Pretty Baby

by Pretty Baby (NCP) (lit)

  “Wrong kind of love? I don’t understand.”

  She looked down at her hands twisting nervously. She’d never said any of the things she was thinking out loud. And now … well, now it was hard. “P-Papa was never a pedophile. At least not in the usual sense of the word. I mean … well, he didn’t go out stalking children, raping them and killing them. But he liked beautiful things, and was partial to fresh young beauty. Any child he saw, or young girl that he considered extremely beautiful, became the recipient of his attentions.” She hesitated, then looked up at him. “Like Julita.”

  Shadoe thought about Julita and the horror she had already been through with Garret.

  “I grew up loving my papa--” she hesitated, “--even though … well … even though I knew something about him wasn’t right. When Mama died giving birth to Julita, I turned to Papa.” She lowered her head, and her voice softened. “But he hated me.”

  Shadoe saw new tears coursing down Lucretia’s face at the memories.

  A sob caught in her throat. “I wasn’t beautiful enough.” She wiped at her face. “Knowing how he felt about Julita, I blamed her, yet I couldn’t help loving her because she was my sister, I guess. Anyway, that love … that tiny spark of love … was the only thing that kept me from killing her. But still, I felt I had to do something to make her suffer. That’s when I sneaked into her room and scratched her face. I was a child, I didn’t know any better. I thought she’d be scarred for the rest of her life. When she wasn’t, I was disappointed. She was still beautiful, still a threat. Then, years later when I moved Papa down to the basement, I began working on Julita’s mind. I told her she was ugly, drumming it into her head day after day, then scrawled the marks on her face and made a mask for her to wear. By that time she was convinced and wore it gladly, becoming obsessive, never taking it off. The plan worked better than I thought it would. When she began to grow, she began asking questions … too many questions … questions I didn’t want to answer, so I began feeding her drugs.”

  “Lucretia, it’s not that easy. How in hell did you know what to give her?”

  Lucretia shrugged. “I didn’t. I mean, I read a little… and I guess I learned some things, but the rest was easy. I went to the doctor and described the symptoms set out in the book I’d read and he prescribed just what I needed.” She cut her eyes up at him naughtily. “I even stole some things out of his office.” She looked pleased with herself. “I’m sure he must have noticed, but he never traced it back to me.” Her half smile held dark secrets as she angled her eyes up at him and said, “Anyway, I managed, going from doctor to doctor until I amassed a fortune in drugs and medication.” She shrugged. “I guess it sounds strange, but when desperation sets in, fear no longer lives. I did what I had to do.”

  “Very well, apparently.”

  His words pleased her. “Yes. So you can see, Lieutenant, you’re not dealing with an idiot here.”

  “I never thought you were an idiot.” His eyes danced with shadowy mirth as he added, “Only crazy.”

  Her sinister eyes darted back to him. “You stupid bastard, listen to me! I’m trying to warn you. Do you want to hear this or not?”

  “All right, I’m sorry. Go ahead.”

  She turned her head, her eyes seeing much, but staring at nothing. “I knew I was playing with Julita’s mind, but I wanted to stay in control. I couldn’t stand the thought of her growing up. I even went crazy a few times, imagining her as a child. It was so real in my mind. Reality and insanity warred within me constantly. And then she began to fill out, become a woman.” She turned back to him. “That was when I knew I’d have to kill her.”

  “Which is what you tried to do.”

  “Yes. All my life I struggled with both love and hate for both her and Papa. I was already mentally unstable … hell the whole Van Dare family was. But the struggle I went through with both of them tipped the scale, and I went a little crazy.” She looked up into his eyes. “And then you came along. I realized for the first time what it might be like to have someone….” She sobbed, and dropped her head. “To love me,” she said under her breath, then she lifted her glittering eyes and stared straight into his. “Papa made me feel like a servant. His demands were … well I think he did it on purpose.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Demanding, always demanding. Make his bed, vacuum his carpet, not a speck of dust on his furniture. His food had to be prepared in a certain way, and steaming hot when he ate it. I don’t know how many times I traipsed up and down those stairs cooking and recooking his food to perfection. There could be no spots on his utensils, he....”

  “You think he was doing this to get back at you because his accident?”

  She nodded. “I’m not saying anything I did was right, but Papa was wrong too. It’s just that when everyone saw his condition, they sympathized, treating me like so much dirt under their feet. I don’t know. Maybe I deserved it. All I know is after three years of constantly waiting on him hand and foot, it got to be too much. He had a lot of visitors … phone calls….” She stopped speaking suddenly, her eyes reflective. “But it was the doctor that made my mind up for me. I found out that Papa had set up a consultation with him about his back. I knew what would happen. He’d be out of that wheelchair making my life even more miserable. That’s when I thought up the idea of the basement, telling everyone he was dead….”

  “By the way, why did you tell the guests he was dead, but the help....”

  “Because of the extra food. I had to tell them something, so I told them he was a recluse … disabled. I explained that I took care of him, and never let them get near his room. Besides, except for the chef, the help consisted mostly of schoolkids. No one came to stay. The turnover was rapid, but that’s the way I liked it. No one ever stayed around long enough to get curious.” She looked up at him, her eyes saying what her lips didn’t.

  “Until I came along … I know.”

  “That’s why I told the guests he was dead. The plan seemed like a good one. But before all of that … well … I admit I took a sadistic pleasure in hauling him down to that basement. Then when I staged his funeral, I invited all his acquaintances and business colleagues. It seemed to work. The visits stopped, and the phone calls. He was hidden down there the whole time. During the funeral, the condolences, the news media announcing the untimely death of the Garret Van Dare. It was wonderful at first, but from there everything went downhill. Now that everyone thought he was dead I went a little crazy. I knew that nothing I did to him would ever be discovered, and found that I delighted in torturing him.”

  “Then he never tried to molest you … right?”

  “He wouldn’t touch me. The funny part is, I was so starved for love I would have welcomed his attention, no matter what kind it was.” Her eyes stared into space as she continued. “I remember seeing him with Julita, and knew what he was up to. She was in his lap constantly, and his hands would always find themselves up under her skirt. Once when I snatched her away, I saw his dirty old cock pushing against his pants. I vowed then that Julita wouldn’t go near him again.” She hesitated, looking embarrassed to have to tell him her family’s secrets.

  “It’s okay, go on,” Shadoe whispered. “I understand.”

  “I’ve thought every day about them being together. Maybe she should be warned … or maybe not. I don’t know … maybe Julita’s too old now. Maybe....”

  “Lucretia, I know what your father is. He stripped off his mask long ago. Julita knows as well.”

  “You don’t mean....”

  “Not yet, but not for lack of trying. So far Julita’s managed to keep him at a safe distance. She’s different now. You might not even recognize her.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “He sent her to some kind of charm school in Paris. It not only made her a different person, it opened her eyes to a lot of things. When she returned, Garret was totally mesmerized from what I understand. Couldn’t keep his hands off her.”

&
nbsp; Lucretia looked up, her eyes wide in fright. “Oh, God, no!”

  “No, not what you think. When I found them, Julita was holding her own … fighting back. Just like she did with you. She’s stronger than you think.”

  “That bastard doesn’t deserve to live,” she rasped, her anger causing her chest to heave. She cut her eyes toward the knife. “He needs to have his....”

  “Lucretia, don’t even think that way. Hell, I agree that Garret is a bastard, but I can’t take you up to the mansion if I can’t trust you.”

  She bowed her head, then reached up and pulled her fingers through her hair. “Okay, okay. I’m sorry.”

  “I’m taking care of Julita now. I’m keeping her father away from her, and I think Julita is becoming strong enough that she won’t need me much longer.”

  Suddenly she began crying. “Oh, God, I’m so sorry for what I’ve done. Oh, I don’t mean the things I did to Papa, but Julita. I ruined her life.”

  “She’s still young. She’ll get along fine.”

  She cut her gleaming eyes up at him, and said, “He won’t leave her alone until he’s dead.”

  “Then we’ll have to put our faith in Julita. Will you help me with her?”

  She jerked her head up. “Huh? What do you mean?”

  “I mean, you’re going to have to convince Julita that you’ve changed. It won’t be easy, but you have to try. When she sees you she’s going to be very frightened. All the old memories, the hurts might come back. But you can win her over, I know you can.”

  “What about Papa? You’re worried about me … what about him? The minute he sees me, he’ll want to kill me.”

  “I’ll take care of Garret. You just do as I asked, okay?”

  She let out a sigh that told Shadoe she thought it was hopeless. Then she gave a small shrug, and said, “I’ll try.”

  “Lucretia,” he said, not happy with her answer.

  “All right, I’ll do my best, but you want the truth, don’t you? All hell is going to break loose. Now that the devil is out of his hole, he’s going to wreak havoc on all of us.”

  “We’ll work together to see that doesn’t happen. Agreed?”

  “I suppose,” she said.

  He drew her attention when he halted his movement in response to her answer, and gave her a look of reprimand.

  “Okay, sure,” she finally agreed. “But don’t expect too much.”

  “Let’s get this stuff gathered up so we can hurry.” He gave a shiver and looked over at her skinny frame. “God, I can’t even stand this wet cold. How the hell did you think you were going to live here?”

  “I didn’t intend to live here, I was only going to stay as long as the mansion was occupied.”

  “Why the hell didn’t you stay in the basement?”

  Smirking at his stupid question, she said, “The door is locked, Einstein, I couldn’t get in.”

  “Hell, that’s no excuse. You could have found some way in … I did.”

  “I suppose I would have eventually. It’s hard to think when you’re cold and hungry.”

  They worked in silence for a few minutes, then stepped out of the cave to begin their journey through the bones.

  Just then a rogue wind blew up and a haunting tune began playing through the chanter marks. Shadoe, leading the way, halted abruptly, then reached out to hold Lucretia back. They stayed still for a moment while the unearthly tune skipped down their spines in a chilling arpeggio.

  “Oh, my God,” Shadoe muttered, remembering the legend.

  “What’s the matter?”

  He couldn’t tell Lucretia that the bones were about to walk. “I don’t know. Nothing, maybe, but I thought I saw something move.”

  Their frightened eyes stared steadily at the jungle of bones, watching them begin to move ever so slightly.

  “My God, did you see that?” Lucretia whispered.

  “Be still,” Shadoe urged. “Don’t say a word.”

  “But the bones … they....”

  “Shhh!” he demanded, his arm still flung across the front of her body to keep her from moving forward.

  With chills of terror still running rampant along his spine, Shadoe pulled his eyes away from the bones and looked out at the ocean, the pounding coming harder and harder … like a heartbeat. Suddenly a deep moan sounded as the bones continued to stir. He backed up, seeing them slowly gather themselves together under the haunting sound of the song that echoed on the wind.

  The wind seemed to be infusing life into the scattered bones until they were completely assembled. The picture was awesome. The enormous creature picked himself up off the sandy beach and stood mythically tall and large, a sword being held in his bony hands. Slowly he moved, the giant skeleton clattering as it moved away from its resting place and walked through the tunnel of winds that had become shrill with triumph.

  The two of them watched quietly while the towering giant waved his sword in the air as if entering a battle.

  “Come on,” Shadoe whispered.

  “What? Now?”

  “His walk is slow and labored. If it’s his intention to walk the entire beach we can be out of here and upon the rise before he comes back.”

  “I can’t believe this. The legend is true? It’s preposterous.”

  “Lucretia, we can talk about all of this later. Right now we have to get out of here before he gets back. Otherwise we may become his next battle.”

  “I can’t go through the place where his bones were lying. I can't … I just can’t!”

  “Yes you will unless you want me to leave you here. Now come on.”

  He grabbed her arm and pulled her along beside him as he headed for the giant’s resting place. Lucretia hurried to keep up, but couldn’t help notice that the sand had been broken, disturbed, as if the bones had been deeply buried.

  “Come on, will you?” Shadoe urged, turning around to see what was keeping her.

  “It’s hard to walk,” she said, constantly falling into the sandy holes.

  All the time they walked, Shadoe kept his eyes on the giant that clattered along the beach, looking for a war to engage in.

  All at once Lucretia stumbled and fell. She tried to get up but felt a sharp pain in her ankle. Thinking she might have twisted it, she called out to Shadoe to help her.

  At the same time that Shadoe heard her, he noticed that the giant halted in his tracks and looked back.

  “Oh, my God!” Shadoe said, throwing the things down that he’d been carrying, then yanking Lucretia up off the sand. He hoisted her up in his arms and ran to the incline. He stumbled, climbed, slid backward, then desperately gained toeholds until he was at last at the top. He put Lucretia down and ordered her to run, but when he tried to follow, he found his ankle caught beneath the root of a tree. He tugged, but it wouldn’t come free. He pulled at his leg, struggled with his foot, all the time watching the giant gain on him, his sword raised, and hellish flames spitting out of his eyes. The height of the giant didn’t quite reach to the top of the ridge, so he reached out with his bony fingers, trying to grasp Shadoe. Shadoe managed to duck out of his reach, then saw the creature’s sword swing through the air. Shadoe had nothing to fight him with, so he fell on the ground, ducking, or rolling out of the way as the sharp instrument sliced through the air.

  Feeling like David in the battle with Goliath, he scratched along the ground picking up several large rocks, the only weapon he had. He stood then, and began hurling them at the giant, seeing them whizzing in between the rattling bones. Finally one sharp, well-placed, baseball-sized rock managed to hit him on his skull, knocking the giant to his knees.

  Shadoe dropped the remaining rocks and looked around to see where Lucretia was. He saw her huddling beneath a tree and gave one more strong pull, finally managing to jerk his foot free. But when he began to run, pain shot through his ankle and he stopped, moaning in pain. He found he couldn’t bear much weight, so his progress was slow, but he finally reached her. With pain etching his face
into a scowl, they both turned and began a slow hobble back to the mansion, she helping him more than he was helping her.

  After walking only a few feet, Shadoe hesitated and looked back, seeing the mammoth creature nowhere around. It was hard for him to believe he had actually felled the giant with one small blow to the skull, but suspected with the battle over, the giant went back to his graveyard until the next full moon, bound by some supernatural force to only prowl the beach. Whatever the answer, Shadoe was grateful, and turned, continuing his limp back to the safety and warmth of the mansion.

  Shadoe was right. With the conflict over, the clattering giant made his way back to his resting place … until the next full moon when the gods would arrange another battle for him.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  The back door of the mansion swung open with a bang and in stumbled Shadoe and Lucretia with wet sand sticking to their clothes and feet, making a noisy scraping sound against the tile floor.

  Garret had risen early and was sitting in the library reading, a smoking cigarette clasped between the fingers of one hand, and a glass of his usual early morning brandy held in the other. The room was dim, only one lamp lit, its brightness spread across the old man and the book he was reading. The smoke that circled above his head was disturbed when he turned slightly at the noise he heard. He quickly put out his cigarette, put the book down, and set the glass down on the coaster. With the help of his cane, he pulled himself up. He made his way toward the dining room to see what the confusion was.

  By that time Shadoe had placed Lucretia in a straight-backed chair, then found one for himself. He was leaning over, rubbing his throbbing ankle, then cut his eyes toward her. “You okay?”

  Lucretia was unresponsive while huddling in her chair shivering.

  Knowing she must be chilled through and through, he forgot his ankle for the time being and turned toward the stove. Pulling himself up, he scraped over to the oven and turned it on. His eyes quickly scanned the walls, then asked, “Where’s the damned thermostat?”