Carol pivoted on the bar stool so she was facing Ryan. Her voice was barely above a whisper as she spoke. “She’s a witch, or whatever the hell you want to call it.”
Ryan focused on keeping her face expressionless. “Who told you that?”
Carol’s expression softened, and she took Ryan’s hand in hers. “I know everything.”
Ryan leaned back. She was still unwilling to show her hand. “What do you know?”
Carol sighed heavily. “I can’t believe you’re doing this? Lying to me by omission.” Carol released Ryan’s hand. “We have always been honest with each other.”
The years of managing the chaos of their upbringing together, and the countless moments they had confided and consoled one another came rushing back to Ryan. “I know who Leah is, and I know about the two families. I just didn’t think you would ever know.”
Carol frowned. “Why wouldn’t I know?”
Ryan glanced around to ensure no one was listening. “Andrew is the first born, and I figured you wouldn’t ever have to know.”
Carol shook her head. “Andrew is a putz and can barely stand upright with all that sneezing when he’s around Leah.”
Ryan was shocked to hear Carol speak so casually about the situation. “How long have you known?”
“Not too long. I don’t think my mother meant to tell me. But after the last visit and Andrew’s – shortcomings, and when I saw the scarring on my father’s arm – she didn’t really have a choice.”
“I don’t know about any burns.” Ryan insisted.
“Leah can’t control her powers, Ryan.” Carol whispered. “My parents were trying to talk some sense into her about your relationship with her, and then she attacked my father.”
The doubt Ryan had when Lucy had talked so crassly about Leah’s affinity for the Myers women was nowhere to be found in this moment with Carol. She was confident in what she knew about Leah, and who the woman she loved was.
“I’ve seen her powers, and I assure you she is in complete control.” Ryan reached for Carol’s hand, and a twinge of hurt shot through her when the woman pulled away.
“Then she willfully attacked my father.” Carol voice was cold, and it reminded Ryan too much of Lucy’s.
“Or she was defending herself.” The spokes of indignity began to spin inside Ryan, and she was not going to sit idly by while Carol trampled over Leah with her lies and misconceptions. Ryan’s breath caught as the memory of Leah’s bruises that first time they were together, and her insistence it had been a car accident popped into Ryan’s head.
“You’re defending her?” Carol hissed.
Ryan could count on one hand the number of arguments she and Carol had over the years. She could tell from the intensity in Carol’s eyes and the harshness of her voice, this was going to be the worst. “I’m just asking you to be open to the idea there may be another explanation.”
“Look, you know I’m not the biggest fan of my family, but if you had seen the look on my mother’s face, and the scar on my father’s arm, you wouldn’t be defending her.” Carol pointed to her own forearm as she spoke. “They were third degree burns!”
Can you make it hotter? The answer to the question she had poised to Leah was suddenly quantified. “Leah was black and blue too, Carol. I saw her the next day.”
Carol shook her head, her eyes focused on the bar. “My mother explained that they had to forcibly remove Leah from my father, or she would have killed him.”
Ryan slumped in the bar stool, unsure what she could say that would convince Carol of Leah’s true nature and intentions. “You’ve made up your mind about this?”
Once again, Carol’s eyes filled with tears. “So have you.”
Ryan placed her hand on Carol’s shoulder. “I know what I know, but this crap doesn’t have to come between us.” Tears pushed at the back of Ryan’s eyes, the thought of losing Carol stabbing at her heart. “You’re my best friend.”
A muffled sob escaped Carol, and she covered her mouth with her hand as she struggled to maintain her composure. “You’re my best friend too.”
Ryan stood, and wrapped her arms around Carol’s shoulders. “Then let’s figure this out. Together.”
To Ryan’s relief, Carol didn’t pull away from her. She wrapped her arms tightly around Ryan. “I love you.”
Ryan leaned back, her own tears finally coming. Smiling, she wiped at her face with the palm of her hand, seeing several fellow bar patrons warily looking at her and Carol. “We’ve made a scene.”
Carol pulled away, and wiped at her own tears. “Perfect.”
“Should we get a bottle of something really strong, and go up to your room?” Ryan was feeling relieved that she and Carol were turning a corner, and they weren’t going to let their family’s history destroy their relationship.
Carol hesitated, unable to make eye contact with Ryan. “I did something.”
Ryan’s relief from a moment ago evaporated with the dread in Carol’s voice. “What did you do?”
Carol winced. “When you were running so late, and knowing what I knew – or thought I knew – I called my mother.”
Ryan’s eyes widened. “What?!”
Carol finally looked up at Ryan. “I told her I thought your meeting was really a date with Leah, and that I was scared for you.”
Ryan grabbed her car keys and wallet. “I have to go.”
Carol followed Ryan out of the bar. “Where are you going? I’m sure once they realized you weren’t there, they’ll just leave.”
Ryan handed her valet ticket to the attendant. “Please hurry.” She instructed the man.
“Ryan, you’re being ridiculous.” Carol was pleading with her. “Let me call my mother, and she can –”
Ryan turned. Her fear for Leah’s safety, and her anger over her cousin’s actions fueling the harshness of her words. “You have no idea what you’ve done! You’ve put Leah’s life at risk.” Ryan stepped off the curb as the valet pulled forward with her car. “Leah is no killer, Carol. We’re the killers! Our family has massacred and shredded our way through history, and you’ve just set the hounds after the fox.”
Leaving a stunned Carol on the curbside, Ryan quickly navigated her car out of downtown Baltimore. Once on the highway, she accelerated to eighty miles an hour as she sped towards Leah’s house.
***
Ryan maneuvered her Honda up the narrow road leading to Leah’s house. It was ten thirty, and with the exception of the porch light, Leah’s house was cloaked in darkness. It was so dark Ryan almost didn’t see the black Lincoln Town Car parked off the left side of the driveway.
Having her suspicions confirmed that Lucy, and more than likely Derek, were in fact at Leah’s, sent a shiver up Ryan’s back. Ryan fought to control the panic that began swelling up in her chest.
Pulling the Honda in behind Leah’s Nissan, Ryan put her car in park, and opened the door. Confused as to where everyone was, Ryan cocked her head to the side, listening for any signs of movement. The sound of the Patapsco River that ran along the bottom of the shallow valley near Leah’s house was all Ryan heard.
Ryan walked around to the covered porch as she tucked her car keys into the front pocket of her pants. Putting her ear to the door, she didn’t hear any movement in the house. Deciding against knocking, she walked along the side of the house toward what was actually the front door.
Rounding the front corner of the building, Ryan saw movement out of the corner of her eye. A split second later a sharp pain shot along her jawline, her ear began to ring, and Ryan’s knees buckled under her.
Ryan heard voices, and in spite of her best efforts, she couldn’t force her eyes open. Ryan wasn’t sure how long she had been unconscious having been hit with something or by someone.
The taste of bile and blood burned the back of her throat. Ryan turned her head, intending to spit the vile mix from her mouth, but the air was knocked out of her as a foot kicked into her stomach.
“Andrew! Godd
amnit, I told you to watch her. Not kick the shit out of her.” Ryan heard Derek’s voice coming from somewhere in the distance. She was still dazed, and her uncle sounded as if he were yelling under water.
“She moved.” Andrew was looming over Ryan. Ryan still couldn’t open her eyes all the way, she managed to make out a muddied pair of black leather loafers inches from her face.
“Andrew, she’s family. Don’t you hurt her!” Lucy’s nasally voice pulled Ryan fully back into consciousness.
Rolling over, Ryan couldn’t move her hands from behind her back, and realized they were bound behind her. “Andrew, untie me. Please.”
“She’s awake.” Andrew shouted.
“That’s fine. Make her comfortable. We’ll be done here shortly.” Lucy shouted back.
Andrew knelt next to Ryan. “Give us ten, cuz. We should be done with that bitch shortly.”
Ryan jerked her gaze toward Lucy and Derek’s voices, her eyes wide as she still struggled to focus.
Ryan’s stomach twisted and soured. The bile at the back of her throat was threatening to come up. She was lying in a small clearing she assumed was somewhere near Leah’s house. A large fire burned near the tree line farthest from Ryan. Tied to a tree near the fire, her hands and legs bound, was a bloody and bruised Leah.
Leah was wearing a pair of black cotton shorts and a torn gray t-shirt. Her blonde hair was matted to one side of her head with what looked like dried blood. A thick black leather strap stretched across her mouth, blood running from either corner as the strap dug into her mouth. Leah’s eyes were wide with fear, her cheeks stained with tears as she stared helplessly at Ryan.
“Aunt Lucy! What are you doing?” Ryan shouted as she rolled over to her knees. “Stop!”
A sharp stab of pain shot out from the back of Ryan’s head has Andrew grabbed her by the hair. “Be quiet!” The man shouted in Ryan’s ear.
Lucy and Derek stood near the fire, and hearing Ryan, the woman turned and slowly walked toward her niece. Ryan thought it perverse that in spite of the horrific scene, her aunt was dressed impeccably in a pair of brown slacks, tan Cole Haan heels, and a light beige cashmere shawl draped over her shoulders. The diamonds of her Cartier tennis bracelet were sparkling in the fire light.
“Quiet down. We’re nearly finished.” Lucy crouched in front of Ryan. “I had wanted to spare you this, but damn that Myers constitution, you just woke up too soon.”
Ryan shook her head, and finally in an upright positon, spat the blood that had been pooling in her mouth to the ground. “Please, don’t do this. It’s murder.”
Lucy stood up and looked down at her niece, a faint smile on her lips. “It’s justice.”
Ryan looked at Leah, and then back at her aunt. “What are you talking about? She hasn’t done anything to you – to anyone.”
Lucy laughed, the shrillness of it echoing through the valley below. “You have no idea what she’s done.” Lucy nodded at Andrew, and the man grabbed Ryan by the arms and pulled her to her feet.
Ryan’s shoulders ached from being bent back at an awkward angle, and she winced as Andrew jostled her back and forth. “That hurts!” She turned her head to the side, trying to make eye contact with her cousin. “Stop it!”
Andrew wrenched Ryan back against him, his breath hot on the back of her neck as flecks of the man’s spit peppered Ryan’s skin. “I’ve never liked you, Ryan. I don’t trust any woman who doesn’t take a cock now and again.”
“Andrew!” Lucy yelled. “Watch your language, and move her over towards the fire. She’s awake now, she may as well witness this.”
Andrew shoved Ryan forward, his hands still holding the rope around her wrists. “You heard her. Move!”
Ryan stumbled forward, the uneven terrain and her still throbbing head making balancing difficult. The heat from the fire pushed against Ryan in waves as they got closer. Andrew forced her to her knees, ensuring she was still facing Leah.
Ryan was close enough now to see that Derek was holding a makeshift torch. In his right hand was a long branch, and at the end was a thick wrapping of cloth. Oh god, they’re going to burn her alive. A sob escaped Ryan as the realization of what her aunt and uncle planned for Leah came into focus.
“This is a treat, Ryan.” Lucy rubbed her hands together as she stood glaring at Leah. “We so rarely get the opportunity to make it physical anymore.” She turned to face Ryan, and the shadows the fire cast on her face made her look crazed and possessed. Ryan thought it fitting the evil that ran rampant through her aunt, at this darkest moment, should finally be reflected on her otherwise perfect features.
Lucy walked to Derek, and took the torch from his hand. “I prefer the dunking method, but alas I’m fresh out of cucking stools, and this one would take too eagerly to the water anyway.” She thrust the torch into the center of the fire.
Ryan pulled against her restraints, her eyes locked on her lover. Leah’s light green eyes seemed almost calm, her face and body relaxed as Lucy moved toward her, torch in hand. “This has been too long in coming, Leah.” Lucy lowered the torch to the ground next to Leah’s bound feet.
Ryan cried out, and stumbling to her feet, charged her aunt. Lowering her shoulder, Ryan slammed into the woman’s lower back, sending her and the torch crashing to the ground. Ryan watched in horror as the torch rolled to within a foot of Leah, aggressive flames immediately shooting up around the restrained woman. It was clear Lucy and Derek had spread some type of accelerant around the base of the tree.
Lucy cried out, and rolling onto her knees, struck Ryan with the back of her hand across the cheek. A second later, there was a crushing weight on top of Ryan’s midsection as Derek pounced on her, his hands around her throat. Ryan’s head pounded as her blood was squeezed from her neck, and her windpipe nearly crushed.
“Enough!” Lucy’s voice broke through the pounding in Ryan’s ears. “Get off her.”
As suddenly as the vise around her throat had been there, it was gone. Gasping for breath, Ryan craned her head back toward Leah, terrified at what she might see. Her tear and smoke filled eyes struggled to focus. Ryan could see that Leah was not engulfed in flames, nor was she writhing in agony from the fire’s heat.
Leah stood perfectly still, her eyes wide as the flames formed a tall cylinder shape around her, unable to penetrate whatever water or ice barrier Leah cocooned herself in. Ryan heard a series of cracks as if glass were about to shatter, and a second later, Leah brought her hands around from behind the tree.
The ropes, coated in a thick casing of ice, dropped from her wrists. The brittle pieces shattered as they hit the ground. The restraints on Leah’s ankles followed suit and fell to the ground as well. Holding her hands palms up in front of her, Leah extended her arms into the fire. The air from above the flames seemingly pushed the flames down, smothering them into the dirt at the base of the tree.
Pulling the leather strap away from her mouth, Leah threw it to the ground. “It’s over, Lucy. Please, I don’t want to hurt you.”
Lucy stood, her back to the fire, her eyes narrowed, a demonic smile spread across her lips. “You don’t tell me when it’s over.” She looked at Andrew and nodded.
The man charged toward Leah, and tackled her to the ground. Before Ryan could get to her feet to help Leah, Derek had grabbed a handful of her hair, and pushed her flat to the ground. Ryan screamed as Andrew, straddling Leah’s waist, struck the woman twice across the face with the back of his hand.
Wrapping his hands around Leah’s neck, the stout man leaned forward, putting all of his weight on the smaller woman’s throat. Just then Andrew sneezed, once, twice, and the third time he shifted back just enough that Leah was able to get her hands around his wrists.
Andrew screamed, his deep baritone cries filling the night. Falling to Leah’s side, Ryan could see the man’s wrists were red, the skin blistered and already beginning to slide away from the underlying muscle and tissue.
In an instant Leah was kneeling in front o
f Andrew, her hand around his throat. A second later and the man fell backwards to the ground. He scratched and pulled at his throat, his cries sounding choked and gargled. The skin on the front of his throat began to redden and then blister. Leah had burned him from the inside out, and now muscle and tissue began to pucker and swell from within.
“No!” Derek rushed past Ryan toward Leah, but before he could reach the woman, she placed her hand flat on the ground in front of her. Derek tripped, the damp earth beneath him shifting, and the dirt was replaced with a thick sheet of ice. Slipping backwards, Derek’s head slammed against the ground. Rolling to his side, he grabbed at the back of his head, his hand now covered in blood.
Reaching into his back pocket, Derek pulled a wood handled, single blade pocket knife from behind him. Opening the four inch blade, he managed to get to his knees as he repeatedly slipped on the ice beneath him.
“You hold still, and I’ll make this quick.” Derek seethed as he began crawling toward Leah.
Laying her other hand on the ice, Leah glared at the man. “Please stop. I don’t want to do this.”
Derek, unfazed, continued his slow progress forward, his movements reminiscent of a man trapped in quicksand. Leah closed her eyes, tears streaming down her face. Derek smirked, emboldened by Leah’s distress. Then his eyes widened. Trying to lift his hand from the ice, Derek grunted as the appendage was now frozen to the sheet of ice.
Derek pulled up with all his strength, the skin on his palm remaining frozen to the sheet of ice, peeling free as he ripped his hand loose. The man screamed, and with the knife extended toward Leah, lunged forward. His knees also frozen to the ice, Derek landed flat on his face.
Ryan watched in both horror and amazement as ice began to form along her uncle’s stomach and then moved up his sides. Seconds later, the man was completely encased in a thick sheath of ice. Unable to move or breathe, Ryan could see Derek’s face through the clear ice. His eyes went wide with fear and panic. Ryan turned her head, unable to stomach the sight.
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