12. BloodStone Manor…It’s been real

Chapter 12

BloodStone Manor…It's been real

Lilyanna

Holding the eyeball in my hand, I bite off the optic nerve and suck the ball clean. A slight shiver radiates from my body as I hear my husband gag. I giggle because, no matter how many times I've done this, it always ends with the same reaction. He takes a step away, using his shirt to wipe his face.

"Do you want me to do yours too?" he asks and I shake my head in admiration.

"I got it, just grab the bag and tell me a story on our way home." I say, lifting my dress to wipe the blood splatter from my cheeks and throat. It doesn't take long for Liam to get the duffel, grab my hand, and off we go down the path away from the maze. Leaving the same way we entered.

The sirens are getting louder as we leave the attraction. Watching the red and blue lights reflect off of everything in sight as they pummel into the parking lot. An officer directs traffic as we cross the street.

Liam squeezes my hand and nods his head at two little girls holding hands walking behind a man and woman who pass a bottle of liquor back and forth between themselves. I narrow my eyes, then look up at Liam.

"That little blonde girl, her name is Lillian, she's six and she's sweet as a button. I met her while I was waiting for you. She loves to talk and told me something I didn't like." He informs me as I watch their every movement. I damn near lose it when I see the woman smack little Lillian upside the head for not walking fast enough and the look of lust in the man's eyes as he looks at the other little girl.

"What did she tell you?" I ask, and he squeezes my hand tighter, knowing he's seeing the same damn thing I see.

"He lets his boys hurt the older girl who is eleven, and she doesn't do shit about it." he says and I growl. I don't fucking like that, not one bit.

"There's too many people around to do anything. Fuck. I don't want to think about what they must go through. What are you thinking Romeo?" I ask, finally looking up at him.

"You know what I'm thinking. Don't make me spell it out for you. The question is, can we make room for them?" He says and I laugh smacking his chest.

"You know there's plenty of space for them. What are you really trying to get at?" I ask, but his body goes rigid and I follow where his eyes are narrowed on. That motherfucker slaps the eleven year old on her ass, giving it a squeeze. I grab Liam's arm because I know he's seconds away from losing it.

Three teenagers approach them, laughing with the man as the girls get closer together, walking further away from the boys. One of them turns around and pours popcorn over the girl's head and little Lillian takes her drink and throws it at his back. He says something that causes her to hide behind her sister. I pull Liam to a stop and look up at him as people continue to walk down the busy sidewalk.

"They are not to spend another night with them. Something is telling me to save them now, but there's just too many fucking people." I plead and he nods.

"Tigerlily, I know. Let's just keep our distance and come up with a plan. I don't want them to see what we're going to do, so how can we keep them from that?" He asks as we begin walking, slowly following behind. They stop at the convenience store and I take a step right behind them, but Liam grips my forearm, pulling me back to him.

"Easy, baby. Don't bring attention to yourself." He warns, slipping a twenty into my hand as I enter the store and follow the little girls down the snack aisle. They chit chat while deciding which bag of chips they want, and I smile down at them.

"Red Doritos are my favorite. Did you guys come from Blood Manor?" I whisper, not wanting their mother to hear me.

"Yes, ma'am. It was a lot of fun, until it wasn't." The older one says.

"Oh, no. That's too bad. What's your name, sweetie?" I ask as I grab the bag of Doritos.

"Lacey." She says, and I smile as the little one chimes in.

"And I'm Lillian, pretty lady." She says which makes me giggle.

"My name is Lilyanna. It's so nice to meet you both." I say as Lillian grabs a bag of hot cheetos.

"Put those back Lil, you know they will just steal them from you." Lacey scolds her sister.

"Here, take this. Tomorrow, come back and get what you want and hide it for a rainy day." I wink and their eyes widen.

"Thank you, Lilyanne. You're so pretty." Lillian whispers.

"Yes, thank you. God only knows when we'll eat again." Lacey informs me. I act like I didn't hear that and keep walking down the aisle to get a drink. Opening the door, I grab a cherry Coke and make my way to the register to pay for my items. Trying my hardest not to listen to them behind me openly discussing their plans for tonight, I leave the store and storm over to Liam.

"They are coming home with us tonight. I don't give a fuck what we need to do. But this shit ends now. You know the one thing I'm against is harm to children, but those boys, they're just as good as dead. Fucking disgusting animals. Those little fuckheads hurt Lacey, that's her name. They touch her, and the mother Janice, she lets the boys, who are seventeen by the way, take turns on her while their dad, Ronald, watches." I say, damn near out of breath. His eyes hit his brows as he bends to grab something out of the duffel.

"No, Liam. We do this the right way. We follow, then we hunt." I say.

All the little prey better run and hide because the White Rabbits are coming for them.

"One, two, we're coming for you.

Three, four, better stay indoors.

Five, six, fear our wicked tricks.

Seven, eight, we'll seal your fate.

Nine, ten, never see again."

Liam

We follow the girls for a few more blocks, my blood boiling in my veins when they walk up three steps, stopping on a porch that looks like one strong breeze might knock it down. I pull Lily to a stop beside me when the front door swings open and another boy steps onto the porch.

After whispering something in mega-dick fiance's ear, he smiles at Lacey before grabbing Lillian's wrist, dragging her toward the house. She tries to twist her arm free, but her worthless mother slaps her across the face and pushes her inside.

As soon as the last of the boys are through the door, Lily and I make our move. "You go around back, I'm going straight through the front." I tell her as I take off running. There's no fucking way I'm letting them touch that little girl.

When I reach the rickety old porch, the wood creaks underneath me and I notice the small table in the corner, a gun laying right there on top of it. Some people just shouldn't be allowed to have children. I grab the revolver, checking how many bullets are in the cylinder before opening the door and making my way inside. The outside actually looks better than it does in here.

Old pizza boxes litter the floor, alongside countless beer cans and dirty diapers. I search around the living room, looking for any other sign of a baby as panic settles into my bones.

"There's diapers." Lily whisper-shouts as she approaches me.

"I know, but I can't find anything else for a baby here." I nod toward the hallway and we move together toward the first of three doors. Lily twists the handle, pushing the door open quickly, revealing an empty bathroom. "There has to be another hallway, there's only two more rooms."

"There is no other hall, Romeo. They have to sleep in the same room as those boys." She seethes, her eyes locking on something in the corner. I turn to see what she's looking at when a loud scream pierces the air. In the blink of an eye, I'm standing at the door, aiming the revolver at the locked padlock.

I push Lily behind me and shield my eyes as I shoot the lock, the metal hitting the ground a second later. I kick the door in with one hard kick and rush inside. "Lillian and Lacey, go with Lily to the bathroom, please."

Both girls rush from the room and I peek my head out to make sure Lily gets them tucked away before either of the adults realize what's happening, but the last door doesn't open. I don't even hear any movement in there.

The four boys are frozen in fear as I aim the gun at the first boy and squeeze the trigger. The other three scream, scrambling around the room. I quickly use three bullets, one in the head for all of them, needing to save the last bullet in order for my plan to work.

My heart breaks a little more with each shot, but sometimes this shit is necessary. Those boys would have grown into adults with no boundaries and no respect for what a woman says, but it doesn't make it any easier on me. I wipe a stray tear from my cheek and meet Lily in the hallway.

"I haven't heard a single noise from that room." She nods toward the last door and I kick it open, laughing when the woman comes into view. Her fiance is straddling her lap with his hands around her throat. Her face is already blue, but he's probably too fucked up to realize that she's already fucking dead.

I climb on the bed behind him and pry his hands from around her throat. He doesn't put up much of a fight as I hand the gun to Lily, "Wipe my prints off this, use the sheets and place it in his hand."

Lily obeys with a smile on her face, being sure to wipe every inch of the surface and putting it in his waiting hand. If he wasn't so fucked up, I'm sure this would be much harder, but it seems like the douche already knows the assignment.

He brings the gun to his temple with very little help from me, and squeezes the trigger. "You deserve so much worse than this." I climb from the bed and grab a shirt from the top of a dresser before any of the brain matter covering my face has a chance to hit the floor. I unzip the duffel Lily has slung over her shoulder, placing the shirt inside and zip it back up.

Making my way to the bathroom, I push the door open causing both girls to scream and hold on to each other. "I'm so sorry you had to hear all of that, but you're safe now," I inform them, "you can come stay with us now, and nobody will ever lay another finger on you, you have my word."

"Do you have pizza?" Lillian asks, stepping forward to hug me.

"Of course we have pizza. Pizza is the best!" Lily smiles down at her, then at Lacey.

"Just one question before we go," I crouch down to look at Lillian, "Do you have a little brother or sister?"

"Nope, it's just us." Lacey chimes in, placing her hand on her sister's shoulders. "Lily isn't allowed to leave our room after seven." My heart hits the fucking floor as the realization sinks in. Lily turns around, hiding her face in her sister's chest as she sobs.

"I'm sorry, I can't help it." She cries, and I scoop her into my arms, cradling her head against my shoulder.

"Don't apologize, sweet girl." I rub her hair and she relaxes a little bit. "Parent's are supposed to protect their kids, until they're old enough to protect themselves. Then we just have their backs."

We leave the house in silence, walking the short distance home. Once we reach our street, Lilyanna punches in the code to open the gate and begins to hum. As the girls pick up the tune, they begin to hum with her and my heart swells in my chest. We approach the steps of our home, earning gasps from Lillian and Lacey.

"Here we are, ladies. Home sweet home."