Blood Bath

Chapter 2

Coltonworked on his laptop, checking his email and Facebook account. Hedidn't post many pictures and comments, but enjoyed reading all thestuff his friends posted. Sometimes he would add comments to thesilly pictures and odd sayings. Lacie, his girlfriend, often postedpictures of the two of them. Her latest picture was of Colton and herafter the homecoming dance. They both looked happy, but Colton lookeduncomfortable in his blue suit. Seth, Colton's best friend,commented on how nice they looked, as did a dozen other friends.Colton, however, never worried about the way he looked. Even thoughhe was almost six feet tall, two hundred pounds of solid muscle, withdark brown eyes and hair, he never considered himself good-looking.He was just Colton, the football player.

Lacie is beautiful. At five foot seven and only one hundred twenty pounds, she has a great figure. Her blond hair is long, and she has the most beautiful piercing blue eyes Colton has ever seen.

He checked his cell phone and noticed that Lacie left a message requesting a callback.

"Hi! I looked at the picture on Facebook. Seth is right, you are beautiful," he said.

"Well, I think you're great too," she said. "Did you get your Jeep back from the shop?"

"Sure did, and she looks almost as good as new."

"You must drive slow tonight. Did you see all the snow that fell this afternoon?"

"See it? Hell, I had to practice football in it. Coach wouldn't let us practice inside because he wanted to condition us to the bad weather we might face tomorrow," Colton said.

"Leave early so you're not late for first hour," she suggested.

"I can't. I have to wait until the newspapers get to the storage shed, but I shouldn't be late."

"Colton, the reason I wanted you to call back was because of something that happened during last hour in school. I was in the girls bathroom and Jenny Stillmore was cleaning her sweater. She had it off, and she was standing at the sink in her bra."

Colton laughed, "You've seen girls in their bras before, haven't you?"

"Stop it! Yes. That's not the point, Colton. She had bad bruises all over her arms, back, and stomach. Someone has been beating her!" Lacie sounded upset.

"I'm sorry. How could you tell it was from a beating?" he asked.

"I saw you after those farmhands beat you up in September, and I know what it looks like. They were marks from a fist, and her arms had the imprint of someone's hand holding her too tight," she said.

"What did you do?" Colton asked.

"I asked her who was beating her, and she got embarrassed. Then she said it was from an accident and not a beating. She tried to cover it up, but I knew she was lying," Lacie added.

"What happened then?"

"I told her that if she needed help to call me. I tried to make her understand I wanted to help, and she doesn't have to get beat up by anyone. But she wouldn't listen, and she walked out without saying a word."

"Well, Lacie, you tried. If she's being abused at least she knows you're willing to help. I don't see what more you can do," Colton said.

"Colton, look out the window. It's snowing harder again, and the news says the temperatures will stay below freezing all night. Like I said, drive slow and avoid hitting the deer. I love you and I'll see you in school. We can talk about Jenny then."

"Sounds like a plan. I will be careful and I love you too, Lacie. Bye."

Before speaking with Lacie, Colton looked forward to doing the paper route in the morning. Now he felt a twinge of dread. Will it be slippery? Are the deer going to be out tonight? Why am I sitting here worrying about something I can't control?