I do not own any American Gothic characters, this is a work of fan fiction. This story is a continuation of my previous stories and follows on from Black Wedding.
It was a hot, sticky early June evening in Trinity South Carolina. A warm breeze rustled through the leaves in trees; however, it gave no break from the sweltering sun that remained high in the sky. As the sun beat down on the town's residents, the heat was nearly unbearable.
Selena Coombs sauntered down Main Street wearing a tight black vest and a short leopard print mini skirt. Her attire never changed throughout the seasons; however, she was happy for the hot weather in the Summer months, as it easier and more acceptable for her to show off her toned figure.
It had been a surprisingly pleasant 2 weeks for her, considering the stunt she had pulled at the wedding of the century. She had expected severe consequences for going behind Lucas' back and freeing Christie when he was clearly not finished with her. Selena had been on edge since the wedding, constantly looking over her shoulder and expecting some awful punishment for her actions; however, to her surprise no retaliation had came.
She was not naive, she knew Lucas was very patient; however, when it came to things that personally impacted him, he could not control his temper so something should have been done by now. It appeared to her that the lovely prim and proper Mrs Buck may have rubbed off on him, especially now that he had something new to explore. Selena was finally starting to relax into the realisation that Lucas Buck was just too distracted with his new wife to care about her, which meant she was free to roam around the Town as she saw fit.
It was not quite late enough for her kind of people to come out of the woodwork just yet; therefore, she was left with the boring residents of Trinity, who were finishing up for the day. She smiled confidently at the disapproving looks she was getting and continued on her way, in the hopes of finding someone to entertain her before she died of boredom.
Lucas stood in a dark alleyway on the opposite side of the Street, watching his prey saunter down the sidewalk. She appeared oblivious to the scolding remarks and whispers she was getting; however, he knew her all too well and she was not as confident as she outwardly projected. Deep down she had an overwhelming need for intimacy and like a child, she was so desperate for approval and acceptance that she would do anything for it.
He had previously allowed her to be a part of his important things, letting her in to his way of life and allowing her to reap the benefits of their once successful union. Her commitment to his cause had impressed him and allowed him to reveal a small part of himself that he could not show to anyone else, until he grew close to Gail. He had been amused by the creative ways she came up with to goad certain important men in Trinity around to his way of thinking, in an attempt to convince him that they were both the same; however, she had proven herself to be disloyal for the second time now and there would not be a third.
Lucas let out a small laugh and shook his head, he did not believe in second chances and had she have been anyone else, she would have been eliminated after she caused the death of his unborn child; however, he had been fond of her once and part of him had not wanted to give up his pet, with how easily she could be convinced to go against her own will to obey him. Alas, that ship had long sailed and it was time that Selena bore full witness to his true self.
Lucas exited the cover and began to slowly walk down the Street, nodding politely at the people that he passed. He stalked her casually and smiled to himself as he went, the game had begun and there was no stopping him now.
Selena noticed the whispers behind her had ceased and held her head up high confidently, until she sensed something familiar. She glanced over her shoulder to see Lucas casually strolling down the sidewalk on the opposite side to her and felt the air catch in her throat. She continued on her way for a few moments, choosing not to show any weakness; however, she sensed his dark gaze on her and began to feel unsteady on her feet.
Selena knew Lucas well, he liked to play before allowing a release and she had no doubt that this is what he was doing now. Rather than being just another victim in Trinity, she took a deep breath and turned around to face him. She would not be intimidated like the others before her and would stand her ground, in the hopes that he would see her worth and let this go.
Lucas looked at Selena head on, as he sensed her play. Part of him admired her misplaced courage and the thought of her standing up to him amused him.
Selena stared at Lucas defiantly for a moment, then mustered up all her courage and began crossing the road. Suddenly the heel on her shoe broke and she stumbled forward a few steps clumsily. She managed to regain her balance and composure quickly, then stood up straight, smoothed off her tight skirt and smiled triumphantly. If that was all he had right now, she would take it with a smile.
Lucas continued to gaze at her nonchalantly waiting for her to make her move, all the while feeling his dark twin slowly flow out of him. Her efforts were commendable for what little that was worth; however, it was too late for her and no amount of prowess would help her now.
Selena bent down and took off her shoes to enable her to walk more steady, then took another step forward. Suddenly she heard a loud screech and she was hit by a car, which had appeared out of nowhere. She was thrown up into the air with the force of the impact and her body crashed back down to the ground with such violent force that she felt her leg break instantly, before she passed out when her head hit the sidewalk.
Lucas inhaled deeply as he watched her broken body smash against the sidewalk like a battered doll, then smiled devilishly as the screams came from all around him. He wanted to take his time to savour her misery and this was not the place for his true feelings to show; therefore, he strolled back towards his car casually, to radio for an ambulance.
All the windows were wide open in the main study of the Buck Mansion, to allow some fresh air about the place. Gail Buck sat on her husbands favourite chair with a large tower fan blowing cool air towards her, as she nursed their baby.
It had been a strange 2 weeks after their wedding and Gail did not know whether she was coming or going. If she was not having to answer the same questions over and over about the honeymoon she had not even considered planning, she was having to endure small talk with strangers who appeared to believe talking to her would put them in high regard with her husband. All the false niceties were beginning to infuriate her and she had decided to shut herself away in this obscenely large prison today, just to get away from it all.
Gail was a Buck now and Lucas would not let her forget that. He had made it clear that he wanted her to embrace all that came with being his wife and he would not be impressed that she had locked herself away, even for just one day; however, she did not care what he thought at this moment in time and she still had her own free will, no matter how much of an illusion Lucas tried to convince her that it was.
This past week had been harder than she had anticipated and it was proving more difficult to hide that fact from her new husband as the days passed. She was plagued by nightmares about unspeakable things and when she thought back to their wedding day, she found it hard to catch her breath. She could not look at Caleb for long, without experiencing a deep rooted feeling of rage and she did not understand why she felt this way. She was also experiencing visions of blood everywhere, in her drink, in her food, even on the steering wheel of her Mustang.
To top it all off, she had been experiencing an unnatural urge to hurt things. She had neglected all her gardens, whether it be her old property or this extravagant cage she found herself in. She had been having ill feelings towards Billy, Christie, Rita and Ben, for no apparent reason other than that they were just there. When she was intimate with Lucas, she wanted to hurt him so badly that she could not control herself; however, she had managed to turn those desires into a game which he happily reciprocated. The matter was getting out of hand and she felt as though she was on edge all of the time.
Luke let out a small burp and Gail glanced down lovingly at him, then gasped when she saw blood on the fingertips of the hand that was holding his head securely. She took a deep breath then closed her eyes tight, when she opened them again the blood was gone and she let out a relieved sigh.
Something was terribly wrong here, she was having having dark thoughts about the people she held close and this was not her. The thought worried her and she was starting to feel like she was going crazy. Gail did not know what was going on; however, if something did not give in soon, she would break.
Suddenly she sensed an intrusion so she pulled up her vest, then stood up carefully with Luke and began pacing the Study as she winded him. When Caleb popped his head around the open door of the Study, she did not acknowledge him and just continued stroking Luke's back.
'I thought you'd be out workin' or somethin'' Caleb stated, not expecting to see anyone home at this time of day.
'Or something' Gail repeated in a low tone to herself and continued to pace the room.
Caleb regarded her cautiously for a moment and decided to keep his distance. After the incident with Christie at the wedding, he did not know how to act around her and did not want to cause any problems. 'Is my Daddy home?' he asked, hoping someone else was around to break the tension between them.
'Lucas is out doing whatever Lucas does, I just want some peace' Gail sighed, as she placed Luke in his Moses basket gently, then sat back down on Lucas' chair and placed her head in her hands frustratingly.
Caleb watched her for a moment, concerned for his new Step Mother and toyed with the notion of comforting her; however, he just walked out of the room and headed for his bedroom. He did not want to be alone with Gail for long when she was in this state and he hoped his Father would return home soon.
Gail sensed Caleb's distrust of her and laughed at how ironic that was. It was curious that he was worried about being alone with her and she began to wonder what had happened between them at the wedding that would cause that reaction.
Every time she tried to think about Caleb, her mind would go blank and she would experience a sharp headache, which only added to her frustration. She pulled her knees up on the chair and leaned her head back on the grandfather chair, then closed her eyes to block out the world. Her lack of memory about certain things was very concerning; however, that thought slipped out her mind as she slowly drifted off to sleep.
Merlyn lay peacefully on Matt's chest as he had dozed off on the coach. He had put Lucy in bed for a nap and they had decided to stay up late to watch a few movies; however, it was evident that his busy day had caught up with him.
She inhaled his scent and let out a long breath, then stroked his chest softly. Merlyn knew he was much older and more experienced than her; however, she yearned to be touched by him and her restlessness of late seemed to melt away whenever she was close to him.
Matt stirred for a moment, then slowly opened his eyes at the sound of a loud explosion from the television. He glanced around the room alarmed, then remembered where he was and shifted his position to allow him to stretch. 'I'm sorry, a young girl like you should be out having fun rather than being stuck with an old man who can't keep his eyes open past 6pm'
Merlyn shifted slightly to allow him to stretch, then smiled when his arm rested over her shoulders and she was able to lay her head back on his chest. 'I've had enough excitement in my life, there's nowhere else I'd rather be right now' she said, as she stroked his chest.
Matt had been careful not to overstep the boundaries with M, he knew their closeness could be deemed as inappropriate and had no desire to give Lucas Buck any ammunition against them; however, he was tired and did not have the strength to resist his desire for her after the day he'd had. He leaned his head down and inhaled her scent, then stroked his fingers down her bare arm gently. Her skin was so soft, he found himself wanting to trail his lips over her shoulder and kiss it gently.
Merlyn inhaled deeply at the tingling sensation of his fingers trailing down her skin and felt a strange warmth inside of her. Usually Matt would not entertain this closeness; however, she sensed his resistance disappear and scratched her nails down his chest.
Matt felt the tips of her nails through his T Shirt and let out an involuntary moan. He knew this was wrong and he should fight his urges; however, this pure soul appeared to truly want him and he was sick of denying their attraction.
Merlyn stared up at him innocently, then licked her lips. She leaned her head towards him as his lips came to hers and closed her eyes as he kissed her softly. A warm sensation began to flow through her and she tangled her fingers in his hair, then pulled him to her more forcefully. She was ready for whatever this led to and had never felt more alive than what she did right now.
Suddenly the telephone rang and Matt pulled away from their embrace, then cursed out loud. Merlyn watched as he ran his fingers through his hair in frustration, then got up to answer the telephone.
'You've got to be kidding me...now?' he asked in disbelief, as he shot his companion an apologetic look.
Merlyn got up from the couch and shook her head, as she walked to the large open window in the living room. She knew that tone all to well from other times he had been called into work and she knew she could not contend with his profession.
Matt hung up the telephone and approached her slowly, he saw the defeated way she held herself and cursed himself for having to be on call all the time. 'I'll make this up to you, I promise' he whispered, as he rubbed her shoulders softly.
Merlyn inhaled and leaned back into him, allowing him to wrap his arms around her waist and pull her to him. If he was going to leave, she would happily remind him what he would be missing. 'Hurry back, before I decide I do need some excitement in my life' she teased, then placed a soft kiss on his lips and signalled for him to leave.
-To be continued-