The Picture

"Please read us Good Night, Moon!" The kids pleaded with me. Every time I watched these kids, I had to read them that book. Richard, their father had told me that he had to read it every night to them too. "Please, Carrie!"

Sighing I picked up the book and opened it. My head began spinning like I was on a tilt-a-whirl. Stuck in between the pages of the book was a picture. One of the most disturbing pictures that I had ever seen in my life. The picture was of me hanging from a tree naked, and my throat was slit.

A scream got stuck in my chest. Someone had put this here, knowing that I would find it. Who would do such a thing? As the thoughts swirled around in my head, I could not take my eyes off of the picture. Whoever took the time to photoshop it did a really good job.

"I'll read it to you guys in a couple of minutes. I just need to use the restroom." My voice was shaky but the kids didn't notice. Instead of heading to the bathroom, I went downstairs to get my phone. Dylan, my boyfriend would know what to do.

My phone chimed as if it were annoyed. I hit the home button to light it up and let out a blood curdling scream. The text read: "I know what you did, Bitch. Now it's time to die."

The kids were abnormally quiet, especially since I had just screamed. After a few deep breaths, I climbed the stairs. There was no way that I wanted the kids to see me upset and have them freak out. The silence upstairs was deafening. Kids were never silent like this, especially at the ages of 7 and 9.

Their room was pitch black when I opened the door. It added to the uneasiness that I had been feeling, there was always a night light on in their room and in the bathroom. I flipped on the light and two things hit me: the kids were gone and there was writing on the wall. "Burn in hell bitch."

Somehow the door had closed behind me. When I grabbed the handle it was hot to the touch, and smoke began to creep in from the gap at the bottom of the door. Choking, I backed away from the door and tried to think of another plan. The window.

It was only a two story jump. I landed on the ground, and my ankle gave out. The frustration I felt with everything going on made it more difficult for me to get up. After what seemed like an eternity, I was back on my feet.

A pair of arms wrapped around me, and the hands covered my face. Something that smelled like gasoline filled my nostrils. Blackness began to overtake me, and soon it was all that I could see. Soon after my mind went blank.

"Susan, Caroline?" The fog was starting to lift from my brain. Where were the girls that had been in my care? Who in the world would have taken them?

Somewhere in the distance Adele could be heard crooning about how her and her ex-lover could have had it all. My hands were tied behind my back, and my midsection was tied to a tree. Why in the world would someone bring out to the woods?

A beam of light flashed and there I was. Before I could question how there was electricity, the picture on screen took me by surprise. My body was intertwined with Richard's. My heart dropped and suddenly it all made sense. Erica had discovered that I had been having an affair with her husband and now she was out to exact revenge.

It was dangerous to plant a picture like that in the kid's book but she knew that the girls would never open the book on their own. They would ask someone, me, to read them the book. "Enjoying the show?"

"I could scream and someone would come to rescue me."

"Nobody is going to rescue you, Dollface. You are way out in the middle of the woods, where no one ever comes."

"Then how is there electricity?" If I kept Erica talking it would give me time to formulate a plan. There was no way in hell that I was dying out in the middle of the woods but some jealous wife.

"It's called a generator." The agitation in the disguised voice was still apparent. Maybe it was just what I wanted to hear but I knew it was there. My hands were moving up and down, behind me in the hopes of me getting them free. "If you want me to free you, I will. I must warn you however that I will shoot you."

Erica was untying me, though it did seem too easy. The threat of her shooting me loomed large but running was my only option. When I was free, I tried to run but slammed into Erica. Except it wasn't her. I looked up and pushed back the black hood that my captor wore. The person who had tormented me wasn't Erica, it was my boyfriend Dylan.

"I loved you. I thought we had a long future together," His voice was tinged with sadness. "Then I found out that you were playing out the stereotypical babysitter/father affair fantasy."

"It wasn't like that." It slowly dawned on me how it sounded, there was no defense for what I had done. "Richard and I...."

"Thought you could get away with it. I know," Erica said from behind me. She had a gun trained on me, ready to shoot. "And you would have too if the girls hadn't told me you liked to play hide and seek with my husband."

She shot the gun, Dylan pushed me out of the way and fell to the ground. He clutched his chest as the life drained out of him.