She Wanted Elephant BBQ, I Went Mad Chapter 1

My mother was a housekeeper for the wealthy Vanderbilt family. Growing up, I was

nothing more than a shadow to their daughter, Andy. If she told me to kneel

and buff her shoes, I couldn't stand up.

When high school ended, I thought I was finally free. Instead, she insisted on

taking the entire class on a luxury safari trip to Africa to watch the Great

Migration.

Deep in the wilderness, we crossed paths with a lone baby elephant. Driven by

pure, twisted privilege, Andy decided she wanted to taste its flesh.

When my protests failed and I tried to escape, she ordered the other students to

tie me to a massive tree.

I was forced to watch as they roasted the poor creature alive. Andy took a

single bite, spat it out in disgust, and complained about how terrible it

tasted.

Then, the enraged herd arrived. Andy and the others scrambled onto the tour

bus and sped away, leaving me forgotten and bound.

The furious giants trampled me into nothing but broken bones and torn flesh. In

that moment of absolute despair, I woke up.

I opened my eyes to find myself right back at the moment we first spotted the

baby elephant. This time, I did not hesitate. I walked straight to the bus and

punctured the fuel tank.

This time, absolutely no one is getting away.

* * *

As the mountain-like foot of the elephant crushed my spine, my eyes were fixed

solely on the dust cloud kicked up by the speeding bus.

Faintly, I could still hear the class president, Sam, sounding panicked. "Tessa

is still back there! Are we really leaving her?"

Andy had scoffed, yanking him back into his seat. "As long as she doesn't

move, the elephants won't bother with her. She is just a servant."

"Besides, she needs to learn her place. Who told her to keep throwing herself at

you?"

In that agonizing moment, my heart turned to ice. She had tied me to that tree

simply because I had offered a bottle of water to Sam when he was carsick.

Vision blurring, coughing up mouthfuls of blood, my fingers clawed desperately

at the dirt.

If I ever got a second chance, I swore I would make every last one of them pay.

I blinked, and suddenly I was back at the riverbank where we first found the

calf.

The playful little elephant was splashing in the water, and my heart hammered

violently against my ribs.

I was about to shout to scare it away when Andy's voice rang out in delighted

surprise. "Look over there! A baby elephant!"

The eyes of all my classmates were instantly drawn to the river. "Wow, it really

is a calf. Trust Lady Andy to have the best luck."

"It is all alone. I bet the smell of our barbecue attracted it."

Andy smiled broadly, licking her lips. "You know, I have never tasted elephant

before. Which one of you brave boys is going to catch it for me?"

The crowd exchanged glances, falling into a tense silence.

Seeing that no one moved, Andy frowned. She unstrapped the diamond-encrusted

watch from her wrist. "Whoever catches that elephant and roasts it for me gets

this Patek Philippe."

That watch was worth at least a hundred thousand dollars, more money than most

normal people could earn in a decade.

Instantly, the boys began rolling up their sleeves, eager to hunt.

Not far away, the innocent calf was still drinking water, completely unaware of

the danger. My mind flashed back to the agonizing screams it made as its flesh

was seared open.

I gritted my teeth and forced myself to speak up. "Baby elephants rarely travel

alone. The herd must be close by. We shouldn't mess with it."

Hearing my warning, a few of the boys hesitated.

Andy spared me a disdainful glance and pulled a thick stack of hundred-dollar

bills from her bag, tossing them onto the ground.

"Stop acting like Mother Teresa, Tessa. If this isn't enough, I will add more.

Besides, even if the herd does show up, do you think we are stupid? We have the

bus right there to escape."

I looked at the parked tour bus, my hands curling into tight fists.

Fueled by her greed, several boys grabbed heavy nylon ropes and began stalking

towards the calf.

Sam, looking pale from his motion sickness, walked over to stand by us.

He was handsome, and his parents were heavy hitters in both politics and

business. Eight out of ten girls in our school were in love with him.

I was no exception, but even though I had never acted on it, Andy was

intensely jealous of any interaction I had with him.

Sam frowned as he watched the boys. "Andy, don't take this too far."