Chapter 17 – I Hate Fucked Up Families!

From there on, things never went back to be the same.

Yes, I had been extremely lucky for having Rufus on my side. He convinced the others that I wasn't a traitor, and told them my story: time-machine, Rob Zombie, "who's your daddy?", Lynyrd Skynyrd, and the whole nine yards.

It took us some effort to convince them; but me reporting a few "fun facts" did the trick. For instance: how did I know their every step, every word spoken on last Halloween? I knew the names of some of their victims, I knew the fact that they had all these scrapbooks (which were well guarded and I couldn't possibly have found them), I knew about Dr. Satan, and I knew about the past of each one (courtesy of Rob Zombie's website, mostly). I went on and on throwing details of their own lives at then, until they shouted at me to please stop, and yes Laura, we believe you.

I was one of them once again... but yet, I wasn't anymore.

I could never will myself to hate any of them. I still cared for them, and sure as hell wanted to do my best to help them escape their deaths. But I was no longer carefree around them. Not that I really have, blindly, at any point. But in the past at least I had to fake it, and hah had a great time at that. Now, I was distantly cold, acting like I only meant business.

My intention was to develop a plan of action with them, make sure their asses were saved, and go back home as soon as possible.

I was hurt – what did you expect? I wanted so badly to be Otis' girl again, to hitchhike and shoplift with Baby, to throw little rocks on the water with Tiny, to laugh drunkenly in those hilarious family dinners... But I no longer felt safe around them. For a few days, I believed I was part of the family, but now I knew better – that was never going to happen. Sooner or later, they would put my loyalty in question again... and who knows if I'd have someone to defend me then.

They tried to make it up for me. Baby tried to act as her normal self and invite me to do this or that, but as once I told her, "Which kind of sisters is that, that threaten to kill each other?"

Otis was probably the sorriest, now knowing that he had been the main reason why I went there in the first place. One day he came to me and apologized for treating me the way he did, which is something that I thought him completely incapable of doing. He asked me not to go home; to stay with them permanently. My reply? "Otis, I like you very much. But so far, you've threatened to kill me three times. That is not even close to my idea of a healthy relationship."

"You can kill me the next time I threaten you" he joked. I laughed, but I didn't take him back.

As we still had a few months ahead of us – the police raid was supposed to happen in May – we didn't think much of delaying our planning for a few days.

Wrong thinking.

One night, I decided to visit Otis in his room. And no, it's not what you're thinking; I just wanted to talk to him. I missed his craziness, his voice, his laughter, even his insane speeches and his clothes constantly soaked with blood. Hell, I missed everything about him, but a friendly and well-behaved conversation would have to do.

Approaching his door, I began hearing the moans. Still, I opened it.

I opened my eyes wide, blinking several times. I wondered if tiredness was making me see things. But no – there was actually another woman in Otis' bed.

"What the hell?" I couldn't believe it. She was naked, tied up and gagged, her body displaying purple spots all over. She was moaning in pain, tears rolling down her face. For all I could tell, she was not enjoying it. Not even a bit.

Otis was on top of her, naked, thrusting in and out of her. He had a firm grip on her hair, tilting her chin slightly upwards, as he held his hunting knife between his lips. He didn't stop fucking her when he saw me, petrified at the door. "Hey, honey!" he held the knife on his hand and greeted me in a low, husky voice. "You finally came to visit! Close that door and come join us."

It took me a few seconds to react. "Otis, what the fuck are you doing?" I yelled, coming out of my stupor. "Get off of her immediately!"

"Aw, come on, baby. I bet you've never done this before, huh?" he said wickedly. Let's have a little fun, all the three of us."

Out of impulse, I ran to them and began pounding on Otis' chest, trying to shove him away. "Get off of her, I said!" I yelled hysterically. "Stop it!"

Only then he stopped his thrusts. Instead of being angry, he was laughing. "But why?" His tone was pure sarcasm. "Because you are trying to be nice to her, you wanna save her? You because you are jealous?"

"I am not jealous!" I yelled angrily. Taking a deep breath and making an effort to control myself, I reasoned with him. "You have to stop hurting and killing people just for your own personal enjoyment! She hasn't done anything to you. She does not deserve this! Look at her" I continued, probably sounding like a priest. "She's in a lot of pain."

Otis looked concerned, apparently studying the woman below him. She still cried, looking at him with imploring eyes. His wicked smile disappeared. "You're right" he said in a surprised tone, as if he was having an epiphany. "The poor woman is in agony. She shouldn't have to suffer through all this."

"Exactly" I confirmed, not quite believing my ears. "That's what I've been trying to tell you!"

"We should be nice to her" he said low, as if mostly to himself. He was gently caressing her forehead, touching the spots were he had hit her. "We should take away her pain. What do you think?"

I smiled, feeling dizzy with joy. I am a hero! I thought. I'm up to saving the day. I am going to save someone's life! "Yes, Otis, definitely." I ran my fingers through his hair, affectionately. "I am so happy to see that you have hope, after all. I knew you had the potential to change and become a good person. Now, let's take care of this lady right now."

"She needs immediate care, doesn't she?" It was a statement.

"As soon as possible. Maybe she'll recover and be okay. What can I do?

Otis slowly flashed me his teeth, in that evil smile again. "You can start by taking your clothes off, and lay here on my side. Then I'll tell you what to do."

As I gasped in disbelief, he continued: "I am sure we can think of many ways to make her enjoy her last hours. Wouldn't that be nice of us?"

Too struck for words, I hesitated for a few moments, quickly evaluating my options. There weren't many – at least none that would benefit Otis' soon-to-be victim. So much for being a hero. Grabbing the light comforter and angrily pulling it out of the bed, I made a ball out of it and held it tightly. "We are gonna talk tomorrow", I hissed, stalking out of the room.

"Laura, don't be such a fun spoiler!" Otis said, amused.

I slammed the door behind me.

I barely got a chance to walk a few steps, when there was Rufus, standing casually in a corner, watching me. I passed by him, angrily shoving him away in the process. "Why do you have to follow me everywhere?" I spat. "Go get a life!"

He didn't react. If I had spoken to him that way, shouldered him, when we first met, I think he would have broken my neck on the spot.

I headed for the living room couch, where I had spent the last several nights. Getting there, though, made me change my mind. Some guy, his guts half-falling off his opened belly, and his face cut to the point of being unrecognizable, had taken it first. As I didn't consider sharing, I tried my second best option: Baby's room.

I knocked, holding to the comforter as a protection. Baby's voice replied "Come on in!" As I was half-expecting, she wasn't alone. Through the darkness, I saw a guy and her lying in bed, naked. No blood, no guts, everybody seemed alive and well. They were just lying there peacefully, cuddling as I noticed, surprised. Baby seemed very contented, her head lying on the man's chest as he rolled a lock of her hair around his finger.

"Ah, sorry to disturb you" I apologized, anxious to close the door and leave.

"Wait!" she stopped me. What is it that you wanted, Laura?"

"I was hoping that I could sleep over here" I explained, trying not to look at their nakedness. "But I didn't know that you had company."

"Oh, that's not a problem at all!" she assured me, changing to a sitting position. "Hey, let me introduce you: Laura, this is Goober; he's a friend that comes here sometimes."

"It's G. Ober, doll, I told you so many times!" he reminded her with a slow, irritating voice.

"Goober, this is my sister Laura."

"Uhmmm, nice sister, this one you have" he nauseatingly stated.

"Honey, why don't you make your bed over here? Just put your comforter over there" she pointed to a spot on the ground. "You are not bothering us, I promise; we are all done. Goober is leaving soon."

"Thank you Baby" I smiled. "But I'll see you tomorrow. Good dreams." Closing the door, I took a deep breath. I hate fucked up families! I thought.

Where the hell am I supposed to sleep now? I wondered. Not able to come up with a better option, and irritated as hell, I stepped on the cool air outside, all the while cursing beneath my breath. Walking to the woods, I found a decent spot below the trees. I laid the comforter there and jumped in, covering up to my chin in anger.

The Texan air was cool but not cold, and being outside didn't feel half bad. When I was done ruminating my anger over Otis, I fell into a sleep full of bad, disturbing dreams that made me roll around all night.