10 Scary Stories (#Wattys2017)

6 - Infanticide

There was a teenage girl who wanted to go to a disco for the first time. She asked her parents for permission, but they said she was too young. When she argued with them, they refused to listen and sent her to her room.

The girl was angry and decided to sneak out of the house. She really wanted to go to the nightclub. She took some pillows and put them under the blankets on her bed, so it looked like someone was sleeping there. Then, she got dressed up, put on some makeup and slowly opened her bedroom door. She could hear her parents talking in the kitchen, so she quietly tip-toed down the stairs and made her way out the front door.

When she got home, later that night, she climbed in her bedroom window and found that her bed had been disturbed. The blankets were crumpled and there was a hole in the sheets. There was also a hole in one of the pillows. In the morning, when she came down for breakfast, she didn't say anything to her parents, but they were looking at her strangely.

In the evening, her parents went out for dinner. The girl wanted to call one of her friends, but she had run out of credit. She went out to the local shop and topped up her mobile phone. It was getting dark and, on her way back, she had to walk through a park.

She was going down a deserted path, when all of a sudden, a masked man jumped out of the bushes and tried to attack her. He had a long iron bar in his hand and he swung it at her head. She managed to dodge the blow, just in time, and the iron bar whizzed past her ear. The girl immediately fled before the masked man could catch her. She ran as fast as she could, not daring to look back, until she arrived at her front door.

The girl's parents came home a few minutes later and the terrified girl told them what had happened. They scolded her for walking through the park on her own in the dark and told her to be more careful in future. They were still giving her strange looks.

The parents told their daughter to take a warm bath to relax and calm her nerves. The girl undressed and got into the bath. She shut her eyes and tried to forget about the disturbing events of the day.

Suddenly, the door opened and mother came rushing in with a toaster. Before the girl had a chance to react, her mother tried to throw the toaster into the bathtub. However, the woman misjudged the length of the wire and the toaster couldn't reach that far. The wire stopped it short and it dropped harmlessly on the bathroom floor. The girl had narrowly escaped being killed by an electric shock.

Jumping out of the bath, the girl started screaming at her parents. In that moment, she realized that they had been trying to kill her. Grabbing her mobile phone, she told them she would call the police unless they told her why they wanted her dead. Her mother burst into tears and her father hung his head in shame. The parents sat down on the edge of the bath and tried to explain.

It turned out that the girl's uncle, her father's brother, was terminally ill in hospital. He was a successful businessman and had amassed a huge fortune during his long career. He had no children, so when he drew up his will, he decided to leave all his wealth to his favorite niece. When the uncle died, the teenage girl would receive over a million dollars. If she died, then the money would automatically go to her parents.

The girl couldn't believe what her parents were telling her. She realized that the pair were incredibly greedy and soulless. Infanticide was the worst crime that a parent could commit. She struggled to understand how her parents could be so low as to try to murder their own daughter for money. It was a betrayal that could never be forgiven.

The girl immediately packed her belongings and left the house that very night. She booked into a cheap hotel and decided to cut off all communication with her parents. Despite the many difficulties she faced, she tried to make a life for herself alone. She got a job and earned enough money to put herself through university. Although she was very busy, she set aside some time each week to visit her uncle in hospital.

In her first year of university, she met a guy in her class who seemed very nice. He wasn't very good-looking but he had an attractive personality. He was kind and gentle and always made sure he was there for her in times of trouble. When she was in his arms she felt safe and protected. Finally, she had found someone in her life who she could trust.

A few months passed and the happy couple decided to get married. They had a modest wedding in a local church and invited all their friends to celebrate the joyous occasion with them. The girl insisted that they not invite her parents to the wedding. When the guy asked her about it, she told him how they had betrayed her.

The day after the wedding, the newlyweds went on their honeymoon. They booked a short holiday at a scenic resort in the mountains, next to a shimmering lake. When they arrived, the location looked so beautiful that they decided to take a boat trip on the lake and take in the view. It was autumn and the leaves were falling from the trees. The sun was setting, casting an orange glow across the skies and the resort was almost deserted.

When they rowed out to the center of the lake, the husband got up and grabbed his wife. He pushed her over the side of the boat and she tumbled into the icy water with a spash. He grabbed an oar and began beating her over the head with it as she struggled to stay afloat. Eventually, he knocked her unconcious and she sank beneath the waves. Then, he rowed back to shore and called the police, tearfully recounting how his wife had accidentally fallen overboard and drowned.

A few days later, the girl's uncle was found dead in his hospital bed. He had been smothered with a pillow.

Within a few months, the girl's husband received the million dollars inheritance and he split it with the girl's parents.