Jonathan's head snapped up at the crunch of gravel outside of the motel. He caught the sight of Billy visibly tense and grinned at the smaller man's discomfort. He stepped outside to greet the newcomers.
"You must be Jonathan?"
"You must be Six? Ani said you'd be coming today."
"Yeah, where is she? Are they pretending she lost that earring in the bathroom again? I would say it's such an old trick, but I guess I'm happy she's happy again. I won't start on the asshole..." Six trailed off, noticing Billy standing just inside the door.
Jonathan smirked at Billy before turning back to the redhead in front of him.
"Come in. Billy has something he'd like to tell you." Jonathan stood back and gestured for the pair to enter. He finally got a look at Ani's brother and was shocked at the resemblance. The nose, lips, and eyes were all identical, but fitting to their genders. Where Ani was short and slender, her brother was tall and packed with muscle. Jonathan wondered if he would come to his sister's defense.
"Billy? Sister?"
Billy ran a hand through his hair before taking a deep breath. "Hey, One. Hey, buddy. Uh….Ani went out for a bit. You know? Get some food and some air?"
"You're a shit liar, asshole. Where's Two? I'm not playing games with you. If she didn't think the sun rises and sets out of your ass, I would have never told her where to find you."
"She's at my friend's place. Billy seems to have gotten more of Neil than he wants to let on."
The tallest of the three men rounded on Billy. He backed Billy into a corner before placing one meaty hand on his shoulder. One shuddered before pummeling his other fist into Billy's stomach. Six grabbed onto One's sleeve and yanked as hard as possible.
"Don't touch him anymore. Stop it!" She was screeching at such a frequency Jonathan swore only dogs may pick it up if she kept going. "What did he do?!"
One raised an open hand to his own face, mimicking a slap. Six sighed and turned to Billy. She watched him curl in on himself from his new position on the floor. She knew she would have to take care of the mess that was going to be on the floor, but first he would suffer.
"Look at me," the command was quiet but firm. Cobalt blue met emerald green as slowly as possible. One smiled sweetly at him. "Pain."
Jonathan watched as Billy's back arched impossibly backwards. He was clawing at his skin and letting out guttural moans of pain. Before Jonathan thought it was going to get worse, the smell of urine hit his nose. He leaned around from his position and saw Hargrove had lost control of his bladder. Instantly, Billy's body hit the floor and he laid gasping.
"I should do it for longer. Will she come back to him?" Six looked to her lover for answers. The other man nodded and held up three fingers. "Days or weeks?" One held up one finger. "Ok. I have three days with this piece of shit. I'm going to go help her take care of Neil and then I'll be back. Get him in the shower and help him clean his piss up."
Jonathan followed Six out of the door. "You can do physical feelings where Ani can do emotional?"
Six nodded, "Yeah. I can also do a little of what your girl El can do. Not as strong but I can move small items. It helps when I go out and pretend to be psychic. I move stuff around the room and claim it's relatives looking for attention. Can I get the address to go find my sister-in-law? I want to go home."
Ani heard the car before it pulled into the driveway. The anger hit her like a punch in the gut. She pressed a hand to her stomach before looking over at Steve. His jaw was clenched and he was watching Ani in fear. She knew he was worried about her reaction to her peek inside his dreams. If she wasn't nervous about her sister-in-law's appearance she would have laughed.
"You get out here right now and let me see your face!"
Ani sighed before stepping out into Steve's driveway. She smiled shyly at Six before walking over to the redhead. Six grabbed her chin and tilted her head up to get a better look. Ani watched her pupils contract and felt the pull of pure hate through Six's fingers.
"Hello, sister dear. Long time no see? No hugs?"
"Cut the shit, Two. What the fuck did he do? I know he did more than slap you. Don't make me force it out of you."
Ani told Six everything from start to finish. Steve watched from the door as the taller woman gave him a once over before smirking. Ani flinched when Six reached a hand behind her head and felt around for obvious signs of trauma.
"You'll have a headache later. Especially when we're done with Neil tonight. You're to stay here with handsome until it's safe for you to go back to the asshole."
"I spent two years separated from him. I can't do that again. It's my fault Neil got as bad as he did. I have to take care of my mess. And it's not entirely 'Liam's fault. That thing changed something in him. More than moving here did."
Steve stepped down to meet the girls in the driveway, "He was violent when he moved here. Maybe you're seeing this from the wrong side of things. He's no saint, Ani."
Tears filled Ani's eyes, "I know that. He never was a saint. I know him better than anyone. So I know he didn't mean it. Don't tell me he isn't who I think he is. He isn't who you think he is."
Ani grabbed Six's hand and pulled her towards the house. Steve watched as the girls disappeared up the stairs to the guest room he showed Ani to earlier. He could hear bags being gone through and Six complaining about the clothes being shoved into her hands. Steve wondered if the taller girl would even fit into Ani's clothing.
An hour later, Steve watched from the couch as the girls made their way downstairs. If he hadn't have seen Ani at work previously, he would have choked on his beer. Both girls were wearing skin tight jeans and black tank tops. Ani had thrown on Billy's old jacket and Six was wearing a jean jacket to watch her pants. Ani has obviously taken time to do both girls' hair and make up. Six didn't look at all like the young mom she arrived as. Gone was the cardigan and loose fitting jeans. Ani met his eyes behind Six's back and smiled mischievously. Even she didn't look like the woman he was slowly considering an ally.
"Looks good, doesn't she?"
"I'll never look as good as you, Two."
"Don't call me that. Ok, we're going to the bar Neil frequents. Max told me where it is. He's there now. I just talked to her. We'll be back later. Don't ask questions when we get back. You won't want to know what we're going to do."
Steve held his hands up in defense. He was too afraid of the brunette to even question her at this point. He wasn't sure what her sister-in-law could do but he wasn't about to find out.
"How are you two in-laws if the three of you technically don't exist?"
"I may have gotten a clerk in Long Beach to officiate a wedding without the proper documentation," Ani laughed out.
The bar was packed with the lowest forms of life Ani had ever seen. Sure, she had gotten a few rough necks at the strip clubs. Most of the men she targeted were obviously wealthy and acted like gentlemen when she approached them. They hadn't been inside for more than twenty minutes and she had had her ass grabbed three times. Six finally spotted Neil at the bar, a whiskey in his hand. She met Ani's eyes and nodded in his direction. The glee she saw in the small woman's eyes was enough to make her blood run cold. She hesitated to follow as Ani made her way to the bar. Ani slid onto the stool next to Neil and shrugged out of her jacket. She placed her arms on the counter and leaned forward to call to the bartender.
"Two whiskeys please, baby. It's my birthday!" Ani focused on the emotions coming off Neil. She felt his confusion and lust at the same time. She suppressed a shudder before pretending to idly glance around the bar. She locked eyes with Neil and smiled.
"Names Mark. What's yours, beautiful?" Ani slowly took the hand offered to her.
"I'm Britney. This is Liz." Ani smiled at Six over her shoulder. Six smiled back before looking at Neil and winking at him. "We do everything together."
"Everything? Really?"
Ani nudged Six with her foot. The taller girl flinched before smiling widely at Neil, "Everything."
Two hours later, the girls had Neil sandwiched between them on the dance floor. Ani grimaced at the wall across from her. She was stuck, grinding against him to the worst country music she had ever heard. She could feel Six's anxiety below Neil's arousal. She knew she would have to make the move to take things somewhere more private. She turned her head and spoke loud enough for Six to hear.
"Wanna get out of here, baby? I think we could all use a little more than this, don't you?" She hoped she wouldn't have to use any more of her energy to push him in the direction they wanted. He nodded and winked at her. "You got a place?"
"Yeah, I got a place. You got a car?"
Six spoke up so Ani wouldn't have to. She was worried Neil would recognize her voice. "We'll follow you, big boy. Go get the car, Brit."
Neil stumbled over to the bar, slamming a wad of cash on top. The bartender gently lifted the bills and began counting. Seconds later, the two men were arguing. The girls saw the bartender nod his head at the bouncer in the corner. Ani sent calm to all three men, watching as Neil pulled more bills from his pocket to finish paying the tab.
Piece of shit. That's probably supposed to pay the bills and feed Maxi.
"What the fuck is this?!"
Neil was tied to the chair in the living room, struggling against his bonds. Both girls were disgusted to find out he took them back to his home rather than a motel. The picture he tried to turn so they wouldn't see was a recent school photo of Max. Ani was holding it in her hands, frowning down at it. When she looked up at Neil, she fought the urge to hit him across the face with it. Worse, she was disgusted to discover there were no photos of Billy to be found.
"Remember me, asshole?" Ani asked quietly. She glanced at Neil and watched the realization flit across his face.
"Prep school girl. Did he contact you after he ran away? Stupid idiot left his car. So proud of that thing. It was such a joy to bring him here where there wouldn't be a little slut with her slut feet propped up on the dashboard." Neil sneered in her direction. Ani at Six, smirking as the other girl kneeled in front of the trash tied to the chair.
"Look me in my eyes, Neil. You do that and this will be over quickly." He brazenly met her eyes. Six smiled. "Pain."
Neil's back arched as far off the chair as he could. His whimpers and moans filled the room along with the sounds of his teeth grinding against each other. Ani looked away and began to walk from the room. She knew Six wouldn't be able to speak to her until she stopped focusing on Neil. She turned back as a thought came to her.
"Where's the keys to the Camaro, Neil?" Six broke eye contact and Neil stopped struggling. The man was struggling for breath through his tears. "I want the them. Where are they?"
"His room. Second door on the left. Susan put them on his dresser."
Ani turned on her heel and exited the room. She could hear Six command Neil to look her in the eyes again. Moments later she heard his screams start again. She found Billy's room easily enough, pushing the door open. The scent of his cologne and cigarettes hit her nose instantly. Noticing the pack on the bedside table, she snatched one out of the pack and rummaged in her jacket pocket for her lighter. She knew Billy would never be back for this pack so she shoved the remaining smokes into her pocket with the lighter. Inhaling deeply, Ani shook her head before placing palm on the quilt covering the bed.
It was bad enough he had to endure talking to Mrs. Wheeler. He made matters worse by imagining it was Ani he was flirting with. Regardless of what that insufferable, miserable housewife thought, he wouldn't touch her without thinking of his girl. Coming home, he dug under his bed to find the old cigar box of Polaroids he kept. He smiled as he pulled the top few off, the smiles on their faces beaming up at him filling him with joy to replace the repulsion he felt. He traced a finger over Ani's face, holding back the tears threatening to spill over. Digging deeper into the box, he grabbed a handful of secret Polaroids grabbed in a plastic bag.
Ani would kill him if she knew he didn't keep these in anything safer than a cigar box under his bed. He flipped through the until he found the one of Ani sprawled our across this same quilt. Her hair fanned around her head on his old pillow and her mouth was open in what he knew was a pant. Her breasts were barely concealed in a red lace bra. Her panties were already missing. Her legs were spread to show her bare, wet pussy with her fingers inserted.
Billy palmed himself through his work trunks. Undoing the drawstring, he pulled them low enough that his cock sprang free. Gripping himself tightly, he worked himself slowly and didn't take his eyes off the photo in his hand. Running his thumb across the head of cock, he smeared precum down his length before picking up the pace of his movements. Moments later, he came with a shudder.
Head thrown back in bliss, he murmured only one word, "Ani…"
Ani pulled her hand away from the bed, dropping to her knees. She dug around under his bed until she found the box from the images she saw in her head. She could feel his joy, regret, and pain when she held the box tightly in her fingers. She swiped under her eyes furiously, attempting to stop her own emotions from taking over. Distantly she heard Neil's groans and cries from the living room. Ani moved to her feet. Noticing the keys on the dresser she crosses to grab them, ignoring the emotions flowing through her fingers even more now.
Ani found Six standing over an unconscious Neil. Her sister-in-law was cutting the bindings from around his wrists. Ani placed her hand on the other woman's shoulder.
"We need to move him before we finish."
"I know, Ani. Why do you think I'm cutting his bindings?" Six huffed in annoyance. "What do you think? Bedroom? Got too drunk and suffocated in his pillow?"
"No, bathtub. Go find some whiskey and a glass." Ani looked at Neil with disinterest. "He got drunk. Fell asleep in the tub. It's going to be too bad that he drowned."
It took half an hour for the two women to push and pull Neil down the hall. Ani ran the tub as Six began to remove Neil's clothing. Both girls held back gags as they removed his pants. He stirred as they placed him in the tub.
"Shh, sweetie. It's ok. Here. I got you some more whiskey," Ani placed the glass to his lips and tipped his head back. "Can you do something for me? Nod if you can. You can? Good. I need you to take a deep breath."
Ani gripped the back of his head and pushed him under.
"Here. Take this one." Ani tossed a set of keys to Six. She caught them easily, turning them over in her hands.
"You want me to take his car? You don't want to drive it?"
"I can't even look at that thing. I touched it once. If I touch it again I might kill him." Ani slid into the seat of her own car. "I'm going to Harrington's. You coming?"
"I got a room at the motel. I can't leave One there by myself with Billy much longer. I'll take care of him for you."
"I'll take care of him. I just need some time. Tell Jonathan that he'll be fine on his own. Ask him to swing by Steve's before he heads home."
Six looked up from her spot at Ani's car door. She could hear a car in the distance. She barely had time to move before Ani yanked the door closed and started the engine. She jerked her head in the direction of Billy's car. Six got the message and ran to the other car.
They barely made it around the corner before Susan turned down the street.