My Family: A novel of extreme horror and violence

by Matt Shaw

  Cathy yelled, “I’m not giving you my babies!”

  “Oh come now - they’re hardly babies. Two of them look as though they’re at the age where they’re about to move out anyway… You can’t call them babies. You’re just being a drama-queen.”

  “Fuck you!”

  “Hey! Let’s keep things civil. Now - give me two names. Who do you want to put up for adoption?”

  Cathy shook her head, “I’m not giving my children up. None of them. You’re not taking them from me.”

  “No. I’m not. You’re giving two of them to me. Jesus - woman - I’m not a kidnapper.”

  “You are.”

  “I’m not. My wife and I just want children. Is that such a bad thing to want? As I told your husband - we’ve tried everything for our own but it hasn’t worked out for us. We saw your family and we thought… Here’s a couple who could spare two kids. Hell… We’re doing you a favour; it must be hard looking after five. Certainly expensive. Well - we’re helping you with that.”

  Cathy wasn’t listening. Her eyes were fixed firmly on the back of James’ head. All she could hear in her head was Jeff saying James had given him two names. She thought he loved their family. She thought they were happy and yet here was the man she loved… Happily giving away two of their children. She felt sick. Not just a sickness in her stomach but a feeling of utter repulsion. The man she loved, the man she chose to start a life with - back when she used to work as a taxi driver; where she had met him… She thought she had known him but clearly she hadn’t. Not even close.

  “Are you even listening to me?” Jeff asked when he realised Cathy wasn’t paying a single bit of attention. He shook his head and muttered something to himself before he slapped her hard in the face. She immediately turned her attention to him. “When I’m talking,” he said, “you listen. That’s the way it works in polite society. I talk, you listen. You talk, I listen. You got it? If not - I’m more than happy to hit you until you have.” He asked again, “Got it?”

  She nodded, trying her best not to show how much the slap had stung her cheek.

  He smiled, “Good.”

  He sighed a moment before sitting down on one of the chairs, “Okay - you know I have his names. I need your names. I get your names and then we sign the forms and we all go our separate ways. You two are making this a lot harder than it needs to be.” He breathed a deep sigh again before asking once more, “Who are the two children you’d like us to take off your hands?”

  “I can’t do it.”

  Jeff laughed, “That’s what James said at first. He sat there whining how he couldn’t make such a decision. We went round in circles for a couple of minutes before I painted out how this was going to work. To save time, and going on like a broken record, I’m going to skip the whole yes you can, no I can’t thing and get straight to the point I made with your husband. If you do not give up two of your children - any two - then we will simply kill all of them. You see, if we can’t have them then you can’t have them. So that’s it, more or less, in a nutshell. If you don’t comply, they die. Give us what we want - live on as a little family and put the whole thing behind you. Really is quite straight forward. So… Names?”

  Cathy didn’t say anything. Instead she started to laugh. Jeff looked bemused. Of all the reactions he was expecting, laughter wasn’t one of them. Jeff looked across to James to see if he was in on whatever the joke was. He wasn’t. He looked just as confused as Jeff did. He didn’t say anything for a few minutes; he just sat there and let her get it out of her system. Only when she stopped did he ask her what it was all about.

  “You won’t kill them,” Cathy replied.

  “I won’t?”

  “No.”

  “How do you figure that?” he asked.

  “If you can kill the children then you’re not the sort of person who should be parents. You said you love children. You’re desperate for children… If that is the case then no matter what we do, you couldn't harm them.” said Cathy. She almost sounded smug.

  Jeff’s face changed. Without saying anything it was entirely possible to see his mood had changed; a much darker shade of black. Cathy started laughing again, almost as though she believed she’d won and seen straight through him. Jeff let her have her moment. Even when she stopped laughing (which didn’t take very long) he didn’t say anything. Her moment of supposed triumph soon turned to a feeling of discomfort.

  Jeff eventually spoke, “I guess you’re right,” he said. “We do love children. Of course we do. We couldn’t kill them. Would take a real sick individual to kill a child, right? Well you saw through me. Well done you. We’re not killing any children today. Or tomorrow for that matter.”

  “Then let me go and get the fuck out of my house,” Cathy hissed.

  “You didn’t let me finish,” said Jeff.

  “I’m not interested in anything you have to say.”

  “Let me finish. You see - you’re right - I can’t harm a child. Nor can my wife who - coincidentally - is doing a really good job of looking after them upstairs whilst we talk business so you should probably thank her when she comes back down… However - that’s by the by. We can’t kill children that much is established. But your husband… Well we don't love him. We don’t owe him anything. To us - he’s nothing. A bit like an insect really. You ever killed an insect? Doesn’t take much and - afterwards - you soon forget. That’s what it will be like for me to kill your husband…”

  “You’re lying,” Cathy butted in, a certain amount of uncertainty in her voice.

  Jeff glanced to the side; the knife was still embedded in the wall where he’d earlier threatened James. He jumped up and pulled it out before putting it to James’ throat. Cathy was holding her head up off the table watching - a look for horror on her face.

  “Are you sure you want to test me?” Jeff asked.

  “You can’t hurt him?”

  “I can’t?”

  “Honey… Please…” James started to panic. In his seat - he believed every threat Jeff made. For someone to do what Jeff and his wife were doing… They were clearly insane. He didn’t doubt their capabilities at all.

  “He won’t do it,” Cathy tried to reassure him.

  Jeff laughed, “You’ll have to speak up! He can’t hear you!” and with that he pulled James ear out a little further than comfortable before slicing it from his head with the sharp blade of the knife. James screamed out, as did Cathy; one in pain and one in shock. Jeff tossed the ear to one side as though it were a piece of rubbish. He wiped the blade clean on James’ top as he continued to laugh. “Blame your wife for that,” he shouted to James who continued screaming out in pain. “Here - look after this a moment whilst I talk a bit more with your lady,” he said before plunging the knife into James’ leg. Again, James screamed out as Cathy started to beg Jeff to stop what he was doing.

  Jeff walked over to Cathy. He leaned on the table until his face was close to hers and whispered, “Two names. That is all I needed. Two names and that whole messy situation could have been avoided…”

  “Fuck you.”

  Jeff slapped her hard in the face, “I’ve warned you about your language.” He sighed, “I only hope you haven’t taught any of the language to your children. Hate to discipline them because their mother is ill-mannered…”

  “Please just leave us alone,” Cathy whined.

  “We will. When you give us the names.”

  “I don’t want to.”

  “You’ve seen what I can do. I’m not messing around anymore. The next time you say no, I’ll slit your husband’s throat and force you to drink the blood that gushes out. You understand me?”

  “But they’re my children.”

  “Do you know what my wife did when she found out she couldn’t have children?”

  “No…”

  “She tried to kill herself. She tried to take her own life.”

  “I’m sorry…” Cathy didn’t care. She wished his wife had killed herself. H
ad she done so - none of them would be in this position now. They’d all be safe. They’d all be happy. Maybe even Jeff himself; with a new woman who could have children perhaps?

  “She took an overdose of anti-depressants. I found her on the floor of our bathroom. Foam coming from her mouth. Her eyes had rolled to the back of her head. Barely had a pulse. I sat with her for days, waiting to see if there’d be any lasting damage. The doctors said she was lucky but she didn’t think so. All her life she wanted children. That’s her whole purpose for being on this planet; to have kids and raise them to the best of her ability. Yet God deemed her unfit. And then the various agencies you can use to adopt - or even foster… They slammed the door on us because of her medical records and the fact she was still undergoing psychiatric treatment…”

  “Your wife must know how hard this is for us. She must be able to see it from our position. Surely she must.”

  “We both can and we sympathise but… You have five children. We have none. That’s not fair.”

  “I have five children who I love equally.”

  Jeff screamed out loud – a scream borne out of frustration - and kicked over one of the dining room chairs. His sudden burst of violence made Cathy scream out loud again.

  “What the fuck is wrong with you? You have five children. We have none. You think you’d be happy to help us. What’s the matter - is five the magic number, or something? You’re worried you won’t feel like a real family if you have three kids? Clearly you don’t have a problem producing them… I mean - hell - you even had twins… You know how rare that is? Your insides work brilliantly. You miss having five kids - just have more. Simple. Fuck, if it means that much to you - I’ll set you off on the right track now…”

  Jeff turned back to the knife. He ripped it from James’ leg, with an accompanying spurt of blood and scream from James, and turned back to Cathy. He pulled at the bottoms she’d changed into, ready for bed, and sliced down the centre of them with the tip of the blade. Cathy screamed out. He turned back to James and stuck the knife back into his leg - the other one this time and once again asked him to hold onto it for a while. He faced Cathy and unbuttoned his jeans until he was able to pull out his member.

  “I got tested,” he said, “the doctors said that not only was I healthy but I also had a good count so - never know - you might even get twins again. Back to five with one easy shot,” he joked as he stroked himself hard.

  Cathy started to struggle against the ropes that bound her in an effort to break free before things went even further, even begging him not to do it. Even James - through his pain - was shouting for him not to ‘fucking do it’. Jeff ignored both of them as he clambered up onto the dining room table, between Cathy’s trembling legs. When he was on top of her, she turned her head to the side to get away from the stench - and feel - of his warm breath. She squealed in discomfort as he positioned himself against her pussy and pushed inside. James screamed out for him to get off, fighting against his restraints despite the pain he was in. Jeff pulled out slowly and pushed in again - hard. Cathy bit her bottom lip to stop herself from screaming out.

  “So fucking tight,” Jeff breathed heavily as he continued to fuck her. “I wouldn’t have thought that would have been the case,” he said.

  Cathy’s eyes were scrunched up tight as she imagined herself in a different place, a better place, a safer place… A place anywhere but here.

  2:52 AM

  Dawn was sitting on the hallway floor. Her back leaning on the wall. Next to her was the (closed) doorway to the dining room. Tears streamed down her face. She’d come downstairs at the sound of all the shouting from James but what she heard - now she was closer - between the screams of a frantic husband was something she’d never expected to hear; the sexual grunts of her man fucking another woman. Almost hidden beneath the cries of James and the yelps of a pained woman but not quite. It wasn’t what he was doing which haunted her - she understood that, tonight, they’d be doing things they wouldn’t usually do… Anything so long as they got their little family by the end of the night… What upset her was the enjoyment she heard in the groans of her husband. He was fucking her to give her what she wanted - more children to replace those they’d take - but it was supposed to be a service he offered. It wasn’t supposed to be something he enjoyed. She wanted to go in there, she wanted to break it off but - at the same time - she wanted two of the children upstairs. She wanted them to call her ‘mummy’ and she wanted them to love her no matter what. She kept telling herself not to fret about what was happening in the other room. She kept telling herself to put the thoughts from her mind. She even found herself making excuses for him; he should be able to enjoy himself because of what he was having to do tonight. He should be able to give himself something to make it all a little nicer for him. Fair is fair - he does something horrible, he gets something nice. Fair is… She broke down as the tears continued to spill from her eyes, trickling down her cheeks.

  From behind the door her husband groaned out louder than usual – a long, deep groan as he clearly climaxed - before everything went quiet. All she could hear now were the sobs from a broken husband and a violated wife. She quickly pulled herself to her feet and hurried back up the stairs. She didn’t want Jeff knowing she’d heard. She didn’t want them to have to have that conversation where he made excuses for his behaviour. She just wanted to forget it; bury it the back of her mind as she continued to focus on raising her two children.

  With the exception of getting the signatures on the paper - other than that - nothing else happened this evening. See no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil. Put it all from their minds.

  They have to.

  For the sake of the family…

  2:53 AM

  Jeff pulled his hips back allowing his spent cock to slip from Cathy’s vagina with a small globule of his hot semen. He pushed himself up and off the table where he spotted the semen pooling on the wooden top by Cathy’s pussy. He ran his finger through the sticky mess, ensuring most of it stuck to his warm skin, before pushing it back into the now weeping woman.

  “Waste not, want not.”

  “I’m going to fucking kill you, I’m going to fucking kill you…” James was repeating the words again and again. He wasn’t shouting them; almost a whisper instead as he too was in shock at the sudden change of circumstances.

  Jeff ignored him as he put his cock away in his jeans. He buttoned himself up, all the time staring at Cathy. Her head was still turned to the side. Her eyes were no longer closed; she was staring at the wall at the other end of the room. Jeff wondered what she was thinking - if indeed she was thinking at all. Her eyes seemed glazed over as though she’d taken herself away from the situation mentally. Maybe taken herself to a happy place. Jeff wondered how many children were at that happy place.

  He put his hand in front of her face and clicked his fingers together. Cathy blinked a few times before looking at him.

  “Your husband’s threats,” he said - talking to Cathy directly, “reminds me of something which is probably worth talking about now… You said you went to the police about my wife and I. Not that we’ve done anything wrong, we just want to adopt your children, I think it’s prudent to mention that - if you talk to the authorities again, or try anything to cause us problems - well, we have a large family on my side and they’re well aware of what is happening here… I guess the point I am trying to make is, if anything happens to my wife, or I, then our family are going to take matters into their own hands and - no sense lying now - they’re not particularly nice people when push comes to shove… Do you hear what I am saying?”

  Cathy didn’t respond. Jeff took her silence to mean that she understood exactly what he was saying. He stood up straight and looked at James. James’ head was lolling, his chin touching his chest. Blood continued to seep from his legs; both from the wound caused by the first stab and a little less from the second wound which still housed the knife. Jeff pointed Cathy’s attention to her husband
.

  “He isn’t doing very well. You really need to get him some medical attention sooner rather than later before he bleeds out. Not sure but I might have hit an artery, or something…”

  Cathy whimpered, “Please help him.”

  “I can’t yet,” Jeff said. He almost looked sad about it. Almost.

  “Please.”

  “You know what I need before I can help him. I need two names.”

  “You need both of our signatures on that form.”

  “That’s true.”

  “If anything happens to him you won’t be able to get what you want.”

  “I’ll get it from someone else. But you’ll be left to raise five children as a single mother.”

  “Please help him,” Cathy said again.

  “Two names. Give me two names and I’ll let you both go. We’ll take our daughters away and you can phone for help… But remember what I said - anything happens to my wife and I - you will die. Don’t test me on that. I am deadly serious.”

  The two of them fell into a brief silence. Jeff could see Cathy was weighing up her options in her mind, it was written all over her face. What sort of life did she want to lead? One without her husband but all of her children or… One with her husband and three of her children?

  “He really isn’t looking very well,” said Jeff. “Two names.”

  Cathy started to cry again as the pressure of the situation took its toll.

  “Two names,” Jeff pushed her.

  She wailed out loud before giving the man what he wanted, “Cleo and Kiah,” she wept.

  Jeff smiled.

  “Your husband gave the same names.”

  Cleo and Kiah - the oldest of the girls. Not the twins, who Dawn had wanted, but better than nothing. Cathy hadn’t wanted to give any names out but something Jeff had said earlier swayed her mind to them; they were the older girls. They were the ones who’d be moving from home within a few years (potentially). And, being older, there was more chance they’d understand why they were chosen. There’d be more chance they’d forgive their mum and dad and come back and find them as soon as they could. It didn’t make it an easy decision though as Cathy continued to wail; wracked with guilt.