I'm going to go ahead and warn you, while the beginning of this chapter is all lovey-dovey sexiness, it does not remain that way. Things get twisted, and some of you might be a little sickened, but now you can't say I didn't tell you ahead of time.
I promised you horror. Do you think I delivered? I do.
1994
It was three AM Saturday morning when I reached out of my shower to grab a towel and found instead what might as well have been a washcloth. Pulling back the curtain I looked out into the steamy bathroom to find that all of the towels as well as my neatly folded change of clothes were missing, and there was only one person who would do that to me.
Sighing heavily to myself, I wrapped the hair-towel around myself and looked down at it. The thing barely made it around me once and the edge rested just below my ass. Any bending whatsoever would result in flashing, so I made a note to stay standing as I marched out of the bathroom and into Tate's bedroom down the hall.
I found him lounging across his bed, leaning back against the headboard with one knee bent up to support his arm, the other hung off the side of the mattress. One hand rested behind his head as he rolled a tootsie pop around in his mouth, in the other he held a copy of Lord Byron's Manfred.
At first I only stood there in the doorway, waiting for him to acknowledge my presence, but he seemed rapt in his reading. So, with an arched brow I shut the door and crossed my arms over my chest, moving to the side of the bed.
"Thy spell hath subdued me. Thy will be my guide."
Tate's dark eyes flicked up over the pages of his book, and he rolled the tootsie pop to the corner of his mouth, "As much as I'd love that, I'm passed that point." He said shortly, looking back to his book, "he's just realized that calling to the spirits was a mistake."
"Good for him. Where are my clothes?"
"I would assume in your hamper. Constance finished the laundry at 9 tonight."
"Tate, I'm tired, and I'd cold. Where the hell did you hide my clothes?"
"What makes you think I would do something like that?" he asked innocently, but his eyes were roaming down my long legs, and the heat in them was obvious.
I let out a frustrated groan, to which he only chuckled, setting his book on the nightstand and getting comfortable to watch me rummage through his room.
"You took my towel. Who does that?" I pulled out each of his drawers one by one, emptying the contents onto the floor as I went, "I mean, what the hell is this thing supposed to cover exactly?"
"Not your ass." He commented, head titled to the side to regard the towel that had slid up my backside when I bent down to pull out his bottom drawer. I stood up with a scowl, smoothing the cloth back over my butt and moved for his closet.
"Were you bored? High? What is wrong with you? It's like 30 degrees tonight, do you realize that. You're just sitting there like a tool and I'm freezing my ass off."
"I promise it's still there." He smirked, then sat up to watch me go through his closet. After a while he chuckled softly and shook his head, pulling the tootsie pop from his mouth to roll the stick between his fingers.
"You're never going to find them." He said and I spun on my heel, eyes narrowed.
"Tate Langdon if you put my clothes in the crawlspace I swear to God-"
"That's no place for clean clothes, "he grinned picking his book up again and leaning back to get comfortable, "Who do you think I am?"
I stomped over to the side of his bed with a scowl. "What do you want?"
"I don't follow." He said, not looking away from Manfred.
"You took them for a reason, Tate. You wanted something, so what is it?"
"Perhaps it was your lovely company…well, normally lovely. Right now you're kind of acting like you're on the rag."
I slapped his book down out of his hand and leaned in to get in his face. "Tate, I'm not fucking around. Where are my-"
My words were cut short by a yelp of surprise when suddenly he grabbed me and jerked me down onto the bed, rolling on top of me and pinning my arms together above my head. For a moment I could only stare up at him with wide eyes as he gazed down at me without expression. His black eyes moved over my body, and the towel that had been rumpled now before flicking back up to my eyes.
"For starters I want you to be nice." He said softly. He kept my wrists pinned with one hand while the other traced the line of the towel over my breasts. "You'll get your clothes back, I just need you to do one thing."
My eyes narrowed in suspicion while his finger circled my nipple through the fabric, making it stand at attention. "And what is that?"
Tate's lips curled into a slow smile, and his hand slipped down between my legs making me gasp.
"I need you to come for me," he murmured against my ear, and my eyes fell closed with the sudden rush of arousal that followed.
"You could have just asked." I managed to say once his fingers had slipped inside of me and began to work at a steady rhythm.
"I could," he agreed with a grin, pulling back to look down at me and releasing my wrists. "But you always complain when I catch you fresh from a shower." He untucked the edge of my towel right above my breasts and opened it slowly. "When I'm fucking you, I don't want to hear about how you'll have to take another shower, and how I'm an asshole." He tugged the material out from under me and tossed it off the bed, then wrapped his hand around my wrists again. I'd been so distracted, I hadn't even moved them.
Tate smiled wickedly and leaned down to draw his tongue along the line of my clavicle bone, his black gaze lifting to meet my eyes as he did so. He kissed me between my breasts, moving lover.
"But, Lottie, you should know," he began nipping at the flesh on my hip and kissing away the brief flash of pain.
"Mm-hmm?" I asked, it was the only thing I could get out now that he was working my clit and he'd kissed me right above my sex.
"You are going to need another shower."
"Oh fuuuck." I moaned when he smirked and dipped his head down to work me with his mouth.
Suddenly I didn't care if I ever saw those clothes again.
1983
"Moira, be a doll and go see what the twins are up to would you? When they're quiet this long I feel like they're up to something."
"Yes ma'am." The maid turned on her heel without another word and moved out of the back door into the yard. She wasn't supposed to deal with children, that wasn't her job, but when Constance told her to do something, it wasn't up for discussion. She needed this job, so she would suck it up and go deal with the little devils.
Moira had never liked the Langdon children. Addie was harmless, but a creepy little shit, and the twins…well they were a handful. Normally, she was great with children, she was kind and adoring, but with those little devils, there was no pleasing them. There were times that she thought them demons.
She'd heard of bad seeds before, but never put much stock in the Hollywood idea. Sure she'd seen the Omen, but the idea that a child could really be so twisted had been beyond her, until she started working here.
Since she'd been employed, the twins had taken it upon themselves to make her life hell. Tate in particular seemed to hate the very sight of her. She would never admit it, but there were time that he looked at her, and she felt like he knew she'd slept with his father. Well, not so much the sex bit, they weren't really interested in such things at 6, but he knew something was different. He knew that Daddy looked at her the way he was supposed to look at Mommy, and that made the little devil unhappy. The girl was a hellion, yes, she was devious and cruel, but Tate…there was just something about him that set Moira on edge. Something in his eyes, eyes that should have been brown like his sister's but were instead deep and black. Like gateways to hell. When he looked at her, she felt as if she were staring into the eyes of the devil himself.
Moira had moved into the unfinished wooded end of the property. This was usually where she found them. Playing lions as they called it or other creepy things she tried to ignore if at all possible. Out in the bushes she heard Charlotte giggle and sighed heavily, marching forward and wondering how much it would cost to get the new shoes she would need after these were utterly destroyed in the dirt.
"Alright you little brats. That's enough. Your mom wants you inside. It's almost time for supper."
There was a rustling to her left, and she paused as a streak of wild blond curls bounced passed her and disappeared again into the foliage.
"Charlotte." Moira called, moving to follow the girl. After a few stumbles, she bent down to take off her shoes.
More wild giggles and something barreled out of the brush, knocking into her and throwing her off balance. Moira cried out and fell into the dirt, shooting up onto her hands to look around for the twins but they were already gone again.
"I'm not playing this game." She called to them, fingers clenching in the dirt. Her voice was strong, but inside she was trembling. "Don't make me go get your mother."
"Momma won't do anything." She heard Tate and spun to face the little demon as he stepped out of the bushes, but her next words were lodged in her throat.
The boy was covered in blood. It was streaked across his face, slathered over his clothes, and dripping from his fingers. Bits of his hair had been stained bright red and when he saw the horror on her face, his tilted his little head and smiled. There was something in his hand, but she didn't want to look away from his face in case he suddenly sprang toward her.
"She will." Moira insisted finally, slowly pushing herself up onto her knees. "And she won't be happy with you, you know what happens then."
Tate glanced over her shoulder at a rustle in the bushes behind her and she glanced back to see Lottie moving out of the green, likewise bathed in crimson. Moira had found them with animals before, sliced open, eviscerated. She'd once stumbled across Lottie in the garage pretending to be a grocer and selling Tate a length of sausage. The sausage had been the intestines on a stray dog. This however, was different. There was too much blood for an animal, unless they'd found themselves a deer, and she doubted that.
Lottie grinned at Moira, wiping her chubby little fingers across her cheek and smearing the blood there even more. With a little frown, she tried to wipe her hands off on her ruined dress, but there were no clean spaces to do so and she gave up. Not wanting to be the next supplier of fresh sausage, she decided to play it kind and hope for the best.
"Are you playing lions again?" she asked with a forced smile as Lottie joined her brother at his side and took his hand. "I know you two like to go hunting."
Tate tilted his head to regard her curiously, trying to figure out whether or not she was screwing with them. There was something terrifying in a child who seemed as shrewd as the average adult. Children who could smell lies and offer better ones, made her nervous. The twins made her nervous.
"Lottie brought home some food for the pride." Tate said, affording his twin a loving smile that she returned. "We'll have food for weeks."
"Wonderful." Moira smiled, slowly standing and trying her best not to lose her cheerful smile. "Can you show me? I'd love to see your catch."
Lottie made a strange sound, halfway between a whine and a growl, her attempt at a lion noise and Tate held up a hand.
"Lions have to protect their food." He said seriously, "Otherwise the others will try to steal it."
Moira nodded holding up her hands in understanding, "Well, don't worry, I just had a big meal, so I'm stuffed."
They thought about it a long moment, Lottie whispering to him while he watched Moira with those terrible black eyes, gripping what she now realized was a small medical blade. Though where he'd gotten it she had no idea.
"I guess." Tate finally shrugged, then leaned in close to whisper something to his twin that made her giggle and disappear back into the bushes. "It's over here."
Moira nodded, swallowing her fear and followed him slowly deeper into the trees. They walked a few minutes, and Tate was careful to keep her in his sights. She had a feeling that if she tried to run from them, something bad would happen to her, and the fact that she was being intimidated by children didn't make it any less threatening. The truth was these kids were fucked. In the head, in their unfortunate choice of parents. They were wrong, and she didn't want to make them angry. The closer they got to their destination, the more Moira began to notice a repugnant odor drifting out through the leaves. She tried to hold her breath to ignore it, but the scent seeped into her nose regardless.
"Right through there." Tate said suddenly, pointing with his blade into a clearing they often used to play in. It was their "lion's den".
Moira hadn't prepared herself for what was inside it. She never could have. Dogs and cats were one thing, she'd seen too many of them mutilated now to be much affected by them. Tate liked to leave bits of the torn bodies around the house while she was cleaning. Once Lottie had placed a freshly sawed through dog's head in the laundry hamper, waiting around the corner until she heard Moira scream and then giggling and running off with her brother. Dead animals, she could now handle. Not this.
Not a child.
The twins had made a bed of leaves for the girl they'd found. Moira didn't recognize her, but could only assume they'd lured her from the playground a few blocks down. She had dark brown hair, lovingly gathered into a braided bun on the back of her head and strung with yellow ribbons, though those were now stained with her blood. One of the girl's legs had been broken over a large rock that Tate liked to call his throne. The bone jutted out of the pale torn flesh of the child's calf, blood congealing out around it.
Congealing. She'd been here long enough that she was starting to rot. Flies buzzed in an endless dance around her, crawling across her face, slipping in between her slack, graying lips. One dipped from the air to rest momentarily on the child's open eye, then buzzed away again just as quickly.
Moira let out a soft sound of horror, her hand going up to cover her mouth as she took in the mangled corpse. They hadn't just killed her, they'd opened her up, just like all the animals. Her ribcage had been pried open, spilling her insides onto the ground beside her corpse. Some of them had been removed completely, the liver was nailed to a tree above the girl, and her stomach had been set on a rock beside her and opened for them to explore what she'd eaten. There were also places along her arms and legs where chunks of the muscle had been removed, sawed off and tossed on the ground or into the small fire pit the twins had constructed for themselves.
"Oh Jesus." Moira breathed, looking away and finding Lottie standing in the brush, holding her stomach with a frown.
"You can have some if you want." Tate said, though it wasn't generosity in his black eyes, but sadistic glee at her revulsion. "We already ate."
"Ate…" she looked between them, her stomach twisting, and the world began to tilt. Lottie made a soft sound of displeasure and shuffled toward her brother, grabbing the sleeve of his shirt and tugging on it.
"My tummy hurts, Tate." She said pitifully, "I thought you said it would be ok."
"Lions don't cook their food." He replied simply, his dark, hellish eyes still focused on Moira and the sickly green color she was turning. The maid stumbled away from them falling through the bushes to vomit onto the ground.
They had eaten her. Not only had they just murdered a girl, but they had cut off some pieces and eaten her for lunch. The world was spinning as she tried to push herself back up, but suddenly Tate exploded through the leaves, landing on top of her back and grabbing a fist full of her hair. He wrenched back her head and pressed his bloody knife to her throat.
"You can't tell Momma. She wouldn't let us play lions anymore."
"Oh god, oh god, oh god." Moira chanted softly as the blade moved higher, nicking her flesh and sending a small rivulet of blood trialing down her throat.
"You gotta promise." He insisted, wrenching her head so that he could see her face, and she his. His expression was like nothing she ever wanted to see again, cold and empty and dark. It was like the evil in his eyes had bled out into the rest of him, and she swore even his skin was cold now. Though perhaps that was simply a bad reaction to raw girl meat. Again nausea swelled inside her, but she had nothing left to throw up and only gagged.
"I promise." She said nodded frantically as Lottie moved into sight a few feet away. Her face was pale and she looked like she were about to be sick, but her dark brown eyes were focused on Moira, her tiny mouth turned into a frown.
"Make her all red, Tate." She said. "She's gunna tell. I know it. Make her eyes get empty and then we can eat her too."
"No!" Moira cried, then swallowing, she lowered her voice, looking between the children. "I won't tell. I swear it."
"Kill her already." Lottie said, clutching her stomach. Perhaps her violent temper was because she was feeling sick, Moira didn't have time to figure it out though.
"She won't tell." Tate said finally, leaning down to search her eyes with a smile that sent shivers of terror down her spine. "Will you, Moira?"
She shook her head, "No. I won't, I promise."
"Do you pinkie promise?" he asked, still grinning, "You can't break those."
Moira presented her hand holding up her little finger and swallowing her revulsion when his blood coated digit curled around hers.
"Ok." He said, and suddenly his voice was friendly and calm again, rather than edged by evil intent. Tate climbed off of her, and even did his best to help her stand up. "Tell Momma we'll be back soon. We have to bury our catch. She's starting to smell icky."
Moira nodded, feeling numb and clutching herself tightly. Lottie was still watching her with a scowl, but she didn't argue her twin's decision. She never did. She didn't remember walking back to the house, just that when she got there she grabbed a bottled water from the case in the garage and swallowed it down, puking it up almost instantly after. She stripped down after that, to scrub her uniform in the sink out there, and she hadn't realized she was crying until the tears dropped down onto her hands.
One thing was certain. She was going to find another job.
1994
Lottie rolled over on Tate's bed, blinking slowly back into consciousness and stretching out with a yawn. She'd never gotten to that second shower. They'd been too busy fooling around and had passed out naked and curled around one another like jungle cats.
Tate took a moment to admire the sight she made, pale skin tight against her slender body, long legs tangled in the sheets beside him. He smiled to himself and rolled onto his side to kiss each of her ribs as she smiled sleepily and stroked his hair.
"Good morning." She said softly, there was a husky early morning quality to her voice that made him hard all over again and he grinned up at her resting his chin on her stomach.
He'd dreamed about lions that night. Of the day Moira had seen their game and nearly lost her mind. She kept her word at least, though he imagined that was due to the fact that shortly after she had disappeared with their father. He'd always hated that prissy bitch of a whore, and there were times that he regretted not listening to Lottie and slitting her throat.
"What are you thinking about?" his sister asked softly, continuing to stroke his hair. He turned his head to rest on her stomach and curl closer to her staring off into the shadows of his room.
"I was thinking about what we have to do. Whether or not I'm ready."
"You mean the school?" she asked, wrapping her arms around him and playing tracing small circles across his spine. "Are you having second thoughts?"
He pushed himself up onto his elbow to search her face, "Are you?"
Lottie smiled gently, reaching out to stroke his cheek. "Of course not, baby. We don't have a choice. We have to do this."
"I know." He said, laying his head back down on her stomach and closing his eyes.
They would take as many as they could when the time came, and there wasn't a single person that would see it coming. He didn't feel bad about this, he didn't feel much of anything, but the confidence that it was their only option. They would take them all away from the pain and the decay of the world around them, off to somewhere clean and kind. A place he knew he and his sister would never know.