Flesh and Blood

by Sian Rosé

  “Right,” Minnie said, placing her hands on her slender hips. “Let’s get this show on the road.” She picked up the bowl and took it over to the door of the RV, where she tossed the contents out into the bright morning, the water creating a loud smack as it joined with the already moist terrain.

  “Finally!” grinned Flo with a mouthful of crisps, pushing the bag away from her as she picked up the phone again.

  Sienna grabbed hold of Jared’s hand and swallowed.

  “P-p-p-please…” she projected her voice as bravely as she could, although it came out in a pathetic squeak that made her feel smaller and weaker than ever. “I-i-i-if it’s the-the RV you want… y-y-y-you can have it…”

  Samantha/Stella threw her head back and laughed. “Obviously,” she drawled. “Obviously, we are going to have the RV.”

  Inside her chest, Sienna felt her heart break. She tightened her grip on Jared’s limp, cold fingers. “But you’ll let us go, right? We’ll g-g-g-go peacefully…”

  Minnie pulled out one of the mini fabric bar stools beneath the dining table and plonked herself down on it. The laminate flooring was a mess; a disgusting, shimmering surface of glistening mud streaked with the odd blood trail that wept from Jared’s stab wound. No one had bothered to remove their boots. It was a sad, sorry sight that reflected the sordid scenario back to Sienna in all its rawness.

  “Do as we say, and we’ll let you go,” Minnie agreed.

  Sienna nodded, desperately trying to catch her breath, and stop herself from crying. “Anything, right, Jared?”

  Jared’s eyes darted towards her, but still, he did not speak.

  “Good,” smiled Minnie. “Remember, any funny business, and there will be hell to pay.”

  Heart pounding, Sienna nodded again.

  She listened intently to her instructions and stifled groans of terror as each horrible demand soaked into her soul and filled her with agonising dread. Because everything that Minnie said made it more and more clear that, contrary to the original bargain, Sienna and Jared would not be walking free.

  Minnie wanted Sienna and Jared to stage a video for their YouTube, a farewell video to their fans explaining how they were selling the RV and returning to the states to resume a normal life.

  A video that, if Sienna and Jared ever went to the authorities, would be easily accessible and could be used as evidence for a whole host of crimes. Assault with a knife; breaking and entering; theft… would they really risk that?

  “Right, are you ready?” Minnie asked, “Flo, get the camera on.”

  “Balance it on the table,” Zach said, “otherwise it’ll look obvious that there are other people here.”

  Sienna squirmed and looked at Jared.

  “You need to look a bit less paralysed,” Lloyd barked.

  At first, Sienna thought the boy was referring to her tense, understandably rigid frame. But then she became aware of the five pairs of eyes, each fixed on the spot beside her, looking at Jared. The realisation was like the swing of a steel hammer, swiftly ripping through the air and colliding hard with the front of her skull, shattering her world into oblivion.

  “Paralysed?” she croaked, staring at Jared. Her heart sunk as she saw that his eyes were glassy, filling quickly with tears. She took in his awkward body and the strange, disconcerting way that his body remained as still and stiff as a stone statue, even where his facial features flickered and twitched. “Oh baby…” she whispered, lunging herself forward and falling against him. “Oh baby, what did they do to you?” she sobbed uncontrollably into his neck. She felt his lips graze her ear, and for a moment, she thought he was kissing her.

  “Run,” he whispered, his words tickling her earlobe. “Leave me.”

  “No,” she wept, “no…”

  “Come on!” snapped Minnie impatiently, “let’s just get this over with. Film the video, and you can go, okay?”

  “How are we meant to go anywhere?” screamed Sienna, her face red, her skin streaked with a disgusting, sticky paste of tears and snot. “You paralysed him!”

  Stella rolled her eyes and glared at Lloyd, “why the hell did you say anything? She was calm before you had to open your big, ugly trap!”

  “Oh shut up, you stupid bitch! You’re the one who fucking paralysed him in the first place. How is anyone going to believe it’s a legit video with a damn quadriplegic in the frame?” Lloyd argued back, thumping his sister in the arm.

  “Right, enough!” Minnie interrupted. “Come on, we’re all tired and cranky, but this has got to be done!”

  Lloyd’s ugly face crumpled, his thick, chubby brow furrowing over his piggy eyes. “She started it,” he grumbled.

  “Yeah? And I’m finishing it,” Minnie said. “Just shut up, the lot of you.” She turned back to Sienna, “come on; we can do this the easy way or the hard way.”

  Sienna’s entire body shook. Her eyes flitted to the open door just a few metres away. She knew that she could easily dodge past. But she was not wearing any shoes, and it’d be difficult to get anywhere in the thick sludge that surrounded them. Her only real hope would be to get a hold of one of the knives from the kitchen drawers…

  “Easy way,” Sienna said, her breaths regulating as a plan formed inside her head.

  Minnie smiled as she watched the young woman wipe her tears and obediently put an arm around her husband.

  “Okay, Flo, you ready to record?”

  Flo nodded, “alright… 1… 2… 3…”

  Sienna summoned every ounce of her inner strength to plaster on a wide, fake smile. “Hey guys, and welcome back to our YouTube channel,” she began, her voice surprisingly collected and bright, when inside, she was just a moment away from breaking down entirely.

  “We’re recording this video from Lonely Loch, and being here has given us a lot of time to think,” she continued. Slowly, she began to snake her arm back around Jared’s waist, gently, gently so that the family would not notice. “…we’ve decided that this travelling life is not for us…” her skin prickled as she changed a quick glance at the kitchenette and the exact drawer where she knew the sharpest knives were stored. She’d bought them for chopping onions and crusty loaves of bread.

  “… we want to settle down, somewhere in the suburbs…”

  Jared, sensing his wife’s intentions, cleared his throat and forced his eyes to widen with encouragement. “Yes, we have realised that this life in the RV is no way to raise a family…” his voice faltered at the ‘word’ family, as it occurred to him that now there would never be a family. Just a few hours ago, the couple’s future was uncertain but so full of hope and promise.

  Now, Jared knew that his near future consisted of nothing but his own death.

  “And so, we know you will support us in our decision to sell up and move back to the US.”

  With a final breath in, adrenaline forced Sienna up out of her seat, and the woman scrambled frantically into the kitchen area.

  “Hey, what are you doing?”

  Urgently, she dragged open the drawer and picked up the first blade she saw, then spun around and held it out in front of her like a sword; the weight of the metal heavy on her trembling wrists. Before she could think or take in the stunned faces of her captors, she lunged towards the nearest family member, Flo, and yanked hard on the little girl’s hair. Flo screeched in pain as she was dragged up out of her seat, and Sienna clutched the child tightly to her, holding the blade to her neck.

  “NONE OF YOU FUCKING MOVE!” Sienna screamed, pressing the point of the knife to Flo’s skin. “I mean it!”

  Minnie’s mouth fell open, and horrified silence fell over the group. The only sound that filled the air was the cries of the child, who trembled pathetically in Sienna’s arms. She was so small, so weak, it felt wrong. But Sienna only had to take one look at poor Jared to remember that this was not any ordinary situation. This… kid, locked in her arms, was no ordinary kid. She was a twisted, devious little cow who had tricked them and fed them without a se
cond thought to the wolves.

  “All of you get the fuck out of here,” Sienna shouted, her voice wobbling. “The guy as well!” she added, nodding in the direction of the driver’s seat, where Ronnie had disappeared to.

  “Ron!” barked Minnie, slowly getting to her feet. Her other three children remained quiet; their cheeks drained of all colour. “Ron, we need to get out.”

  Sienna watched carefully as they backed out of the RV. Minnie stood aside and let the three teenagers retreat first, then hovered in the doorway, her eyes fixed tightly on the child that Sienna had trapped in her arms.

  “Give her back now,” Minnie said, her strong voice wavering. She held her dainty, mud-streaked hands up as if surrendering. “Give her back now, and we’ll leave you.”

  “Where’s the man?” croaked Sienna, her heart pounding so hard that she felt dizzy. “Your husband?”

  Minnie cleared her throat nervously. “Ronnie!” she called out again, her eyes unmoving, frozen still on her youngest daughter’s precariously positioned jugular. “Ronnie, get the fuck out here!” she bellowed.

  A few moments later, there was a rustling and footsteps as the ruggedly handsome man of the family appeared in the living area of the RV. His piercing eyes widened as he took in the scene, and his feet abruptly came to a halt as they fell upon Sienna and Flo.

  “Both of you, out,” whispered Sienna, tightening her clammy grip on the handle of the knife. “Or I’ll slit her throat,” her skin crawled as the words formed a vile taste on the back of her tongue. “GET OUT!” she screamed manically.

  Ronnie and Minnie swapped glances. It was a mutually silent gaze, but Sienna sensed a million words passing between them. A wave of sadness came over her at the familiarity of it, the exchange that could only be had between a husband and wife who knew each other so well that they could communicate without even speaking.

  “Look,” Ronnie said finally, holding his hands up. “We’re sorry, okay?” he cleared his throat. “Just give us our girl back, and we’ll be on our way.”

  “We… we stumbled on hard times,” Minnie added hoarsely, “we’re sorry. We weren’t going to do anything to hurt either of you, not really.”

  Sienna laughed humourlessly through her devastated whimpers, “except paralyse my husband?”

  “He’s not really paralysed,” answered Minnie, quickly. “It’s a temporary shock. He’ll be right as rain after a good sleep.”

  Sienna swallowed and looked from one to the other. She tightened her grip on Flo’s neck. Genuine fear seemed to contort the features of both the man and the woman, and it was as if all traces of the intimidating couple that had attacked her earlier were gone. Suddenly, they were just a pair of sad, despairing parents, resorting to crime as a desperate last resort for the sake of their children.

  “Get out,” repeated Sienna gruffly. “I want to see all of you walk at least half a mile away, where I can see you. Then I’ll let her go.”

  “Right you are,” Ronnie said under his breath. “Go on, Min,” he said to his wife. “We’ll see you in a second, Flo.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Summer, 1999

  For Minnie, the next twenty-four hours blended into one. Julie fed her enough sleeping pills to knock her out for hours, and even when she woke up, she decided she was happier when she was unconscious. Because being awake wasn’t just being awake anymore. Being awake was being locked into a tight, confined space with a vicious swarm of her own crippling anxiety and paranoia. It made Minnie wonder how murderers that got away ever lived with themselves. Constantly looking over their shoulder, fearful of being found out with every single breath they took, second-guessing every tiny move that they made.

  And so she slept. She woke up, and it was dark, then she woke up, and it was light. When she couldn’t sleep anymore, she just lay, curled up on her side in a foetal position for hours, her pale pink gingham duvet her only protection from the outside world.

  But, of course, she couldn’t hide forever.

  It didn’t take a future, budding doctor to know that.

  “Detective Jones is downstairs,” said Julie, some unknown amount of hours after Minnie had first climbed into her bed. Minnie’s heavy eyelids fluttered, and she squeezed herself tighter as if she could make herself disappear underneath the blankets. Her mother took a few more steps closer to the bed and knelt onto the carpet so that her eyes were level with hers. Her face was soft, calm. She smiled encouragingly.

  “Come on, sweetheart,” she prompted gently.

  Fresh tears squeezed from the corner of Minnie’s eyes.

  “Am I…” she began, a croaky sob getting caught in the back of her throat, “am I going to prison?”

  Julie paused. She reached out a hand and wiped away a tear from Minnie’s cheek with her thumb. “No. Not if you do the right thing.”

  “What is the right thing?” Minnie whispered uncertainly. “Tell the truth?”

  She watched her mother purse her lips together. “Just follow my lead.”

  About ten minutes later, Minnie was sandwiched between her mother and father on the three-seater couch in the living room, clutching a mug of sweet, sugary tea in her hand. She could barely breathe; a hard, thick lump of nerves congealing in the back of her throat as she felt herself sweat beneath the hard stare of the police officers sitting opposite her.

  Detective Jones chewed his lip. Another detective sat beside him, somebody that Minnie did not recognise. This one looked younger, a bit less intimidating.

  “Minerva,” began Detective Jones, a small smile that he intended to be comforting dancing on his lips. “Your mother and I have talked at length about the situation.”

  Minnie felt her chest tighten. Had her mother betrayed her? Confessed on her behalf? No… mother wouldn’t do that. Not when she’d just done so well in her GCSEs, surely?

  “I understand you must be feeling very worried and very confused,” he continued, although the way his eyes gleamed made Minnie think that he couldn’t give a jot about her mental well-being. “But you are safe,” he said, with a confirming nod.

  Henry took his daughter’s hand and squeezed it. “It’s going to be okay, love,” he told her. “You are the victim here.”

  A breath of relief escaped Minnie. “Really?”

  Detective Jones nodded, “yes. Don’t worry, Minerva. You aren’t in any trouble, okay?”

  The teenager nodded, “they… they just came out of nowhere. We didn’t know what else to do. They were going to…” her cheeks flushed red as the hideous memories flashed through her mind.

  “We understand that Mr. Garnet acted initially in self-defence,” the officer said in agreement.

  Minnie’s bottom lip fell open. “What?”

  Julie rested a hand on her daughter’s knee, “Ronnie was trying to protect you, wasn’t he?” she said calmly. “When he killed that man and knocked out the other?”

  There were a million things that Minnie wanted to blurt out then, but somehow her brain was stuck. Confused, her lips opened and closed. Before she could talk, the detective was speaking again.

  “Of course, the nature of the wounds, and the fact that the car was set alight after the attack…” he said, “that will require further investigation into Mr. Garnet’s mental state, however…”

  “No,” Minnie cried frantically, “no, it wasn’t just him. It was both of us!”

  Julie and the police officer exchanged doubtful looks.

  “Minnie…”

  The girl stood up, tears rolling down her cheeks. “They tried to rape me, so I stabbed the bastard to death. It was me!” she sobbed, screaming now. “It’s true! Ronnie was trying to protect me…”

  “Minerva…”

  “NO!” she screeched, suddenly hysterical. She clenched her hands into fists on either side of her whilst her cheeks burned hot and red. “It wasn’t Ronnie! I won’t let him take the wrap for this!”

  “Minnie, calm down!” Henry stood up and took hold of his daug
hter by the shoulders; his voice was suddenly stern and hard. She quieted instantly, startled into silence by her father’s change of tone. She wasn’t used to it. As she blinked back at him, noiseless tears streaming down her cheeks, his expression quickly softened. “Ronnie has already been to the station and told them everything,” he said. “Look, sweetheart, I know you want to protect him, and you think you love him, but this is serious stuff. Stuff you don’t want to be getting yourself tangled up in for no reason…”

  “Daddy, I do love him,” she whimpered, her lower lip wobbling as if she was just a little girl again. “And I don’t know what he’s said, but it’s not true. It was…”

  The detective cut in. He cleared his throat, nodded to his colleague, and got to his feet. “Look, I can see Minerva is still clearly upset and traumatised,” he said, clearly disappointed. “We’re not getting anywhere. Perhaps consider some counselling? I’ll leave you some leaflets, and we’ll try again tomorrow, okay?”

  Julie saw the officers out, whilst Minnie slumped back down onto the couch and buried her damp, tear-stained face into her hands. Her head stung, heavy and painful with the weight of the world spinning rapidly inside her skull.

  Ronnie was taking the blame for everything. He was risking his own freedom for her, when had it not been for her murderous rampage, they would never have had to have burned the bodies. There’d be nothing to incriminate them at all. Of course, it would have taken a while to heal from the trauma of the attack, and of course, things wouldn’t be the same. How could they be after something like that? But at least they’d still be free. At least they’d still have all the hope, and the possibilities, and the future.

  Minnie’s chest hurt, like a spear lodged inside her ribs.

  If Ronnie went to prison or got a criminal record, everything would be spoiled.

  Just like that.