Chapter Six
-Marly-
After all the jogging and sweating..and killing, my brain reminded me that shower felt so good. I breathed in the scent of my shampoo and mango body wash. I examined myself when I got out my first stitches were gone and there was a bump on the back left of my head where I hit the window. I opened the door feeling so ready to get to bed but Vincent wasn't there guarding the door anymore. The door next to Vincent's room was almost all the way open and I'd never even seen the inside. It was like a library/study with two walls covered with floor to ceiling bookshelves crammed with thick volumes. The other half was like a study with a wooden desk, small reading lamp and stacked, dusty paperwork. The room was empty despite the door being open I half expected Vincent to be in here. I examined the book spines more carefully and they were all medical texts some in different languages. I guess this was how Vincent knew all of his stuff.
Sitting on the desk right under the reading lamp were three birth certificates Lester, Bo, and Vincent Sinclair. All of the dates were sorta scratched out and hard to read. I flipped them over and on the back of Bo's was written 'Evil twin' and Vincent's was 'Good twin' lester's was blank. They were twins? Just seeing that raised goosebumps on my arms. Next to them was an old yellowing journal written in perfect cursive and the dates were all scratched out here too. Some pages were missing or torn in half or even scribbled over. I started reading the cleanest page I could find.
'I was let go today as my superiors found out about my experiments on the patients. I am furious my work will remain unfinished. Trudy is days from giving birth, she is worried about the procedure as our boys are conjoined. I told her there is nothing to fear for I am skilled in this subject. She distracts herself by starting her wax museum down the road. I watch her wax statues and figurines selling to the gossiping wenches in town that will just as likely stab her in the back as embrace her. She is loving Ambrose so far and I hate it.'
The rest of the page and a few others were scribbled out with what seemed to be a Sharpie or black magic marker it gave off a powerful ink smell. I read the next legible page.
'Even though Trudy was prepared for the procedure she weeps as she studies our twin sons. It has been two weeks since their birth and she still weeps. Our Bo has come out healthy and almost unmarked but our poor Vincent was scarred and will be his whole life. She swears she won't have another child. Bo cries constantly and Vincent barely makes a sound unless he's hungry or needs a new diaper. Trudy has already labeled then the good and evil twins.'
Well, that explained the writing on the back of the birth certificates. I know that Bo was fucked up but to label him 'the evil twin' wasn't that going a bit too far? But the next legible page proved me wrong it must have been a few years after the last page.
'Trudy is pregnant again with one baby this time we don't know the sex quite yet and her heart breaks more everyday to think it will end up like Vincent. Bo is getting worse all he does is bite and scratch, kick and scream at the top of his lungs for no reason at all. We have put restraints on his high chair this morning to contain him until Father can show up and attempt to bless him yet again. People in town have been making fun of Vincent because he is different. Trudy has taken up her art for sculpting and has made him wax masks to wear she will home school him. Vincent is a good boy he is only three years of age and he does not deserve this.'
I felt sick and appalled was Bo really crazy enough to have restraints put on his high chair and to go through tons of blessings that never worked…and Vincent, his mother made him wax masks to wear since he was three? I looked around the study feeling suddenly creeped out that this had been their father's study I looked at the names on the certificates Trudy Sinclair and Victor Sinclair with their signatures underneath. They were one fucked up family. I flipped to another page.
'Lester was born tonight healthy and strong. Trudy was overjoyed she even offered to get rid of Bo and replace him with Lester but what would people in town think if we lost a son and never grieved?'
The rest of the page was scribbled out and I found myself frustrated and curious to read more and to get into the mind of this Dr. Vicror Sinclair. Next readable page…
'Trudy is ill and has been for weeks, Lester has just turned three and he and Vincent help a great deal. She is losing control of her mind as well as her body I am not entirely sure what to do to help her..,' There were splotches there like fallen teardrops. Why was there so much scribbled out especially the dates?
'Trudy has passed and I cannot bear to live any longer.. Goodbye Vincent and Lester I love you so..,' Nothing for Bo of course and I jumped backwards from the book on the bottom of the page was a huge, burgundy crackly splotch on the paper..blood?
So that's what happened to their parents? Mom got sick and died then dad commits suicide? No wonder they were so fucked up. I looked over the bookshelf again past the medical books and found another unmarked journal. I pulled it out and opened to the first page the date was scribbled furiously out, go figure, but the page was clean and readable.
'Trudy is pregnant with twins we are so happy.'
This was scrawled in the right hand corner like a positive side note and I realized that this was a medical journal this was before the book I was reading since they just found out Trudy was pregnant with Vincent and Bo.
The rest of the journal was written in a language I didn't recognize but the descriptive drawings were sickening. Sketches of syringes through eyes and gums, cross stitching through skin and nails through bone. There were a few drawings of scalpels peeling back flesh to reveal muscle, tissue and bone with screws, pins, needles all twisted in there. I shut the book and put it back on the shelf I couldn't look at it any longer. If this was the kind of thing Dr. Sinclair did to his mental patients it was a good thing he was fired. I shivered wondering how long he had gotten away with it.
I quickly left the room I didn't want to be caught snooping but I had so much information on them and it felt somewhat good to hold that knowledge. I gripped the kitchen sink and breathed deeply a few times. Where had Vincent disappeared to? I drank some water and sat heavily at the kitchen table. I tried so hard to block the imaginative images but I kept seeing the highchair with restraints in my mind. There were scratches so deep in the gray tile it had to be by a metal highchair. Stop it, Marly! I put my hands on my ears and squeezed my eyes shut.. A hand landed on my shoulder and I jumped, screaming.
"Whoa!" Bo said. "Ginger, what's gotten into you?" I looked up at the handsome man the disturbed man who tortured and killed people… the man who helped save my life and when I looked at him all I could see was him strapped to a highchair.. I started to cry.
"What the hell is the matter with you? Are you on your period or something?" I jerked up to stand and knocked the lid off of the trash can as I threw up my cereal and the water. I was surprised when Bo swept my hair up quickly out of the way and held it up with one hand for me. I only puked twice and my stomach was now empty I felt tons better.
"Here. Sit down and I'll get you another glass of water."
"Why are you being so nice all of a sudden?" I sipped the water.
"I don't know why did you decide to up stab somebody all of a sudden like the rest of us?" he smirked.
"I was protecting myself." I replied.
"Well, I was protecting you too, Darlin and you enjoyed it. Even though you only stabbed him once, I could see the pleasure all over your face. You might not like it but you have more in common with all us than you think." as soon as he said it I knew it was true but I wasn't as quick to admit it. I was staring at the table cloth and my eyes creeped to his wrists they were mostly covered by his black button-up long sleeve shirt but I could see a hint of pink disfigured flesh on both of them. The cuff scars.
"Don't beat yourself up over it, Ginger. You want something to help you sleep?" He dropped a small round pill on the table. "I promise it'll keep the nightmares away." he got up and walked out the front door leaving me alone with my glass of water a no nightmare pill and my jumbled thoughts.
-Andrea-
"Do you feel weird without your jacket on?" she asked up front.
"Yes."
"It'll pass. I speak from experience." Earlier that morning Vincent made Bo think she was still lost running around in the woods. He was leading them on a wild goose chase when the whole time the prey was lounging in the lions den.
"He's going to be so pissed when he finds out I've been here the whole time." Vincent was scrubbing all of the leftover wax off his wooden worktable. It smelled strongly of pine and vinegar. It was gross.
"He won't find out."
"What makes you so sure you can keep me alive?" she asked and for some reason she no longer felt afraid talking about her certain death. She knew Vincent couldn't hide her forever. It was bound to happen and they both knew it.
"I want to draw you again." he said.
"Again? I hate sitting still for so long!" he had already drawn her in various poses standing, sitting, lying. Hair up, hair down front view, side view.
"I want to capture your personality not just a pose." he said quietly.
"My personality?" she laughed. "How?" Andrea smirked and looked up at him through vixen eyes.
"That!" he gasped. "I want that!" She was surprised and her expression changed.
"No!," he said. "Do it again." he started frantically gathering charcoal and smudging tools for his easel.
"What will I get in return?" she pouted.
"What do you want?" he asked flipping to a clean paper. "You know I can't let you go."
"I know. I want you to take off your shirt. I'm curious as to what you have under there." she did her smirk face and she saw Vincent jerk slightly an artists pain was not being about to capture that moment of beauty.
"I agree." Her heart pounded with impatience but she held still and kept that smirk on her face..like she was up to no good.
-Lester-
He was on the way back to Ambrose feeling like he did his good deed for the day the sun was up now at least mid morning. He breathed in the scent of rain about to fall and sped along faster the last thing he wanted was his truck to get stuck in that dirt trial just before Ambrose. He hoped Bo didn't get too angry that it made him sloppy with the kid. That was really the only thing that annoyed Lester around here. Vincent and himself were always careful to clean up after themselves thoroughly Bo did most of the time but not always and Lester didn't feel like doing his work today. His thoughts wandered to the other day when he caught Vincent with a certain wax figurine of a mermaid with horns. It was their mother's first sculpture he was always hiding their mothers work from Bo as he had smashed and burned most of her work out of hate after she had died. Lester hadn't remembered Trudy or Victor Sinclair well enough to care. But when Vincent found something Lester kept that information to himself. He knew Vince was just trying to find a way any way to be close to her again and he found is depressing. Seeing Bo and Vincent both disturbed in completely different ways by her memory made him glad he didn't remember her at all.
Bo's truck pulled up next to his at the gas station.
"Where have you been?" he snapped through the window. Lester swallowed.
"Checking traps.. Where else?"
"Check on Vincent and Ginger for me I'm goin to town with some of those guys cash."
"Where are you going?" Lester drawled.
"The bar. Where else? Be back later." they drove off in opposite directions. Most of Bo's trips to town were for the bar. He decided to check on Marly first the way Bo had said it suggested that they weren't together and he wondered if he had missed anything. He parked at the house as it started to drizzle, the sky was completely overcast. The house was dark, quiet and still like normal. Lester made his way up the stairs and found Marly sprawled out in Vincent's bed. He smiled and shut the door he knew Vincent would be in his workshop. He walked up the wax steps and past all the statues, figurines, animals to the basement stairs.
"Vince, you down here?" he called. He got to the bottom and saw Vince staring at a sketch on his easel.. A sketch of Andrea doing a pouty smirk face. It was a beautiful sketch in Lester's opinion but he thought that about all of Vincent's work.
"Bo wanted to check on you… don't do anything stupid. Marly's asleep at the house you don't have to worry."
"Marly." he heard Vince whisper as he left to go really check his this time.
-Bo-
She knew. She fucking knew! Bo hit the steering wheel. He saw saw Ginger look right under his sleeves at his scars. He sighed, unless he was being paranoid and if he was being honest that was almost all the time. Of course she didn't know she was freaked about helping them kill someone that was it. He parked outside Shot's bar in Georgeton it was three towns away from Ambrose he couldn't be too close less someone found out about their secret place. It was dark and cool with some random music playing from the jukebox in the background. There weren't too many people there he surveyed the room keeping his face impassive. There were three people at the bar talking and two men sharing a table in the darkest back corner. The bartender was an older graying man well into his fifties. The only waitress working right now came up to him a little petite blond with short shorts and belly shirt. Bo's hand twitched for his knife but he composed himself he had done enough killing earlier.
"Hi, I'm Lauren welcome to Shot's. Would you like a table or a bar stool?" she smiled.
"Bar's fine."
"Good choice," she flirted. "Enjoy." she bounced of to refill the men's glasses all happy and rainbows.
"What can I getcha?" the bartender asked.
"Three vodka shots to start."
"You got it."
Bo covered his wrists all the way and for the millionth time cursed his mother to the fiery depths of hell. Stupid bitch, he thought doing all three shots at once.
"You don't look like you're from around here." It was the waitress, Lauren, coming back with empty cups.
"I'm not." keep the answers short.
"Well, where are you from?"
"Colorado." he lied and smiled at her.
"And you?"
"Here. Born and raised. I'm boring."
"I don't find you boring." She smiled and took off her apron.
"Thanks. Jimmie, I'm clocking out." she said and Bo watched her leave.
"Three more shots, Jimmie." Bo smiled and again took them one right after the other.
It took him awhile to find Lauren back on the road Bo couldn't help himself. He pulled over on the side of the road breathing deeply. He had to get ahold of himself he ahd killed enough already and finding that waitress wasn't going to make anything better. He saw he exit a small store with a few bags in her hands she started to walk across the parking lot away from the cars. Bo twitched and smiled before driving in her direction.
-Vincent-
He didn't mean to leave her. He stood in front of the picture of Andrea. Vincent never did figure out exactly how he felt about her, Andrea was someone he could talk to in his most secret spot and Marly didn't even know it existed yet. Just because they had similar features didn't make them the same person and he knew that. He pushed the easel in the small closet and closed the door before cleaning up the workshop and falling asleep on the cot.
-Marly-
I woke around noon and I was so hungry from last night/morning. Vincent still wasn't here and it kinda made me sad. I didn't bother with my makeup today so I threw my hair up in a loose ponytail and made myself some fried eggs and bacon. As I ate I was contemplating whether or not I should go find Vincent or if he just wanted to be left alone. I'll take him breakfast. I made more food and added toast wrapping it up on a plate. I knew he was in the House of Wax. I did feel kinda creeped out as I opened the door and quickly shut it behind me. The rooms were huge it was like another mansion down the road but entirely made of wax.. There were random people statues set up all over the place in different scenes a piano in the corner and a staircase on the side. I went to the stairs maybe he was up here. I wondered how he got the wax to not melt yeah it was freezing in here now but what about in the super hot summers? The stairs led to one other wax room there was a bed and in the corner I almost dropped the plate!
There was a sculpted crib and inside it was another sculpture of conjoined twins! One was connected to the other by one side of his face. In the corner set up were two high chairs one with wrist and ankle shackles. My heart was pounding as things fell into place the high chairs, the infants and now I knew why Vincent wore a mask.. I went quickly back down the stairs trying my hardest to forget everything I just saw. I didn't want to throw up my food again. The first room led to a pretend dining room with wax food covering the table and fake people sitting all around. It was weird staring into the faces of creepy people having only one expression forever. The kitchen was small and it led to a back door that faced the woods behind the museum there was another door to the left. It was open and I took the stairs quietly and walked into some kind of workshop. Vincent was asleep on a cot against the far wall. I put the plate on the clean wooden table and walked to him.
"Vincent..," I poked his shoulder and he didn't move. I ran my finger along the edge of his wax mask. Suddenly his hand grabbed my wrist and his one eye was wide with alarm. I gasped and jumped.
"You fell asleep. I brought you breakfast." I searched his eye for any kind of expression but I was left with nothing.
"Thank you." he said and seemed distant where was the Vincent that was so quick to hold my hand?
"Right. I forgot you like to eat alone. Come back to the house when you're done." I was being really brave and kinda bossy today I smoothed his hair back and lightly kissed his wax cheek. Our gazes locked and I smiled slightly before heading back through the house of wax and up to the house.
Alright the end of yet another chapter! Keep those reviews coming I love hearing you're opinion and I take them all very seriously since this is my first fanfic ever. When I wrote Andreas part this time that pouty face! Ugh I was inspired by Katherine Pierces many sneers from Vampire Diaries. I'm not copying them nowhere close to that but I do kinda sorta see Marly as an Elena and Andrea as the Katherine of the House of Wax. No they are not dopplegangers they have similar features but they are far from twins. Thank you for reading and people who review as 'guests' you guys are like mystery people put a name or something makes me curious who you are haha!