Leave Your Shame at the Door

John’s truck pulled into the driveway, and he got out in a manner that more than emphasized his anxiety in that moment. Instead of heading inside the house, he opened up the side gate and walked over to the barn.

He pears in to check if their new resident was still out cold, and left a bowl of food and water by the door. John then stood there looking at his own feet. He opened his mouth to speak but decided instead to walk back around through the front of his house.

“Hey hun how was work?”

“it was alright…I saw mom’s car leave on the way here, what was she wantin?”

“Oh she just came to say hi. I guess they’re having a reunion next month, and came to invite us.”

“God I hate those and her damn casseroles, but we could show up if you think we should. It’s been awhile.”

“Well there’s a reason we try to distance ourselves.”

“Yeah…She didn’t notice anything strange did she?”

“You mean strange like that damn thing you got locked in the barn? That is your problem. I told you I wasn’t gonna talk about it”

By the time night began to fall, John’s wife Meredith was already fast asleep. He knew he had to do something about it. She just hasn’t looked at him the same way since. It’s as if the work they’ve put into in to helping this town was suddenly not worth doing anymore.

For John, it’s the only thing that’s keeping him going. He looked for a purpose in his life for so long before finding it with her, and something so minuscule isn’t gonna stop him.

“We’re the heroes this town needs. We’ve always been and we always will”

He grabbed his shotgun, and once again walked out to the barn.

“Don’t be scared now, someones gotta protect this town. And this isn’t gonna stand in our way. He’s already basically dead.”

As if from reading his mind , a wailing came from the Inside.

Johns heart stopped.

He pears in through the crack in the barn door and he just can’t go through with it.

The next day, the couple didn’t interact until around noon time when Meredith turned to John saying “I heard it scream last night John…”

He then turned towards her slowly, “I just couldn’t do it.”

“Alright, we’ll go out there together and deal with it. If it means we can get back to our life, then I guess we have to.”

“If you go with me, I know I’ll be able to.”

Night fell and John came home a bit later than usual. Meredith stood there with the shotgun with a look of shock on her face.

“What the hell happened Marie?” he said as he pulled the gun from her.

“I don’t think we should do this John.”

“What the hell do you mean? He saw what we did! If we let him go, that’d be the end. Of us, of everything we’ve worked for!”

As if this interaction gave him the fire he needed, he ran up to the barn door and pulled it open.

There behind a large barrel of hay sat a boy. Hands and feet tied up, and mouth taped shut. He began to wake up and by the time they were right up to him, he had turned to them and immediately started screaming.

“Pleaseeee John! Just”

John picked up the boy and threw him towards the door. He then pulled out his pocket knife and severed the ropes tying him up…

“Get the hell out of here kid” John said, as he fell to his knees.

“What if he?…” Meredith muttered.

“We’re killers. We’ve always been. It’s about time we’ve realized that…I hope he does”