Chapter 1

This is not a test.

This is your emergency broadcast system announcing the commencement of the Annual Purge sanctioned by the U.S. Government. Weapons of class 4 and lower have been authorized for use during the Purge. All other weapons are restricted. Government officials of ranking 10 have been granted immunity from the Purge and shall not be harmed. Commencing at the siren, any and all crime, including murder, will be legal for 12 continuous hours. Police, fire, and emergency medical services will be unavailable until tomorrow morning at 7 a.m., when The Purge concludes. Blessed be our New Founding Fathers and America, a nation reborn. May God be with you all.

“Ugh, we got to get inside and quickly, Mom!” I told my mother, Morgan Halloran, who nodded as we darted inside the house to get away from the Purgers.

“Come here, bro,” my middle sister, Alexis, held me tight as we locked and loaded our weapons, got the knives ready, and prepared to wait out the night.

“Damn it, Heather, hurry inside!” I called out to my younger sister, who was quick to follow my command as she realized that she had been swimming too long.

“Wait, bro, let me in, too!” my stepsister, Marjorie, pleaded with me, easily getting me to unlock for her and let her inside.

Where was my stepfather, though? I had to wonder. For that matter, where was my newlywed bride, Kathy? I had only married her a month ago, and already the honeymoon seemed to be over. Overnight, her armor showed cracks, too, as did her personality. She seemed to think that “husband” equaled “servant.” There was a lot of “honey-do,” “honey-don’t,” coming from her, with the expectation of “yes, dear,” coming from me. It started faster than expected, but just gradual enough that it took about a week or so for me to notice a pattern. I was not a happy camper of late.

“What about Lindsay?” Heather asked on behalf of our cousin, her best friend, daughter of my Aunt Myra.

Of course, Aunt Myra herself was almost certain to be out Purging herself, along with her husband, Jason Scanlon, and my father, Barry Parker, a real dickwad. Then again, my stepfather, Liam Halloran, wasn’t much of an improvement in the husband department, was he? I mean, really, where was that prick?

“Well, if she’s not here in about thirty seconds, no offense, sis, but tough love ... or hard cheese, but you get the idea,” I was nicer to Heather than she really deserved, given that she could be such a priss lately ... God forbid any profanity, even on Purge Night!

“Dale Vincent Parker, you let your cousin in, no matter what, do you hear me?” my stepmother insisted as she walked in through the backdoor.

Oh, shit, I forgot to close the backdoor. Predictably, my cousin Lindsay and my other stepsister, Karen, made it inside my childhood home, which I had been steadily arming, barricading, and securing from the outside all damn day. I had taken the day off work for this, making my boss assume that I did it to Purge instead of guarding against Purgers. She didn’t need to be any the wiser, particularly since she made it clear to me that she intended to go Purging as well.

“You two aren’t Purging?” I asked out of surprise.

“Um ... I’m a bit of a homebody. Your father is the outgoing one,” Leslie Parker, my stepmother and mother to Karen, declared.

“Oh, I don’t know. I might think of some fast food dipshits who need to be Purged at Master Burgers,” Karen snorted.

“Look, this house is locked down for the night. Time to make your choice. If you want to Purge, say so now, or else join me in keeping vigil against any Purgers out there. I’m not keeping an open-door policy for this kind of thing. Lives are at stake,” I snapped now.

“What about Kathy? Won’t you let her in after lockdown hours if she comes back late?” Mom asked me, more than a little bothered by the strain in my marriage these days.

“Right now, I wouldn’t piss on her if she was on fire!” I growled, though to be honest I still had feelings for her ... they didn’t flip off like a light switch.

“Things that bad? Wow ... I guess that she can be a real bitch, no doubt of that, though we were loathe to say anything, because you both seemed so happy. And you wouldn’t have believed it, because she never showed that side of her to you. I guess that her mask slipped a bit, didn’t it?” Mom caressed my face lovingly, loneliness of her own showing me that Liam hadn’t healed her pain.

“That’s very rough language, bro,” Heather griped.

“Yeah, well, ask me if I care ... after this night where our very survival is at stake. For now, I’ve bigger fish to fry. Literally. Purge Night supper is two choices: take it or leave it. I’ve got beer-battered fish and chips in the oven and that’s your only entree tonight. For variety, you get to choose between ketchup, tartar sauce, and malt vinegar for condiments, not to mention blueberry and chocolate cheesecake for dessert.

“Drinking choices are limited to beer, beer, and you guessed it, more beer. We’re not going anywhere tonight, so the alcohol content is not really an issue,” I smirked now, rapidly losing patience with people not getting with the program.

“Chef Dale Parker, hard at work, I guess,” my wife finally showed herself, with my stepfather, Liam Halloran, emerging as well.

“How long have you been here? I didn’t see you come in, Liam,” Mom asked them.

“Oh, we’ve been here a while now. Long enough to hear my loving husband declare that he wouldn’t ‘piss on me if I was on fire,’ right? Are you that upset with me? What have I done to merit your anger or lose your love? To make me hate you? Am I not what you expected? Well, get over it! As of the wedding vows, I OWN YOU! I’m the boss in this marriage! To use your own words, take it or leave it! You really think that you can just put me in my place or something or boss me around! That’s not how this works! You’re here to serve me, husband, or else it’s over between us and I’ll ... I’ll... , “ Kathy fumed.

“I don’t recall that being in the wedding vows. And you’ll do what, Kathy? Cut me off from sex? You did that on day three of our honeymoon, didn’t you? What have you been doing for booty since then? Maybe my dear old stepdaddy here knows the answer to that query. He seems to be your shadow of late, doesn’t he? Mom, you might want to check the video surveillance tapes for here. You might learn something about your dear old hubby here. Not to mention Kathy here,” I scoffed.

“How dare you suggest such a thing! I’d never do that to you! Okay, I’m ... a bit pushy and bossy, but that’s because wives are supposed to be in charge of husbands if they’re out of the husbands’ league. Same thing about husbands who are out of their wives’ league. That superiority rightfully gives us leverage and we should obviously use it. Just for that, no sex for another month, since you equate me being on the rag during the honeymoon to me cheating on you!” Kathy snarled at me.