“Nuh-uh. You and I need to have a little talk first. I'm not going to just give these keys to you and let you go, not after the way you've been acting lately. I'm putting my foot down right now. If you want privileges to this car, you will bring in straight-As, you will be respectful to your mother and me, and you will treat your little sister better. And yes, Abby is your little sister regardless of whether you like it or not.
“Can you imagine coming to a new house after all she's been through and being treated the way you have treated her? She watched her parents get killed right in front of her! And it was Abby who suggested I get you a car. I was going to keep the money and save it towards college. She wants to be in your life, Eva! Let her in. You will not act like the spoiled little brat you have been and you will stop sleeping around with boys. You got it?!”
“Dad, I don't...”
“Do you understand? I'm not as clueless as you think I am. Things are about to change around here.”
“Yes daddy,” Eva said. Her countenance changed from excitement to extreme hurt. Abby didn't know if his words had any impact or if she was playing the “wounded daughter” card to gain sympathy. Either way, she was glad it was said and even Martha leaned against the wall, completely floored by what just happened. “I'm gonna go finish getting ready for my party. Abby, would you like to help me with my hair?”
“Me?”
“Yes, you, goofball. Come on,” said Eva. Abby didn't move, prompting Eva to take her by the arm and pull her towards the stairs.
“I-I don't know anything about...”
“Then I'll teach you.” As she was drug up the stairs, a million thoughts when through Abby's mind. It was great that Eva finally wanted to bond with her, but at what cost? Was this just a show for her father to get the expensive new car? She could care less about learning how to do her hair and learning to look like a real-life Barbie doll. But if this is what it took to finally make a friend, she would indulge. Even if it was all just a ploy.
4
“I did want to tell you that I felt bad after kicking you out of my room last night. Even before my dad said anything. I guess, I've just been a jealous snot and for that, I'm truly sorry,” Eva said. Abby sat on the stool, staring into the mirror and watching in awe as her hair was being transformed. She was always the ultimate tomboy and didn't care so much about this sort of thing. But now, as she watched Eva do her magic, the girly part of her emerged with utter fascination.
“It's okay. I can understand,” Abby said. She thought of Max's words, to fight back against her oppressor, but for once being nice was actually working.
“So, what do you think?” She stood from the stool and leaned closer to the mirror, amazed.
“Wow! It's really good. I've never had my hair done up like this,” Abby said. Her longish, dark hair was up in a bun that made her look ten years older and more distinguished.
“Okay, now watch me do my makeup carefully. With some practice, it won't be too long before you get it down,” said Eva.
* * * *
For the first time in a very long time, Abby was happy. She and Eva stood in the living room, dressed beautifully. She never knew dressing up could be so much fun, much less how it changed her look. Abby always heard she was pretty. Now, she couldn't stop looking at herself in the mirror, her blue eyes glowing radiantly; her facial features perfectly accentuated by the right amount of blush.
It was much more than looking well-to-do for the party. Seeing the interactions between Jim and Martha as they were preparing to leave left an impression on their girls. Jim surprised his wife with a bouquet of roses and dressed up in an expensive suit. Both Abby and Eva had grins plastered to their faces as Jim twirled Martha around the living room.
Abigail was now finally part of a happy family. It was all she ever wanted and never thought she'd have. Abby was finally beginning to relax and feel at home. Tonight will mark the beginning of it all. The beginning of being a loved daughter and sister, of peace, protection, safety and being able to let the walls she's built up come tumbling down.
Once Jim and Martha finally left the house, both Eva and Abby put the finishing touches on the decorations and made sure the food was out. A large chocolate cake sat in the middle of the dinner table, frosted in pink with the words “Happy Sweet Sixteen Eva” on the top, with sixteen candles poking out the top.
The living room had pink balloons, streamers, banners and every other decoration and party favor you could imagine tucked in every corner. Princess Eva was ready to receive her guests.
* * * *
Samantha was the first girl to arrive, bringing with her an overnight bag and a gift. She was quite tall, nearly six-feet and that was without high heels. Abby thought she was quite stunning in her long red dress and red hair fixed up in the same kind of bun as hers. She and Eva embraced, then Abby was introduced as “my little sister,” which made her feel giddy inside. She felt very short when Sam hugged her and had to bend all the way down to her level.
Macie was the next to arrive. Her and Eva were very similar in size and appearance. If you didn't know any better, you'd think they were siblings. They both had dirty-blonde hair and similar facial features, the only difference was Macie's hazel-green eyes instead of Eva's brown. Abby later found out the two of them have been best friends since kindergarten, the kind of longtime friendship she always longed for.
“How many girls are you expecting?” Abby asked. The other two girls were socializing over a bowel of pretzels
“Maybe one or two more. A lot of my friends couldn't make it tonight,” she answered. Or you probably just don't have that many friends, Abby thought, then shook out the negative thought.
“Okay, so a smaller gathering then? I was thinking the house would be packed,” she said. Eva looked at her and grinned, but it wasn't a happy grin.
About half an hour after the first guests arrived, Alexa finally made it. She was holding an arm-full of gifts with her right hand and carrying an overnight bag in her left. Eva took the gifts and gave Alexa a giant hug, squeezing tight, beyond excited to see her. The two of them have also been friends a very long time, but haven't seen each other in awhile. Alexa moved just last summer to Kingwood with her mom after her parents divorced, the two girls only communicating by phone since.
“It's so good to see you! You're gorgeous!” Eva said.
“Thank you! You look radiant yourself! And who is this little beauty?”
“I'm Abby,” she said.
“Nice to meet you Abby! I've heard a lot about you!” said Alexa. She took Abby's hand and shook it.
“Only good stuff I hope,” she said. Eva and Alexa laughed, then huddled together as they emerged into the living room with the other girls. They were now all sitting together on the wrap-around couch, chatting and snacking. Abby started to feel like an outsider, realizing she had nothing in common with these girls. They were all much older than her and only seemed to care about things she had no interest in: boys, clothes and sex. The moment Macie started bragging about how good her boyfriend was in bed, Abby had enough and slipped away to her room without rousing any suspicion. She let out a sigh of relief once her door was closed. She was free.
Pulling off her dress, Abby changed into her pajamas before settling behind her desk. She flipped open her journal to the first free page. Tonight didn't go entirely as planned, but it was a decent beginning. Abby determined that tonight's entry would have a much brighter tone than the others before it.
Day one of my new life...
5
“We should play a prank on Abby,” Eva said. It was after eleven and the gathering was beginning to wind down. There was only so much they could talk about, despite being a group of teenage girls. The party felt like it needed a fun activity to kee
p it on track.
“What kind of prank?” Macie asked. All the girls were leaning in, anxiously awaiting details.
“You're not going to hurt her, are you?” Alexa asked with a look of concern spread across her face. “She's just a sweet little thing.”
“No, no, no. And she's not as sweet as she looks. Don't let her convince you otherwise. Trust me, she deserves what she's about to get,” said Eva with a sly grin on her face.
“Fine. As long as no one gets hurt,” said Alexa.
“Do ya'll remember when we used to play Bloody Mary? We'll get Abby to play with us. We can tell her it's her initiation into the group. I'll hide under the sink and the three of you tell her the rules of the game and lock her in. After she says Bloody Mary three times, I'll reach out and grab her by the ankles,” Eva said.
“You are an evil genius!” said Samantha, beyond excited. She always enjoyed a good prank and this was good stuff.
“The cabinets in my parent's bathroom slide open and closed, so that would be the best place to do it. Give me five minutes to get in position, then go get Abby and bring her in,” said Eva.
“Where is Abby? She just disappeared on us.” said Alexa.
“The little freak probably just locked herself in her room,” Eva answered.
When the other girls left the couch and headed for the stairs, Alexa remained sitting with her arms crossed.
“What's wrong, Alexa?” Macie asked, having noticed that the crew was missing a member.
“This is wrong. She's just a little girl and we're going to terrorize her for nothing.”
“It's just a little prank Alexa. No one is going to get hurt. She probably wants us to include her in things. This is no different than what we used to do,” said Sam.
“In fact, if you're so concerned, why don't you come upstairs and make sure nothing bad happens?” Macie tossed in.
“Fine, I'll come along, but I will stop things if they go too far. I still don't think an innocent little girl deserves to be teased like,” she said.
“Innocent? She's far from innocent Alexa. Trust me when I say she deserves this. She's a rotten little runt and playing a little prank on her won't hurt. So come on,” Eva said. She adjusted the tiara on her head, reminding the group that it was her birthday and she was queen for the night. Alexa caved in and joined the group.
The three girls silently stalked the hall outside Abby's bedroom as Eva squeezed herself into the cabinet beneath the sink. Fitting inside worked out better in her mind than it did in real life, as the cabinet was smaller than anticipated. Still, she just barely fit inside and was able to slide the door closed. Five minutes felt like an eternity squeezed in a small space, but it was going to be so worth it.
Macie kept her eyes glued to her phone, ticking off every minute. Once five minutes came, she closed her phone and slid it into her pocket, then nodded at Sam to do the dirty deed of knocking on Abby's door. Shaking her head, Sam pointed at Alexa who stared daggers at both girls. Macie let out a sigh before creeping up to the door.
* * * *
Abby nearly dropped her book at the sound of someone knocking at her door. She didn't expect anyone to come looking for her. All she wanted was to be left alone for the rest of the night, but she decided to see what they wanted anyway. She set her book down and answered the door. She was shocked to see three of the girls standing there with awkward smiles on their faces. For a brief moment, she forgot that she had already dressed down into her pajamas.
“Hi,” Abby finally said, breaking the silence.
“Hi Abby. Are you doing okay? We were wondering where you went,” Macie said.
“We're about to eat some cake and thought you should join us,” added Samantha.
“Umm, are you sure? I'm not dressed up anymore, as you can see,” said Abby.
“Nah, we're all girls here. No one cares.” said Macie.
“But there's one thing you have to do first. It's sort of a right of passage when it comes to sleepovers. Eva told us this was your first one, right?” "Right," Abby replied. A right of passage? She was curious and yet her invisible guard went up. Something was up, but she wasn't sure just yet.
“What is it?” she asked.
“A game we've all played when we were younger is called Bloody Mary. It's a game where we test each others courage as an initiation. Reputations rose and fell based upon how you react,” said Sam
“You go into the bathroom alone, close the door with all the lights off and say Bloody Mary three times in the mirror. Mary was supposedly this old witch who was hunted down by the townspeople and murdered with a piece of broken mirror. Her throat was slashed and she was stabbed multiple times. Just before she died, she cast a spell, saying that whoever called upon her name in front of a mirror, she would show up and do the same to them,” Macie said.
“It's pretty wicked,” Sam chimed in.
“So I'm supposed to lock myself in the bathroom and be scared of some witch coming out and killing me,” Abby said. It was her attempt to let the girls know that she wasn't scared in the least, but they insisted that she do it anyway. “Where's Eva?” she asked, finding it odd that she was missing from the group.
“She's downstairs cutting the cake and putting it on plates. She doesn't have to play since it's her birthday. And she's done it like a million times. But once you do it dear Abby, you're part of the sisterhood,” Macie said. Abby nodded.
“Okay, let's do it,” she said. When she turned towards the common bathroom, Samantha grabbed her by the arm and turned her around.
“It must be done in an unfamiliar bathroom. It makes it more...creepy,” she said. Abby followed them into her parent's bedroom, but stopped just short of walking into the bathroom. She wasn't exactly scared, as dead women who jumped out of the mirror to kill little kids didn't exist. She just had an overwhelming feeling that something else was up and hoped they meant what they said about being part of the sisterhood.
“Do I need to be in there a certain amount of time?” she asked.
“Kinda, but not really. Just take your time doing it. Don't say the name really fast or anything. Then you have to wait about thirty seconds before you can come out. Make sure you lock the door once you're in there too,” said Samantha. Abby took a deep breath, then stepped inside.
The tile was cold on Abby's bare feet. Every part of her being told her not to close the bathroom door, but she had to. It was the only way to be a part of them. But did she really want to be a part of that group? The idea of it was nice at first, but now, she wasn't so sure it was something she wanted. She nearly turned around and ran back for the safety of her room, but gathered herself together and closed the bathroom door.
It's only a little humiliation at worst, Abby. If you want to have a happy life here, then get over yourself. Locking yourself in your bedroom won't help you, she told herself, now leaning against the cabinet. She couldn't see a thing in there, not even her reflection in the giant mirror that spanned the whole space of the wall.
“Bloody Mary.” Abby imagined the other girls outside the door snickering. “Bloody Mary. Bloody Mary.” Then she started to count. 1...2...3...4...5...
Suddenly, a hand reached out from the depths of hell and grabbed onto her ankle. Abby screamed at the top of her lungs and jerked herself away from the mirror, her hands out in front of her to hopefully keep Bloody Mary from slashing her throat. As she fought to get away from the mirror, kicking with all her might at the hands that grabbed at her, she walked right into the edge of the bathtub and lost her balance, pitching backward. Her head smacked hard against the rock-solid tiles, knocking her out cold. Abby collapsed into the tub; a trickle of blood flowed across the side of her face, down her neck and pooled beneath her.
Eva started laughing hysterically, unaware of he
r sister's fate, until she heard a rumbling sound erupt from just a few feet away. She started to work herself out of the small cavern, but stopped when she heard an angry growl that started out as a hushed tone, then grew tremendously loud, the walls around her shaking. Everything on the counter spilled onto the ground below.
Then, out of thin air, the form of a man appeared, blacker than the dark space around him. It was as if he stepped out of a different realm and into their reality. In one quick suddenly movement, he reached down and yanked Eva out of the cabinet, uncaring of the maneuvering she still had to do to get out safely. She yelped out in agony as she felt a few bones snapping in the process.
Outside the bathroom, the girls were giggling at the odd noises they heard, thinking Eva was doing a great job playing the part of Bloody Mary. They continued to laugh until there was a loud crack coming from the bathroom door. Something was slamming against it so hard the wood itself was splintering around the edges where it was connected to the way. It hit again a second and third time. Finally on the fourth shot, the bathroom door gave in and flew backward towards the girls, who jumped back out of the way. Landing on the door was Eva's broken and bloodied body. The three remaining girls screamed and all at once turned and tripped over each other as they tried to run.
Running through the bedroom door and into the hallway, Macie fell to the ground, tripping over Samantha. She quickly rolled over onto her back just in time to see a large man stepping out of the dark abyss that was Jim and Martha's bathroom. She screamed, then rolled onto her stomach and attempted to climb back up onto her feet, but before she could stand, he grabbed her ankles and pulled her away from the door.