There is love in your body but you can't hold it in
It pours from your eyes and spills from your skin
Tenderest touch leaves the darkest of marks
And the kindest of kisses break the hardest of hearts
Being a cannibal wasn't easy.
There were three facts that Iris's life revolved around.
Fits, friends, and food.
The three F's she called them; three little things that made her world spin round until it threatened to topple. Being a cannibal meant that fits were often, friends were rare, and food was always at a premium. Finding the filet mignon of humans wasn't very easy, at least that's what her sister had always told her.
Ah.
The familiar pang of hunger would greet her once more; her stomach gurgling loudly. Curling her arms tighter about her midsection, she would slowly graze her teeth along her bottom lip. It was a trick she had developed the first time they had gone without food. If she could imagine herself chewing on something succulent like Miss Peabody's slender wrist; her body would often be satisfied, the pangs that stalked her silenced, at least for a moment.
Now the tender flesh of her lip was always bruised; dark scabs dotted along it.
How long had it been since their last meal? Days…weeks even? It wasn't something Iris exactly liked keeping track of, considering that part of being a proper younger sister was not getting into fights with the eldest. Family wasn't ever supposed to try and eat each other.
After all, that would be rude.
The best a cannibalistic family could hope for was to be graced with suicidal members. That would be a blessing in disguise. Just kidding. Or not. Hunger could drive people to the brink of madness, couldn't it?
It wasn't Rose's fault anyways. She had always been weak. Being delicate and proper like a lady was just fine; as long as you weren't a cannibal. Then having that sort of personality was more of a defect than a bonus. What was the benefit of being able to be with any guy you wanted but eating them the first time they kissed you because you were hungry? Not exactly attractive foreplay.
Sliding her leg against the muddy ground; she would carefully dip her toes into the murky water. The creek that ran behind their house had always been Iris's favorite place to escape to; just like it had been their mother's. It was seemingly the only thing she had inherited from her mother; aside from her dirty blonde locks.
Iris was the miniature version of her father in every respect, the only one in the family who remotely shared anything with him. They had the same piercing blue eyes; the same furious anger; and both of them had the softest of voices; though hers was far higher than his gruff voice. They also both related in the fact that neither of them liked to talk about their problems; he preferred to take solace in his wood carvings while she took solace here; at the riverbank.
It was where she came to think, though more often she found herself coming to relax instead. Thinking wasn't a favorite thing of hers to do because evidently her thoughts would wrap back around to hunger.
Or more specifically her hunger.
That was the one – well the main downside of this "lifestyle" choice. It wasn't as if you could just go to the store if you were hungry and order a pound of a virgin female. Or pick up the phone and call Pizza Hut; asking for three hands, leave out the sauce.
If only.
Only Rory was able to eat a bowl of cereal since he was too young to always go without. It didn't help that she had to make him a bowl of it every day either and watch him eat spoonful after spoonful of the brightly covered lumps. Sometimes when she watched milk stream down his chin, she wanted to choke him.
Where was her food? Didn't her hunger matter?
Anyways.
Shaking her head, she would draw her attention back to the matters at hand. Poor, poor little Rosie. Even though she was younger by two years; Iris had always considered it her job to take care of her older sister. After all, she was going to take over her mother's job.
Bait.
That was her sister's job, just as it had been their mother's. She was to act as bait; just like a helpless worm on a fishing hook, carefully luring their prey back to the house. At least that's what she was supposed to do and never did. Iris couldn't help but feel sorry for her sister. It wasn't that she was jealous of her role; Iris simply knew that she would have made better bait.
Iris didn't have any reservations about taking a hammer to someone's head. It wasn't anything personal; they were just food that was all. Didn't it work like that in nature? There was always a food chain filled with the strong and the weak. It was all about survival. They needed to eat.
Yet her innocent sister was just like the flower she was named after. She had always been innocent, this trait not falling away from her as she had aged. Not to mention delicate. How many times had she given Rose an extra helping from her own plate when they did eat? Gliding her hand upwards; she would cup her chin with her fingers. Rapidly she would move her foot in and out of the water, childishly delighting in the splashing of the icy water.
No, it had been a mistake for her sister to have been born the eldest. She would have been far better off as the youngest like their useless brother Rory. Iris had always loved her brother but the love was born out of expectations, instead of devotion. It was a responsibility of family to love its members, no matter how much one didn't want to.
When it came down to it, all he represented to Iris was another greedy mouth to feed. She could understand how some birds pushed their weaker siblings out of the nest; claiming the food for themselves. The idea could certainly prove to be tempting.
And her feelings for Rose?
That was a question she sometimes pondered when she dared to think. Deep down, did she resent her? No. She had decided a long time ago that she could never resent her sister. She could on occasion try to eat her but that was always a danger of a cannibalistic family. Leaning her head back, Iris's eyes would flutter closed as the warm beams of the sun caressed her cheeks. If she was being perfectly honest with herself, she could say that she loved her sister.
Perhaps even desired her.
There were countless forms of hunger, wasn't there? People always suffered from one kind of hunger or another. You had the kind of hunger that made your stomach coil tightly; aching with need for substance. Or there was the kind of hunger that made a person work forever to satisfy the hunger of their ambition. Then there was the kind of desire she felt towards Rose. The hunger that made her want to possess her entirely.
That was if she didn't eat her first.
Her lips would curl into a vicious smirk. Her sister would be delectable; all of her drawing her in. It would be so easy to brush her fingers against her neck; feeling the veins pulse underneath her fragile skin. To taste her silky flesh that was the very definition of innocence! Oh how her heart – and her stomach ached at the thought. A light sigh would escape her lips as she squeezed her cheek; her fingernails digging into her skin.
No, she could control herself better than that.
The only thing she would devour would be her sister's naivety. It was a delicious thought to think of; the call as enticing as a siren, beckoning her to it.
Someday her sister would come to her. Someday her sister would realize that she belonged to her. And someday her sister would love her back.
Her eyes would snap open as twigs broke underfoot; leaves crunching together as footsteps echoed loudly near her.
"I-I thought that I would find you here."
Iris's taut stance would relax as she heard her sister's voice.
Rose was the only one who knew about her secret place. Their father would have never allowed it if he had known about it; having forbid any reminder of their mother to remain.
"Sister" Iris would murmur softly; patting the ground beside her. "Sit" Her tone left little room for argument; not that Rose would have ever disputed her anyways. The only thing they ever fought over was food; a natural source of antagonism between cannibals.
Without a word Rose would adjust to sit beside her; smoothing the worn fabric of her dress to fan out beneath her. "Iris…" She would hesitate for a moment, shifting her weight forwards to lean her head against Iris's shoulder. An understanding silence would settle between them. It had always been like this between them. No words needed to be said for them to understand each other; the mere fact of the others presence always comforting.
"You're hungry, aren't you?"
At this Rose would still; seemingly her chest not even raising as she inhaled. Turning her face from Iris, she would tightly curl the hem of her dress through her fingers. "I can't do it. I can't!" She exclaimed; turning to look back at Iris. Her eyes were wild like that of a frightened animal's; her brown orbs reflecting terror. "I'm not…I'm not ready."
"You've had nineteen years of preparation, Rose. It's not like you ever turned away dinner." Iris commented flatly; sliding her hand from underneath her chin to grace her sister's arm. Flinching, Rose would shudder; leaning back to lay against the wet ground. Needless to say, Iris had always been the sibling with the best control over her emotions.
It wasn't as if Rose was suffering alone. They were all hungry. They all had the same ferocious glint in their eyes when they were close to each other; their touches remaining always remaining moments too long to be taken as comforting. Even Rory's manner had taken on the same gaunt, slow attitude of an animal trying to circle about its prey; endlessly waiting for the chance to strike.
Simply put, they were all mere seconds away from lunging across the table to take a bite out of each other.
"Sometimes I dream of going into the river, Iris." Her sister's voice would take on a lulled quality; her tone dropping to a whisper. "It would be so easy….so brief, I wouldn't even struggle. I could even do it now – slide down into the river, inch by inch." As if to illustrate her meaning, Rose would slowly start to glide down the mud; her dress bunching behind her. Water would precariously wrap around her knees; urging her in.
Iris's lips would purse as she watched the scene; her hands curling with contempt as she resisted the urge to shake her. Leave it to her sister to try running away; instead of fixing the problem. She would have never done so; especially when it came to family matters. "The current would take me away from here; away to Neverland." Her expression was wistful as she glanced upwards to Iris; her eyes misting. "Neverland, can't you see it Iris? Young forever, never hungry…away from here."
Neverland.
That story had been the start of her sister's weakness.
Books had always been forbidden in their house; their father not wanting them to gain any ideas from the "demons" of the world. And yet one spring day, the book had come floating down the river to rest at the bank. At the time Iris was engaged in a rebellion against her father; seeing as how he had taken a bigger portion of lunch than she thought fair. Creeping down to the slipper bank, she had carefully retrieved the book; curious as to what it even was. Though the ink had been slightly smeared and the spine broken; Iris had been able to salvage it, drying it out in the sun.
With bated breath and fingers trembling in trepidation she and Rose had read each page; finding themselves enraptured by the tale. They had both fallen in love with it; always whispering to each other their dreams about one day finding Neverland, the land where they would always be children.
As Iris had grown older; her dreams had festered into the knowledge of reality. Peter Pan and his world of Neverland was just a tale, nothing that would ever come true. It wasn't something to believe in.
Yet to Rose, it had remained a reality; a hope that only Iris knew would never be fulfilled.
Impassively Iris would slide her hand forwards; winding her fingers through Rose's thick, golden locks. Harshly she would yank on them; her sister screeching in pain. Without releasing her hold, Iris would move to place herself on top of Rose; her hands pinned beside her shoulders. Her sister had always physically been smaller than her; both of them having slender frames. While Iris was like a blue jay, Rose was akin to a sparrow; despite being older.
"Neverland isn't real, Rose, and it never will be." Placing her face close to hers; India would bare her teeth. She had to make her sister pay attention to her; give in to her. That was the only way she would truly believe her. "Dreams aren't right to have, sister. You are bait. You don't have a right to have dreams." She stated; her gaze firmly locked on Rose's.
She reacted exactly as Iris had known she would. Snapping her lips open; she would snarl in anger. Starting to thrash beneath her, Iris would easily be able to make her subdued. It wasn't as if Rose had ever held a chance with the mud beneath her and Iris on top of her.
Underneath every cannibal lurked a twisted; tortured side. It was the real side of them. Her father had always described it as they were God's children, his true children. Complacent, pious, and loving was how they all started out when born. However with every person they consumed; they would also devour their emotions, their memories, their very thoughts. With every absorption; this created and fed the monster that lurked within all of them.
That was why they were supposed to only feed from the innocent. From virgins they feasted; knowing that it would be a clean and satisfying source. Only from the innocent could they trust for their monsters not to emerge.
And yet they had all made their mistakes.
"We can't be with boys, Rose. We'd just eat them."
Ever since they were children, Iris had always told her that.
She should have listened.
With her dear sister, it had been only a month ago. The boy could hardly be called a man in Iris's mind, that despicable, filthy boy. It had been her sister's attempt at running away; at escaping to the fabled Neverland. Deputy Ander's that fool's name had been; even now Iris's lips curdled with distaste at the thought of him. How her sister had every yearned for his touch, she would never be able to understand.
Patiently she had watched her sister fall in love with the cretin. Patiently she had brushed her hair back and tied it into an intricate braid topped with a pretty pink bow for her sister. Patiently she had watched as her sister spent every waking moment with the man instead of hunting for her family.
Patiently Iris had waited in the knowledge that her sister's rebellion would fail.
And so it had.
Crying hysterically Rose had stumbled into the house on the day their father had gone to town; her frail body stained with crimson. It had spilled everywhere in the kitchen; Rose even had made a trail of bloody footsteps coming in from the porch. Through an ocean of tears, Rose had been able to stutter out the story to Iris. The boy had taken her to a field like any common whore and tried to take her; as if she had been filth. Overwhelmed at what the turn of events; Rose's innocence had given way to her instinctual nature. She had feasted on the cretin; devouring his uncleanliness.
By doing so, she had awakened her monster.
And she had come to her, her dear and loving younger sister to help her.
Iris had always taken a special, perverted sense of glee from that fact. Only Iris knew how to tame the monster that Rose wrestled with; just as Iris had managed to cage her own monster. Only Iris could Rose depend on. Only Iris could Rose need.
She would never let her sister down.
"Rose, I know you're hungry." Soothingly Iris would say the words; tilting her head downwards. Lovingly she would brush her lips against Rose's throat; peppering the spot where there was a scar left from the cretin. At her mention of hunger, Rose would whimper with need.
Breathing in her luscious vanilla tinted scent; Iris would bring her attention back up to her sister. She could control herself; having only tempted herself for that moment. That very precious moment. Her lips would slowly be tempted into a smile at the sight of her innocent sister acting like a monster; those brown orbs she loved so much burning with need, with hunger.
She, of all people, understood that hunger.
"Sister" Softly she whispered the words; bringing her pinky finger to Rose's luscious pink lips. Greedily Rose would lunge at her finger; eagerly suckling on the tip of it.
"Devour me."
Fin.
Who's feeling hungry now? ):
Iris and Rose are from the movie We Are What We Are.
Lyrics from the beginning are from Hardest of Hearts – Florence and the Machine.