mercy ; peter ballard

19. s o u r s w i t c h b l a d e

[REDACTED], 1984

tilly whined at the front door, waiting for lila and beatrice to return home. she waited hours and hours. bea had left urgently around noon after receiving a call. tilly could do nothing but wait.

it was about eight in the evening when headlights seeped through the window. tilly knew what the headlights meant. she raced to the door, tail wagging happily. she waited for them to unlock the door.

bea slowly opened the door and walked in. lila wasn't there. bea closed the door behind her. she crouched down to tilly, who was so happy to see someone. tilly didn't know.

beatrice wraps her arms around tilly. tilly didn't understand but was loving the attention. beatrice spoke to the dog, knowing she wouldn't understand. it would weigh on her conscience if she didn't.

"hey, sweet girl," bea said, sadly. "i know you are probably wonder where lila is."

tilly's tail wags at the sound of lila's name. she knew that name. lila rescued her from the animal shelter so many years ago.

"she's not coming home, til. lila is gone." tears streamed from beatrice's face. "you'll probably think...think that she's abandoned you, but she loved you so much."

lila's cancer had gotten worse. she couldn't beat it and she knew it. she left everything to beatrice. her car, her trailer, her money. everything. beatrice didn't want any of that she just wanted lila back. she was her last remaining family member. she was basically her mother. she supported her. she let her cry on her shoulder.

tilly sat down as bea cried. tilly sniffed her face as tears fell on beatrice's cheeks. beatrice looks at tilly with blurred eyes. tilly could sense how upset bea was. she licked her cheek to try to make bea feel better.

"thanks, tilly," she cracks a messy smile at the gesture. she wiped her drenched face and stood up. "come on. let's get you some food, i've been gone a while," she sniffled.

since that day, tilly had basically become beatrice's baby since tilly missed lila and beatrice couldn't bare her own children. she was somewhat satisfied with being a dog mom, but nothing completely could fill her desire for a family.

march 27, 1986

steve opens the door, flashlight pointed to the floor. "oh shit. that's not good."

the whole house was covered in the vines. they moved sporadically, ultimately connecting to its source. henry. steve began to hop over vines, robin, nancy, and bea watching at the door to make sure it was safe.

"shit," robin whispers, nervously.

nancy turns to her, putting a hand on hers. "it's okay. you got this."

bea was glad they could finally overcome their differences. "you'll be okay, sweetpea. i promise."

robin looks at them for a second before following steve's path. beatrice started after her with nancy trailing behind her. one misstep could compromise the whole plan.

they make their way on the stairs, jumping over steps as the vines moved. the vines making an awful squelching noise as they moved. steve helped the women onto the main platform before they moved into the attic.