A finger for every occasion

Christmas was my favourite time of the year, the magical decorations that everyone put in front of their houses, the snow and the best of all the special foods that were made for the holiday. I did not have a family growing up as I was actually abandoned by my mum to a shelter so I grew in different houses, not homes because there was never a family to call it that. I saw life through a different lens in those years and converted the pain to a kind of different energy, it helped when the foster parent would beat me or otherwise. Drawing what I saw or just painting what was in my mind, it helped and over time it turned into something that took me further away from the pain.

The day my fate changed was when I met her, she was a loner and was brought in as an extra mouth and pay check for the foster parents. They ignored like the rest of us unless it was time to eat, I was 17 at the time and was pretty much number to all the abuse that went on behind the scenes. Her name was Alicia and where she came from I don’t really know but I found myself sharing a room with her in the basement. The top rooms were only for show to the officials that came to inspect our living conditions. Our room right now were 2 mattresses on the floor with a box for our clothes and small table to do our homework. I really became detached from comfort so it did not bother me, Alicia was withdrawn in the first few days. It was Christmas time so I had a little more food to share with her so over time she accepted my offers but she still remained far away.

It was 3 days after Christmas that it all happened, I was asleep when I was woken by a loud thump coming from the floor above and I woke up to check on her but she was absent and the door was open. There were 2 other kids in the room across mine but I remembered that they were taken away by some officials 2 days ago so it was just Alicia and myself. I was still sleepy and the basement was colder than usual. I got up and rubbed my eyes to clear the sleep and got up to check what was happening upstairs. There were no noises coming anymore but still.

As I walked I could feel the cold creeping up me bare feet and my breath was coming out in clouds of smoke. It was cold and it seems the heater was off, the stairs up were to the left of my room so I peaked out to check and then cautiously walked out. There was a light coming from upstairs that illuminated the path so I walked slowly. I thought maybe someone had come to rob the foster house or something so I stopped for a second before taking another step. It was cold and I knew I needed to go up before I froze here, taking the first step I prayed it did not make a sound. Then I took another step, then another all the while praying they did not creak.

I finally reached the top and I slowly peaked out to see if there was anyone, there wasn’t so I emerged into the corridor that joined the front door and back kitchen. The carpet under my feet felt good as it was still warm. I then saw the light in the living room was flickering and decided to check that first. Still there were no sounds in the house it was all quiet and I was really getting scared, the blinking of Christmas lights were still on at this time and the red and green lights were coating the walls. As I reached the opening of the living room I froze. My mind did not understand was I was looking at for a moment, the couple who were foster us were sitting on their sofas but they were missing their heads or it was like headless dolls on the sofa, there was blood all over the floor. I wanted to scream but I was frozen, my numbed mind could not figure out what to do as I stared at the headless bodies in front of me. Where were their heads, where is Alicia?

I took a step forward and it landed on a sticky floor, I looked down and it was blood. I jerked backwards and almost fell but managed to save myself by grabbing the side of the opening. I righted myself and still found myself staring at the 2 bodies, they were wearing their night dresses but they were coated in blood. Mr. Jacobs was wearing his night suit, and it was blue before all the blood and that is when I saw his entrails on his lap, his stomach was sliced open to let the innards out. I could feel my stomach lurch and I wanted to throw up but I had not eaten since breakfast so there was nothing to throw up. Mrs. Jacob was the same, but she was holding something in her hands I did not see it as I could feel my head swim and I passed out.

I woke up sometime later and as my vision cleared, I could see Alicia standing at the kitchen door, she wore a yellow raincoat but it was not bathed in blood. Her head was covered by the hood, but I could still see her face. There was something in her eyes a dark void that consumed my very soul, I tried to call out for her but she just stood there with a knife in her right hand. I looked at the knife and it was still dripping with blood and her jeans were also caked with it. I tried to get up and run but my body felt it was made of lead and I could not move fast enough, I looked down to legs and see what was happening to them and then looked up. Alicia was gone and I was alone again, I finally managed to get up and bolt for the front door. I looked at the bodies on the sofas before running and could feel the nausea return and closed my eyes and ran to the door. I opened the door and ran in to the cold night and to the neighbours.

What happened after was a blur, the neighbours then the police all of it was just like swimming through a swamp in my mind. All I remembered was that Alicia was holding a knife and in the other hand was a string necklace but instead of beads it held fingers, bloody fingers.

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