The Drummer in the Band

Part 1

The Newton family seemed normal from the outside but no one knows what really happened to them. The mother Jennifer was good to her kids but couldn't stay faithful to their dad Mark. When people in their hometown started figuring out that Jennifer had slept with almost every man in the neighborhood whispers became deafening to Mark.

One night while their two girls Layla and Kacey were at a sleepover, Mark walked in on his wife in bed with someone else once again. The hurt and rage had finally hit a breaking point and he snapped. The revolver they kept in their dresser was the first thing he grabbed. The lovers tried to slip past him but he locked the bedroom door with all three of them inside.

The first to go was the poor man who just wanted a night of fun. Jennifer screamed so loud the pitch could've shattered the windows. Mark ranted for a moment reminding her of every moment they had together where he thought she loved him. He listed everything he ever did for her and how humiliating it was to be known as the man married to the town whore.

With tears in his eyes he shot her and she went back onto the bed. Mark got in bed with his wife's body holding her closely one last time before taking his own life as well. To make matters worse not a single person heard the gunshots or screams so the police were never called.

That was until the next morning when the sleepover ended and all the kids went home. The oldest, Kacey, went straight to the fridge to get food while the youngest, Layla, missed her parents and was excited to see them.

She ran up the stairs to their door and when it didn't open grabbed the little key out of the hall bathroom that unlocks all the bedrooms in the house. She didn't notice the blood and extra body in the room right away so she ran in and jumped on the bed landing between them.

She whimpered when she felt wet and cold then finally noticed the red splatter on the walls and the puddle she was sitting in. Layla let a blood curdling scream and froze in panic. When her sister ran up the stairs Layla was hyperventilating trying to keep her hands out of the blood even though it was already on her.

Kacey felt like she was going to puke but ran to the neighbors to get help. The girls at the ages of eight and eleven years old have just endured the worst thing that could ever happen to them. When everything is said and done, the girls are sent to live with their grandparents in Hawkins, Indiana.

Grandma did everything she could to help them heal and be normal kids but Layla was so traumatized that she had nightmares for years of the incident. Finally when she got into middle school the school counselor convinced her grandma to put her in therapy. Kayce came off as if she handled it just fine. It worked great for a long time until she got into high school and stopped keeping her grades up. She became the rowdy party kid.

She hardly ever slept at home. She was always passed out at some party or in some random guys bed. Unfortunately grandma passed away when Layla reached eighth grade leaving them with just grandpa who by that point was so consumed with health issues he was already on hospice. Layla became close friends with the nurses who came by the house to take care of grandpa. They pretty much became her family celebrating her birthdays with her and congratulating her when she did well on a test.

When grandma died the nightmares came back. Layla did her best to deal with it the way her therapist said but it wasn't working. It got to the point where Layla was cutting herself. She did it every time she showered so she wouldn't make a mess. She did it so that she could tell herself that the blood that was on her was her own and not someone else's. In a way it seemed to calm the nightmares. Eventually it happened less and less but it never fully stopped. She'd switch between her arms and legs every time so her wardrobe slowly filled with long sleeve shirts and she always wore full length pants.