Disclaimer: American Gothic characters and canon belong to Shaun Cassidy and Sam Raimi; plot and any original characters belong to me. No copyright infringement intended.
"The evil that men do lives after them."
– Mark Antony from William Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar"
"Can I help you with something, Sheriff? Not that I know how to make any of these newfangled coffee drinks. Regular cup of coffee has always been good enough for me."
Lucas stood in the doorway of the Java Express. "Howdy there, Mrs. Watts. You happen to see my cousin Ronilyn around here lately?"
The woman shook her head, not a single strand of her tightly arranged gray hair daring to move. "Don't reckon I know what she looks like," Mrs. Watts said. "But nobody's come in here for about an hour now - at least that's when Horace ran off on his little errand. Can you imagine? Tellin' me to watch the store. I'll watch it alright, watch it burn to the ground. Leastways he'd get insurance money for it, assumin' he even bothered to get insurance. Fool."
"I gather you don't think this here coffee shop was a good idea," Lucas said, only half-listening to the old woman as he surveyed the empty shop.
"No, I don't," Mrs. Watts declared, hands on her hips. "Coffee houses, cappuccino. It's all just a fad. It's just passin' through and when it's over Horace is gonna be left with nothing - as usual. His father's probably turnin' over in his grave right now."
"Oh, yeah. My condolences for your loss." Lucas walked over to the far window of the shop and frowned at Ronilyn's car parked around the corner.
"Thank you, Sheriff," she said. "Truth is, my husband always wanted Horace to follow in his footsteps, carry on his business. But if Horace can't even take care of himself, how's he suppose to take care of animals?"
Lucas whirled around. "What? What animals?" he demanded.
"Why, sick ones, of course." Mrs. Watts frowned at him. "When my husband passed on, so did his veterinary practice in Ascension. Horace helped clear things out, but he wouldn't..."
Lucas swore as he dashed out of the coffee shop and flung himself into his car. "Floyd!" he shouted, snatching up the radio.
The radio crackled. "Yes, sir. Right here."
He put the car in gear. "I need an APB on Ronilyn Huntley and Horace Watts."
"Ronilyn?"
"That's right." Tires squealed as the car shot out of its parking space and into traffic.
He slammed down the window, shutting out the irritating hum of the crickets and the chirping of the birds. A crow suddenly perched on the flower box outside the windowsill and peered into the cabin, eyeing the man with intensity. He stared at the crow for a moment, then quickly pulled the curtains across.
He crawled onto the bed when the sound of scratching broke the silence. He glanced over his shoulder toward the cabin door as the scratching became more frenzied. He swore aloud and climbed off the bed.
"Damn distractions. Must be that miserable black cat I saw when I got here," he muttered as he stalked over to the front door. Well, he'd take care of that once and for all, he thought, snatching up a shovel leaning against the wall. He sure as hell wasn't going to waste that precious ketamine on a lousy cat. Shovel raised in one hand, he jerked the cabin door open.
"Evenin', Horace," said Lucas Buck. "How's it hangin'?" His fist instantly connected with Horace's jaw and the man sailed across the room as a lean-looking striped cat ran inside the cabin.
Lucas picked up the shovel, examined it, and, shaking his head, grinned. "Yep. They're mighty useful alright." He glanced over at Horace, who was struggling to his feet. "Now that's mighty hospitable of you, Horace, but there ain't no need for you to get up." He brought the shovel down on Horace's back and the man toppled to the floor. "Lucky thing for you you came to the door with your pants on," Lucas told the unconscious man as he tossed the shovel aside.
He strode into the other room and discovered Ronilyn sprawled on the bed, her hair tousled and partially covering her face. Her blouse was unfastened and her clothing wrinkled, but Lucas saw nothing to indicate that Horace had gotten very far with his plans.
"Like I said, you're a very lucky man, Horace," Lucas murmurred as he gently brushed Ronilyn's hair out of her eyes. He couldn't remember the last time he'd seen her look so helpless. When she was a little girl, maybe? No, Lucas thought, as he buttoned up her blouse, there was that day when she came home to Trinity to care for her dying father. Seeing the utter despair in her eyes had set off such a surge of unexpected emotions in Lucas that the moment was forever burned into his memory.
A price would be paid for this, he vowed, scooping Ronilyn up in his arms. She stirred and mumbled, her eyelids fluttering. "Shh," Lucas whispered. "C'mon, darlin', we're gettin' out of here," he said, stepping over the threshold of the bedroom.
"I don't think so, Buck."
Lucas shook his head at Horace, who stood in his way, brandishing the shovel. "You just don't know when to quit, do you?"
Keeping a firm grip on the shovel, Horace wiped the blood from his lip with his other hand. "I'm not gonna let you ruin me," he declared as a couple of stray cats climbed onto the porch outside.
Lucas sneered at this. "You're already ruined," he said. "Face it. You lost. But then you should be used to that by now, right?" He shifted Ronilyn slightly and watched as a large black cat appeared just outside the doorway. "You're a loser, Horace. Always have been. You know that, I know that, hell, even your mama knows that."
"I ain't a loser!"
Lucas continued as if the man hadn't spoken. "'Bout time you learn to lose gracefully, don't you think? Now step aside, boy," he said as the black cat slunk across the floor. "Nobody likes a sore loser."
"Somebody's gonna be sore, Buck, but it ain't gonna be me." Horace raised the shovel and approached Lucas. "I ain't afraid of you."
"Well, that was your second mistake."
"Oh, yeah? And what was the first?"
The black cat hissed, its pointed teeth bared.
"Takin' her," Lucas answered, indicating Ronilyn with his head.
As Horace glanced over his shoulder at the hissing sound, Midnight leapt into the air with a piercing cry and struck Horace's face, sharp claws extended. Horace clutched at his face and tumbled backward, screaming as the cat slashed at him. With a loud chorus of meows, the other cats converged on the man.
"Bet you could use that ketamine now, huh?" Lucas said, sidestepping the squirming pile of fur and flesh on the floor as he walked out of the cabin.
He maneuvered Ronilyn into the back seat of his car as Ben drove up. The deputy got out of his car, his hand on his gun.
"What the hell is goin' on, Lucas?" he demanded, then stopped short at the sight of an unconscious Ronilyn. "What happened? Is she alright?"
"She'll be fine, Ben." Lucas slammed the back door shut. "I'm takin' her to the hospital."
Ben nodded, then turned his attention to the cabin and the cries of human and feline. "What the hell is goin' on in there?" he asked, looking back at the sheriff. "Horace in there?"
Lucas' mouth turned upward into an unpleasant smile. "Ketamine's probably in there somewhere, Ben. Turn it upside down and see what you can find." He got into the car. "Then we'll search Horace's house and business. More than likely, he's got it stashed there too." Lucas stuck his head out the car window. "Oh, and be careful when you go inside, Ben. There's a real cat fight goin' on in there. Might want to think about callin' an ambulance - eventually," he added before driving away.
Ben looked with distaste at the cabin.
"She gonna be alright?"
"Doc said she'll be just fine," Lucas told his son. "She ain't gonna regain consciousness for a few more hours 'cause of that drug and she won't remember much of anything when she does wake up, but she'll be alright."
Caleb looked up at his father. "He didn't hurt her then?"
Lucas met the boy's gaze. "No. You think that man would be lyin' comfortably in a hospital bed down the hall if he had?"
"I expect not," Caleb said, glancing down at Ronilyn. "I ain't gonna be like you," he told Lucas. "I ain't never gonna hurt women like you do."
Lucas blinked. "Is that right?"
"Yeah, that's right." Frowning, Caleb folded his arms across his chest.
"Well, why don't you just go on up to the third floor and tell that to your cousin Gail? Maybe she'll actually come out of her coma and hear you."
Caleb stared at Lucas for a full minute before he turned and bolted from the room.
Lucas sighed and shook his head, then leaned over the hospital bed. "I could've let him rape you," he told Ronilyn, taking her hand and slowly stroking his thumb over her fingers. "But I made that damn promise to your father to protect you and a man's word to his family's got to mean something." Lucas bent down and lightly kissed her forehead. "Besides, if anybody's gonna hurt you, it'll be on my terms." With that, he left.
Selena shut the radio off after hearing the arrest report. "Horace Watts," she murmured, brushing her hair slowly. "Who'd have thought he'd have the balls, literally and figuratively, to do something like that?"
She laid the brush back on the bureau and turned down her bed. "Well, I don't recall seein' him around that night, so it couldn't have been him. Must've just had too much to drink" Satisfied with this conclusion, she leaned over and switched off the light.
Caleb thrashed about in his bed, images of his mother's assault now replaced with the sight of Gail tumbling down the staircase at Lucas' house. He could hear her scream as she fell, then silence as she struck the bottom of the staircase. Lucas' face staring up at him, accusing, condemning.
He woke up, his pajamas clinging to his sweat-soakedbody. Caleb rocked back and forth, clutching the blankets tightly. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to," he sobbed. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry...."
Ronilyn's eyes opened.
"That Horace Watts gives me the creeps," said a female voice outside Ronilyn's room. "How long's he gonna be here?"
A second female voice replied, "I'm not sure. Those cats really scratched him up. Went right for the face, I heard. Might've gouged his eyes right out."
"No. Really?"
"Well, I got a peek in his room when I was cleanin' the floors over there and he's got his face all bandaged up. Can't really tell, but I heard one of the nurses say that he's blind as a bat."
The voices faded as the two women moved on. "Serves him right, I say. He's..."
Ronilyn's eyes narrowed.
Later that night, an agonizing scream reverberated down the hall of Fulton Memorial Hospital.
Light from the newly risen sun drifted through the window of Ronilyn's hospital room the following morning to find her wadding up her hospital gown and stuffing it underneath her pillow.
A laugh came from the doorway. "I never thought I'd see you up at dawn on two separate days," Lucas said.
She sat down on the bed and slipped her shoes on. "Well, I think I've probably slept long enough - whether I wanted to or not. There's no point in my staying around here any longer."
"Billy Boy know you're leavin'?"
"Dr. Peale isn't here twenty-four hours a day." Ronilyn gestured toward the corridor. "I told the nurses to let the doctor on call know that I'm leaving. If he doesn't like it, too bad. They can't keep me here."
"You gonna leave AMA?"
"I don't think it'd be against medical advice for me to leave, Lucas. I came in here unconscious and now I'm leaving conscious. Who's going to stop me? You?"
Lucas held up his hands. "No. No. Not me, darlin'. I can tell when you've got your mind set to do something."
"Smart move," she said. "Actually, it's good that you're here."
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah. Since I was brought here with only the clothes on my back, I don't have my purse, I don't have my..."
He held up her shoulder bag. "You do now."
"Good." Ronilyn snatched the purse from him and fumbled inside. She pulled out a key chain, then looked at him. "I don't suppose you brought my car too?"
"Nope, but I'll be happy to give you a lift."
"Well, let's go then." She headed for the door, then turned back. "You the one who found me?"
"Did you ever doubt it?"
She sighed. "I suppose I have to thank you."
Lucas considered this for a moment, then said, "Well, that's probably the appropriate thing to do in this sort of situation."
He waited.
"Thanks."
Lucas grinned. "I know how hard that was for you."
She walked into the corridor. "About as hard as it was for you to rescue me, I'll bet."
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. What a thing to say." She stopped suddenly and Lucas bumped against her, barely avoiding stepping on her heels. "You been lyin' in bed so long you forgot how to walk? One foot in front of the other, remember?"
"What's going on over there?" she asked, pointing toward a room down the hall with medical personnel rushing in and out and deputies standing guard.
"Oh, that's where ol' Horace is stayin' right now." He looked down at her. "You tellin' me you didn't know that?"
"He's still alive?" Ronilyn met his gaze, then she shook her head. "You disappoint me, Lucas."
"Well, I wouldn't worry too much about it," Lucas said. "Those cats of yours pretty much scratched his eyes out. He's blind for the moment and he's gonna be mighty dependent on that wonderful mother of his." He chuckled. "I think he'd prefer death over that."
They approached the nurses' station and waited for Ronilyn's discharge papers. "Why's he still here?" she asked. "Shouldn't he be in jail?"
Lucas leaned against the counter next to her. "As soon as the doc says he's ready to travel, he'll be moved. 'Sides, I think he'd have a little trouble walkin' right now, don't you?"
She frowned at Lucas. "What are you talkin' about? You said he was blind. Does he walk on his head or something?"
Lucas studied her. "You really don't know?"
"Know what?" she demanded as Nurse Kelly handed her a clipboard. "I don't even remember what happened since I was at the Java Express yesterday. If you're going to try and make me guess, forget it!"
"Well," he began, still watching her closely. "It appears someone visited ol' Horace last night and did some surgery on little Horace."
"What? What's that supposed to mean?"
Lucas made a scissors gesture with his fingers. "Cut it right off."
Ronilyn's mouth dropped open. "He was castrated?" she gasped, her voice displaying just the right mixture of horror and surprise.
"I guess that'd be the medically correct term for it, yeah."
She laughed and clapped him on the back. "Well, I take back what I said about you, Lucas." She began scribbling her signature on the various forms.
"Me?" Lucas stared at her.
"I know I said I was disappointed in you, but this is just..."
"Whoa. Hold on there." He held up a hand. "I had nothing to do with that."
"You didn't?" she asked innocently.
"No," Lucas said, scowling. "I thought you did. Fella was right down the hall from you, after all."
"Well, how could I do that, Lucas?" she asked innocently. "I was asleep, remember? And even if I woke up, I'd have needed help finding a knife and getting into the room. And where would I get help from, huh?" Ronilyn returned the clipboard to the nurse. "Thank you, Nurse Kelly. For everything," she added.
Their eyes met in understanding. "No. Thank you, miss," the nurse said, straightening her daughter Sally Mae's photo below the counter.
THE END