Brahms Heelshire - Lamb to the slaughter

Part One - New beginnings

I have my head in one of my hands, looking out of the taxi's window at the surrounding woods, watching the trees whirl past. The fact that I managed to get a job such as this, with such a good pay just over the phone was quite a surprise.

The description in what the Heelshire family were looking for when they described the nanny they wanted, sounded almost as if they had made it just for me to see. Almost as if this family knew about me, what my current situation is and wanted to bring me away from that life. Away from the pain of the past.

I start thinking about the family that I am going to be working for; the Heelshires. Will they accept me as the nanny they need? Will the boy behave? Will I be able to cope with looking after this little child? Or will this child remind me too much of my beloved goddaughter?

Just like that, I get a flash back to the day of the horrid accident. I'm sitting on the old couch, watching over Janet as she is sitting on the floor, playing with the little Lego bricks that I got her for Christmas. Christa, her mother and my childhood best friend, is within the kitchen, making sandwiches for the picnic that we have been planned for a few weeks now. Music is playing on the radio that rests upon the mantle piece. Everything is perfect. We are safe.

That is until the familiar sound of the front door being kicked in can be heard over the gentle music. It is all a blur. The two men kicking the door repeatedly until it bangs off of its hinges. Janet screaming in terror. Me diving to her, trying to calm and shield her. Christa running back into the room to help me try and protect Janet. The intruders racing in, guns and massive sacks in hand. The bigger man of the pair spotting Janet. Him pulling Janet out of our arms, her screams... Those damned screams.

Then a loud bang, followed by silence. Christa, staring on in shock, shaking slightly in anger and crying in grief, is holding out her arms to catch her dead daughter as she crumples to the ground. After the arrest, we found out that it was not within their plans to have killed her. They only wanted to scare us into submission and release her when they had got what they wanted.

I snap back out of the flash back. A tear has rolled down my face. The incident was three months ago. I've been hopping from job to job to try and keep the cheap apartment that I live in. Taking this job means that I can successfully move from this small apartment and live with the Heelshires as a permanent nanny if I wish, Mrs Heelshire also claimed when we were making the arrangements for my transition.

I can't concentrate on that though. I'm about to be looking after a little boy, after all, and I can't just grieve over my life before this big change forever. Janet's death already caused Christa to mentally go around the bend and I've got to stay strong; For both of them.

We arrive at a mansion. Compared to how I usually live, the Heelshires live like royalty. I'm nearly mesmerised just by how beautiful the house is. This child surely has a good chance in life.

I climb out of the taxi and pull out my small bags. I go to pay the driver with the little money that I have on me but he refuses, saying that "The woman of the house has already paid." He climbs back into the car and drives away. I watch the car go down the long driveway before it turns the corner and out of sight.

I pull my bags up the front steps and knock on the front door. A few seconds later, a woman who looks to be in her mid seventies answers the door. "Hello there. How may I help you, today?"

"Hi there. I am here for that nanny job you put out in the paper. We spoke over the phone yesterday and we agreed to meet roughly around this time." I say. I try to make it not sound as self centred as it sounds within my head.

"Oh, of course, the new nanny. Well, come on in, then." She says, opening the front door wide enough for me to be able to walk past her. I notice a family self portrait and recognise the woman in it immediately as the woman who just opened the door. So this is Mrs Heelshire, I take it. I thank her as I step inside, setting my bags down at the entrance of the house. 'The boy that I am taking care of is one handsome little man.' I say within my head. But doesn't Mrs Heelshire look fifteen, maybe twenty years younger in this picture, or is it just the artwork?

She shows me around the house, talking about all the memories she has made with her little family within the years. I let her talk, seeing as this may help me to know more about her son and what kind of a child he is.

At the last door, she knocks on the door twice and opens it, revealing a man, Mr Heelshire, kneeling down on one knee next to a chair that looks like it would come out of a living room. He is talking quietly to the boy, I'd imagine, before he finishes with what it is he is saying and turns to greet us.

"Well, if it isn't mommy and the new nanny! You've got yourself a lovely lady here, Brahms, my lad! Make sure you treat this one nicely, now. You don't want to be scaring her off too while we are away, otherwise you'll be quite lonely... Obviously, until we get back." I notice his face falls when he says that last part. It lifts almost as soon as it drops.

Out of the corner of my eye, I notice that Mrs Heelshire reacts slightly alarmed, almost like she was trying to stop him from saying something he shouldn't have. Strange. The exact same thing I thought about the wife's part within the family painting repeats within my head. Doesn't he look much about two decades younger or is it something else?

"Anyways, I suppose an introduction won't hurt. What is your name, Miss?" Mr Heelshire turns to me.

"Oh, I'm Harmony. Harmony Summers." I shake his hand. So, the boy's name is Brahms?

"Well, Miss Harmony Summers, meet our son Brahms. Brahms, meet the woman who is going to be your new nanny, Harmony Summers." He steps to the side to reveal:

A doll.