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cicidarkarts · 2 years ago

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Fettered: 24 - Escape Attempt

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“All right, y'all wanna stay alive here, we’re gonna need t’ discuss some things,” was what Lucas had told her the day after her encounter with Jack. Since then, he’d been going over what to say and do around his folks and Eveline. If she could get them to trust her, she’d never have to worry about them again. So she memorized signals, triggers, and some interjections he suggested she use, though overall he told her not to do much talking.

“And y'all don’ gotta eat that nasty shit, just slip it t’ Diane, she loves it.”

It was dinner with the whole family that night, and a woman that she’d never seen. She was skinny, young, with black hair unruly in her face. Persephone sat between her and Lucas, forcing a straight face when Eveline jumped into her lap. She quietly held the young girl as Eveline bounced on her legs and chattered about her ‘new big sister’ — though she was having trouble pronouncing her name as anything other than ‘Persepenny’. Eveline took a liking to her long, thick hair and braided it as they waited for dinner.

“Your hair is so pretty, Sis!” “Thank you,” she replied, blank eyes staring at the table. “Why don’ ya come over here, Evie?” Lucas said. “I think yer big sis is a little tired.”

Eveline smiled wide and switched laps, giving Persephone space to breathe. Marguerite soon arrived with the food and handed out bowls and spoons. She dropped a good sized portion of the food into the bowl in front of Persephone. She felt her throat clench up and stomach lurch when the acrid scent of death hit her in the face. Looking away from the mess of organs (and a whole finger), she swallowed back the bile.

When dinner started, Eveline got to her seat between Jack and Marguerite, who kept touching her hair and calling her precious. They didn’t notice Persephone spooning as much ‘food’ as possible to Diane, apologizing internally for giving such vile crap to the poor creature. Diane did seem to eat it right up but it didn’t make Persephone feel any better, knowing she probably would’ve gobbled down shit had it been given to her.

“So, Persephone,” Marguerite said. Persephone’s heart jumped, and she tightened her lips to keep it from showing. “You and my son, together again. You better be treatin’ my baby right.” “Of course…” She paused for a moment, staring down into her lap. Jack slammed his fist on the table, dinnerware rattling. “Dammit, young lady! You look at’chur mother when she’s talkin’ ta ya!” Persephone’s stiff gaze landed on Marguerite’s saccharine smile. “Well, I for one am glad my son’s got such a nice girl,” said Marguerite. “Ooh, I wonder if we could have a weddin’!”

Wedding? No. No, no, no, no — Persephone would not let herself be wed to Lucas, not under these circumstances and certainly not ‘till death by insanity or this crazy house do they part. She glanced over at Eveline, who clapped and bounced.

“I’ve always wanted to be in a wedding! I wanna be the flower girl!” “Oh, Evie,” said the black-haired woman, her eyes lighting up, “you’d look so beautiful with a little flower crown!” “All right, let’s not get too ahead a’ ourselves,” said Lucas; the only one making sense in the whole room, scarily enough. “We wanna make sure our newest family member is nice n’ comfy first, right?” “Of course,” Jack agreed. “Best not to rush these things, you know.” Eveline frowned and crossed her arms tight. “But I want a wedding! Don’t you, big Sis?”

Her large, childish eyes looked Persephone over. Persephone’s gaze darted to Lucas. Lucas reached up and tapped his cheek twice, then pretended he was simply itching his jawline. Persephone held back her grimace. It would probably be the only answer Eveline would accept, otherwise a major tantrum could come on.

“Yes,” Persephone said, emotionless eyes locking onto Eveline’s. “I’d love to have a wedding one day.” Eveline giggled and squealed. “Yay!”

If she was going to plan a wedding, Persephone was going to drown herself in the bayou.

Silence rested over the table, with just the sounds of eating and utensils scraping. The woman with the tangled black hair chowed down on the food and Lucas kept slipping it to Diane in secrecy. Marguerite smiled at everyone, but her brows clenched.

“That girl still thinks she’s too good for us?” She asked no one in particular. Jack tore through the organ meats with his serrated knife, then he said, “Zoe’s prob’ly in her trailer again. Someone’s gonna need ta teach that girl a lesson.”

He put down his utensils, wiped his mouth, and stood. The screeching of his chair against the wooden floor made Persephone’s heart jump. It was the first time she realized she hadn’t seen Zoe at all, and now Zoe was in deep shit. She looked to Lucas, who was smirking and trying not to laugh. His sociopathic ass wasn’t going to do shit about it, so she shot up.

“I’ll do it.” The entire family looked at her, including Eveline. She continued, “You know, as an honorary member of the family. I think I should prove myself, and— uh—” She cracked her knuckles. “—‘teach her a lesson’.”

Jack’s eyes scanned her, then he sat back in his seat. She took that as permission and, after stealing one last glance at a confused Lucas as he unhooked her leash, Persephone jogged to the trailer. Uncertainty toward Zoe’s mindset made her think she should just walk away, but considering Zoe rarely, if ever, showed up for dinner — and because she shuddered at the thought of Lucas’s potential punishment — she decided to check if something else was going on.

When she approached Zoe’s dwelling, she caught sight of a silhouette darting away from the window. If Jack often ‘taught her a lesson’, it would be no wonder Zoe was on edge. She knocked on the door.

“Zoe, it’s me, Persephone. You in there?” “I have a shotgun,” Zoe warned. “I’m not here for trouble but aim it at me if it makes you feel better. Just open the door.”

Zoe’s shadow peered out of the window, then the door opened. Muzzles of the double-barrel shotgun pointed in her face and Zoe glared at her from around the gun. She backed up and motioned with a jerk of her head for Persephone to enter, then she slammed the door and locked them both inside.

She demanded, “Whaddaya want?” “I needed a break. They’re pretty pissed at you for not going to dinner, you know. Jack was about to come over here. Figured I should instead.” “Yeah?” Zoe sneered. “Tryna get me ta put my guard down, are ya? I ain’t fallin’ for it.” “Whatever makes you feel better.”

Zoe’s finger rested upon the trigger, her arms quivering. They looked into each other’s eyes for a moment, Zoe probably searching for a good reason to put her down right then and there. Persephone didn’t plan on giving her any reason but if Zoe shot her dead, then so be it. To ease the tension, she showed Zoe her empty hands.

“I can turn out my pockets if you want,” she offered. “Do it.” Persephone did so, her empty pockets on full display. Zoe sighed, face falling. “God, Persephone. You’re real dumb for gettin’ messed up in all this.” “Yeah, I know. Speaking of, why don’t you join your family for dinner?” “Don’ call ‘em that.” “What should I call them, then?” “Dunno, but they’re not my family. Whatever Eveline did ta Momma n’ Daddy, they ain’t here anymore. N’ Lucas…” “Yeah, he’s a real asshat.”

A small smile threatened Zoe’s features but she quickly dashed it, still holding the shotgun up to Persephone’s face.

“Gonna shoot me?”

They stood in silence for a moment as Zoe scanned her. Eventually, however, Zoe lowered her gun, finger now off the trigger.

“No. Just hard ta know who ta trust anymore.” “Don’t trust me just yet,” Persephone said, pointing to her collar. “Got this baby ‘cuz I go berserk just like everyone else.” “Lucas put that on you?” “Yep.” “Christ. If he’s treatin’ you like that, he must really be far gone.”

Zoe set the gun aside and gestured for them to sit at her small dining table at the back of the trailer, two booth-like seats on the sides. Persephone sat on one side, moving the cigarette butts that lined the table so she could rest her arms atop it. Zoe sighed, sitting on the other side as she lit a cigarette with shaky hands.

It was the first time Persephone’d gotten a good look at Zoe’s trailer. Small and cramped, but appeared to have once been cozy. Dirty clothes lay sprawled on the floor, ashtrays filled to the brim covered the table, discarded cigarettes were scattered at their feet, and a layer of grime coated everything. A scent of flowers and sweets tried to mask the body odor and cigarette smoke that filled the trailer, but whatever sprays or candles she was using weren’t working.

“How you holdin’ up?” Zoe asked and Persephone’s gaze came back to her. “Well, I’m not dead. That’s something, I guess.” “Ya never shoulda come here.” “Maybe not, but… It’s weird. If knew what was here, I still would’ve come back.” “Ya know that’s crazy, right?” “Yep. But I didn’t have any reason to keep going. Dad’s dead, Terry killed herself, I had a shit job, and I’m pretty much a surgeon already — just two years left and I woulda been in.” She leaned over the table, chin on her arms. “But I didn’t give a shit. About anything.”

There was a brief silent reprieve between them. Zoe took such a long drag off her cigarette that it burnt down to the filter. She snubbed it out in the crowded ashtray and reached for another, then smoked more before finally speaking.

“Wish I didn’t give a shit. Wish that I stopped lovin’ Judith, missin’ school, wishin’ I could grow up n’ do somethin’ with my life. But that’s all gone now. I’ll never get any of that back. Especially not Judith.” “I’m sorry, Zoe. I’m sure Judith still loves you.” Zoe breathed deeply. “I miss ‘er so much.” “You two were together for a long time.” “Yeah.” A small grin broke Zoe’s lips. “Funny. She n’ I got together ‘round the same time you n’ Lucas did.”

Persephone forced a listless smile, still leaning across the table. She could only watch as Zoe's eyes swam with emotion. Zoe's lips quivered against the cigarette, and her brow was upturned wrinkling her forehead. A tear slipped from her eye.

“How can we talk about you n’ Lucas, n’ me n’ Judith, n’ you not shed a single tear? Aren’t you sad, too, Persephone?”

Persephone paused. She was sad to know her old life with Lucas was over, sad to know that her sanity was slipping away and she’d wind up just as crazy as everyone else. Yet equal parts of her were numb to it all. Rather than dumping all of that onto poor, stressed Zoe, she replied simply,

“Just dumb as hell, I guess.”

Zoe chuckled at her response but it soon turned into more tears and sniffling. She stood up and threw herself into Persephone’s arms, sobbing. Persephone’s lips tightened, a single hand patting Zoe’s back. She tried to hold Zoe and let her cry. It was difficult to see Zoe, who seemed so strong to resist Evie and brave to go against her family, break down that way.

Persephone sat at dinner, examining all of her twisted ‘family members’, some glowering, some smiling. Marguerite gushed more about the wedding and Eveline clapped and sang about being a flower girl. A protest tried to erupt from Persephone’s lips but her jaw wouldn’t move, try as she might.

She rubbed her eyes in hopes it would snap her out of her trance, but when she opened them again, the table had been replaced with a black void. Her body fell into it, and a bubbling, moldy mess awaited her. She tried to scream but her jaw wouldn’t open. A hoarse and shrill screech tore at the back of her throat, its sound the herald of the beast within the void: Lucas, dressed in a ripped and musty tuxedo. He reached out for her with a huge, pale hand. His fingers wrapped so tight around her body that it ripped open her jaw and her scream finally came through.

He tore her into the void and her feet hit solid ground. She wore a white, yellowing wedding dress, dirty and fetid, a bouquet of dying flowers in her grasp as she stood before Lucas and his soulless eyes. He took her hand in his and she heard their disembodied voices agreeing to be wed. The wedding band slipped on her left ring finger. She stared down at it with trembling, sweaty hands.

“No,” she whispered.

The audience comprised of people crying and smiling, as if it was the happiest moment of anyone’s life. Persephone kept repeating, “no,” over and over, louder each time until she screamed it. The members of the family, all dressed in dirty formal clothes, laughed at her. Monsters lined the outside, dripping black mold onto the ground, cackling. Her mother and father’s decaying corpses sat in the audience, roaring with malicious laughter alongside her featureless dead aunt. They laughed at her struggling, laughed at her torment, laughed as Lucas forced her into the finalizing kiss.

Persephone gasped awake, breathing hard and dripping sweat underneath the covers. A nightmare — another crazy fucking nightmare. Felt so real. But was the waking world any better?

Persephone laid on her side and stared at the opposite half of the bed where Lucas had fallen asleep, phone in his lap. She watched him sleep. Images of that dream — the dirty wedding dress and the musty tuxedo — flashed across her mind. Their wedding would be spent with those mold monsters sitting alongside the fucked up members of his family, and her mother, aunt, and father’s corpses. Eveline would be their flower girl, the black-haired woman her bridesmaid.

Persephone’s heart raced. She needed to get the fuck out. She didn’t know what she’d do once she left — get out of town and never look back? — but she couldn’t stay.

Gently, silently, she sat up. Her hands quivered as they rose toward her collar. She felt its phantom tingles of electricity along her throat. She held her breath as she unbuckled it and laid it across the bed with her attached leash. Her breath returned slowly. She tiptoed out of the room, to the left through the kitchen, and toward the security door. Her hand grasped the handle, shaking, sweat making the metal slick as she pressed the lever with her thumb and pushed the door open.

Persephone’s heart fell when she heard the vibration of his phone and a small, second-long alarm chirp from the bedroom. She broke through to the barn, heart pounding in her head and chest.

The door that led to the barn was open and she rushed through it. Something was being constructed, tools and wire fence laying in the middle of the floor with a short barrier of wood Persephone had to leap over. She ran to the barn doors, seeing some construction in the front; a metal box not quite finished and more tools inside that she nearly tripped over.

The barn door beyond had been chained shut. She yanked at them, wishing she could tear the doors off their hinges. All these fucking chains and locks and shit keeping her confined — she couldn’t take it anymore!

“Pers,” she heard Lucas calling softly, stopping her. “C’mon, Pers, I’m not mad, just come back t’ bed.”

His gentle voice sent a sharp chill down her back. She hid behind the wall of the metal box, pressed against a dead pig. The putrid stench pierced her nose. Lucas searched around the barn. She tried to think, sidling along the walls and sneaking behind rotting hay bales with thoughts flying through her mind. If she could make it to the guest house, she could climb her way out into the forest.

“Ya can’t leave, Pers. Trust me on that.”

She saw him scouring the construction area. There was no cover from her position to get across to the door she came in. Persephone breathed deeply, anticipation of her next move making her skin crawl.

She dashed out of her hiding spot, ignoring Lucas calling out to her. When she was through the door, she slammed it behind her. Rather than run back down the hall where he’d surely catch up with her, she dove into the small storage room at the corner and hid behind the half-shut door.

A dirty, square window in the door let her see out and she crouched down as low as she could, praying he wouldn’t notice. He stopped in front of the door, back facing her as he inspected the hall.

He turned, then opened the door farther, peeking inside. Her breath caught in her throat as the door nearly hit her feet. If it had, he would’ve known for sure and she wouldn’t stand a chance.

Lucas scanned the room. She put her hands up against her mouth to stifle her breathing. Just don’t look behind the door, she chanted in her mind, just don’t look behind the door. She shut her eyes tight in terror that accidental eye contact would give her away. It took so long for him to be satisfied with his observations that the lack of oxygen to her racing heart made her lightheaded.

“Hmm,” he grunted and shut the door behind him.

His soft footsteps faded away to somewhere in the house. She released her suppressed breath a few moments later, panting to catch up with her pulsating heart. Now that she wasn’t sure where Lucas had gone, getting to the guest house might not go so well. She carefully stood on quivering legs, peering out the window. The hallway was empty down both ends, as far as she could see.

She opened the door, cursing its creaking. Each rasp threatened to give her away. Her legs felt like lead as she trekked as quickly and quietly as possible back to the barn. There had to be something she could do, something she could find amongst the tools to help her, something on the upper level — she didn’t know.

When she slipped into the barn, her blood ran cold at the sight of something in her peripherals. Her legs froze, neck straining to look. Lucas had been leaning against the wall, arms crossed.

“‘Sup. Thought ya could trick me, did ya?”

She tried to run, making it only to the fence in the middle of the room before he grabbed the back of her shirt and ripped her into him. His arms locked around her, keeping hers by her sides. She flailed, back of her head slamming into his collarbone, feet kicking his legs and anything around her.

“Let me go! I can’t do this anymore! LET ME GO!” “Ya can’ leave! If ya leave, Evie’s gonna kill you!” Persephone stopped thrashing. Her lungs heaved. “Wha—what?” “That’s what I been tryna tell ya. Ya can’t leave, Pers.” “Y… You’re lying! Lemme go!” “I’m not lyin’! I told y'all I didn’ want ya here fer a reason!”

She didn’t know how Eveline would find out that she left, but with everything else that’d happened, it could very well be the truth. That’s why he’d been so adamant on her not leaving. She thought it was just his way of controlling her, keeping her locked up so he could use her (though, that undoubtably was part of it). But now… Now she wasn’t so sure. Zoe was right. She was real stupid to get herself mixed up in all of this. She let exhaustion overtake her and fell into his chest, hopeless and trapped.

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