Mabel was lovely.

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When I was chosen to be her healthy living carer, I was beyond thrilled.

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Compared to some of the other clients I'd worked with over my time, Mabel was a definite (even though we weren't technically 'supposed to' have them..) favorite of everyone's.

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She was still mostly senile, for one. She didn't have behavioral problems, like some of the others. She didn't need as much care either, physically or mentally.

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The only reason that Mabel was receiving care from our department was the fact she'd recently broken a hip, and while she was in hospital recovering from the replacement surgery, they found out she had cancer, and it had spread, quite a lot.

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And with no family, no one to be there to care for her.. Well, she fell into our pile of paperwork and that's how this story all began.

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My first shift, I arrived at Mabel's early. She was still living alone, determined not to end up dying in hospital, but rather the comfort of her own home.

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I let myself in and set about the list of chores she had requested be done through the agency.

A bit of cleaning, vacuum and mop.

Make lunch, and prepare dinner, so it only needs to be heated.

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Mabel was waiting for me in the lounge.

The place was huge, and for a moment I second guessed myself about how 'easy' this job was really going to be.

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As if seeing my worried thoughts, Mabel gave me a bright smile and patted a spot on the dark green velvet couch she was siting on.

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"Come, sit." she drawled, and I did, instantly.

For some reason I was drawn to Mabel. Maybe it was that I felt sorry for her, maybe it was that she reminded me of what a grandmother figure would look like, had I been lucky enough to have one.

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"I've made you a tea. My favorite green tea blend." she indicated to a dainty China tea cup that sat on a doily.

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I nearly laughed out loud, seeing the doily. I felt like I was in a bizarre old fashioned tea party.

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Get a grip, I scolded myself, she's an old lady, of course she will have old stuff.

I picked up the tea cup, and sipped. It wa tepid at best, and disgustingly bitter. I'd never been a fan of green tea, but I'd never known it to taste quite so awful, either.

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Mabel was watching me intently, a pleased smile on her face as I downed the rest of the drink in one sickening gulp,barely managing to splutter out a 'lovely, thanks.' as I swallowed the remains of the teacup.

"Now my dear, now where was I? Oh yes, that's right, the list..".

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I woke, confused. Sweat pooled all over my body, sticking my Tshirt to my stomach like a second skin.

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I was in a bed, not my own. My head was pounding, a headache worse than any I'd had after a big night of drinking.

I try to remember what I was doing.. Before.. Before this. But I can't.

And then I think, Mabel.

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Mabel taps across the hardwood floors on with her walking cane. She hobbles, presumably from the surgery she had on her hip. She peers at me on the bed, a look of contemplation on her face.

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"I'm sorry, dear. It was a last resort, really. I didn't want to, buts needs must.." she murmured, more to herself that me. "I need someone to tell my story to. I need someone to listen"

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My head is spinning, but I remember work. They will realise something is wrong, and they will come looking.

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As if reading my mind, Mabel gave a nod. She handed me back my mobile, placing it on the bed beside me. It was dead, the black screen mocking me as it shook in my hands.

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"I've contacted your office. Told them.. And I'm really sorry about this, but I will pay you for what you're doing for me. I have lots of money. I just needed.. Anyway. I called your office, I told them you had abused me, that you had broken my good China tea set and stormed out. I told your office I was appalled at the behavior of their Staff and I wanted nothing more to do with them. They of course promised me you would be fired."

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Now my head wasn't just spinning, I was speechless, gobsmacked. I could not belive that this was not just a bad dream, and I'd wake up in reality any minute.

But I didn't.

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"And you're single, after that nasty divorce. No kids. No one to miss you, for a little while. Ive paid your rent for a time as well, so you needn't worry about your landlord kicking you out. I know this all sounds crazy but.." she shrugged, as if that's was all there was to say.

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"What the fuck is going on?" I'm angry, but I'm also crying. The tears are hot, streaming out down my face and soaking my sweated drenched Tshirt even further. "Please. I just want to go home."

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Mabel looks sad, and she nods solemnly. "I know that feeling, oh yes, I do. It's going to be okay. I just need you to listen."

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"You..you just want me to.. Listen?"

"I'm dying. Sooner, not later." seeing my expression she raised her hand to stop me from talking. "No. The doctors don't have a damn idea what they're talking about. I don't have much time left, and I know it. That's why it's so damn important I tell someone what truly happened, before it's too late."

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"When I was younger, well life was but a dream. I grew up with two sisters, three brothers. I was the youngest." Mabels gaze wandered and she smiled as she recalled the memory. "Our parents weren't rich, but we didn't struggle as much as some of the other families we knew. One day, my eldest brother got sent off to war. He was enlisted in the army, and I suppose his time of waiting to fight, was up.

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When Johnny left, he was like sunshine. He made you smile by doing these silly funny faces, he'd pull his cheeks open and blow his nostrils out, making us younger kids alll raw with laughter.

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When he came home.. He was like thunder. He screamed at us over the slightest things. At night he would cry, and it was so, so loud. We wanted to go in there and comfort him, but we were scared. Mum and dad had told us to leave him be, he just needed time, and he'd be better soon.

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A few weeks later, it was summer and it was stinking hot. Mum let us swim in the dam at the back of the house, and we'd spent all morning down there, splashing and cooling off against the heat.

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Johnny didn't come, he hadn't done anything with us for a long time. He stayed in his room, all the time. He still cried at night, but he didn't seem angry anymore. Just tired. I was glad for this side of Johnny, I didn't like it when he was mad. If he was just a bit tired, than mum and dad were right and things really would be okay.

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The shot sounded as we splashed.

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I was the youngest, but I was the quickest.

Ruth, my older sister, tried to pull me back but I was too fast for her. I wriggled free from her grip and I ran faster than I've ever run.

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His once pale blue bedroom walls were stained bright with red, the smell of gunpowder and blood sickening and overpowering.

I didn't hesitate, I walked right up to him. Most of his head was gone, but his hand was still holding the gun.

It felt like hours that I stood there staring at it all, at him, what was left of him.

But of course it was only moments, minutes at most, as my siblings rushed into the room and the screaming erupted the world.

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I dreamed of it every night.

The smell permintrated my nostrils at all times.

When my eyes were closed I saw the blood coating the walls, brain matter on the lamp shade.

I didn't have nightmares.

I wasn't scared or sickened.

I wanted to see it, to smell it, again."

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I stare at Mabel, at this sweet and petite, little old lady. She is wearing a dark Grey skirt that finishes past her knees. Skin tone stockings, fancy hard bottomed slippers on her feet.

A dainty string of pearls adorn her wrinkled neck, a cardigan wrapped around her arms. A fucking doily, on the lounge room table.

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I realise how fucked up my situation is and suppress a panic attack. I can't process the fact that I am restrained to the bed by a woman, albeit elderly and frail. She had drugged me, tied me up and made me listen to this.. Abomination.

I want to throw up.

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"It wasn't long before I got my chance. A new boy in town Took a shining to me. He'd heard about my brother, of course. And he was like me. Instead of being scared of it, he embraced it.

Took a shining to me. He'd heard about my brother, of course. And he was like me. Instead of being scared of it, he embraced it.

I described to him in vivid detail Johnny's body, how the scent had lingered and how I wished I'd put my finger in the pooling blood, just so I could get a taste.

He wanted that, he wanted that more than anything so we worked out a plan.

My dad owned a gun. I knew the lock code to the safe where he kept it.

I had 2 brothers now, and I had two sisters.

And I also had mum and dad.

Could you imagine?

I mean, could you even imagine, how much blood there would be from 6 people?

It was perfect."

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Bile is in my mouth now. I am crying openly.

Mabel looks at me with pity, but I don't think it's for my tears.

I think she feels pity that I am not like her.

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"We had so much fun. It was one of the best days of my life. I'd never known how powerful it was to hold a gun, to shoot it. And their faces.." Mabel gave a low chuckle. "They never saw it coming.

We got dad first, it was just easier that way. And then my mum. She was one that did disappoint me.

Ever since Johnny, she'd been in a dark place she couldn't get out of. She seemed to welcome the bullet to her chest. She never tried to fight back.

My two oldest siblings were next, we went down the line, oldest to youngest. It took so long and made it even better, because once they realised what was going on.. They hid. So it was a big game of cat and mouse, with a bullet at the end." another soft chuckle.

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"Why are you doing this? Are you going to kill me? Is this why you need me to listen to... To this.. Horror?"

I can't take it anymore. I'm screaming, trashing about. The way she is laughing at describing her own families murder, my blood feels like ice, I'm terrified.

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"You don't get to ask the questions until I'm finished with my story." for the first time, I see mabels eyes firey. I see the mean side, the evil. "Now, where was I? Hmm.. Oh yes. Well, we caught them all. Eventually. Turns out some were really good hidders. But we got there in the end.

Now Ron, he was an okay guy, but it wasn't like I was in love. Plus, I did not want to go on the run. And I definitely wasn't going to jail.

The easy part was killing him, the hard part was having to punch myself repeatedly until my eye was swollen and closed. I'm not manic, but I needed it to look like I had been injured too. I wasn't stupid.

I waited a while, and then I called the Sherriffs office. Before long, I was bundled up in the back of the police car, being taken to the hospital to get cared for.

I broke down when the Sherriff told me my whole family had been wiped out. I screamed so hard I needed to be medically sedated.

It was funny, when I was really young, I used to dress up and put on my plays to entertain my family.

Mum always said I was a natural actor." Mabel pats me on the leg, a small nod to show it was now my turn to speak, that she had finished.

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My eyes can't focus, I'm sobbing so hard. I think I've wet myself. I don't have any questions for Mabel anymore or at least I can't think of any.

I just want to get out of here, as soon as possible.

"Please." is all I can muster. "Please."

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Mable complies. Waddling over and unlocking the keys on the chains my hands have been bound by.

"It's been lovely to chat with you, Freya. I'm so grateful for you listening." Mabel smiles at me again, sweet and innocent.

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I scramble up and while woozy on my feet, my a beeline for the door straught away.

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I hear the gunshot before I'm down the first stair.

And for some reason, I stop mid step.

There's nothing more I want than to get the hell out of that house.. But for some reason, that metallic smell just smells so damn good.

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It's dusk when I leave Mabel's.

I cleaned up as best I could, though I knew no one would be checking up on her for a long, long time. As Mabel had said herself, it's hard to be missing when you're not missed by anyone.

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As for me, I think it's a glorious evening to try my hand at the gun range.

I've never been much of a shooter, but it's never too late to learn a new hobby, right?