Poker Face

Prologue (pt 2)

Aven tore through the familiar streets of her Florida hometown. The summer sunshine brought her muscles and bones back to life, fed them just enough to get her where she needed to go before she could eat her first real meal in months. She wanted nothing more than to run straight home into her family's arms, to take a nap in her own bed and eat a home-cooked meal. But she knew the ordeal she'd just been through was going to change her life even more so than it already had. The years ahead would be overtaken by police, and lawyers, and the impending trial of the man who tried to ruin her life and the lives of other young women. She wanted to forget, but she wasn't about to let him get away with it. For Melanie and for Cindy, she'd make sure he paid.

Rounding the corner to the police station, she slowed and stopped, leaning over with her hands on her knees and wheezing shallow breaths after her burst of physical activity after months of imobility. She staggered the rest of the way to the police station, her mind finally catching up to where she was and what she was doing. It was only then that she became aware of the eerie silence throughout town. She hadn't passed one person or a single running car; lawns were overgrown and flowers were dying. In her delirium and exhaustion, she shrugged it off. Her mind wasn't in a place to do anything but get help, but an uneasy feeling settled in her stomach as she came to the double glass doors of the police station.

It was dark inside and she could see no one was at the front desk or in the offices behind it. Still, she tried the door and it was unlocked. She stood frozen for a second, holding open the door and staring down the empty hall inside. She stepped into the lobby, where it became abundantly clear that no one had been there that day. It was hotter than it was outside in the sun, meaning the air conditioner had been off for at least a day, though the smell of rotting food suggested it had been longer.

Scared and confused, Aven backed out of the building and turned in the direction of her home. She was losing what little energy she had, her adrenaline rush having worn off in the non-event following her escape. She wandered mindlessly until she found herself at the front door of her house. She began knocking on the door, banging with both hands, partially in desperation, partially in excitement to see her parents and brother. She knocked and knocked, but no one came to the door. Her father's car was gone from the driveway and all the lights were off inside, but that wasn't unusual for the middle of a sunny day. On a whim, Aven lightly grasped the door handle and pushed down on it with her thumb, the unlocked door immediately opening to her.

Inside, it was just as hot as the police station and a similar smell permeated the air. Aven stood frozen in the door, taking in the cluttered surroundings of her normally spotless house. Furniture had been moved and piled haphazardly near the window, drawers had been ransacked, and a slew of missing persons flyers with her grad school graduation photo were litered across the floor.

"Mom?" Aven called weakly. She waited silently, but there was no response. "Mom? Brandon?" She took shaky, tentative steps through her living room, stepping over items that had been strewn on the carpet. "It's me! I'm back, I'm okay!" She held back tears of relief, though she knew they'd start flowing the moment she saw her family. In the kitchen, the table and chairs were piled by the back door and plates were piled up in the sink. Aven followed the smell in the house to the garbage, where she found rotting food scraps covered in swarming ants.

She drew closer to the stairs leading up to the bedrooms, when a worse, newly familiar stench hit her. When she'd smelled it eminating from Melanie's body she assumed it was the smell of death, but that couldn't be the case now that Melanie was still alive. Aven's heart dropped as it dawned on her that the man wasn't going to let Melanie live. She'd probably died at his hands moments after Cindy.

Suddenly, Aven heard a thud from directly above her. "Mom? Brandon?" she called again, making her way upstairs. All the doors were ajar, except for the one to her parents' room. She heard another thud and knew it was coming from that last room.