Broken Marilyns

LOST AND FOUND

LOST AND FOUND

As far as I knew, I was the only person who cared where Kelly was.  No family members or friends stepped up to the plate.  There were no flyers on telephone poles, no tear-brimmed eyes on the news begging for witnesses to come forward; I couldn't abandon Kelly like everyone else had.

I wrote up a small ad offering a reward for information on Kelly's whereabouts and even posted my number even though I hated talking to people on the phone.

A piece of me held onto the belief that if I found Kelly I could find the link to the other Marilyns, missing or dead.

Starting the day the ad first appeared in the paper, I began to receive calls - disturbing calls:  "Kelly was hacked up and stuffed into a freezer," or "Kelly was a drugged up whore and I hope she's at the bottom of a river."  After a week, Kelly had died at least twenty different ways but one caller stood out among the rest.  "I saw her a week before her face showed up on the news.  She was out in the woods; she and some guy were walkin' all huddled up next to each other.  Looked like they were headed to that old barn all the crack heads like to go."  Old barn - I'd never seen or heard of it until now.

"You know how to get there?"  I scribbled down the woman's vague directions only locals could decipher.

Passing the spot I found Julia, I felt a frown tugging at my lips, remembering that day.  The lady told me to park in an old neighborhood on the opposite side of where I was now - in the middle of some farmlands.

Setting foot on the ground, it was easy to spot the small clearing between the trees and that’s where the path started that would take me most of the way.  I was starting to feel like a Park Ranger with all the time I was spending searching woods.  Being out here was a nice break from the sun - the branches scattered the light and heat like confetti on the ground.

The path was becoming less defined but I stayed my course.  The hike seemed endless and I was wondering if I'd been fooled by another prank caller.  Stopping, I looked around and emptied a heavy breath from my lungs.  I was literally getting nowhere in my search for Kelly.  Pacing for a bit, I argued with myself and gave in to the side screaming go home.  As I turned, my body stopped - something gleamed just beyond the thick of trees I'd been headed towards.  There it was, camouflaged by time -a rotting barn with broken glass windows and a sinking roof.

Nudging the haggard door open with my foot, the rusted hinges fought me but I was able to squeeze in.  It stunk inside like piss and dying grass, but not the offensive odor I'd heard a dead body gives off.  It was massive inside and I felt insignificant in its space.

Staying close to the walls, I traipsed the length of the barn and searched for anything strange - a tough deed considering the abandoned barn in itself was strange.

Satisfied with being unsatisfied, I turned to leave the barn just in time to see something move in the shadows.  "Hello?" my voice shook though I willed it not to.  No response.  I walked forward, trying to convince myself my eyes were playing tricks.  The black stayed perfectly still.  Quickening my steps, I felt a rush of relief once my hand touched the barn door unscathed.

"I found you," a low voice sang from the shadows.  "Now listen to me, you little bitch.  You're gonna start minding your own business from now on or I'll do worse than just rape you.  Do you understand?"  A gloved hand extended from the darkness, flaunting a knife in the sunlight.  My eyes darted from the knife to the door.  I was inches from freedom - the fresh outside air diluting the stale stench of fear and rot.  "Do you understand?" Simon shook me.  I nodded rapidly.  "Good girl."

I scrambled away, quickly wedging myself through the door; the rough wooden edges tore at my stomach through my thin shirt.  Trees whirred past as I sprinted for the clearing.