I Died To Divorce The Devil

August fifteenth. The thick, humid air hung heavy, the kind that promised a storm but delivered only heat. It was then, in the suffocating quiet of the small hours, that my drunken brother-in-law, Cody Albright, staggered into the west bedroom and assaulted my sleeping sister.

When I burst in, Holly lay on the rough cotton sheets, her face slick with tears. She looked at me—just one final, hollow gaze—then she scrambled up and slammed her head against the wall, collapsing in a heap.

Cody, reeking of cheap whiskey, zipped up his jeans and swayed, a smug, triumphant grin plastered across his face.

I lunged for him, ready to drag him to the Sheriff’s Department, but my in-laws swarmed me, blocking the door.

My mother-in-law, Mrs. Albright, pointed a shaking finger at Holly’s corpse. “She’s the one who lured him on! She killed herself because she failed to snag him!”

My husband, Marcus, shoved me back. “Stop making a scene! Cody’s still got to find a wife!”

I tried to escape, to run to the nearest phone and call the police, but they locked me in the tool shed for three days and three nights. I eventually died there, coughing up blood until my lungs failed.

When I opened my eyes again, Holly was standing before me, vibrant and whole, turning around to admire the new, floral-print hoodie I’d just bought her.

The nightmare of the past life flashed behind my eyes. I snatched the hoodie off her, threw it onto the bed, and dragged her out the door. I put her on a bus back to our parents’ farm, miles away.

I had just managed to lie down, exhausted but believing the worst had been averted, when a woman’s scream ripped through the dark house.

1

I scrambled off the bed, pulling on a shirt, and rushed out the door. The west bedroom door creaked open.

Cody Albright, so drunk he could barely stand, staggered out zipping up his jeans, a familiar, triumphant smirk on his face.

I ran to him, grabbing his arm. “It was you! Who was it? Who is in there?”

Cody just reeked of cheap booze, his mouth stretching into a lazy, drunken smile. “In the dark? Who can tell?”

Mr. and Mrs. Albright, my father- and mother-in-law, came rushing out, pulling me away from him.

“Why are you harassing Cody? It must have been some girl who was asking for it!”

The sight of their shameless faces, the cold memory of Holly’s last look—it sent a tremor of pure, blinding rage through me.

“Cody Albright, you think that’s funny? This is rape!”

Marcus, my husband, was the last to arrive. He grabbed my shoulder. “Willow, calm down. It was just a slip-up, they slept together, that’s all.”

My eyes narrowed with a hatred that felt centuries old. It was the same line. Last time, when my sister was dead, he said the same thing. Just a slip-up.

Mrs. Albright tried to smooth the corners of her mouth into a frown, failing. “It was two consenting adults, Willow. Just let it go.”

Then she added, practically giddy with greed, “And Holly is sixteen now. But since she’s been so careless with her reputation, she’ll need to bring $5,000 cash and promise to cover the whole wedding for Cody to take her.”

I froze. A second passed before the fog of anger cleared. They think the girl in there is Holly.

But Holly was safe, miles away, asleep in our parents’ house! She couldn’t possibly be here.

A cold dread crawled up my spine. My mind went blank with a horrifying realization: I had prevented Holly’s tragedy, but in this filthy pit of a family, I hadn’t stopped the crime. I had only changed the victim.

All I could think of was the girl crying softly behind that closed door. Who was she?

I spun around and slapped Cody as hard as I could. For the lost Holly of the previous life, and for the innocent girl in the bedroom now.

Cody stumbled backward, clutching his face, his eyes wide with disbelief. “You… you actually hit me?”

“You bet your life I did!” I grabbed the broom from the corner and started beating him with it, the coarse bristles and hard wood landing with dull thuds.

“Cody, who is in that room? You animal! Are you even human?”

Cody scrambled away. “Help! Mom, Dad, Sharon, the lunatic is attacking me!”

Mrs. Albright rushed forward to block me, but I shoved her aside with the broom handle. When Mr. Albright tried to step in, I glared at him, my eyes burning. “Dad! If you touch me, I swear, I’ll be at the Sheriff’s Department first thing tomorrow! I’ll make sure everyone in this county knows your son is a monster!”

Mr. Albright froze.

Marcus wrestled the broom out of my hand. “Willow, stop! He gets it!”

“Gets it?” I stopped, gripping Cody’s collar.

“Cody Albright, I am asking you one last time,” I leaned in, drilling him with my stare, “who is the person in that room?”

Cody was bleeding from the lip and had a bruise forming over his eye. He looked at me, his eyes darted away, and then, a slow, ugly grin spread across his face.

“Who do you think?” He spat a mouthful of blood and smirked, a total piece of scum. “It’s just your sister, Holly.”

He wiped the blood from his mouth. “Holly was happy to be with me, she knows how to play her cards right. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of her…”

“You’re a lying sack of trash!” I raised my hand again.

Marcus gripped me tightly. “Willow! Enough!”

Mrs. Albright, seeing her chance, seized it. Her voice was a hysterical shriek. “It was Holly! I saw her earlier! She led Cody on!”

Mr. Albright chimed in, nodding fiercely. “That’s right! It was Holly! Both of us saw them!”

I looked at their choreographed lies, their monstrous unity, and I started to laugh.

2

I laughed until the laughter twisted into sobs.

“Fine. Fine. Fine,” I nodded, my voice shaking. “You people are a spectacular show.”

I turned toward the west bedroom and screamed toward the silent door. “The girl inside, did you hear that? They all say you seduced a man!”

The west room remained dead silent.

Sharon, my elder sister-in-law, finished chewing her last sunflower seed, clapped the husks off her hands, and strolled over, her movements slow and deliberate.

“Well, Willow, what is all this? Making a scene in the middle of the night? Who can sleep through this racket?”

She walked up to Cody, looked him up and down, and sighed. “Cody, you really drank too much. But still…”

She shifted her focus to me, smiling thinly. “Willow, I hate to say it, but a girl’s business—if it’s mutual, what are you, her sister, making such a fuss about?”

I stared at the seed fragments sticking to her lips. “Say that again, Sharon.”

“I said,” Sharon drew out the words, “if the girl didn’t want it, could Cody force her? She must have been up for it herself.”

She leaned in, dropping her voice low enough to sound confidential, but loud enough for everyone to hear. “Your sister, Holly, she’s sixteen. Time for her to get married. Cody drinks a bit, but he’s family. Marry him, and she’ll be set.”

Smack!

I raised my hand and slapped her.

Sharon froze, holding her cheek, a high-pitched sound of disbelief escaping her. “You hit me?”

“That’s for your filthy mouth!” My eyes were bloodshot. “My sister’s reputation is not for you to chew on like trash!”

Dean, the eldest brother, came out of the main house, rubbing his eyes, wearing a jacket over his pajamas. “What’s the screaming about? Can a man get some sleep?”

He saw Sharon clutching her cheek and frowned. “What happened?”

Sharon immediately burst into dramatic tears, throwing herself at him. “Marcus’s wife hit me! Just because I told her not to interfere with Holly and Cody!”

Dean’s face hardened as he looked at me. “Sister-in-law, what are you doing? Disrupting the peace in the middle of the night?”

“Me disrupting the peace?” I pointed at the west room. “Your brother assaulted someone, and instead of doing anything, you blame me for making noise?”

Dean glanced at Cody, then at the west room. He waved a dismissive hand. “Cody was drunk. Stupid mistake. If the girl didn’t want it, he couldn’t have pulled it off. Just let it go, Willow. It’ll look bad for everyone if you push it.”

“Let it go?” I was shaking with fury. “A girl’s life, her reputation—you say just let it go?”

Dean tightened his coat around him. “Reputation? So what? They did the deed. If it was consensual, so what? No one died.”

No one died. That same monstrous phrase.

Last time, my sister died, and they said, “She couldn’t handle it, whose fault is that?”

I clenched my fists until my nails dug into my palms.

Marcus came over again, trying to pull me away. “Willow, Dean’s right, this will look bad. Let’s just make Cody marry Holly. After all…”

“After all what?” I twisted my head to glare at him. “After all, my sister was assaulted, so she has to marry the man who did it? Marcus, are you even a person?”

Marcus dropped his head, shamed, but still mumbled, “Well, what else can we do?”

Mrs. Albright, seeing her side winning, straightened up. “Exactly! If Cody marries Holly, it’s all smoothed over! Willow, stop being ungrateful!”

Mr. Albright nodded along. “Yes. Since Holly lost her purity before the wedding, have your parents bring the $5,000 and the wedding expenses, and Cody will marry her.”

Sharon, still nursing her cheek, added fuel to the fire. “Honestly, Holly should be thanking Cody. It’s a good family. Marrying into the Albrights is her lucky day!”

I stared at their calculating, shameless faces, and a wave of nausea so powerful it was physical washed over me.

3

My stomach churned. I bent over, dry-heaving, nothing coming up but acid and tears.

“Oh, what’s this?” Sharon mocked, her voice dripping with insincerity. “Putting on a show for us? You weren’t the one who got taken.”

I straightened up, wiping the tears from my face, and looked at Marcus. “Marcus, I’m telling you this now. Before sunrise, Cody Albright goes to the Sheriff’s Department and turns himself in. If not, I go instead.”

“You wouldn’t dare!” Mrs. Albright shrieked. “If you go, I’ll tell Marcus to divorce you!”

“Divorce me!” I roared back, my voice raw. “You think I want to be an Albright? I am telling you, this is far from over!”

My voice was loud enough to carry through the quiet night.

The creak of a door opening came from the neighboring yard, followed by footsteps.

“What’s all the noise?” Mrs. Gable, a neighbor, peered over the fence, pulling a robe tight around her. “Middle of the night, what’s the yelling about?”

Mrs. Albright’s face instantly changed. She flashed a strained, phony smile. “Nothing, Mrs. Gable, nothing! Just a bit of a commotion, a rat in the house. We were chasing a rat.”

“Chasing a rat?” Mrs. Gable looked suspiciously at the tense group in the yard. “Doesn’t sound like it to me…”

Sharon reacted instantly. She grabbed Mrs. Gable’s arm, acting overly familiar and sweet.

“Really, Mrs. Gable, it’s nothing! It’s just Willow’s sister… oh, you know, young girls. A little misunderstanding with Cody, and Willow saw it and is throwing a fit.”

She shot a warning glare at me. “Isn’t that right, Willow?”

I didn’t answer.

Mrs. Gable looked from Sharon to me. “Holly? But didn’t Holly go back home this afternoon? I saw her get on the truck myself.”

“She… she came back!” Sharon lied without a flicker of hesitation. “She got mad at her sister and turned around halfway. Young people, you know.”

She even covered her mouth and chuckled, feigning embarrassment.

Mrs. Gable looked unconvinced and turned her eyes toward the west room. “And in that room…”

“That’s Holly!” Mrs. Albright cut in quickly. “She’s shy, too embarrassed to come out. Mrs. Gable, please go back to bed. You have work tomorrow.”

Mrs. Gable finally shook her head and walked away. “Young people, honestly.”

As soon as she was gone, Mrs. Albright slammed the yard gate shut, her face twisting back into a mask of fury.

“Willow Albright!” She stabbed a finger at my chest. “You go to the police, and I will make your life a misery!”

Sharon’s expression hardened. “Exactly! Willow, I’m telling you as your sister-in-law. The girl has already gone and done the deed with Cody. Why are you fighting it? It’ll ruin her for good if this gets out. Where will she ever find a husband?”

She then had a strange look in her eye, and she turned and headed toward the west room.

4

“Sharon, what are you doing?” I blocked her path.

“What do you think?” Sharon pushed past me. “I’m going to talk to the girl. She must be scared right now. I’ll go calm her down, tell her to accept it.”

She reached the west room door, cleared her throat, and addressed the person inside. “Honey, it’s your sister-in-law. Don’t be afraid. This whole thing? It’s a good thing.”

“Cody drinks, but he’s solid. You’ll be family now. Just have your dad bring the $5,000 and the wedding money, and we’ll accept you.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of you. When the sun comes up, we’ll go to your house and get the money, and then we’ll have a wedding. You’ll be welcomed.”

She got louder and louder, as if she wanted the whole neighborhood to hear her sick offer.

“Just make sure you take care of Cody, and give the Albrights a big baby boy as soon as possible. That’s all that matters!”

I stood behind her, listening to those words, a coldness spreading through my body.

In the past life, after Holly died, Sharon had said something similar. “Such a waste. What if she was already carrying an Albright baby? She should be thankful she got with Cody.”

Now, she was saying the same vicious words to the girl—whoever she was—behind the door.

Cody stood under the moonlight, listening to his sister-in-law, and his smug look returned, even stronger than before.

He even winked at me, as if to say, See? Everyone is on my side.

Mr. and Mrs. Albright nodded in full agreement.

Marcus looked down, unable to meet my eyes.

Dean yawned, ready to go back to sleep.

It was as if this was all just a little, consensual late-night fling. As if the girl in that room truly should be grateful to marry the animal who assaulted her.

I bit down hard, tasting blood.

Then, I turned and sprinted for the yard gate.

“Where are you going?” Marcus grabbed me.

“The Sheriff’s Department.” I yanked my arm away. “I’m going now.”

“Willow Albright!” Mrs. Albright shrieked, lunging at me. “You wouldn’t dare!”

“Just watch me.” I shoved her aside and tore open the yard gate.

Outside, the moonlight was cool and clean.

Inside, stood a den of monsters.

And I would no longer be the silent, dying victim.