Let It Happen

It was 11:31 when she got the call. That one call she always gets.

"Hi mommy," she says into the phone.

"Hi sweetie. Jared Ansible."

Bye, mommy, she whispers into the phone, even though her mom has already gone. Fate knows it's a bad habit she needs to break soon.

But that doesn't matter. The usual nervous excitement fills her. It's time to get creative.

* * *

Careful hours of research on Google and social media tell Fate that Jared lives in Southern Utah, in an isolated town where everyone knows him. But that's okay. What small towns lack in anonymity, they make up for with small police departments. Sigurd, Utah. Fate had never heard of the place. A quick look at the map, and she feels confident that no one but the 432 residents has heard of it either. But this is good for Fate.

She can see the headline. Ansible family grieves for husband and father. With a subheading: Jared, 32, dies in tragic accident. Fate smiles.

It will have to be an accident, she thinks. Such a tight-knit community will never believe a mugging. And Fate doesn't want to completely ruin poor Anne Ansible's life with a poison charge as well as a dead husband.

No, Fate thinks, Outright murder won't be an option here. But maybe mommy will give me someone to slice next time.

* * *

Jared Ansible has a secret. Everyone does. And Fate knows how to find and exploit it.

Are you a bit of an alcoholic? Well, Fate has her sources. And no one thinks past the free booze to wonder where a 14-year-old got it from. That is, until their throat constricts and their arms flail madly, doing anything their Oxygen-deprived brain can think of to stay alive. And through bugged-out eyes, they can see Fate, standing mere feet away, smiling. She likes to make sure her face is the last her victim sees before the eyes go dark and the limbs go limp.

But Jared Ansible is not an alcoholic. Not a drop of the foul stuff has ever tainted his body. He's a Mormon, clean as they come. At first glance, anyway. But there is something Anne doesn't know. Something that would make her skin crawl. Something that would make her thank the Lord that she had never produced a girl.

Because even his religion can't wash away this something.

Jared Ansible has a thing for underage girls, and Fate knows how to play the role.