Odd Ways

Death One

This first death starts in a common place, a place where most people will taoe their last breath. This place is your own house...

Abby sat reading in a comforter. So far, this tale of vampiric romance was good enough for her, unlike the roaring fire in front of her. She looked at her boyfriend, drooling in an old leather Lay Z Boy, and looked back to her book. "Beths lips skimmed the surface of Jonathan's collarbon-" Abby needed more wood on the fire. She got up, and one handedly lobbed a chunk of wood into the fire. Then she picked up a poker, not for a purpose, but out of boredom. She shuffled around the ashes, watching the way the flames told a story. Her grandmother always told Abby, that fire represents true love. The fire had sent her to find her then alive husband. They were faithful for 52 years, before Abbys grandfather's death. Many people say that Abbys grandmother then died of a broken heart, but the used syringe Abby found tucked in her grandmothers memory chest told a different story. Abby looked at the memory chest now set on a little shelf made of pallets Dustin had made for her. As much as Abby loved Dustin he could be... She looked back at the torn recliner... a little bit lazy. The chest came off the shelf, and she set it down on the coffee table. It landed with a clunk, and Abby looked at Dustin, hoping he wouldn't wake. He didn't wake, but a cute bubble came out of his nose. Abby smiled gently, then looked into the contents of the memory chest. First she found the syringe, which she discarded over her shoulder into the burning hearth. Abby needed to get rid of these memories, because what good would they do her now? Then Abby found a coiled slap bracelet, Abby had given it to her grandmother for her 80th. It was almost 15 years ago now. The bracelet had the design of a camo snake, with a tiny red tongue. Abby watched as the tongue retreated to the fire, before the bracelet caught ablaze. She continued looking through old notes Grandpa had left for her, then love letters from when they stated to see just a spark. There was Grandmas old passport, and although many people wanted to travel the world far and wide before they kicked the bucket, Grandma had a sole stamp dedicated to her visit to Chile. It had been for Abbys environmental club trip, that Grandma had paid for because the trip was near Abbys birthday. Abby traced her finger around the golden eagle on the front part once, before tossing the entire book in the flames. As Abby looked through the bottom, finding nothing of interest besides electric bills and mortgages, her finger felt something cold at the bottom. Her hands closed around the metal object, and when she picked it up she realized it was a pistol. A revolver from the 1930s, with Grandmas maiden name on it. Curiously, Abby traced with each letter. WESTER. Abby wondered why Grandma had such a fancy gun, then she found the bottom paper. It was a newspaper, displaying information on Samuel Clarkson. He was found shot twice, once in the stomach and once through the eye. Upon investigation of his home, they found blood of Marilyn Wester. When she was asked about the possible assault charge, she says she had no regrets. Samuels close fr- Abby didn't care any more, as she out the pieces together. How did the police not put the pieces together yet? Grandma, no Marilyn, killed Samuel. Abby tapped on Dustins shoulder. He awoke with a jolt, and looked into his eyes. Abby couldnt tell what it was, but the drowsy gleam in Dustins eyes suddenly dissipated. Abby looked at him with curiosity, then felt his punch in her gut. The relic pistol fell on the floor, and Dustin started speaking in. a slurred voice. It was then Abby noticed the spilled whisky beside the chair, and put her own puzzle together. She ran upstairs, finding for a decent place to hide. She tore through the upstairs of their mansion, breaking a banner. One shred of paper, simply displaying CLA, hung to her shirt. As she looked behind her, she saw two more papers syllables fluttering to the ground. Abby knew those ones were RKSON, and didnt even need to look behind her to guess that. She also didnt need to look behind her to know Dustin was storming up the stairs, possibly with a poker in hand. Who knew a memory chest could uncover such an ancient rivalry. Abby found a way up to the attic, crawling over the insulator. To her right, a sharp needle penetrated the insulator. Abby knew she was light enough to not crash through, but Dustin was another story. Nearby Abby found an old sledgehammer, that brought back more memories then she would like. Abby looking at a garage sale, hoping for a new chair in her newfound mansion. She met a nice boy, Dustin Clarkson, who was looking for a sledgehammer for his backyard. Dustin no longer needed the sledgehammer for he moved in with Abby, and Abby no longer needed the chair. Now she wanted a loveseat. At this very moment however, Abby wanted the chair back to break over Dustins head. With an almost methodic smashing, she crawled out of the hole in the roof. She climbed to the peak of her house, resting on a brick outcropping. Abby heard Dustin through the roof of the house, screaming a mixture of slurred sorries and incoherent curses. Abby knew he didn't mean it, because beneath it all she heard the careful crunch of him on the insulator. Abby needed to escape, and the roof was too high. Running upstairs was probably the worst option she could think of. However, the best option  now seemed to be jumping down the fireplace, and knowing whatever burning down there would be better then the wrath of Dustin. She half jumped and half fell down, spreading her arms to not fall as fast. As she neared the bottom, she started to feel the lick of flames. She saw the flames, and then saw an unexpected obstacle. An upright poker was in the very center of the wood pile, and Abby had barely any time to observe it before it pierced through her torso. She wasn't dead yet though. Frantically she tried pulling herself off the poker. It didnt work, all she was doing was preventing sliding down, although that was good in itself because the bottom was a roaring inferno. This inferno mesmerized her. Althiugh niw it angered her, because it would always remind her of Grandma. Who she now knew was Marilyn.It was probably about five minutes, but it felt like 5 hours. Upon significant burning to her joints, she stopped resisting and touched the charred wood.

The fireplace went out, and shortly after the corpse stopped burning as well. The mansion was under possession of Dustin Clarkson, who seemed to turn wealthy around the same night a body showed up. The said body was charred beyond recognition, and it was a death of natural causes. Abby learned that day that not only does love start at a fire It also ends at one.