Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Cybil was desperate to find out how her daughter, Caroline, and her daughter's husband, Tate, were so rich all of a sudden. Not only that, but even a mention of her name was having people gushing about how wonderful they were and that John, the little shit, was the best kid they'd ever met.

"Hogwash." She wanted to strangle the kid every time she thought of him getting lippy with her. And telling on her about everything that had happened. She could be living in the lap of luxury if not for him. She needed to get on his good side, which she didn't see happening as much as she hated the little tattletale, but she needed to get some money, and living on the streets wasn't something she wanted to happen.

She thought of her husband then. Christ, he'd loved Caroline when she'd been born. If not for the fact that she'd been sick so much and he'd taken her to the emergency room when she'd passed out one morning, he wouldn't have known about her either. But things had worked out for her. For a while, anyway. He'd been, all the way up until he'd told her no more spending very lavish with gifts for her because she'd given birth to a wonderful little girl. But that's when things took a turn. The mother fucker told her that she couldn't go on spending money like they had it. Come to find out, because of her, according to the will he'd left, there was no insurance payoff like she had counted on because they were broke. Not only that, but what little there was to be had, it was left to his darling, he actually called her that, his darling little girl, Caroline.

Cybil watched the comings and goings of the big building that she'd seen her daughter go in over an hour ago. Catching time with her, even if she had to confront her on the streets, was something she was going to do. She was hungry and needed to be taken care of. Her daughter, the ingrate, needed to step up to the plate and start doing her daughterly duty to her. Whatever that meant.

When Cybil came out of the building, she was dismayed to find that she wasn't alone. While she didn't know the other woman, she thought her to be picture perfect to be a model. However, she wasn't who she wanted to talk to. It was Caroline, and she was damn well going to do right by her.

Hurrying across the street, nearly getting herself killed in the process, she pecked her daughter on the shoulder when she didn't turn to acknowledge her. Finally, when she turned, she took a step back from her anger. It was palpable. It was so strong. When the other woman asked her what she wanted, it was difficult for her to think beyond how much her daughter looked like her father at that moment in his last minutes before she killed him.

"Thanks, Georgie, but I think I can handle her now." Cybil turned to her when the other woman stepped back. But not far. "What do you want, Cybil? I think that I've made it perfectly clear that you and I are no longer related. I'm not going to help you, and I have no desire to breathe the same air as you are. Say what you need, then get out of my way."

"When did you ever think that it was all right to speak to me that way? You'll respect me, or I'll take you to task." They both laughed, the other two women. Laughed like it was the funniest thing in the world. "Perhaps you can bring me in on the joke. I don't find it funny about how you're treating me."

"Frankly, Cybil, I could care less if you were to fall over dead right now." Georgie, what the fuck kind of name was that told her to remind her of the meeting. "Oh. Yes, thank you. Cybil, you should get your affairs in order before too much longer. You're going to be called to stand before the king of our kind for killing Dad. And a few other unexplained deaths that he's going to be asking you about. You'll not lie to me again about anything that I ever speak to you about."

The magic or order, she thought, hit her hard. She wasn't strong enough to stand up on her own, so she reached for Caroline, who backed away from her. Thankfully, she was able to grab onto the large mailbox that was on the street to hold onto it while her body took a beating from the magic that she'd placed on her. Cybil, weak as a kitten, tried her best to act like it didn't affect her, but both of the other two could see that it had.

"What are you talking about? I have no time for such bullshit. Tell him to leave me alone, or I'll…" There wasn't a single thought in her head on what she could threaten her daughter with. Her ex-daughter, she supposed. "Look. I want you to take care of me. Slip me some cash when I need it so that I don't have to be stealing food all the time. It's the very least you can do for me since I did allow you to live."

She'd not meant to say that, but with the magic, she couldn't not talk to her without telling the truth. When a large man, one that she thought she could have sex with for days, not care if he killed her with it or not, came and put his arm around both of the other two.

"Back off, Cybil, or I'll tear you apart." There it was again. But this time, it was from the woman that had been called Georgie. That brutal look that reminded her once again at how her husband looked at her when he found out about the other children she'd aborted. "You should get away from here while the getting is good. Not that it will do you any good. As soon as Ronan calls for you, no matter where you are, you'll be toast. I'm glad that I'm going to have a front-row seat to it. The entire family will be there to witness you getting your comeuppance."

Turning on her heel, she left the three of them there. She was quite proud of herself for not making a scene until she remembered that she still didn't have any money or a place to live. Turning back, remembering that she was willing to beg if that was what it took, she looked for a purse that she could take from Caroline to steal. Neither of the women had one, which she thought was strange beyond words, so she told her to give her something she could pawn.

"No." That was it, just no. When she put out her hand, hoping that it didn't get broken or something, Caroline just stared at it. "I'm not going to give you anything. Ever again. You've stolen enough from us for several lifetimes. Now get out of my life until the meeting. By the way, I'd get ready to meet your king if I were you. I don't think he's the least bit happy about you, either."

"Like I care about that at the moment." But she did and told Caroline that she was going to give her one more chance to give her money before she snatched her bald. The man, who she'd forgotten about until then, stepped in front of the two women and growled deep in his throat. "Can you use your words?"

The man, he was a fucking huge lion, shifted then and snarled at her again. This time, she could feel the hair on her neck dance and her entire body freeze in place. The need to submit to someone more powerful than her made her nauseous. This time, she didn't waste any time by begging for money but made her way in the opposite direction of her daughter. Christ, he was a monster. She had to wonder if he was as big as the king and couldn't quite imagine how he'd be.

Trembling so badly that she had to lean against the building she'd been living in until she thought that she could walk straight. The look in his mouth, those great, large teeth, made her realize just how tiny her husband had been. And she thought him to be a big lion.

"No trespassing. You're going to have to move on." She asked the man what he was talking about who was just suddenly in front of her. "The building is slated to be torn down in the morning. You won't be able to stay there anymore."

"What makes you think that I've been squatting here?" He said that he could smell her scent all over the place. "Then tell me what it is I'm supposed to do now. My daughter and son-in-law have turned me away. I have nowhere to live."

"Caroline is my sister-in-law. I know what you've been trying to do. So before you try and spout off to me how they've mistreated you, I want you to know that I have the whole story. That's the reason that we're tearing down this building. The others, if you were to have a walk around them, would have guards around them in the form of wolves. I'd not mess with them, either. Move along before I have to move you."

"Why don't you have me arrested? That's the only way that I'm not going to sneak into someone's buildings and sleep. It's the option I have left to me." He told her that if she went to jail, they'd feed her and put a roof over her head. "Excellent. I'd like that option, please."

"No. You could rob a bank right now, though I doubt you'd scare anyone into giving you a dime, and you'd not be arrested. We want you to suffer as much as you can until your trial date with Ronan." She asked if she could just get it over with by paying a fine. "A fine? For murder? Why is it that everyone lately thinks that paying a fine is going to get them out of murdering someone? No, you aren't going to be paying anything. Not that you have anything anyway. Just move along before I have to kick your ass. And while I wouldn't normally hit a woman, I'd do that just to have the pleasure of knocking you stupider."

She didn't think that was all that nice but moved away from the building. Making plans to come by later, after dark, she was satisfied by sitting on one of the many pretty little benches that were along the main walk of town. But as she was getting settled, she was run off again and again by strangers and the cops. Christ, this was the most inhospitable place she'd ever been in.

Finding a nice picnic area where families were having parties and shit. She waited to see if they'd leave the food unattended long enough for her to get a nice piece of the fried chicken she could smell. She used to hate when people would bring a bucket of chicken to gatherings. It seemed too thoughtless. Though, right now, she'd give her left tit for some of the chicken and mashed potatoes that were there.

When everyone stood up, she decided to get ready. There wasn't going to be much time as they seemed to be going to the playground set, which was only a few yards away from the food. Just as she was standing to make her way there, one of the older men sat down at the food table and glared at her. Like, he fucking knew what she was planning.

"Everyone knows you. We've had such great pleasure in showing your picture around town so that everyone would be on the lookout for you." She asked who the woman was. "Oh, should have done that from the start. Your leap leader, Bailee. The Tuckers are such a lovely family. I am Brook Foster, your queen. I am about the nicest person in the world, and looking forward to making your acquaintance soon. Did you know that because you didn't pay the dues that were assigned to you that the entire lion pride can kill you? I had an idea that was what happens, but I didn't know. And also, since my husband, another wonderful Foster family member you've not met, Ronan, will have the biggest and best surrounding him to take you to task. Doesn't that sound so much better than killing you?"

"Are they going to kill me or take me to task? There is a huge difference, you know." She told her that they were going to kill her. "Then why say task? Christ, I think the Fosters and the Tuckers are a bunch of inbreed fools. But don't you worry none about me. I have a few aces up my sleeve that I'm going to use. Men think I'm wonderful. The king will, too, when I give him my story of how I've been mistreated all my life. What do you want with bothering me? I have shit that I need to get taken care of."

"Well, of course you do. I'm also sure your king will be delighted to learn you think he's an inbreed fool. He'll be delighted indeed, but I wanted to tell you some things first of all. There won't be getting into the building later like you planned. I'm going to have the wolves that are working for us make sure to keep a good eye out for you." She asked her why she'd do that. "I'm not even going to justify that with an answer. You know why. Also, I wanted to tell you that no one is going to allow you to sit anywhere where they can see you. As soon as we're done talking here, you're going to be moved on again. You'll be so exhausted when your trial comes that you'll beg us to kill you off."

"Doubtful. I'm in all right shape." The woman laughed. "You seem to be in a really good mood. What has you thinking that all my woes are funny?"

"Your woes? Christ, woman, you've been a killer since you were only a toddler. Killing bugs and birds like it was a science project. Then, when that wasn't enough, you got into killing small children who did nothing to you. Hell, you didn't even know who half of them were until it came out in the paper that they were missing." She didn't say anything, knowing that she was saying that because she didn't have any idea what it was like for her to kill someone. "You're right on that. And I don't want to know. And when this is finished, and you're dead and gone, I know that there will be peace in Caroline's heart for getting away from you when she did."

"My daughter should be defending me. Instead, she's tossing me aside like I've never been anything to her. Ungrateful cur. I'll get her in the end, too. Did you know that they didn't pay their dues for decades?" Brook said that they all knew that because it was her that had stolen the money. "For all you know. I'm just an innocent woman who is being mistreated because I have a bit of a bad streak in me. That's not the least bit fair, do you think?"

"What I think is fair is that you were killed instead of your husband. Anyway, since I'm well aware of you having nothing to leave anyone, I wanted you to know that there will be no write-up in the paper but only to say that you've paid for your crimes and will be gone forever. Also, there will be letters sent to every person that you murdered a family member from so that they can have peace. You will be torn apart into such small pieces that it's doubtful that anything will grow in that spot of land because of your evilness." Cybil said that she wasn't evil. "If you're not what would be considered evil, then I would hate to meet real evil."

"Why don't you come to visit me? Where I am right now? I can show you a few tricks that I've learned over the years that will turn your hair white. I'm done with pretending that I'm going to be exonerated of my crimes. You can only kill me once, so I'm going out with a bang."

Standing up, Cybil took a single step before she found herself in an open field. Cows were mooing, and there were a couple of horses eating grass. Not a house nor a person in any direction. Screaming as loud and as long as she could, Cybil cursed the woman who had no doubt sent her here.

"You mother fucking bitch. I'm going to find you and tear you apart." She realized in that second that she was standing to her knees in shit. Literally a shit pile big enough for her to have bathed in it. "Christ, will you just let me die on my own? What the hell am I supposed to do here? Huh? Tell me that. I loathe you, you fucking bitch."

The laughter rang around her head and echoed around the open field. The very idea that someone could make their voice echo with it being so open pissed her off more. Cybil was going to kill that woman when she got back to town. And she would, too. Just as soon as she cleaned herself up and figured out where the hell she was.

Stomping to the water's edge, she slipped into the water and came up slimy with algae and other unthinkable shit that was in the water. Screaming again, cleaning this new nightmare off of her, she thought of every curse word, making up a lot too that she was going to call that woman Bailee. She could still hear her laughter as she stomped her way to anything. A fucking barn would be great about now. Then it started to rain.

It was not a spring shower like she'd been caught in before, but like the heavens had opened up, and they were going to flood the earth. Before she was able to get anywhere, she would be sheltered, which there wasn't any place. She realized that the rain was only coming down on her. A six-foot circle of it poured down on her body and head until she couldn't breathe around it.

"I fucking hate you all." For the next several hours, she was sure she was walking in circles. She tried to find someplace to rest. Not sure if the rain would be surrounding her, even if she did find a place to get in out of it, Cybil was up for anything. Then she found the shit that she'd stepped in when she'd been put here. Not even caring that she was sitting in the shit anymore.

~~~

Lance blew on the pipe that he'd been using since he'd been a kid and watched as the form that he'd been making started to blow out and become larger. Right now, it was just a round piece of white-hot glass, but rolling it around in the bits and pieces of other glass and cutouts of metal, he blew on it again to form the very shape he was looking for. Getting it hot again, he was able to press it into the mold of the vase he was using and get the lid shut on it quickly. He looked up when he heard applauding.

"I've never seen someone do that in person before. I've seen it on television, of course, but it doesn't do it justice to see someone actually blow glass into bubbles." Georgie, the name everyone was calling his mate now, came over and kissed him. They'd been doing that a lot over the last couple of days. He found it to be somewhat like foreplay. But he would admit to no one that he was about as foreplayed out as anyone could be. "I didn't know that glass blowers used molds. What is this one of?"

"A faerie. Denver has an idea that he'd like to make detailed bird baths for everyone's yard. He and I worked with our faeries to get the mold. We have eight of them to work right with the two media together." When the mold was cool enough, he gently opened it up to see if it turned out the way that he'd hoped for. "Perfect. I was worried that I'd have to trim the glass, but it was the perfect amount to use and make it right."

Showing his lovely mate the other molds that he was planning to use, he also was able to show her the mocked-up version, a much smaller piece as to how it would work. Some of the faeries had hoped for some to put in their own little yards, and he was going to work on that as soon as they got their first bath finished.

"I don't know what this is supposed to be, but it looks like a dildo." His face turned so hot when he took the large glass cock from Georgie that she laughed at him. "Please tell me you didn't make that for me. I want the real thing. Though looking at this, I think I could handle that sucker too."

"I had a special request." He could barely think about his embarrassment. "I'm really glad that you found this before the kids did. Christ, what was I thinking in doing this for someone."

"You were thinking, why not? It's money." He told her there was that. "Is there actually a place where you can sell things like this? I mean, like Amazon or something."

"Amazon is where I got the order from. There is this place where you can shop. I don't know, actually, if it's still a site or not, but they sell things like this. I've never sold anything on it. But if you're on board with me, I might make a page for it. You'll have to ask Denver what his reaction was when he found it, much like you did." They talked a little more about the dildo before he put it in his office and locked the door. "What did you need for me? I mean, unless you came out just to see me?"

"Dinner. Do you have plans that I don't know about?" He said that he rarely made plans for food but ate when he was hungry."

"Yes, I can understand that. I have a high metabolism and burn through food quickly. My mother hated that about me. Among other things, I guess. Anyway, Denver has invited all of us to their home to cook out and talk about tomorrow. I've heard that Caroline's mother isn't having a good time at things. Did you hear about the cow shit? That made my day thinking about that old bitch standing in cow shit all the time."

Cleaning off his hands, he made his way to the sink. The mold was empty now, and he held the six-inch faerie up to the sunlight. Christ, it was more beautiful than he could have imagined it to be. The sparks of gold filament paper that he'd had lying out to be rolled in caught the sun well, and he couldn't have been more proud of the thing.

"I hope you're taking that with us." He asked Georgie what she meant. "Taking that faerie with us to dinner. I would love for you to show it off. Even if the project doesn't work out for one reason or another, you can still sell them. I bet they'd go over really well all over the world."

"I hadn't thought of that." He looked at his creation again. "It's sort of cheating. Don't you think that I didn't actually blow it but molded it in a mold?"

"Did you know how to do that? Stick it in the mold at the right time? Know how much pressure to put on it? I wouldn't have. It's a beautifully blown handmade piece of work, and I dare anyone to say any differently." He turned and kissed her on the mouth. "Enough of this fooling around. I want sex. If you do, then come in the house with me."

There was no way that he was going to have to be asked twice for that. They'd be a little late. But frankly, he didn't care. There was always food in the house if they turned them away for being just…well, just late. He put his stuff away and whistled all the way into the house behind his lovely wife.