I wasn't free from the haunting. JD was privy to it at this point. Surprisingly, he didn't consider me crazy. Granted, his mental health probably wasn't too many notches above mine.

Time continued to flow through my fingers too quickly. It was already June and I was being induced on the 13th of July. My pregnancy was coming to an end all too soon, as was the period of JD and I being healthy. It was foolish to expect it to last long. With how extremely uncomfortable I was being eight months pregnant and how on edge JD was for being good for so long. It started with him shouting at me again. Not for anything critical, just simple things like not tending to Grace quickly enough.

Eventually the yelling escalated to him grabbing my shoulders as I was in labor, dealing with a contraction and yelling at him from the pain. He gripped my shoulders tightly, digging his fingernails into my skin.

"Please stop! It hurts!" I groaned at him, wishing he had some fucking concept of how bad labor hurt.

"Get your bag and I'll get Grace." He said, pushing me backwards slightly. I stumbled, my hands still on my belly protectively.

I did as he told me because I needed direction in that moment. We hurried to the car and then we were hurrying to the hospital. Grace was whining from the tension she could feel in the car.

While I was in labor, JD was kind to me. I held my breath, expecting anger when I relaxed after birthing our second daughter. But he surprised me and stayed calm. We had decided on the name Eden, which seemed silly since we weren't religious really but it fit with Grace nicely.

Grace looked at her baby sister curiously. She was sitting on the couch in the recovery room. Beside her, JD sat with Eden in his arms. Grace was a bigger baby than Eden was, by over two pounds. Grace was eight pounds four pounces, where as Eden was six pounds one ounce. Grace studied the baby beside her. "Baby." She stated suddenly.

"Yes, Gracie." I smiled at her. She smiled back at me.

"This is your little sister, Grace." JD told our older daughter, who was still too little to understand a baby sibling. She had only recently turned eighteen months old. "Sissy!" He added, a word she recognized. She sort of knew that mommy's tummy had a sissy in it.

"Sissy?" Grace asked in a tone filled with wonder.

"Mhmm." JD and I told her at the same time. She smiled again, all teeth.

The night that I delivered Eden, I had a nightmare. A flashback. God fucking forbid I have a good night's sleep after delivering a human.

I'm curled up in my bed sobbing when JD entered through my bedroom window. "There's been a lack of girls coming in through my bedroom window lately." He remarked and I heard the spark of his lighter as he lit a cigarette.

"Take the hint." I sniffled at him as he walked towards me and my bed. He sat down behind me and put his cigarette in the crystal ashtray on my nightstand. My mother gave me that ashtray. She'd be so disappointed in who I truly was.

"Come on, V." JD mumbled at me as he brushed my hair back. I didn't move or say anything, I just stayed still and closed my eyes. He bent down and kissed my head, then my cheek. He planted a kiss on my jaw.

"No." I told him firmly. "I'm not in the mood." I added. His arm slithered around my waist. He pulled me towards him and I could feel that he was hard, which only made me cry.

"I need you." He begged me before shifting positions to bite my collarbone.

"JD, I'm serious." I said, beginning to panic. "Stop or I'll scream for my parents." I threatened him, which infuriated him. He yanked me over to lay on my back and put his hand over my mouth. I shook my head no, I kicked and hit him. I tried to fight him off but he was a lot stronger than me. It hurt the entire time and I let out muffled screams beneath his hand. Hot tears streamed down my face. But none of those clear signs that I didn't consent stopped JD.

When he was done and I had curled up into a ball to cry more, he spoke up. "Don't tell me no next time." He snapped at me. I just cried louder. He curled up behind me. "Baby, it's okay. Let it out." He attempted to soothe me as he pet my head and shushed me. I eventually fell asleep, trapped in his arms. I broke up with him the next morning and turned him in to the police.

I woke up after that, my cheeks wet from crying in my sleep. Heather stood in the corner of the room by a potted plant. She was still in her short kimono robe, the kind that tempted JD so much the morning she died. Her lips were blue from the Drain-O we served her. Her arms were crossed over her chest and she looked at me intensely with her blue eyes. I had the brief thought how funny it was that my daughters, both blonde with JD's blue eyes, resembled Heather in their coloring. Before I could say anything, Heather started speaking. She said only one thing before vanishing into a curl of smoke.

Just in case you forgot who he really is.