Heartbeat

02. Abigail White

02
Abigail White

Lee White's house
April 16th, 2022
4:11 p.m

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I've been babysitting Abigail ever since she was little. Since her dad is a detective, he has to work long hours and can't look after her. And well her mother, she's out of the picture.

Abigail just turned fifteen, so you can imagine how she acts. When arriving this morning, I couldn't help but hear her and Lee arguing. I tried to listen in without making any noise. "I don't need a stupid babysitter!" Abigail squeals.
"I don't care Abby, you acting like this proves you need one." Lee angrily grunted.
"I'm fifteen dad, I can take care of myself." She says while crossing her arms.
"Well, clearly you can't!" Lee says while shoving paperwork into his work bag.

Abigail rolled her eyes and groaned loudly while Lee gave her a stern look. I opened the front door while it slowly creaks. "Hi! Sorry, I'm so early." I say with a large smile on my face.

I see Abigail's face go red. She was full of rage and was about to boil over. She looks over at Lee and makes a small eye signal, obviously telling me to go.

"Uh- It's fine. I've got to get to the station early anyways." Lee responded.
Lee rushed out of the house, trying not to cause any more conflict. Abigail's cold gaze went straight through me. We've never really gotten along.

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Lee White's house
November 2nd, 2016
9:45 p.m

"You're not my mother," Abigail mumbled under her breath. After countless nights of babysitting, I learnt that Abigail always mumbles things she can't say out loud. Lee taught her that "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it all." You know, that kind of thing. I've always believed that to be bullshit. It's better, to be honest.

I sighed as I turned my head to look at Abigail. Her ginger hair shined under the yellow fluorescents. "I know, Abby," I replied, trying my best to sound sincere.

"Only people I like can call me that. You call me Abigail." She snapped back. I took a deep breath, trying my best not to scream in this child's face. I simply replied, "Okay Abigail." She stood up and ran up the stairs. Once she got to her room, she slammed the door. Hard. So hard that a few flakes from the roof fell off. After a few seconds, I heard stomping and screaming. I knew I boiled her blood. In more ways than one.

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Lee White's house
April 16th, 2022
6:13 p.m

"Abigail, what do you want for dinner?" I yell from the kitchen. I hear a small groan.
"Dunno." She muttered. I roll my eyes and open the freezer. I noticed the freezer is giant and has lots of wiggle room. I take out cookie dough ice cream and grab two spoons. I walk into the lounge room while holding a spoon out for Abigail. "Dad said we can't eat that." She says, pushing away my hand. I sit on the couch and reply, "Dad's not here right now, is he?" Abigail mumbled something and snatched the spoon out of my grip.

Abigail's gaze is fixated on the TV. She's watching some kind of crime documentary. "What are you watching?" I ask while shoving my mouth with ice cream. "Use your eyes." She angrily mumbles back. I sigh and reply, "Why do you hate me?" I couldn't care less. I just wanted to irritate her. "I- I don't hate you." She stuttered. "I just.." She hesitates.

"I just don't understand you." I shove my spoon into the ice cream tub, stabbing at small ice pieces while pouting my lips. "What don't you understand?" I answer with a puzzled look on my face. She groaned before answering me. "Why would you choose to look after me?" I look deep into her pupils. Watching them change drastically in size.

"Why do you put up with me?" Her lips tremble.
I chuckle while putting the tub on the coffee table. I start patting her head while wrapping her peach-like hair around my finger. Her eyes drift off as a small smirk appears on her round face. "If I were you, I would've cussed me out already." She laughs. I continue stroking her head before replying. "I know how to control my anger," I state. She takes a deep breath while slowly relaxing. Suddenly, she stands up and starts walking to her bedroom. She shoots me a quick smile before walking up the stairs. I knew I've earned her trust.

After a couple of hours, I go to check up on Abigail upstairs. I try to shake her to awaken her from her slumber but, nothing. She doesn't feel a thing. I've been planning this night for a while. I would drug her with ice cream, causing her to fall into a deep sleep. Then I would kill her. I didn't want to make too much of a mess. I slowly shoved a pillow against her face.

She woke up abruptly while screaming. "What are you doing!" Her squeals could be heard throughout the whole house. "Shut up!" I yelled in a deep tone. Trying to convince her I was someone else. After half an hour, she finally stopped fighting and lost her breath. I carried her lifeless body downstairs and shoved her onto the kitchen counter. I spent a few hours skinning her body. Her skin peeled like a banana. I've always found someones glistening flesh so beautiful. Her blood shined under the kitchen lights, like a newly found diamond.

I chopped her up into small bite-size pieces. Remember that freezer I talked about? Yeah, that came in handy. I left her head separate, as a gift to Lee. Although I did pull out her teeth, that's my favourite part. I sat her head upright in the fridge, her eyes colourless. I scrubbed the counters until they radiated with a clean glow. The last thing I had to do, was call triple-zero.

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Word count: 1014

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