A/N: Oh, boy. When I started this project, I didn't intend on it being so…long, but then again, most serial killer books/horror books I've read are very rarely short (looking at you, IT!)
Finally, it feels like the story is going someplace in terms of the climax and dealing with the Morning Killer/Everett's creepy ways. Since I like to think I'm doing this big battle with Everett vs. pretty much everyone else, the RIGHT way, from multiple characters' POV's with our Morning Killer unsub having a confrontation with many of our characters, it's going to take more than one chapter.
Perhaps a couple of chapters, and then there's still quite a bit to wrap up in terms of resolutions, so this is definitely shaping up to be a longer fic, but we'll see how this goes. I don't know about all of you, lovely readers, but I'm not so sure I want this little HP/Serial Killer story of mine to end, as different and unique as it is.
A very special thank you to all of my reviewers, miniandminie, CoolBlack, James Birdsong, and anyone else I missed along the way. You guys are my heart & soul for helping me stay motivated to finish this fic!
Possible trigger warning for minor violence ahead and blood, the usual, but it's a dark serial killer story, so what do you expect? Lol. We're finally getting to the climax in the next chapter after this one, and there's a lot of moving parts to it, etc., so the battle with Everett vs. pretty much everyone else will be at least a couple of chapters as I've been playing with all kinds of things that could work for the big fight scene I've built up in my mind. Which, sad to say, I'm afraid, is only just getting started. (Insert evil laughter here)
Well, I think that's enough for an intro.
Enjoy!
35
When Renee woke up, she let out a muffled grunt as she tried to move her arms and found herself unable to.
As she blinked once, twice, to rid herself of the crusted mess that had accumulated on her lids while she'd been knocked unconscious, she became vaguely aware she was not in the dark and felt the fabric of a black burlap sack that covered her face against her skin to prevent her from seeing where she was. It took a few seconds for the fog of confusion Renee found herself in to dissipate. There was always fear, no matter what.
She glanced down, her eyes widening in shock as she realized the precariousness of her predicament. Everett had hogtied her to a chair. It was only when she attempted to free her legs with more force than was perhaps wise that there was a horrible, blinding pain in her bleeding right leg.
Renee winced, letting out a pained cry as slick tears started to slip on their own accord from her eyelids, but once she struggled wriggling to break free against her restraints, the pain slowly faded.
She was smart enough not to call for help, knowing that no one could bloody hear her, and surely, no one was coming to save her, so Renee reluctantly remained silent. As she tried to wriggle free of the rope that dug into her skin, Renee remembered Everett, committing every detail of his body and his face to memory as best she could.
Large, tall, broad-shouldered. Listless, cold dead green eyes, and a cruel smile devoid of emotions.
Because she was alive right now, that didn't necessarily mean the young Muggle woman didn't fear that Everett would eventually kill her, just as he'd done all the other victims, but it definitely suggested to the blonde there were…other things this psychotic creep wanted to do to her before he was tired of her, lost interest, and disposed of Renee.
The way he'd sniffed her hair flitted through her mind, the way he'd slowly, deliberately cut a few of the top buttons off her black lace dress, one at a time, made it clear to her what his intentions were, though the fact he'd set up those goddamned traps filled the young Muggle woman to the brim with fear that perhaps the man wanted to torture her, and that was how the creep got his rocks off.
She could only pray to God if He were even listening to a pathetic human being like herself that did not deserve absolution or salvation when her time came if it did come to that, that Renee would be strong enough to hold onto her dignity. She doubted it, but she hoped.
What Renee Barreau had thought was a healthy dose of fear only amplified and became ten times worse when she heard the sound of a heavy door creaking shut merely a few feet to her immediate left. Her stomach lurched, and a chill ran through Renee's body as her body erupted into a sweat.
Her body started to tremble as the fear that rocked her to her core, and not in a good way, was literally sickening. It was so bad, Renee swore she felt her face drain of color as it paled as the blood left her cheeks and turned an interesting shade of green.
The door didn't bang shut, but it shut rather with a loud thud that startled Barreau, causing Renee to jump slightly, straining her ears to listen for more sounds, any clue or hint as to where it had come from, where Everett was.
Her throat hurt as she considered whether or not she should say something to her brother's killer.
What would she say? Should she beg him? Scream obscenities at him? Spit in his face for murdering the only family she had left? Or should she simply stay quiet and take whatever it was that she was about to get?
Maybe talking would do her some good. Maybe he might take pity on her. But would a man capable of the things she'd seen Everett do really just…give up, set her free? Was it not better to hold on to at least some dignity, then? The questions raced through Renee's mind at an uncontrollable speed and by the time she heard movement on the other side of whatever room Everett had brought her to now, her lips were parted, ready to speak, but nothing came out.
It wasn't until she felt his calloused hand-wind itself around her leg that Renee felt herself cry out, and her entire body jerked in a violent spasm to the right in an effort to get away from him, to not let Everett lay a finger on her.
More violent, white-hot pain coursed through her veins, and Renee bit down on the inside of her cheek so hard to stifle her agonizing scream that the metallic tang and taste of blood filled her mouth. As she forced herself to try to breathe slowly through her flaring nostrils, she could feel Everett's hands working swiftly and expertly to wrap or bandage her leg where his knife had more or less impaled her, though whether or not she'd truly fallen on it by accident, or if Everett had enchanted the stupid weapon to fly automatically into her leg with that wand of his, was a mystery.
The fact that he was choosing to bandage her wound instead of outright killing her where she sat hogtied to this wooden chair gave her an eerie sense of hope that felt more like a cold chill down her spine. Why would he tend to her wound if he didn't at least plan on keeping her alive?!
"Please, Everett," she begged, hearing the hushed, choking, whispered words leave her lips before she could even make the decision to utter them. "D—don't hurt me. Please don't do this."
His hand, which had been in the midst of gently pressing to the skin with slightly more force than was perhaps necessary, became still and halted in his movements. He moved his hand away, and Renee's heart threatened to burst from her chest, so hard that it literally heart, and she could hear the pounding of the blood roaring in her ears.
There was a pause, and a muffled squeak of terror and surprise left Renee's lips as the bag moved around her head before being lifted off her. Renee squeezed her eyes shut, it was taking her a couple of moments to adjust to the burning white light emanating from the tip of his wand suddenly being thrust into her face, but when her lids slowly fluttered open and looked up into her captor's face, his eyes were once more, listless.
Everett frowned as he stared down at his captive. Barreau was beginning to be something of a problem for him, and this was firmly rooted in his mind the moment he saw the girl injure herself.
He was beginning to suspect he'd made the right decision by choosing to take this one instead of Mrs. Lupin, that Auror, that stupid little bitch. Wide, bright shining blue eyes the color of a robin's egg stared back up at him, a hint of fear in those pale blue irises of hers as fat tears rolled down her cheeks.
Just the smallest admission of fear. Everett smirked. Good. It was going to have to be enough. With her hands wrenched behind her back and bound together by a rope, the blonde looked utterly defenseless.
In a strange way, Everett felt excited if he were honest with himself. This one was special. Different. Not like the other prizes he'd caught in times past. She wasn't afraid of him, or if Barreau was, the blonde was damn good at hiding her fear from him. A challenge. That's what Muggle Renee Barreau was to him, a challenge.
And Everett had always liked a good challenge. Just knowing he could do whatever he wanted to this young woman who was completely at his whims and mercy made the man feel powerful.
His heart pounded in his chest and his breathing rate increased as he realized he could do anything to her. He could kick her, break her bones one-by-one until she was screaming his name, begging for him to put her out of her misery, and yet, he found he didn't want to ruin the pretty girl's face.
And something churning in Everett's gut told him Barreau would take it if judging by the icy fire in her burning bright blue eyes was a sign.
This girl was brave, a strong one, not so easily intimidated. If she had been born a witch, there was no doubt in his mind, she'd have been a Gryffindor. As Everett stared down his slender nose at the girl who'd been nothing but a thorn in his side ever since she'd offered him that cup of water in Azkaban Prison, he could see the blonde was trying hard not to cry, blinking back tears, every once in a while, a muffled half-choked sob would escape her lips, but she was also trying to be subtle in her movements as she shirked away from Everett's soft, surprisingly tender touch.
"Does it bother you?" he asked softly, feeling his voice lower an octave and go quieter than usual.
Which was surprising to him. In times past, Everett had usually only used this tone on Norah.
He was rewarded with a withering stare. "Welcome, Renee," he murmured in what he hoped was a polite, courteous tone, throwing out his arms as if he had merely invited her for tea. "Do you like it?" he asked politely. "It isn't much to boast of, this house, but growing up…this place was a paradise for me. My sister, not so much."
"S…sister?" Renee grunted, struggling to move, and still finding she couldn't. She felt like the damn bedroom was slowly suffocating the air out of her, the air pressing down hard, as if she were drowning, and robbing the air from her lungs, and not able to do a damn thing about it.
Renee thought briefly, maybe it would be better if she just drowned. But she had Sirius and Lupin and Tonks to think of, and the man's voice inside her head had told her to stall him long enough, that help was coming for her, just to hang on a while longer.
"Wh—why are you doing this?" Renee managed to gasp out in a hoarse croak, careful to keep her voice neutral and eyes level, resisting with every ounce of strength she had left not to look away.
The Morning Killer noticed Renee looking and almost smiled at her, the smile not quite reaching his green eyes, so…lonely. Was that even the right word for the foreign emotion she thought she saw flitting through the man's empty green eyes?
"I've been…itching to share a dialogue with you, Barreau, for quite some time now, little dove. I've been watching you, ever since Azkaban Prison."
"Why?" she pleaded in a half-choked sob, swallowing down hard past a lump in her throat.
Everett let out a low warning growl from deep within his chest. "Because I can, Barreau. That's why. Your precious Sirius Black," Here, he spat the other wizard's name as though it were poison that had settled and lingered upon his tongue, "only wants one thing from you, girl, but you already know that of the man, don't you, little dove," he hissed. "It disgusts me, it really truly does. All of you," he snarled as he gnashed his teeth together in anger, "you, Black, the wretched werewolf and his mate, know nothing of real love. Not like I do. Like I did for Helen. My son. My…my sister," he hissed.
Renee let out a muffled whimper as she continued to squirm against her restraints, though it did her no good, as hogtied and bound so tightly to her chair as she was. The young blonde visibly flinched as she watched the man restlessly paced the bedroom floor, all the while lovingly twirling his wand in between his hands.
The man noticed her looking and smiled again, catching Renee completely off-guard. His smile was…almost genuine, and how dare she even consider this next part? Kind. Sweet.
Renee's bright blue eyes widened, and she angrily shook her head to clear it.
Don't fall for this, baby. Talk your way out of this until help gets here, damn it!
"Sirius. Wh—where is he? I—whatever you're going to do to me, Pisscloak, then get it over with, I've always hated waiting, but I want to speak with him. I want to know he's all right first," she hissed.
Her fear was manifesting itself in the form of anger, Renee recognized this, and she was quick to realize if she couldn't watch her mouth, then whatever she said might well be her last statement, and she'd have died for nothing, then.
The surprising amount of tenderness in the blonde woman's voice gave the Morning Killer pause. His hand not curled around his wand clenched into a fist hard enough to pierce the skin of his palms and cause his hands to start bleeding.
It took Everett a moment to realize it was rage. The way Barreau spoke Black's name with such a graceful gentleness, dare he even think for a minute that it was love, true love like Norah had always prattled on about finding for herself one day, made his blood boil and course through him.
Never before did a man's name sound like a curse.
The young Muggle restaurant owner had cried Black's name which such anguish that Everett felt his blood boil and the fingers of his wand hand gave a spasmodic little twitch as he itched to point his wand at the bitch and make her suffer for it, to never utter his name again in his presence if Barreau valued keeping her tongue.
But then the girl said his name again, even softer, and that was the breaking point of Everett's patience.
At that moment, the man seethed and gnashed his teeth together, jaw locked. The Morning Killer was blinded by his rage as he reached out. When his palm came into contact with the right, bruised side of Renee's face, even he winced at the horrible, sharp cracking noise that resonated within his eardrums, pounding, and roaring with sound.
Her head whiplashed backward and hit against the headrest of the chair, though nowhere near hard enough to break her neck. Renee let out a soft whimper of pain, and this only fueled him.
Everett tried to shake the bitter aftertaste in his mouth, but much like the coffee Renee Barreau served in that cute little café of hers that she owned, its bitterness drove him to take another sip, knowing he would be more awake than before.
There was a fresh blackening bruise underneath her left eye already that would yellow as it aged, and eventually turn purple at the edges. The young woman kept her head tilted backward, too stunned and in pain to move, and for the briefest of moments, Everett was tempted to run his palms along the smooth column of her throat, to really feel the girl's skin, to see if it was as soft and unblemished as it looked in his mind.
He stifled an angered growl, resisting the urge. The Morning Killer grabbed the back of her chair and tilted it backward, her blonde bangs falling out of her eyes as with one swift swipe of his thumb, he brushed them off her face. He smirked as she continued to fight her bindings, but she wasn't going to be getting out of those anytime.
He almost laughed at seeing the look of defiance in her blue eyes, but then what she did next set him on edge. She spat in his face. Red. All that filled his vision was crimson red.
Burning rage hissed through Everett's body like deathly poison, screeching a demanded release in the form of unwanted violence. It was like a volcano erupting; fury sweeping off Everett like ferocious waves.
The wrath consumed him entirely, engulfing his moralities and destroying the boundaries of loyalty. The Morning Killer could envision Renee bleeding for what she had just done.
Never had one of his little playthings spat in his face before. This was a first, one he could not allow going unpunished. Everett drew back his hand and backhanded her so hard across her pretty little face that even he flinched at the deafening crack. Not broken, no, but it would hurt for a while. He felt guilty, but he couldn't stop.
But still, he would not consider his work completed and finally able to rest until the campground was closed for good. So many places of bad memories. Everett knew he should put an end to all of this, just…find Norah, take his sister somewhere and go, apologize before he made it worse, but he just didn't have it within him to stop.
"S—Stop," came her plea desperately. He almost had to strain forward to hear her through her mumbling, her voice was so soft and quiet. Timid, even. Her tone was not fearful, and this gave him pause, so…he stopped.
Everett watched, curious, cocking his head to the side as the young woman turned her head sharply to the left and spat a mouthful of blood off to the side.
"You…don't…have to…do this…" she rasped weakly. "Th—there's still…time. Give this up. Turn yourself in, Everett. Y—you can…still change."
He said nothing, and, no longer wishing to stand, looked around the room until he found what he was looking for. Renee winced as the loud scraping of the wooden chair he dragged across the room rang in her ears. His face remained neutral and impassive as Everett turned the chair backward and straddled it in front of Renee, resting his chin in his hands as he regarded the young detective with an inquisitive expression as if she were an exotic animal in a zoo.
"I don't know what it was, Everett, th—that bent your life out of shape," the young woman began hesitantly, lifting her chin, jutting it out slightly defiantly so in order to look him in the eyes. "B—but maybe…I've been there too. Maybe I could help you. Rehabilitate you. You don't need to be alone. You…you don't have to kill anyone else, Everett," her voice came out as barely a whisper. "Let me…let us help you, Everett. We can…we can fix you. Get you help."
Everett froze, considering her words. "I'm sorry." His voice was solemn, with no hint of malice or joking at all. "I'm sorry, but…no. It's too late for me," he spat, sounding disgusted with himself. "I'm trying. But I can't feel a thing, Barreau," he growled. The Morning Killer regarded Renee in silence for a moment.
She really was quite a pretty little thing. He almost hated to ruin her face in a moment. Almost.
"Everett…please don't do this…" Renee startled as she heard a muffled yelp from somewhere down below the house. Oh, thank God, she thought wildly and swallowed hard to quell the lump in her throat. Her throat felt incredibly dry and scratchy, and she wanted nothing more than a drink of water. "Wh…t—think about Norah. She—she wouldn't want this for you, would she?"
"You don't get to talk about my sister," growled Everett angrily, jabbing a finger in her chest and poking her hard. "Leave my sister out of this. You really want to know how it feels, huh?"
Renee nodded mutely. Anything to stall him, keep him talking. Maybe…just maybe then…help would arrive, and they could all get out of there.
"I do. Tell me, Everett…" If she kept him conversing like this, maybe whatever this new stranger was doing down there would save her life if they got here in time.
Everett frowned. "Well, it's like…when you go underwater, and you close your eyes. Everything in the world suddenly ceases to exist somehow. The only thing you hear is the beating of your heart and the thoughts on your mind, and if you don't reach the surface, you start to feel your lungs craving for oxygen, burning because you can't breathe," Everett growled, and Renee gulped nervously as she saw the briefest flickers of pure, unadulterated rage pass through his eyes.
Renee watched as his lethal stare felt painful and piercing as if his glare were tearing her heart apart. She looked down at her lap and rested her handcuffed hands on her thighs. Blood. Her own. She looked up at him again, this time, with widened eyes. A final glance at his furious eyes confirmed her possible outcome.
Eventually, Everett would kill her. The young woman watched as the serial killer's eyes misted over as if he were remembering something. Whether that memory was unpleasant or a happy one, Renee could not tell at all.
Everett let out a low, guttural growl from the back of his throat. "That's how I feel about everything lately," he said in a quiet voice. "I can only hear the echoes of past voices in my mind. Sometimes…it's hard for me to breathe, but the rest of the world doesn't matter. Nothing matters right now except for finding my sister. I heard my little sister is…coming home," Here, he smirked, and the emptiness in the man's eyes made Renee shiver. "I just feel the beating of my own heart. Nothing less, nothing more. The world never gave a damn about people like her and I, so why should I?"
Everett heaved a heavy sigh, feeling around in the pockets of his black and red plaid shirt until he found a carton of cigarettes and a lighter. He clamped one between his teeth, and Renee noticed his hands seemed a little uncoordinated and kind of fumbling.
"Your little boyfriend's like an overbearing bastard, right?" Everett finally spoke up, seemingly interested in making conversation with his captive. Renee frowned. "No," he growled, jerking his head down towards the stairwell below. "Not that one. The other one. The lawyer that I killed. John was his name, yes?"
Renee swallowed. To that, she didn't know what to say, so she thought silence was best. Was it Sirius? Whoever it was, they were moving, she could hear the soft, delicate footsteps. For a moment, a spark of hope ignited in her chest. Everett merely grunted in response.
"My life would be a lot better off if I weren't…here. Like this," he growled, gesturing with his finger towards the scar that snaked its way across his brow bone and ended at the curve of his lip, twisting the edges of his mouth into a permanent grimace which gave him a truly terrifying look, but…but…
Renee sensed there was more to Everett than he let on, and if she could just continue to have a dialogue with him, then maybe there would be no need for the night to end in bloodshed.
The young blonde flinched as she felt his hand drift downward, where it rested on her thigh as he scooted his chair that little bit closer. Everett noticed her look of trepidation and his lips curled into a taunting sneer.
"Run, run, run…that's all you ever do. You haven't changed anything yet, Miss Barreau," he explained, feeling his voice go dangerously low and quiet. "You haven't saved any of them, Renee, and you won't. What's done is done…"
"That's not true!" Renee shouted, feeling the beginnings of a fear prick at her heart as she felt his hand move with surprising tenderness up her thigh.
She flinched, not wanting to show this man just how much he was getting to her and feeling like she was doing a bad job of, because he noticed and his lip twisted upward into a mischievous smirk, his green eyes twinkling in a playful way.
"Ah," he said casually, biting his bottom lip in almost a playful way as his fingertips grazed the column of her throat. "You. You're trying to remember your parents' advice, aren't you, dove?" he mocked. "What's the regulation to cover this?" he taunted, settling his hand around Renee's pale throat. He glanced down at her thighs and regarded her torn, blood-stained black lace dress. "Hmm? See what your little boyfriend has done to you? He has made you a mess, Renee," he sighed, almost sounding…disappointed.
"Can't say this is my first time being tied to a chair," Renee snapped hotly, feeling her fear manifest as anger. "Though John never… never did that," she whispered, feeling her shoulders slump as she thought of John, hoping, and sending a silent prayer to whoever was up there that John if Everett had killed him as he said he did, was at peace. "Let go of me, Everett, you piece of shit," she snapped.
"His loss," Everett answered simply, reaching up a strong hand and toying with a lock of her hair. "All the physical stuff…so dull," he drawled, now sounding bored. "So…old-fashioned." The Morning Killer glanced down at Renee's knees and then to her restraints. "Your knees must be killing you," he admonished, feigning concern for the state of her well-being.
"Everett," begged Renee, and she hated the weakness that was laced throughout her voice. She swallowed as Everett drew closer, having resumed picking up the dagger he'd left on the side table, along with another set of instruments she couldn't and didn't even want to identify.
Whoever the hell is downstairs, whatever you're doing, please hurry the hell up, she thought wildly, doing her best to control the panicked look that she was certain was present in her blue orbs.
"Y—you don't have to do this, Everett. You could take Norah a—and leave, i—if that's what you really want. Right now. I swear it. I—I won't tell anyone you were here. Y—you could…I'll say we were mugged and brought here by a couple of guys."
At her desperate plea, Everett threw back his head and let out a short, bark-like laugh, and regarded Renee, seeming almost amused with her attempts to reason with him.
Everett resumed his seat in front of Renee, continuing to sit in that way of straddling the chair backward, twirling the knife in his hands, admiring the sheen of the silver in the dim light, courtesy of the moon that streamed in through the window. He let out a bitter laugh as he shoved Renee's chair painfully back against the wall.
"No. It's too late for me. I'm far too gone. I've killed people. I'm an angry, bitter, violent man. I know what I am…I can't go back from that, no matter what Norah says. If there's one thing our father got right…there's no hope left for someone like me." The self-loathing in his tone was evident.
Renee felt her mind quickly going into overdrive to put the missing pieces together.
"Yes, you can," Renee rasped out hoarsely, reaching up with her cuffed hands as she felt Everett's grip around the column of her throat tighten slightly. "Everett, yes, you can go back. I—if London, if these places are too painful, take your sister somewhere and just get out of Great Britain for good. You can leave and have your own life. Find someone. G—get married, have kids who treat you well. Put all this behind you a—and start over," she whispered breathlessly, hardly daring to believe the words that felt like they were tumbling out of her mouth, her tongue no longer listening to her brain.
Everett laughed and tightened his grip around Renee's throat, ignoring her desperate clawing at his hands as she struggled to pry his hands off her.
"You of all people shouldn't suggest to me that I ever have kids. I already had one. He's dead," he snapped meanly. "Thanks to that pink-haired bitch you're friends with, sweetheart. You're one to talk, Miss Barreau. You can't even keep a boyfriend, so what makes someone like you think you'll ever have kids, huh? Don't you dare lecture me about what you think I should do," he snarled, leaning in so the tip of his nose practically was touching hers. "What woman would ever want this?" he snarled, and she drew in a sharp breath that pained her screaming lungs and ribcage as he rolled up the sleeve of his plaid shirt, his arm littered with dozens of angry scars, thick, red, and white jagged lines, and several burn marks, fixing Renee with a cold stare, almost emotionless. "Hmm?" he growled. "You know any volunteers? Certainly, isn't going to be you. Just looking at you makes me want to punch you and beat your little body within an inch of your pathetic life. Why you? You're nothing special, kid," Everett growled, squeezing his hand even tighter around Renee's throat. "It's sick. You're playing Black with no regard to his feelings. Just as Norah did once, when she…used to date when she was old enough. Though I hear she met someone, married him, we'll see how well he fares against me," he hissed. "I knew I was right to take you. Black will be better off without a sniveling little girl. Free. Women like you test men's baser instincts and inflame them."
"And your sister, Everett? What 'baser instinct' does she ignite in you, you bastard?" snapped Renee hotly, immediately clenching her eyes shut and braced herself for another blow, but it didn't come.
Damn her and her temper. It was going to be her undoing one of these days, she just knew it.
It was why she always had so many disagreements. She would lash out in anger and say things that she didn't mean, though, by the time she had, it was too late to take them back.
"She's different." It did not escape Renee's attention how whenever Everett said Norah's name, something in his eyes sparked and softened, and his voice grew quiet, almost thoughtful in a way.
Though there was that other part of Everett that almost sounded possessive when he spoke of Norah, and the mention of her dating others seemed to light a fire in him that Renee wasn't quite sure what to make of just yet.
Renee furrowed her brow into a frown as she thought of Everett's possessiveness and protectiveness.
Could he...really love her in...that way? Renee wondered, and then immediately violently shook her head to clear her mind of such thoughts. No! No, that's stupid! Get it together, Barreau, he's not THAT much of a creep, is he? Everett wouldn't do that to his own sister...would he?
She liked to believe he wouldn't but given the erratic way he was behaving and his violent mood swings that seemed to have no states of gray-scale, Renee decided she couldn't rule it out, as much as that little pleasant thought made her stomach churn and the bile rise to the back of her throat.
"Weak women like you and Auror Tonks just piss me off. But you deserve to be hurt just as much as the others," he hissed angrily. "Maybe more since the world keeps giving you a pass. No second chances here, Miss Barreau," he growled, squeezing his hand even tighter around Renee's throat. "Norah, she's the only one who really understands me. What I am. What we are."
The young woman let out a frightened little gasp as she grabbed her fingers around Everett's burly arm. The man was close to choking the life force out of her by this point. Renee would have let out a cry if she were able to breathe.
Instead, she opened her mouth and only managed a tiny, strangled, choking noise as tears began to stream down her cheeks. Her ribs ached and hurt horribly from where Everett had hit her, but her lungs screamed and burned for relief even more.
She couldn't breathe. Her vision was growing gray at the edges. Letting out a tiny whimper, Renee felt her eyes clench shut as she tugged desperately at Everett's plaid shirt sleeve, wincing as the harsh cold metal of her handcuffs dug into the tender skin of her inner wrists. She couldn't get enough air into her lungs.
She squirmed underneath Everett's weight, trying anything she could think of to get the older man away from her.
If Everett didn't let go soon…then Renee was going to pass out and Everett could actually kill her, intentional or not. Everett's eyes narrowed as he glowered at Renee until they nothing but slits.
It was unnerving to see the head of a snake glaring at her on a human body.
"P…please, Everett…." She struggled to draw in a breath, but his hold on her throat didn't relinquish or even loosen. Black mists swirled, ebbing, and flowing at the forefront of her vision.
He shrugged. "Maybe it's wrong. I know I'm an evil piece of trash, I know. I saw you tonight, and I wanted all of you to suffer. People care about you. You're a cute woman, I'll give you that," he admitted, almost begrudgingly so, as he didn't want to confess it to the very detective he was about to strangle to death. "You're beautiful, and you know it, don't you, Renee? Of course, you do. How could you not?" he whisper-hissed through gritted teeth.
Renee's gaze drifted down to see his knuckles were white with the effort to steady himself, perhaps to prevent himself from lashing out at her in anger again.
"See?" he grunted, the corners of his mouth twisting into an unkind sneer as Renee shot him a dark look. "There's that look again. You're getting to be quite good at this, you know," he sighed, continuing the absentminded twirling of his dagger in his hands, as though bored with the turn their conversation had taken. "You're innocent. Weak. Pathetic."
Everett shook his head in disgust as he stared down his slender nose at her bitterly, his hulking football player build towering over her as he rose from his chair, lifting Renee off her feet slightly, his grip upon her throat tightening even harder. The color had rapidly drained from Renee's face, and there was no mistaking the fear in her blue eyes now.
"Nobody gives a damn if I get hurt. Nobody cares what happens to me," Everett growled, finally loosening his ironclad grip on Renee's neck, just enough for her to draw in a gasping, choking, wheezing breath, and let out a cry.
Renee couldn't even manage to formulate words in her head that she wanted to speak as she sucked in shaking, deep lungful's of air that pained her lungs, coughing as she gasped for air that simply wasn't there. She barely even recognized the sound of her own pathetic cries, and she couldn't get herself to stop.
She just wanted all this to end, for the killings to stop. Everett cocked his head to the side and regarded Renee in silence, waiting for her violent coughing spell to stop. Renee reached up a trembling hand to her throat, as well as she could give that she was restrained by handcuffs and the ropes wound tightly around her stomach.
She winced as she touched the area of her neck where Everett's hand had gripped it tight, and she knew it was going to leave marks she didn't want. "Your...sister...probably...does...care...Everett... please don't. Let me go, please…"
But Everett ignored her plea, continuing that infuriating behavior of running his hand up and along her thigh.
"Did your parents ever hit you growing up?" The question was out of Everett's mouth before he could stop himself, and he knew, judging by that horrified look on the young woman's face that he already knew the answer.
He pulled up his chair closer to her and looked at her closer. Everett scoffed and rolled his eyes. "No. Of course, they didn't. But ours did," he breathed, his one good eye narrowing, and a flicker of dark rage passed through his eyes. "I bet your father hugged you every night. He probably hugs you."
Everett grabbed Renee's chin, cupping it in his strong hand, and turned her face back towards him, slapping his other hand teasingly against Renee's forehead.
"I just can't relate to that, I'm afraid, dear thing," he sighed, almost sounding remorseful. "Your father wouldn't do the things that my dad did to us growing up. Maybe he loves you too much. That's a fine line to cross, you know, Miss Barreau. But our father did. To Norah. It's hard to tell what that line is when you're just a little kid, but even back then, I knew what he did to us was wrong. Our dad was a bastard," he growled, and there was that familiar fire-spark of anger in his eyes, and his head swiveled almost lazily to the left to regard Renee.
Renee had nothing to say to that.
"Did your father ever tell you how…how special you are? Rub his hands all over you in that way you thought was love at first," Everett went on, his voice growing dangerously soft and quiet now, Renee would have had to lean forward in her chair in order to hear him, though she couldn't, given she was hogtied to the chair. "You're the perfect target for crap like that," Everett growled angrily. "It starts out innocent enough. Words of praise. Made Norah feel valid and important when my words weren't simply enough for her. Gentle hands, rubbing a little more than necessary, but harmless enough…until the day that it isn't. Then it escalated. The creep started sneaking into her room at night and…what he did to Norah was unforgivable, so I…gutted him like the monster that he is," he hissed, and he balled his hand into a fist.
Renee let out a hiss as she drew in a breath and flinched at the screaming fire burning in her ribcage, near her side from where he had punched her during his tantrum only mere moments ago.
Renee stared, feeling her mouth drop open slightly. She didn't know how to respond.
"I—I'm sorry," panted Renee, still heaving to catch her breath. "They—he shouldn't have. Your father was wrong to do those things to you and Norah, Everett, b—but killing all these people…it won't change what happened to you. Stop this now, and you can still be saved. It's not too late…"
"SHUT UP!" bellowed Everett, the last of his patience leaving him at last and he lashed out at the wall behind Renee's head, his fist strong enough that it left a visible dent in the wood.
Renee let out a tiny squeak of terror and clenched her eyes shut tight.
This was it. Her end.
Everett let out a small growl and his hand drifted towards the back of Renee's skull, finding purchase in her thick red tresses. He yanked her hair back roughly, eliciting a sharp cry of pain from Renee as he tugged.
She opened her mouth to say something else to him in a last-ditch effort to reach him, but a flash of yellow out of the corner of her eye and the tumble of movement had grabbed her attention. She sucked in a sharp breath and froze.
"Everett, please," begged Renee, feeling tears well in her eyes, stinging and burning in her vision. "Th—there's still time for you to change." She shirked away, as far back as her back would allow as he brought the tip of his wand and pressed it delicately, but firmly at her throat, just hard enough to enforce his intended message, what happened to her if she were to tell the cops what had happened here. "We can…we can still save you," she breathed, and immediately she knew she had made a huge mistake. Renee watched, horrified, as Everett's face blanched and almost immediately drained of color and he Barreau back, looking as though Renee had slapped her.
"There's nothing left of me to save!" he roared, and that was when all hell broke loose, and he moved so fast his hand was a blur, his lips uttered a spell that she did not recognize.
The moment the incantation left his lips, Renee felt a white-hot searing pain explode behind her lids, and the scream tumbled unchecked from her lips before she could tamper it back down.
Fucking why? Why couldn't she have done more to help? She should have done more for Tonks, Lupin, Sirius, everyone who'd helped her out in this life. And in the end, she hadn't done anything.
Renee turned her head to the side to spit and was dismayed to spit out a mouthful of blood. "You...fucking...shit..." she could only gasp out, and even her string of vulgarity was an effort to spew at the man, though he merely smirked.
"I think I'll leave your body somewhere for Black to find. I know they're coming. I can sense his power, feel his anger coursing through his veins."
Everett's voice, which sounded sickeningly excited at the horrible prospect of Black finding her lifeless corpse, seemed so far away. Everything was fading as black dots snaked their way into her vision.
All she'd wanted was to see Sirius again, to let the man be happy, to be loved, even if…even if it wasn't her, though she'd never gotten a chance to tell him that she liked him a lot, and she never wanted to hurt him. She never had the chance and lacked courage. Because she was a goddamned bloody coward, and now look?!
She should have told him, she should have—
There was a flash of what looked like red light, a spell uttered from Everett's thin, wormy lips that Renee couldn't make sense of, and then a cloud of white pain erupted again from behind her lids, blinding her.
She screamed until she was hoarse. As the darkness surged towards her again, Renee hoped that it would engulf her completely, and she would cease to exist, to save Black the torment from seeing her alive and in such a horrible state.
And she would see her brother again. I'm so sorry…
Renee allowed herself to relax into the void. She prayed it would end her sorrow, she wanted no more of this hellish existence where all she succeeded in doing was bringing more suffering and pain to everyone around her.
And all she wanted now was to spend the rest of what little time she did have, if she survived this, with the memory of the one who'd abandoned her.
She could forgive Sirius for what he'd done, though she would never again look on him with the same tenderness and love that she thought she had felt at the time.
Everett had taken that from her. The thought was more than she could bear. Renee felt as though the darkness were closing in around her, pulling her under its currents. She had already fought so hard.
Part of her wanted to let go, to fall back under the calming abyss of nothing as blood seeped from a wound in her side. She wanted to be washed away, but even as her mind and body begged for relief, Renee knew she couldn't give up, she wanted to see him again.
Needed it. The memory of Sirius's face and the others was all she had left now to hang onto, then.
She swore she heard Billy's voice speaking words of encouragement to her, as she felt a pair of strong hands untie her hands and throw her roughly to the hardwood floor to bleed to death.
Another needful spasm ravaged her exhausted, broken body. "It's almost over, Renee," came his voice. She responded to this phantasm in her mind by gulping air as if it were disappearing from the room, gritting her teeth as she did so.
Her ragged gasps became agonized screams as the blood poured from her wounds, tearing through her insides with such an excruciating force that she thought she was being ripped apart.
Though as she felt the darkness consume her, a vision in her mind flashed before her eyes, and Renee saw the only face she wanted to focus on.
Sirius. And then, before the man could smile at her, the darkness claimed her.
Ouch. Well, I'll give Barreau credit, she's braver than I would have been in her shoes. I'd have been a crying, sniveling mess, but that's why I enjoy creating Original Characters that are so far out of the scope of my personality, to give them their own identities and traits and hopefully still keeping them flawed.
Finally, in the next chapter, help finally arrives, and about Merlin-damned time, but are they too late? Stay tuned for more!