Limbo

RACHEL:

When I open my eyes, the first thing I see is the huge old stone fireplace, and my stomach drops. I swore I'd never come back to this place when I left it three days before my eighteenth birthday, yet here I am again, back in the middle of the insanity. Then a noise, a sharp "Crack!" catches my attention, because it's as familiar to me as the fireplace; the sound of leather connecting with flesh.

I turn my head, and see my father, with his belt descending again on the man in front of him, and I hear his voice growl, "I gave explicit orders that she was not to be harmed, but you're apparently too stupid to understand basic English! How do you expect us to achieve our destiny if you're stupid enough to damage the vessel?" The belt cracks again, and the other man finally works up the nerve to speak.

"She fought more than we expected, milord, and she almost escaped," he offered. "You saw what she did to Wade, and I'm sure I have a bruise from where she kicked me."

"Yes, I saw Wade's injury, but I also see that he's man enough to do what he needs to do without whining about it," is the sharp retort. "While you, on the other hand, are apparently incapable of subduing an unarmed girl, who is barely half your size, without damage. Which was precisely what I told you not to do. One week."

I know exactly what this means, just like anyone else who grew up here does. One week without food, and only a glass of water every other day. Usually this is used instead of the belt as a punishment, but apparently he's earned both for disobeying my fathers orders.

"But you can't do that! How am I supposed to complete my part of the ceremony if I'm weak from hunger?"

I hear gasps from behind me, and I'm kind of shocked myself. I can't remember the last time someone here actually had the nerve to argue with my father. He even seems to be taken aback for a second, but then I see that ugly, sneering smile that I hoped I'd never see again, and in a quiet, calm voice, he replies, "Since you seem to have the mistaken idea that you have any right to tell me what I can, or can't, do, would you care to try for two weeks? Or should I simply give you the same fate you just handed to that traitorous weakling you had the misfortune of spawning?"

When he says this, everyone gasps again, and I realize who the other man is: it's Donald Monroe, Wade and Sawyer's dad. I've never liked him, he's given me the willies since they first came here, but my mind can't quite process the fact that he'd not only allow someone to kill his own son, but that he actually participated.

He turns to face my father, a panicked expression spreading over his face. "No, milord, please! I would never presume to challenge your authority, but it would be difficult for me to do my part if I'm weakened."

"Oh, Donald, you needn't worry about that," my father practically purrs. "Because, since you're incapable of following simple directions, we've decided that you will no longer be taking part in the ceremony. Assuming, that is, that we're able to have it at all, thanks to your stupidity. But if you don't want to join your worthless son, then make yourself useful. Get outside and help Wade and Sal get rid of your mistake. We need to be out of here by daylight, before someone comes across your excess mess down the road." He turns toward the window, and mumbles, "And while you're doing that, Jane and I will be trying to fix your other mistake."

Jane, who came to the house just before I left, scurries forward from behind me, and they both move toward the window as Donald hobbles out the front door. They both crouch next to something on the floor, and since everyone else seems to be ignoring me, I move forward to see what they're doing. And, as I look over their shoulders, I see something that almost makes me feel like I'm going to black out again.

I'm looking at myself, lying on the floor, with a bruise near my left temple, and another set, in the shape of fingers, around my neck. They're both muttering to me, tapping my face, and Jane pulls something out of the bag she's carrying and waves it in front of my face. They do this for a couple of minutes, then Jane puts a hand on my fathers arm and says, "Maybe you should replace the amulet, Victor. Perhaps it will help."

"So, she's allowed to call him by his name, huh?" I think. "I guess she's his newest bedmate, since that would get anybody else a split lip."

He looks at her for a second, then sighs, "Yes, I suppose I should try. She's the one he's chosen, so maybe he'll feel inclined to help." He reaches into his pocket and pulls something out, then Jane lifts my head while he fumbles with the item, and I know exactly what it is, even before I see it. It's the damn creepy necklace that he made me wear constantly from the time I was ten until I left it here the day I walked away from him, this house, and everything he believes in.

They stand up, and he says, "Go check on Wade and the others, I'm going to bring the car around, we need to be sure we have plenty of time to make everything ready for tonight." They both leave the room, and I try to go back into my body, but it's almost like I'm hitting a force field of some kind, because every time I try, I instantly wind up in some other part of the room.

I stop, and realize what this must mean. I'm dead, apparently. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, after what happened, but it's a bit much to absorb. Then, I look at the necklace again, and say, "Okay, I guess I'm dead, but I wonder if I can still fuck with their plans?"

I go over to my body again, but this time, instead of trying to force myself back in, I concentrate on trying to grab the necklace. It takes a couple of tries, but just as I hear him walking back onto the front porch, I manage to get it off, and I turn to dash up the stairs, to my old room. It's exactly the way I left it, so I'm hoping that means he hasn't found my secret hiding place, where I used to stash my IPod, or candy to share with Evie. This thought makes me feel like someone has grabbed my heart and squeezed it; poor little sweetheart, I always hoped I'd be able to see her again, when I got some money to travel, but now it'll never happen. But at least she isn't here anymore, and I know she's safe, so I guess that will have to be good enough.

I go into the closet, and feel in the back corner, almost dizzy with relief when the floorboard is still loose. I have to try a few times before I can lift it, but I finally manage to drop it into the space between the floor joists, but when I try to stand up, I'm too weak to get off the floor, and everything goes gray.

When I finally feel like I can move again, I creep out of the closet, and see the sun just beginning to peek through the bedroom window, which means that I was in there for at least three or four hours.Strangely, I can still hear voices downstairs, and the sounds of things being moved around. I go into the hall, to the top of the stairwell, and I hear someone say, "It has to be here somewhere, Jane said that she watched him put it on himself, so it must've come loose and slipped off when they moved her. It's not in the yard, so it has to be in here."

Another voice responds, "Maybe it fell off in the car, I wonder if they checked there?"

"Well, are you gonna get up the balls to ask him? Imply that he's missed something?"

Any response that might have been offered is drowned out by a loud, splintering crash, and someone bellowing, "Freeze! Do not move, or we will shoot. Hands on your heads."

I go down to the living room, and see several cops, with three of my dad's flunkies in handcuffs on the floor. One of the officers grabs his radio, and says, "Yeah, we're in the house, with three in custody. We have Donald Monroe, but there's no sign of Wade, or Victor Berridge."

"We've got several here at the other property, and Child Services en route to take custody of the kids, but those two are still unaccounted for. I'll contact dispatch and get an APB generated."

After this, it becomes a complete circus, with police cars everywhere, cops swarming the house, and then news vans and curiosity-seekers getting in everyone's way. once they take Donald and the others away, I decide to go outside, and see if I can figure out how to get wherever it is I'm supposed to be now. So I walk through the door, onto the porch, - and find myself back in my room.

I run back downstairs and out the door again, only to end up in the kitchen. This repeats several times, until I stop in the living room and scream at the top of my lungs. I did everything I could to get away from this place, and now I can't leave.

Apparently, I'm in hell.

******************************************************************************************

ASHLEY:

I wake up to the sun streaming into my face through the window next to my bunk, and I hear voices up front, so I know somebody is already up. I hear the door open, and then Andy's voice saying, "Sorry, I forgot you girls don't care for the smoke."

"You're forgiven, Andy," Alice informs him. "Next time we'll just let you do everyone's laundry, to get rid of the smell."

"Hell, that might motivate him to quit entirely!" Jake chimes in, and everybody laughs, including Andy.

I'm almost ready to go back to sleep, when I hear Juliet shriek, and Alice yelling, "Oh, bloody hell!" I roll out of my bunk, and nearly collide with CC and Tiff, who are tumbling out of his.

We go to the front, and see everyone gathered around staring at Juliet's phone. "What's going on?" CC inquires, but instead of answering, Jinxx leans over everyone and grabs his laptop, powering it up.

"Give me a sec, I wanna start that from the beginning," he mumbles, while everyone else just stands around looking stunned. CC, Tiff, and I all look at each other, and realize that whatever is happening isn't good. Jinxx finally finds what he's looking for, and puts the laptop on the table, where we see some sort of newsfeed, showing what appears to be a metric fuck-ton of cops and a pickup truck surrounded by yellow tape.

A voice comes out of the speaker, saying, "To update breaking news we brought to you in the six o'clock hour, authorities have released the identities of the young people who were involved in a deadly shooting sometime last night. Twenty-two year old Edward Jumper and his nineteen year old girlfriend, Amanda Winston, are confirmed dead, and a minor child has been taken to the hospital in serious condition. Still missing are the other passengers in the vehicle, twenty-two year old Sawyer Monroe and his twenty year old wife, Rachel. The survivor was able to confirm to police on scene that she witnessed Rachel Monroe being dragged from the vehicle by known members of a local religious fringe group, which both Monroe's had left some time ago, and which is led by Rachel Monroe's father. We'll bring you more information as it becomes available."

What the fuck?! We just talked to these people last night, how the hell can they be dead? We all just look at each other in shock, and Jinxx quietly explains the situation to CC and Jake, since they didn't get to meet them. Alice and Juliet are both in tears, and Alice keeps repeating, as though she doesn't comprehend her own words, "Even the little girl. They even bloody shot that sweet little girl. What kind of people do that?"

"Here's an even harder question," CC replies. "What kind of person has somebody shoot their own daughter and son-in-law?"

Nobody offers an answer to the question, and we all just stand here staring at the computer screen, and try to absorb what we've just heard. But, to be honest, that's probably going to be easier said than done.

Notes