Deadly Memories

Prologue

2007
     "Come on Jess! You always take too long." Her voice called, annoyingly nagging me to hurry down the stairs. 

     "I'm trying alright?! I can't carry everything all at once." I lashed back. Stumbling through the front door I held on to about three dolls that were probably half the size as I at the age of 10. My sister Jamie was ahead of me holding a box that held teacups and plates for our playtime that afternoon. I could hear the little tinks of glass hit one another as she swung her arms. It felt like I could already hear the cracks form with each touch of one another.

     "Hurry! I'm already here ready to go and you're still dragging it on the grass." Her caramel eyes rolled in annoyance. Narrowing my own, I sat the dolls onto the stools which surrounded the small table in the yard. The day was warm, not uncommon for the middle of June, but you could definitely smell the scent of rain approaching. Jamie insisted that we have a tea party before the rain came, or else our dolls would be upset that they missed the sunshine. In the sky the clouds churned, ready to release a downpour. "Jamie... I really don't like this idea. What if it starts to rain?"

     "Then we'll have to carry it all back in." She growled. "Now Miss Nutters, care for a cup of earl grey?" Jamie looked at the stuffed dog as it lay dormant. "Ah right away. Jess? Could you please pass the earl grey?" I blinked my eyes in confusion. "Jess please, Miss Nutters is thirsty." She wiggled her fingers so that I would pass the teapot filled with, not earl grey tea, but water.

    "This is water." I corrected her. Arms growing limp Jamie narrowed her eyes, "Pretend Jess. Just act like it's earl grey." I shook my head, "I don't like tea. I want it to be hot chocolate." Thrusting her arm forward Jamie clenched onto the teapot. "Well, Miss Nutters wants tea. Now give it." 

    Rolling my eyes at her for maybe the millionth time I caved in to her ideal play date. We chatted with our dolls, poured them "tea", and argued...like always. There wasn't a time during play time that we didn't argue. 

    "Jamie, I wanted Mr. Poppy. He's my doll's dog." I cautiously aggressed.

    "But he already is sitting next to me. He doesn't want to move." Her eyes squinted with annoyance. She wasn't one to loose a fight, and neither was I.

    "It's not that hard to pick him up, just hand him over." I reached towards him, his floppy dog ears nearly in my grasp when Jamie flung him from his seat and into her arms.

    "No Jess! I already claimed him!" Her fingers gripped him, you could see his beady doll eyes shimmer with that looked like fear.

    "But he belongs to me!" I yelled back, standing from my seat causing the cups to rumble a bit. The sound of thunder in the distance echoed that rumble. Rain was coming.

    "Look, now you've upset everyone. Even Miss Nutter's baby!" Jamie proclaimed. She started gathering her things, as did I so that we'd be clear of being soaked. But as she sat Mr. Poppy down my eyes followed. My fingers crept towards him as I finally swooped him up from the table.

    "Jessica!" Jamie screamed, "I told you he's been claimed!"

    "But he's my doll!" I retaliated.

    "But I was playing with him!"

    "Mine! Get it?! Mine!"

    Are banters went back and forth. She'd reach for it, I'd step back. She'd swing at me, I'd step back. Finally, when she got fully annoyed she shoved me down, pushing me onto the grass near the road. We lived off an old country road, one that was close to a feed factory out in the middle of a corn field so it wasn't uncommon for trucks and semi trailers to pass by. But it seemed like one of those days where no one worked. The road was clear as the morning air.

     "Give. Me. The. Doll." Jamie warned through gritted teeth. Her eyes showed fire.

     "Fight me for it." I challenged. I stretched my arm behind my head as Jamie straddled over me. As she reached for it I threw the doll behind me, unaware at how close we were to the road.

     "Jessica! Look what you did!" Her worried cry pierced my ears. She scrambled off me towards the doll in the road. She picked up the doll, petting it to make sure everything was together.

     "You're not supposed to be in the road Jamie!" I yelled, fearing that our parents would see us messing around in an area they told us not to.

     She looked up at me with snobbish eyes as if I were the one being childish. "Jess, I'm only out here because you had to throw Mr. Poppy all the wa-" Jamie didn't get to finish what she had to say. Out of nowhere, a giant speeding semi came smashing into my sister. My eyes matched hers as soon as she was hit, scared.

    The truck didn't stop, probably couldn't see over his truck hood. But I stopped. My breathing, my heart, my thoughts, everything. Jamie laid there lifeless, no movement seen. I rushed to her. This time I looked both ways before crossing. Not a single vehicle was in sight.

    As I approached her I could already see the damage done. She was broken, bloody, and barely hanging on. The truck had rammed her and tore her open as it rolled over her body. I kneeled down to her, my arms carefully wrapping her. Jamie's blood seeped from her head as it rested in my lap, staining my shorts. "J-Jamie, you okay? Jamie wake up." I shook her slightly making sure not to stir her too much. A few groans and wincing facial features let me know that she was still alive. A wave of relief rolled over me, as did a few raindrops. Looking up, the sky had darkened matching the situation perfectly. Carefully, I hoisted my sister off the road and into the grass by our tea set up.

    Her face scrunched as the rain stung her wounds. I pulled the blanket off the small table and covered her from the rain. At this point, I couldn't tell if my face was wet from tears or rain. 

    "Jamie please, just stay here alright? I'll be right back." As much as I didn't want to be blamed for this accident I had to tell my parents. I tripped as I ran up to the home, crashing through the think wooden door. My voice was croaked, stuck in my throat. But my mother must've heard me slam the door because she came storming into the main entry hall.

    "Jessica Lyn! Haven't I told you before not to sla-" As soon as she rounded the corner from the kitchen she halted her words as her eyes came to meet me and my bloody mess. Her eyes wavered with either sickness or surprise because I could see that she was unable to comprehend what on earth she was seeing. She stepped towards me quietly, her voice hushed, "Jess, what happened? Where is your sister?" Her hands trembled as they rested on my shoulders. I couldn't answer, my throat was dry from fear. Soon after, my father appeared from his office looking a bit frazzled himself. His eyes scanned my attire and was also a bit shocked to see what covered me.

     "Jessica, why are you like this?" He could barely voice the question. He hovered over my mother as I began to hyperventilated with tears streaming down my face.

    My words were broken, "My doll...in the road...s-she went to get it....the truck." It didn't take long for my parents to string the words together. Instantly, they rushed outside in the pouring rain to the body was my sister. 

    The rain drizzled down their faces as wailing from my mother echoed among the country side. My father's sniffs couldn't be washed away by the dark sky. As they held her with shaking arms Jamie mumbled words that weren't understandable by any of us. "It's okay sweetheart, we'll get you to the hospital in no time." My father softly spoke. But I knew she was far from being saved and I think my parents knew it as well. The light from her carmel eyes darkened. I stared, tears streaming from mine, but as I watched my parents wallow in sadness I noticed the look of my dying sister's face. A faint smile graced her lips, and not the kind of a peaceful ending but the one of a mad beginning. It took me a second look to realize that she was staring directly at me with that crooked grin.

    Had my parents not been crying they would've seen how unruly her face looked. But now, her face finds it's ways to come and haunt me. Her face, that wicked bloody face, I hope to never see it again.