Hillary_Flesh and Blood (32 page)

Caleigh knew Hillary wouldn
’
t really give her water, but she was desperate. She needed hydration badly.

“
War...ta,
”
she croaked pitifully.

Her throat hurt. It hurt just to utter those two little sounds.

“
Okay, Caleigh, but mind your manners. What
’
s the magic word?
”

“
P-pleeee....
”

“
Plea? Like guilty or not guilty? Hmmm, I wonder, which are you? I say, guilty! Guilty!
”

“
Drink,
” Caleigh grunted. H
er half-open eyes
were
still sensitive to the light.

“
Guilty!
”
Hillary repeated soberly as if she were a judge declaring her verdict,
“
now to decide on your punishment.
”

“
So
Thirsty,
”
Caleigh cried.

Caleigh remembered what
had
happened the last time she begged for water...how Hillary had burned her face with the
scalding hot liquid
. She knew she couldn
’
t trust her sister, but somehow she continued to beg nonetheless. It was an automatic response to her dire thirstiness.

“
So thirsty,
”
Hillary mocked,
“
well guilty prisoners don
’t get any water…
they get something else.
”

Without another word, Hillary quickly walked upstairs to the kitchen. She searched through the cabinets looking for the paper goods. Her mother had rearranged everything, but she found what she needed quickly enough. She walked to the bathroom carrying the small paper cup.

When she emerged from the bathroom, the cup was halfway full of her urine. She smiled impishly as she carefully carried the cup down to Caleigh.

“
I have something for you to drink.
”

Caleigh knew she would regret it. What would it be
this time
? Poison? Acid? Blood? Still, she needed something to quench her thirst.
She was willing to even sip hot water.

Hillary slowly propped Caleigh
’
s head up with her left hand while she placed the rim of the cup to her lips with her right hand. Caleigh gulped down Hillary
’
s warm urine sloppily without stopping to think about what she was drinking or even take a moment to taste it. It was wet and didn
’
t scald her mouth, that
’
s all that mattered.

To Hillary
’
s surprise and delight, Caleigh had guzzled
almost all
of her urine. She laughed hysterically as she dropped her sister
’
s head to the floor.

“
Did you enjoy my pee?
”
she asked
derisively
.

Caleigh grimaced. With her stuffy nose she was unable to detect the faint ammonia smell present in Hillary
’
s urine. It disgusted her to think that she had ingested her sister
’
s pee. She tried not to think about it. It was done, what could she do about it now? She had heard about people having to drink their own urine under exigent circumstances. It never killed any of them, so the worst thing she
’d
have to deal with is the repulsive fact that she drank her sister
’
s urine.

Hillary was not pleased by Caleigh
’
s reaction, or rather, the lack thereof.

“
Aren
’
t you grossed out?
”

Caleigh didn
’
t reply. She closed her eyes and tried to ignore Hillary.

Enraged, Hillary slapped her sister
’
s bruised, blistered face. Her hand felt slimy afterward from the pus oozing from Caleigh
’
s open wounds and burns. As Caleigh cried out in pain and
began
whimper
ing
, Hillary cursed out loud and walked over to the sink near the washing machine. She washed her hands and dried them on a hand towel on a nearby rack. Before returning to Caleigh, she grabbed the knife t
hat she had left on the dryer the other evening.

“
You
’
re disgusting, Caleigh,
”
she spat,
“
you stink and you look like a freak.
”

Caleigh
continued to whimper
silently, trying her best to ignore her sister.

“
Don
’
t you just want to die?
”

Caleigh honestly didn
’
t know
whether
she wanted to live or die. She just wanted to sleep. Despite the fact that all she had been doing was lapsing in and out of sleep for days, she felt exhausted.

“
Answer me, Caleigh! Open your eyes and stop ignoring me!
”
Hillary shouted.

Caleigh stopped whimpering and turned her head away from Hillary. Her eyes remained shut.

“
You ungrateful piece of shit,
”
Hillary yelled angrily,
“
I give you something to drink and this is how you thank me? I should have let you thirst to death.
”

Hillary grew even more incensed by Caleigh
’
s stubbornness and lack of regard for her cleverness.

“
Look at me!
”
she demanded.

Caleigh remained still and silent.

“
I said
look at me!
”
she shrieked furiously.

Hillary dropped the knife and forcefully turned Caleigh
’
s head to face her. She pried her eyelids open, making a point to jab her eyeballs with her fingernails. Caleigh screamed in pain and tried to shut her eyes and turn her head away, but it was no use.

“
When I tell you to do something, Caleigh, you had better do it!
”
Hillary shouted, sending spittle flying upon Caleigh
’
s face.

“
Do you understand me?
”

Unable to nod, Caleigh let out a strained
“
yes.
”

Hillary released her head. Instinctively, Caleigh closed her eyes. Hillary
’
s blood pressure spiked as her fury intensified. She stooped down and grabbed the knife at her feet. Using her left forearm to hold Caleigh
’
s head down, she pulled up her sister
’
s right eyelid. Caleigh strained to shut her eyes but Hillary had her eyelid firmly between her fingers. She brought the knife over and sliced it clean off Caleigh
’
s face.

Caleigh wailed in horror and became hysterical. As blood ran into her eye and o
nto her face, Hillary began clipping
her other eyelid
the same way
.
W
hen she was nea
r
ly done cutting it off, Caleigh managed to shift her head under Hillary
’
s arm. Struggling to keep her sister
’
s head still, Hillary accidentally dropped the knife on Caleigh
’
s shoulder. The mutilated eyelid hung limply down over Caleigh
’
s left eye. Blood was everywhere. It bled even more than most
of her other injuries. Hillar
y grabbed a hold of the tender flesh and yanked it, ripping it free from Caleigh
’
s face and tearing part of her skin on the side of her eye.

Caleigh
’
s blood-curdling scream startled Hillary. She had never heard anyone scream so loudly. Her heart was racing with excitement. The spaces over Caleigh
’
s eyes where her eyelids used to be were bright red, bloody, raw and cavernous. She looked absolutely monstrous.

Caleigh was on the verge of hyperventilating. She had no eyelids...she could not shut her eyes. They would remain perpetually open from this day forward. She could already feel them drying out from her inability to blink. She shifted her eyeballs left and right, up and down, hoping that the movement would generate some moisture. It didn
’
t.

“
Don
’
t move,
”
Hillary said viciously,
“
I
’
m gonna get the camera.
”

Hillary ran from the basement up to her bedroom, knife in hand, leaving Caleigh wallowing in painful misery. She slipped the bloodied knife under her bed and grabbed her digital camera from her computer desk. She quickly glanced at her clock and sighed.

Time flies when you
’
re having fun,
she thought with a sigh.

Hillary ran downstairs and down the basement stairs as if fleeing from an angry mob. She panted
heavily
as she approached Caleigh the Freak.

“
Smile for Andy,
”
she said heartlessly, as she held up the camera, brought Caleigh into focus and snapped the picture.

“
Maybe I
’
ll make a scrapbook,
”
she said happily,
“
it
’
s just too bad I don
’
t have any pictures of Dad
’
s bloody body parts...or Mom
’
s.
”

“
Mom
’
s alive,
”
Caleigh cried
defiantly
,
“
she
’
s alive.
”

“
Technically,
”
Hillary said,
“
but not for long.
”

“
Joshy?
”
Caleigh asked sadly. Her tears helped to alleviate the dryness of her eyes.

“
He
’
s dead,
”
Hillary said,
“
that part was true. He begged for you to help him. He screamed and cried so much.
”

“
Where
’
s Mom now? She
’
s gonna find me, you know, she
’
ll save me.
”

Hillary let out a sharp, shrill laugh.

“
Don
’
t hold your breath, Lee Lee. No one
’
s coming to rescue you. You
’
ll be suffering in that spot for months.
”

It was a dismal thought that made Caleigh want to cry even harder. Could she really survive like that for another week, let alone months? Did she
want
to survive like that?

Hillary continued to take photos of Caleigh from various angles.

“
If only there was a way to capture your smell!
”

“
Go to hell, Hillary..
.I hate you!
”

“
I know, Lee Lee, that
’
s okay. I forgive you.
”

“
For what? I never did anything to you...I never did anything wrong,
”
she sobbed.

“
Nobody cared about what I was going through, including you,
”
Hillary replied bitterly.

“
I didn
’
t know...it
’
s not my fault.
”

“
I told you, just last week, I
told
you. You didn
’
t show any compassion, you just didn
’
t care.
”

“
I didn
’
t know you were telling the truth. What could I do about it anyway?
”