Burnt Offerings

 Copyright © 2014 Tiffany Price

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the author.
This book is a work of fiction. Names of characters, places, and events are the construction of the author, except those locations that are well-known and of general knowledge, and all are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is coincidental, and great care was taken to design places,
locations, or businesses that fit into the regional landscape without actual identification; as such, resemblance to actual places, locations, or businesses is coincidental. Any mention of a branded item, artistic work, or well-known business establishment, is used for authenticity in the work of fiction and was chosen by the author because of personal preference, its high quality, or the

authenticity it lends to the work of fiction; the author has received no remuneration, either monetary or in-kind, for use of said product names, artistic work, or business establishments, and mention is not intended as advertising, nor does it constitute an endorsement. The author is solely responsible for content.

Disclaimer:
Material in this work of fiction is of a graphic sexual nature and is not intended for audiences under 18 years of age.
 

 
Alice hurt all over. Every muscle, every bone pained her. Wisps of blonde hair clung to her damp forehead. Closing her hazel eyes, she curled into a tight ball, trying to forget. Forget every sound, every touch, but it was impossible. It would forever be branded into her mind, devouring her soul until nothing but a black pit of oblivion remained. Blood stained her thighs. Her stomach cramped into tight little knots refusing to go away. The images danced in her fragmented mind, plaguing her relentlessly.

She could still smell his foul stench, his body reeking of sweat mixed with alcohol. Her face ached where he’d repeatedly shoved himself as far into her mouth and down her throat as he could. She squeezed her arms tighter around herself, trying to feel some semblance of warmth, but the ground remained cold and hard. The dampness of nightfall seeped into her skin through the torn pieces of clothing barely covering her body. The moon hung high in the sky.

“You’re mine. Don’t ever forget it,” he grunted, surging forward into her body. Silent tears tracked down her cheeks, leaving every visage of innocence behind.

It played over again and again in her mind, marking her soul with a foulness that would never disappear. She shuddered. No matter how hard she fought she couldn’t keep them at bay. She had given up hope of ever escaping this place.

And….him.

Every time she tried to flee, Abraham caught her. Every time the punishment was worse than the time before. Her thoughts mingled with the screams still echoing in her mind. Swift Hope was once an old plantation. And in the main barn there still hung shackles from the rafters. A bullwhip hung on one wall. The place was cursed; she was sure of it. Hell, who was she kidding? She was proof of it. Numb, cold, and shivering, she wished for death to claim her. But even that eluded her.

Alice wasn’t strong enough to fight Abraham off. Fighting him had just incited his
hunger even more. Forbidden fruit, the curse of Eve; oh how she hated that bitch. His words echoed in her head. “I’ll be damned if another man is going to lay hands on you. Especially, that white trash Reynolds.”

Her screams filled the night, emptying her heart, emptying her mind, leaving in its wake a void that would never be filled except by one thing, and one thing only. Daniel Reynolds lived down at the edge of the Vermillion River. He had been the first to offer her any sort of kindness in her short fourteen years. Daniel and she were nothing more than friends. He had become the big brother she had never had. How she hated everyone and everything, and yet Daniel had
proved kindness still existed in a world of evil. He had shown her not all men were bad. Not all men were monsters.

It was all Katharina’s fault. If she had never died, never left her alone, Alice was sure none of this would never had happened because she never would have ended up at Swift Hope. Why did you have to die and leave me all alone? Why? Sobs racked her small frame. She swiped at the wetness coating her pale face. Her chest ached. Every breath she took caused a sudden jolt of agony that reached all the way to the tips of her toes.

Alice withered. Some said she was the very picture of her mother. Many often speculated if she would have the same talents as her mother. Then Katharina, had gotten so ill that she could no longer care for herself, let alone a young child. Alice had never known her father. He had disappeared to seek his fortune long before she could walk. Alice was sure her mother had not only died of the severe illness that had consumed her but also of a broken heart at being abandoned.

Alice’s wrists were black and blue. Teeth marks scored her tender flesh. The marks would be there for days as proof of what he’d done, of the pleasure he had taken without permission. Yet she knew when she made it back to the orphanage no one would question her. No one would dare ask how the marks came to be. And worst of all, no one gave a damn! Abraham did as he pleased. Abraham’s word was law.

In the distance Alice could make out the silent guardians of the field, scarecrows, and piles of hay marked the open expanse. Carved pumpkins littered the field to make it look festive on All Hallows Eve. The wagon that had given the children their yearly hay ride stood near the steps of the orphanage. A night that was meant for children was anything but fun for her. She closed her eyes, trying to gather the courage, the strength, to stand. Silently, she pleaded for her legs to hold her. She buckled to her knees, gasping for breath, trying to calm the
erratic beating of her heart. Hatred like none Alice had ever known before lit deep within her soul, burning brightly.

This wasn’t the first time, but Alice was determined that it would be the last. She had been naïve to believe that someone at Swift Hope would believe her, that Abraham would never be allowed to touch her again, but she had been wrong--oh so wrong. She let go of a ragged breath. She shuddered remembering how the headmistress, Ms. Nellie, had confronted him in front of her, only to be convinced that Alice was lying.

“Tell Abraham what you told me, girl,” demanded the matron behind the desk. She slapped a wooden ruler against the palm of her one hand. Her mousy brown hair was done up in a severe bun at the back of her head. An angry scowl marked her face as the tapping of her booted foot hit the bare floorboards in a steady rhythm. ”I’m waiting.”

Alice lowered her head and mumbled, “He hurt me. He touched me in ways he shouldn’t have.” She glanced up at Ms. Nellie, hope shining brightly in her eyes. What stared back at her was no an angel of mercy.

“You little liar,” declared Abraham, rising from his chair shaking his fist in the air. The raging anger was evident in his brown eyes as he stood facing Ms. Nellie.

“Why would I do something like that? I am only here to help care for them. I don’t understand why she’s lying.”

“I am not lying.” Alice stood defiant. She was desperate for Ms. Nellie to believe her.

“Then remove your clothing so I may see this proof with my own eyes.”

“Please, don’t make me do that, not in front of him!” Tears filled her eyes. Her fist balled
at her sides. She trembled on the spot.

“It is obvious that you’re not telling the truth. You shall be severely punished for this. Go back to your room now and remain there until someone comes to retrieve you.”

Hours later Alice found herself being dragged by her hair from the comfort of her pallet down the stairs to the basement where she was whipped, then caged in a closet, with very little water and no food for three days straight. She had been locked in the dark. Day and night had been one in the same. Alice had thought for sure that death would claim her then, but still she lived.

That is when God had ceased to exist for Alice. She had prayed for him to end her
suffering, to punish Abraham, and to take her away from the horror her life had become. Not once did God strike Abraham down. Not once did he end her suffering. She remained a ward of Swift Hope, a child at the mercy of not only Abraham but Ms. Nellie as well. At one time she feared the only way she would ever leave it was by death until that fear no longer held sway over her tormented soul.

Ms. Nellie’s words echoed in the tunnels of her mind. Another piece of her soul shattered and torn asunder. Memories of that awful night flooded her entire being. Animals were meant to be caged, not humans.

“If I was you, Alice, I would prayer for forgiveness that God would keep me from my wicked ways. Only wicked little girls get punished, remember that little Alice,” whispered the headmistress.

  Alice watched as Ms. Nellie walked towards Abraham, whispering something to
him before turning back towards her with a leer. Alice remembered. She heard the lock click in the door. Her prison time in the basement had begun. Ms. Nellie was not the angel the townspeople thought her to be. But soon, very soon, they would learn.

Wicked ways? That was a laugh. She had been the one violated, not Abraham. Pray? Pray to whom? To what? God? If there was a God, he wouldn’t have allowed Abraham, a man of the church, to molest her. Oh no, there was no God, of that she was sure. She no longer believed in a being called God. He simply didn’t exist, but she did believe in the devil. He lived and breathed in Abraham.

The only other thing Alice believed in was evil and what could be accomplished through it. Alice had no more tears left to cry. Her only thoughts were of escape by any means possible, even if that meant her own death. At least if she were dead, Abraham could no longer hurt her. But then what about the other children of Swift Hope? She couldn’t allow them to harm the other children, she wouldn’t allow it.

But Abraham wasn’t the only one guilty of such cruelty or hideous acts. Alice wished the pain would go away. It would fade eventually, she knew that, but tonight had been the worse of them all. Alice crawled from the edge of the woods into the shed.

Dirt mixed with blood clung beneath her fingertips. Her right cheek was swollen. She could barely see out of one eye. Her throat was raw. She spied the orphanage through the peep hole. Leaning against the wall, she fingered the matches in her dress pocket and stared at the gasoline tank in the corner. She would never allow them to hurt anyone else again. No - she would never allow another child to be molested.

It was the only way. Darkness descended. It wasn’t the end it was just the beginning.

                                                                   ***

“Wake up,” whispered Alice as she moved from bed to bed, from room to room. Slowly the children of Swift Hope followed her as if playing follow the leader. Tired, rubbing their eyes they all piled outside by a large tree. Several of them holding each other’s hands seeking comfort in any way they could.

“Alice what are we doing out here? I’m tired. I want to go back to bed.”

“You have to stay out here. You can’t go back in. If you do, you’ll die!”

Scared they huddled together under the tree. The older ones stood watch on the outside of the group as the youngest shuffled towards the middle.

“Alice where are you going?” asked the oldest boy.

“I have to warn the others. Now, stay here and don’t go back inside. I’ll be right back.”

But she had no intention of warning anyone else. She ran under the cover of darkness to the back of the barn where she picked up the gasoline tank. She stuck her hand back in her dress pocket making sure the matches were still there. Smiling she made her way towards Swift Hope.  It was meant to be a place of refuge and hope for the ones lost but instead it had been a prison of pure hell. Even the hounds that Abraham used to help track people who escaped from
the west wing of the house lay silent at her feet. She hated to do it but she couldn’t have the beast giving them away as they left the house or worse.

Tears flooded her eyes as she moved around the dead dogs. But if she was found out Alice knew her punishment would be the worst yet. She doubted they’d left her live this time around. Alice bent the gas can down so the clear liquid would flow freely coating the outer edge of the house. Satisfied she crept back into the big house. All was quiet except for the room at the end of the hallway on the second floor. That room belong to Ms. Nellie. The closer she got the
louder the voices became. Abraham was in there with Ms. Nellie.

“What do you mean you just left her?” screamed Nellie. “Don’t you realize the trouble she could cause us if someone found out what was going on here at Swift Hope? We can’t leave any loose ends.”

“You worry too damn much woman. I told you I took care of it!”

“Well, someone has to be the brains in this relationship.”

“Don’t you worry about it honey. I took care of her for sure this time.”

“You stupid fool, how could you just leave the body? Someone could find her.”

“If anything finds her it ain’t going be nothing but a pack of manage coyotes who will eat anything they can get ahold of.”

Alice shuddered.

“You’re sure of this?”

“Just as sure of it as when I took care of that white trash Reynolds. I left his body floating in the river.”

Nellie’s laughter filtered through the door to her. So he had been telling Alice the truth.

He had killed Daniel because of her. She covered her mouth with her hands to keep them from hearing her cry.

“The children are nothing but a means to an end.”

“Now, come here woman and give your man his rightful due before I take it out of your hide.”

Her fear and pain turned to rage as she continued to listen at the door. They weren’t human. The only sounds to be heard now was the bed moving against the wooden floor boards as the couple inside the room had sex. Alice vomited on the spot.  You’ll pay for this. You’ll pay for killing Daniel!

Alice took the rope she had found down in the basement and tied it around Ms. Nellie’s door knob. She stretched it across the hallway to the other door knob where she secured it. She would make sure they couldn’t leave the headmistress’s room. There was no way to jump from the second floor to the ground below as she’d had Abraham nail all the windows shut to prevent the children getting out at night.

It didn’t matter that there were others in the house who would lose their lives this very night. Even though she was young she knew the ones locked in the west ward of the house were beyond help. None could survive on their own. The majority of them didn’t even know their own names let alone be able to speak like normal people. There was only one maid Ruth Ann and another hired hand George to help Abraham out when needed that lived in the house.

Neither of them were willing to believe Alice about what happened. Even when she had showed the maid physical proof of the marks she refused to go against Ms. Nellie. And when she had confided in the old hired hand he had demanded she give herself to him as well. She made sure to stay clear of him which was easier than steering clear of Abraham.

Adults weren’t meant to be trusted no matter what they claimed. She walked down the hallway, down the stairs and out the door where she used the rest of the rope to tie the doors together, both the front and the back. There was only one thing left to do. That was to light the match.

“The devil take your souls!”

Alice lit the match and threw it down on the ground. Minutes passed by as the gasoline caught fire. At first it was nothing more than a small orange ring. It was barely noticeable. The flames ran around the bottom of the house greedily licking their way up the sides of the dwelling.  Screams filled her ears. She could hear banging on the doors. Glass breaking in futile attempts. Wails from the west side of the burning inferno could be heard all the way across the field where a small group of children huddled. The night sky was lit up as the flames reached for
the stars unable to grab hold of such beauty. Alice stood there watching as the fire devoured the house and all within. The only sounds that could be heard now were the crackling of wood as it gave way.

At last Alice was free. 

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