Dark and twisted - inspired by a nursery rhyme

Jack and Jill went up the hill under the cover of darkness, powered onwards fuelled by all-consuming love. The full moon seemed to be highlighting the old oak three at the summit beckoning Jack to it. He knew she’d be there waiting, she was always early. When he reached the top, there she was, her chestnut hair loose and blowing in the midnight breeze; her delicate fingers tracing the initials they have carved into the old oak on the night they’d first kissed. He knew it was now or never: he’d lose her if nothing changed. Their love hidden, their whole relationship threated like some dirty secret. And for what? Because his agent and manager insisted the public – particularly his devoted fans – should believe him to be single, for the sake of his career.

The life that Jack Inglis was living was enviable, charmed and one of privilege, but it didn’t feel like his life anymore, not when he had to hide the part of his life that made it all worthwhile. Living his dream wasn’t complete if she wasn’t truly a part of it. He had loved that woman for fifteen years and had finally gotten her back, he was not going to lose her over movie roles. His hand tapped his jacket pocket, the rigid, square lump still there. He smiled. Watching her as she stood beneath the tree that had witnessed them falling in love: first in their teens and then again, now, over a decade later. Of course this is where he would ask her.

As Jack approached, he stood on a twig, causing her to turn and face him. Seeing him, her eyes lit up and she smiled. Jack’s heart skipped a beat, as it always did when she smiled.

Jill looked at Jack: his broad shoulders and chiselled jaw were drool-worthy, he was bigger now, bulkier, due to preparation for filming his next film role; his facial hair, which he always had between shoots, was trimmed but not overly groomed, hunky not primped. It did nothing to hide that jaw line. She watched a smile appear on his face, a smile that made many women across the world swoon. No matter how many times she had seen that smile, Jill swore that she was at risk of doing just that, right there and then. As incredible as his looks were, Jill knew she wouldn’t be quite as enamoured with him, if she hadn’t seen his kindness, his compassion and his gentleman like virtues. She loved him. It consumed her.

Jack held her in his arms, pulling her in tight. Kissing her gently but with deep emotion, he pulled back.

“Sweetheart, I know it’s been difficult and that we can’t keep living like this. And we aren’t going to. Tomorrow, I’m telling Arnie and Hitch that I won’t hide us anymore, I’m going to be open about this, about my life, about what really makes me happy. You.”

“Oh Jack.” Her wide smile and enthusiasm was short-lived. “But Jack, what if they are right? What if it affects job offers, your career?”

“Then we figure it out. Together. I won’t let you go again. I love you. I need to start making decisions based on that.”

“I love you too.” Her hands caressing his face, pulling him in to kiss her. She stopped suddenly.

“Jack, I’ve had this feeling I’ve been getting watched since I got here. When you got here, I thought it had been you. But I still feel it.” Jack could tell she was on edge.

“Honey, don’t worry, there’s no one there. It’s just left over paranoia from having to hide for so long. And even if there is, let them watch, I have nothing to hide.”

Jack picked up the love of his life and spun her around, as her giggling drifted on the night air. Putting her down, he dropped to one knee and pulled a small, square, red-velvet box out of his jacket pocket.

“I have loved you since I was seventeen. You have supported me and understood that I needed to get to where I am now, before I could be who you needed me to be. Even when it hurt you, you got that I needed to achieve those dreams before I could be someone’s partner, before I was ready for this. But I am ready now. You are my most important thing. That is what my life will be based around from this moment on. My life, my dreams, are not complete without you by my side. So, I ask you, under our tree, to marry me.”

“Yes.” Tears of pure joy rolling down her cheeks as the ring was slid gently onto her finger and she swept up into his arms. Sheer happiness radiated off both.

“No!” The crazed scream stopped the night dead. The betrothed couple, shocked, looked towards the figure, dirty and grass-stained, who had appeared from behind a nearby rock. “You can’t marry her. You’re supposed to be with me. We are destined to be together.”

“Jack, who is that? What is she talking about?”

“I don’t know, honey.”

“Of course you know who I am. You got my letters, didn’t you, Jacky-Poo?”

“Jacky Poo? Like the letters. Jack, that’s her. She sent you all those letters, all those threats she sent to me.” Her gut was telling her to run, but she wouldn’t leave Jack. “Jack, let’s go home.”

The cogs in Jack’s head were turning.

“Jill? Right? Jill Samson? How are you here? How did you know how to find us?”

“See, I knew you knew who I was. You and I are meant to be, Jacky-Poo, I will always find you.” Jill began to approach the couple. “Now, explain to the skinny bitch that you can’t marry her, get the ring back and we can begin our lives together.”

“You are insane. He isn’t going anywhere with you. We are going home and you are going to jail. You violated the restraining order. You are psychotic!” Ellie raged, this woman had haunted her for too long with her letters, gifts and threats. Elinor Marie Epcott could only be pushed so far.

“Jacky-Poo, are you going to let her speak to me like that?” Fury and a crazed look contorted Jill’s face.

“Ellie, get behind me.” Jack knew that Ellie needed protecting from her own anger, as well as Jill’s.

Elinor clung to Jake’s side, standing slightly behind him.

“Get your hands off him!” Jill ran, crazed, at Elinor. At the last second, Jack pushed Elinor out of the way, and Jill ran, full force, into him. They both stumbled back. Jill tripped on a stone and landed in a patch of wild flowers. Jack, still off-balance and stumbling backwards, tried to regain his footing. His heel caught on one of the old oak’s roots and he went tumbling over the side of the hill, hitting boulders and bumps in the earth. The heart stopping noises of a neck snapping, a skull cracking and bones breaking sounded out, loud and clear, through the midnight silence. Jack pinballed down the steep decline, before landing, lifeless, across the large boulder where he used to find Ellie reading while she waited for him.

Ellie was frantic, her panic-stricken mind trying to figure out a way to get to Jack. She was about to run to him, when she heard a gun being cocked.

“If anyone is going to go to him, it is going to be me.” Jill had the gun aimed at Elinor, walking around her, eyes never leaving her face.

“You killed him. You don’t get to go anywhere near him.” Elinor stood her ground, unblinking and hating.

Jill stopped at the point where Jack had fallen.

“Wrong. Now, you will never have him, and I’ll be with him forever.”

Before Elinor could do anything, Jill put the gun into her mouth and fired. She fell, following Jack’s deathly descent, at least at first. Quickly, her path deviated from his. She landed several feet and further up the hill.

Elinor stood alone, her hand placed over a heart and two sets of initials carved into bark, as she let out the primal, gut-wrenching scream of a woman breaking completely. She was found the next morning, curled up under the old oak dirty, cold and mute. Her hands scraped and bleeding; her nails broken and missing and her body bruised and fractured. The bark that she had abused, taking her every emotion out on it, appeared untouched, as strong and permanent as ever.

The news reported that Jack fell down, broke his crown and Jill went tumbling after.