by Nancy Glynn
“The first three tried to kill my father when they heard what he did to their sister, so he had no choice but to kill them – slashed their throats. His wife soon died after seeing her daughter about town on the arm of this man, dead in the eyes with no joy. She hanged herself.”
“Like your mother,” she stated, feeling numb.
“Yes. He married again and had three girls of which Jack came and possessed. He didn’t have a son again until around 1920. On his twenty-first birthday, he brought a date, his long-time girlfriend, Bessie York, knowing what would happen to her. She had no idea.
“After their first dance, he ushered her up to the altar and shook hands with the man who then morphed into the beast he really is. She screamed and begged for Leon to save her.
“He ran up there and tried to grab her, but Jack scorched him to ashes right on the spot, before he could get his full power an hour later.”
“Did you say Leon?”
“Yes, why?”
“Just continue. What happened to Bessie?”
“He had his way with her in front of everyone cheering and clapping, his anatomy tearing her apart that she had to be sewn back up by the town doctor right then or she would have bled to death.
“He then sprouted wings and flew off with her into the night, and the crowd continued dancing and laughing the night away,” he added with disgust. “It’s all written in a journal at the library.”
“What did she look like?”
“She had short blonde hair, very small. Why?”
“I think I dreamed of her or saw something. She was running through a forest in a nightgown, but that couldn’t have been her,” she shook her head. “She asked me where Leon was,” she added.
He looked her in the eye and said, “It was, but not the way you think it was. It was her tortured soul that is kept imprisoned there for eternity. She wants to find Leon and get away from the man...from Jack.”
Daisy wiped another tear away and closed her eyes to pray for that soul. Then she had a thought. “Why is this different with me? I’m confused.”
“The difference is you were promised to me after he has his way with you, to get you pregnant, so that we can raise his child together. My father asked that of him, and he granted it,” he sighed.
“Oh, my God. I’m gonna be sick.”
“I’m so sorry, honey. I hate this so much. This was why I didn’t want to care for you, but, damn it, you made me, and now what?" He ran his hands through his hair and tried to think. “I’m getting you out of here before this ever happens,” he insisted.
“But they’ll find me! What about their power? Your power?” she whispered.
He thought about it. “I’ll tell my father you’re not a virgin. Jack only wants a virgin. He’ll be angry but will get over it,” he said. “There’s other virgins he can have.”
She shook her head. “I’m not a virgin, Christian.”
He stared at her in shock. “What?”
“That’s the reason I came out here, at least I thought, because of what happened to me at home,” she said, wiping another tear away. “I was raped in my room, Christian. My father just thought there was a burglary scare while he was out, but it was much more,” she paused, remembering the day clearly. “When the guy with the black ski mask came into my room where I was sleeping, he raped me,” she said, now wiping away the tears that lived in her heart for all that time.
Christian grabbed her and held her, staring off into the trees.
***
Across the city, on the North side of Chicago, a white-haired priest sat up in his bed, frantic. He produced an old picture of a woman with her baby girl. He silently said a prayer and lay back down, holding the frayed picture next to his heart, fear residing there.
Chapter Six
Christian dropped Daisy off after buying her lunch and promising to figure something out before the next event. He had other things on his mind. He drove up to the ornate gate of his home and punched in the code. The gates swung open to welcome him back, swallowing him. He screeched his tires through the circular driveway. He ran past James and up the stairs to his room. He wanted to scream, cry, throw something, or hit someone. It was as if a true rage was triggering the beast inside, a beast he feared to bring out.
Daisy...was...raped...by...Dane.
He stormed into his room and slammed the door, vibrating the whole house.
He wanted to pack her up and get the hell out of town for good, but he couldn’t let Dane get away with it that easy. Now it was his turn to be sick. He ran to his joining bathroom and emptied his stomach, the soup and sandwich he barely had swallowed at lunch.
He raked his fingers through his hair. She had no idea it was her own cousin, and at the hands of her own father! But his father had said burglary, so this was a little secret of Dane’s. Dane knew she was supposed to be a virgin.
Then the thought hit him like a sledgehammer. If Jack discovered Daisy was spoiled, he would have her killed instantly.
That’s what had happened to his sister, Lara. She had had premarital sex with her boyfriend before William sacrificed her to Jack, and when Jack realized she wasn’t a virgin, he had her burned at the stake like a true witch.
Oh, Jesus.
He stared at the picture sitting on his nightstand next to his bed. His mother’s beautiful smile stared back at him in her happier days. He sat on his bed and picked up the picture. “What do I do, Mom? Tell me. I’m lost.”
A searing pain ripped through his body. He walked to his dresser and looked in the mirror. A darkness clouded his eyes. “No,” he said to his reflection. “You’re Christian, no one else. You have love in your heart. You’re good,” he stated through clenched teeth.
His arm flew across the dresser in a fury, knocking all the items off, and growled in a voice not his own. “You hate this world, Christian. You only want the money and riches. You want all the sex you can get. Call Charlotte,” he demanded of himself. “She’ll satisfy you!”
“No! I want Daisy, only Daisy,” he cried, ripping his hands through his hair.
The beast continued. “Daisy’s too sweet, too nice! You want danger. You like it rough. Admit it! Remember the last time? Remember when you bent Charlotte over backwards until she screamed?”
“Stop!" He ran to the bathroom and vomited once more, more bile and dry heaves this time.
“Please, God...help me,” he cried in a cracked voice. He grabbed his phone and opened to a picture of Daisy.
***
The doorbell chimed and then a knock on his bedroom door. He cleaned up the mess he had just made and strode to open it.
“Hello, Christian. I miss you bad. Don’t you miss me?" Charlotte asked, closing the door behind her, with a gleam in her eye and a grin to match.
His jaw tightened. “Get out. I told you it was over and I meant it." He walked to the door and opened it for her.
“You did? Hmm, I don’t remember that, Chris. All I remember is you screwing me one day and the next I’m meeting this Daisy." She let the long trench coat she was wearing drop to the floor, revealing nothing underneath, her long dark hair draping over her full breasts.
“No. I said get out!”
She laughed and walked behind him, running her hand down to his crotch. “There’s no way you’re getting any from Miss Virgin. I mean, she is supposed to be a virgin, right? That’s what Jack wants,” she purred in his ear.
He shoved her away and she fell on his bed, giggling at his reaction.
“I love it when you’re rough. I want more of that power burning in you, Christian. I want it to mix with my blood, poison me, make me bad like you,” she said, caressing her body.
He scoffed. “You’re already that. You don’t need me to help. And I’m not bad. That’s not the real me. Now leave.”
“Oh, but it is, honey. Your name may be godly, but your soul is something else. Just accept it. Once Jack knocks Daisy up with his spawn, if she lives through that carnal epis
ode, you’ll want me by your side and in your bed, I promise,” she said in a husky tone. “I can see it in your eyes you want me right now. Let the beast out, Christian. Come to me!”
He slammed the door and grabbed her, pressing his lifeless lips hard against hers. “Is this what you want?”
Her hooded eyes closed. “Oh, darling...yes!" She rocked her body up to meet his, to feel his maleness, pulling him down on top of her.
A guttural cry roared from his throat. That pain seized him, the wrath returning. “No! Daisy!" He tried to pull away from her clutches, but she rolled on top of him. She pinned him to the bed, tugged his jeans down, and grunted like a boar at feeding time.
She spoke in a desperate, hoarse tone. “Forget Daisy! You belong to me, Christian! I finally got you after Tara died, even if it was only for sex, and I’m not letting you go!” she cried. “We’ll live in hell together! I would kill for you!" She pushed his shirt up and licked his chest, moving her way down.
He pushed her off and adjusted his shirt. He walked to the door, waiting for her to get up. She remained sprawled on the bed. He almost felt pity for her, almost. “Get out, Charlotte. This is the last time I want you to pull something like this. You hear me?”
Her voice cracked. “I love you, Christian. We’re meant for each other, don’t you see?” she cried. She sat up on her knees, her breasts dangling.
“Love? You don’t know the meaning. Your beliefs are the same as everyone else’s in this town, all want money and power. You love money, Charlotte, not me.”
“And Daisy knows about love? She’ll never please you like I can and you know it.”
“You’re so wrong about that, Charlotte. But you weren’t raised to know about real love, were you. You’re ugly on the inside and now it’s spilling to the outside.”
She got up and pulled her coat on. “Wait until the beast comes back, and it will. He’ll want me. You’ll come looking for me. Right now, you’re sweet Christian, good Christian. Wait when he comes into your dreams and makes you want me again. Will Daisy want you then?" She gave a devious laugh. “You know when it’s the hour of your birthday and you’re anointed, there’ll be no more good Christian. You might as well change your name because it’ll be a mockery. Maybe Damien?" She smiled, satisfied with herself.
Christian stood there, balling his hands into fists, wanting to hurt her. His pulses throbbed with vehemence.
She stood on her toes and kissed his lips once more before she left. “One last kiss before the ball,” she said, then she ran her tongue across her lips. “Mmmm, power and greed tastes so good.”
He shut the door after her and walked to his bathroom to take a shower, washing his body of her remnants.
Chapter Seven
After her new education, Daisy decided to go for a drive and get away from her uncle’s house. The thought of going back there made her sick. Who could she trust? If not family, then who? She drove without turning the radio on. No music could lift her right now. Music would only remind her of a normal life she didn’t lead anymore.
“Why, Dad?” she asked out loud. “Why?”
As she drove, she noticed a homeless man on the side near a small drug store, holding a sign that read All Is Lost. She scanned his eyes but only saw black holes. She shook her head. “I don’t believe that. Not all is lost,” she persuaded herself to believe.
The need to find a church grew stronger and she searched the area. “No churches?" She traced street after street only to find stores.
The library.
Fire station.
Police station.
Post Office.
Big houses.
Little houses.
Where are they? Not even one?
Then she remembered what Christian told her, what Jack asked of William, to make a place of worship for him only, to let his Christian way of life go.
Daisy circled into a U-turn and headed back to the homeless man. Maybe he could give her some answers.
She scanned the same street he was on but nothing. Where did he go?
It was only eight o’clock, but the streets were vacant. Street lights flipped on, illuminating her way back. She turned the radio on to take some of the eerie silence away and wished she didn’t.
Every channel she turned on played the same song. A song her father used to listen to when she was little by the Rolling Stones. “What the...” She tried turning the radio off and it wouldn’t let her.
The song replayed over and over.
She played along. “Your name is Jack Red! Did I guess right? Leave me alone!" She grabbed her phone and tried to text Christian but no service, throwing it to the seat in disgust.
Fear gripped her heart, merging into her veins like hot wax. The street lamps flickered off and on, a game he seemed to be enjoying. She blew the red lights since no cars were out. Was there a curfew?
“I’ll never be yours! Do you hear me? Never!”
The song drove her mad. It pierced her brain like tiny, stabbing needles.
“Please!” she cried, grabbing her head. It felt like she was lost in a maze, seeing the same streets again and again.
She grabbed her cross and began to pray “Our Father who art in heaven...”
The radio shut off and the street lamps stayed on, allowing her to find her way home.
***
As soon as she got in her room, she called Christian and told him what happened. The house was empty except for a note left for her to say they went to some church function. She knew what kind of church.
“I’m coming over, Daisy,” Christian stated.
“No, I’m fine...really. I just wanted to hear your voice.”
“He’s messing with you...with us. You know that, right?”
“I know.”
“My father is at that mass. I can bring you here.”
“I’m taking a shower. If I still feel spooked, I’ll call, okay?”
“Okay. I hope you do." He hung up.
She turned on the hot water to scald the day’s events away, feeling like a sauna behind the flowery curtain. Steam rose from her skin as she scrubbed it hard to cleanse herself of something she didn’t understand.
After getting her pajamas on, she headed toward her bed. A faint knock on her door froze her to her spot. Feeling her heart thud in her chest, she forced herself to move closer to the door to listen. No sound. She cracked the door open.
“Hello, Cousin Daisy." Dane’s hand rested on the doorframe, looking down into her face. He wore a lopsided grin, almost seeming buzzed.
“Dane, please. I just want to go to bed." She tried to close the door, but he stuck his foot inside her room, stopping it.
His eyes rove down her body. His features contorted into something not human. “So do I.”
She kneed him in the groin, bringing him to the floor. She ran back in her room to grab her phone.
“You bitch!" He yanked her hair before she could reach it, making her scream. He cradled her face then. “I’m sorry, Daisy,” he whispered. “Forgive me. Wait for my birthday next year. We can be a team. Forget about Christian." He pushed her down on the bed and straddled her. “I will give you everything you’ve ever wanted! You can teach here. The kids need you. We could raise Jack’s baby...please,” he begged, his face hovered over hers, sour alcohol oozing from his breath.
“Get off of me now,” she demanded in a low tone. “I love Christian,” she cried. Tears slid down her face and into her wet tangled hair. “I know that may sound crazy, but I do.”
He scoffed. “The beast is too strong for Christian. It’s taking over him the closer he gets to his birthday, Daisy. He’ll toss you aside after Jack gets you pregnant, mark my words,” he hissed. Then in a softer tone he said, “At least with me, you’ll always be with family. My parents love you and would welcome you as their daughter." He pressed his lips to hers. “Please.”
She tossed her head back and forth to fight his kiss. “No!" Her arms were locked down to her sid
es in his grip.
“I love you, Daisy. Be with me for eternity,” he growled in a raspy, low voice. His lips came back down to continue his kiss.
“Get off Daisy now, son, or I’ll have to shoot,” Uncle Joe instructed in a calm voice.
Dane turned and stared at his father holding a gun aimed at him. “Have you lost your mind, old man?" He pulled himself off of her and stood, staring in disbelief.
She grabbed the blankets and covered herself, watching the two men confront each other.
“You know she was promised to Christian. You’ve been told to leave her alone." Uncle Joe still pointed the gun at Dane’s chest.
“As I’ve said before, she’s mine.”
“I don’t know what you mean by that, but Jack sent me to stop this, and I will, even if I have to kill you. Don’t make me kill you, Dane,” he said in a flat voice. “Promise me you’ll leave her alone.”
Daisy looked at her cousin and remembered him as a young boy with tussled blond hair, playing with his trucks. Uncle Joe never really played with him, always ushered him outside or told him he was busy.
Dane craved love anywhere he could get it, especially from his father, wanting to be accepted. When he couldn’t get it is when he must have turned hard. Now his father held his life in his hands as if it would mean nothing to kill his own child.
All for Jack Red.
“Uncle Joe, I’m fine...really. Please don’t shoot Dane. This won’t happen again." She paused, thinking of something to do. “I can go stay at Stone Manor until the birthday. It’s big enough. I’m sure there’s a room for me to stay in until this dance is over. Would that work?”
Uncle Joe contemplated her offer and smiled. “That’s a great idea, Daisy! Yes, yes. Why didn’t I think of that earlier? I’ll call Bill and make arrangements,” he said, still waving the gun around, looking mentally unstable.
She had always thought of her uncle as a strong, viral man. But this man that stood before her? He looked like a lunatic. The thought of leaving this house made her heart sing.
