It was 3:00 in the morning when my sister woke me up and told me to put on my boots. I was 6 at the time, to naive to know what was going on. My sister Kaeli was 16. She took me out into the cold night.
"Watch your step. Shhh! You're going to wake up the neighbors!" Kaeli muttered at I stumbled over rocks and kept saying ouch.
I stepped over the slippery rocks and ice by the stream. Why did she wake me up so early in the morning? We never got up this early even for church or school. She ran into the shed and picked up a shovel, rake, these plastic ear muff things, and something else. I couldn't really tell.
"Hurry up! We have to go."
"But why? Let me go get mommy. She can help us."
"No, no Jenna. You can't tell mommy. Don't tell her."
She grabbed my hand and pulled me through the woods behind the barn. The whole wood was quiet not a sound. Earlier, sissy disappeared with her boyfriend. Then there was a lot of noise. Wind whistling, deer running, sissy yelling, her boyfriend swearing, and a loud popping sound that echoed. After that? Nothing. Not a sound except for sissy's shoes crunching in the snow, her rapid breathing, and crying. That's when she woke me up.
The big full moon shown through the bare branches, and reflected off the white snow. The shovel my sister was dragging made a trail which I used to follow her. That's when I heard the muffled screaming. I looked up at Kaeli and asked
.
"Sissy, what happened to your shirt? Why is the bottom of it ripped? What's all that red stuff on your shirt?"
She looked down at me.
"I um... I slipped and fell. I got a boo-boo. We have to keep going."
She started to jog and I ran after her tripping and getting snow in my boots and hair. The muffled screams came close. A dark trail appeared in the white snow. The dark red color matched the color on sissy's shirt. I looked ahead and saw the large dark lump lying on the ground, moaning and screaming. The red surrounded him like lake. So much red. What was going on here? Sissy turned around, looked at me, and handed me a pair of the giant plastic ear muffs mommy kept in the shed.
"Put these on Jenna. And walk behind that tree back there."
"But why I mea-"
"Just go. " She walked over to the lump on the ground and started talking to it. I went behind the tree but didn't put the ear muffs on just yet. In the dead silence I could hear just about everything she was saying.
"You bastard. You deserve this and you know it. You are the one that cheated, you're the one that lied, you are the one who slept with that bitch. You're lucky I don't kill her too. I'm going to get my revenge right here, right now."
She stood up. Walked over to the pile of things she had left and picked up something. She walked through a patch of pure moonlight and I knew what she was holding. She was holding a gun and a pair of gloves. She went over and took something out the things mouth. It gasped and rolled into a patch of light. It was Kaeli's boyfriend, James.
"Kae, please don't do this I made a mistake. You're overreacting. Please just stop."
"Shut up. Don't tell me I'm overreacting. You lied about it. I asked you. I told you I wouldn't be mad and that we could work it out. I gave you everything. Everything and it means nothing to you. How could I have even trusted you."
"Please I'm begging you. I'm so sorry."
She laughed at him
"So now you're sorry? Well it's too late."
She leaned down, kissed him, stood up straight and pointed the gun. I knew what was going to happen next. Quickly, I put on the ear muffs, pressed them tightly to my head, and squeezed my eyes shut. Next thing I knew, 3 sounds went off, and my sister was running to get me.
"Jenna? Jenna? It's okay now. Open your eyes." Slowly I opened my eyes and looked at her smiling face.
"Why... Why did you do that to James!?"
"Hun, it doesn't matter right now come help me." She took hold of my hand and guided me over to James body. I started to cry. Kaeli held me and kept saying it's okay, it's okay. She let me go and picked up a shovel.
"What are you doing?" I asked quietly.
"Digging a hole for James."
"Are we burying him like we did for my fish?"
"Uh... yeah." She went over and dragged him into the hole in the ground. She started to laugh. But it wasn't really a laugh because she was crying.
"It's okay sissy. It's gonna be okay."
Kaeli looked at me, smiled and picked up the shovel and dumped the dirt onto James's body in the hole. When the hole was filled she raked over it and covered it with snow to make it more natural. I didn't know why she brought me. She wiped down the gun with the snow, dumped out the remaining bullets, threw them in random directions, then threw the gun. Kaeli picked up the shovel and rake and took my hand and led me back to the house. She tucked me into bed that night and whispered.
"Remember, don't tell mommy."
10 years later
I, Jenna, am now sixteen and living in the same small town. The next few years following the murder of James Brooks, my sister was proven guilty of it. With my help of course. Instead of being sent to prison she was locked up in a special place for crazy people. They said that she was mentally ill and that was the cause of her outbreak against James. Before she left, I asked her.
"Why did you bring me that night?"
She simply looked at me and said.
"So someone would know what I did. That someone would be proud of what I did. And that person could tell that something was wrong with me and that I needed help."
So, she did that because she wanted help. Well she got it. I haven't heard from my sister since that day in court. Half of me though she was dead, the other half knew that she's alive. Mother and Father received a call saying that she was dead. I didn't believe it for a second. But now I have proof that she's alive. This morning I received a text from a mysterious number.
"I'm not dead. I'm not finished just yet. Watch your back, Babygirl."- Kae
