He couldn’t take it anymore—he had to do something to save both his sister and mother. He had to put a stop to it. When he made that decision, an unspecified ‘thing’ snapped like a dry twig. Out of the crack left behind, a sprig of something unknown sprang forth. It was a new growth, but he had no words that could describe or name the change. He only knew it happened.
He raced upstairs and opened the door, catching his father in the very act of defiling his sister…his large, naked white-ass gleamed in the lamp’s light, pants around his ankles as he held Cat from behind. His big, erect cock swung from side to side as he aimed and missed. His buttocks clenched with the effort. His expression looked like a dog mounting a bitch in heat. The gleam in his eyes was diabolical.
Alec had known, but he hadn’t wanted to know. He’d closed his eyes. He’d suspected for some time, but he’d rejected the notion, calling himself ‘crazy and perverted’ for even thinking such a thing. Questioning their own sanity was how most adults discounted their gut-feelings and intuitions and it was how Alec had discounted his. He’d kept himself busy with Sabrina, school work, a part-time job, and football practices—anything to preoccupy his mind, to keep him from thinking about what he suspected. How could something so horrible happen in his own family?
At that moment, he had no other choice…he had to face the harsh reality and do something about it. Buck Winters was a disturbed and evil man, violating the innocence of his own daughter. The reality washed over Alec as a rage at the scene before him caused the new sprout to grow. Like Jack’s beanstalk, it climbed upwards, stretching toward truth.
His father was a pedophile!
His sister, small and helpless, fought Buck with all her strength, struggling to get free from his grasp. Still, the nightgown was up around her neck and her panties were on the floor, twisted around one ankle. The big brute forced his huge cock toward her buttocks, trying to enter her from behind, too drunk to accomplish the task, especially with Cat’s resistance.
“Come on, baby, you know you want what papa has. Don’t fight it,” Buck slurred out, deluded as well as drunk.
An ugly, reddish-orange cloud surrounded his father, permeating and darkening the room. It was frightening. Alec batted at the mass of particles, but his gesture had no effect. In that moment, it was the first time he’d noticed seeing such a thing, but the image stayed with him. His eyes opened.
He glanced at Cat; the cloud surrounding her was yellow-gold. With each thrust, Buck’s orange-red cloud grew bigger and brighter while Cat’s golden haze grew smaller and weaker. Was the cloud some kind of energy? Was he witnessing spiritual warfare?
He’s ripping the life-force from her! He’s killing her!
Alec jumped onto his father’s back to stop him, grabbing him around the throat. He squeezed with all his might, but Buck was a large man with a thick, bullish neck. He turned loose of Cat to fight off the attacker. He threw his son aside, swatting at him as if he was merely a fly and busting his lip in the process. Undeterred, Alec jumped on his back again, this time securing his arms tightly around the beefy neck and locking his wrists. He tried his best to choke the life out of the bastard, to stop him from stealing his sister’s precious energy, from destroying her. He held on tenaciously while they struggled.
Buck swung around in circles, trying to knock him off, while Cat stood against the wall, looking on in horror. Furniture overturned, lamps shattered, and books flew off their shelves…all while Alec rode his back…all while Cassidy slept on…all while Buck cursed at the top of his lungs, alerting the neighbors to the commotion. The police were called, and still, Cassidy never awakened from the medicated state of denial and escape.
Even drunk, Buck was too big, too strong to best, but Alec stubbornly refused to give up. The last time he was batted away, Alec landed on his butt halfway across the room. Angered beyond reason now, he jumped to his feet and ran at Buck head-on, roaring in rage as the vine produced its initial bloom. The bloom burst forth into the first fiery flames of vengeance. When he heard the loud, unnerving bellows that seemed to shake the home’s very foundation, his father finally turned around to look at him. With that one gaze, the drunken fool fell backwards on the bed terrorized, putting his hands up defensively to cover his face.
“Oh, dear God in heaven, heavenly Father, have mercy on me. I am a wretched sinner, an evil man. I didn’t know I fought with your mighty devil, Beelzebub,” Buck, instantly sober, shrieked in horror. “I’m sorry, Father. I didn’t know you’d sent your devil to stop me. I know it’s wrong. I won’t do it again. I won’t touch her again. I’ll stop now. I’ll never touch her again. Please, take your hellish red-eyed devil away, I beg you! Take this nightmare demon away from me! I swear on my very life, I’ll never touch her again, please, please, please. I beg you!” Buck blathered and cried, frightened beyond reason by what he saw.
Alec halted with one foot still off the floor. His father hallucinated and wailed out pitifully in a drunken state, quaking in fear. He felt a small bit of mercy for the old bastard as he listened to his continued prayers, “Bless me father for I have sinned, forgive my erring ways…,” he ranted on for several minutes, repeating every prayer he’d ever learned as a boy in Catholic school.
“What’s wrong with you, old man?” Alec asked as he leaned over Buck. But, the words spoken were lost in translation as the intonation of the beast roared with the voice of a thousand mighty celestial beings, all filled with rage. All disgusted by his perverted actions.
“Tonight you will pay!” Buck heard the demon say as his fanged mouth opened wide and the eyes, those terrible eyes, became more blood-red.
Buck took it as the pronouncement of God. God was angry with him and with good cause. He would send him straight to hell. This monster devil that loomed over him would drag him there personally. No death or purgatory would be allowed. His human flesh would roast in the eternal flames forever. The heat coming off the devil was merely a reminder of how hot and everlasting those fires would be. The very thought caused hot tendrils to encase his heart, squeezing mercilessly while icy fingers ran up his spine and down his left arm. The years of seeking pleasure through self-abuse, engorging, drinking, and whoring, had caught up with him. He choked and spluttered; looking on Alec’s face wide-eyed and mouth agape, just before Cat slammed the metal base of a lamp into his head to aid in her brother’s assault. Alec wasn’t sure, but he thought his father died the instant before his sister hit him. He’d already heard what he could only assume was a ‘death-rattle.’
“I hope you die, you old bastard!” she screamed before she hit him again, leaving a wide gash across Buck’s brow. “How in God’s name could you ever imagine that I wanted sex with you? How could you believe that I asked for it? I hated it. I hated you. I fought you off each time, but you wouldn’t hear. It was rape, you deluded, insane excuse for a man! I wanted to die every time you touched me. I hope you burn in hell for what you’ve done!”
“He’s dead, Cat. He can’t hurt you anymore,” Alec said softly as he reached to pull down the nightgown to cover her tiny naked body. She bent over to readjust her panties.
“Are you sure?” she asked when she was covered. She leaned in, placing a hand near Buck’s nose and mouth to feel for breath, confirming it on her own.
“I’m sure,” Alec gently replied.
Cat, triumphant at the news, was truly glad her father was dead. She turned toward Alec with a wide smile, but the look quickly changed. Now, in stark contrast to his father’s reaction, his sister sobbed joyfully as she held out her arms.
“Oh, my angel! My bright shining angel! You’ve come to rescue me. Thank you, Lord of All, for answering my prayers! You heard me! I thought you’d refused me, abandoned me to this abuser and defiler…I’d almost given up all hope, but here, you’ve sent your beautiful angel to redeem me. You’ve saved me! Wrap me in your wonderful white wings, my angel, and take me from this place. Take me away from here.”
Buck Winters died that
night of a fright-attack which stopped his heart only seconds before Cat hit him with the lamp. The stench of urine filled the air as his last act. His ugly, drunken face remained frozen in a twisted grimace of pure panic, horror, and dread at the last site he’d seen—son, devil, or angel? Alec wasn’t sure. How could he be both savior and tormentor in the same instance?
When the police saw evidence of the struggle and the choke marks on the dead man’s neck, coupled with the testimony of witnesses who’d heard the loud ruckus, they placed blame on Alec. He was seventeen, athletic, large enough, and capable of doing the damage they saw in the bedroom—especially since Buck reeked of alcohol and was practically naked. Alec Winters had attacked and killed his drunken father. Even though he’d protected Cat, that part of the scenario didn’t concern the police. It wasn’t self-defense; it was unmitigated murder. It was simple to the investigating officer, Rodney DeVry. It was the easiest ‘open and shut’ he’d snagged in years. Alec was arrested right then and would face punishment as an adult.
At police headquarters, Alec admitted trying to stop his father from raping his sister, but denied killing him. He held stubbornly to that statement and refused to confess to a crime he hadn’t committed. He’d go to trial and take his chances in court.
While he sat in lock-up that night, Alec was admittedly confused by the events that had transpired—everything happened very fast, and yet, in some ways, they moved in distressfully, slow and painful motion. He recalled his father’s fear and his sister’s joy as each looked on his face. He was addled by the experience. The only thing he knew for sure was that the incident caused each of their lives to change.
When the police took her son away, Cassidy awakened and was never anesthetized again. After the sedatives were flushed down the toilet, she used the family home as collateral to post bail and secure a reputable attorney for her son. She comforted Alec and Cat as only a mother could do. She pulled her life together and became the role model she was meant to be and the woman she’d once been. All her previous understanding and knowledge about metaphysical concepts and the way the universe worked returned as if she’d never missed a beat. When Alec told of the ugly orange cloud surrounding his father, Cassidy explained it and taught him about auras and a myriad of other topics. He had to learn the meanings of the colors and use his gift of people-reading on his own, but Cassidy shared a wealth of information with her children and Sabrina while they waited for his trial.
Cat refused to use her bedroom again, but she returned to the art supplies that had long been shelved since the abuse began. She moved to the sunroom where she sketched furiously during her waking hours and slept on a daybed when the light faded each evening. Her mind and heart were filled with the angel of her rescue. Calluses formed on her fingers as the depictions came to life—angels everywhere. Angels of white surrounded by light…angels with soft, smiling countenances…angels with blazing eyes of fury, but always with huge white wings that sheltered lost and helpless victims.
And, Alec became a serial killer.
In the most general sense of the word, he hunted down and punished those responsible for a child’s pain. He didn’t do it for attention, self-gratification, or thrills. He wasn’t psychologically or pathologically wounded. In fact, he believed it was his destiny…that he’d been chosen for the mission. He wasn’t delusional, he’d been given a great gift and he used it wisely. He could see the evil in those he pursued and he could see their victim’s pain. The only commonality to link the perpetrators’ deaths was their penchant for harming innocents. The pattern became his passion. Usually, his countenance alone scared them to death and he didn’t have to do anything else. There were a few close calls while he was still new at it and unaware of his strength. Most of the time it was easy—not only was he endowed with a supernatural persona that literally ‘scared the hell out of the offenders,’ he was also endowed with superhuman strength.
Sabrina, barely sixteen at the time, was always by his side and witnessed the family’s transformations. She was a soothing balm for each of them, a true goddess who blessed each one with the light of her soul. She was often the most stable one and held the rest together during the uncertainties they faced before and throughout Alec’s trial.
At his sentencing, Cat sat between Cassidy and Sabrina, while Alec sat with his attorney and faced the bench. They comforted each other as the proceedings continued. Just before the judge asked for the verdict, Cat surprised everyone, causing Alec to jump to his feet. He wanted to stop her, but the marshals held him back, threatening to take him to holding if he didn’t sit down.
“I killed him. He violated me for the last time. I killed the sorry bastard! I’m glad I did it and I’d do it again! Gawd used me to punish him! Gawd gave me the strength to stop his heart. Gawd answered my prayers! Gawd Almighty ordained his death at my hand!” Catalina screamed out wildly, emphasizing the words of her confession like an old-time, revival preacher.
The courtroom erupted in chaos after Cat’s outburst and the wooden gavel clattered nosily and repeatedly as the judge ordered the bailiff to clear the room. She wasn’t going to have such mockery and nonsense disrupting a trial she oversaw. After a lengthy counsel conference at the bench, Alec was reluctantly released. The charges against him were dropped while Cat was charged with murder and arrested. Her ravings were so bizarre and otherworldly, the superstitious judge feared the girl was possessed and wanted her gone as soon as possible.
Alec objected, pleading with the judge that no one was responsible, that his father had died of a heart attack. His pleas fell on politically deaf ears. A man was dead and someone killed him or was responsible for his death. His sister had confessed to the murder and, although considered a lunatic, she would pay for the heinous crime of patricide. The court frowned disapprovingly on Alec and Catalina. It was ludicrous, but there was nothing he could do when his sister was taken into custody. She remained in the parish hospital’s secured ward until a suitable place could be found for her incarceration. She’d confessed before a court of law with a myriad of witnesses. There would be no trial, no time to spend with family before her life sentence began. Alec was heartsick, but the three women in his life, Cassidy, Cat, and Sabrina, reminded him that he had a job to do. Each would fulfill their destiny and he must also fulfill his.
Alec begged and pleaded with Cat also, but she refused to recant her confession. She was happy to see her angel freed and joyfully bid her brother goodbye. At such a young age, there weren’t many places that could imprison her. When it was finally decided that she’d be remanded to a state mental institution, Cat went willingly, taking her art supplies along.
Chapter 12
During the long months of the trial, his family was ostracized in general, but Alec suffered an even more painful situation at school. He was asked to leave the football team, lost his scholarship, and was fired from his job at the grocery. No one stood by him other than a few buddies in his senior class and Sabrina. After graduation, Alec enlisted in the Army that same year, reluctantly saying goodbye to Sabrina, but knowing he had to start over. He begged her not to wait for him, but nothing he said had any influence. Her heart was bound to his and she was always there when he returned on leave. Cassidy and Sabrina encouraged him to take advantage of everything the army had to offer and only nodded knowingly at each other when offering that advice.
During his twenty plus years of service, Alec completed college and studied every close-hand combat technique tactic available. Although he was technically a field medic and received the Combat Medical Badge for saving lives during live action, the strategies he learned to kill an opponent also served him well. He had plenty of opportunities to use those killing methods while serving in other states and countries. There were pedophiles and sexual predators worldwide.
Now, retired from that life, he sold medical supplies and traveled a specific and predictable route. He was qualified to continue in the medical profession, but that was an all-consuming line o
f work. He’d specifically chosen this job because it offered flexible hours. His true passion required he be ever ready and on the alert. His territory was primarily New Orleans, but also included Mobile, Alabama and Melbourne, Florida. He prowled the streets often in all these locales, looking for men and women to punish—those who harmed children and innocents. Without mercy, he destroyed the ones who took advantage of the helpless, the fragile, and the hopeless. He redeemed the ones who prayed for a savior and feared their prayers went unanswered.
New Orleans was a veritable smorgasbord of opportunities—those he sought to punish came from every walk of life, every culture, profession, and family. There was always a dark secret somewhere. He was led to those in need of redemption. He was certain that they crossed his path by divine directive. All he had to do was keep his eyes open, and then, follow.
His routine had become predictable to some degree in the short time since his return. He spent each morning with his mother and visited with Cat and Sabrina weekly. His job required that he spend a week in Mobile and Melbourne every other month, but again, that was flexible. Other than those short trips away, he was home. He met with high school buddies on occasion, those who were still in the area, but he saw Chaz Lambert frequently. Chaz had stood by him throughout the trial and the hypocritical attitude of the community. He’d never believed that Alec or Catalina killed their father. Always interested in medical reports, he truly believed that Buck Winters had died of fright.
Crescent City (An Alec Winters Series Book 1) Page 6