Chapter Forty-Four
Lulu - Present Day
Ruby Dark Rose – Queens
I needed no other encouragement than Quinn asking me to off her mother and the rapist best friend of her brother’s. It’s the least I can do to help her heal.
“Good evening, love birds,” I tease as I walk out into the garden where Quinn is journaling, and H is playing ball with Ted, and they’re both sitting watching the sun set.
Her session earlier was a lot. Less emotional than the first one, but still as debilitating.
We filled H in on the plan when we had finished chatting, and as I expected, he was fully on board.
Quinn shuts her journal and looks up at me. “What is it?” she asks.
“Well, you know how this week of therapy is supposed to be 'intensive'?"
“‘Intensive’ is one word for it. It’s knocked me for six, I know that much.”
“How would you feel if I knock another couple of things off that list this evening?” I look at her, hoping she catches my drift.
“Tonight’s the night? Even though we only spoke about it today?”
“Tonight’s the night for your mum, yes. If we give you an unlimited amount of time, you will go back and forth on all of your decisions and never get anywhere. If you don’t want me to do it, then you need to let me know now.”
She looks pensive for a second. “I’m sure.
For me to get better, I need her out of my life for good.
I’m sad that my dad will have to grieve both his wife and eventually his son, but at the same time, I think it will set him free, too.
And he deserves that as much as I do. He may not have made the best decisions, but he made the best of a bad situation. I can’t punish him for that forever.”
Harley stands up to go and fetch the ball for Ted, and whilst he’s out of hearing range, I have something I need to say.
“I think it’s safe to say that the entire group has fallen head over heels for you.
But no one more than that man right there.
Now you know the truth about what I do; I need to be clear.
If you ever hurt him, if I ever have to pick up the pieces to the soul that he has so carefully protected over the last two decades since his parents died, you will join the monsters on my shelves—in minute little pieces. Capiche?”
She holds out her pinky finger with no words because the action is enough.
“Okay. Good. Because I really don’t want to have to do that.” I nod. “Do we need a safe word, Quinn?” She shakes her head.
“No. I won’t change my mind. I think you’re right that I wouldn’t be able to cope with doing it myself. Knowing it’s coming feels easier than the unexpected.”
“I’ll see you all later. Keep her busy, Little Cousin.”
“I intend to.” He winks at me.
“TMI, you pervert,” I say, and he laughs.
“I didn’t mean that sexually.”
“What a shame,” she says bashfully.
He looks at her steadfastly. “Remember what I said to you, Magpie. Don’t push me.”
She stands up to go and put her journal away. “I could do with a workout.” She walks past me as I stand there laughing at him.
“Seems like you’ve met your match there, Little Cousin. See ya later, love you.”
“Love you, Lools. Be safe.” He stands up to give me a hug.
“Always.” We do our secret handshake, and before Quinn comes back into the garden, I’m out of the gate, on my sleek, matte black Harley-Davidson Breakout with neon pink accents to match the hair, riding off into the settling darkness, ready to rid the world of a couple more stains on society.
Quinn thinks she was asking me for a favour.
What she doesn’t realise is every time I do this, I’m healing a little bit of myself, too.
What Quinn doesn’t know is that with or without her permission, her mother was going to die tonight.
Dane is a bonus kill. I knew she couldn’t heal with her mother alive, but she needed to come to that realisation herself.
I’ve spent the last few weeks since I knew what had happened tracking her mother’s habits.
She lives a pretty shitty life, to be honest, spending more time fawning over that fucking son of hers, not even giving a shit about the people around her.
Based on their weekly patterns, her dad is working away, and Eric works late this night every week with Dane.
I pull up on the corner of her street and park around the corner from the house. After detailed conversations with H, I know all about the night on the bridge next to the cemetery, and where to find it. I might even pay Auntie and Uncle a visit.
What better karma than for her mother to die the death she very nearly inflicted on her only daughter?
What’s better than for her mother to know before she falls to her death that her daughter will forever know unconditional love while she burns in Hell?
After all, what more could any mother want for their daughter?
There are no cars in the driveway, which matches my information, and I let myself in through the side gate and walk into the garden. I know she won’t come willingly, so I plan to entice her the only way I know how. Eric.
I walk through the doors and stand silently behind her while she clatters around the kitchen making herself a cuppa.
Good. Dehydrated bitches are fucking miserable when it comes to being murdered.
She turns around with her freshly brewed tea and drops it all over herself as the mug smashes to the floor.
“Who the fuck are you?” she shouts.
“Well, well, well, Andrea, wouldn’t you like to know?” I smirk at her as she tries to wipe up the mess she’s made. “Must be hard having to clean up your own mess nowadays. Not having your slave to do it for you?”
“My slave? I don’t have a—” The penny drops.
“You’re here because of Quinn? Where is she?
We’ve been so worried. I’ve looked everywhere for her.
I’ve been out all night some nights trying to find her.
Our family is broken.” She puts her hand on her heart like she’s making a Girl Guides promise.
They don’t count for shit nowadays, since they excluded trans girls from being included in their organisation.
“Stop talking shit, Andrea. I know all about you.” I pull my helmet off of my head so she can take in my entire face. I have no qualms about her being able to identify me because by the end of the night she’ll be dead.
She’s speechless. Good.
“Does abusing your child make you feel good about yourself?" I ask.
“I don’t abuse my children.”
“I said child, not children. We know you obsess over Eric.”
“I treat my children the same, I’ll have you know, miss whatever your name is.”
“My name is Lulu. Not that that’s relevant to your current situation. My cousin is Harley, the guy you turned away on your doorstep for wanting to help your daughter.”
“I don’t know what they’ve told you.” She backs up against the counter as I stalk towards her. Each step is bouncier than the last. I fucking thrive on this shit.
“The truth. That’s all. And even if they hadn’t, I have my fingers in enough pies to be able to figure out the truth all by myself.”
Before I left the house, Harley gave me some liquid diazepam to help her be a little bit more agreeable.
Based on the fact that Quinn never got any of her drugs, I’m sure she has high levels of it in her system already.
But liquid gets into the system quicker.
It’s not like this will be the first time she's tried it, is it?
“Do you remember the time you tried to kill yourself and take your son with you?” She looks at me, her face paling as I take another step closer to her. “No? You don’t? Quinn does. How about we try it again, but this time, you don’t get to take your favourite psychotic son with you?”
“My son is—”
“A fucking sadistic freak, I know. Did you know he raped your daughter?”
The look on her face tells me everything. There’s no shock. No outrage. Just plain fear. Fear of the unknown. “You can’t force me to do anything I don’t want to do.”
“Wanna bet?” The only way to describe me when I switch into murder mode is vicious.
I don’t care about their feelings. I don’t care if they have remorse.
All I care about is the feeling of relief their victims feel once they graduate from victim to survivor.
In my eyes, they’re never a victim because they’ve survived something harrowing.
But sometimes the mentality they have takes a while to catch up.
She tries to clamber away from me but slips on the spilt tea, crashing her head into the kitchen cupboard.
Well, that makes my job easier. I chuckle as I pick up my burner phone and dial X’s number. “I’m ready when you are, X. The dumb cunt’s knocked herself out. Barely even put up a fight.”
He laughs with me. “It’s always the way. When they’re confronted with someone unafraid of them, they piss themselves.”
As he says that, the scent of ammonia hits my nostrils. “Fuck you. You just cursed me.”
“She didn’t,” he says.
“She fucking did, the wimpy bitch.”
“I’m pulling up outside now. I’ll park as close to the side gate as I can, and I'll come in and help you.”
“Be careful. Quinn said Millie’s parents live next door.”
“Fuck that bitch, too,” I hear Rhiannon in the background and smile to myself. He’s found a good ‘un there.
The next thing I know, we’ve loaded her into the back of the van alongside my bike, and we’re making the short journey to the bridge. If it’s the last thing I do, this bitch will jump herself.
Darkness has descended by the time we pull up to the bridge.
The roadblocks that H warned me about are still in place, but it’s easier to get to via car than it is on foot, and am I fuck carrying that bitch up this hill.
She’s spent her entire life fatshaming Quinn when she’s almost twice her size.
I can’t wait to see the splash she’s going to make when she hits the water.
It will be like skipping rocks but with humans! How fun!