Oh Abby Dear

[footsteps]

A youthful girl about 8 years old, rushed through crowded streets, darting to the left and following the sidewalk curve. As the number of people surrounding her faded, she looked behind her to see a slightly older boy still following closely behind her. She stopped abruptly and ran toward him, zipping around him. 

"Abby!" The boy called out, reaching for her, "Abby, wait!" He stopped and leaned over, placing his hands on his knees for support as he took a deep breath. 

Abby ran until her feet started to swell. Her throat tingled and burned as she gasped for air, ignoring her legs as they numbed. She reached up and wiped her red, swollen eyes, stinging as she touched them. She tripped forward, her foot cracking against a part of the sidewalk that stuck upward. She braced herself as she fell to the ground and landed on her elbows, scraping them across the ground. She lay there for a moment before slowly sitting up. 

"Ow…" She sniffled as she rubbed her elbow, reaching up and wiping her eyes again.

 "Are you alright, kid?" A man stopped and offered his hand to her. "You can't be running around here; the construction crew hasn't reached this part of town."

 "I'm quite alright, sir." Abby stood up on her own, wincing. "I've just come here to…" She looked behind him and saw a butcher shop. "I've come to buy some chicken for my mother."

 "Well, be careful, and don't run all the way home," He sighed and glanced behind him at the butcher shop. "There's a nice lady in there, whom I'm sure has some bandages, and she'd be happy to patch up those scrapes you got there."

 "Thank you, sir." Abby looked down and pushed past the man, reaching open the door. The man watched her walk into the shop and hesitated before continuing. 

She looked up at two men and a woman who stood in the shop. The two men were chatting with one behind the counter, and the woman was sweeping in the back. 

"Why, you ought to give us a call then sometime, Jerry," the man behind the counter said, resting his elbows on it and leaning forward. "I'm sure my wife would love to have you." 

The woman looked up. "Of course we would." She paused and looked at Abby. "Oh my, darling, are you alright?"

 The two men turned their attention to Abby as well. Abby steps back a little cautiously, "I was told you have bandages and that you would be okay patching my elbows. I kind of fell over there" She points to the alleyway where she ran out of. 

The woman knees down and slowly grabs Abby's elbows examining them, yes dear we have some bandages for this. Would you like to come right inside" She gestures to Abby to come through the portiere, you rarely see door frames with curtains as the doors do now. 

Abby follows the woman through the door and glances at what looks like to be blood on the frame. Paying no attention considering it is a butcher shop, she enters a living room-type space. To be more accurate Abby would describe it as a lobby more than a living space. 

Standing in the doorframe she watches the woman go into a cabinet in the corner and take out some bandages, "We use these for injuries when people cut themselves during work! You can use them dear let's get you patched up" 

She approaches me and starts to wrap the bandage around my elbow softly. Abby glances to the door that goes into the butcher rooms in the back and sees the two men heading in. The woman stands back up, "Darling I see you looking at the back rooms. Would you like to see what we do? Does it interest you?"

Abby nods yes and grabs onto the woman for support as she gets up. She was gritting her teeth as her elbows burned and the bandages pressed against her skin. She walks to the door with the woman holding her arm. Abby feels the woman's grip tightening and looks down to see her hand squeezing around her arm.

Abby looks up at the woman and her eyes have gone cold. Abby yanks her arm in shock but the woman's grip doesn't loosen, "Let go of me!" She could feel the woman's cold fingers tighten around her arm as she was pulled closer and closer inside the room. 

"I said let go of me!" Abby screams as she finally gets out of the woman's malicious grip. Shoving the woman into the doorframe she spins around towards the front door. 

Abby hears the woman get up grunting and she is now stomping towards Abby's direction. Abby is just about to reach the outside when a huge man steps in front of the door blocking her path.

The man grabs Abby and picks her up, lifting her into the air. The man was the person she met in the alley, the person who told her to go get patched up here. Abby punches him to no effect, she knows this but continues to persist. While punching she sneakily throws some of her bloody bandages outside. They tore off from her elbows when the woman grabbed her arm.

The man brought her back into the butcher room and placed her on a cold metal table. As she's placed on the table and strapped down, the cold feeling seeps into her skin and gives her entire body goosebumps. 

Abby struggles and struggles against the straps until her entire body gives out and her eyes close, her mind fading away. 

Gaining consciousness to mucky cold water being splashed on her she gasps for air. She opens her eyes to see the woman and three men standing above her below a bright light. 

She tries to punch them but her arms wouldn't budge, "I'm still strapped Augh" The woman laughs, "Oh of course you are dear! We wouldn't dare let you out of them, you would injure us!" she says mocking Abby. 

Abby looks over to her right to see another dead body all slashed and beaten. The man looks at me laughing, "The only difference between you two is that you're going to be alive while we do that to you" 

"Oh come on now no need to scare the poor dear, well more than she already is. Let's just get started shall we?" The woman chuckles. She goes over to a side table and grabs a butcher knife smiling venomously. 

The woman presses the knife up against Abby's abdomen and pushes it a little, drawing blood. Abby winces in pain but doesn't let out any screams. Suddenly Abby hears someone walk into the shop. The other four heard it as well because they all went out front abandoning their work with her. 

Abby pushes against her straps and she can feel them starting to get loose. Her head perks up, she hears people talking to the four butchers, "Help me! Help! I'm in here please!" Abby shouts. 

"Sorry ma'am we apologize for the intrusion we should be going now" Abby hears the people say. "No, no, no! I'm in here please don't leave me!" she screams in frustration. 

The woman and three men come walking back in with brutal laughs. Two men coughing and choking while laughing because of their immense weight.

"Now dear where were we? she asks me coughing mid-sentence. The woman slides around the desk licking Abby's arm, drooling all over it. She looks at one of the other men, "Well you fat lug get me a knife! Let's finally start cutting her up. I want the meat, I want to taste her delectable flesh" she hisses.

The man gives her the butcher knife and the woman raises it high, "This is your end little girl! Your dead meat! Literally!" she laughs psychotically. 

Suddenly five police officers in full police gear burst through the door frame shouting. The 3 butcher men kneel on the ground with hands above their heads, giving the officers cold glares. The woman suddenly stands up and charges them with the knife above her head screaming at the top of her lungs.

The woman swings the knife down from her head to the officer's face. Abby's eyes widened, "Watch out it's coming from above you!" she shouts at the police officer in front of the woman. The officer ducks and hits the woman in the face with the butt of his gun, the woman falling limp. 

Hitting the floor the woman's arms and legs sprawled out, the knife rolling out of her hand. Abby struggles against the bonds that hold her hands down on the accursed table. The police officers walk up to the table and rip off the bindings. One of the officers picks the woman up and one picks up Abby. 

Abby grabs onto the officer's shoulders so he doesn't drop her back onto the floor. Her eyes close and she starts to drift off and her entire body weight slumps in the officer's arms. 

One month later, Abby walks up to big wooden doors and pushes them open, revealing a courtroom. Everyone turns around and looks at her as she walks down the middle aisle and takes her seat in the defense chair. The prosecutor asks her, "Ma'am, now how did you call the police if you were supposedly tied up?" Abby is silent until her lawyer nudges her, "Oh sorry, uh I dropped some of my bloody bandages outside and hoped someone would call the police. Bloody bandages in front of a butcher shop isn't uncommon, though a bit strange. So I was praying for the police to investigate." The lawyer keeps on asking the questions but most of them slip over Abby's head due to her thoughts. 

Ten days later, the jury came to a decision, "You are to be sentenced to life with parole for attempted murder. Thank you, Jury, for your service these past ten days. Court adjourned"

The woman looks over at Abby from the prosecutor's seat with a grin. As she walks down the middle aisle by the court officers she leans in towards Abby's direction, "Don't fret dear, this is only the beginning" The police officer shoves the woman along, "Get moving you psycho" Abby stares at them wide-eyed and with tears coming down her cheeks. 

Twenty years later Abby is drawn to a particular story on the TV.

"Now Mike I didn't think this was possible but a psycho woman is getting out today. Oh sorry not psycho, she was deemed sane. Though she tried to butcher a young girl twenty years ago, she is sane, how about that?"

Abby watches the TV while her body starts to shake. She goes into her car and drives over to the prison holding the monster who traumatized her when she was young. 

She arrives and gets out of her car just in time to see the woman being escorted out of the barred doors. Abby takes a step towards her but suddenly drops to the ground. 

It feels like the whole world is on her shoulders, the traumatizing life she had is once again present. Not letting her free of the nightmares or fears.

The woman spots her and smiles maniacally. 

"I'm out now, Oh Abby dear"