“Can we play with you?” the girls ask in unison. They look to be about eight or nine years old. Identical twins, holding hands. Both wearing matching pink and white pinafores with their blonde hair in bouncy pig-tails.
I remember feeling uneasy about these newcomers, but didn’t know why at the time. They were the most adorable little girls I’d ever laid my eyes on. But something about them made the hairs on my arms stand up.
“Aren’t you pretty far from home?” Michael asks, as he leans down to talk to them. Wherever these two girls were from, it wasn’t nearby. The closest house was a few miles down the road, and we knew everyone in the surrounding area.
They shake their heads like little robots. “We like it,” they say, again in perfect unison. A strange answer that doesn’t seem to fit Michael’s question.
“Where are your parents? Where did you come from?” I ask, grasping Michael’s hand tighter. He’s smiling at the little dolls with an amused grin, but my stomach is uncomfortably clenched.
They stare at us with wide, innocent expressions.
Run! Get Michael and Kayla and run away NOW!!
My silent screams go unnoticed, and now I can’t move. My body is frozen, forcing me to watch the gruesome scene about to take place.
“We don’t want to play with you,” they say to me in eerie harmony. “We only want to play with them…”
No, no, make it stop! Somebody help! Make them stop! Run! Get away! Please…please…
Tears fall down my cheeks. Nothing I do matters now.
At this moment, the two little girls’ eyes glow an unnaturally bright blue before turning a menacing shade of black. I see my younger self freeze.
No. Please…no. Run…get away, I continue to cry out. Finally, I can’t watch anymore and I close my eyes tight, unable to bear witness to the horrors about to happen.
I let out one final, anguished scream. NOOOOOOO!!!
Suddenly, I’m spinning through darkness. My stomach jolts from the waves of nausea flooding my body. Then it stops. My eyes and jaw are tightly clenched, but I feel a palpable difference in the air.
I’m somewhere else.
I struggle to catch my breath and slow my racing heart. Sweat drips from my forehead, my body trembles uncontrollably. But I’m neither hot nor cold. I’m strangely comfortable.
“There you are, sweetheart.” The silky voice caressing the air is the most welcome sound I could ever hope to hear.
Bones!
My eyes fly open to the most amazing, unexpected sight. I’m lying on a bed, surrounded by bunches of red satin. Dozens of candles flicker aimlessly, giving the cozy room a sultry glow. Soft music plays soothingly from an invisible stereo, and the faintest hint of musk fills the air. But I’m only vaguely aware of all these things as I search for the beautiful face of my savior.
Bones, oh, Bones…I need you…
From the shadows, Bones steps forward. His perfectly chiseled torso gleams under the glow of dancing firelight. His eyes, deep with a carnal lust, gaze upon me.
I open my arms gratefully, welcoming my hero, my love, my friend. Now I’m safe. Now I’m protected. Now I’m loved. He leans down, closer…closer…I can almost feel his hot breath on me…
“My sweetest love…” he murmurs.
Oh, Bones, I love you so much…
“Please, please take me…” a soft voice moans. Stunned, I jerk my head and see a nude woman lying beside me, aching for her seduction.
No…
The look in Bones’ eyes…the sincere expression of love and desire that’s supposed to be only for me, is instead being used as his weapon of romance with the nubile beauty. He grins, delicately stroking her body with his fingers. The sounds of her pleasure drive a knife through my heart. He lies down on top of her and presses his hungry mouth against hers.
No! Stop it! Stop kissing her like that!
I want so badly to push him off her, but I can only lie here, paralyzed—forced to watch the scene of seduction as it plays out. I know they can’t see or hear me, but I am painfully aware of everything they’re doing.
I feel sicker and dirtier than I’ve ever felt.
I try to shut out the image, but even with my eyes closed I still see them clearly—the loving way Bones kisses and caresses her…the girl’s indescribable pleasure at his tender embrace and gently gyrating pelvis.
My heart shatters into a million pieces over and over again as I’m forced to watch him make love to girl, after girl, after girl… after girl.
I don’t know how many hours pass. I’ve cried so much my tears have all dried up. Every once in a while, Bones turns to look directly into my eyes and give a smug smile, before returning his mouth to the young beauty beneath him. The sights and sounds of pleasure beside me play over and over like a broken record of perpetual torture. Instead of growing numb, each passing minute hurts me more and more.