Welcome To Hell.A.

by Stephens, L.

  “Look after Ava,” Lynne said softly.

  He hadn’t come to the hospital and when Ava had gone home with her, he had only seen her when he had come over to fuck her and check out how big her milk-engorged tits were. Lynne should have known then and there that he was toxic. She literally had to entice him over with the prospect of jizzing a load onto her tits, so he could see his daughter for the first time. The whole situation wasn’t his fault, and she didn’t blame him. It had been her decision to remove the I.U.D. from her uterus without telling him. She thought if she moved things along a little it might force his hand and make him finally leave his wife, but if anything it made his decision not to leave easier. She couldn’t even remember what his face looked like anymore or what his last name was. She guessed that was one positive in watching her life blow past her like a film on fast forward: everything sad disappeared and was replaced by something else.

  Another flash, another moment. It felt like she had been up on the ledge for thirty minutes, but it was more like ten seconds, a whole lifetime in ten seconds, but still she was looking forward to never having to remember again. With her, there was always the one positive that came with every negative. Getting pregnant to a piece of shit scumbag? Having a beautiful daughter, you love and cherish every second you’re with her. Fucking five guys on camera at once? Money to put towards a nice house in Colorado and a home for your daughter. Cheating on your boyfriend and making sure he walks in on you while you’re getting railed by his best friend? Drama, beautiful and intense drama. There was no sweeter feeling.

  Lynne hadn’t lived the best life or been the best person, but she had lived and she had created. The cycle may not have been broken, but it was now in someone else’s hands, someone who wasn’t fucked up. Well, she hoped anyway. She turned away from the rooftop scattered with bodies. Some were dead, some were dying, some were alive and some unknown. There was so much hope on that rooftop, and she knew she didn’t belong anywhere near it.

  The end had come. There were no more memories. For the first time in a long time, Lynne was present in the moment. Everything was crystal clear, and there was nothing holding her to this world anymore. She lost the gentle smile. There was nothing to be happy about now. That moment had passed and felt like it had happened to someone else. Lynne spun on pointed toes and put her arms up so her body resembled a perfect capital Y and for the first time in years she felt free.

  As the ground rushed up to greet her, everything in her life, everything she had just thought she had forgotten about, came flooding back into her mind like a vicious tidal wave.

  “Ava!” Lynne screamed. “No!”

  It was like she had been given a second chance and just realized she had jumped off a building, which wasn’t quite the whole truth but one out of two isn’t bad. She thrashed at the air with her arms, trying to take everything she had just done back, and regret filled her thoughts as the pavement came closer and closer. She could see the SUV that had brought her here, and thoughts of the asshole who had driven straight past the Army blockade filled her mind, but Ava, the small girl who had brought her so much joy and love, fought her way to the front of her mind for one last blissful micro-second.

  CHAPTER 126: TEENAGE DREAM

  Anger or hatred is like a fisherman’s hook. It is very important for us to ensure that we are not caught by it.

  ― Dalai Lama XIV

  Tears broke free from the corners of Sarah’s eyes like someone had turned on a faucet. Lynne’s form as she executed the swan dive was exquisite. It would have been a beautiful sight if there weren’t such an insane amount of dark baggage connected to it. Ava stopped wriggling and fell limp in Sarah’s arms. She hadn’t seen anything, but Sarah knew that Ava had felt the bond with her mother break. Sarah listened to the slow and shallow breathing of Ava. It was calming and all at once heartbreaking.

  Sarah wiped away the tears that had run down her face and looked at the palm of her hand. She hadn’t realize how much she was covered in soot, and she distracted herself by thinking about how much of a mess her face must look right now.

  “Arrrrrrgghhhhhh!” Ryan screamed in between dry and exceedingly coarser coughs. “Help me, you bitch!”

  Sarah turned her head in his direction and her eyes narrowed to slits. She realized she never actually had hated anyone until that moment. He was well and truly the worst person she had ever met.

  “Shut up you little weasel!” Sarah yelled.

  “Fuck you!” Ryan yelled without missing a beat. “I'm the one fucking dying here!”

  “Good!” Sarah screamed back, forgetting herself and that Ava was in her arms.

  Ava struggled but Sarah gently stroked her hair, and Ava returned to her passive nuzzling into Sarah’s body.

  “Listen to me, you fucking bitch! When I turn into one of those fucking things,” Ryan spat as a wry smile began to take up real estate on his face, “I swear, I'm going to eat you first! In front of that little cunt, and then I’m going to eat her. I’m going to feast on both you sluts!”

  Sarah knew he was goading her. She also knew it may have been the last act of a desperate man, but there was a lot of truth in what he was saying. Those hateful words, which ranked somewhere between your everyday YouTube comment and an angry male teenager’s reply to a feminist on Twitter, did spark something inside of Sarah other than revulsion. She knew that scenario was one that could well and truly pan out as described, and she was the one that had to do something about it. Sarah pulled back from the hold she had on Ava and gently took her head with both hands so she could look directly at her.

  “Ava, open your eyes, darling,” Sarah said in a whisper.

  Ava’s eyelids twitched but stayed firmly shut.

  “Come on, honey, look at me,” Sarah said with a little more fun in her tone. “There is nothing to be scared of.”

  Ava slowly gave in to Sarah’s sweet voice and opened her eyes. The face Sarah greeted her with was broad and warm, and Ava could see that she was in good company. She could see that she was not alone. They looked at each other for a few seconds before Ava’s curiosity got the best of her and her eyes darted to the side to the sick man who lay a short distance from them.

  “No, no, no, no, don’t look at him,” Sarah said as she turned Ava away. “Just look at me. I’m the only one you need to look at right now.”

  Ava’s eyes were large and non-blinking. Sarah could see the pain that was hidden away, and her heart almost broke.

  “Ava, I need you to do me a favor,” Sarah said quietly. “A big favor.”

  Ava’s eyes finally blinked, and she looked to the ground. Someone wanted something of her, someone was treating her like a person, and that had snapped her back into partial reality. She wasn’t just along for the ride anymore.

  “I want my Mommy,” Ava mumbled almost inaudibly.

  “I know, baby,” Sarah cooed. “We’re going to have to be strong for her. I know I can do that. Can you do that?”

  Ava’s gaze returned, and Sarah thought the world she was building with Ava was about to collapse into a fiery tantrum or worse, a complete and utter 909 Error shutdown.

  “I guess?” Ava said with an inflection that made it sound like a question.

  Sarah kind of wished the 909 Error shutdown had gone into effect, as what she was about to ask of this fragile unit was well beyond this model’s capabilities.

  “You have a favorite song?” Sarah asked.

  Impossibly, Ava’s eyes grew larger but she didn’t respond. Sarah could see that she wanted to say “yes” with all of her heart but she didn’t want to show her hand just yet. Apollo, we have a green light! Sarah thought in triumph.

  “I’d love to hear you sing it,” Sarah said almost overly saccharine.

  The foundations of a smile began to twitch at the corners of Ava’s mouth before they disappeared back to an uneasy frown.

  “It’s okay,” Sarah said in a singsong tone and kissed Ava’s forehead. “Your mom would want yo
u to sing.”

  The ancient Blade of Cringe dug deep into Sarah’s aorta and successfully severed her heart from its anchoring, but it had to be done. Her cringe-inducing half-truth worked, and Ava’s mouth twitched again but this time the frown didn’t reappear. Sarah saw her moment and charged in without fear.

  “I want you to sit on the ground and close your eyes and put your hands over your ears,” Sarah said hurriedly not wanting to let Ava creep back into darkness.

  “Why?” Ava asked boldly.

  Ava’s tone filled Sarah with some hope.

  “Oh, I haven't finished yet!” Sarah said playfully. “You have to sing your favorite song while you are doing it. I want to hear how beautiful your voice is. You can do that for me, can’t you?”

  “Yes,” Ava said quickly in response as if not to let Sarah change her mind in giving her this great task. “I’m not going to sing my favorite song, though.”

  “Oh really?” Sarah said, concern entering her voice. “Why not?”

  “I’m going to sing another song,” Ava said proudly. “I’m going to sing mommy’s favorite song.”

  Sarah had misjudged this kid. It seemed Ava didn’t need much prodding to forget her problems and sing.

  “You,” Sarah said sweetly before giving Ava a boop on her nose, “do you!”

  Ava gave Sarah a big smile and sat on the floor and with no further direction. She eagerly put her hands to her ears and closed her eyes, and Sarah took this cue to stand up. Her gentle gaze at the beautiful child was replaced by a steel determination as Ava began to sing.

  The lyrics confused Sarah. They were vaguely familiar but seemed out of place and almost ridiculous. It mustn’t be a popular song. Maybe they were just country music fans, she thought.

  † Imagine it to be a Katy Perry song or some other song that would result in me getting sued. Please, don’t sue me. †

  Ava continued, her voice growing smooth and increasing in volume. Ever so quietly, Sarah left the singing cherub and picked up the assault rifle, just like Ava’s mother had done and started walking over to Ryan. He had rolled onto his stomach and was crawling towards them. Sarah knew he hadn’t crawled far, because the snail trail of goo his stomach had left on the ground was short.

  “I'm on fire! Please help me,” Ryan said softly. There was no more anger or hate in his voice.

  Sarah stood a couple yards ahead of him, looking down as he crawled towards her. She no longer felt hate for the man who had just threatened to eat her and a small child. She actually felt sorry for him. She lifted the assault rifle above her head. It was lighter than she thought it would be.

  “I'm sorry, you fucking asshole,” Sarah said, gritting her teeth. “I hope in the next life you treat others better.”

  Sarah hesitated. When she had woken up this morning, ending up here was not an even remotely conceivable notion.

  “Hey,” Jill said quietly. “Do you have a tissue?”

  CHAPTER 127: ANNOYING QUESTIONS

  Jill wanted to go over to the little monster and strangle the life out of her. She wasn’t violent; she was manipulative and vengeful but never violent, except when her head felt like a cracked watermelon. There was no obvious place where the pain stemmed from. It came from everywhere: her face, the side of her head and the back of it. She had to admit the rendition of “Firework” was pretty good, but a good five or ten years past its used-by date. The last thing she remembered was being in the corridor and seeing the creep. At the time, she had been running aimlessly hoping for a miracle to get her out of another mess that she had somehow landed in, i.e. stuck on a rooftop with a bunch of strangers who were all fucking gross.

  As she opened her eyes her worst fears had been confirmed. There was blood on her cheeks and her eyelids partially blocked her view. It felt like when she had gotten her first nose job, but this time there were no opiates to dull the pain and help her time travel to a full recovery. Her hand went to her purse, but it wasn’t there. Her life was gone. She had no further contact with the outside world. She might as well just die then and there. She sat up and looked around. The fucking little monster had her hands over her ears and was singing her brains out, but her fat mom was nowhere to be seen. Fucking typical, Jill thought as her lip curled in anger. The black guy was either dead or passed out, and, for some reason, the Uber driver was standing over the creep, ready to bring the gun down on his head.

  She didn’t really care if the Uber driver was going to hurt him or not. She just wanted to know why, ‘cause being able to hold any information over the Uber driver would probably be valuable to someone at a later date. She got up. She really needed her purse and a tissue, either slash or. The Uber driver seemed to be deciding whether to do the deed, and it seemed like a good time to ask a question or two.

  “Hey,” Jill said quietly. “Do you have a tissue?”

  The Uber driver almost dropped the rifle in surprise, and that surprised Jill in turn, and she had to take a couple steps back and steady herself.

  “Jill!” the Uber driver said, bringing down the rifle before she dropped it. “No, I don’t have a tissue, and I’m kind of in the middle of something.”

  Jill didn’t like her face. She barely had any makeup on and it was stained by soot and tears, but it somehow still looked cute and rugged, and it was obvious she was giving attitude.

  “What are you doing?” Jill asked.

  “Can't you see?” the Uber driver said. “He is turning into one of them.”

  “Oh,” Jill said nonchalantly as if the Uber driver had just told her she was taking out the garbage, which in a way she was. “I thought he had touched you or something.”

  “Seriously?” the Uber driver asked “Are you okay?”

  “No,” Jill said with contempt. “I need a tissue and my purse. I look like hell, I’m sure.”

  The Uber driver tilted her head at her like a confused dog, and that annoyed the hell out of Jill. She was making a real effort to communicate with her, and she was getting nothing but attitude from someone who was clearly below her.

  Suddenly, the creep began gyrating with so much vigor that both the Uber driver and Jill stepped back.

  “Yuck,” Jill muttered. “Does he have to do that here?”

  Jill winced as pain ran through her face as she tried to scrunch her nose at the disgusting sight. The creep’s gyrating became more and more extreme, and Jill started to enjoy seeing him in absolute pain. In the short time she had known him, he had made it on to her list twice, which admittedly wasn’t hard to do. Her main gripe was the molestation. No one molested her without a payment, so she was okay with him dying in front of her as his recompense. He suddenly stopped thrusting his grossly shaped body at the sky and froze mid pump, like he had been put on pause.

  “Oh my god,” the Uber driver said. “You think he’s dead?”

  The creep’s head hit the ground and he lay motionless. There was no breathing or signs of life. Jill shrugged her shoulders and turned to the Uber driver. She needed some tough questions answered.

  “Tell me the truth, how bad is it?” Jill said, looking to the Uber driver as she softly pressed at her nose. “Do you think I’m going to need plastic surgery?”

  The Uber driver curled her lip and rolled her eyes at Jill and walked over to the little monster.

  “Where’s my handbag?” Jill called after the Uber driver. “I need my phone!”

  CHAPTER 128: TRUST ISSUES

  A disciplined mind leads to happiness, and an undisciplined mind leads to suffering.

  ― Dalai Lama XIV

  Sarah could hear Jill’s inane questions, but she was done with her. There was only one person who actually needed her attention and that was Ava.

  “It’s okay now, darling,” Sarah said as she crouched and gently rubbed Ava’s hair.

  Ava kept belting out the song. Sarah hadn’t even noticed that she had actually started all over again and was on her second run through, like a CD player stuck on loop. Sarah took
her hands away from her ears, but even that didn’t stop her.

  “Ava,” Sarah said sternly as she wrestled with Ava’s arms. “You can stop now. Your song was very pretty.”

  Ava stopped singing with a large sigh and looked up to Sarah. Sarah could see Ava was waiting for instructions as to what to do next, when suddenly her little face turned to anger.

  “Hey!” Ava yelled, startling Sarah. “That’s my mom’s. Don’t touch it!”

  Sarah turned to see Jill rifling through Lynne’s handbag.

  “It’s okay, sweetie,” Jill said without looking up. “I just need a tissue.”

  “Jill,” Sarah moaned. “Can you just…”

  Jill pulled out the toilet paper and a compact from the handbag and began looking at herself in the mirror, frantically wiping the blood off her face.

  “Don’t worry about her, darling,” Sarah said quietly. “She’s hurt her face. She just needs to clean it up.”

  “I don’t like her!” Ava whispered.

  “Me either!” Sarah said with a giggle.

  “I don’t like that man too,” Ava said, pointing at Ryan.

  “Oh, he’s the worst,” Sarah said with a big grin. “But don’t worry about him, he’s having a long nap.”

  “No he’s not,” Ava said confidently. “He’s awake, look!”

  She didn’t have to look. She knew.

  “Holy shit!” Sarah said as she sprang to her feet.