The Killing Rileys- First Love, First Kills

by David Matheny

  Kami thought hard on that and shook her head to disagree. "Not for me. It was more like a—" She smiled a loving smile at Kevin and stopped when she saw that making his head bow. "Gift." She nodded at how that was the right word. She clarified when she thought he was still worried. "A gift from you to me, Kevin."

  "You're right." Kaley flashed the same loving smile quickly when Kevin looked. "It was a gift for me, to me, too!"

  Kevin rubbed his face as he thought on that. He wasn't aware of his grin as he took his hands from his face. "Hey, Kev, what did you get me for my birthday?" He chuckled as he felt their grips that almost hurt from how hard they laughed at that.

  After the laughter ended, there wasn't anything said for a while.

  "For how long?" Kevin asked.

  "During the time Nonie was watching you," Kaley answered with a voice filled with guilt.

  "And a little bit after that," Kami said with even more guilt.

  Kaley patted his hand. "You can't blame yourself because we were older."

  "And should've known better." Kami patted his other hand after she spoke.

  "It's still my fault," Kevin said.

  "Not your fault," Kami said quickly and forcefully.

  "Definitely not your fault," Kaley said the same way.

  The girls eventually relinquished the hand holding and they all got their bowls back to finish up.

  A sound from upstairs caused them to all look up until it was deemed nothing but a typical sound a house makes.

  Kevin chuckled.

  "What?" Kaley asked.

  "I can't," Kevin said, "I really can't."

  "You really can and you really better," Kami said with feigned parental sternness.

  Kevin pointed to the ceiling with his spoon. "Since the odds are pretty high I may not ever be able to completely consummate the act of coupling—" His face blushed red. "I can't."

  "Kevin!" Kaley's faked sternness didn't come off as fake.

  He took a quick look at the sisters bookending him on the couch before he looked back at the colorful cartoon on the television. "Was I any good?"

  They laughed so hard at that they cried.

  A wave of tiredness hit him after that, but he managed to get his bowl on the coffee table between yawns.

  Kami pulled Kevin's head onto her lap.

  Kaley pulled his legs onto her lap.

  Kevin felt so comfortable sleeping on them like he used to when he was a kid. He felt so comfortable he wasn't even thinking about the discomforting information he just received. He guessed they thought he was asleep when he heard them whispering.

  "She'll be mad when she finds him down here, asleep with us," Kami whispered.

  "She'll probably rip us new assholes again," Kaley said.

  "Even though apparently I can't," Kevin whispered, "I say screw her." The tinge of anger kicked the volume of his voice up more than a tinge. "Screw that family within the family crap too. Us three. We're the family within that family and any other family!" He wasn't aware where the anger of that came from. Even with his savant memory he couldn't remember what he just said. He forgot about it because it was probably forgettable. Nothing more than the raw emotional state from the raw emotions he went through on that emotional night. Might be the two and a half beers talking. Could be the sugar high. He let it go from his mind as his mind drifted off into a comfortable sleep. He did hear the last words of his sisters as they pulled a thin sheet over him and made him even more comfortable.

  "We are the family," Kaley said absolutely.

  "Yes, we are," Kami said resolutely.

  ****

  Weeks later, at the beauty pageant, Kaley and Zoey were dressed nicely as they waited backstage for Kami and Kevin. "That song, Kami." Kaley hugged Kami with more emotion than usual. "You killed it girl."

  "Thanks, it felt like I did." Kami gave Kaley a quick kiss as she pulled back from the hug.

  Zoey pulled Kevin into a side hug. "And you play the piano. I didn't know that. You don't even have one at home."

  "It's one of his super powers," Kaley said proudly.

  "He never took lessons or practiced." Kami waved to get them walking.

  Kevin held the sheet music up for Zoey to see. "See how the notes and chords go from bottom to top?" He waited for her to nod before he turned the sheet music ninety degrees to the right. "That's how it plays on the keyboard. It's no super power, it's a slight turn."

  Zoey looked at the complicated arrangement before she looked at him. "There's nothing slight about you, Kevin."

  Kevin smiled at that as they followed his sisters to the dressing room. It had been a good time. He got the girls through the hard college preparation tests easily. They had some party time before the adults got back from the cruise. They mostly partied at home because they could drink there without getting in trouble. He got to work with one of Taylor's partners to sort out a kink in the big deal while the big boss was away. He felt closer to his sisters. A lot closer. He felt closer to Zoey too. Closer in a lot of ways, but not in that way. He smiled at the joke in his head as they got to the dressing room. He was closer to his woman, but he still hadn't closed the deal. He looked into the dressing room and saw all of the girly things the young women had spread out to make themselves beautiful for the beauty pageant. He heard his beautiful sister giggling before she spoke.

  "Kevin, the other girls have to do their talent." Kami waved him in. "Come in." She smiled her beautiful smile. "I want my pianist backstage with me."

  Kevin stepped into the room having no idea how fateful that long skinny room with the long counter and mirror would be.

  ****

  A little later, Kevin stood in the hall while his women were in the dressing room with the three other contestants. He listened to the conversation to hear Kami interacting with the other beautiful young women she was competing with. It was the final four and the competition for dominance among those finalists was intriguing to him.

  "I know how expensive that foundation is Teri," Kami's voice said politely, "I tried it, but I saw how my Mom and her friends were bonkers over that and that whole cosmetic line, and well, you know—"

  Kevin put his hand over his mouth, so he didn't laugh out. Kami was so good at that, but this year at this pageant, she was on fire firing back at the other contestants so subtly, politely, and easily. He looked at his watch and knew the timing since he memorized the schedule as he always did. He put his hand over his eyes and stepped to the door. "We need to get going to get good seats."

  A very pretty blonde spoke up. "Don't you dare cover those pretty eyes, Kevin Riley."

  "Yeah," a tall girl with red hair as striking as her beauty said, "we're all decent, but not all of us have decent thoughts about you."

  Kevin heard his own sigh as he took a few steps into the room and took his hand off his eyes. He couldn't help but notice the beautiful women. He saw them earlier when he and Kami did the one run-through for her song. He got glimpses of them backstage before. But, seeing four really pretty women in that one room was a bit overwhelming. He couldn't see Zoey because she was a few steps behind him. He saw Kaley mixed in with that group and thought she belonged with that group. He wondered if he was biased about her looks because he was her brother. Maybe. But, it was the thought he had about his mother before. The mix of smart and pretty. Both traits appealed to him and he saw both traits mixed well in both of his sisters. He felt that nagging feeling in his mind about the time. He stepped over and leaned over behind Kami. "These bitches got nothing on you."

  Kami giggled before she turned and gave Kevin a quick peck on the cheek, and she was as surprised as he was when he returned a kiss to her cheek.

  The redhead noticed that. "Kevin, if you kiss girls who aren't your sister, look me up sometime."

  It was like watching a tennis match again, but Kevin thought he caught all the faces. Zoey looked like she was ready to kill the redhead. Kaley had her cold, chilling face of a killer on. Kami had the sweetest l
ook on her face before she opened her mouth to speak.

  "You know why out of the four finalists he had to kiss his sister, don't you Erin?" Kami asked.

  Erin preened her curly red locks in a domination gesture, but she clearly looked wary. "No, why Kami?"

  "He's a prince, and a prince would rather kiss a princess than a toad." Kami let one brow arch up and down slowly.

  "Ooh, burn," the blonde said.

  Kevin shared a smile with Kami in the mirror over that. That's when he saw the eye. The eye peeping through the hole that was in such a clever place not even someone who noticed everything like he did would notice it. He turned and walked off briskly.

  "Kevin, I'm sorry," Erin called after him.

  ****

  Kevin got to the hallway and walked quick quiet steps. He slowly turned the knob on the door to the room. He knew who the man was the instant he saw him sitting there spying on the dressing women through the small hole. It was Assistant Coach Roans. He never liked the man. The man had taunted him often about being a man in gym class. It was stupid and so sophomoric to Kevin. He knew he was strong. Even fairly athletic. He had nothing to prove. He knew the reason he sucked at school sports was because he was weird, and no one wanted to pick the weird kid when kids were picking teams. He was over that. He worked out at home and that worked well. He got back to the alarming situation he knew he had to raise the alarm on.

  Kevin bumped into a few bodies as he stepped back. He got Kaley and Zoey to keep quiet while they got a quick peek at the peeper before they all eased out of the doorway and quietly walked to the dressing room.

  The trio leaned into a huddle a few feet from the dressing room door.

  Kevin whispered, "Where the peeping-Tom is peeping, the stanchion standing against the wall—" He saw confusion and didn't waste time. "A heavy metal pole I can pull down and the length, angle, weight, everything—"

  "Will smash the creep's head," Kaley said.

  Kevin figured Kaley would get it first, but Zoey didn't seem to be her usual self. Maybe she was still in rage mode from being enraged by the redheaded girl. "Kaley, tell Kami to show more cleavage and then stand guard at the dressing room door." He looked at Zoey before he whispered again, "You stand guard at the storage room door."

  Kaley slipped into the room to whisper the plan to Kami.

  Kevin took a quick glance into the room and saw Kami looking at him in the mirror. He felt another feeling that felt good. Probably a feeling so rare, even people who felt feelings rarely experienced it. He felt like she believed in him. Like she had no doubt his odd mind precisely calculated the situation and the odds of pulling off a successful operation. The rare emotion of belief he read on his pretty sister's face was giving him some rare belief in himself. He saw her working with her bra and knew now was the time.

  He got to the storage room door and looked down the hall to see Kaley standing at the dressing room door and giving him a nod.

  Zoey gave Kevin a smile before he eased the door open slowly.

  Kevin got to the pole that stood in the corner. It was heavy and long enough to fall precisely where the man's head was. The diagram he saw as a blueprint in his head when he first looked into the room was accurate. He thought about luck, but not for long. That was the way life was. People and objects coexisted and occasionally aligned to offer an injuring or killing opportunity if any opportunistic killers coexisted to seize the opportunity. He heard a round of laughter that followed Kaley's voice and knew she was doing that to assist him. He saw the peeping coach pressing his body against the wall to get his peeping eye closer to the hole and knew Kami was doing something seductive to keep the peeper peeping. He heard steps behind him underneath the fading laughter from the next room. He knew it was Zoey and he wished she'd followed the plan and stayed at the door. He heard fast talking following the loud laughter and readied himself to get the job done.

  "Oh, that's nice," Coach Roans whispered quietly with the false sense of security the loud talking beauties next door gave him.

  Kevin took a quick look back at Zoey.

  Zoey looked more than excited. She looked manic. She looked crazed.

  Kevin's quick mind quickly thought on Zoey's bizarre look. He remembered how they talked about killing together. Maybe it wasn't so bad she didn't stick to the plan. Maybe she would feel more connected to him with a killing connection. Maybe he would finally be able to make love to her. That was a lot of maybes to have in his mind, so he pushed them out and focused on the one maybe he had to turn into reality. He grinned at the thought of how everything was falling into place and now, it was time for the pole to fall on the man's head and kill him. He liked that thought. He reached into his pocket and got the square napkins from the cookies he got off the snack table to bring to Kami earlier. Even that thoughtful thought was playing a part in the plan. He got a hold of the pole with the paper between his warm flesh and the cold metal.

  A sickening thud preceded Zoey's one word. "Yes!"

  Kevin instantly took his gaze off the pole and saw Zoey raising a metal rod high before she brought it down again on Coach Roan's head.

  "Peeper!" After that strike that made the man's knees buckle, Zoey used the firm grip of her left hand on the collar of the golf shirt he wore, to hold him in place against the wall.

  Kevin opened his mouth to yell, but somehow managed to stop himself.

  Zoey had the grip, the position, and the crazed mania to put some speed into it. She yelled a single word with every single blow to the head, "Peeper! Creeper! Peeper! Creeper!"

  Kevin's eyes and mouth were wide open, but he calmly took his hands and the napkins off the pole and shoved the napkins into his pockets.

  Zoey paused the brutal beating to let Coach Roan's limp body slump down lower against the wall into a better beating position. She turned and gave Kevin the sweetest smile imaginable, "We're doing it Baby. Doing a killing together."

  Kevin almost smiled back at that. He thought that smile was like the smiles she smiled on the first day they met. The only difference was the red freckles the mists of blood had freckled her cute face with.

  Zoey went back to beating with the same words and strikes, "Peeper! Creeper! Peeper! Creeper!"

  Kevin felt arms wrapping around him, lifting him, and carrying him back. He struggled at first. Then, he knew the human possessed with enough super human strength to do that to him. It was his big sister. He quit resisting the moment that knowledge came to him. He felt her pulling him out of the room and flinging him against the wall of the hallway. He watched her position herself and take in a breath. He took it all in.

  There was a deathly silence in the dressing room as the sounds of killing and dying came from the storage room.

  Kaley screamed the scream you would expect a young woman to scream if she saw a man being beaten to death by a crazed teen.

  Kami was the first out of the room and down the hallway.

  Kevin thought clearly enough to let the four women get a good look at what Kaley looked at before he took a few steps to look.

  Zoey stopped beating Coach Roan's lifeless body. She looked at the six faces looking at her from the hallway. She looked at the body. She looked at the iron rod she used to beat the body to death with. She looked at the group and fixed her eyes on Kevin. "I did this for us. I did this for you." She held the rod up and took slow steps to the door.

  Erin reached and pulled the door closed.

  All the teens stood and looked at each other with frightened eyes.

  Erin was jerked forward when the door was pulled by Zoey from the other side.

  Kevin saw Kami's hands cover the one hand Erin had on the doorknob before he saw the door shut and heard the shutting sound.

  Teri cried uncontrollably.

  Kevin felt the quiet contestant, a petite brunette, wrapping her arms around him for protection, and clinging to him desperately. He let her cling, but he didn't like it. He thought of the odds against getting Zoey out of what she bro
ught on herself. Odds were numbers and numbers never lied. He couldn't save his girlfriend. He could save his sisters. That thought was at the front of his mind, but the back of his mind was vast enough to let other thoughts run wild in that wild time.

  The sound of Zoey's yells matched her strikes on the other side of the heavy door. "Let! Me! Out!"

  Kaley pried the petite girl's arms off him.

  Kami looked back to look at Kaley and Kevin. After she got a nod from Kaley she spoke in a commanding voice, "When I say run, run!"

  Zoey's voice matched her strikes again. "Let! Me! Out!"

  "Run!" Kami yelled.

  Kevin felt Kaley's iron grip on his hand pulling him into as fast of a run as he ever ran. He knew she was powered by that almost supernatural power that came in life or death situations. He felt he had that kind of power in his powerful mind. Every fast stride marked a fast thought. He thought of the life or death situation they ran from. There was a death. There was a life. He knew who died. He knew whose life would never be the same. He knew there was nothing that could be done about that now. It was what it was. All he worried about was what he didn't want to change. What was there before a change. What was there before another one was added and subtracted. That made him think the four of them were never a 'one' as they pledged to be. He and his sisters were 'one plus one' with her. Without her? The answer came from the strong hands of his sisters as one pulled and the other pushed him through the doorway. He would be fine. He was in good hands.

  ****

  Outside, Kevin stopped, turned, and ignored the frightened young women frantically getting around him. The three Rileys looked through the open door down the dark hallway.

  Zoey stood in the hallway and pointed with the bloody iron rod. "I did it for us, Baby. I did it for you."

  Kevin felt both sisters getting firm grips on his hands. He whispered so only his sisters could hear, "It's just us now?"

  "Yes," Kaley whispered back.

  "Just us," Kami whispered.