“Wake up, you pathetic excuse for a human,” I screeched, kicking Cory in the leg.’
His drowsy eyes opened, and for a moment I watched in delight as his disorientation told him everything he had witnessed had been a dream. When the fog lifted and he realized the dream was an actual living nightmare, the tears started rolling down his face, and I laughed.
“Do you think tears are going to save you, Cory?” I chuckled. “You were Leon’s roommate. His closest brother in age. You were less than eighteen months apart, and yet, you committed the worst act of all of them. You poisoned Leon’s mind. Why?”
It was more of a rhetorical question. I didn’t want to hear the answer.
“You probably didn’t know this,” I laughed again. “But the night I killed my parents, and set the house on fire with Leon still inside, I heard you.”
Cory’s eyes widened in shock.
“Leon and I had walkie talkies. We talked to each other almost every night for years after you fell asleep. Do you remember what you said to him, Cory? Do you?”
I watched as the younger brother scrunched up his face and then solemnly shook his head no.
I lifted my hands and made quotation marks. “Annie has been in love with you forever, Leon. You better do something quick or you’re going to end up marrying the chick. I will legit straight up vomit if you do,” I mimicked him.
Those were in fact, his exact words. They had run through my mind for fourteen years.
Cory looked up at me, sadness and guilt riddled behind his eyes. He opened his gagged mouth and mumbled, “ummm theory.”
I nodded at Cory, a tear cascading down my own face. “Thank you for that,” I responded, “But it doesn’t change anything now. Leon’s not coming back, and neither are you.”
Cory’s eyes opened up wide, and just as he was about to speak again, I took a step back and Victor revved the chainsaw he had, bringing it down harshly on both of Cory’s legs.
Once they had both been detached, I grabbed them and threw them to the side. They weren’t needed. Victor cut off both of Cory’s arms as well, and I threw them into the pile of dismembered wreckage collecting to the side of us.
We didn’t have to wait this time for death. It came swiftly.
My revenge on the last brother was complete.
Chapter Ten
I didn’t remember walking up the stairs, or taking a shower, or climbing into bed. I didn’t remember Victor holding me as I cried myself to sleep, and I didn’t remember finally passing out after Victor slowly and passionately made love to me, but the letter Victor left on the pillow next to mine outlined exactly that.
The room was dark when I finally opened my eyes. I wasn’t sure exactly what time it was, but it was clear I had slept the entire day away. After reading the beautiful letter Victor had written for me, I decided I needed another quick shower before I was ready to face the world.
I had only been out of prison for less than five days, and already I had completed my revenge that I had been planning for fourteen years. What was next for Victor and I. Did he even still want me?
I let the hot water cascade down my flesh as I thought back to each and every one of the brothers, and their demise. Did they deserve it? Yes, I wholeheartedly believed that. Was I ready for the next part of my fantasy? I didn’t know.
Turning the water off, I stepped out and wiped the towel down my face. Even though I had slept for what was apparently close to twelve hours, I could still feel weariness deep in my bones. Grabbing my bag in the bedroom, I pulled on a t-shirt and jeans and made my way down to the kitchen. It was still absolutely mind blowing to me that Victor had been able to recreate my home with such vivid detail. Once everything was completed, I knew I had to ask him about that.
I wasn’t sure if there was any food in the house, but my mind immediately forgot my hunger when my foot hit the last step. There, in the middle of the kitchen was Victor, sitting on a kitchen chair. His hands were behind him, restrained, and an unlit match between his teeth.
“Victor? What the hell are you doi--,” my words stopped dead in their tracks as I looked around me.
The walls were covered in paper, and in photos. From a glance, I could see pictures of me as a young child, all the way through my early teens when I was thrown behind bars. I could see mountains of paperwork strung up around us. My case file from the trial. Crime scene photos were stuck to the cabinets of the kitchen, and the floor was littered with letters I had written Victor while I had been locked up.
My mouth dropped in absolute shock at the clothesline hung behind Victor and his chair and I gingerly moved forward to get a better look.
Hundreds of photos of me from the last fourteen years in jail were clothespinned to the line. My mug shot, photos of me in the shower, pictures of me sleeping in my bunk, eating in the cafeteria, and everything in between.
Confusion settled in my brow and I looked at Victor. His hands weren’t just behind the chair, they were zip tied to it, just as I had done to Leon. I pulled the match out of his mouth and stuck it in my pocket.
“How?” I asked, completely in shock.
“Annie. My love. My Queen. I have something to confess to you. When you went
