by Cherron Riser, Ashley Nicole Davis, Tara Ann Moore, & Taylor Lexus Brown
There was a moment of shock and embarrassment when Clothilde, still in her swimsuit, knocked on the front door. Lucy let her in so she wasn’t standing half-naked in the front yard with the whole neighborhood gawking at her. She pushed past a very stunned Lucy and went through the house screaming for Granny T and May Alice. Lucy tried to quiet her by relating that Granny T was at a church function and May Alice was entertaining company out back. She had hoped that would stop the tantrum, but it only seemed to make Clothilde holler louder.
“Miss Clothilde, calm yourself, child! You’re too grown to be taking on like this. What would your granny say if she saw you pitching such fits?”
“I don’t give one good damn what you or my granny have to say about anything. This house belongs to my family, and I have as much right to be here as May Alice does.”
“Here now, Mademoiselle, let’s just get you dressed in one of your sister’s robes and get you back home. I’m afraid the heat may have gotten to you. It’s making you act foolish.”
“The heat hasn’t done not a damn thing to me, and your uppity ass knows it!”
Clothilde spied Henri’s clothes laying on the couch where Lucy had set them when she had been startled by the doorbell. The girl’s expression changed from rage to a look of hateful amusement that her family knew so well. That expression always meant trouble for anyone who had the misfortune to see it. Clothilde snagged Henri’s jacket from the couch and held it up triumphantly.
“Well, Lucy, what have we here?”
In shock, Lucy reached out to grab the jacket from the fiendishly smiling girl. Clothilde led her a merry chase, but in the end, Clothilde was younger and more nimble. That, coupled with the older woman’s wish to not damage the clothing any further, was how Henri’s suit ended up in Clothilde’s hands. The girl did a triumphant dance around the living room as Lucy looked on fearfully as she tried to catch her breath.
“Just what kind of bordello are you and my granny running over here? You wait until Mama and Daddy hear about this! I’m going to tell the whole town just what my saintly sister gets up to when ain’t nobody looking.”
“You hush up your nasty talk, Ms. Winthrop! Proper young ladies don’t know anything about such as that, much less speak of it. I won’t have anybody saying vile things in Mrs. Thibodaux’s house. I’ll put you on the sidewalk right now! You just see if I won’t!”
“Of course, nobody can talk dirt about May Alice, not my perfect, angelic sister! No matter what filth she falls into, she always comes up smelling like roses.”
“Any filth young miss falls into is because you done pushed her, Clothilde Winthrop! I been working for your family too long for you to lie to me. I watched you girls grow up, and no matter what your parents think, I know you for what you are. You might can fool the town, you might can fool your parents, you might even fool yourself for a minute, but you ain’t fooling me. I know you, child. These days, anybody with a nose can smell the evil coming off of you.”
“Do tell me, Lucy Jackson, what am I that my sister isn’t? You’re such a clever little brothel keeper, aren’t you? Keeping my sister’s reputation as squeaky clean as you keep her gentleman’s clothes.”
Lucy reeled back as if Clothilde had physically slapped her. “You little devil! How dare you! I’m going to call your mother right now and tell her everything you’ve said. I’ll see that your parents finally give you the punishment you deserve. I’m never letting your nasty self back in this house again, do you hear? I don’t care if you’re being chased by a gator, you ain’t coming back through that door.”
Clothilde wasn’t paying a bit of attention to Lucy’s rant. She had gotten the reaction that she so desired and had soothed a bit of her indignation from earlier. She was more interested in riffling through Henri’s pockets. She felt a strange bump in the cloth. She pulled it out and discovered a small jewelry box. Just then, having heard Lucy’s screams, a soaking wet Henri and May Alice burst into the room.
“What is all this shouting about? Clothilde, what are you doing back here? Why are you tormenting Lucy?”
“Dear sister, I had no idea your relationship with young Mr. Bishop had gotten so serious.”
“What the hell are you talking about? Haven’t you caused enough trouble today?”
“When are you asking her to marry you, Henri? I can only assume that you’ve knocked her up. It’s so nice of you to stand up and do the right thing, though if I was you, I’d run like hell.”
“Just what in the hell is she talking about? Henri, what is my sister talking about?”
Clothilde was now holding the ring box out in front of her, as if it was the holy grail. She opened the box and began pulling the rings out. Henri ran forward and wrestled the rings out of her hands before she could do something even worse. May Alice stood there, staring in confusion.
“Clothilde, you are absolutely barbaric, do you know that? For your information, your sister and I have never known each other that way, so it’s impossible for her to be pregnant. Now I see why your sister feels the way she does about you. You’re an absolute snake. To say the things you do about your sister is intolerable. I don’t know why she has anything to do with you.”
“Darling,” he said to May Alice, “I’m sorry that your sister has ruined the surprise. I hope that she hasn’t also given you higher expectations than I can rise to at the moment. The ring I planned on giving you tonight at dinner is a promise ring and not an engagement ring. It’s not an engagement ring just yet. Although, sometime in the future, I hope that it will be. I love you so very much, May Alice. I hope you aren’t disappointed.”
Clothilde had a cold smile on her pretty face, but rage simmered away just beneath the surface.
“You love her? How can you love her? Why does everybody love bland, boring, pitiful May Alice? You boys have no imagination. Her sweetness should make you want to puke not inspire you to love.”
“You see, Henri, this is exactly why we shouldn’t be together.” Tears escaped May Alice’s eyes. “For reasons I will never understand, my sister hates me. God knows why, because I have never done a thing to hurt her. She’ll never stop until she takes everything I love away from me.”
“Sure, May Alice, go ahead and blame everything on me like you always do. You’re right, by the way, I’ll never stop until I make you as miserable and lonely as I am. I won’t rest until everyone can see you for the monster that you truly are. She’s a murderer, Henri. You’ll never know until it’s too late. You won’t listen to me now, but someday, you’ll wish you had.” With those parting words, Clothilde turned and, with the air of a queen, left the house.
May Alice couldn’t take any more, and she ran upstairs to her room, sobbing. Henri followed after her. His heart broke for her. His poor, sweet May Alice, what could she have done, he wondered, to earn such hatred from her sister and indifference from her parents? He and everyone else knew her to be a kind and compassionate girl. He couldn’t understand how anyone could treat her this way. It made him want to protect her even more.
He knocked on her bedroom door. “Sweetheart, are you decent?”
“Go away, Henri. It won’t work. I love you. God knows how much I love you, that’s why I can’t do this to you. I can’t poison your life by dragging you into this trouble.”
“Okay, honey girl, but are you decent?”
Yes, Henri, I have clothes on. I hardly see why that matters.”
“I’m coming in.”
He found her curled on the floor in a ball. He curled up beside her and brushed the hair from her face. She looked so tiny and fragile, like a child. He knew how she would normally hate for anyone to see her this way. Her years of battles with her sister had left her wary of showing any outward signs of weakness. That sense of protectiveness welled up inside of him again, and he gently caressed her soft skin.
“Please, my love, don’t cry yourself sick over this. I know how your sister is, and it doesn’t change anything. I still love you and I still want to
be by you side, whenever you’ll let me.”
“Don’t you understand? She’ll never leave me alone. For as long as I am happy, she’ll want the life I live. She won’t stop until she’s ripped every shred of gladness away from me and I’m left broken and alone. My only hope is to live quietly in the shadows. Then, maybe, she’ll forget about me.”
“So, that’s it? I can’t believe I’m hearing this from you! You’re just going to give up and let her win? You’re not even going to try?”
“I have tried to fight against her my whole life. I lose every time. You don’t know her like I do. She has done terrible things to me, things I can never repeat and only think about on my worst days. If you only knew, you’d run screaming from this room. I can’t stand for you to become a part of all that ugliness. I’m so tired of fighting, I just want it over.”
She seemed to collapse in on herself. She was sobbing uncontrollably; fat tears ran down her face. He pulled her into his arms and sat cradling her like a child. He knew he had to resurrect her from this darkness that had descended upon her, but how? Even the toughest fighter needed a break sometimes.
He knew that, any minute now, she would raise all those walls she so fanatically maintained to keep herself safe. He wished that she didn’t need those fortifications around her heart. Henri promised to spend the rest of his life ripping them down, wherever he found them. She sat up and began to collect herself. She was embarrassed by her outburst and prickly at him for witnessing it.
“My love, let me kiss away the remnants of your tears. You don’t have to hide your feelings with me. I know that you aren’t ready to let me all the way in just yet, but give me the chance to prove that I’m worthy. For now, I guess, we can pretend that business with your sister didn’t happen. We don’t have to talk about it until you want to.”
“I love you so much, Henri Bishop! You have no idea how perfect you are.”
“I hope that you always feel that way, May Alice. If loving me is as selfish as you seem to think it is, I beg you to be selfish. Let me spoil you, my love. Let me make you happy. I may be clumsy and I may not do all the right things, but I know that I can make you happy. Give me the chance to show you.”
“Boy, you don’t know what you’re getting into with this.”
“Just let me love you. If you don’t, I’m just going to keep coming over and making a nuisance of myself until you change your mind. You know I’ll do it.” He put his hand under her chin and raised her face to meet his gaze.
“You’re tempting me.”
“I hope so, my love.”
She succumbed to his charm and the closeness of their bodies. His arms went around her, pulled her closer, and the friction between them crackled like electricity. Her hands were in his hair, pulling him to her and pressing their bodies closer together. Something animalistic awoke inside of her, her heart hammered in her chest, and her blood felt like it had turned to lava. She wanted so much more. For the first time in her life, she wanted to let someone in. May Alice wanted the fire that was building in the pit of her stomach to consume them both.
Henri could feel his blood surging to places lower down in his body. He felt all those delicious curves pressed so close against his skin. He longed to peel away layers of clothes like secrets until they both had nothing between them and nothing to hide. His body shuddered with the unexpected delight of feeling her secret places tantalizing parts of himself that were best not mentioned. Henri had never wanted anything so badly in all his life. It wasn’t right; this wasn’t the right time. He knew it and it took all of his strength to stop them before they did something they would regret.
“Darling, we have to stop.”
May Alice struggled to compose herself. Her cheeks were flushed, both from desire and embarrassment. “I know. I’ve never done this before with anyone. I’ve never lost control; I’ve never wanted to.”
“Honey, you have nothing to explain to me. Nobody has ever accused you of being careless with your affections. You aren’t like your sister, May Alice, this isn’t going to change my opinion of you.”
After they had fixed their clothes and composed themselves, they decided to go out to the pool for a swim. The couple had a wonderful time together. When they grew tired of splashing each other and swimming about, they curled up in a lounge chair and fell asleep in each other’s arms. A gentle breeze blew over their sun-bronzed bodies, as they drifted into sweet dreams. Henri and May Alice were the perfect picture of innocent, young love.
Clothilde watched them from atop the wall, her anger boiling over. Her heart was filled with bitter, black rage. How could he, the most eligible young bachelor in the parish, love someone as ugly as her sister? It defied all reason, yet she knew that Henri Bishop loved her sister, just as she knew that apple trees made apples and chickens laid eggs. The simple fact of it galled her.
Nobody ever looked at her with that magical combination of pure love and desire that Henri had in his eyes when he looked at May Alice. It was true that she had plenty of boyfriends, mostly purloined from her older sister. That was because she didn’t withhold from them the one thing that her sister wouldn’t give, the one thing that all “good” girls held onto. Those boys may have lusted after her, some with a ferocious passion that was almost scary, but none ever looked at her like that. She wanted to jump down from the wall and kill them both, but she knew she had to bide her time.
Clothilde had been seeing Cole Jr. since her sister had taken up with Henri. The girls didn’t run in the same social circles; they never had. Hilde, as her family and friends called her, had heard the news third-hand. To console herself, she had decided to set her sights on young Cole, and he had proved to be easy prey. It had been like taking candy from a baby.
All she had had to do was hang around the places Cole Jr. liked to go and linger around a little. It was no time at all before he took notice of her. It was all too easy to play her part, and she played it to perfection. Clothilde was a sympathetic ear to the dejected would-be lover. The girl had turned his head with made-up stories about her sister. Before too long, he was forgetting his sorrow while fumbling under her skirts at the drive-in.
Turning Cole against May Alice had been a soothing balm to the abrasions of her soul, although their pillow talk was far from romantic. The first time had been passionate and full of emotion, but none of those emotions was anything close to love. They were now united in hatred, but she never could tell whom Cole Jr. hated more—herself for corrupting him, May Alice for preferring someone else, or himself for his weakness of flesh. At first, she thought passion might turn to love, but it had only turned into disgust mixed with carnal desire. Mother called and Clothilde jumped off the wall as graceful as a cat and walked inside.
May Alice awoke in Henri’s arms. She had never felt so happy and secure. He was snoring lightly and had a bit of drool running from the corner of his mouth. He was adorable. There was a childlike innocence about him. As she stared at the beautiful lines of his body, warm tingles, like electricity, ran up and down her spine. She had a feeling she couldn’t describe in the pit of her stomach, like she was on a carnival ride.
She wanted to make these days last forever. Could they? Did she dare to hope there could be one thing in her life her sister wouldn’t ruin? She truly hoped so. May Alice was in love.
Before her thoughts could take a darker turn, she awoke her love with kisses. He looked confused at first but was soon returning her affection with a happy smile. They rose and went in the house to prepare for dinner at Henri’s house. As they hurried through their happy little rituals, they were blissfully unaware Clothilde was just next door, consumed by rage and ready to explode. As they headed out into the dusk, full of lighthearted glee and looking the very picture of young love, they had forgotten all about Clothilde. Clothilde, however, hadn’t forgotten them.
Clothilde sat in her window seat, watching as her sister got into the car with the love of her life and drove away. He had his arm around
May Alice, and she curled into his side like a contented house cat. Jealousy was eating its way through her bitter heart. It was unfair that her sister should have all these things, things she would never have herself. She remembered the day, years ago when she was six, that Mother had told her the truth about her sister; that was the day her hatred had started to make sense.
On that long ago day, Delphine Winthrop had taken her daughter, Clothilde, into her séance room. It was a special treat because neither of the children were allowed to go into that room. Her eyes had been dazzled by the gauzy red drapes hanging from the ceiling, the thick scent of incense that permeated the air, the beautiful crystals that were carefully placed around the room, and the strange symbols carved above the fireplace. The little girl was in awe of the mysterious room and what secrets it might hold. Before she could properly explore, her mother had called her to a seat by the fire.
Clothilde sat down in the chair. It was made of red velvet in a slightly darker shade than the drapes. The fabric tickled her bare legs. She fidgeted in the chair, trying to decide if she liked the sensation. Mother stopped her with a hand placed gently on her leg. The expression on her face said this was no time for foolishness; there was serious business to attend to.
Delphine handed her daughter a glass of tea. “Drink this. It will help you remember, and it will also keep you safe.”
The girl did as she was told, even though the tea tasted horrible. Her throat tried in vain to close against it, but Mother kept urging her on. Once the vile contents of the mug had been swallowed, Clothilde began to feel strange. Her face grew hot and itchy. Her whole body felt like it was being pricked with needles. Her hands flew to her face, but it felt strange under her fingers. She lunged from the chair, gasping for breath, and she caught her reflection in a nearby mirror. She didn’t recognize herself.
“Don’t be alarmed, my doll,” said Mother “Just look how beautiful you are. I had to change you for your own good. People were beginning to talk. They don’t like things they can’t understand. I had to make you look more like your sister so there would be no suspicion.”
Clothilde took on a sullen look. She was amazed to see the face in the mirror—she couldn’t get herself to think of it as her face just yet—fix itself into a pretty pout. Mother appeared behind her in the mirror. She smiled at the little girl, scarcely more than a baby, with devotion and led her back to her chair. She would need her full attention for the story she had to tell. She only hoped the girl was old enough now. She really couldn’t hold the secret in any longer. She needed someone else to understand and feel her suffering.
“Darling girl, I know how you feel about your sister. Would you be surprised to know that I feel the same way?”
Clothilde fumbled, trying out her new mouth for the first time. “You hate May Alice too?”
“Hate is a strong word, my little love. Let’s just say that I don’t love her the way I love you. I merely tolerate her existence. I hope you’re old enough to understand and appreciate what I’m going to say to you now. Our family has secrets, baby girl, and once I reveal them to you, you’ll understand why we feel the way we do about your older sister.”
Clothilde smiled at the use of the word we. She adored her mother above all things in the world. The small girl had previously, though not very often and never for long, felt a little bad for hating her sister. Those annoying thoughts had been treated with the same disdain she accorded to anything that oppressed her natural inclinations. She swatted them away like she would any pest and told herself she would deal with it another time. To date, that time was still yet to come.
Delphine took a deep breath, reclined her head, and closed her dazzling azure eyes. Her voice, when she spoke, came from far away. It was as if it was traversing the long years of her life. The sounds seemed to come from the very beginning of time itself.
“I knew from the beginning he was no ordinary man. Just as you, his daughter, are no ordinary child. I was a young, beautiful wife and new mother. May Alice was three years old, and everyone agreed that she was a most perfect, sweet, and docile child. It seemed that I had everything. I had money, looks, a perfect daughter, a lovely home, beautiful clothes, expensive jewelry, and a seemingly doting husband, who wasn’t so bad looking. I was the envy of every woman in this parish, but I wasn’t happy. You would think that I would be at least content, but no.”
The little girl’s eyes were as big as half dollars and shining brightly at the joy of being important enough to be taken into her mother’s confidence. To her, Mother was the most beautiful woman in the whole world. The baby lived and breathed for her sweet words and caresses. The thought that Mother wasn’t always happy was a startling revelation. The thought was almost too much for her to stand. Mother should always be happy.
“I changed after your sister was born. I wasn’t myself then. A fog had descended over my life. I could feel nothing, enjoy nothing. It was as if my very essence had been given to my baby daughter.”
“I seemed to become invisible, Clothilde. Everyone came to see the baby and comment on how sweet and lovely she was. I was nothing more than a damn brood mare! Was this my greatest accomplishment, was this what I had become? I became jealous of May Alice, jealous of my own baby daughter! For what? What had she done that was so noteworthy? All she did was cry, drool, and shit her diapers!”
“Even your father seemed to forget his years of love for me, all his ardent declarations of complete devotion, all of that was consigned to oblivion once your sister was born. He came rushing home on his lunch break or after work, but it wasn’t to see me. He came to worship at the shrine of your sister. I was but a ghost haunting these halls.”
“It took Thomas about a year to see how I was suffering. When he did, he blamed me entirely for the way I felt. He called me unnatural and castigated me to the high heavens. It didn’t matter. I couldn’t derive any pleasure from my baby’s accomplishments. I couldn’t look at her with anything but disgust and hate in my heart. All her little signs of affection, her cloying smiles, did nothing but repulse me. It was becoming clear to everyone that I didn’t love your sister.”
For the briefest of moments, the humanity in Clothilde raised its head. She thought of how very harrowing it must be to feel as unwanted as her sister did. She, for that fugitive moment, harbored the first glowing embers of empathy for her sister’s heartrending fate. It could just as easily have been she who was born first and unloved. How very sad it must be, she thought, for Mother not to love you.
“Thomas came home from lunch one day and found me gone. May Alice was in her crib, covered in her own filth, and wailing fit to bring the house down. I don’t know why I decided to do that or even what I was doing. I guess I just had enough. Your father found me wandering down by the river in the woods, in my nightgown.”
“He brought me home and berated me something awful. He even called your Granny Thibodaux to come talk to me. She was even worse than he was! She offered to take May Alice to raise. She said that she could clearly see that I was overburdened by my responsibility to your sister. She meant it as an insult, but my heart leaped at the chance.”
“Your father quickly quelled that notion. He loved your sister beyond all comprehension, even more than he loved me, and he also feared what the neighbors would say behind our backs. I was deemed an unfit mother, and your father quickly hired Lucy Jackson to be your sister’s nanny. At last, I was free to live the life I had before that dratted baby had the misfortune of being born. Unencumbered by your sister, it was if she had never existed at all.”
“All this, however, drove a wedge between your father and I. He couldn’t get his head around my actions. I ceased to be his beautiful, perfect bride, and I became some unknowable monster. Our loving union was severed forever by your sister’s birth. He didn’t condescend to cover up his disdain for me. No more sweet kisses or little presents for me, all our interactions became over careful and perfunctory. That’s how I came to meet the man who wo
uld become your real father.”
“You can’t imagine how hard it is to speak of him, even after all this time. He was my world, my very soul. You’re too young to understand now, but someday, you will. The wounds in my heart still ache when I recall our fleeting love affair.”
“With your sister being watched over by her devoted nanny and your father, I was free to be myself again. I cavorted around with all my old friends, I went shopping, I was a woman about town, and I did as I was wont to do. I was even able to put Thomas’s lack of tender feelings for me out of my mind. I had a new lease on life. I wasn’t about to let anything put a winding sheet over my joy.”
“A woman like me isn’t whole without something to love. I tried to fill the hole with pretty clothes, expensive baubles, and friends. I even tried to make romantic overtures to your father, but our love had gone flat. He wouldn’t have me, couldn’t seem to get over his disgust with me. “
“I need passion like I need air. I needed to feel a love so all-consuming that it’s like madness. I started to lose hope that I would ever feel that again. I would like to think your father was there the whole time, watching and waiting for his chance.”
“He came to me in my dreams, your real father did. He was the most beautiful and perfect man I had ever seen. My dreams became so torrid that I woke up in a sweat. I began to spend so much time asleep that even Thomas had to notice and worry about me. My dreams consumed me and nothing else mattered.”
“One night, I awakened and found your real father on top of me. At first, I was afraid and almost screamed because he had a blank mannequin face. When he noticed I had awakened, he changed. He became the man I had been dreaming about. I kissed his sweet lips and our affair began.”
“We began to meet outside of my dreams. We met in the city for drinks, in expensive hotels, in the woods behind our house, every day was a new surprise for me. Being with him was an adventure. That changeable face of his was something I quickly got used to. If he noticed me appreciate another man, he quickly became that man for me.”
“We were flying high and living life to the fullest until I realized that I was pregnant with you. I told him that I loved him and would leave Thomas for him. He said it was too dangerous, that I couldn’t go where he went and do as he did. He told me to go back to Thomas and make him believe you were his.”
“I pulled together the tatters of my pride, and I went crawling back to Thomas, and he hesitantly took me back. It killed me but I did it. I shared his bed enough times to make him believe you were really his. My faceless lover couldn’t stay away for long though.”
“Your father, my lover without a face, stayed away the duration of my pregnancy. He didn’t even haunt my dreams anymore. I was desolate, but I had our memories and our baby growing inside of me for comfort. Thomas was delighted by the changes that took place in me during this pregnancy. He thought the gloom had lifted from me at last. I was excited about your impending birth and became the doting mother everyone had wanted me to be when May Alice was born.”
“One night, I saw your father again. You were a few months old and a thriving baby with a strange, china doll’s face. My many-faced lover came to me and asked us both to come away with him. He had come into your nursery window and was standing over your crib when I came to check on you. “
“I ran to him and threw my arms around his beautiful body. All my sadness melted away. I was so busy kissing him and declaring my everlasting love that I didn’t hear Granny T, my own mother, sneak into the room. Before I knew it, she had plunged her demon blade into his back. His body began to smolder in front of me. He became nothing more than a pile of ashes on your bedroom floor.”
“I heard a screaming sound rising up around me. It took me awhile to realize that it was coming from my own throat. I fell to the ground and rolled around in abject misery. The love of my life was gone, murdered right before my eyes and by my very own mother! Having come from a family of demon hunters, I knew from the beginning what your father was. I didn’t care. He was different, he actually loved me.”
“I pretended that this was our first meeting, that your father had bewitched me into thinking he was Thomas. I hid my wretchedness deep down inside of me. My only thought was of your safety. I had no doubt that if Granny T found out what you really were she wouldn’t hesitate to end your life. Make no mistake, Clothilde, the day will come when Granny T will see you for what you are. She’s been trained as a hunter since girlhood. Even now, she’s tutoring your sister in the ways of her craft. Neither of them are a friend to you. They’re your natural enemies.”
That had been the day life had changed for Clothilde. Instead of hiding her resentment for her sister, she took to open displays of hatred. Her treachery eventually drove her sister from her house, but even that wasn’t enough for her. She found that the very idea of May Alice existing happily anywhere in this world was too much for her. Clothilde must seek her out, wherever she was, and make sure her sister never forgot her. That night, as May Alice was returning from her dinner with Henri’s family, her sister was forming a plan.
May Alice returned from her dinner date beaming. Granny T waited up for her, after hearing from Lucy about the trouble with Clothilde. Granny T may not have been an educated woman—she had rarely attended school—but she had all the cunning a woman of her trade needed. She had amassed a small fortune early in her life as a professional demon hunter. She was famous in certain circles. Singlehandedly, she had raised her family from poverty, made sure her siblings could afford to go to school, and attracted a rich husband for herself.
Her husband, rest his soul, had never known how she made her money. That was a secret she kept to herself. He also had never questioned why she went out of town on so many trips. He believed that she was part of some Christian Women’s Outreach Program, and she was content enough to let him remain ignorant. Granny T knew that the world at large was not ready to know what was slinking around in the dark.
Seeing her granddaughter so happy, she was loath to bring up that unpleasantness. The two ladies sat in the parlor long into the night, drinking tea, as May Alice regaled Granny with stories of her wonderful evening with the Bishops. The girl had never been so happy. Her face was radiant and, for the first time, flushed with excitement for the future. Granny T hoped that young Henri was even half the man that May Alice thought he was.
“Granny, you should have seen it! It was so perfect! After dinner, Henri took me on a boat ride around the pond. He had strung up Christmas lights in the trees. It was so beautiful. He took me to a secluded spot, told me he loved me, and gave me a promise ring.”
She held up her hand to show off her ring. “Isn’t it beautiful, Granny? It’s an emerald to match my eyes. I think it’s the most beautiful thing that I’ve ever seen.”
“It’s a beautiful thing indeed, May Alice. I’m so glad to see you happy. Being in love looks good on you. However, I hope you don’t let this interfere with your training. I’m not as young as I used to be. It’s getting hard for these old hands to hold a demon blade. My arthritis is acting up again. Most of our kind die long before we make it to old age. I hate to send you out there to do this bloody work. I always hoped your mother would be the one to inherit the family business, but she’s never shown any aptitude for it.”
“I’d never let anything interfere with my training. I’ve seen the evil that lurks out there in the dark. I could never allow it to prosper.”
“Good girl, sweetie. Now, I hear your sister was over here again today. I heard she caused a scene with Lucy and in front of our company too.
May Alice sighed “Yes, she did. It was terrible. I wish I could say I can’t believe she acted that way.”
“Does she still believe that she doesn’t know what she is?”
“Granny, are you really sure she’s a demon? She’s my only sister. How could my mother, your own daughter, be so stupid to let an incubus seduce her?”
“Your mother has always been selfish
and weak-minded, child. I hate to talk that way about her, but bless her heart, it’s true. She convinced herself that he loved her and, who knows, he may have. That doesn’t change the facts.”
“She thought she had fooled me by telling me that night was the first time he had come to her. She didn’t know that I had been following her for months before she got pregnant. I hoped in vain that your sister was anything but demon spawn, though I had my suspicions. Even then, I felt sorry for her, she can’t help what her daddy is and all.”
“Why didn’t you kill her then?”
“Oh, child, I had hoped she had enough human in her to outweigh the demon blood. You just never know how these things will go. Could have turned out either way. It’s too bad it turned out like this. I’m real sorry this has fallen on your shoulders. I know you do love her despite what she’s done to you.”
May Alice’s eyes stung from tears. She desperately clutched at the last bit of hope that she might get a reprieve from the horrible task Granny had set for her. Even she couldn’t understand how she could love her sister after all the terrible things that girl had done to her, but she did love her. She may not want to be anywhere near her sister but she also didn’t want her dead.
“Are you really sure she is what you say she is? Is there any way to be completely sure?”
“There’s only one way, my dear. Go get into the clothes you wear for training. Do it quickly and I’ll explain when you’re done.”
May Alice quickly scaled the wall between Granny T’s and her parents’ house. The air was so humid that it felt as if she were walking through soup. Sweat trickled down the back of her neck, as a stray strand of hair escaped her bun and stuck to her damp skin. From the top of the wall, she surveyed the scene. All the lights were out next door. Everyone seemed to be in bed. Perfect!
She jumped from her perch and soundlessly landed in the garden below. Keeping low to the ground, just in case, she silently made her way toward the house. The back door was unlocked, just as it always had been. As she let herself in the dining room, she thought about the time she had lived there.
There were memories in these walls: her mother’s flowers, Lucy teaching her to make cookies, Christmases, birthdays, and her sister’s first loose tooth. That last memory was almost her undoing. Though May Alice could never think of this as home, and never did after moving in to Granny’s house, not all of her memories here were lamentable. Her heart was full of bittersweet tenderness for her sister. Tears streamed down her face, and she was suddenly overwhelmed by the task set before her.
She quickly snapped back to herself and let her training take over. Cautiously, and with feather-light steps, she made her way through the darkened house. The air was still, as if it waited in breathless anticipation of what May Alice would do when she finally reached her sister’s room. What if Clothilde was a demon? Could she really kill her own sister? What if she wasn’t? Would she kill her anyway and put an end to years of torment?
May Alice kept to the wall, became one with the shadows, just another dark shape in the Stygian twilight. Up the stairs she went. The closer she came to her goal, the harder her heart pounded. Upon reaching the hallway, she stopped to listen for any sounds of activity. The only sounds she heard were gentle snores and ceiling fans belaboring the oppressive air.
First, she entered her old bedroom, expecting it to be empty. She was surprised to find that, in the time since she had moved out, her sister had moved into her room. It had been completely transformed, as if to wipe away any lingering memories of May Alice’s existence. The walls that were once sea foam green were now the color of dried blood, the furniture was all done in matching dark wood, and the bed was covered in deep purple bedding. There slept Clothilde, naked as the day she was born, her hair fanned out like an infernal halo.
Once she found herself in the room, May Alice was unsure what to do next. Though she had helped her Granny T on many a clandestine mission, she had yet to kill a demon by herself. She knew this was to be her most arduous task. Her sister’s bosom heaved up and down with each docile breath. How beautiful and mellifluous she looked in her sleep.
May Alice remembered her granny’s words to her. “If you really want to be sure that your sister is, indeed, a demon, take the demon blade and cut her arm. For your own sake, make sure it’s her dominant hand. You’ll know immediately if she is, but be ready for a fight either way.”
She moved through the darkness like smoke. Mutely, she stood over her slumbering sister. Gravely, she raised the demon blade to strike her sister. Her heart and muscles ached with the tightness of fear. Tears rolled down May Alice’s face as she dropped the blade to the floor. She had failed her mission; she couldn’t kill her sister. She didn’t care if she was a demon. Laughter rang out from the darkness.
“Don’t have the guts for murder, sister dearest? You always were a weak bitch. I don’t know how you survived this long. I’m going to fix that now though.”
Clothilde sprang up from the bed, grabbing a stunned May Alice by the hair, as she pummeled her sister’s face with her fists.
“This is for all the things you took from me, sister of mine. This is for stealing the life that should have belonged to me.”
May Alice groped wildly, trying to find any place to land a punch. Her sister’s willowy body deftly dodged every blow. Clothilde’s body seemed to flow like water around her sister’s fist. The girl was now ripping hair from her sister’s scalp.
“You always thought you were so beautiful, didn’t you, human girl? Let’s see how beautiful you are after I’ve plucked you bald.”
The pain was like rat’s teeth in her head. May Alice was feeling woozy. The room began to dim around her but, she knew she couldn’t succumb. With the last bit of strength, she kicked upward with her knee and made contact with her sister’s groin. The demon howled in pain, and they both fell to the floor. May Alice quickly rolled away and scrambled on her hands and knees across the room, searching for the knife.
Clothilde grabbed her legs and whipped her across the floor. She crawled on top of May Alice’s back with a devious laugh, as she put her lips to her sister’s ear and began to whisper.
“Did you really think it would be that easy to defeat me, you stupid slut?” Clothilde said. “No, darling, I’m not as weak as you. Look at you trembling like a scared little mouse. Your fear smells delicious. I’m going to enjoy devouring you slowly and watching the light fade from those expressive little eyes. Such a shame too. Those eyes are the only things I really envy about you. They should have been mine! I think I’ll pluck them out and keep them as a souvenir.”
Clothilde sank her pointy teeth into her sister’s shoulder. May Alice screamed at the pain and began to wildly thrash beneath her sister. She clawed at the demon’s face, but the girl was so gone with blood lust she scarcely seemed to feel anything. The demon’s tongue was licking around the hole in her sister’s flesh as the fangs sunk deeper into May Alice’s skin.
Suddenly, May Alice’s mind filled with visions she knew were not her own. She was seeing her sister’s memories. She could feel all the pain and hate that Clothilde carried deep inside her heart. She was becoming one with her sister and felt her own mind changing, distorting. The girl could no longer tell which thoughts were her own and which were Clothilde’s. Who was she really?
Hopelessly, she fought against this merging. Clothilde’s will was like a raging ocean. May Alice struggled to tread water, but the abyss beckoned her so sweetly and invitingly. “Come stay and forget,” it seemed to say. She was lulled by the siren song of the thoughts invading her mind and the blood running from her wounds.
May Alice could feel the blood traveling from her body and into the gaping maw of her sister’s mouth. She felt her own life blood entering the demon’s veins. It felt as if she, herself, was the blood, rushing endlessly down the dark corridors of her sister’s malignant heart. The human girl was becoming too tired and weak to fight. Death seemed so peaceful, like a
field of deep red flowers.
Clothilde raised her head and gasped for air, her mouth dripping with fresh blood.
“Now, sweet sister, we are one. I took what I needed from you, what I always needed. It’s been so fun playing with you for all these years. I’ve enjoyed the hell out of our little games.” Clothilde threw her head back and cackled.
“We are one now, honey child. Even now, your blood is making me appear more human, making me feel more human. I’m not going to need to feast off the life force of my sexual conquests as much now. Don’t grimace, May Alice! I swear, you always were such a prude.”
May Alice lay bleeding on the floor and struggled to sit up. She felt paralyzed by pain. Her limbs moved sluggishly, as if she was wading through molasses. Her lungs ached but she had to labor to catch her breath. She knew her one chance was to keep her sister talking.
“Why?” she croaked through parched lips
“Why?” Clothilde laughed at her. “Isn’t it obvious? I want your fucking life. By being born first, you stole the life I deserved. Granny loved you more and gave you this beautiful house to live in. Lucy loved you more and hated me. Daddy always loved you more.
“Only Mother could see how special I am, only she truly loved me. Daddy only let you leave to keep the peace and stop me from hurting you more. Do you still have the scar I gave you from the first time I tried to kill you? Poor Daddy had a fit about that one. He broke his own heart to protect you, his own dearest daughter. It makes me want to puke.”
“Even the boys love you more,” she continued “They use me, have sex with me to pacify their lust, but they want you. They’re so pathetic, chasing after an uppity virgin who would probably bore them to tears in bed. You flinch, dear sister, but you know it’s true. Your frigid little body could never stir up the passion the way that I can.”
“You bitch!” spat May Alice
Clothilde roared with laughter. “Yes, I am a bitch! I’m a bitch and you’re a bore. We’re such a delightful pair. Oh, sister, I don’t know if I should kill you now or let you live to watch my plan unveil. I would love to finish feeding on you, but all that glorious pain will make your blood taste so much sweeter.”
“What?”
“I can see you struggling to speak, May Alice. Careful, or you’ll overexert yourself and die before I’m ready for you to.” Clothilde howled with laughter again, as she did a little dance on the rug. “Isn’t it obvious anyway? The blood worked. I’m your exact twin. I’m free now to take over the life that should have been mine from the start. I’m free to be May Alice Winthrop. I won, fair and square. I’ll have your life, everyone’s love, and, most importantly, your man.”
Clothilde continued, “I’m going to be the one to marry Henri Bishop, and there isn’t a thing you can do about it. You know, I was surprised he had anything to do with you anyway. I would expect a cultured man like him to have more refined tastes. I’m going to enjoy slowly sucking his life away and leaving him an empty husk, all because he had the audacity to love you and not me. Just think of all the fun I’ll have with him before I finish him off. If he’s especially pleasing, I may let him linger for years.”
As her demon sister roared with laughter, May Alice felt something inside her stir. She fought against the ropes of her sister’s influence that coursed through her blood. She found inside herself a strength she didn’t know she possessed. May Alice dove across the floor and scrambled for the demon blade.
Once she had the blade in her hand, she rushed at her sister, the knife poised to strike. Clothilde turned, her mouth caught in an “O” of surprise. The knife plunged into her shoulder, and a pile of ash fell to the floor, just as the demon disappeared into a puff of smoke. For a moment, May Alice thought she had killed her sister, but Clothilde reappeared across the room.
“You stupid bitch, you cut my fucking arm off! It’s going to take me all night to grow that back. Did you really think I’d be so easy to kill? I’m done playing, now the fun really starts.”
May Alice emerged from her parents’ house tired to the bone and definitely not the same girl who entered, but she exited the victor of a hard-fought battle. Her clothes were a mangled mess about her body. Her skin was covered in gashes, which she knew would become scars, and more than a bit of blood. Some of the blood was hers, some her sister’s, and some her mother’s, who had woken halfway through to join the combat. When Mother had fallen, all the fight had left Clothilde.
Granny would help deal with the body. Clothilde was no more than a pile of ashes that May Alice had carefully swept into a garbage bag she carried with her now. She knew she would always carry her sister with her; the blood exchange from the bite ensured that. There would always be a bit of demon inside of her. She was too tired to think about that now; she knew she’d have plenty of time to brood about it later.
Hours later, after all the blood had been cleaned up and her mother’s body had been burned and cast into the river, May Alice sat in her shower. She watched her own blood, mingled with the ashes from her sister, run off her body. They chased each other down the length of the tile, swirling around, as if locked in an eternal battle, before they were sucked down the drain and disappeared forever. She knew she was watching the end of her childhood, the end of her innocence. She would never be the girl she was before.
As she emerged from the bathroom, her wounds dressed, clad in silk pajamas, and smelling faintly of magnolias, she knew she was finally free. With the dawn came the beginning of a new life. She had killed her demon—except for the bit that would always live inside of her. She didn’t know who she would be now or how she would change, but she knew she would live without the fear of her sister. Demon hunters didn’t fear what they’d already killed.
Thunder Born
Tara Ann Moore
