Mary's Secret

It all began one night in a small town called Sladenville, population of about 1200. A widowed woman named Mary gave birth to her first child; a son. Mary's husband was murdered when she was six months pregnant. His death was brutal; he was beheaded and completely drained of blood when they found his body. When the town sheriff found the man responsible for his death, he was wearing the skin of Mary's husband, wearing his head as a hat and covered in his blood. They arrested the man, but he was not sane enough to stand trial. He was sentenced to the towns' insane asylum called Shady Oak. He was to spend the rest of his life at Shady Oak and never to be set free.

The night Mary gave birth to Jacob was the beginning of her new life. Mary now had a reason to live. When Jacob was a child, Mary would tell him bedtime stories about how her and his dad met. The older he got, the more Jacob wanted to know. Mary dreaded the question "how did daddy die" and hoped Jacob wouldn't ask until he was old enough to understand.

Years went by and Jacob was old enough to start school. The death of her husband had become a town legend and everyone knew the story. She knew there was a chance Jacob could find out in school. Mary would rather Jacob hear it from her, instead of another child. Mary decided it was time to tell Jacob about how his father had died. Jacob was six years old and it was the six year anniversary of his fathers' death. Mary anxiously awaited Jacobs's arrival. When Jacob walked in the door, Mary sat him down and told him she needed to have an important talk with him. Jacob sat and listened attentively. Mary explained the best she could in a way that a six year old could understand. Jacob sat quietly through the whole conversation and finally at the end, Jacob responded with "can I meet this man?" Mary was instantly filled with anger, confusion, and sadness. Her instinct was to tell Jacob no, reluctantly, she said yes.

Two weeks later, Mary and Jacob drove to Shady Oak to see the man responsible for the murder. Jacob and Mary sat in a small room waiting for the "monster" to be brought in. Two men in white doctors' coats brought him in. He was very small, had long scraggly hair, a beard, and he was shackled from wrist to ankle. Jacob just sat and stared with an alarming smile on his face. No one said a word. Twenty minutes later the visit was over. Jacob hadn't said a word the whole drive home, except to ask his mom if they could get a puppy. Surprisingly, the visit hadn't affected Jacob in the slightest bit. Mary decided it would be best not to mention their visit to Shady Oak unless Jacob spoke of it first.

A year had passed and Jacob seemed as normal as any other seven year old. His grades in school were every parents dream. He had many friends and appeared to be the perfect child. Mary decided to reward Jacob with the puppy he had asked for on the drive home from Shady Oak. Jacob named the puppy David. Mary asked Jacob why he chose that name and he just shrugged his shoulders. Jacob and David became the best of friends.

Nine years had passed and still not one word about the visit to Shady Oak. Jacob was now sixteen years old. Halloween was approaching and Jacob was invited to his first party. Mary was leery, but Jacob had never given her a reason to worry. Halloween was here and it was Jacobs's big night out. Dressed in a white doctors coat, a hatchet and butcher knife in his right pocket, face painted pale white with blood dripping from his mouth, Jacob was ready. Mary wanted him home no later then 1am. Mary sat and watched the clock, it was 1am and no Jacob. Two hours had passed and still Jacob had not returned home, Mary called the sheriff. Back at the party, Jacob was having the time of his life. Unfortunately, it was everyone else's end of life. Jacob went one by one killing each and every person there. Each body was laid out the same. Decapitated, disemboweled, dismembered and bled out. Jacob danced on their intestines while pouring blood over himself, singing, and wearing their skin as his new Halloween costume. Rotating whose head he would wear next. When the sheriff found Jacob he was sitting in a circle of bodies, and when the sheriff asked him why, his reply was...I'm just following in my fathers footsteps. All those years, Mary was keeping a secret from Jacob and everyone else. Jacobs's father David was the man who killed Mary's husband sixteen years ago, and Jacob knew it. He had found his mothers diary when he was seven years old. Mary had an affair and when her husband turned up murdered, she kept it a secret from the sheriff and everyone else in fear of being accused of her husbands' murder.