Once Upon A Karma (Karmic Krystal Book 1) (21 page)

“Tomorrow,” he says, and covers the newly laid cement with a few tarpaulins, weighted down with bricks. With everybody exhausted after the long day, we have a very early, simple dinner of eggs on toast before going to bed.

The next morning, I am woken by the loud noise of a rattling cement mixer outside. Downstairs, my father is already hard at work, smoothing over the top layer of the cement/sand/water mixture. It takes a while before I realise that my mother and sisters are, once again, at Eddie’s house. When they return home, they have a trailer attached to the back of the car containing Jake’s cot, Mum’s pots and pans, Jake’s toys and walker. As soon as I see these items arrive at our house, I breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that she is never going back to him, regardless of his recovery.

After all of her belongings are at our house, she then goes to the court house to fill in some papers. Mum takes me along with her, explaining that the papers will keep Eddie away from all of us when he leaves the hospital. She makes a telephone call before we leave the court house. We then go to the hospital to see Eddie. I stand at the side of his bed, watching the same sickening smile on Eddie’s face which I had seen in the vision. Cognitively, he looks up at me and my mother and his smile grows wider.

My mother hands the papers to Eddie’s lawyer, who she had rung from the court house, asking him to meet us there. The stink of pure hatred emanates from Eddie as he smiles. My mother explains that his violence towards us, his drinking and the fact that he stole and used all of her savings, medical insurance and life insurance money on alcohol was the reason she could no longer be a part of his life. Handing over the papers to the lawyer, I listened as he told Eddie that he will no longer be permitted near his wife or her children, including his own. My mother advised the lawyer that she will also not be visiting Eddie again at the hospital. Peering inside Eddie’s thoughts, I once again see Eddie’s recurring “happy place” inside a vehicle covered in our blood.

“You can’t hurt us any more,” I say out loud to Eddie. With my eye and lip scarred, but almost fully healed, it is my turn to smile. I lean over close and whisper into his ear, “I am not afraid of you.” My mother and I then leave Eddie’s hospital bedside for the last time.

After just two more days, the progress of Dad’s project is incredible. He has bolted wood down to the floor edges and has uprights going to what will soon be the ceiling. Chalk markings outline some interior walls. A professional roofer is called in to put up the support beams, tiles and a sky-light. Once the walls are up, my sisters and I help Dad with filling the gaps in the gyprock, sanding and painting the walls. He then lays carpet on the floor and some floor tiles in the tiny kitchenette and the bathroom. When the door is placed on its hinges, my family cheers at a job well done. When I open that door, however, I sink into a flashback of horror when I realise that I am now standing in the exact spot that Eddie will shoot my mother. This project – this guest house – is the apartment I had been seeing in my dreams.

With the indoor plumbing complete, I help clean and dust before watching my parents assemble the bed and the cot in the bedroom of the guest house. It brings me a sense of peace that, while my parents are not together as a couple, at least our family are together again, even if it is just for now. Not wanting to shirk his responsibilities as protector, my father had built a “fortress” for Jake and Mum in our own back yard so that they will never be far away from those who love them the most. Should Eddie ever get the use of his legs back, however, I know that no fortress will be strong enough to protect our mother from his evil plans.

While I applaud my father’s efforts on the amazing job he has done, I know that there is only one way to stop Eddie’s upcoming killing spree. Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath.
Goddess, help me.
I slowly clench my fists, crushing Eddie’s soul and forcing every last bit of air from his lungs until he takes his final breath. As the life trickles out of him – as I hear the telephone ring – as I see my mother’s face in shock as the doctors deliver the news of his unexpected, unexplained and sudden death, I know that the new year will be a better one.

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Thank you for reading Book 1 in the Karmic Krystal series. Please let me know your thoughts by leaving feedback on Amazon here:

http://www.amazon.com/Once-Upon-Karma-Karmic-Krystal-ebook/dp/B018XOH4BW

Book 2 in the Karmic Krystal series – SPATTER - will be released in mid-2016.

The ending to Book 1 of Krystal’s story left many of those who had previewed the book reeling with horror. Has she committed an abominable act which is justified by Karma or is evil starting to taint her? Find out in the next instalment of Karmic Krystal.

About the Author

A domestic violence survivor, Rosie Malezer was born in 1971 in Queensland, Australia. She is a profoundly Deaf / legally blind Australian Aboriginal author, writer, Copy-Editor, Proof-Reader and Translator and is a proud member of the Gubbi Gubbi tribe. Gubbi Gubbi Country is situated on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. She studied AUSLAN (Australian Sign Language) in her youth and used it in her employment with the Queensland government to translate conversations between Deaf customers and police. When Rosie lost her hearing completely in 2014, she studied ASL (American Sign Language) extensively under the guided tutelage of Dr Bill Vicars.

Rosie's father - a retired military police officer of the Royal Australian Navy - trained her in the usage and safety of various guns at a very young age. Although she enjoys target shooting, Rosie is strictly against the idea of hunting for fun; her belief being that unless you need to hunt an animal for food and clothing in order to survive, animals should be treated with respect and left to live in peace.

Rosie is now a housewife with a wonderful and supportive husband - a hearing man who learned ASL just so he could communicate with her. She dedicates all of her spare time promoting awareness of issues relating to domestic violence, the vilification of her own people in her home country, as well as standing up for Deaf rights. When not writing, she spends her time doing everything she can to remove the communication barriers between the Deaf and Hearing people of the world.

PS: Rosie Loves cats

Other books by Rosie Malezer

Non-Fiction, Memoir
:

Change Your Name and Disappear: A terrifying true tale of survival

(
Surviving domestic violence - 2015
)

A Journey to Silence

(
When head trauma and illness lead to Deafness - 2016
)

How to be Deaf

(
Surviving Audism and Surdophobia in a hearing world - 2016
)

YA Paranormal

The Shark Infested Dam

(Comedy / Horror – 1987)