Finally, I've finished the extended version of God Doesn't Exist Here. I've changed a few things around, like the time period (19th century instead of 21st) and the killer's motive. There might be some grammatical errors but please ignore it. I apologize. No matter how many times I review it, I can't seem to catch them. I'm overall pleased with the outcome of this story. You can say that there is much more juice in this version. Please enjoy!

God Doesn't Exist Here (Extended Version)

The house stood in the outskirts of the small town, surrounded by tall, thin, leafless trees. Snow blanketed the ground and roof of the wooden dwelling. Rectangle, mahogany windows outlined the outer wall and brown fencing outlined the house. Stunning beautiful as it is, nobody dared to own the house after what took place twenty years before.

Religious zealots say a demon dwelled inside: they may be right. The Frost family lived there when it happened. Cheery, friendly people, though what happened led the townspeople to believe that they worshipped Satan. Jonathan Frost lived with his wife, Mary, and their twin son and daughter, Forrest and Elena. They rarely came into town, considering they usually grew their own food and create their own necessities. The children were teenagers who only went to town for school.

All of them kept to themselves.

Our tale began at precisely 1:30 a.m. in, as stated above, the outskirts of a town known as Fieldsworth. The air, thick with silence, swayed the trees slightly back and forth, anxious to see what was about to take place. Footsteps thundered down the stairs of the house, with a male voice grunting, “Quietly!”

“Sorry,” a clearly feminine voice replied.

The footsteps became quieter as the two carried the bag down the stairs and out the back door, leading into the never-ending stretch of deciduous trees. As they treaded the soft, dark ground, the bag slipped out of the female’s hands and landed with a big thud to the ground. “Sorry!” she cried again, bending down hastily to tuck the bloody hand that fell out of a small opening of the black plastic bag back into its shelter.

Her brother simply grumbled in annoyance.

They continued through the forest, for two miles carrying the heavy, 178-pound body hidden inside. Finally, they arrived to a ditch that was cleverly hidden by a clump of bushes encircling it. Inside the ditch laid about two dozen bodies, all scattered around the small area and stacking upon each other. Maggots and ants scurried across the flesh of the damned bodies, slipping in and out of their noses, eyes, ears, and mouths. A repugnant stench fumed out of the ditch, reaching the siblings’ noses and causing them to wince in repulsion.

The golden blonde-haired boy released the body and groped his nose with his fingers, in an attempt not to breathe in any more of the smell. His identical sister just stared at the body expressionless. Groaning, the boy grabbed the bag and said, “Come on, let’s get it over with.”

Nodding, his sister took the other side and they both simultaneously released it into the pit. It fell with a sickening crunch along with the other bodies and maggots crawled, anxious for their new meal.

OooO

Elena swept the porch of her house, glancing out toward the setting sun. She couldn’t help but think how beautiful the scene was, the different, radiant pastels of the twilight sky, mixing and mingling each other in a breathtaking fashion. But the sunset caused her melancholy, for the night brought along with it the never-ending plots of her brother, Forrest, to submit another to his or her unfair death.

“We have to,” she murmured to herself, sweeping the dust off of the rich, dark wood. “We must.”

“Must what, may I ask, young lady?” another voice replied to her.

Elena’s whipped her square-shaped face to see the visitor. The mayor, she realized. His dark brown eyes stared at her somewhat suspiciously, accusing her of a crime, as if he knew. He stood at about 5’4’’, relatively short. His brown mustache was trimmed neatly and he fixed his glasses on his crooked nose, as if ready for business.

“We must grow enough food to last the winter,” she replied automatically apathetically, as if she was a programmed robot. “Mayor Rice, what can I do for you today?”

“I must speak with your father,” he said simply.

“Certainly.” She twisted her body and walked into the house, opening the door for the Mayor. She walked into the living room, where her father lounged against a chair, smoking a pipe.

Jonathan glanced up at the Mayor. He jumped out of his chair. “Mayor!” he exclaimed, shocked, confused, and scared all etched onto his face for a mere second, before fading away to sternness. “Is something wrong? Why have you come to my house all of a sudden?”

“I suppose I should’ve informed you first,” the Mayor murmured, fixing his glasses again. He cleared his throat and declared, “Mr. Frost, I must speak to you.” He glanced at Elena, who stared apathetically back. “And I must speak to you alone.”

Elena nodded and she turned around, leaving the room. As soon as she was sure they couldn’t hear her footsteps any longer, she began to sprint. She sprinted up the stairs and knocked loudly on the door. Forrest’s head peeped out. “What?” he growled. His wide blue eyes stared at her in annoyance and his blonde hair was slightly ruffled.

“The Mayor is here,” she whispered quietly.

Forrest froze. “Does he know?”

“I don’t know, but he seemed suspicious of me.”

Forrest’s lips curled up in a snarl and growled at her. “I should’ve known you messed up or confessed to some stupid priest.”

Elena glared at him. “What’s so wrong with being close to God?” she replied hotly.

“A lot of things. Besides, God doesn’t exist.” He stepped out of the bedroom and closed the door. “Come on, we have to listen.”

The twins crept down the stairs and stood before the double set of wooden doors, leaning in to the slit of the door, glancing out to see the Mayor sitting down comfortably while their father paced back and forth in worry.

Jonathan shook his head. “No, I won’t let you.”

“Mr. Frost, face it, you don’t need this house! You’re wealthy enough to live somewhere else, somewhere better.”

“If there were somewhere better than why are you here instead of there?”

The Mayor’s eyes narrowed at Jonathan. “You know very well why. Mr. Frost, this place is great for an inn. Add a few annexes here and there and, combined with the scenery here in the mountains and the house, it will be a great resort. You know, if you make this easy for me, I’ll give you ten percent of the profit.”

Jonathan shook his head immediately. “I don’t want your damned money.”

The Mayor frowned. “Well, that’s too bad, Mr. Frost, because one way or the other, I’m getting this house.” The man took out a gold watch and rolled it in his fingers. “You know, a lot of people have gone missing. I wonder what happened to him. Nobody in town could know where they are or hide them in their homes, because their homes are too small. Plus, they live right in town so, because of all the vultures known as neighbors, they can’t exactly be successfully surreptitious now, can’t they? But you, and your family, living here in seclusion and away from the town, from the church, from God even. You can be doing all kinds of things here in these evil woods.”

Jonathan narrowed his eyes at the Mayor. “Sir, what are you suggesting?” he asked in a hard voice.

“Whatever you think I am suggesting.” The Mayor smiled. “But keep in mind, Mr. Frost, that you are being watched at every corner. You should also tell your children to be careful, for we are more on their tracks than they think.” He took a quick glance through the slit in the double doors and stared at the twins. “Teenagers nowadays get into all sorts of trouble, now don’t they?” He grinned rather maliciously.

The two of them slowly turned away and crept back the stairs. When they arrived in Forrest’s room and he locked the door, he paced about the room, obviously troubled, sneering at her, blaming her as if it were all her fault. “We have to kill the Mayor,” Forrest declared, eyes suddenly determined. “We have to get rid of him. Tomorrow night we’ll do it, but for now…”

Elena knew. They were going to wait by the road, waiting for naïve drivers, as always.

As soon as night fell and their parents drifted off to sleep, Elena got up and sneaked into her father’s office and stole a curved gutting knife from the desk. She crept along the walls, waiting for her brother. Crickets were chirping softly and it was too dark for her. She shivered: she didn’t like the dark. Too many uncanny things can happen in it.

Something brushed against her arm and she let out a gasp. The figure clasped his hand around her mouth and whispered, “Shh, quiet.”

It was Forrest. He carried the large, old but sharp axe and also had Dad’s hunting rifle slung across his back. “Come on.” He led the way out the door and into the forest with Elena trailing behind. They trudged through the mud and leaves, branches snagging their clothes. They soon reached the side of the road.

Elena stored her knife into her pocket and Forrest turned towards the bushes to hide. “You know what to do,” he whispered and she nodded.

Before long, a car stopped before her and a woman stepped out, a woman who was at least five months pregnant. “Are you okay?” the woman asked.

Elena shook her head, tears flooding down. “My—brother, he’s—d-d—the bushes,” she choked out.

The woman rushed to the bushes immediately. “Where—” Before she could run, Forrest jumped out with the axe raised. He swung it and it struck the top of her head, lodging into her skull. She gasped and crumbled to the floor.

As the blood poured out of the body, Forrest grunted, “Help me drag it into the forest.”

It. The woman had become an ‘it.’

Elena grabbed the feet of the woman and they dragged her toward the forest. Blood was dragged along with it and staining the ground as it went. Forrest grimaced. “Come on, we have to lift it up or the blood will lead back to the rest of the bodies.”

Elena nodded and grabbed the bottom of the woman, lifting her. After a couple of miles of carrying her, they finally arrived at the ditch. With one final heave, they dropped her into the pit of maggots.

While Forrest recovered the ditch, Elena asked, “And the Mayor?”

Forrest paused and glanced up at her. “Tomorrow night we’ll go to his house.”

Elena nodded, musing on what she’ll do.

OooO

The next night, Forrest was fingering his now clean axe. The night was silent and still. Crickets weren’t there, scared of Forrest’s presence. As he sat there, he contemplated a good excuse as to why the mayor would be gone. He had none really; he wasn’t too bright.

How many people had they killed? At least 30.

But in the end, did it really matter? Did it?

He stood up, lumbering the axe with him. He remembered the first time he killed: it was a dog lost in the woods. He had used Dad’s rifle and shot him in the ear, and then another to his neck. The dog flopped to the ground, trembling as the blood poured out. Then, someone gutted that dog, mutilating it. Who was that?

He stepped out of the basement and towards the kitchen where the back door was located. Mother should be in the sitting room, knitting some clothes.

Come to think of it, those bullets were a complete accident. Forrest never meant to pull the trigger. But, someone gutted the dog.

He opened the kitchen door.

Come to think of it, it was—

Forrest stared at the dead bodies of his Mother and Father on the floor.

Elena.

“Mother?” he choked out, staring at the gaping hole in her breast and how a bone slightly jutted out. “Father?” His Father had his neck twisted and a knife wound to his stomach with entrails pulled out and onto the floor.

As he stared in disbelief at the gore, Elena sobbed as she crept towards him. “Forrest!” she wailed. Blood stained her colonial dress and tears dribbled down her cheeks. “I-I didn’t m-mean to.”

Forrest stared at her and couldn’t reject his younger sister, he just couldn’t. He grabbed her and pulled her closer, holding her tightly.

Yes, now he remembered why they killed. Elena was addicted to it. She needed to kill.

“Don’t worry, Elena,” he whispered. “Everything will be alright—”

He was unaware of the knife she took out.

“—we’ll run away—”

She pulled it down closer to his back, a small smile on her face.

“—just you and me.”

As soon as the last word fell out of his mouth, she struck his back. She jumped back as Forrest stared at her in disbelief again, stumbling forward. He was absolutely speechless, staring up at her with wide blue eyes. Terrified.

“But—but—but… I’m your brother. We’re soul mates—you can’t—”

“But I did, Forrest,” she let out an obvious fake cry and grinned. “I did. I can’t stay here in this boring life. And you can’t kill for me. It’s just no fun that way. Besides, I don’t care about the Mayor and I don’t care about this house.” Elena reached in and pecked her brother’s cheek. “I couldn’t help it,” she whispered, “its just people’s fears are too delicious, too addicting. You wouldn’t understand. We’re the same, except I cannot just be normal and love people like you. I just cannot.” She pecked her brother’s cheek again and stood up, strolling over to where his axe lay. She picked it up and faced her brother. “Goodbye, Forrest, I love you.” She swung the axe and it struck the top of his head, tearing through skull and into his brain. He gaped at her as he died.

Religious zealots say a demon dwelled inside: they may be right.