Chapter 33 Louisa
Madness, Ruelle
Freddy pulls up to the establishment Sabini secretly gifted me several years after the death of my husband.
It is a bit run-down since I hadn’t been able maintain it, but it made do, and it looks inconspicuous to bystanders roaming the outskirts of town.
It is essentially a run-down stone cottage.
Ivy grows on one side and two windows are boarded up, and the tattered roof has clearly lived through various storms and seasons.
I proved my worthiness and sold the details of so many trade routes to Sabini, in hopes he would surpass the Afton family and begin overthrowing their enterprise.
Though so far, the Aftons always have been able to stay one step ahead, recuperating any stolen goods, avenging any men who are struck down.
After the war, my boys became more brutal especially Everett.
Though I felt no sense of pride in this—only disgust. I was the queen of this enterprise, and no one ever treated me as such.
They should have worshiped at my feet, for I birthed those boys.
One could not truly understand why I fucked over my so-called family unless they were in my position.
Luckily, I have Freddy.
He’s easy to manipulate and was pining for my attention while the others ignored me. All I had to do was convince him he needs to earn my love and affection. Now he does everything I instruct.
We need to get rid of our problem. It disgusts me how all the men treated Brielle so well, kneeling before her feet and providing protection. The small gestures of respect they show her light my jealousy on fire.
It isn’t fair. Just because she displays her fake niceties and occasionally bandages their boo-boos, they have the utmost respect for her—yet I was cast aside.
I realized this bitch was catching onto Freddy and me. She was going to potentially ruin my fun and expose me for murdering those stupid whores in the massage parlor.
Instructing Freddy to pull Brielle out of the trunk, I open the cottage door and place a wooden chair in the center of the small kitchen. The inside of the cottage is much nicer than what the exterior might suggest. The kitchen, dining room and living room are attached and form an open area.
Her body is limp as the drugs remain in her system, but I need her fully awake, so I can watch the life drain from her eyes, just like with those stupid whores.
Freddy straps her to the dining room chair. She makes soft whimpering noises and pathetic attempts to push him off her.
With one swift slap my hand strikes her face, causing her eyes to jolt open.
She begins to struggle in her bindings, which causes a small chuckle to escape my throat.
She glances up at me, her eyes filled with hatred but also dark and heavy from the drugs coursing through her system.
“Why?” she asks in a strained voice .
Out of a pure sense of power, I slap her again. A soft cry leaves her mouth and fuels my desires even more: my desire to hurt others, my desire for control, my desire for power, my desire to induce absolute respect and fear.
Encircling her like a predator sizing up its next meal, I say, “I may hate you, Brielle, but I must say, you are intelligent. Realizing it was a woman performing these crimes.”
Her eyes widen with terror.
“It was you !?” she states, her voice hoarse.
“Oh, don’t be daft. Acting like you didn’t know.
If you really didn’t, it was only a matter of time ’efore you realized it.
You are becoming a nuisance, and need to be put down like a useless horse.
Fetch my knife, Freddy dear.” I stop in front of her, assessing where I’ll make my first cut.
I place one hand on my hip while the other is outstretched, awaiting the blade.
“Why? Why did you hurt those poor girls!? They were innocent!” she blubbers, as a small stream of tears rushes down her cheeks.
“Oh, hush, slag,” I respond, as Freddy places the knife in my hand.
I begin patting its flat portion atop my open palm.
“I had every right to kill them. It helped me let off some steam , shall we say? The men did it, so why couldn’t I ?
Yes, I was killing ’em instead of fucking ’em.
Letting off steam is letting off steam though.
They were property anyway. My own personal killing toys!
Housed in our fucking buildings, on our dime—”
“They were under the false pretense they had PROTECTION!” Brielle dares to interrupt, so I slap her across the face. One of my rings catches her cheek, cutting her skin. The blood follows the tear streak down her face.
“This is another reason why— I hate you . You think you are so self righteous. Better than others and all knowing,” I state, narrowing my eyes.
“When I am speaking, no one else should speak over me. I am the queen of this fucking town, of those fucking Adders, though no one treats me with any respect! I’m sick of not being shown the respect I have earned!
” I place the flat portion of the blade under her chin, raising her face toward mine.
Her little whimper is adorable, and I can’t wait to cut it out of her throat.
“I’m going to gut you so badly that my dear son will have a hard time figuring out which piece goes where .”
Suddenly a dark, sweet laugh comes from the hallway of the cottage.
A shadowy figure appears.
I feel Freddy shift behind me.
“That’s quite enough,” Everett states, a gun pointed directly at my head. “Put it down, Mother.”
I lunge forward but a shot rings out, flying past the left side of my body. Then Freddy lets out a shout.
“I asked kindly.” Everett’s expression doesn’t falter, the gun firmly grasped within his palm. “Put the knife down and kneel on the floor, hands behind your head.”
Freddy and I do as he states.
“How!” I scream in defiance.
Then the front door swings open as my mother, Bobby, Gregory, Kenneth and a group of other Adders storm my fucking cottage.
“What the fuck!?” I scream, utterly flabbergasted about how this scenario has turned, clutching my hands within my hair.
“What we gon’ do, Mum?” Freddy pathetically asks me.
“You’re going to shut the fuck up,” Bobby states, then knuckle-punches Freddy in the Adam’s apple, causing him to gag and choke for air.
“Or better yet.” Bobby goes down to one knee and places his knife along Freddy’s throat.
“’Ow bout I just cut your fucking voice box out so I don’t have to hear your whingeing. ”
“Wait! WAIT!? Please, pleas—” Freddy begs beside me as Bobby clutches his throat with such malice. My poor sweet boy has turned into such a monster. Granted, it was my own fault.
“Bobby hold on,” Everett commands in his stone-cold voice.
Bobby lets go of Freddy’s neck and he falls to the floor, then scrambles to his knees, rubbing his throat.
“How?” I level my glare on Everett as he steps to Brielle, untying her before she clutches the lapels of his tweed jacket.
Everett opens his mouth to speak, but another voice resounds in the cottage first.
“Me.” The ghost of Tilly appears from the hallway. She has a periwinkle dress underneath her long emerald pea-coat. Those golden curls dance with each movement as she saunters into the room.
“This ain’t real,” Bobby blurts out, his mouth agape.
She gives the poor brute a delicate wave, “Hi, darling, I missed you.” All at once, he rushes her, picking her up and crashing to the floor as he cradles her in his arms.
“Tilly! Tilly? This is real? Tilly, please tell me this is real !?” he pathetically begs. It makes me want to vomit.
She giggles as he brushes the hair from her face, positioning her in his lap as he sits on the dusty floor.
His brow furrows as tears collect in his eyes. I peer over at Everett, who has one arm around that stupid whore Brielle, perching his chin atop her head. His gun hangs from his other hand as he watches his brother’s pathetic reunion.
“Is anyone going to explain to me what the fuck is going on!?” I scream in irritation.
“Not that you deserve an explanation,” my mother says as she sits on my couch, crossing one leg over the other and perching her hands atop her knee.
“I found out you set up the girls at the hospital. Aiding in their kidnapping—despicable. Providing one of our ambulances to Sabini and having Freddy be the getaway driver.”
She shifts in her seat, then pulls out a stack of letters. Familiar letters .
No .
“Once I was able to bring Tilly back to life, I needed her to become one of ‘the dead,’ just like your brother, Jacob.” She looks up, her gaze sweeping around the room, then her eyes stop on Bobby, who is still sitting on the floor perplexed.
“As you know Jacob has been alive for some time, performing small missions for me. Sorry I kept Tilly a secret from you, Everett.” She nods toward Everett, as I sneer.
“It’s all right, Baba.” He stares so admiring at her. I find it absolutely disgusting.
She continues, “I had them follow you and Freddy.” She points at me and her face changes into a dark, hexing expression.
“You both are very, very good with changing up your routes. Providing letters to Sabini with encrypted messages. Luckily, George deciphered them and we realized not only were you stealing from the family and murdering those poor girls, but conspiring to have Brielle killed by any means possible. Tilly found out about your hidden cottage and we trailed you here.”
After listing off my sins, she shakes her head in disapproval .
“I always knew you were evil after you killed your twin in the womb, but this is just nothingness. Evil has a purpose, a reason, an emotion behind it, but this is just a lack of respect for life. You have never tried to be good, no matter the circumstance, during any stage of your life,” she explains.
“Fuck off!” I shout. “Sabini was the first to worship me! He saw my potential. He saw me as a queen! You wretched arseholes call yourselves my family, but you don’t talk to me or treat me the way I should be!”