Dumb Love and Hellfire

“Very few people have ever been to hell and back… I’m sorry you were one of them…”

Whoever came up with the saying ‘beauty’s only skin deep’ obviously never met Lexi Bradshaw. She was beautiful inside and out. Composed of one-half pure love and another half whimsy, she was the living embodiment of the all-American girl; the daughter of a local cop and the sister of anyone lucky enough to have ever met her. And to make matters worse, she didn’t even know how beautiful she really was. How beautiful she might have been one day. How beautiful she’d never be again.

Standing in front of that tiny bathroom mirror, she hummed to herself while straightening her hair.

“And where do you think you’re going?” her dad asked, walking down the hall to drop off his duty belt.

“To the movies with Tyler.”

“Are ya now? What movie?”

“I don’t know. Some scary movie that just came out.”

“Ahh, alright then. Which theatre?”

“The one that plays the scary movies,” she chuckled.

“Yeah. That really narrows it down.”

Were Lexi anyone else’s daughter, she might have accused her dad of being a little too nosey. But then again, he’d been working law enforcement since well before she was born, so she was used to the constant stream of questions. In a strange way, she actually kind of liked it. At least she knew he cared.

Undoing the buttons of his shirt, he propped up against the doorframe next to where she was standing.

“Anything interesting happen today at school?”

“No, not really. Katey and Drake broke up again, but that’s about it.”

“They broke up again?”

“Again!”

“Damn. As much as they fight, you’d think they were married or something.”

“I know, right! I tried to tell her that she’s too good for him, but she doesn’t listen.”

“Oh my God, me too! Like, I’ve totes been trying to tell her the same thing, but she won’t listen to me either!”

Unfazed by his mockery, Lexi cocked her head with a smile.

“Daddy, do you even know who Katey is?”

Dropping the façade, he shook his head with a grin.

“Nope. Not a damn clue.”

“Oh my God, daddy! She stayed the night here at my birthday party that one year. The one whose mom tried hitting on you right there in front of her husband.”

“Baby girl, I don’t know if you know this, but your old man gets hit on pretty much all the time. It’s practically an everyday occurrence at this point. That’s why I have to carry so much pepper spray. Gotta fight them hoes off somehow.”

“Daddy… KATEY! The one that brought the… you know… the thing to my sweet sixteen.”

“Wait… The dildo girl?!”

“Yes! That’s Katey!”

“Oh dear, God! Well in that case, good on her boyfriend for breaking up with her. She’s fucking nuts!”

“Oh, stop. She’s not that bad.”

“Not that bad?! That damn thing was as big as my arm! All flopping around like an elephant trunk!”

As the two of them shared a good laugh, Lexi heard a muscle car rumble into the drive.

“Oh! It’s Tyler!” she gleefully shouted.

“Oh my God! It’s Tyler!” her dad gawked back.

“Stop it! He’s a good boy, and you know it.”

“Yeah. Well, as long as he doesn’t end up like his brother.”

Huffing, Lexi shook her head.

“I really wish you wouldn’t bring that up anymore. He didn’t have anything to do with what happened.”

“I know. I know. I’m just saying, it’s a tough spot he got put in. Heck, it’s a tough spot for you. I just don’t want you to get wrangled into something you have no business being in.”

“Well, you don’t have anything to worry about. Tyler’s not like his brother, and he wouldn’t do anything to get me in trouble.”

Dabbing some cheap perfume on her wrists, she turned and wiped the rest on her dad’s shirt.

“Really?!” he chuckled.

“Yeah,” she said with a smile. “That way you don’t smell like a hobo.”

“Who says I smell like a hobo?!”

“Nobody now.”

Checking the mirror one last time, she shot herself a playful wink before rushing down the hall and sliding on her shoes.

“Okay, I’m gone. I love you, daddy!”

“I love you too. Oh, hey! What time will you be home tonight?”

“I’m not really sure. We won’t be out too late.”

“That… That doesn’t even answer my question at all, actually.”

“We’ll come home after the movie’s over.”

“That still doesn’t answer my question.”

“Alright, I’ll see you tonight! Love you! Byee!”

And just like that, she was gone.

Lexi Bradshaw, the sweet seventeen-year-old with a heart of gold. She left the same way she always did; in a whirlwind so adorable, all you could do was smile at it.

Leaping into that old Mustang, Tyler hadn’t even made it out of the drive before Lexi was leaning across the center console, squeezing his arm like she hadn’t seen him in ages.

“Hey there, good looking!” she greeted with a kiss.

“Hey there,” he muttered back.

In a way, his reaction caught her off guard, but given the circumstances, she wouldn’t have expected any less. It had only been about a month since Tyler’s brother got caught running cocaine across the county line, and understandably, he hadn’t been around much ever since. Of course, part of that was due to him being more than a little embarrassed. After all, it was a small town, and word had a tendency to get around pretty fast. However, Lexi also knew that a large part of it was because her dad just so happened to be the arresting officer. And whether she agreed with it or not, in these hills, blood always runs thicker than water.

Like her dad said, it was a tough spot to be put in. But Lexi being Lexi, she tried her best to make the most of it.

Reclining back in her seat, she began tracing little circles on Tyler’s arm with her fingers.

“How was your day today?” she asked.

“It was a day, I guess. Spent most of it at the courthouse.”

“Did the DA offer a plea deal like ya’ll were hoping for?”

“They offered him five years at thirty percent, but that’s only if he agrees to snitch on who he was running dope for.”

“Well, that’s good.”

“Good? He’s looking at over a year in prison, Lexi! And that’s only if he talks! And you know as well as I do that if he does, he’s as good as dead when he gets out!”

“I mean… You don’t know that.”

“Yeah, I fucking do, Lexi! The Hudson boys are in deep with a bunch of different biker gangs, and those dudes don’t fuck around when it comes to this sort of shit! They’ll skin him alive if he even thinks about talking. Not to mention, he still owes them almost fifty grand for all the drugs your dad ceased!”

Taking a deep breath, Lexi turned and stared out the window.

“I’m sorry,” she sighed, still holding Tyler by the hand.

“It’s fine,” he huffed, yanking it away. “It’s done now.”

“What’s done?”

“Just, everything… It’s done now.”

Lexi wasn’t entirely sure what Tyler meant, though ultimately, she decided to just let it go. After all, she’d barely been able to get a hold of him over the past two weeks. The last thing she wanted to do now was go and mess it all up. Hoping to lighten the mood, she forced a smile and leaned back across the console.

“Well, at least for tonight we can just enjoy each other’s company.”

Tyler didn’t say anything – only drove faster.

For what felt like an eternity, they drove along in silence; Lexi trying her best to be the supportive girlfriend she’d always been while Tyler raced down old country roads like a man on a mission. Glancing out the window, she eventually noticed that they’d missed the turn leading into town. In fact, they didn’t just miss it, Tyler blazed right past it.

“Umm. Aren’t we going to the movies?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. We are. I just gotta run and get something from a friend’s house real quick.”

“Okay? Is everything alright?”

“It’s fine,” he snapped. “Why are you asking so many questions?”

“I’m just trying to talk to you,” she sheepishly replied.

“Well, stop asking questions! I told you where we were going. Just shut up and we’ll be there soon.”

Whipping around corners and darting down backroads, Lexi felt her heart flutter as they sped through the night like a pair of wild banshees.  Before too long, she didn’t have any idea where they were, and by the looks of it, neither did her boyfriend.

“I didn’t know you had any friends out this way,” she murmured to herself. Reaching for his hand, she realized he was sweating like crazy. “Are you okay?”

“I said, I’m fine!” he barked, yanking his hand away again.

A few hills and half a dozen backroads later, Tyler eventually turned down a secluded dirt road about three miles away from the main highway. Dimming the headlights, he coasted along for a little while before finally coming to a stop under a cluster of old oak trees that overlooked a shallow embankment. Before Lexi even had a chance to ask him what they were doing, he had already thrown the car in park and turned off the ignition. Then, without so much as a single word, he quietly opened the door and stepped out into the darkness.

Both baffled and slightly worried, Lexi followed after him, making her way to the back of the vehicle next to where he was standing.

“Tyler, what’s going on?!” she pleaded. “If I did something wrong, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to upset you. You can talk to me. I swear, I won’t judge you.”

Much like before, Tyler didn’t bother to say anything. Only this time, he wasn’t able to keep a straight face. Standing there behind the car, his entire body began to shake as he stared out into the darkness – his eyes flitting here and there, almost as if he were searching for something lurking just outside of view.

“Tyler! Say something to me! TYLER!”

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

Just then, a set of spotlights flashed in their direction, blinding Lexi and forcing her to scream. From out of the embankment, a large truck rumbled onto the dirt road, coming to a stop a few yards away from where they were standing.

Stunned, Lexi clung to Tyler’s arm for dear life.

“What’s going on,” she whimpered. “Tyler, are these your friends?”

Before Tyler had a chance to answer, the doors to the truck swung open as three men stepped out.

“That you, Tyler?” one of them hollered.

“Y-yes, sir,” he murmured back.

Squinting, Lexi was just able to make out one of the boy’s faces. A rough looking young man, she could have sworn she’d seen him somewhere before, but for the life of her, she couldn’t remember when or where.

“This her?” the taller of the three men asked.

“Yes, sir,” Tyler shuddered.

“Good deal.”

All at once, Lexi felt her blood run cold.

Looking up at Tyler, she thought for a second that this was all just some sort of sick joke. Like she half expected him to burst out into a fit of laughter at any moment. However, the longer she stood there, the more she realized that he looked every bit as terrified as she was. And by the time it dawned on her that she needed to run, well, it was already too late.

Glancing back at the three men, she watched as the one with the familiar face raised up a baseball bat. That’s when she recognized him. She saw him in a newspaper article once; a man wanted for running cocaine across county lines.

He was one of the Hudson boys.

CRACK!

Before Lexi even knew what hit her, she was lying limp along the ground, the taste of warm blood trickling down the back of her throat. Ears ringing, she felt herself being lifted up and stuffed into the back of a car. All the while, she could hear Tyler crying in the background, the taller of the three men yelling at him as he wept.

“Let this be a lesson to ya, son! If some no-name law man thinks he’s got the balls to come after us, then he’s gonna have hell to pay! And you best make sure to tell that piece of shit brother of yours, that if he even thinks about snitching, you’ll be the one in this fucking trunk next time! Ya hear?!”

Struggling to breathe, Lexi felt something being poured all over her body. It was something pungent. Something cool to the touch.

It was gasoline.

Clinging to consciousness by a thread, she heard the trunk slam shut in her face, and along with it, her boyfriend’s final words.

“So, is this it?” Tyler asked. “Is this my brother’s debt paid?”

“Yeah…” the tall man answered. “Yeah, I guess it is. Sorry bout your car though.”

And with the strike of a match, it all went up in flames.

To this day, no one knows for sure how long that car was on fire, and to be honest, it’s probably best not to. But what is known is that by the time the fire department showed up, that beat up old Mustang was nothing more than a smoldering heap of metal. And there, in the trunk of that carnage, was Lexi Bradshaw; the most beautiful girl anyone could have ever met.

She was left there as a warning. Like some sort of sacrificial lamb. Her body burnt to a crisp. Her beauty consumed by hell fire.

Ms. Lexi Bradshaw…

She was supposed to die that night.

But she didn’t.