100 Ways to Solve a Murder-Chapter 187: The Skeletons VII

20 years ago, Fresno, California

Thirteen-year-old Sam jerked off the couch, gasping for breath, panting and heaving like she had been underwater for too long. She collapsed on the floor, her mind filled with new---old memories. She could see the hypnotist, looking at her in concern and surprise, sat on her chair as if paralyzed.

She had been screaming, and her throat felt like sandpaper. Yes, she knew exactly why.

Sam pushed herself back up, arms and knees trembling, from exhaustion and terror.

Her face soaked with both sweat and tears, and she ran.

She ran, not knowing where to.

But she continued to run till she couldn’t run anymore.

It was minutes after when her knees buckled over, falling against the cold asphalt in some deserted alley. Body shaking in confusion, in fear of the past that she felt as though she was reliving---as more memories flashed through her mind, both so fresh and so old. Her trusted dog tried to soothe her, sitting next to her licking her damp face.

Haunting memories filled her every breath and made her stomach turn, causing her to hurl whatever was left inside, coming into waves, even after she was empty.

It made so much sense, why she was so afraid.

She had seen monsters, REAL monsters, not like what children make up in their funny little heads. No, it was true monsters that had frightened her...but there was an even bigger monster. The worst Monster of all--one she had lived with before she was tossed away like an old-used rug.

Her body tensed when she felt a hand touch her back, but as soon as it came, she relaxed, recognizing the hand holding her crimson hair back while she vomited nothing but gastric juices.

Ivan crouched beside his only sibling, holding back her hair as she hurled. Her small body visibly shaken, and the paleness of her skin, the red in her eyes told him she knew.

She remembered.

And it frightened him; she had always been a fragile child...frailty of a genius, he supposes. She understood more than everyone did, more profound than anyone should.

And he feared she would regress to the years she stopped talking, back to depression, back to the hollow child she once was.

"Sam..." Ivan attempted to comfort her, but he didn’t know what he’d say. What could he say? He had an idea of what happened that tragic night, but he had an inkling it was worse than he could ever imagine; she was there after all. He doesn’t know what she knew, but it was enough that she caved within herself. The bubbly-talkative girl she once was with died that same night, and for many years he even believed he might have lost her too. But she’s there now, wasn’t she? And he’ll do everything he can, anything, to protect her. He will not fail her again.

He had the facts; he had seen the autopsy report, one the family tried to erase by burning the Precinct. He had memorized it in his head; he had taken it to heart and searched high and low for the people responsible. But he had failed miserably; he wanted vengeance; yes, nothing more would satisfy his being than to avenge their parent’s demise. To cause the people responsible for a thousandfold of the pain they had caused their family.

They would not die quickly, no. Oh, he had planned on a long brutal torture. A life in hell, where he could watch them suffer---their screams left unheard. To break them into smithereens, tear their sanity piece by piece, slowly, intimately in every way his brilliant mind could fathom of.

And he’d enjoy it.

Oh, he knew he would.

If there was something every Fredricksen had in common, it was how ’protective’ they could be when it came to family.

The Devil shall be put to shame on how he would create their personal hell on Earth.

Sam wondered if maybe she made a mistake; perhaps she shouldn’t have run away. Her life would possibly be better if she didn’t know these terrible things; the images were racking her brain nonstop. As much as she craved for the smiling faces of her parents, those beautiful memories she’d hidden away, it came with their lifeless ones. It came with the sounds, the grunts, the muffled screams, and the sobs. Images of their eyes that glowed with life, joy, and love as they looked at her---shifted to fear, then to emptiness—just hollow bodies.

The feel of her father’s skin under her touch was still fresh in memory. The smell of her mother’s perfume as she tucked her to bed that night. The smile on her father’s face, the kiss on her cheek as he bid her goodnight. The gentle touch of her mother’s hand as she tucked the hair behind her ear.

The soft, gentle voice as they both spoke, the warmth of every touch, turning into cold empty shells they once were.

Did she make a mistake? Should she have listened?

’No,’ her voice spoke in her head. The conviction of it made her shoulder tense.

’NO,’ it spoke again with more strength. Though it was her own voice, it was somewhat a darker version of her. Smarter, wiser, older.

"No." this time, her mouth expelled the word bitterly.

"Did you know?" She asked, voice hoarse from screaming before. Ivan looked at his younger sister, "Yes." He admitted, and she shook her head.

She turned to look at him, towering before her. "No. Did you know what they did?" She asked.

He furrowed his brows at her, but he opted to remain silent instead.

"Mom... Mom was raped, tortured...and killed in front of Dad. In front of me." She took a breath filled with anguish "in my very room..." she continued, recalling.

"And the next morning I laid next to their lifeless bodies on the floor, waiting for them to wake up and kiss me good morning." she revealed, gasping for breath while her chest ached miserably.

Her eyes widened at him, her face red. "DID YOU KNOW?!" she challenged, causing Ivan to flinch at her tone.

"And you. lied. to. me! They didn’t die in a fire. NO. They were murdered, brutally. Why!?" Sam accused, confused as to why anyone would wish her parents such harm—confused as to why her own family didn’t strive for the justice they deserved.

Ivan’s expression was filled with shame, "I didn’t want them to be put under the rug as well." he confessed, clenching his jaw.

"Then who?" Sam asked.

"Denise, thought it best for the family name."

Sam scoffed at this, blinking in surprise with the petty excuse, and a tear fell down her cheek. "Family name?" She stated incredulously.

"Monster." The word came out of her mouth. Ivan nodded next to her, "I know." He nodded.

"No." She said, pulling her body away from him in disgust.

"You." She added in his confusion.

"You... and everyone else who let them burn, who killed them again. You let---" she continued, tear-filled, stopping herself suddenly... there was no need for speeches. It was too late.

The Family she once dreamt of coming home to. The Family she imagined will make her whole. The Family she had always hoped would take her back, accept her with her flaws, and maybe someday, she too, will be worthy of being called ’Fredricksen.’

But now,

’Fredricksen can kiss my fucking ass.’ Sam seethed; it was the day she decided to forsake it. The family name.

She stood up and took one foot after the other, away from him.

She would not be like the ’Family’; she would not be a monster like them.

Gray, that’s who she’ll be.

Gray, as her feelings were.

"Sam!" Ivan called, looking at her retreating back. Walking away from him as fast as her shaky legs could take her.

"I told you, it’s---" he started to say, following behind her.

"No." She disagreed, looking back at him in the eye with silent fury. It was real anger, and it was the first time he’d seen her look at him like that.

"I learned that the monsters were never under my bed." she stated, "They are among us. Sometimes, they’re family." She added, recalling the worst monster of all. Her grandmother’s Denise’s face flashed before her. The memory of her looking down at her weeks after the ’tragic death,’ the look she had given her. The disgust on her face as she stared down at the toddler that she was. How she had kept her hidden in a room till she finally decided to toss her out.

"You let them send me away." she whispered; he had let her subconsciously battle her illogical fears alone. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Ivan furrowed his brows, clenching his jaw before opening his mouth to speak. "No." he denied.

He looked straight to her eyes; the shame that once was in his eyes was gone. "It was I, who sent you away." He confessed.