Broken Marilyns

TWO WEEKS LATER

TWO WEEKS LATER

I stood in the mirror, taking inventory of the minor cuts and bruises that still covered my body.  The more severe afflictions lied deeper in my head and heart.  Out of the vanity drawer, I took out a small box and admired the dainty necklace inside, the one I’d found by the harrowing tree.  I still didn’t know who the necklace belonged to.  Taking the necklace out of the box, I put it on and fumbled with the tiny gold heart.

Slowly, I stalked towards my living room to secretly admire his face.  Jack sat on the couch watching the news.  After Anne was discharged from the hospital, she left Jack.  I never thought my fairy tale would begin after someone else's unhappily ever after.

I sat on my couch, nestled into Jack.  Between us, my phone began to vibrate and Jack yanked it out of my hands.  “Second Chance?” he looked at the screen.  I snatched it away from him.

“Hello?" I asked too excitedly.

"Hi, is this Jenna Pierce?" the person inquired with skepticism.

"Yes it is," I cleared my throat, "and this is?"

"Tana Wright, I’m an investigator from Second Chance.  We’re very sorry about Mr. Henley's death, but as you know, we continued to work on the case."

"Oh.  Well...anything I can do?" I began to pace.

"Well, we were fascinated by your and Mr. Henley’s story so we tried to obtain DNA from the prison and succeeded.  We were able to test the DNA samples submitted to us and compare them to the samples from the crime scene.”

“And?" I asked anxiously.  I wasn’t expecting this.

“The DNA did belong to Mr. Henley.”  My eyes closed tight as a jolt went through my body.

"What?"

"I’m very sorry Ms. Pierce; I know this is not what you wanted to hear but the samples were a match.”

“No, no, thank you Tana.  Thank you for everything,” I clicked my phone off.

“What was that all about?” Jack asked from the couch.

“This program called Second Chance.  When I was younger, my little brother was killed.  When I started researching Julia and all those missing girls, I thought I found something that meant the man I thought committed the murder was innocent.  They ran the guy’s DNA and it was him,” I sat down, stunned.

“Why would you think he was innocent?  He was probably just using you so he could go free,” Jack stroked at the ends of my hair but I shook him off.

Taking the TV off mute, we watched coverage of the ongoing investigation with the murders.  It was so surreal.  They’d dubbed the murder victims the “Broken Marilyns” after interviewing me. 

The body count grew and grew like the excavation of an ancient tomb.  The more I tried the less I remembered about that night, the trauma punching holes in my memory.  “Get out of there,” Jack whispered, lightly tapping my temple as he pulled me close.   

“Sorry.  There’s so much I don’t understand…don’t remember,” I smiled hopelessly and placed my hand on his chest.

“Like what?” Jack kissed my head and lingered there, his warm breath weaving through each strand of my hair.  Chills ran up my arms as I silently relived the moment in the woods before I passed out.

“Like how you found me?” I pulled away.

“What do you mean?” he laughed.

“I never told you where I was.”  Jack ignored my question.  Nuzzling my neck with his nose, Jack began to trail kisses back to the nape of my neck and I felt a light tug at my necklace.

"I always liked this necklace," I felt Jack's smile against my skin.

"What do you mean?"  I turned to look at Jack.  "I've never worn this before.  I found it on the ground the night -."  There was something unsettling in Jack's smile and I repeated his words in my head: "I always liked this necklace" not "I always liked this necklace on you."

The Breaking News headline lit up the bottom of the screen.  "Police have just told us that one of the bodies found puts an end to the thirteen year old missing person case of Fran Porter.  Mrs. Porter was from Edgewater, Nevada, and was forty four the year she went missing."

"That doesn't make any sense," I turned to Jack, "who was that?" I asked, knowing he didn't have the answer.

"Fran was our Foster parent.  After Dad went to prison, we were sent to her and she beat the shit out of me and Chad...made us do things you wouldn't want to imagine."  I looked at Jack, unable to talk and unable to look away.  A wicked smile spread across his face.

I’m hiding inside an over-sized tire in the neighborhood park.  My mother and I had just gotten into a fight.  Suddenly I hear someone climbing up on the outside.  I just wanted to be alone.  Legs dangle through the tire’s opening and drop down.  The light shining through the center blocked out the person’s face.  They sit down on the opposite side of the tire.  Slowly, my eyes adjust to the dark and I see the face of Jack’s older brother Mark.  My breathing quickens and all I want to do is run but there’s nowhere to go.  I’ve never spoken to Mark but Jack is terrified of him – says he hits him.  Pushing myself up to a crouching position, Mark’s voice stops me cold.  “Where are you going?” his eyes narrow.

"I ha-ave to go," I try, my voice breaking.  Scrambling to the middle of the tire, my knees tremble.  Pulling myself out from the hole, I get that "monster under my bed" sensation and my fear is realized when Mark yanks me back down by my ankles.

Falling to the ground, a piece of wood stabs my forearm.  "Ouch!"  Mark says nothing as he hovers over me, pinning me to the ground.  "Stop, Mark.  You're hurting me."  My skin crawls and I feel like I’m outside of my body, completely helpless.

"You’re mine, Jenna," Mark’s voice is low and hoarse and he starts to pull down on my pants while I squirm.

"Stop!" Mark barks, picking up my hands and slamming them into the ground.   A whimper escapes involuntarily from my mouth which I'd just realized was open.  Mark leans down, staring at my lips.

"What are you doing?" a familiar voice pours in from the tire's opening before Chad pokes his head in.

A twisted smile spreads across Mark’s face as he stares relentlessly into my eyes, completely ignoring Chad.  He looks like a completely different...thing.  Something dark and sinister. 

That smile...how it changed his entire face.

“Guess who, Jenna?” Jack breathes into my ear.

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THE END

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I can't believe I'm finally done writing this.  This is my first book and has been in the works for a long time.  Thank you so much for reading, I really hope you liked it and would love to hear what you think.  The greatest gift for an Author is leaving a review (hopefully a nice one hehe) so please comment, vote, and share with your friends if you enjoyed Broken Marilyns.