LOVE HEARTS- max mayfield

Chapter 7- The Graveyard

4th July 1985

"Hey honey, have you had a message from Dad yet, he hasn't called all day?" Lottie shouted to her daughter from the bottom of the stairs. "I'm beginning to get worried."

"No sorry!" Ruby yelled back. "Don't be worried, he's probably drinking with his friends again."

"You know you should go out! See some friends, enjoy the fireworks!" Lottie called out to be met with silence. "Come on, you don't want to be hiding away in your bedroom, it's the Fourth of July!"

Footsteps pattered down the stairs. "I'm fine here. Fine with just us enjoying the fireworks from inside the house ok mom," Ruby spoke, kissing her mom on the cheek.

"I'll get some food on, you rest," Ruby grinned softly.

"You're the best angel," Lottie smiled, pulling her daughter in for a hug. It was in times when Lottie struggled with her sanity that she was grateful for a daughter who could take on responsibilities. She couldn't say the same for her son.

Ruby headed to the kitchen and began planning what to cook. A sudden bang on the door suggested that Alan was home. She heard the door open and Lottie's welcoming voice like sweet honey. She heard the sweetness turn to confusion, and then she heard the scream.

Her mother's scream.

Dropping the pan in her hand, Ruby sprinted to the front door to see a familiar sight. Her dad, towering over her mom who was on the floor with a gash on her forehead. It had become routine for Ruby to distract Alan and then tire him out so that his abuse transferred from her frail mother to herself, until eventually he got bored.

This time it was different.

"Dad come on, you wanna hit me not mom. Come on, I wanna fight you, you asshole," she shouted, her voice breaking as she yelled.

Normally Alan would grit his teeth and swing at his daughter after she provoked him but this time she got no response. He simply grabbed Lottie by the throat, and began to choke her.

Ruby gasped in horror. She ran to him, punching him as hard as she could in the chest and trying to prise his hands off her mother's neck. It was no use. Her dad seemed to have gained superhuman strength, not reacting to any way that Ruby tried to come at him. She broke away, gasping for air, tears filling her eyes. She looked into the eyes of her father and saw... nothing. Alan's eyes were glazed over, as if he was in a trance. He wasn't reacting to anything apart from tightening his grip on his wife's throat. His usual malice was gone from his eyes, replaced by a terrifying nothingness.

"Dad please stop" Ruby whimpered in fear. Whatever stood in front of her, seemed inhumane.

As Lottie began to choke and gurgle, clutching at Alan's hand, Ruby panicked as she realised her dad was not letting go. As much as he enjoyed to hurt his family, Alan had never tried to kill them. He couldn't exactly retain his perfect image if that happened. This however, was different.

A killer stood in the hallway of the Carver household. A killer with glazed over eyes and no humanity left in him.

Ruby scoured the room for any sort of weapon.

Her eyes fell on the gun in the umbrella stand.

~~~

"Hey asshole," Ruby scoffed as she sat cross legged in front of Alan's grave.

'Loving husband, father and friend,' was etched in the tombstone. It couldn't be further from the truth. Alan Carver never cared for anyone or anything other than alcohol and himself. If you asked what he loved most in this world, it was power. Power over his friends, family, substances, anything remotely material that he could own.