Lexi's Justice

by Renee Shearer

  "I'm not. Who was talking earlier?"

  "What?" It clicked in my head just then. My dad had talked about a new clients case when I was little saying it was fascinating. Oh my fucking god! "Multiple personality disorder… you have MPD?"

  My father finally spoke up and walked back towards us. "It's technically called Dissociative Identity Disorder, my dear."

  I continued to sneakily try and get my body to follow my commands. I was able to wiggle one of my pinkies and toes.

  "Now, Christian, do be a good lad and let Antoni come back. You don't want to see this part son."

  "Please tell me he is not your actual son, Dad. Cuz that's a whole 'nother level of fucked up that I can't handle right now."

  "Does step-son count?" My dad grinned at me, cringing away I looked at Christian again. Thankfully he hadn't listened to my dad and was still in control.

  "My mom married him 6 years ago. But they had been seeing each other for 2 years before that. You see, Lex-Mex," I scowled at his use of the horrid nickname he gave me, "Tom was my therapist. Ever since I was 12 and it became apparent that I was... broken. I couldn't keep the others at bay anymore."

  I was going to be sick. Dad had been having an affair before Roxy died. I glared daggers at my father. And interrupted Christian, "Did you use Roxy's death as an excuse to leave us and go be with your mistress?"

  "Use? You still don't get it do you? I orchestrated the entire thing! You stupid little bitch.” I gasped at the contempt in my father's voice. He had never spoken to me like that in my entire life. “All I ever wanted was a son, but your drunk of a mother couldn’t even handle that small task. I knew from the very beginning that Christian was special. The only documented DID patient to have not one but three different violent personalities. Each one more sadistic than the last. I nurtured and cultivated them all. Helping them to bloom and grow like the rarest of flowers."

  I quickly got over my shock and rolled my eyes, I had forgotten how obsessed with flowers my father was. He always used stupid fucking flower analogies whenever he was trying to make a point.

  The blow came out of nowhere, slamming across my face like a freight train. My head snapped to the side, my lip split and I could feel the crunch of bone. I bit my inner cheek to keep from crying out, I refused to give these sick sons of bitches the satisfaction.

  My hands twitched with the need to cradle my cheek. I blocked out the part where he had said he orchestrated it all. Denial wasn't just a river in Egypt.

  "Shit! Tom, you said you wouldn't hurt her. You promised that she wouldn't die like Roxy did. Look at her! She’s immobile and now she’s bleeding." Christian screamed at my father. Coming closer to investigate the damage. I tried to wrench my head to the side away from him. But he gently caught my chin to inspect it, not that I was able to move it anyways.

  "I'm so sorry about this. I tried to stop them." he whispered, his lips barely moving.

  "So help me now." I pleaded softly. Wincing with every movement I made, shit my lip hurts. "You know as well as I do that they don't intend to let me live."

  "I can't. They are too strong now. Just be glad you haven't met Charlie yet.

  You haven't have you?"

  I gave him an incredulous look; he really was fucking nuts. "No. Not that I know of."

  He grimaced, "Trust me you would know."

  He stood back up, his face going blank before a truly terrifying smile slid across his face like oil on the ground.

  Fear like I have never known froze my entire body. Even my heart skittered to a stop for a split second. His posture, face, and even his eyes were completely different than the last two. His voice was deeper than I had ever heard it. His eyes, slightly darker than Christian’s own blue ones, lit up in glee. There was a promise of pain in them, a promise I desperately wanted him to break. It felt like the devil had come home to roost on Christians face.

  “Oh goody, a new playmate. She’s stunning too. Shame on you for not letting me play with her earlier, Dad.” This whole thing was creeping me the fuck out.

  “Charlie, you can’t play yet. Christian knew better than to say your name. Let Antoni or James back out now.”

  “No! I want to play. It’s been so long!” His voice slashed out like a knife, childlike in his temper tantrum as he stamped his foot.

  I had no idea who the fuck Charlie was, or what his vice was, but I really didn’t want him to stick around. Every hair on my body was standing at attention and every instinct I had was telling me to get the fuck out of dodge. Only one problem with that. I was still held immobile by whatever fucking drug they gave me.

  I had to keep them both talking until either by some miracle the guys found me or the drug wore off. Whichever came first. Okay Lex, time to put on the big girl panties and pretend I'm not completely revolted by both of them.

  This was going to hurt, but I had to get them talking about Roxy.

  My heart clenched, and my eyes filled with tears as I looked over at my father, “D..Dad. Did you kill Roxy?”

  "I didn't personally, no. I did, however, influence James too. See Christian is special, he houses 3 active serial killers inside himself. After years of being raped, and brutally tortured by his biological mom, he killed her. Thus Antoni was born. The strangler. The one who likes to watch their life fade. Afterwards he was given to his mother’s sister, Melody, my wife. By the time he was 12 and brought to me, he already had them all. James is the one who prefers the accidental methods. Poisoned honey, or brake failure for instance. Then there's Charlie, the slicer. His work with knives is artistic. Like watching Picasso paint a masterpiece." The glowing pride on my father's face shattered me.

  Christian was his creation, his puppet.

  "But why? Why kill Roxy? We are your daughters for FUCKS SAKE! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO PROTECT US FROM MONSTERS LIKE HIM! NOT FEED US TO THEM!" I was screaming by the end of my tirade; I couldn’t help it. I wanted to kill my father, and would if I ever got free.

  I tried again to move my toes and my whole foot moved. I bit down on my tongue to contain my victory shout. I could feel the drugs wearing off now. It was almost like the feeling I got when my foot fell asleep. I had just contributed the tingles I was feeling to my almost overwhelming fear.

  I remembered what Roxy told me once when I was 10. I was afraid of the diving board, and was getting harassed by some kids. I told her I wished I wasn't afraid, like her. She always tried new things and wasn't afraid of anything. She smirked and said, "Courage is not the absence of fear, sweets, but the triumph over it. It's not brave to have no fear, but to conquer it." I thought she was a wise buddha or something.

  Didn't find out till years later that Eleanor Roosevelt had been the first one to say that.

  Searing pain blazed down my arm, ripping my mind out of the past and into the present.

  "AHHHH!!! FUCK! YOU BASTARD!" I screamed.

  Looking down at my arm there was a thin red line. Just a small cut, that took up my entire arm. Almost like a paper cut.

  I glared at Christian...er...Charlie.

  His laugh drove my terror to new heights. "That's what you get for screaming at us, and then disappearing inside your head. You have to pay attention to us, or that will happen again and again ...on second thought, I really do love the 1000 cuts method of killing someone. So go right ahead and ignore us. I'm dying to cut you again like I did your friend."

  My heart leapt into my chest, "Wha...what do you mean my friend?" A sickening realization dawned on me and my eyes widened.

  Before I could ask, he leaned down close to whisper, "That purple haired bitch. I sliced her throat wide open; it was beautiful seeing all the red blood flow down her body before she fell. You almost caught me, luckily you didn't look into the living room before going to the kitchen."

  I was so enraged I didn't even stop to think. I just reared back and head butted him as hard as I could. I was overjoyed that I could move my head that much. The satisfying crunch of his nose breaking rang out in t
he cramped room giving me another hit of joy. Blood spurted, coating my chest. I was sure if I got out of here alive it was going to be months of intense scrubbing in the shower before I felt clean. And therapy, couldn’t forget all the fucking therapy I was going to need.

  "I will gut you for that, you fucking cunt!"

  "Hey! Don't call my daughter that! Charlie, let Antoni out, he deals with pain better. Alexandria, you need to play nice."

  I sucked back the tears that wanted to fall in rivers. I pushed the pain of losing Britt to the back of my mind and buried it under mounds of sand. I was totally going to ostrich that information. I could break down after I got out of here.

  Mustering up every ounce of contempt I could I snarled at my father, "Play nice? You want me to fucking play nice with the sick son of a bitch who killed not only my sister but my best friend as well?" I scoffed at him, "You're just as fucking sick and delusional as he is! Tell me right now, why you are doing this? What did we ever do to deserve this?"

  "You seriously have no clue do you?"

  "Clue about what, you maniac?"

  "Tsk, tsk. That's no way to talk to your father. It's all her fault, she got these notions into your girls heads." He started to pace, I kept a wary eye on Charlie as he backed up and gave my...No, Tom room.

  "Gloria and all her men." He spit out like it left a foul taste in his mouth.

  What the fuck does my grandmother have to do with this?

  "Roxy was headed that way too. She got tired of never seeing James. She met 3 guys at a bar one night. I watched her with them and I knew, I knew she wanted all of them."

  "So the fuck what?! It was her life!" He didn't even glance at me as he walked by and casually backhanded me. The blow rocked me to the side.

  "Marriage, relationships are only a man and a woman. And the woman is supposed to stay at home and keep it running smoothly for the man. Cooking, keeping the kids in line, making sure he never wants for anything. It says so right in the bible."

  I spit out the blood that had gathered from biting my tongue and scoffed at my father. It was hard to stop calling him that.

  "Really? What fucking century are you living in?"

  He stopped in front of me and grabbed my chin hard, forcing me to look at him.

  "Watch your tone girl. Roxy got all high and mighty too."

  "So, because your daughter didn't follow your standards you had her killed? You're fucking pathetic. No wonder mom was always drinking."

  He sneered and the hatred I saw in his eyes took my breath away. "Ahh, yes, my weak first wife. She knew what she was getting into. Not my fault she couldn't handle it. I knew I should have taken care of her after she failed to give me any sons. Her drinking got her before I could though. Pity that."

  I was so repulsed by him; I spit at him once again to get him the hell away from me.

  Calmly he wiped it away and gave me a chilling smile. "Who wants to play with her first? Antoni or Charlie? James is always so passive in his skills."

  "It's my turn." The higher pitched voice of Antoni came out of Christian's mouth. I shivered, yep, I was going to need a fortunes worth of therapy after this.

  I shook my head as he slowly walked closer, trying to bite his hands as he wrapped them around my throat.

  "There's an art to strangling someone. To bring them so close to death only to pull back at just the right moment. It's exquisite. Some say they see loved ones, others Angel's, you'll have to tell me what you see, Lexi. I'm curious to know."

  My vision was dimming as he slowly cut off my oxygen supply.

  I'm so sorry guys, my soul seemed to cry out for the men in my life as the blackness consumed me.

  Thirty-Eight

  Shane

  "Where the fuck could she be?!" Roared Thorne. I had never seen our unofficial leader this agitated.

  "I don't fucking know! Get the fuck off my back! I'm going as fast as I can!" Con-man snapped back. "Her phone was left at the house; I'm trying to get a trace on Christian's phone. It's not as easy as they make it out on T.V."

  "Yeah, he's no Magee." I quipped to try and break the tension.

  We had raced back to the house to grab the rest of our gear and try to find our girl after the ambulance took Brittney away. We had no clue if she made it or not. But we couldn't focus on that right now, all of our thoughts were on finding Lexi and killing the bastard that took her.

  We were all ready to go, locked and loaded for bear. Thorne was pacing the living room in his usual fashion. Con was trying to ping Christian's phone, saying he would be faster than me. Colt was rechecking his weapons even though he wouldn't be leaving the truck, I wasn't about to tell him that though. We all had our coping mechanisms, case in point, I was sharpening my blades for the third time. They were so wickedly sharp at this point; I could slice through anything and it wouldn't move for a split second. Like in those old Kung Fu movies I liked so much.

  "GOT IT!" Con yelled, slamming his hand on the table and bounding up.

  "Where to?" Thorne picked up Colt like it was no big deal and headed to the truck. I snickered and side eyed Con as we strode behind them. His lips twitched, but other than that his face was stoic.

  "155 Nablock Lane. About 15 minutes outside of town the other way. We should be there in about 45 minutes." He said throwing his stuff in the back and hoping into the truck, wincing as his arm was jarred.

  “Do you need a pain pill?” I asked, we had hoped the meds from the hospital would last a little bit longer. But we also didn’t plan on going on a rescue mission either, we had all planned to be home snuggling our girl on the couch watching movies.

  I scrambled to fully get into the truck as Colt gunned it. "Make that 20." I grunted.

  I wasn't complaining, but fuck if my ass didn't clench when he reached 105 miles per hour. I ground my jaw to keep the girlie squeak from escaping. I tried to breathe and calm my racing heart. I was a fucking Marine; I shouldn't be acting like a pussy. Instead, I grabbed the 'oh shit handle' above my window as Colt drifted through a curve like he was an extra in the movie Tokyo Drift.

  "Fuck, Colt, do you really need to drive it like you stole it?"

  "Keep your panties on, Thorne. I won't put a scratch on your baby."

  "Not saying that. But considering you were just in a car accident you think you would take it easy."

  "That fucker has had her for over 2 hours now. I'm not waiting any longer. God only knows what he's doing to her."

  My heart clenched, ever since she ran at the hospital I have felt like I'm going insane. We've all seen how depraved humanity can get. Seen the worst of the worst. I couldn't allow myself to think about what was happening to our girl, or I would lose my shit and burn this fucking world to the ground. They say hell hath no fury like a woman scorned...I would make them look like saints if anything happened to her.

  I just hoped she could come back from whatever hell she had been in. If she couldn't fully come back? Well, we would be there to pick up all the broken pieces and hold them for her until she could carry them herself. If that never happened? So fucking be it.

  "Just so you know, Colt, I don't give two flying fucks about your ultimatum. She's mine, I'll share her with you fuckerheads if I have too, but I'm not letting her go." I stared at each of them in turn, letting them see how serious I was. I know they were worried about me with her, how I would handle sharing her with them after Amy basically tried to do the same. Hell, I worried about myself. But I was done flip-flopping, I wanted her. She was the best thing to fall into my life and the lives of my brothers. I wasn't about to keep them from happiness just because my ex fucked with my head. Besides, I couldn’t explain it but it was different with her and them.

  Con-man grinned and slapped me on the back before bracing himself for another curve that Colt drifted around. He yelled above the noise of screeching tires, "Knew you'd come around, brother."

  "Yeah, we had already decided we were gonna keep her if she wanted us. Glad to know you're on the sam
e page as us though."

  Thorne turned in his seat to fist bump me as we squealed to a stop next to a patch of woods. "Let's go get our girl. Coms hot." Thorne threw open his door and hopped out. “Keep the car running, Honey. We may need to leave in a hurry.” Thorne winked and shut his door.

  I clicked on my ear wig and microphone as we all checked in. I got on my tablet, clicking away. "House is about half a click away from here, due east. I have no recon images, so I have no idea what we’re going to be walking into. Eyes open, ears sharp, boys. I've notified the local police, so we have about 20 minutes to clean house."

  Con’s eyes were dark and stormy as he looked at me, "No one but our girl and us make it out."

  "Understood." I swallowed hard; I knew what I had to do.

  I hated killing, but for Lexi I would gut, and bleed every motherfucker that hurt her and bathe in their blood.

  "Stay liquid." Thorne smirked and took off.

  "How many times have we told you to stop stealing S.W.A.T.s lines!" Colt’s voice flowed down the coms line as we took off.

  I heard Thorne’s chuckle as I flanked him.

  Hold on mi pequeño guerrero, we're coming for you.

  Lexi

  I groaned as I came to, I had lost count of the number of times I had almost died only to be brought back again and again. A sob escaped my mouth as I thought of the guys. I am so sorry; I should have told you that I loved you all.

  “It’s too late even if I thought you were talking about me.” Antoni’s higher pitched voice grated on my nerves. I wanted to slap the smirk off his face. “Well, it’s been fun, but Charlie is clawing to be let out.” His wicked smile sent chills down my spine.

  As much as I hated being choked repeatedly, even in my delirious state, I was sure I was in, I knew Charlie was worse.

  I started to thrash around trying as hard as I could to get my body to fucking respond to anything I told it to do. If I could just get enough function to run or grab something I just might have a chance. I flopped down onto the ground, sobbing when Charlie’s cruel face came into view. I had moved my body but it wasn’t enough. I lifted my hand and raked my nails down his face as hard as I could. Howling he reared back, I tried to crawl away, but he kicked me in the chest sending me crashing into the wall. My head cracked against the hard stone and I saw stars.