Chapter 3
Chapter Three
It doesn’t take me long to reach the doors of La Douleur Folle. This is my safe place; my home away from home, and one of the few places I like to venture out to when I feel the need for human interaction.
Hm. Not yet.
I walk back down the wooden steps and go around the back of the building. I can hear the sweet serenade inside. Screams of pain, moans of pleasure, and the unmistakable sound of someone being bludgeoned to death.
That was usually a mutual thing when someone died. However, I could never find satisfaction in someone willing to die at my hands. I enjoyed taking life when it didn’t belong willingly to me, and that was what set me apart here. That’s what made them fear me, and it’s how I know that I can secretly own anyone here I want to.
But she’s not here.
I haven’t run across her in La Douleur Folle, and it’s actually a good thing. I wouldn’t allow others to touch her or treat her the way they willingly do. She would be mine only, and they would hate me for it. They would wonder why I was keeping such a sweet thing to myself instead of sharing.
It wouldn’t be good for either of us, nor for the sanctity of the others here if they attempted to take her from me.
I don’t like to kill randomly, but I will if I must. If what I feel is mine is being threatened, I will destroy everything I have to keep it safe.
She’s not mine.
For the moment.
I let that thought consume me as I walk the entire length of the building, until I’ve reached the back, and continue walking toward the property line. It sits on a hill overlooking the state park, and sometimes just being here alone and staring out over creation helps to quiet my urges. Maybe I’d go home today instead of subjecting myself to the need for pain, but it was unlikely. I had already walked so far to get here that I wanted to be compensated in one way or another. Be it in flesh or blood, I wouldn’t leave until I felt like the pleasure of my company had been fully paid for.
I stand on the very edge of the mountain, unaware that I haven’t yet said that the mansion sits on such. My arms cross loosely over my chest as I look out at the beautiful scenery. I love big sky country; it soothes me and makes me smile.
“I thought that was you,” a voice says behind me.
A small smile starts to creep across my lips. I know that voice, it’s someone that’s always been very kind to me, someone that enjoys when I visit the establishment, because if I’m feeling generous enough, I’ll let her watch. We all need to learn how to do these things, and I am an excellent teacher. My methods are my own, and I always make that clear, yet I like knowing that I’ve helped in some way.
I don’t turn around to face her, however she’s used to that by now. She knows that I’m not very personable and that I tend to keep to myself, but I indulge her conversations as they come and in turn, she usually leaves me be.
Usually, though not always.
“I was wondering when you would be back. I haven’t seen you in a while,” she states as she takes a stance next to me.
I glance at her and raise a curious eyebrow. It almost sounds as if she has something for me—a gift—waiting inside.
“I’ve been busy,” I reply.
“Understandable. What brings you back today, Mr. Burress?” she asks with a devilish grin slithering across her thin lips.
It’s a putrid smile, reminiscent of a garden snake that’s close to death from being left out in the sun too long, and I always have to fight the urge to rip her lips off her face.
“Just in need of some company,” I say curtly.
I turn my eyes away from her. She isn’t terrible to look at by any means, it’s just her smile that turns my stomach. She’s asked before to take part in my pain process, but because of that horrendous trait, I always turned her down.
I let her watch, nothing more .
“You came on a good day, then,” she responds mysteriously.
“Oh?” I ask, stealing a glance in her direction.
“We have a new member today. She brought her children with her; says that she can’t stand living anymore and she doesn’t want to see her children in the care of the state. She’s looking to go as soon as possible.”
“And the children? What am I supposed to do with them?” I ask.
“Whatever your heart desires, Mr. Burress. We aren’t equipped to care for children, and she wants them to go with her.”
I let out a sigh as I stare out over the park again, letting my eyes drift up toward the now darkening sky. I’ve never had a child participate in the pain process and I wondered if I would enjoy it.
“How old are the children?” I ask quietly.
“One is fourteen; a terrible mouth on that girl. She’s been nothing but disrespectful since she’s arrived,” she says, her voice full of disgust.
“And the other?” I press.
She walks around me, teetering on the edge of the mountain and I fight the urge to push her off. That’s not who I am though; I don’t like to kill unless there’s a purpose. I look down at her face, careful not to focus on her lips, and instead search her simmering green eyes. With as much as I hate it, I can tell by the way her eyes crinkle on the sides that she’s smiling again. I can’t help but let my eyes travel down to her atrocious lips as she forms the words that sets the wheels in motion inside my head; the thoughts that I had spent all day trying to avoid are now becoming louder thinking of those waiting inside.
“Still in the womb.”