His name was Karl, with a K, not a C. He owned one of the largest farms in Terrytown, Nebraska. He was a 20 years old, and proud of his farming accomplishments. He was harmless; at least that’s what she thought. Her name was Belisma Aislinn West. She moved to Terrytown with her mom, stepdad, and older brother, Douglas. She was 16 years old and in eleventh grade, she had a southern accent, bleach blond hair, blue eyes, and freckles. She was so happy she could start over in a new town, with new people, and a new look. She was a new girl. She was crammed in a moving truck next to her 27 year old brother, -who should have been moved out by now-
“Mom, how am I supposed to find the future Mrs. West when all there is around here is farms?” Douglas whined.


“Well dear, maybe if you found her back in North Carolina, you wouldn’t be here, with us, moving to Terrytown.” Douglas shot her mother the death glare then starred out the window.

“What about you, sweetie?” Belisma’s mom questioned.


“What about me what, Mom?


“Will you be looking for a new boy?” Her mom said with a smile


“Of course I will, Mom that was a dumb question” she said.



The gas was dwindling and they had to stop at a run-down gas station with cheesy posters hanging in each window.

“Mom I’m going to get some snacks” Belisma yelled while jumping out of the U-Haul truck




“Mom, I’m going to find my future wife!” Douglas followed her out of the truck
The warm Nebraska air filled the convenience store, a rusted old air conditioner sat in the window but wasn’t on. A young man about 17 sat behind the counter wildling a stick. He was sitting down so she couldn’t tell his height but she thought he was cute and wanted to talk to him. His dark brown hair was matted to his head from sweat; his chocolate brown eyes looked at the lengths of her body up and down.
“Psst Bel” Douglas whispered from an isle “BELLLLLLLLLL PSSSSST!” this time not so much whispering, just wanting to get her attention.

“What do you want stupid!” she shot back clenching her teeth.

“Bel, that boy, there behind the counter was so checking you out, he wants you!”

“Go away Douglas!” she pushed him then walked to the candy aisle. The paint on the walls was chipping and it was extremely hot. She stood in the aisle debating between Starburst and chocolate. She finally picked up the Starburst, grabbed an Arnold Palmer and went to check out. The boy behind the counter scrambled to get to his feet, put his knife and stick down, brushed himself off, and then smiled.
“Well hiya there, miss. Will this be all today?” He flashed a crooked smile showing his perfectly straight teeth. His southern drawl made Belisma blush.
“Yes, this is it.” she said while trying not to look at him.
“Ya’ll new round here?” he asked while ringing up her items.
“Uhh yes! Yeah we’re new, moving into Terrytown”
“Really? That’s where I live! Maybe I’ll see ya’ll in school sometime,” he replied anxiously.


“Oh yeah! I’m Belisma by the way. That idiot making a mess back there is my brother Douglas.” The boy smiled and stuck out his hand.
“I’m Jensen, most my friends call me J,” she shook his warm, rough hand
“It was nice talking to you J I hope I see you again soon,”
“Oh trust me darling you will”

Belisma grabbed Douglas’ arm then dragged him out of the store, she knew he was going ask about the boy but before he did she made him swear he wouldn’t say anything to their mom.
They all jumped back into the car and drove away in silence. Belisma’s mom was smiling as she drove, she saw Belisma talking to the boy and thought back to when she was a child and had crushes. Then she frowned, thinking of the love she once had with their father but died after she walked in on him with one of his mistresses. Soon they turned onto Blue Orchard Street and found their new house. It was a greyish color and was big. Belisma jumped out and ran to the door; she wanted the biggest room. After settling after a few hours and unpacking a little, everyone sat down and relaxed.
“Hey Mom?” Belisma yelled from the stairs
“Yes, Sweet- pea?”
“I’m gunna go look around for a bit okay?”
“Don’t get lost, make sure you have your phone!” her mom said smiling “Mom, I’m a teenage girl, of course I have my phone.” She sasses back while running down- stairs. Belisma left the house and walked down the street, she lived in a nice neighborhood, with nice people, and nice houses. It was all very nice, and boring. The houses were all pretty much the same size and color. Everyone seemed to have the same type of car. If you walked off of Blue Orchard and took a left, it took you out of that nice little neighborhood and in to town. If you took a right, then all you would see for the next 17 miles was farm. Belisma decided to take a right, she knew she wouldn’t see much but she was hoping to maybe catch a glimpse of a nice looking farm boy that just happen to be working shirtless. She wandered for a while down the long boring road. There was a tall, blonde boy working on the farm next to her. He was just getting off his big green tractor when he noticed Belisma. He walked over to her; he was wearing overalls with no shirt underneath, and brown Timberland boots.



“Hello there, miss. How ya’ll doin on this here fine day?”



“Hey, I’m fine, how are you, sir?”



“I’m, well I’m, hmm I’m tired. I’ve been plowin crops all day. Hey, I don’t recognize you. Ya’ll from these parts?”



“No, just moved in that there neighborhood down the street. My name is Belisma, by the way; you can call me Bel though if you please.”



“Well howdy, Bel, my name is Karl. I own just about 95% of the farms you see round here.”


“Really? You’re like mad young, how is that possible?” Belisma was really interested in Karl, she wasn’t just pretending like she was.


“Well, ya see, Bel. My granddaddy passed not too long ago and I ain’t got no daddy, and my ma can’t take care of all the fields by her lonesome so in my granddaddy’s will it said I own them and may do whatever I please with them,” he said all proud of him-self


“Wow, that’s… wow.” She was shocked and wasn’t quite sure what to say back.

“You know ya’ll probably the purdiest thing that’s ever lived in Terrytown, can I take you out sometime, Bel? I promise I’m a real gentlemen, I’ll even come to your house and pick ya up.”
He was blushing as he was confessing his attraction to her. Belisma was hesitant to answer because she didn’t know Karl that well and he could be some psycho rapist murder but she took the chance.

“Yeah, I guess it wouldn’t hurt. You could show me around town a bit. My address is 73110 Blue Orchard street.”

“Gee, this is gunna be the best night of my life, how’s tomorrow around five? I gotta plow so more so I might be a little late.”
“That’s fine, I guess I’ll see ya then,” she said with a smile

“Thank you, Ms. Belisma.” He kissed her hand and went back to his tractor.


Belisma back tracked and made her way into town. She was looking at all the little shops they had and wanted to go in, but most were closed by six. She did stop in a Tim Horton’s though and got some hot chocolate. She was texting and walking down the street and accidently ran into someone.
“Sorry miss, didn’t mean to bump in to you” she knew that thick southern accent before looking up. It was J from the gas station. “No, no it’s my fault sorry J” her face grew red with embarrassment “Bel? Didn’t even notice it was you at first glance, any who, sorry for runnin in to ya’ll” his face soon was turning red too, he liked Belisma and wanted to make her his. “No it’s fine. A little oxy clean and this stain should come out. Just hope no one notices it as I’m walkin back home.” She said while trying to cover the hot chocolate stain with her arm. “Well how far away is home? My house is just round that there corner and I could let ya’ll barrow one of my shirts then give ya a ride home.” “That’s too sweet, I hate to be a burden, ya’ll don’t gotta do that for me” she said “Ya’ll are far from being a burden, trust me I don’t mind” he flashed him his smile and her heart melted. “Thank you J” she blushed and smiled.
She entered her house around 9:00pm. Having several missed calls, and text from her mother. “Belisma Aislinn West, where the hell have you been? Aren’t you like every other teenager and check your phone whenever it rings or vibrates! We just moved here and you’re already out causing trouble!” her mother kept ranting as she tried to explain “Mom…mom…MOM.”
“WHAT!” she snapped at her
“If you’d let me freaking talk then I could tell you where I was! I met this boy-“
“Oooooh! What’s his name? How old is he? Where does he live? Does he have a job?” her tone immediately changed
“His name is Jensen, I call him J. he works at the gas station we stopped at a little out of town. He’s 17” she was monotone hoping her mom would not get involved.
“Well I want to meet this boy sometime soon if he’s gunna be marrying my daughter someday” she said with a motherly tone
“Mom! I don’t even know if he likes me back and you’re already talking about marriage? You just want me out of the house don’t you?” she said while putting her hands on her hips
“Oh hunny, you know I love you, but it would be nice to have the house all to myself” she joked Belisma trudged upstairs and went to bed. It was a Thursday night in the middle of summer. The next morning she woke up and ran down stairs already dressed and ready for the day
“Mornin’ mama, I’m goin out” she said while grabbing a blueberry muffin
“And just where do you think your going Belisma Aslinn?”
“I’m gunna, umm, I’m-I’m gunna look for a job!” she spat out anxiously.
“Belisma where are you really going?” her mom saw right through her lie
“I’m gunna go hang with J”
“This early? It’s 9 am! You never ready this early, you don’t even get out of bed until noon!” her mom said with attitude
“Well, I ummm kind of like this boy okay! Geeze mom! Can’t you leave a poor girl alone?” she rolled her eyes
“Fine. Have fun sweetheart” Belisma left and walked down the street to J’s house. She got there and his truck was sitting in the rocky drive way. She knocked on the door and he ran down stairs dressed in a t-shirt, with dark blue wrangler jeans, and boots. He looked stunning. They went in to town and J showed her all around. He took her shopping and bought her a charm bracelet.
“Hey Bel I got a surprise for you, close your eyes” his voice was calm and soothing. He wrapped a blind fold around her face and helped her up in to his truck.
The drive was around 30 minutes long and she kept the blind fold on the whole time. The country air filled his car. They were blasting a Jason Aldean cd and singing along. They were happy. In that moment in both of their lives everything was alright. Neither of them had a worry. All they had and wanted was each other. Eventually the truck stopped J got out and went around to Belisma’s side to help her down. He walked her through an enormous grassy meadow and sat her down on a blanket. He took the blind fold off of her to reveal a picnic set up for two people. They enjoyed their lunch and desert that j had made for them. They smile and giggled and loved having one another around. The daylight would soon be dying and the moon would soon come to life. They packed everything up and headed home. J drove Bel back home.
“Thank you J, that was all very sweet of you. It was the best day ever.” She smiled “You’re welcome darling’. I had a great day too. See you tomorrow?” he blushed “Yes” she answered happily “Goodnight Ms. Belisma” he reached out and kissed her cheek “Goodnight Jensen” She had to run upstairs and get ready, it was almost 5pm and she had a date with Karl. She really liked J and wanted to be with him, but as she promised she would go on a date with Karl. When she was done getting ready she waited down stairs. Her parents weren’t home and neither was her brother. After waiting for a while the doorbell rang. It echoed through the vacant house. She jumped up, looked in the mirror then answered the door. He was wearing a plaid button up shirt with faded blue jeans, a hat and boots. His blonde hair was combed over to the side. He hand a bouquet of flowers in his hand. “Uhh these are for you.” He smiled and handed her the flowers “That’s so sweet thanks you!” she set the flowers down on a box and hugged him. “That’s a nice bracelet, where’d ya’ll get it?” he asked while grabbing her wrist
“Oh, my friend J got it for me” she answered while smiling, a great big smile.
“You mean Jensen?” he questioned through clenched teeth and started talking before she could answer “I know him, he’s an alright kid. Likes to get into trouble though”
“Really? He doesn’t seem like the type” she didn’t really believe Karl but she played along. Karl gave a disgusting look and grabbed her hand
“Ya’ll ready?” he asked
“Yeah, let’s go”
They spent the night out on the town. He took her out to diner then showed her some fields that had a great view of the sunset. They sat down in a wheat field and watched the sun tumble down behind the clouds. Karl kept trying to put his arm around her or hold her hand but she kept pushing away remembering she wanted to be with J. They got back in Karl’s truck and he drove her home. It was 10:30 pm when she got home, still no one was at her house. She tried to call her mom, stepdad, and brother but no one answered their phones. She didn’t worry about it much because they all were adults and could handle themselves. Her house was quiet and huge. You could hear the wind whistle through the maple wood floors. It was still warm outside so she opened the window. Belisma thought she kept hearing a noise in the bushes in her front yard, but it was pretty windy so she just ignored it. She sat down on the couch and turned on the TV. It was sitting on top of a bin because the moving truck with most of their furniture hadn’t arrived yet. From her peripheral vision she swore she saw someone by the window every so often but kept telling herself it was nothing. Later she went to bed, still no one was home.
When she woke up in the morning the house was the same, empty. Her parents still have not returned and her brother was also still missing. She tried their phones again but still, no answer.
“Hey, J?” she asked already knowing the answer
“Yeah what’s up Bel?”
“My parents and brother are missing, they aren’t answering there phones. Last time I saw my mom was yesterday morning at breakfast. I haven’t seen john or Douglas at all.” Worry was thickly coated in her voice
“I’m comin’ over, don’t move” before he hung up you could hear him get in his truck. She sat back over on the couch, not even bothering to change her clothes but she did brush her teeth and hair. She heard a car pull in to her drive way but she knew it was J. he walked in without knocking. Going over to the couch he sat down next to her and grabbed her hand
“Bel, your parents and brother are okay, go get dressed were gunna go down to the police department and file a missing persons report.” He helped her up. The look on her face was calm but he could tell on the inside she was scared. She went upstairs and got dressed, throwing on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. Quickly pulling her hair back into a low pony tail and putting on some shoes they jumped into J’s truck and went into town. They spent two hours sitting in the police office telling them everything they knew.















***

Tied up by their wrist and ankles Belisma’s mom, step-dad, and brother were inside of a dark building waiting to see if they were going to live or die. Blood dripped from each of their wrist, they strained to get loose but it was useless. The door opened and the light blinded them. A figure stepped in and walked towards them. It was a man, they could tell by the broad shoulders and his clothes. He stepped closer to them; his face was covered with a potato sack with eyes and a mouth hole.
“Keep your mouth shut” he spat at them “you say anything and I’ll kill you this instant. Don’t worry about who I am. I’ll tell you what I want though. I want Belisma. I want her to be mine and not that pathetic sorry ass boy’s. He doesn’t deserve her, I DO!” There was emotions and power behind each word. Belisma’s mom whimpered. She was afraid for her life, for her husbands and son, but most of all Belisma’s. “Now listen to me and listen to me close. I want one of you, I don’t know which yet! But I want one of you to go back to your house and bring her here. You go anywhere but your house, I will hunt you down and kill you. I’ll have an assistant following you to make sure you do as you’re told. Once you bring her back here you will follow my assistant and not say a word. On the way here with her in the car you say one word I swear to god I will slit your throat, don’t you dare test me!” he was doing a good job on throwing his accent so no one would recognize his voice. He paced back and forth and would occasionally twitch. “You!” he said pointing to her stepdad “I want you to go and bring her here. Like I said you say one word to her I’ll cut your god damn throat.” He untied his wrist and ankles then let him fall to the ground. His body was having spasms and he was shaking uncontrollably. “Get up!” he kicked her stepdad causing him to spit blood all over the dirt floor “I said get up god dammit! Now!” Her stepdad stood up as straight as he could. The man was much taller than him and got in his face and grabbing his chin “you do everything I say, ya hear? If you don’t do what I ask I’ll slaughter you to pieces and feed you to the pigs, now get!” a man stepped out of the corner and grabbed her stepdads arm. Pushing him into a truck “drive, I’ll be following you. Just do as he asks okay? He’s a little schizophrenic and bipolar. He don’t take no medicine. Just do what he wants and everything will be okay.” Her stepdad started the truck and drove away. The assistant followed.













***
Belisma and J headed back to her house to wait for the police to call with any information about her parents and brother. J made hot chocolate while she sat and waited on the couch. She turned the TV on to distract her. A black truck pulled up in her drive way and she wasn’t sure who it was until she saw john, her stepdad step out. He staggered slowly up the drive way, taking his time to get to the front door and bring Belisma to her fate. Finally the door knob twisted and he walked in.
“Belisma I need you to come with me” he said while smiling, trying to pretend that everything was going to be okay, when he really knew that himself, her brother and mother, were all going to die. He knew even if he did bring Belisma back to the barn like the masked man asked there was no way that he was gunna let three victims go and not expect them to go to the cops.
“Where are we going john? Where’s mom and Doug?” she had a confused look on her face
“Just please, come with me. They are safe I-I promise. Just come on”
“Only if J can go then I will” she said before agreeing to go anywhere
“He can’t I’m sorry, it’s a family event. Now go get in the car.” He said sternly
She exchanged looks with J then followed him and john out the door. John waited for J to leave until he started the engine and backed out of the drive way
“John, where are we going?” she knew something wasn’t right. John just kept driving, once in a while checking his review mirror to make sure the black escalade was still following him. Driving in silence most of the way, Belisma watched john’s face for any sign of emotion, but he was blank. They got to the barn, Belisma didn’t want to move, she didn’t want to take her seat belt off and remove her body from the leather seat. She knew had an idea of the fate that awaited her and she didn’t like it.
“Get out of the car Belisma” john said in a monotone voice. She just sat there with her arms crossed and looking forward
“Belisma get out of the damn car.” He raised his voice. He waited for her response but there was nothing
“Fine, but you brought me to this” he unbuckled her seat belt and grabbed her arms,
“let’s go” she struggled to get out of his grip but he was much bigger than she was so it was difficult
“John let go of me!” she blurred out through tears. He wouldn’t look at her he just turned his head and dragged her inside of the barn. He couldn’t come to terms with himself that he would be the reason as to why his family is killed.
“It took ya’ll long enough! Where the hell have ya been? I’ve been waiting!” The masked man yelled at them. He grabbed belisma’s ad brought her outside
“Karl! What the hell are you doing? Why are you doing this?” she shrieked at him
“Belisma, you gotta listen to me, please? “
no! get your grimy hands off of me! You bastered! No you’re a creep! Stay hell away from me!”
“Belisma please!” she started to back away “just listen to me! I’ll explain it to ya’ll!”
“No get away from me!” she turned to run away but he grabbed her arm
“I said listen to me dammit!” He wouldn’t let go of her
“Now when we go back in there you will tell your family you’re leaving with me, after you will get in my car and wait for me. My assistant will be following you so don’t you dare even try anything cause I will kill you. Now let’s go.” He kept ahold of her dragging and pushing her to keep her moving. He opened the door of the barn and pushed her in. There she saw her family binded by their wrist and ankles and john slouched against the wall. Her eyes flooded with tears but she forced them back, she wouldn’t give into him.
“Tell them.” He grabbed a fistful of hair and pulled
“I said tell them!”
“Mom, I-“she was cut off the barn door slammed open. Jensen was standing there
“Karl, drop her now” his tone was rough and he was serious as could be
“Karl drop her” he let her go, falling to her knees with a sigh of relief.
“What the hall do you think you’re doing here Jensen?” he said while walking over to him
“You had to pick her didn’t you Karl? Did you give her the sob story? How pa died and mama can’t handle the farms on her own?” he narrowed his eyes
“Jensen, what do you mean ma, and pa?” Belisma questioned while standing up
“Belisma he’s my brother, he hasn’t takin his meds, he thinks he don’t need em’ “Jensen said with hatred. Karl was leaning up against the barn wall with one foot resting up again the wall and the other stretched out in front of him
“bravo Jensen, you did well, you know what we have to do now” Karl kicked off the barn wall then walked towards belisma, she stood in awe not sure of what to do. He wrapped his arms around Belisma and whispered in her ear
“Sorry it had to be like this, I really wanted to keep you around” with that he stuck a knife in her back. She fell to the ground gasping for air and clutching her chest. She saw Jensen walk over to her family and place a bullet right in between each of their eyes. Karl put a hand over Belisma’s eyes and placed the cold barrel to her temple. He cocked the gun then pulled the trigger. The boy’s put the bodies in the back of Karl’s truck, brought them to his corn field and buried them beneath the soil. The town always did wonder why the corn tasted so sweet.