Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

 
 
The fog was thick in the early morning of October 31st, 1970. 

A man of advanced age, as he resented being referred to as *old*, climbed the concrete steps of the Austin State Hospital. From below he could look up at the triple row of balconies, each large bay window was enclosed with a sliding gate to be locked every night and during lockdowns. 

He approached the large, semi-circle front desk where a tart-looking nurse in a crisp white uniform looked up at him a moment over her turtle shell rimmed glasses before letting out a familiar sigh. 

"Good morning, Mr. Magnus." She tapped a stack of papers on the desktop and reached for a thick fountain pen. "She'll be at breakfast by now. But you're welcome to go over the day release papers while you wait." 

"Thank you, Hildie." Mr. Magnus smiled congenially, "I trust everything has settled down since...well."

"The doctors have eased her off the sedatives, she's been quiet these past few days" Hildie drew in her lips. "I'm awful sorry to hear about your grandson, Mr. M." 

"Thank you," Mr. Mangus nodded. 

"I hope a little time with her family will help ease the pain, the poor thing." The nurse shook her head and tsked. "I'll call up and see when they think she'll be ready." 

"I appreciate it." Magnus ran through the familiar stack of paperwork, signing his name and initialing every few pages. 

He'd read it all before. 
The release was for 72 hours, she was not allowed any substances stronger than over-the-counter medications and absolutely no alcohol. There were the basic safety precautions, advising him to childproof the house she'd be staying in as much as possible and ensure all potentially hazardous items were stored safely. 
 
 "Mr. Magnus," Hildie leaned over the counter, "she's just come into the sitting room. The orderlies are bringing down her bags now." 

Mr. Magnus passed off the paperwork to Hildie and strode confidently into the first-floor sitting room where a few scattered patients were stationed at wooden tables. 
Board games and books were placed neatly within reach at all times, and there was a worn green couch facing the corner where a caged television was mounted from the ceiling. 

A song was playing on the turn table from the nurses's station, some old crooner's ballad. 

In a high-backed chair by the window sat a woman with pale brown hair and icy blue eyes that stared out the tempered glass window and into the foggy grounds of the hospital. 

She was the only patient dressed in street clothes, a loose grey sweater, and a thick cotton skirt over black stockings. 

Though she was nearly 30 by now, her countenance was nearly that of a schoolgirl waiting patiently for her bus to arrive. Her ankles crossed primly, her long fingers picked at the fraying ends of a patent leather book strap wrapped around 3 thick volumes. 

"Good Morning, Selene." 

She glanced at him before looking away nervously, her fingers freezing mid-fidget. 

"Good Morning." 

"Are you ready to go, Darling?" Magnus tilted his head, trying to coax her into eye contact. "I've had the car brought round for your bags." 

She did not respond, pulling her lips in tightly and squeezing her eyes shut. 
Magnus sighed and settled in the chair across from her patiently. 

"I know it's been hard for you." He sympathized, "Being here, you must feel very lonely. And after that night you gave us all such a fright...don't you think it would be good to spend some time with your family? Your aunts miss you, and I know your parents do too." 

"No." Selene choked, "No, not them...I don't want to see them yet." 

"Alright." Magnus nodded, "It'll just be us... In fact, I have a special plan that might just be the thing to make you feel better. How does that sound?" 

"Is it more pills?"

"No, darling." Magnus smiled lightly, "No, no more pills. You don't even have to take any today if you don't want to." 

Selene's pale blue eyes met his in surprise. "Really?"

"Not a one." He shook his head. "Now, are you ready to go?"

She nodded and tucked her books under one arm as she rose. "Will we...be celebrating tonight?"

"Certainly we will." He nodded, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "Would you like that?"

She nodded silently, eyeing Hilda distrustfully as they passed. 

"Happy Halloween, Selene." the nurse waved merrily despite the shiver that ran down her spine. "Be safe." 

Selene's overnight bag and pillbox had been secured in the back seat of the sleek black car that sat waiting for them with the motor running. 

Selene cast one last look over the hospital and sniffed, a pressure forming in the center of her brain that she couldn't quite explain or put a name to. 

Hildie watched as the car drove off and eyed the on-staff resident beside her. 
"Do you really think it was a good idea? Letting her out so soon?"

"It's just for the day." The doctor assured her, leaning over some paperwork on which he scribbled incomprehensible instructions "She'll be back tomorrow, 10 am sharp. Besides-" He straightened up and passed her the paperwork. "Selene Magnus hasn't been logged as a danger to others in over a year now, I'm sure everything will be just fine." 

"6?" The man leaning against the wall frowned in confusion. "Little earlier than usual, isn't it?" 

"Trust you'll be compensated appropriately for your time." That RP-laced voice on the other end assured him. "As I'm sure you've heard, we're expecting a celestial event to bless our little get-together tonight, and I'd like all participants to be in attendance to witness it." 

"Right." He nodded dispassionately, inhaling a cloud of tobacco smoke and letting it settle in his lungs. "6 it is." 

"By the way, we will be having an extra body in the arena this yeah. You may run them tonight, but rest assured; they are on our side." 

"Good to know" he sniffed, disinterested. "Anything else?" 

"That is all, see you at 6." 

The man hung up quickly and breathed out, smoke filling the small room around him and catching in the sunlight that wormed its way through the curtains. 

Part of him curiously pondered this new player his employer had mentioned. 

It took a lot for anyone new to enter the fold, more specifically it took a lot of trust. 

The drive through the desert wasn't particularly long, after all, he'd stationed himself specifically so he was hard to find, but easy to call upon. However, it was rough. Most of the roads that had been laid out this far were seriously neglected and put the van's suspension through hell before they hit a mapped road. 

He did hope that just because he was required to get there early, it didn't mean he'd be forced to socialize with the others. 

It's not that he didn't hold a baseline level of respect for them; they were killers after all, as he was. But that didn't mean he had to enjoy their company. 

Besides, it was easier if he didn't. They weren't allowed to know each other's real names or any personal details. It left very little to start a conversation on. 

The ideal next step would be to at least try to sleep, given he'd be awake the entirety of tonight and most of tomorrow. 

But he didn't need much sleep. 

After a year and a half of learning to run for days without rest and to sleep with one eye open when he did, he'd never fallen out of the habit. 

In truth, there were a lot of habits he'd picked up overseas that he'd held on to, and likely always would. 

Even if they made his life hell in the process. 

At least try, he told himself. Try and if it doesn't work just pop an upper before you leave. 

That seemed to solve everything, at least according to the VA. 

 Can't sleep? Downers

Can't get out of bed? Uppers

Seeing dead men in the corners of dark rooms and convinced your hill jack neighbor is planning to kill you? 

Well, there was a pill for that, but unless you like feeling like you're moving through wet cement 24/7, you might be better off just getting used to it. 

He wasn't stupid, he knew his *issues* hadn't manifested overseas, but it sure as shit didn't help them either.

But he had it under control, especially if he had a chance to relieve the pressure once a year. That had been more effective than any overpriced drug, in his opinion. 

Yes, he was in complete control. 

Chapter Text

He was gone. 

Selene looked around blankly, wandering the wide halls of her Grandfather's Texas estate and taking in what little had changed. 

Ben was gone, not just physically but spiritually. His photos had been removed from their spots on the walls and tables. Even the family portraits. 

"We didn't want you upsetting yourself." Had been the explanation given. 

But she was upset. 

Even if she couldn't show it.

Even if the medication that had been pumped into her seemed to freeze her face into a perpetually neutral expression, and her emotions had no choice but to bounce around the cavern of her chest like a super ball in a shoe box. 

She wanted to scream

 She wanted to wail and weep with fists clenched so tightly that her nails left crescent gouges in her palms. 

She wanted to take a hammer and bash a hole in her forehead to let the ghosts come flooding out like lancing an infected wound. 

It wasn't fair. 

He didn't even want to go. 

They had MADE him go. Not just the draft board but her parents who refused to protect their son, her little brother. 

He was only 25. 

In the empty hallway, Selene felt her knees buckle and she fell to the run, her face shoved into her hands as if she could hide away in them forever. 

"No." She moaned lowly, "No, no, no, no, no." 

Her knees curled to her chest as she gasped for air that struggled to force its way into her lungs. Gasps turned to sobs and soon she was trembling on the floor, her face bowed to the rug under her and her back curved like she wanted to curl up like a pill bug. 

"Miss Selene!" 

"I'm fine!" The intruding voice snapped her out of her episode, but her voice still broke with a choking sob. "I'm fine, please! Just..." 

She felt soft hands on her shoulders that guided her up gently into a sitting position. 

"Oh," the maid breathed sympathetically. "Shall I go get a brandy for your nerves, miss?" 

Selene sniffed, wiping her tears with her hands. 

Brandy.

She wasn't allowed to have brandy. 

Those were the rules. 

"Yes, please." She swallowed hard, taking a deep breath. "Thank you." 

"Just settle yourself here miss. I'll be right back." The maid led her to a small couch that was more decoration than anything else, but Selene sat patiently as the little woman returned with a small glass of brandy. 

"Down the hatch, there you go." She coaxed the dark liquor down Selene's throat. 

Selene winced at the burn but breathed. "Please tell my grandfather I am going to lie down for a while. I'm tired." 

"Of course, miss." 

In the large guest room she'd been stored in, Selene fumbled for her book strap and unleashed the volumes from their confines. 

Emma

Pride and Prejudice 

Heidi

She had been supplied with hundreds of other books, but Selene always came back to these three. Like a chronic penitent returns to the confessional, she returned to these stories in her times of need. 

They never solved her problems, but they were a balm on her soul. 

Flipping to a random page, she began to force herself into the little world contained between two covers until she was startled by a knock at the door. 

Looking up and winced at the clock. 

She'd been sitting there for hours, and looking down she realized she hadn't turned a single page. 

"Selene?" 

She swallowed hard and stretched her stiff limbs. 

"Come in." 

Magnus opened the door slowly with a hesitant smile. "How are you feeling, darling?" 

"Better." She lied. 

"Selene...I know you've been struggling with what happened to Benjamin." 

She winced at the name before nodding. 

"You know you can always talk to me." Magnus pressed. "How are you feeling, really?" 

Selene swallowed hard, her hands going clammy as she felt a tremble in her chest. 

"Angry" 

"With whom?"

She thought hard. 

Her parents.

The draft board.

Anyone who offered their condolences but at the same time thanked her for her brother's service. 

What service?

Being forced onto a bus, then a plane, only to be blown to pieces on his first day on the ground? 

"Everyone." 

Magnus smiled a little and squeezed her hand. 

"Well...I can not offer you revenge on the world." He confessed. "But tonight....maybe you will be able to release some of that anger. I know it's not what your doctors would approve of, but..."

He eyed her, trying to gauge her reaction to this proposal. "What do you say?" 

"I-" Selene swallowed. "I haven't k- I mean I haven't since." 

"I know." He assured her. "You've come quite far....so far, I think you can allow yourself one night, after everything you've been through." 

Selene considered this. 

Part of her screamed yes, please, let me free. Her more rational side recommended restraint. 

But she was so tired of being rational. 

"Maybe you're right." She nodded slowly. "I think it might help." 

The moon was slowly creeping over the sun as the unmarked black four-door sped down the road. 

Selene sat silently, taking a moment to marvel at how clear her mind felt now that the drugs she'd been given were working their way out of her system. 

Beside her sat her instructions. 

Her face was to remain covered at all times. 

She wasn't to speak to the others, or even to the players. 

If she was injured she was to flee, they would be keeping a close watch to ensure she didn't get in over her head. 

Her disguise would be waiting for her. 

She supposed she should be worried. 

After all, she'd spent years trying to convince both doctors and family that she wasn't a danger to herself or others. 

But after everything. 

After Ben.

After the storm.

She realized something she'd more or less always known, in the deepest part of her heart. 

She was never going to be free. 

No matter what she did or said, she would forever be trapped behind steel gates and sealed doors. 

She may be moved to lower security, and given more freedoms and privileges, but never would she be free. 

The arena was so dull and plain from the outside, it almost blended in with the desert around it. 

The other car parked in a hidden tunnel indicated her family had already arrived. She was escorted not to her usual spot in the viewing room with her family, but down below the earth. It was cool down here, and dark despite the florescent lighting above them. 

The guards on either side of her were silent, and for a moment Selene wondered if they were mute.

As they walked, Selene heard another group of feet just ahead of them. At their approach, the group stopped so Selene's group could pass. 

"Hood up please." The formerly mute guard instructed her, and Selene obeyed. 

The black hood obscured her face in shadow, and though she knew she was supposed to look down to preserve her identity, Selene wanted to see who was ahead of them. 

It was a tall man, backed by 4 guards to her 2. He was older than she expected, but she'd never seen him this close before.

Doomhead.

The only name she would ever know him by. 

Without his makeup, she realized he was passably handsome, despite crooked teeth that pressed slightly against his lips. 

She watched him pass, hoping her hood covered enough of her face to keep her word to her grandfather. He watched her as well, but never met her eyes, hopefully, that meant he couldn't see them. 

His was a look of mild curiosity. 

The encounter was only a few seconds, but Selene felt her heart point against her chest as she was herded into a prep room and locked in. Perhaps it was the reality of her decision falling upon her. 

Shaking herself, Selene took several deep breaths before moving to the locker with a note taped to it. 

Disguise inside

Eclipse at 6:30

Be ready by 8

-M

Chapter Text

"Did you hear, someone new is coming in tonight?" Sex stretched the length of her leg up the stone wall and leaned on it to limber up the muscles. 

Sickhead nodded, slipping his suspenders over his shoulders. "Sí, me enteré. Wonder who it's gonna be." 

"Probably some muscle-bound meathead with more dick than sense," Schizo muttered bitterly and Sick scoffed. 

"Why would they need another one, they already got you?" 

"So, they've got all of us," Psycho ignored his brother's quarrel with the dwarf, "Plus Doomhead's in this year, and now some new guy.... must be a big crowd this year." 

"Well, there is an eclipse," Sex pointed out, "Maybe they wanted to make it special." 

"I don't know why some voodoo bullshit in the sky means we have to do more work." 

"What work? You get a fucking chainsaw; I'd hardly call that work." Death snickered as Psycho leveled a hard glare at him. 

"I'll have you know I take great pride in the quality of my work, you kraut bastard." He reminded the strapping German, "True torture takes time and imagination...all your kills wind up looking like pulp." 

"Let's not start measuring dicks before the game even starts, huh?" Sex scolded them both. 

The sliding door to the prep room opened smoothly, drawing their attention as a tall woman in a black half-mask entered, armed with a clipboard. 

"Sickhead, you're being paired with the new player tonight."

¡Dame paciencia, señor! Why do I get stuck with the new guy?" The dwarf screwed his face in frustration. 

"Consider it a credit to your competency." The woman said blandly, "Come on, this way."

"Hijo de puta, ¿por qué siempre me toca a mí?" Sickhead muttered under his breath irately as he gathered his gear and followed the guards reluctantly. 

He had expected them to take him to another prep room but instead, he was led up to the roof. Thoroughly confused, Sickhead glanced briefly at the eclipse and saw that the moon was more than halfway over the sun.

Well, he thought to himself, at least I get a good view. 

"Moonhead."

A white clade figure turned their head to face them. 
They were standing silently as if waiting for them. 

Sickhead frowned as he approached, unable to gauge much from this newcomer. 

They were clad all in white, save for their black shoes and the black cap over their head. Their face was obscured behind a full-face mask painted to look like one of those sad French clowns he couldn't remember the name of. 

"This is Sickhead, you'll be shadowing him for the first few hours." The handler explained. "You'll meet the others inside, but for now just do as he says. Okay?"

Moonhead nodded a silent confirmation. 

"Does it speak?"

"No, it does not." The handler informed him smartly. "You two have fun. Be back down in an hour." 

Sickhead scanned the newcomer up and down before extending his hand. Moonhead shook it respectfully with a soft grip before looking back at the eclipse briefly, careful not to stare. 

"So, you're the new guy. ¿Hablas español?" Sickhead muttered. 

Moonhead paused and eventually shook their head. 

"And you don't talk?"
 
They shook their head. 

"Is that a choice thing or..." 

When no response came, Sickhead realized he'd be relegated to yes or no questions.

"You ever killed anyone before?" 

A slow nod, as if hesitant. 

"Well, you'll have to do more than just kill in there." Sickhead explained, "The point of tonight is to put on a show for those rich fucks watching us, they wanna get their money's worth." 

Moonhead nodded again, more eagerly this time and Sickhead smirked a little. 

"I could get used to this no-talking thing." 

They waited out the eclipse to its totality when the sky darkened over them. 
The famous ring of fire was all that was promised, though it lasted only a few minutes. 

The moon seemed like a pitch-black disc radiating fire; An Eldrich creature that loomed just beyond their atmosphere. 
Watching and waiting with ominous intent. 

Within three minutes, the moon began to move once more and the sun fought its way back into the sky, though it would be setting soon anyway. 

"We need to go back in, they'll be picking up the players soon and things move pretty fast after that." Sick nudged them, "Vamos." 

The stranger walked behind him in silence, stopping only a moment to collect something off the ground that Sickhead had not noticed before. 

"That's yours then?" He nodded to the tool clasped in their grip. "It makes a statement; I'll give you that." 

He led them back inside and into the bowels of the building. "I guess you should probably meet the others." 

The communal prep room was still abuzz with chatter when Sickhead returned, his new shadow in tow. 

""Escuchad, animales de mierda!" He yelled over them to get their attention, "This is Moon, they don't talk much. Moon this is Death, Sex, Schizo, and Psycho. There's one other guy here, Doomhead, but you probably won't meet him." 

"He's little." Death noted, "He is a he, right?" 

"I..." Sick blinked, "I actually don't know." 

All eyes fell on the stranger curiously.
 "Well come on, take off the mask." 

Moonhead took a step back timidly, one gloved hand coming to press the mask closer to their face protectively as they shook their head. 

"Well, why the fuck not, asshole?" Psycho laughed, "What, you got some fucked up Quasimodo-looking mug under there?"

"Leave'im alone, asshole." Sex snapped at him. "Maybe he's just shy." 

"This ain't a place for shy folk." Schizo shook his head firmly, approaching Moonhead with a menacing look. "Come on, you little shit. Let's see what we're working with." 

With one large hand reaching out for the pale figure, Schizo lunged to snatch them by their shirt. As his palm filled with fabric, he froze at the cold pressure of steel on his neck. 

The room went dead silent as Moonhead pressed the curved edge of a short-handled scythe against the other clown's throat. The blade glinted in the overhead light, and all watched as the painted expression of the mask remained as blank, save for the shadowed eyes behind them that were visible only to Schizo at this distance. 

"Hey, let'im go you-!" 

Before Psycho could make good on any threat he might conjure, Moonhead freed their shirt from his brother's grasp and pushed him backward. 

The scythe left his neck before it could deal out any more than a shallow cut that hardly even bled. 

"Alright." Sex let out a breath, "Let's all just chill out, huh?"

"Right." Schizo laughed a little, nerves still edging his voice as his hand went to the stinging cut on his neck. "I'm just fuckin' with ya man. No hard feelings, right?" 

Moonhead nodded slowly, loosening their grip on their blade. 

The room returned to an air of casual comradery, but now with an oppressive tension emanating from the newcomer.

"He's a fast little fucker, I'll give'im that." Schizo breathed to his brother. "Think he's as good with that blade as he looks?"

"Better be." Psycho grumbled, "Apparently, they're planning on 10 players this year instead of 5." 

"Fucking 10?" Schizo groaned, "Look, I like killing as much fucker, but if they're giving us double the trouble, they ought to pay us double for it." 

"Oh, you wanna go up there and tell them that?'" Psycho laughed, "You go on and try, see what you get besides a bullet in the brain." 

Before long they were directed to their positions. 

Moonhead was taken separately, as Sickhead was tasked with assisting with the presentation of the players. 
When he returned, he was practically giddy with excitement. 

"Alright, newbie." He laughed, "You ready to have some real fun?" 

Moon didn't respond but Sick hardly noticed. 

"Now, we gotta make this last 12 hours. It's best just to get'em all scared and worked up before diving in. Think of it as foreplay." Sick explained, looking them up and down, "You're a spooky-looking fuck, so you should be just fine."

Moon nodded, swinging their scythe in one hand eagerly as they waited for the buzzer to send them off. 

The main entrance they came through was basked in yellow and red and each hallway was illuminated with strings of tiny white twinkling lights. 

"I'll go left, you go right." Sick instructed his shadow, "And remember, focus more on scaring them...there'll be plenty of time to kill them later." 

Moon slowly made their way down the first hallway on the right. 
Sickhead made his presence known immediately, shouting what they could only assume were threats and taunts in Spanish. 

Their breath was hot behind the mask and made their breathing seem louder than it was. Creeping down each hall silently, Moon paused at the sound of something falling over in the room just ahead. 

The tip of their scythe dragged along the wall as they approached slowly. The door had a thin glass window through which they could peer inside curiously. The room was dimly lit but they could make out the shape of a body pressed against the back wall. 

It would almost be too easy. 

Sick's words ran through their head; Scare now, Kill later. 

Best to keep it moving then. 

They continued to drag the tip of the scythe down the wall as they walked until they heard the pounding rhythm of running feet. 

Whoever was running wasn't very bright, because they were calling for help. Which seemed an overwhelmingly stupid thing to do when you had two people hunting you for sport. 
The cries grew closer, and if the universe was going to keep throwing them easy hitters, Moonhead figured they might as well take advantage of it. 

They walked quickly towards the noises until whoever it was was right around the corner. 

"Help!" A man called, "Come on, there's gotta be an exit somewhere, I-" 

Despite the cleanness of the hook, Moonhead felt little satisfaction. 
Like shooting fish in a barrel. 

The man, a clean-cut 30-something in a black suit, howled in agony as the hook of the scythe cut cleanly through his cheek to the tip of his mouth. The flesh hung there and bled substantially as he clutched at his face and fell to the ground. 

Kicking up at them, the man's eyes were wide and wild. he scrambled back, leaving a trail of crimson behind him. 

It seemed he was trying to say something, but the agony of his mouth wouldn't allow him to get the words out. 

Perhaps he was begging for his life. 

If he was, his wish was granted, as Moonhead loomed over him silently before kneeling to get closer to his face. The man stared up at them trembling as blood leaked between his fingers. 

In a rasp, barely above a whisper, Moonhead tilted their head and urged him.
"Run."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Doomhead watched the monitor curiously. 

He could really care less about Sickhead's performance, he'd seen it enough to know it hadn't changed from the last time. 

Instead, he focused on the newcomer, this mysterious Moonhead. 

They were small for a man if they were a man. 

But their choice to move in silence interested him. The goal of the first hour or two was to frighten the players; to get the blood rushing. That's why Sickhead was so effective, he had a mouth on him that could go for hours if left untethered. 

But he supposed silent intimidation could also work if used correctly. 
Then again, it was the newbie's first go-around in the game, so he supposed he shouldn't expect much. 

"Oof" He winced as the idiot in the suit was fishhooked. He should be grateful that blade was as sharp as it looked, otherwise, it'd have been tearing through the flesh instead of slicing. 

He watched as the white-clad stranger lingered over the man a moment before letting him go, following the trail of blood left behind soon after at a leisurely pace. 

First blood goes to the new guy, he sniffed. Minorly impressive at best, but at least it proved they were more than cannon fodder. 

"Okay," he leaned forward with an eager glint behind his eyes, "Let's see what you can do." 

Chapter Text

"Well, well, well, look at you." Sickhead laughed at the end of the second hour when he and Moonhead reconvened in the main room. "Saw your work on the suit, very nice. I took 2 out so we are down to 8." 

Moonhead nodded as a voice boomed over the intercom. 

"Attention players, we've entered hour 3 of our 12-hour marathon of carnage. Your challenge is on its way." 

"Alright, so that'll be Schizo and Psycho," Sick explained. "We don't leave the arena yet, but from here on out we're on support duty, okay? Just kinda lurk and pick off strays." 

Moon nodded and followed him closely. 

Sick found he was starting to like this silent shadow of his. They didn't ask stupid questions, they'd proved themselves capable with that tool of theirs, and they stayed out from underfoot. 

The rev of chainsaws echoed through the halls and Sick's face broke into a smile. "Come on, you're gonna want to see this." 

They jogged through winding hallways until they made it to a wide-open room lined with boarded-up windows. Thin iron ladders led up to various platforms, the purpose of which had long been forgotten, but for now, they made ideal viewing points for the show below. 

Moonhead watched as the clown brothers circled and taunted 5 of the 8 remaining players. They tried to figure out the nature of these particular players, realizing they must have been made up of multiple groups taken at different times instead of the usual singular smash-and-grab. 

Many of them wept loudly, trying to scramble over each other to get away from the chainsaw blades that threatened to tear into their skin. 

"Okay, any minute now they're gonna scatter. Just pick one and have at it alright? And make it gory." 

And scatter they did, like a flock of pigeons scattered by a bike on a city street the players ran for their lives to avoid getting snatched up by one of the chainsaw-wielding maniacs. 

Moon set their sights on a middle-aged woman with dyed dark hair. She was in what remained of a suit set, having lost her jacket and shoes. 

Something about her was familiar, and that familiarity sparked something in their brain that drove them forward. Even disheveled and terrified, she bore just enough resemblance to peak Moon's interest. 

Jumping from the platform, the pale clown dashed down the hallway after the woman, who panted and slid occasionally on her nylon-clad feet. 

Moon remained silent as can be as they sprinted after the woman, soft-soled shoes making little noise with each step until they were within touching distance of each other and Moon lunged forward with their scythe. 

Catching the blade in her shoulder, the woman screamed and felt backward as Moon jerked the blade down. Blood flooded her crisp white shirt from the large wound as Moon jerked the blade out and dragged the woman back to her feet. 

"Please!" She wept, "Please, don't!"

Moon looked at her face and felt an overwhelming rush of fury. With a hard upward swing, the curved blade pierced through the woman's chin and lower jaw, burying the tip in the roof of her mouth. 

Blood waterfalled from the woman's mouth, staining the clothing and the ground at her feet as she swayed and leaned on the nearest wall, her brain fighting to stay alive by struggling. 

Falling to her knees, her eyes focused on Moonhead, who stood over her patiently before grabbing the handle of the scythe, now slick with blood. With one foot braced on the woman's chest, Moonhead jerked the blade towards them as hard as they could, ripping the blade through flesh and bone, and dislocating the woman's lower jaw. 

With the woman's face nearly completely split in two, Moonhead lingered a moment, staring at the body silently before slicing the throat for good measure.  

Their billowing white suit now soiled with crimson gore, Moonhead returned to the main area to find the clown brothers working on two victims they managed to capture. 

Moonhead looked around, trying to find Sickhead but when spotted by Psycho, he called them over with a whistle. 

"Hey, hey, newbie! You're with us now." He called. "Come on, we're gonna show you some real fucking fun." 

With a shrug and figuring shadowing one clown was just as good as shadowing another, Moonhead followed them through the halls and towards what they knew to be the main carnival-themed room. 

The victims, both men but one being slightly other than the other, were put on their knees and handcuffed. 

"Tell ya what, squirt." Schizo slapped Moonhead on the back firmly, "Why don't you pick the first contestant. Call it a truce for getting off on the wrong foot." 

Moon looked at him in what might have been surprise, if a mask could register emotion, and nodded. They regarded the two options critically as the men stared at them in horror. 

The younger man might have been in his late teens or 20s and to look at him pulled something painfully hard in their chest. Looking away, Moonhead instantly selected the older man; a fat, starry-eyed man in a cable knit sweater. 

"Alright pork belly, that's you." Psycho laughed and hauled the man to his feet. "To the wheel!"

The man hardly fought at all, too shell-shocked from the evening thus far to even register what was about to happen as he was secured tightly to the massive red and white target in the center of the room. 

"You know how to throw knives, Moon Boy?"

Moonhead shook their head and Schizo grinned. 

"Me neither!" he laughed loudly, gathering a handful of throwing darts and tossing them towards the wheel with a peal of maniacal laughter. 

Psycho pushed the wheel with all his might to send it spinning in dizzying spirals. The first 3 knives narrowly missed the man before the 4th planted itself in his leg.

The rest of the knives followed suit but Moonhead about themselves growing bored with this game.

 Torture, they found, held little interest for them.

Instead, they let their eyes scavenge around for any interesting tools or tidbits that might prove useful in the near future. 

The most interesting in the room, it seemed, was a large tin of lighter fluid, and paint brush, and a box of matches.

Silently, they nudged Psycho and indicated to the items in their hand before nodding to the man on the wheel. 

"What's the matter, Lassie? Little Timmy fall down the well?" Psycho laughed before piecing together what they were trying to say. "Well hell, kid. Why didn't you just say so? Hey, brother! Help me get this piece of shit down." 

Schizo paused mid-throw, confused but didn't argue as the man was taken down from the wheel and chained to a chair instead. 

"You two have your fun, I'm gonna strap in Jr. over here." He muttered, disinterested in Moonhead's project. 

Slicing down the front of the man's sweater, Moonhead dipped the paintbrush in the fluid before painting an invisible pattern on the man's wounded chest before striking a match and lighting the patch of skin ablaze. 

In their head, the skin that had been painted on had been the only place to catch fire. 

However, due to an overabundance of chest hair, this was not what happened. Instead, the man's whole chest went up in flames. He howled and screamed in pain and fear as the flames spread and licked up at his face and his balding head. 

Moonhead stepped back and watched, crossing their arms over of their chest and letting out a disappointed whine. "Well, fuck."  

Psycho blinked, side-eyeing the clown beside him before looking to his brother and back again. 

"Hold on one fucking minute, you ain't no man." He half laughed and Moonhead whipped around and held a finger to the painted mouth of her mask. "What's wrong?"

Moonhead sighed and looked around. Hoping the man's screams and the grinding of the wheel were loud enough to cover her voice on the cameras, she said, "I'm not allowed to talk to anyone...Please don't tell." 

Psycho considered this a minute before shrugging, "Alright." 

Moonhead sighed with relief and nodded, returning to her silence and hoping she hadn't been caught. 

Before long her time with the clown brothers was up, and Psycho informed her she was to move on and find Sex and Death. 

Obediently, Moonhead collected her scythe and followed the directions she'd been given carefully. 

"There ya are, sug." a perky voice chirped at her approach. "only 4 left!" 

Moon wanted to ask how long they'd been at it; it certainly didn't feel very long. But since she'd already fucked up once, she decided two times would be pushing limits. 

Sex and Death wore matching white outfits that had not yet been stained with blood as Moon's had. Though she was sure that would be short-lived. 

"How many have you got, hon?" Sex attached herself to Moon's side instantly as they waited for their announcement to be made. 

She held up 2 fingers and Sex hummed. "Not bad for your first year rookie. You know it's so good to have another woman around." 

Moon jumped away instinctively and looked around, "How did-?"

"Oh please." Sex rolled her eyes. "Because, unlike these men, I can see past the end of my nose." 

"I wasn't supposed to let anyone know what I am...I'm not supposed to be here." Moon confessed quietly and Sex smirked, leaning in. 

"Honey, ain't none of us supposed to be here. Don't worry, your secret is safe with me. Well, me and whoever is listening to the cameras."

"Oh fuck, the cameras!"

"Relax, it's fine." Sex laughed. "Come on, we only got 5 hours left." 

4.5 hours for 4 contestants felt almost like cheating. Finding a place on another one of the raised platforms, Moon watched as the remaining four clung to each other fearfully and grew more exhausted with every passing minute. 

Gazing down on them critically, Moon frowned behind her mask and tilted her head. 

Below her stood a middle-aged man in a brown tweed suit that was stained with blood. He had sandy blonde hair going white at the sides, and a long, narrow nose. 

She knew this man. 

She was certain she knew this man, more than she was certain of anything in the world. 

A pair of metal doors squealed open to announce the arrival of Sex and Death but she did not care; no, all she cared about was that this blonde man below her died at no other hand but hers. 

With a white-knuckle grip on her scythe, Moonhead slipped down the ladder slowly and glared at the man from the shadows. 

He was panting like an animal being chased through the forest, his eyes darting back and forth rapidly. 

She needed to get him alone. 

Moving as stealthily as a cat, Moon crept behind him, and with more strength than she realized she had she pressed her hand over his mouth and her blade to his throat. 

"Please." he whimpered. 

"Shut the fuck up." she growled, "Walk backward calmly, do not make a sound. Do you understand me?"

He nodded weakly. 

"If you try to run, it will only go worse for you," she advised him. "Let's not make this harder than it needs to be." 

He nodded and she felt tears run down his cheeks and onto her hand. 

Pulling him backward, Selene directed him as far as she could to the back of the warehouse, out of sight of everyone. 

"Please." he sniffed, "Who are you people." 

Keeping the blade to his throat, Selene stepped away a moment before taking a hard slash at the back of his ankles. 

The man collapsed with a scream of pain, falling on his stomach only to be roughly turned over and pinned under Selene's weight. 

"You know who I am." She breathed. 

"I don't." He insisted, "Please, I swear I don't know anything." 

"You are the reason my brother is dead, Mr. Lawson," she explained coldly, putting more pressure on the blade and letting it bite into his throat. "Do you remember that?" 

"I..." Lawson sputtered. "Please, I don't understand." 

Sitting up, Selene withdrew her blade from his neck and for a moment hope flashed before his eyes as she raised her hands and slowly removed the mask that veiled her identity. 

"Do you remember me now, Mr. Lawson?" 

"I..." He swallowed. "I do.... I do! I know you!"

Selene's face did not waver, ice-cold fury running through her veins as she watched his face go from realization to confusion, and then back to terror. 

"No." He whimpered. "No please, that wasn't my fault." 

"You told them he was going to run." She growled, picking her scythe back up in a painfully tight grip. "You told them...and that's why they were there at the bus station. Because you betrayed him....and now he is dead, because of  you,"  she growled the word like it was venom that burned in her throat. 

"I only did what I thought was right, plea-AH!" 

The blade came down hard, spearing him in the chest before tearing itself out and coming down again and again. 

The blood sprayed from the open wounds, dousing Selene's chest and face with blood as she threw aside her blade and began to tear at his wounds with her hands until she pulled away chunks of meat and viscera. 

His screams echoed off the walls ceaselessly, her savagery tormenting him with everything but the release of death. 

She clawed and ripped and tore until she hit bone and even then, she was not satisfied. 

Snatching back up her scythe, Selene grabbed the barely alive man by his head and with ragged, furious slices, carved through his neck until his head came off his body. 

Holding the head in her hands, Selene tried to steady her breathing as her nails tore and clawed at his face. The last of her animal rage ebbed from her body in heavy, growling pants, her eyes screwed shut and her body trembling as she swallowed hard and struggled to regain control of herself. 

She sat in silence for a moment, her blood-soaked hands coming to her face only to find it equally drenched but not caring one bit as she covered her mouth and let out a shaky sob. 

"My God."

A voice behind her caught her off guard. She scrambled off the corpse and moved to snatch back up her mask. 

"Don't bother." the voice almost laughed, "Holy fucking shit."

She turned and sat back on her calves, looking up at the intruder anxiously. 

He marveled at her openly, not bothering to hide his expression through a veil of disinterest. The blood on his chest paled in comparison to the red wash that soaked into her hand and skin down to her stomach. 

For some reason, she feared he would laugh at her.  

"I've seen a lot of shit." Doomhead began, "I mean  a lot  of shit...But I have never seen some shit like that." 

She tried to find some words to give him but found her mouth dry and her brain buzzing. 

"Come on." He offered her his hand and she stared at it a moment like it was a snake striking out to bite her. "Oh, for fuck's sake, would you hurry up! We got 3 hours left and only one of these idiots to go. I don't intend to miss my chance at him because of you." 

Perhaps it was the urgency in his voice or the fact that he seemed not only unphased but genuinely dazzled by her blood lust, but she took his hand silently and followed on his heels. 

"Oh, good you found her!" Sex stood by waiting for them. "Holy shit girl, what did you get into?" 

"Some asshole's chest cavity, but we'll explain later" Doom scoffed, "Which way'd it go?" 

"North end." 

Chapter Text

Something in Selene's heart had settled by the time they'd cornered the final player with 2.5 hours remaining. 

His grip on her hand was still tight, Doomhead parked her behind a large load-bearing pole. 

"Stay" was all he said, as if talking to a dog. But Selene obeyed all the same. She had no desire to participate further and was more than willing to stay out of the way. 

Leaning against the pole with her palms flat against the cold metal, she watched what little she could. They were by the boiler now, demonstrated by the puffs of steam and hazy fog that hung in the air. 

Of all the players, she'd always liked Doomhead best, even though he worked the fastest of them. 

The others were entertaining like a circus sure but, they were putting on a show for them. 

He wasn't. 

He moved like an apex predator, slow and deliberate. Even the blood around his mouth mirrored a lion tearing into the still-warm flesh of its prey. 

Further back into the steam, Selene heard the distinct scrap of a hard sole on concrete. She watched as his muscles tensed at the sound and after a moment, as if calibrating, he was gone. 

Her mask still hanging from her fingers, Selene turned it over in her hands and slipped it back on, though her blood-matted hair was still loose down her back and clung to her face slightly. 

She stood in the darkness silently for what felt like ages until she jumped at the sound of a blaring alarm. 

It was done, and with 2 hours to spare. 

She glanced up at the sound of footsteps. She could see through the mist an orange glow that drew closer until the shape of a man came with it. He moved slowly, with one hand pressed to his lower ribs. 

"Congratulations to all!" Selene heard her Grandfather's voice come over the intercom. "31 is complete."

Lights came up quickly with dull bangs as Selene approached Doom cautiously. He glanced up as if he had forgotten she was there and blew a cloud of cigar smoke in her direction. 

"Not bad for your first year." 

"Thanks." She said instinctively, forgetting she wasn't authorized to speak to anyone. "You hurt?" 

"Eh." He scoffed but winced as he withdrew a blood-soaked hand from a deep gouge in his abdomen. "Didn't hit anything important. I'll be fine." 

Taking another drag he leaned against the metal pipes and looked her over critically. "Take off the mask."

"I'm not allowed."

"Why?"

"No one is supposed to know who I am." She confessed and he scoffed. 

"Me either. But I don't wear a mask." 

She considered this and with hesitant hands she removed the mask over her head, patting back down her hair as much as she could. 

He smiled at the sight of her, a large grin of crooked, blood-stained teeth. 

"I know you." 

Her blood went cold and she shook her head frightfully. 

"Please." She begged. "Please don't tell them." 

Doom considered this thoughtfully. "Can't be that bad, what's the worst that could happen?" 

"They might not let me out anymore." She swallowed hard. "I was lucky they allowed me out at all this year." 

"Out?" He laughed. "What, they keep you locked up in some big-ass tower or some shit?" 

She frowned and avoided his gaze. "Something like that." 

With a loud buzz, a set of inlaid doors opened from the wall. Out came half a dozen heavily armed black-clad men, most of whom gathered around Selene protectively. 

"Your grandfather wants to see you. Now." 

Her face dropped at the firmness of the order and for a moment her eyes flickered back to Doom apologetically. 

He puffed at his cigar with a frown. "We were in the middle of a conversation, which you very rudely interrupted." 

The nameless leader eyes him, unimpressed. "This area needs to be cleared, and you need to be seen by the medic."

"Oh, I'm just fine," Doom assured him confidently. "In fact, I think I may just keep you boys company." 

"That will not be necessary." 

"Why don't we ask the lady what she thinks?" Doom challenged, "How about it, princess? Mind if I tag along?"

Selene paused, never considering the possibility that she held some level of authority to make that call. 

She straightened her shoulder and nodded. "I would like him to come, actually." 

"Your grandfather..."

"Did my grandfather expressly forbid him coming?" 

"...No, ma'am." 

"Then I want him to come." 

The head guard contained a growl but nodded to one of his men. "Have the medic meet us up on the top floor." 

Doom moved with pain, the space between his ribs and his hip burning with each up. To distract himself he looked down at his companion curiously. 

He'd seen war do terrifying things to ordinary men. 

But he can confidently say he'd never seen a soldier tear into an enemy's chest with their bare hands before cutting off their head. 

That was a new one. 

They rode the lift to the top floor and the closer they got, the less anxious she seemed to be. Once she stepped out, she turned to him with grateful eyes. 

"You should go get patched up, I can handle things from here." 

He eyes the men around them distrustfully but nods. "Whatever you say." 

15 years has made Selene a master at hiding her more volatile emotions. 

She'd learned that even if you were on fire on the inside, you would never be taken seriously unless you appeared the way people wanted you to.

To fly off the handle meant being sedated, moved to higher security, or worse. 

So, even in the face of terror, one must remain calm. 

Mr. Magnus waited patiently on the other side of a large door and frowned when his granddaughter entered.

"What did I tell you about talking to anyone?" He began harshly. "And taking off your mask, what were you thinking?" 

"I'm sorry." She said blandly. "I knew the rules and I broke them, I have no excuse."

Her voice was like someone operating a recorder in her throat. 

"Never mind, it will be handled." He sighed. "With any luck, this will all be worth it...and you will be able to put this ugliness with Benjamin behind you." 

The mention of her brother created a tiny crack in her veneer, but she held it together.

"I'm sure you're right." She breathed. "Grandfather, I have a question." 

"Yes, my dear?" 

"My release....it is for 72 hours, yes?" 

"Yes, why?" 

Selene swallowed hard. "Could...could I stay for the whole 72 hours? Please?" 

Magnus eyed her in surprise. She'd never been out of the hospital for so long before. 

"We did tell the staff you'd be back by 10." 

"I know but." She clenched her fists. "Please...I just think it might help."

He considered this, leaning on a damask chair thoughtfully before nodding. "Fine." 

Selene's heart soared. 

"But." He added. "On the condition, you see your parents at least once." 

And then her heart fell. 

"Grandfather-"

"They were just as heartbroken as you were, Selene." 

"They killed him." She hissed. "They sent their own son to be slaughtered." 

"Enough." Magnus snapped. "That is my condition. You are welcome to leave earlier if you do not find it acceptable. Consider it a thank you for the little gift I gave you in the arena." 

Selene's jaw tightened but she sighed. "Alright"

"Good." He nodded. "Now, go get cleaned up. There are washrooms below."

She nodded silently and left without another word. 

The washrooms included a stall shower and a sink to scrub the blood and viscera from her body. It took a lot of rough scrubbing and hot water, but by the end her skin was raw and she was clean.

Redressing in her grey sweater and thick skirt, Selene found herself without guards for the first time since she got here. The bloody white suit would be burned with the bodies, so she didn't worry about that and instead wandered back the way she came. 

She'd killed Lawson, and she was glad of it. 

But, the happiness she felt reminded her that Mr. Lawson wasn't the only person who bore blame. 

Her eyes were glued to the floor in front of her as she got so lost in her own head that she didn't realize someone was coming until her shoulder collided with someone. 

"Shit, I'm so sorry." She whipped around to ensure whoever she hit was okay before smiling. "Oh, it's you." 

"The one and only." Doom nodded, still caked in blood and grease paint but no longer bleeding. 

He looked her up and down the way a starved man eyes a 4-course meal. 

"Well look at you," he sniffed. "Now you really look familiar...Selene, right?" 

"How'd you know?" 

"Overheard it, I guess." He shrugged vaguely, stepping towards her to close the gap between them slightly. "Now how did a princess like you go from witness to player in this little game?" 

"It's hard to explain." 

"I know it has something to do with that suit you tore into." He pressed. "And your brother." 

"Please don't talk about that." She said harsher than she meant before wincing apologetically. "I'm sorry."

She looked him up and down, pressing herself to the wall behind you. 

"Are you really curious?" 

"Desperately." He smirked. 

"Alright." She smiled a little. "Come to the big brown estate house with the red roof on N Montgomery Ave just outside Hunter's Creek tonight at 5 pm. Hang back by the road at the end of the drive. If I see you there, I'll tell you everything." 

"Little girl, it sounds like you're trying to get me shot." He scoffed but she shook her head. 

"It's totally safe. Promise." 

He fell silent, eyeing her to determine if she was serious or fucking with him. 

"Alright, 5 pm." 

Chapter Text

Dusk was drawing closer, despite being just past 5. 

The man waited patiently, a cigarette hanging from his lips as he leaned against the side of his van. 

Maybe she wasn't coming. He thought with a tug of frustration. He was taking a big risk coming out here, and a stupid one. 

He couldn't lose this job. 

It was the only thing that allowed him to keep his distance from the general population. It paid well enough that he could hole up for years at a time if he wanted to, and he liked that. 

He liked the security of it. 

His keen ears caught the sound of feet scraping pavement rapidly, and looking up he found her jogging down the hill, cheeks flushed. 

She was wrapped in a light blue jacket over a short and shapeless green dress to shield against the coming chill of the night and her eyes lit up when they landed on him. 

"I'm late, I'm sorry." She was immediately apologetic but he shrugged, dismissing his previous frustration in favor of her current enthusiasm. 

"Have trouble slipping past the dragon, princess?" 

"Something like that. They think I'm asleep, so I should be good until morning." She breathed and the man blinked in surprise. 

He hadn't expected her to actually have to sneak out. 

"How...?" He began to ask, almost fearing the answer. "How old are you?"

"28." 

Relief washed over him, but confusion followed on its heels. 

"And you couldn't just say you're going out for the evening?" 

She eyed him sheepishly. "It's hard to explain...but I did promise you answers, so." She considered her next words carefully. "My family liked to keep track of me.....for safety" 

She indicated to the sidewalk and began walking, waiting a moment for him to pick up the hint and walk beside her. 

"So, let's start with the obvious question. Why the hell were you in there last night?" 

"My grandfather thought it might help me grieve." She said plainly. "My little brother died last month and I...I guess I haven't been coping well." 

"Sorry to hear it." He sniffed, figuring in a rich family like this it was either booze or drugs that took the kid out. "Can I ask what happened?" 

"He uh..." she swallowed. "He got drafted. His unit was bombed his first day in Vietnam and he didn't make it." 

"Shit." He breathed, a creeping anxiety gripping the back of his skull. 

"Yeah....I tried to help him." She explained. "Benny was....sensitive. He was never a fighter, he didn't even kill bugs. When he got drafted I helped him work out a plan to run, and I bought his bus ticket with what little money I had stored away."

The red sun began to dip under the horizon, casting long shadows across the ground as they walked. 

"He got me out on a day pass and I went with him to the station but...I don't know why he told anyone, but I guess he told one of his professors and he went to my parents...who went to the police." Selene was speaking through her teeth now, agitation edging her voice. 

"So we get there and there's our parents and Lawson, and a cop. And they give Benny two choices, either he can join up or he can be arrested and of course, I'd get booked as an accessory. I told him to take the jail time but..." she led off, eyes hard ahead as if looking anywhere else might lead to disaster. 

The man listened carefully. "So the suit-"

"Was Lawson. I guess my grandfather thought killing him would help me move on but." She laughed bitterly. "I can't say it has." 

They walked in silence, the affluent neighborhood around them quiet as a tomb save for the chatter of far-off activity. 

"So...that tower of yours." 

"Austin State Hospital." She said quickly. "15 years now."

"15?" He frowned. "You were just a kid, why would you-?"

"That...is a harder one to explain." She swallowed hard. "But I'm not crazy if that makes you feel better....not really" 

The man resisted to urge to point out that was exactly what a crazy person would say. She could tell he didn't believe her and sighed deeply. 

"When I was 13, this older boy was fucking with my brother so I...did what I thought I had to do." She explained vaguely. "And it was either CPS and Juvie or Austin....take a guess which one my parents chose. I'm still under a conservatorship, so I guess it's just easier for them to keep me on the shelf rather than risk scandal." 

She fell silent again, unwilling to elaborate unless he asked directly. 

He took a deep drag from his cigarette. If her performance in the arena was any indication of what she did 15 years ago, he could imagine how grisly the scene had been. 

"Yeah....that's everything, I think." She eyed him carefully, unsure of what to say now. She could see the gears in his brain working to process everything before he stopped in his tracks. 

"Why not just leave?" He asked plainly. 

"I've thought about it." She confessed. "Tried a few times but...it never ends well. I usually end up worse off than I was before." 

He didn't understand. 

He could think of very little that was worse than being caged like that. In her place, he'd be clawing at the walls trying to get out. 

But, she looked peaceful. 

Not happy, certainly not. 

More melancholy acceptance. 

Like an animal that had spent its entire life in captivity but retained a vague awareness that this was not where they belonged.

15 years. 

She probably hadn't experienced anything of the outside world. 

"You said they won't expect to see you until morning?" 

She shrugged. "They shouldn't." 

Nodded, the man grabbed her by the elbow and turned back the way they came. 

"Come on."

"What?" She blinked, thinking fearfully he'd decided to drag her back to her gilded cage. "No, please I-"

"Relax, I'm not taking you back." He scoffed. "Get in the car, I'm taking you out." 

"You're-" she gawked at him. "Where?"

"It's a surprise. Now do you wanna go or do you wanna hike back up that hill?" His hand rested on the passenger side door, waiting impatiently for her to make her choice. "Tick tock, princess. Time waits for no man."

She was shaken and part of her was deeply frightened. She hadn't anticipated going further than past the block. 

But, he seemed to have a plan. And as long as at least one of them knew what they were doing, certainly, she was safe, right?

"I don't even know your name," she breathed.

He smirked a little, enjoying how flustered she was but all the same completely intent on getting her in this van. 

"Call me John." 

Selene's heart was pounding against her ribs as she sat in the passenger seat of the large van. 

The streetlights were coming on as they drove past, the sun having set fully and cloaked the city in darkness. The stars this far out were plentiful and breathtaking. 

"Full moon." She muttered to herself on instinct as she gazed at the silver-white disc over them

"Hm?"

"Oh," she blushed, realizing she'd been speaking out loud. "There's a full moon. The nurses always say that means the crazies are gonna be out."

"Well." John scoffed, unable to resist the temptation to make the obvious joke. "You're out...so I guess there's something to that." 

She laughed shortly, side-eyeing him. "I'm not crazy."

"No, of course not, princess" he assured her with a teasing tone, pulling the van up to a backroad that went from paved to dirt with a lurch.

The road led to a large mowed down field that was checked with short speaker poles every few feet. By each pole sat a parked car, and it seemed the whole field had been packed in. At one end there was a broad white screen supported by black iron bars. 

"This is it." He slipped a few dollars from his billfold and passed them to a miserable-looking doorman who waved him through with a flashlight.

"This is it?" Selene smiled a little unsurely. "What is it?" 

John eyed her in confusion as he pulled to the far back and parked. "You...have you really never been to a drive-in?"

She shook her head. "No, what is it?"

He choked back a mischievous smile, hiding it behind his hand before clearing his throat. 

"Well, I'll show you, princess." He said very seriously, leaning to the side to unbuckle her seatbelt and pull her carefully by the elbow. Selene slipped out from under the strap and scooted closer to him. 

"No, no, all the way." 

"Oh," Selene blushed deeply but obeyed, nestled under his arm at this point with his hand draped over her shoulder. 

"There. Now, you and I are going to sit here and watch a movie up on that screen, and just enjoy the evening." 

"Oh." She caught on quickly and sat up. "And why do I get the feeling being pressed against you is not *strictly necessary* for this endeavor?" 

He gasped in mock offense. "It is completely necessary! What do you think I'd lie just to get closer to you? For shame, madame." 

She laughed at that, replacing herself under his arm knowingly. "If you say so." 

"I do." He tutted sternly, "Now shut up and watch the movie." 

The old black-and-white horror flick fixed Selene's attention, but still, she was aware of the hand over her shoulder tracing absent-minded patterns through the shoulder of her green dress.

She glanced up at him from the death scene, wondering if he was trying to get her attention, but he seemed just as transfixed as she was. 

Returning to the movie, she felt the hand move from her shoulder to her neck, stopping at the back to rub firm circles before the fingers curled to her jaw and cheek. 

She didn't remember turning her head, but as the story played out on the screen ahead of them Selene was distracted by the force of the lips on hers. 

She didn't kiss back at first, too surprised by the suddenness of it all. But as she got her bearings, she let her hand slip from her lap up to his chest. 

She'd only been kissed a few times, all before the age of 20 and mostly by older orderlies who'd coax kisses out of her for extra privileges. 

But never had she been kissed like this, never passionately with roaming hands and heated breathing that tightened something in her stomach. 

"Come here." His voice was heavy and laced with a growl as he guided her into his lap. One rough hand found her hair and threaded his fingers through the tawny locks as he claimed her lips again. 

She was prepared this time and kissed him back fully, allowing him to press his tongue into her mouth as one hand pressed on her lower back and the other tested her limits by groping at her chest. 

That was a new sensation, and it drew a sharp gasp when his fingers found her nipple. It was somehow so much more intense than when she ventured to touch herself. As he drew teasing circles through the fabric, she could feel him grin into the kiss when they hardened under his touch. 

"I think," John broke the kiss and left her flushed. "We might be a bit more comfortable in the back."

To press home his meaning, he slipped a hand under her dress and rubbed at the thin fabric barrier between her legs. She let out a trembling breath, nearly a mewling whimper that sent a rush of desire through him. She was so reactive to his touch, and already wet for him just from this. 

"I- I mean I've never done this before." She whispered.

"Never in a car?" He hummed. "That's alright."

"No." She shook her head, both hands gripping his shoulders nervously. "I mean I have done this...ever...at all."

He froze, brow furrowing as he withdrew his hand and watched her face flush with a rush of embarrassment. 

"You never..." John swallowed, unsure how to proceed. It made sense, she'd been kept under constant supervision since childhood. It's not like she'd had much opportunity. 

But still, never?

John wasn't a sentimental man. He wasn't one for codes of honor. But, something about taking this woman's virginity in the back of a van at a drive-in didn't sit quite right with him. 

"Did I say something wrong?" She slipped off his lap shyly when he fell silent. "Sorry."

"No, it's okay." He assured her. "I just...really, never?"

"Not even once. Is that bad?" 

"Not bad just..." he struggled to find the words. "If you want to...this isn't the place to, at least not for your first time." 

"Oh." She looked disappointed and frankly, he was also regretting getting worked up for nothing. 

"You know." He breathed. "There are other things we can do." 

"There are?" 

He smirked at her ignorance. He was used to whores who probably knew more about sex than he did. He was unaccustomed to inexperience. 

"Come here and I'll show you." He tugged at her dress and grinned as she crawled back to his lap. 

He directed her to straddle his thigh and slipped his hand back under her skirt to pull aside her panties. 

He watched her face carefully as he felt through her folds until her mouth fell open slightly and her neck went loose. 

"That's right, princess." His free hand held her neck and leaned her against his shoulder so he could relish the quiet gasps and whine he drew from her body. 

Selene's body reacted purely on instinct. She'd touched herself before, but this was different somehow. She was not in control of her pleasure, for now, she could only hold on to him and listen as he whispered in her ears 

"So wet just from being kissed," he chuckled darkly. "So sensitive, so sweet. No, no, no, keep those legs nice and wide for me, baby." He felt her legs tremble as he rubbed directly on her clit, sending bolts of lightning through her body so strong she spasmed involuntarily and clung to him. 

"I know, baby." His mouth pressed to her temple as she drew closer to the edge. "I know you're just aching for something inside you, but you'll just have to be patient." 

"John." Her voice trembled weakly. "J-Mhm Ah!" 

Her grip tightened as she came with a cry loud enough they might have been heard, but John didn't care as he watched her body shake while he rubbed her through her orgasm. He stifled a groan, his hard cock pressed painfully against his pants as he thought of her tight cunt spasming around nothing, empty and aching for him.

His fingers were soaked with her juices and he pressed them to her lips as he kissed her forehead. 

"That's a good girl." He purred as her lips wrapped around his fingers and her soft tongue licked them clean. "That's right, baby. Just breathe." 

She panted, her face pressed to his shoulder until her grip on him loosened. 

She felt like she should thank him, but when her hand felt for his pants he shooed her away. 

"Greedy girl" he'd scolded her teasingly. "Next time."

She was relieved he wanted there to be a next time. When the film ended and led into a double feature they stayed through it before he ferried her back to her Grandfather's estate. 

Sitting at the bottom of the drive, Selene was reluctant to go. Going meant she'd have to wake up in the morning knowing all she'd have left to look forward to was seeing her parents and being toted back to the hospital to be hidden away for another year. 

It wasn't until he promised her he'd see her again before she could be sent away that she left him with a desperate kiss. 

Don't forget about me, it begged, please. 

And he wouldn't. 

Chapter Text

Selene took in her face in the mirror, familiarizing herself with the dull, lifeless expression she'd be wearing for the rest of the night as she popped a blue sedative on her tongue and washed it down with water. 

In a shapeless black dress that came to her knees and her hair wrapped back into a french roll, she steeled herself against the evening to come. 

Her last evening of freedom, and this is how she was going out. 

Not with a bang, but with a sedative-laced grumble. 

Hopefully, she'd be allowed a glass of wine despite her medication, and she'd leave remembering very little of the evening. 

"Miss Selene?" A young maid popped her head in the door frame. "Your grandfather and aunts are waiting for you in the car."

"Coming." She sighed, grabbing a small black clutch that contained nothing but a bottle of pills, 10 dollars, and a tube of lipstick. 

She was silent on the way there and all the way up to the driveway of the brick mansion she'd once called her home over a lifetime ago. 

Nothing had changed, not the color of the shutters or the type of flowers her mother kept planted along the walkway. 

She almost stopped walking, a stubborn streak fighting its way past the fog of submission in her brain. What if she just refused to see them? Refused to in? What would they do, send her back? They were going to do that anyway. 

"Selene." She felt a gentle but cold hand touch her arm. She looked up and found her Aunt Diane eyeing her carefully. Diane was a hard woman; always sporting a no-nonsense demeanor that put the kibosh on any thoughts of rebellion. "Come along, dear." 

The sight of her parents was enough to send a wave of nausea through Selene's body. 

Her mother, early 50s, and yet obsessively dyed her hair bright blonde to hide any graying. She'll be bald by 60, Selene thought bitterly. How could a woman so dominant be so open about her weak vanity? Selene was certain if she pointed out the scars from her facelift, she'd shatter into a million pieces. 

And her father. Selene struggled not to wince when he hugged her. He wasn't malevolent like her mother, but God, was he pathetic. The henpecked flying monkey to her wicked witch. His shoulders were stooped and his hair was poorly combed over to cover the balding. 

Selene did not say hello. She allowed herself to be fawned and fussed over, but she refused to speak, that would be her defiance. 

"You'll have to forgive her." Her grandfather eyed her disapprovingly but lied on her behalf all the same, "The medication can make her lethargic."

"Of course." Her mother nodded unsurely, but it wasn't as if she'd taken any great interest in her daughter's treatment in some time so how could she know otherwise? 

Selene sat at the dark wood table that had been polished to a high shine. The plate before her scrolled with gold leaf and piled high with pork and roasted vegetables, didn't interest her in the slightest. 

She sipped at a glass of dry white wine. 

She hated white wine, it tasted sour and acrid like vinegar. 

But it went well with Benzos. 

She let her mind wander as the conversation went through one ear and out the other. 

She wondered what Betty was doing right now. 

Probably sneaking some contraband nail polish into her room and painting her fingers and toes some outlandish color that would get her scolded by the nurses. 

She missed Betty. She missed the way she smiled wide and shamelessly, heedless of her crooked teeth. The way she cuffed up the hem of their blue regulation dresses until it hit mid-thigh and belted it with stolen restraint stap before strutting the halls and flashing her long, dark legs like a fashion model. 

Betty had never told her what she'd been chucked in there for, but it didn't matter. It never mattered. You take what friends you can get on the inside, past crimes be damned.

But one thing was for sure, Betty certainly wouldn't just sit here like she was. 

"May I be excused?" 

The table went silent when Selene spoke up for the first time all night. 

"I..." her mother blinked in surprise. "certainly, darling." 

Selene nodded, removing the cloth napkin from her lap and removing herself from the room. She waited for the chatter to resume before making for the back kitchen door used by the help. 

On a pad of paper, she scribbled a note. 

"Not well, going home. ~S"

She wasn't exactly sure how she would get home, it was quite far to walk but not impossible. 

The main issue, she realized, was the wine....or the pills...or both. 

Either way, her vision swayed lightly as she walked, making her dizzy. 

She stopped to lean on a brick wall, the coolness of it grounding her a bit. It was going to be a long walk but she couldn't keep her feet under her. 

Perhaps a taxi was smarter. 

Had she been half as clever as she fancied herself, she'd have called for one from the kitchen. It would be damn near impossible to hail one in this part of town. 

Walking it is, at least until she found a payphone. 

Cars whooshed past her occasionally as she made her way through the affluent neighborhood. Perhaps it was a shorter walk than she remembered, or perhaps her sense of time was a bit skewed, but eventually, Selene's feet carried her to a gas station that, blessedly, had a payphone. 

As she waited, she found herself wondering if they had noticed she was gone yet. 

Surely they had. 

She'd be in for quite the scolding when her grandfather got home, she knew that for certain. 

But there was something funny about it. Imagining the wide eyes and choking on soup and wringing hands over what the neighbors might think seeing a mad woman wandering the streets. 

The taxi driver rolled his eyes at her when she slurred the address at him but took her cash all the same. 

Sitting was easier than standing, and she was able to steady herself on the car ride. 

"A bit over-served there, Lady?" The Spanish accent of the driver asked as he checked on her in the rearview. 

"A bit." She nodded. "Thank you for coming so quickly." 

"Hey, better me than someone else." He shrugged. 

As they rounded the corner onto Montgomery, Selene narrowed her eyes at a vaguely familiar van on the side of the road. 

"Stop here please." She tapped on the divider "And keep the change." 

Letting her out without question, the driver at least waited until she was on the sidewalk before pulling away. 

"Fancy seeing you here." She laughed, eyeing the tall, thin man leaning on the side of the van. "You weren't waiting for me were you?" 

"Now what makes you say that, princess?" 

"Oh forgive me." She raised her brows, "I'm sure you have plenty of other reasons to be in this part of town."

John shrugged. "Maybe I was hoping you'd come down." 

"Maybe." She agreed. "Well, here I am." 

In all honesty, he wasn't sure why he was there. They hadn't made plans. 

But something told him she'd be glad to see him, and he hadn't anything better to do. 

Noticing the sway in her step, he reached out an arm to steady her. 

"Fun night?"

"Awful night." She confessed grimly. "But the wine made it easier."

"I can tell" he chuckled darkly. "Just how much did you have?"

"Just the one glass." She shrugged. 

John frowned. That didn't make any sense. She followed the pull of his hands willingly and looked up when he tilted her chin. 

Her pupils looked wide, and her eyes were red and heavy-lidded as if exhausted. There was more in her than wine, he knew that for sure. 

"What did you take?" 

She tried to remember but her mind was clouded. Fumbling with her clutch she pushed the bottle into his hand and let him examine it 

Librium 25mg

"Shit." He muttered. "You know you're not supposed to drink with this, right?" 

She shrugged. 

This was not how he was hoping this evening would go, but all the same, he was glad he came. 

She was like bait on a hook in this state, anyone could have found her. Or she could have wandered into the road. 

"Come on." He breathed, pulling her by the arm. 

"Another surprise of yours?" 

"No, smart ass, I'm taking you home." He rolled his eyes. "If you can fucking walk, that is." 

"I can walk." 

"Then do it." 

She frowned, wrenching her arm from his grasp but allowing him to walk with her up to the house. It was bad enough she had to endure seeing those people, now the only person she'd considered in her corner seemed angry with her. 

Maybe it was better if she went back to the hospital. 

The idea made her want to cry. 

Was she so unfit for the outside world that the hell of the asylum was a better alternative? 

"You should go." She muttered sullenly as they reached the door. "They'll probably be here in a few minutes." 

"If you think I'm leaving you alone this doped up, you're out of your fucking mind." He scoffed, lighting up a cigarette. "Sit down, just focus on breathing." 

"Fuck's sake, I'm not going to OD on the fucking porch!" She snapped before wincing. "Sorry...that wasn't. Sorry." 

They sat in silence, Selene staring at him hard. John wasn't sure if she was aware she was doing it, so he didn't bring it up. 

"Are you mad at me?" 

The question came out of left field and he tilted his head as he he didn't hear her properly. 

"What?"

"Nothin'."

"Why the hell would it matter if I'm mad at you?" 

She shrugged. "Cause I don't want you to be." 

He paused, breathing out a cloud of smoke with an amused look. "No, I am not mad at you. A little annoyed, 'cause what you did was stupid as shit and I credited you with more sense than that...but not mad." 

She crossed over arms over her chest protectively. "Sorry."

"Why are you mixing benzos and wine anyway?" 

"I agreed to see my parents." She confessed. "But I didn't agree to do it sober so." She shifted uncomfortably but smiled a little. "I guess I decided to take your advice, I left a note on the counter and snuck out the back door." 

"That was not my advice."

"Close to it." 

Before he could argue further, John spotted the flare of red and blue light that could only mean one thing. 

"Fuck me, they sent out the search pigs." He breathed, standing quickly. "Stay calm, let me do the talking." 

Two uniformed officers of Texas's finest stalked up the paved drive. At the sight of Selene, one of them pulled the radio from his belt. John could make out the words "found her" on his lips. 

"Miss. Selene Magnus?" 

"Yes?" Selene stood up. "Is something the matter?" 

"Your folks put out a report you'd gone missing." The Officer eyed John distrustfully. "And you are?"

God he hated doing this, but it never failed. 

"Corporal Johnathan Aaron." He said seriously as if prepared to be challenged. "Friend of the family." 

The mere mention of an army ranking was usually enough to secure a minimum level of respect from cops, and this time was no exception. 

"Corporal," the officer nodded, offering his hand. It was shaken with hidden reluctance. "Is this woman with you?" 

"She is." He nodded, eyeing Selene with a knowing smile as if they were old friends. "I received a phone call begging for escape from a very boring family dinner." 

"This is my fault," Selene spoke up. "I should have told someone I was leaving, I didn't mean to cause a fuss." 

The officer eyed them both. "Well, if that's the whole of it, I don't think this needs to be pursued further." 

They left with no further questions and Selene let out a shaking breath. "God, that could have been bad." 

"Yeah, it could have." John breathed. "Fuck, I'm gonna have some shit to answer for with your granddad."

"I'll talk to him, I promise," Selene assured him. "You'll come out looking like Prince Charming when I'm through, don't worry." 

Eyes catching the movement of a sleek black car, John nudged her. "Might want to get your story straight quick, Princess. Cause it looks like the piper's come for his payment."

Selene carved a fake smile into her face as her Grandfather nearly kicked open the car door, madder than a nest of hornets. 

"Oh, fuck me."

Chapter Text

Watching the scenery flash by the window, Selene sat in the back seat of the otherwise empty car in silence. 

It had been agreed that her elopement would not be mentioned to the hospital, and she supposed she ought to be grateful. 

John had made it out relatively unscathed, though it was hard explaining how he and Selene knew one another outside of the game. Though it included confessing to a few broken rules, his employment was still secure. 

"I don't want to go back." 

She was supposed to be seeing him off, the day's eyeliner smudged into dark shadows under her eyes as she looked up at him. 

"I know." He glanced over his shoulder to ensure they weren't being listened to. "Make it easy on yourself for now. We'll see each other again soon enough." 

"You'll come see me?" 

The eagerness in her voice was almost childish; wordlessly pleading with him to swear to it. He smirked, stroking her round cheek with his thumb. 

"Maybe, if you're good." 

She wished she'd kissed him before he left, but she didn't. 

Her grandfather barely said goodbye when she left, still furious at her rebellious escape from her parent's home. 

The drive was 3 hours, and she didn't say a word for most of it. Preferring to re-read her books for the millionth time and casually ponder if she should try something new. 

She wouldn't, but it was something to consider. 

Sitting sideways in the seat, safety belt neglected completely, Selene eyed the car behind them. 

It was a black Buick 4-door, only a few years old. It'd been following them for ages now, taking them since they'd hit the highway. 

Sometimes it sat directly behind them, sometimes a few cars back, but always within sight. It kept a respectful distance, never riding its tail so as to avoid annoying the driver. 

After the second hour, it got off on the same exit as them and followed a bit longer before finally turning right at a fork while they stayed left. 

She might have thought it strange, but the highway was really the only way to get to Austin and lots of people came through. 

It was no grand leap of confidence to think the driver of the Buick was just another traveler headed for the city. 

Arriving at the front gates, Selene was greeted by the head nurse, a tall thin woman with small pursed lips and a ridiculously high forehead named Nurse Merle. She was backed by two orderlies who, judging by the look on their faces knew that their only reason for being here was for Merle to flex her authority. 

Selene had a very complicated relationship with the staff of Austin State Hospital. 

As she was easily one of the longest-held residents in the facility, having even been present for the drama and conflama that had been the racial integration process. She'd seen overseers, head nurses, and board directors come and go like ghosts. 

And due to this, the staff was split into two groups. 

The old heads who knew Selene and understood she wasn't here to be treated so much as she was to be contained. 

And the new bloods, who were eager to flex their new authority and resented Selene's lack of respect for their title. 

Selene didn't attend the group therapy sessions. 

She didn't participate in whatever little group activity the nurses came up with for no other reason than to feel like they were doing something. 

She simply attended her therapy sessions with the head psychiatrist, Dr. Wiesel, and otherwise did her best to keep her time occupied. 

"Ms. Magnus." 

"Merle." Selene sighed as the orderlies took her bag. "Miss me?"

"I trust you found your time outside productive?" 

"Extremely." Selene sniffed. "I take it Weisel is waiting for me?" 

"In his office." Merle's lips tightened when Selene took away her opportunity to direct her movements. Selene began walking briskly down the hall, waving at familiar faces as Merle tried to keep up with her without looking like she was rushing. 

The head nurse reached the wooden door over which the nameplate "Dr. W.B. Wiesel" was prominently displayed. She huffed and puffed, trying to pull herself up right before knocking on the door. 

"Doctor, Selene is here." 

Weisel was a small, thin man nearing his 70s. He was kind and had been seeing Selene since she was 13 years old. 

Settling on the plush burgundy leather couch, Selene let out a sigh and let the good doctor get himself set up. 

"How was your release, Selene." 

"Eventful," Selene confessed, glancing up at him. 

"Oh?"

"I met a man." 

At this Weisel was surprised and he made a quick note. 

"By met you mean...?"

"I mean he is a friend of my Grandfather's." She began. "We hit it off at this party my grandfather was hosting, and he was... I don't even know how to explain it." 

"Let's try starting with what you know for sure. What's his name? How old was he? What did he look like?" 

"His name was John." Selene began to visualize him in her mind's eye. "He's tall, 6 foot I think, and very skinny. He was....older." 

"How much older?" 

Selene paused, knowing where this was going. "40s probably, maybe 50." 

"I see." Wiesel made another note. "Keep going."

"I've never met someone so confident before." Selene breathed. "He wasn't scared of me....he didn't even seem put off." 

"How much did he know about you?" 

"Quite a bit." She confessed. "Not everything, we only saw each other twice. But he knew about Ben, and that I live here.....he even said he'd come visit me." 

"Did he?" Weisel raised his brows. "Well, you'll have to give me his name and I'll add him to your visitor sheet."

"John Aaron...Corporal John Aaron." 

Weisel scrawled the name in long looping letters. 

"What else happened while you were gone." 

Selene went quiet, wondering if it was even worth bringing up if she was just going to lie about it. 

"I saw my parents." 

Now that was a development he'd been eager to hear. 

"How did that go?"

"Not well."

"How so?"

Selene sighed. "I only went because my grandfather said he'd allow me to stay the full 72 hours if I did. I know I shouldn't have, but I took some of the Librium before I went, maybe I took too much. I didn't say anything the whole time, they didn't say anything to me...I remember bits and pieces of the evening but it's mostly a blur." 

"They didn't say anything about the night on the roof?" 

"No. No, it's easier for them to forget I exist most of the time."

Weisel wrote this all down quickly. "It can be tempting to use chemicals to avoid dealing with things we'd rather not face. I'm proud of you for going, and perhaps soon you will be able to face your parents without medication." 

"I rather doubt that." She grumbled. "I don't think that's something either of us want." 

Weisel didn't challenge this, content with the progress that had already been made. 

"I will have Corporal Aaron added to your visitor list." He shuffled his papers and sat up. "In the meantime, why don't you get settled back in?" 

Selene slipped out of the office and to the dorm wing. She had a private room, funded by her family. A single bed, a dresser for her clothes, a bookshelf to contain all 3 books she'd read, and a lamp. 

After a few years, she was given the privilege of furniture under the condition it would not be used for suicide. 

Settling herself back in, Selene's ears perked at a rhythmic knock on the wall connecting her room to the one next door. 

She knocked back in a similar rhythm and waited for the pounding of footsteps she knew would follow. Betty, barefoot and half-dressed, rushed her with glee. Wrapping skinny arms around Selene's shoulders, the two fell onto the bed laughing. 

"Angel Baby, I thought you'd run off!" 

"And leave you?" Selene laughed. "Never." 

Betty was 25, the same age as Benny was. She was a tall, skinny young woman with dark skin and wide eyes that were almost disproportionate to her heart-shaped face. Her tightly coiled hair was cropped short, accentuating the roundness of her head. 

She was currently just in her cami and linen shorts, risking a scolding from the dorm matron. 

"Tell me everything!" She crossed her spindly legs under her and sat in rapt attention. 

Selene rushed to close the door so they would not be overheard. 

"Betty, you wouldn't believe it if I told you." Selene bit her lip. "I escaped."

"What?!"

"Almost, I mean I could have." Selene began. "I was at my parents and as usual they were pretending I didn't exist. I was just sitting there, no eyes on me. And so I excused myself from the table and just walked out the back door."

"No!" Betty gasped. "Selene! You could have gotten in so much trouble, you know what running gets you!"

"I know, I know, but I was just so bored. I walked all the way to a gas station and called a taxi to take me back to my Grandfather's." Looking back on it sober, Selene was scandalized with herself. 

"What if you'd been caught?" 

"I almost was." She breathed. "But John covered for me." 

"Who's John?" 

Selene thought for a moment, pulling in her lips sheepishly and Betty gasped, shoving her friend lightly. "Selene Magnus, did you run off with a man?"

"Not with him. Well, the first time I escaped it was with him. But not the second time." 

"Jesus Christ girl!" Betty laughed. "Start from the beginning!" 

And Selene did, not sparing a detail. 

Betty wouldn't tell anyone. And even if she did, she had so many delusions no one would believe her anyway. 

"You got Lawson then?" Betty whispered. "Good."

"It felt good." Selene breathed. "Really good. And John he...he saw me and he didn't even flinch Betty. He almost looked impressed." 

"Wow." Betty smiled broadly. "Then what?" 

 "We met up after and I told him about Benny and all that, and he...I don't know, when he was looking at me he almost looked angry. Not AT me just...I don't know, but he just told me to get in the car because he was going to take me out. I didn't know what else to do, plus when was I going to get another opportunity so I did." 

When it came to the drive-in, Selene stammered and blushed deeply and Betty laughed at her. 

"Just like you to fall in love with the first guy to make you cum." 

"I'm not in love with him, I just like him." Selene corrected her and Betty rolled her eyes. 

"I'm sure. At least we know he's definitely coming back for you." 

"How can you be so sure?" 

"Selene, you basically promised this guy your virginity." Betty pointed out. "Men go crazy for that shit."

Betty considered this a moment. "Maybe you shouldn't see him again." 

"What, why?" 

"Because what if he is crazy?" Betty murmured. "I mean what if he's one of those guys who beats you and doesn't let you see anyone? Treats you like a dog 'cause he thinks he owns you." 

Selene hadn't considered that. 

But he'd been so nice to her so far. If he wanted to take her, he could have right there in the driver's seat of his van. Instead, he wanted to do things properly. Surely that meant he respected her, at least a little. 

"I don't think he's like that," Selene said, unsurely. "But maybe you'll get to see him when he comes....and you can tell me what you think." 

Chapter Text

It took about a week for John's plan to start coming together. 

Holed up in a pay-by-the-night motel under one of many false names, he'd used his time to secure all the necessary documents they would need to carry out the plan and secured an attorney who had no issue bending the rules and finding a judge of a similar nature for a nominal fee that John was happy to pay. 

All he needed now was Selene's cooperation. 
And he had no doubt she'd give it not only willingly but blindly. 

There had been a moment between the way she clung to him in the front seat of his van and that stone porch at the top of the hill that sent John into a revelation. 
The way she'd looked up at him with sad eyes and nearly burst at the seams when he even hinted at coming to see her. 

She was his. 

Completely and utterly, despite not even knowing it. She must know, somewhere deep in her soul. Some longing that told her that something wasn't right so long as he was not with her. 

It's been Kismet, her being in the game that night. He had been meant to see her as she truly was and not the facade she forced up; nothing could ever convince him otherwise. 

He wasn't entirely certain he'd be allowed to see her, but it was a chance he'd have to take. If it didn't work, well, there's more than one way to skin a cat. 

Austin State Hospital was an imposing structure on the outskirts of the city. The grounds were expansive and encircled with a heavy iron gate that opened for him as he pulled up and tripped some automated entry system. 

The front desk was manned by a plump nurse with tortoiseshell glasses and a blindingly white uniform. She eyed him as he approached and for a moment, he worried she sensed something amiss about him. 

He was doing his best impression of an average man, whatever the fuck that meant. At least clean shaved and well-groomed he looked the part. 

"Can I help you sir?" 

"Yes, I'm here to visit a patient."

"Name?"

"Selene Magnus." 

The nurse flipped through a thick stack of records before pulling out a single sheet of paper. From where he was standing, John could see 5 items listed in a grid, one of them having been marked out in heavy blank marker. 

"You must be Corporal Aaron then?" 

The question made him freeze a moment. He had been planning to use a pseudonym, in case it ever got back to the old man that he'd been here. 

"I- Yes." 

She smiled at him kindly, "If you'll follow me. Selene will be in the library by now; she always is at this hour." 

The halls past the entryway and into the actual hospital were hellishly white, only serving to intensify the glare of the overhead lighting. 
He had expected something a bit more gruesome, actually. 

Patients walking around in strait jackets and the wailing of the neglected like all those activists had reported on years ago. 

Instead, it was strangely quiet. 

They came to a large set of double doors with a series of heavy locks on either side that were currently disengaged. The little nurse pushed open the door with one hand, glancing down at her chart as if to remind herself what she'd come all this way for. 

"Selene?" 

John kept out of sight but peered past the nurse and watched as a single head of tawny hair perked up. She reached to the woman sitting next to her, a dark-skinned young woman who's engrossed herself in a magazine several additions too old. 

"Selene, you have a visitor." 

Her eyes lit up almost hesitantly, her grip tightening on the girl next to her whose face had broken into a grin. Selene bolted up to rush out, but her friend held her back with a laugh and stopped to pinch Selene's cheeks flush pink and motioned her to bite her lips to bring the blood to them. 

God, she was adorable. 

"Quickly now." The nurse rushed her, holding the door open as her patient emerged and tried not to seem too eager. 

She failed, of course, her face split open in a giddy grin at the sight of him. 

"John!"

"Hey there, princess." John slipped an arm around her waist, wanting to move more boldly but got the feeling that wasn't strictly with hospital protocol. 

"You know where the visiting rooms are." 

"Oh," Selene's face fell into pleading disappointment. "Hildie, can't we please have a bit of privacy?"

"Unsupervised visits are reserved for married couples and family only, you know that." Hildie shook her head and Selene winced but grabbed John's hand tightly. 

"Come on." 

Despite being tasked to keep an eye on them, Hildie gave them a respectful amount of distance until they reached a heavy metal door leading into an empty beige room that was furnished with a simple table, two chairs, and a couch that had seen far better days. 

In the top corner of the room, there was a security camera that kept a care watch other them. 

Before he could say anything, Selene wrapped her arms around him tightly in a gesture far more intimate and familiar than they'd ever shared previously. 

"I was starting to worry you'd never come." She breathed. John chuckled lowly, letting an arm squeeze her shoulders before the other hand tilted up her head to look at him. 

"I promised I was coming if you were good, didn't I?" 

She nodded with a smile and led him over to the couch, her touch never leaving him. He looked her over with interest. 

She seemed so much younger than her age, especially now in her blue uniform dress and hair pulled into two loose pigtails. 
She'd been waiting for him eagerly, holding on tightly to the small half-promise he'd made like it was gospel. 

"We can talk freely in here." she breathed, pulling away a little and letting her hands creep up his chest. "The camera just records visually. They can't hear us." 

"That nurse knew my name." He mentioned slowly and Selene nodded. 

"I had you put on my visitor list, so they wouldn't have to call my grandfather to let you in," she explained. "Does he know you're up here?"

"No," John shook his head, "No, he doesn't need to. I'm sorry it took me so long to come, but the truth is I've been working on something. Something that might get you out of here." 

"Really?" Selene's icy eyes brightened, "How?"

"Before I explain, for this to work you need to agree to something. Okay?"

She nodded slowly. 

His grip on her tightened, pulling her closer but not so closer that some nosey orderlies would barge in and split them apart. Selene's skin prickled as his warm breath hit her neck. 

"First and foremost, I need you to trust me." He began, fairly certain this wasn't something he had to worry about. "I mean fully trust me. Can you do that?

She stared at him a moment, considering this. 

She'd known him all of 3 days, and yet it felt like a lifetime. 
Who else could know her like he knew her at this moment? 

Who else could have watched the things she did that night and still hold her like he clearly wanted to right this second?

It wasn't love. 

She didn't know what it was. 

But it was something she craved like opium, and it was strong enough to urge her forward. 

"I trust you...completely." 

His smile in any other scenario would have been jarringly menacing, but she knew it to be genuine.

"That's my girl." His hands held her face tightly, pressing her brow to his. "Let's get to work."  

"Well, I did some digging into your case, and turns out it was expunged from your record when you were 18," John explained. "So, the only thing really keeping you here is the conservatorship your parents have on you."

"I know," Selene grumbled discontentedly. "They'll never let me leave, it's easier for them if I stay in here my whole life." 

"Not necessarily." John fished a thick parcel of folded-up documents from his back pocket, smoothing them out before passing them to her. "In the state of Texas, if the conservator dies or resigns then the conservatorship passes to your next of kin." 

"My grandfather." 

"Possibly" John nodded, "Could be someone else though." 

Selene eyed him in confusion but went over the documents. One was a copy of conservatorship laws in Texas, the next was a document outlining a transfer in conservatorship. When she came to the third, her pulse picked up. John could feel her heartbeat quicken under his fingers as his hand massaged the back of her neck and his eyes watched her carefully. 

She looked at him, then back to the document, and then back at him with wide, scared eyes. 

"You don't mean this."

"I do."

"I-" She swallowed hard, "I'm not well, John...I'm sick."

"No." He shook his head firmly but calmly. He had anticipated some push back, but that's okay. She knew nothing of the world, of course this would frighten her. "No, you're not. You're not crazy, you said so yourself." 

They sat in silence, Selene too stunned and shocked to respond and John not willing to move forward until he had an answer. 

"If you don't want to...say it." He said that like it was a challenge, as if daring her to refuse him. "I can find some other way to make this work, but it will take longer and it will be much harder to get through." 

Selene's hand shook. "You...I don't want you to regret helping me." she breathed. "I haven't been on the outside for more than a few days in 15 years...I don't know if I even know how to-"

"Don't worry about that." His grip came back to the nape of her neck. "I will be there. I will take care of you until you know how to take care of yourself...even if you never learn how." 

"Why?" she asked insistently. "I don't understand, why would you do this for me? You hardly know me; I am a stranger to you." 

"Because you and I are the same." He growled, growing impatient with her hesitance. Selene felt his grip tighten as he leaned closer to her, and for a moment feared they might be broken in on. 

"The only difference between you and I is I never had anyone holding me back." His tone was a rumble, like ominous thunder. "I have always been free to satisfy my instincts, for fuck's sake they sent me overseas and paid me to do what I do best before I came back and got paid to do it here too." 

Selene swallowed hard, resisting the urge to wiggle from his grip for fear that would only make him angrier. His grey eyes were stormy like the sea, and they burned into her blue ones relentlessly. 

"I asked you to trust me, and you agreed. Trust me on this, let me help you."

The papers in her hand trembled, but after gathering what bravery she could spare Selene nodded. 

"Okay...Okay, let's do it."

All it took was a quick signature. Selene felt him breathing over her shoulder with every letter. 

"Good girl." He chuckled darkly as the ink dried, laying kisses on her shoulder and neck as a reward for her cooperation. 
Selene whined slightly as his lips briefly found the sweet spot on her neck and John purred. 

"Later, Princess." He assured her, placing his hands on either side of her on the table. "I promise." 

She sighed but nodded. Pressed against him and the table, she felt the heat in the pit of her stomach return. Her core tightened in anticipation as if some primal instinct in her could sense him. 
John seemed to smell the desire on her, and it drew a rumble from his throat. His hands moved from the table to her wrists.

"There's one more rule you'll have to follow for this to work,"

"Hm?" 
She anticipated something playful, more in tune with the eagerness he'd shown her at the drive-in.
 But this was deadly serious, everything from the tension in his body to the fire in his eyes told her this was no game, not anymore. 

"You belong to me." 

The assertion sent a bolt of electricity up her spine and for some reason she had the urge to run. But she stayed put and allowed his grip to tighten on her wrists. 

"Say it."

Her throat went dry, but she kept the tremble out of her voice. 

"I belong to you." 

His smile was menacing but sincere. 

Chapter Text

The windowless room was in total darkness, and yet Selene allowed her mind to wander until she began to see shapes in the shadows. 

It'd been days since John came to visit. 

He'd frightened her, but somehow she could not find it in herself to hold that against him, for after she'd signed the paper he was immediately as sweet as could be. 

Was it possible to love someone after only a few days? 

Surely, it's happened before, right? 

She simply couldn't be the first. 

Perhaps it was her age that made her so susceptible. Most women were allowed to fall in love once or twice to get some practice in before they met someone they well and truly loved. 

Selene's only real experience with men, outside of the good doctor, was when the ladies of the women's ward were escorted through the rec yard while the boys from the men's ward were outside. 

They seemed more animal than man. Howling and leering at the women through the chain link fence. They made lewd gestures and shouted perverted confessions of love at those unlucky enough to be singled out. 

Outside of that, she had her books, which she was not fool enough to equate with reality. Not anymore anyway. 

Sure even with her lack of experience, surely one knew love when they saw it. And if ever she'd seen love, surely it was with him. 

That settled it then, she told herself firmly, she loved John. And, John loved her.

Therefore this plan of his must come to fruition, and those who stood in their way either couldn't understand or wouldn't. 

The next morning, Selene was surprised by the sudden arrival of Merle and her pet orderlies at her door. 

"Pack a bag, Selene." The head nurse ordered, "And get dressed quickly, there's a car waiting for you downstairs." 

Selene blinked in surprise then frowned, "Why?" 

"It was sent by your parents, along with an urgent request for you to be given a day's release for a family emergency." 

Dozens of possibilities flooded her brain. 

Deaths. 

Fires. 

Illness. 

Something terrible must have happened if she was being let out so soon on such short notice. 

Downing her medication without water and throwing on her green dress, Selene packed only her essentials and was rushed through the ward by the orderlies then whisked into the back of a sleek black taxi. 

She noticed a run in her black nylons but waved it off, no time to fret over that. 

She thought of her grandfather and aunts. They were the oldest in the family and closest to the grave. 

Selene wasn't certain she could handle two deaths in as many months. 

The drive was long and Selene's knee began to feel like it was vibrating from how frequently she bounced it anxiously on the floorboards. 

Pulling onto the isolated road leading up to her parent's home, Selene expected to see a dozen cars of concerned friends and relatives. 

Instead, she saw only her father's blue Civic. 

The taxi pulled to a stop and Selene had no money to pay him. 

"I got the cash upfront sweetheart." The driver assured her. "Your husband said he'd be waiting for you inside." 

"My-?" Selene blinked. "Thank you." 

The car took off before she reached the front door. 

She felt the urge to knock, but ignored it and instead slipped through the front door, which she found to be unlocked. That was odd. 

"Hello?" She called into the empty entryway. All the lights were off, save for a yellow glow from the living room down the hall. She looked around to see if anything had been disturbed. 

She heard muttering she couldn't make out followed by her mother's voice. It trembled as it called her. 

"Down here, darling." 

She walked slowly, her stomach tightening. 

"Mother?" 

"It's alright darling, we're waiting for you in the living room." 

Her father's voice was slow as if reading from a cue card.

Selene entered the living room and froze. 

Her mother was still in her dressing gown and slippers, damaged and thinning hair sticking up wildly as if she'd been pulled out of bed. Her hands were flat on her legs, fingers splayed wide. 

The rope around her was heavy and coarse, securing her firmly to the armless that until now had been sitting against the wall as decoration only.

Her father was in a similar state of undress, his thick red robe tied loosely around him and his combover disheveled to reveal his growing bald spot. He too was tied to an armless chair, his hands just free enough to sit on his lap. 

The initial shock frightened her at first, setting her pulse racing as she began to back out of the room. 

"Easy there, princess." 

She froze, eyes scanning the dim room under she found a familiar face gazing at her from the shadowy half of the living room. 

"John." She breathed, logic putting together the pieces now. "You scared me." 

"Apologies." He said flatly, a cloud of cigar smoke making his form hazy in the lamplight. "Come on in, beautiful." 

She obeyed with ease now, having confirmed she was not in danger. "What's going on?" 

"Well," John sat up, eyeing Selene's parents across the room. "It appears our negotiations have reached an impasse. Your folks are more stubborn than they look." 

As he leaned forward on his knees, Selene could see the pistol that hung casually from his right hand. 

"Can't we do it without them?" Selene asked curiously, not looking at her parents. "We'd just need to forge the signature." 

"Hm, maybe." John shrugged, wrapping his lips around the cigar once more and considering the risk to reward that came with just killing the couple and forging what they needed. "But forgeries aren't 100%. I'd prefer a guarantee in this case." 

"Want me to talk to them?" 

John motioned to them with the gun, indicating for her to give it a try. 

Selene sighed and approached her parents. 

"Mother, Daddy." 

"Selene." Mr. Magnus stared at his daughter wildly. "What on earth have you gotten yourself into?" 

"Nothing, Daddy." She insisted. "John's just trying to do what's best for me." 

"Sweetie, please." Mrs. Magnus begged in a whisper. "Please go call the police." 

"I can't do that, Mother. You know better" Selene admonished her. "Now this really doesn't have to be this hard. Just transfer the conservatorship to John and this will all be over."

"Why would you want that?" Her mother almost laughed in shock. "Why?"

Selene stared at her mother as if the question was so obvious she was silly for asking. 

"He's my husband, mother." She explained plainly.

"No" her mother shook her head. "No Selene, that man is not your husband. You do not have a husband." 

"I well I suppose that's true legally, but he will be once you transfer the conservatorship. Then we won't need your permission, and I can finally leave Austin." Selene insisted. "Please?" 

"This is insane." Her mother laughed. "This is absolutely insane. And you are an idiot for going along with it." 

Selene didn't remember moving her body, but all at once she was standing over her mother and a bright red handprint was welling up on the side of Mrs. Magnus's face. 

"Don't you call me that." Selene hissed. "Don't you ever call me that! I'm so tired of taking your shit!" 

John watched with growing interest, wanting to see how far this would go. 

"You never cared what happened to me in there, not ever! You'd have let me rot in there the rest of my life!" Selene accused her mother. "Wouldn't you?"

When her mother didn't respond, Selene turned to her father. "And you'd have let her." 

"We only ever did what we thought was best for you." He began only to be struck harder than his wife had been. 

"Liar." Selene almost laughed. 

"Leave your father alone!" Mrs. Magnus barked at her daughter. "All he's ever done is defend you! You ungrateful little bitch, even as a child when everyone knew there was something wrong he defended you!" 

"Evelyn" Mr. Magnus shook his head. "Stop."

She ignored him and pushed forward. "Does he know?" She jerked her head at John who kept his composure as cold as possible. "Habe you told him?"

"There's nothing to tell," Selene informed her confidently. "He knows. So I killed some little shit picking on Ben. You should have been grateful, it's not like you ever looked after him!" 

Evelyn's face sneered cruelly in disgust. "How can you talk about him like that? He was your brother, Selene!" 

"And you sent him to die!" 

"Not Benjamin, Lewis!" Evelyn nearly shrieked, "For Christ's sake, you still can't even say his name! Your own brother and you still can't face up to what you did!" 

The air froze, and all at once the temperature seemed to drop to freezing. Mr. Magnus tensed and closed his eyes, turning his head away from his wife and daughter. 

Selene moved slowly, grabbing the back of her mother's chair and tilting it backward so her mother was looking right up at her. Selene's countenance hardened and her blue eyes were cold as eyes. 

"*That*" she hissed. "Was *not* my *brother*. Benjamin was my brother, and he is dead because of you." 

Evelyn laughed, the futility of her situation washing over her and realizing she was never getting out of this alive. 

"I should have let you starve in your cradle." She spat. "You are a monster, Selene. You always have been, and I was a fool to think you could ever be anything but." 

Taking a moment to absorb this, Selene jerked the chair forward and slammed her mother face-first into the ground. 

Evelyn whined in pain but did not cry out as Selene gripped the back of the chair and hauled her mother back up. 

"Do what you want with him." She didn't bother looking at John or her father as she dragged the chair across the floor."I think Mother and I have some things we need to talk about." 

John did not object, too enthralled with Selene's change in attitude to care that she'd gone off the mental script he'd prepared. 

Mr. Magnus had gone pale but no longer looked surprised by the chaos around him. Eyeing John in the shadows, he sighed heavily. 

"You said you'd take care of her?" 

John nodded silently. 

"She's not as meek as she looks, you know." He added. "She's always had a temper." 

"I can handle it." 

Mr. Magnus eyed the paper on the table. "If I sign that....will you make it quick?"

John nodded again, but this time added with a small smile. "As fast as falling asleep." 

The signatures were a little wobbly, their writer being tied up, but Mr. Magnus signed both his and his wife's names on the transfer form and swallowed hard. 

"There." 

"Much obliged." 

At this range, he was dead before the ink dried. Blood splattered on the wall behind him from the exit wound.

With that taken care of, he wandered in the direction Selene had dragged her mother, following the grooves the chair left in the rug until they led him into the kitchen. 

Evelyn had gone from bold and defiant to terrified rather quickly. But, as much as John would have loved watching Selene work over her mother, they needed to move. 

"Can we take her with us?" 

"No, Sweetpea. For this to work, she needs to stay here." John insisted, passing her the pistol. "You ever used one of these?"

Selene shook her head. 

"I'll teach you later, for now just put the barrel to her head and pull the trigger." 

Selene obeyed, rather disappointed she didn't get to enact her full revenge but still felt a glow of satisfaction when the pistol kicked back and her mother's brain leaked out the back of her skull. 

"Perfect. Now you take these." He handed her the folded-up documents. "And go wait in the car while I clean up." 

She nodded, moving to take the papers from him, and squealed when he took the opportunity to pull her to him and kiss her hard. 

She melted against him willingly and felt him smile against her mouth, letting his free hand drift below her stomach and between her legs where he rubbed two fingers over her slit teasingly. 

Flushed and eager, Selene whined a little when he pushed her away and toward the door. 

"Car. Now." 

Chapter Text

The hotel sat about 2 hours outside of town, and according to the hotel check-in log, they'd been there since 1 o'clock that afternoon. 

John drilled their alibi into her brain until she could repeat it word for word to him without sounding like she was lying. 

Her parents had given their blessing and signed over the conservatorship late last night. 

It had been made official by a generously paid judge in Hunter's Creek the next morning, as had the marriage certificate. 

Selene had never been to her parent's house that day. 

She hadn't even seen them. 

She went from the hospital straight to the courthouse, and then to the hotel. 

She had no knowledge of anything that might have happened in her childhood home since she was there 2 weeks ago. 

If anyone asked they had a taxi driver, an attorney, and a judge who would all vouch for their whereabouts. 

"John." Selene felt her stomach tighten uncomfortably as she sat on the edge of the queen-sized bed. "I'm..." 

"Nervous?" He finished for her with a half smile. She nodded, wringing her hands in her lap. Kneeling between her knees, John cupped her cheek carefully. "Don't be. I've got this under control. All you have to do is remember what we agreed on and let me do the talking. Can you do that?"

Selene eyed him anxiously, biting at her lower lip but nodding. 

John hummed, pressing his lips to hers with less aggression than he wanted. She gave into him with ease, crawling backward as he slinked over her.

"That's my girl." 

Slipping his arm under her back, John rolled his hips against hers and drew a shuttering gasp from her chest. 

He'd been patient enough, they both had. 

"John." She nearly whimpered when his mouth found her neck. She sounded unsure, but that only urged him further. 

"Just relax, princess." He breathed, hands moving up her dress to pull it over her head. His palms met something loose and silky. She wiggled a little to pull the dress off fully, exposing a white slip over black nylons. Hesitantly she began to lift the slip but stopped when he halted her hands. 

"Leave it." 

Wide-eyed and feeling more exposed than she had in a long time, Selene pressed herself against the headboard as John sat up to strip off his button-down and undershirt. 

She'd seen him shirtless before, of course. Bare-chested and blood-spattered. 

But this close her breath caught. She hesitantly reached out a hand and allowed her fingers to graze the semi-fresh wound on his hip. The stitching was still holding it together, giving it a grim, grisly look. 

Averting her eyes, she looked up at him and found him staring at her with unreadable eyes. Almost like he was expecting her to back out. 

Eager for him to continue, Selene slipped her knees under her and leaned in to press kisses to his stomach and up his chest. 

A growl rumbled in his chest like thunder as his hand came to the back of her head, his fingers weaving through her loose hair. 

"Lay back." 

His direction was blunt and to the point, but somehow it was comforting. He knew what he was doing, so why shouldn't she trust him?

Laying back against the pillows, Selene lifted her leg to his shoulder as he rolled her nylon stockings down one leg at a time. Kissing from her ankle up to her thighs, his teeth occasionally catching her soft flesh like a hint of a threat, John slipped her underwear off and left her in only her slip. 

A curious look flashed in his eyes when John caught sight of bright white against pink skin. He shifted her slip up over her stomach and found a long vertical scar that ran from her navel to the nest of dark hair between her legs. 

"What's this?"

"Oh," Selene looked away awkwardly. "When...well, when they don't think you'll ever leave the hospital, they uh...well they take it."

He didn't follow at first but then it hit him hard. "Oh."

"Cheaper than building a maternity ward." She tried to laugh it off but he didn't laugh. "Please...just keep going. Don't worry about it."

She had thought his pants would be off by now, but instead, he settled between her legs on his stomach. His eyes stared up at her and with their predatorial intensity sent goosebumps across her arms. 

Despite having no expectations, Selene stifled a surprised yelp when his mouth met her cunt, warm and wet. His tongue probed curiously before finding her clit. Her hand would have flown to cover her mouth, had he not snatched it back by the wrist and held it to the bedspread tightly. 

He didn't order her to be louder, he knew he would hear those sweet sounds one way or another, and it was more fun to hear her try to resist moaning and gasping only to fail in spite of herself. 

Pressing her thighs open wider, John focused primarily on the sensitive bud at the apex of her cunt, but found that pressing his tongue deeper to tease at her entrance earned him the sweetest cries and sent her hips rolling under him. 

The soft but insistent intrusion of his tongue inside of her was barely a shadow of what he planned for her, but he wanted her anticipation to build to an almost painful point before he took her. 

He wanted her to beg for him. 

And beg she did. 

Not with words. No, she was far too sweet for that, John doubted her mouth could even form the word cock without stuttering and flushing. 

But the way she mewled and grabbed at his forearms tightly, as if trying to keep from floating away was all he needed to know she was aching for him. 

Her breathing became rapid and shallow quickly and when the muscles of her legs began to tighten, John pulled away from her. His warm mouth was replaced with a cool rush of air that chilled her cunt and left it pulsing with need. 

"No!" She furrowed her brow, eyes screwed shut in anticipation of something that had been quickly yanked away. "John!" 

"Shhh." He soothed her, making quick work of his belt and pants. "Easy, princess. I won't leave you hanging, I promise." 

Her eyes still closed, Selene felt the weight on the bed shift so the deepest dip was between her legs. A firm hand came to her hip, gripping it as she felt a soft tickle on her brow and cheeks. It was his hair, she realized, he was over her now. 

All at once her heart rate picked up. 

"Look at me." 

The weight of his arm by her head shifted as she felt his fingers brush her hair. 

"Look at me, Selene." 

She did, forcing herself to stare up and find him looming over her nearly nose to nose. 

There was a sharp sting followed by a dull burn that forced the air out of her lungs. She whimpered, grabbing at him for support as he forced her to look nowhere but directly into his eyes. 

"Shhh sh sh, I know." He assured her as he watched both fear and arousal battle behind her eyes. "I know baby." 

"Hurts" she choked out. 

"It'll stop soon, honey. I promise." 

He ground his hips against hers, not thrusting until the tension in her face had relaxed enough that he was sure she wasn't hurting anymore. 

He was shocked at how tight she was, though how much of that was due to fear he wasn't sure. Her hands came to his shoulders as she leaned her brow against his. 

"It stopped." She swallowed, indicating he could continue. 

He tried to go at a pace she could keep up at, but it soon became clear she was more than willing to simply take whatever he was willing to give her. This sent a rush through his blood and encouraged him to be just a bit rougher. 

"Good girl." His hands pushed up her satin slip until her breasts were bare before him and bouncing with each thrust. "You're taking me so well, princess." 

His praise made her tighten around him and drew from his throat a dark chuckle. His mouth found her nipple and suckled at it until it was painfully hard and just tracing the tip of his tongue over the ridges made her back arch and press it firmer to his mouth. 

She didn't try to speak as he did, instead focusing entirely on every sensation racing through her body. The still slightly painful stretching of her walls around his cock and the friction that came with every thrust in and out. 

The electric suction of his mouth on her breast as he teased her nipples into pebbles. alternating his fingers and his teeth. 

Soon her hips were rising and falling to meet his, wanting to keep the pressure and friction between her legs constant. He clearly approved of this, as his hands guided her motions in time with his. 

Before long, that familiar pressure that had been rudely denied her before returned and her eyes closed as she tried to will it closer. 

"Close?" He panted over her and laughed when she whined out an answer. "That's it, cum for me, baby girl." 

Her whining grew higher and more desperate as her face contorted in pleasure. 

"Please." She breathed out, not sure what she was asking for. "Please, please, please, please." 

God, was she beautiful when she begged for him. Virgin cunt filled with him and pleading for him to push her over the precipice she was fighting to reach. 

"Poor baby." He purred almost cruelly. "Let me help." 

With only a few hard-rubbed circles on her clit, Selene was overcome. Her hands balled the bed spread into tight fists as her mouth fell open in a short, strangled cry of pleasure. Her legs locked around his hips tightly and pulled him as deep as she could. 

John's restraint snapped with hers and, despite his former determination to be gentle at first, he pounded into her furiously. Growling and cursing under his breath, John fucked her through her orgasm without a hint of consideration or mercy until he tensed as if struck by lightning. 

His grip on her was painfully tight as he buried his cock in her body and flooded her cunt with a low groan. 

"Fuck." He growled, slowly releasing his grip on her and panting to clear his head. "Fucking hell." 

Selene was panting as well, her loins simultaneously tingling with electricity and on fire. 

She whimpered a little when he pulled out but settled his hips on hers and pressed her under his weight. She could feel his cock pressed against her thigh, still wet with both of their cum. 

"Good girl." He breathed in her ear, pulling her against him as their sweat chilled quickly, soothing their flushed and burning skin. "You did so well, Babydoll. My beautiful girl." 

She buried her face into his neck, trying to steady her breathing. 

"Baby?" 

"Uh-huh?"

"How're you feeling?" 

She couldn't find the words for it, instead, she just said.

 "I love you." 

His grip tightened on her and she smiled, moving her face so her chin was on his shoulder. 

"I love you so much...I don't ever want to be away from you....do you love me?" 

John sighed deeply, his hands moving to find her and hold them tightly. 

"I love you so much, Baby." He assured her, pressing his mouth to her brow firmly. 

They lay there for what felt like hours before he urged her to go get cleaned up. She left the bed reluctantly but obeyed. 

When she slipped into the bathroom, John glanced down and could not contain a rush as satisfaction as the sight of a half-dried splotch of blood, roughly the size of a quarter, where he'd taken her on the bed.

You never have to worry about being away from me, he had wanted to add. 

Not ever. 

Chapter Text

Had he not been there to witness Selene pull the trigger, John would have taken the tears that waterfalled down her face as genuine. 

The police tracked them down early the next morning when they arrived to formally check Selene out of Austin State permanently. 
They gave their story and stuck with it, even when they were separated into two visiting rooms that had been allocated for questioning. 

John remained as neutral as can be, but as it would turn out the police weren't so much interested in him as they were his new wife. 

"We were at the hotel by 1:00 and didn't leave until this morning."

"And you were with her the entire time?" 

"From the moment she got out of the taxi." 

The police officer still looked like he didn't believe it. "We have some folks checking with the cab driver who picked up your wife. The staff here at the hospital said the reason given for her sudden day release was a family emergency?" 

John contained a smirk. "They didn't have an elopement release, I'm afraid. We worked with what we had." 

"But her parents knew, after all, you said you visited them the night prior to the attack." 

"To sign some paperwork, yes," John confirmed. "They agreed to give their permission for the wedding, and to transfer custody of the conservatorship." 

They sat in silence for a moment, the cop's dark gaze trying to burn into him, but only succeeding in fizzling out. 

"My partner will be done with your wife in a few moments, I'm sure." He breathed. "If you don't mind waiting." 

John shrugged. "Whatever you need." 

He was released into the lobby to wait, lighting up a cigarette and inhaling sharply. He passed the room Selene was being kept in and caught a glimpse of her red, tear-streaked face through the glass. 

"Mr. Aaron?" 

John froze and turned to find a short, spindly man with grey stringy hair looking up at him through coke-bottle thick glasses. 

"Yes?"

"I'm Dr. Wiesel, Selene's psychiatrist." The man seemed swallowed by his ill-fitting suit shirt under a knit vest. "I wonder if we might talk a moment?" 

From under his arm, Weisel withdrew a thick beige folder overflowing with sheets of paper. He handed the file to John and glanced at the door Selene sat behind. 
"I understand you're having her discharged from here." 

"Uh-huh." 

"I wish I could convince you otherwise." The doctor said bluntly. "But I get the feeling to attempt would be futile. So I think it's only right you have a copy of her file." 

Thumbing through the file, which was nearly as thick as most books, John frowned a little. "What exactly *is* her condition, if you don't mind?"

"Selene was initially hospitalized due to something known as Crapgras Syndrome," Weisel explained. "I'm sure you're been told of the incident." 

John nodded, lying. 

"After the tragedy, it was determined that Selene was motivated to murder her brother due to a persistent delusion that Lewis was not her brother, but was instead an identical imposter." 

They walked slowly down the hall as he spoke, John taking in every word. 

"It is a rare condition and is generally only found in people with degenerative conditions of the mind. Lesions, Alzheimer's, those sorts of things. However we found none of that in Selene, and her condition was a mystery until I was able to accept her medical records. If you will..."

Weisel flipped the file open and selected a block of pages tagged in blue and stapled together. 

John went over the pages carefully, his brow furrowed in confusion. 
"Christ, someone beat the hell out of her." 

"And quite often" Weisel agreed. "It was then I realized her condition was likely due to brain damage sustained up until she was 13. You'll note that she was concussed multiple times, in addition to various other injuries." 

"Did her parents do all this?"

"No one was blamed, apparently" Weisel shook his head, "I suspect it was the family's influence that kept social services at bay but, according to most of the incident reports, her elder brother was the one inflicting the damage not her parents." 

It was all coming together now. John mentally strung a  red thread between each point and waited for Weisel to stick the final in the map. 

"Selene's initial evaluation revealed that she believes that at some point her elder brother, Lewis, was replaced with a doppelganger. I believe this is because it made it easier to rationalize the abuse she endured from him. She became obsessively protective of her younger brother, Benjamin, and when Lewis attempted to abuse Ben as he had Selene, something just snapped."

"So." John eyed him suspiciously. "So why would you want to keep her here? It doesn't sound like she'd be a danger to anyone else."

"Because we have never successfully broken the delusion." Weisel sighed.  "Even now she believes that the boy she killed wasn't her brother, but some stranger." 

John considered this a moment. "I heard of people believing stranger things, and none of them end up in the nut house." 

"Maybe." Weisel nodded, "All the same, if she is to leave, I would like to suggest ongoing outpatient treatment. Especially after such a significant loss. Her episode after Benjamin's death was particularly concerning, I'd hate to see her progress disrupted further." 

"We appreciate the concern, but I don't think we'll have to worry about that." 
------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Miss. Magnus." 

"Mrs. Aaron." 

The police officer glanced down at the file before him in confusion. 

"I'm recently married, you won't find it in my file." 

"That's what we want to talk to you about." Nurse Merle gazed at the younger woman with a look of forced concern. "Selene, you have to admit this marriage of yours was rather sudden. You never mentioned it to Dr. Weisel, and none of your friends on the ward knew anything about it either." 

Selene eyed the nurse curtly, wiping the remaining tears from her face, "Respectfully nurse, I am not obligated to run my life decisions by the doctor or any other member of staff. My parents approved of the marriage, that was all the permission I needed." 

"Did your parents know about your relationship with Corporal Aaron before they transferred custody?" The police officer asked and Selene leveled her eyes on him. 

"Yes." she sniffed. "They knew." 

"Selene." Merle eyed the door as if they were being listened to. "You know you can be honest here...were you in any way forced into this marriage?" 

For a moment Selene's mind flashed to burning grey eyes and a heavy, painful grip on her wrists. Her heart fluttered but a scoff passed her lips. 

"Don't be ridiculous." She frowned, "John and I love each other, and he would never force me to do anything I didn't want to do." 

"I think that's all the answers we need, nurse." The police officer flipped his notebook closed with a sigh. "Mrs. Aarons, what would be the best way to contact you should we have any updates during the investigation?"

Now that was a good question.

"You'd have to ask my husband." Selene forced a small smile. 

When they finally released her, Selene returned to John's side instantly and felt a rush of relief when he wrapped a protective arm about her waist. 

"Can we leave?"

"Not yet. There's just a few papers to fill out." He assured her. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." she nodded, gripping his forearm firmly. "I'm okay." 

Selene was supplied with a stack of prescriptions she had no intention of filling and told to wait for her release in the women's ward. That was fine by her, it gave her a chance to collect what she'd left behind and say her goodbyes. 

"I can't believe you didn't tell me." Betty scolded her. 

"I didn't want to say anything in case it all fell through," Selene explained, closing the door to her former dorm behind them so they could talk in relative privacy. "I'm sorry, Betty."

"Fuck being sorry, you're getting out!" Betty laughed, though her eyes could not conceal their sadness. "You're gonna leave this hellhole and ride off into the sunset with your knight in shining armor and live happily ever after. Don't you ever be sorry for that." 

Selene hugged her friend tightly, wishing she could sneak her out in her pocket. 

"Here." Selene sniffed. "I want you to keep these."

Betty's stomach dropped when Selene pushed three well-worn volumes into her lap. 
"Selene, no."

"Please? No one will take care of them like you will." 

"You'll finally have to find some new books to ready." Betty laughed. "You'll write to me, right?"

"Every single day," Selene promised. "You'll get so much mail, everyone else will be green with envy." 

"And don't let him walk all over you." Betty insisted. "I know he's your man and all, but you're his woman. You gotta make sure he respects you just as much as you do him." 

"I promise." 

"And if he don't, I'll just climb over that fence and come kick his skinny ass for you."

Selene laughed at that, gripping Betty's hand tightly. "It's a little scary...I never thought I would ever leave. I thought I'd die in this place. I won't even know what to do with myself."

"You'll figure it out." Betty assured her, "You're not as dumb as you look." 

Selene found she hadn't any use for most of her belongings now and therefore bequeathed most of them to Betty. 

She took only her remaining street clothes, packed neatly into the same suitcase she'd arrived with years earlier. 

Betty walked her back down the lobby and waited patiently with Selene until an orderly came to release her formally. 

John waited for her with an air of self-assured satisfaction. His hands shoved into his jacket pockets, he eyed Dr. Weisel as if reminding him of a secret only the two of them knew. 

"Best of luck to you, Selene." Weisel tried to keep a distrustful gaze off John and instead kept his eyes on his former patient. "Take care of yourself."

"Of course, doctor." 

"And uh..." Weisel lowered his voice so his next words were kept between them. 

"If you ever find yourself in need of help, you know how to contact me." 

Selene smiled a little. 

"I wouldn't worry too much, doctor. I'm in very good hands." 

Chapter Text

Settled in the passenger seat of John's van, watching the Texas landscape go by in a whirl, Selene felt untouchable. 

John's hand rested on her thigh as he peered through a pair of dark aviators at the road ahead. He too was rather looking like the cat that got the cream, but there was one last hurdle to pass before they were home free. 

"Wow, it's getting pretty lonesome out here." Selene marveled as buildings became more and more scarce. 

"Your granddad likes to keep me on hand," John muttered with a touch of bitterness. "Besides, I like it. Isolated." 

Selene nodded in silent understanding. John never struck her as a people person, despite his charm. 

"So..." Selene bit her lower lip and peeled at the skin with her teeth anxiously until she could feel the raw, fresh flesh underneath. "Speaking of my grandfather.... what's the plan there?"

John was still iffy on that bit. 

It all depended on how the old man would react to his son and daughter-in-law being found murdered in their home and his granddaughter eloping with a man over 20 years her senior. 

Any normal person wouldn't take too well to that but, all things considered...

"I think we should wait and see how he's taking it before we settle on a plan." 

They wouldn't have to wait long. 

Thadeus Magnus had been waiting for them from the moment he'd been informed they left the hotel. 

Standing outside the secluded desert house, the old man's piercing blue eyes tracked them as the van pulled to a stop. Selene felt an involuntary shiver run up her spine. 

"I'll talk to him." She whispered. "You have more to lose than me." 

John followed her out but stood back in silent support as Selene approached her grandfather with a sheepish look. 

"Hello."

Thadeus didn't return the greeting, scanning her up and down before casting a hard glare at her husband over her shoulder. 

"You finally did it then." 

"I'm sorry." 

"No, you're not." Thadeus shook his head, a frown etched into his face. "You know I can think of far better ways of starting my day than being greeted by police who've come to tell me that not only has my son and his wife been *brutally* slaughtered in the night...but that my granddaughter is the prime suspect." 

Selene winced, wanting to apologize again but knowing it would ring hollow. 

"Not only is she the prime suspect, but she has apparently eloped with *someone*" he raised his voice, making it clear he was talking about John as if his icy gaze wasn't obvious enough. "I thought was trustworthy enough to know better." 

"Please don't blame John for this." Selene insisted. "It was all my idea, all of it."

"Please." Thadeus cast a withering look upon her. "Don't insult me by thinking you can lie to me, you never could." 

They stood in silence a moment as Thadeus lit up a cigarette and took a deep, troubled breath. Rubbing at his brow, he nodded. 

"Alright, here's what's going to happen." he said through a cloud of smoke, "You two are going to tell me exactly what happened, then you are going to tell me whatever cover story you've schemed up and I am going to back it up however I can if the police come asking." 

"Oh, thank you, Grandfather!"

"Don't thank me yet, I'm not done." Thadeus scoffed, eyeing John with mild contempt. "You sir, will remain in the family employ *exclusively*." 

"Now, wait a minute-."

"And you, Selene, are cut off." 

John stepped forward to protest once more, but Thadeus eyed him with a chastising look. "It's that or I go to the authorities. You'll go back to prison, and Selene will be returned to Austin at best, at worst she'll be sent to a criminal asylum. Your choice." 

Selene's heart began to pound, and she grabbed her husband's arm desperately. "John...please." 

"You're bluffing." 

Thadeus smirked knowingly, "Am I? Would you care to test that theory?" 

It didn't take a mind reader to know the old man meant every word of his threat. He had them boxed in, and John was kicking himself for letting the old man back him into a corner. 

"Fine."

"Good man." Thadeus nodded, "Now, let's get our stories straight, shall we?" 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Selene stared at her brooding husband, ill at ease as his stormy mood filled the small house. 

Her grandfather had promised him steady work on the condition he didn't take any contracts outside of the family. 
She had thought it was a generous deal but vocalizing that earned her a sharp look of warning. 

Crawling onto the bed next to him, Selene laid her head next to his shoulder. 
"Are you alright?"

"Fine," he muttered. 

Unsure how to clear the storm clouds, Selene hesitantly brought his hand to her lips and laid small kisses over his knuckles. This seemed to do something because she watched his eyes close slowly and his chest released a deep, rumbling sigh. 

John rolled onto his side and pulled her closer, replacing his fist with his lips to kiss her firmly. She melted into him as the tide melted into the ocean, naturally and without hesitation. 

Selene smiled into the kiss and bravely urged him forward, wanting to see what it was like to initiate pleasure rather than just receive it. But as she pushed, shyly attempting to show a level of control, John pushed back harder than she expected. 

His body moved on instinct, fueled by his foul mood and the presence of a small, vulnerable body in his bed. 

His kisses bore none of the gentleness he'd shown previously, his teeth biting and pulling at her lip, his hands gripping her jaw in a painfully tight grip. 

Selene didn't know how to take this and tried to just go along with it. If this was what he needed, it was her job to give it to him, right? 

But things began to spiral quickly. 

Though she tried to keep up with him, Selene found herself flat on her back with his weight on her chest. His hands traveled up her thighs, over her stomach and breasts but did not stop to grope or tease. Instead, they drifted up to her throat. 

At first, he seemed to stroke the tender flesh, until his fingers wrapped around her neck and squeezed hard. Selene's eyes widened and she let out a strangled gasp. 

He didn't seem to notice as her hands came up to his and tried to slap at them, trying to pry her small fingers between his and force his hands from her. Her legs tried to kick him away and tears stung her eyes as she fought for air. 

Her heart was pounding in her ears. 
The edges of her vision were going soft and fuzzy and the strength in her fight was waning. 
She stared at him with disbelieving eyes but he didn't seem to even see her. His eyes were flat and far away. 

With what little strength she had, she reached up to touch his face as the tears fell down her face and gathered at the sides of her head. 

Then, as quickly as it began, it was over. 
As if a flipping a switch in his body, his grip released her instantly and the air that flooded her lungs burned in her chest. She rolled onto her stomach, her knees pulled to her chest as she coughed and panted. 

"I'm sorry." Were the first words out of his mouth, frantic and desperate. "Baby, I'm so so sorry. Let me see. Honey, let me see." 

He sounded so sincere that she let him look. 
His fingers grazed the swollen ring around her neck contritely before pulling her to him in a tight embrace. 

"I'm so sorry, Selene. I wasn't thinking." 

She leaned her face into his shoulder and despite herself, she wept from fear and confusion. 
She wanted to ask why, but couldn't form the words. 

Instead, she simply allowed him to rock her slowly and let out a waterfall of apologies until she'd cried herself out.

John hated himself. 

For all his boasting of being in control, of not allowing his nature to rule over him, he'd been so quick to take his frustrations out on her without a thought to who she was to him, of how important she was. 

"I'm sorry, " he said one final time. "Let me make it right, baby. Please?"

She nodded silently, allowing him to pull her from the bed and into the bathroom. 
The cold water was soothing to her inflamed neck, and as she allowed him to tend to her she looked him over with calculating eyes. 

"Why did you do that?" 

John frowned, furrowing his brow as he tried to find the words to explain. 
"I... got angry. And I took it out on you without thinking, and I'm so sorry, baby." 
He cupped her face in his hands carefully, as if she might break. 
"I've done it dozens of times...but I've never had someone I cared about before. I lost control, and it will never happen again."

It sounded like an empty promise, the same kind every other wife beater made to his woman after losing his temper. But John meant it. 
Already he was formulating an exit plan, to ensure something like this never happened again.

"Before." she breathed. "Other women?"

He nodded, "Usually. Sometimes men, if I was low on options." 

Selene nodded, frowning as if she had something to say but was too nervous to say it.

"What is it, honey?"

"Did you sleep with them?"

He contained a smile, "Generally, yes. But it was just stress relief, honey. They meant nothing to me." 

Selene shifted uncomfortably. "Is that something you still *want* to do?" 

"Now, why would I want to run to some whore when I have the most beautiful girl in the world right here?" He assured her but she didn't smile. 

"I-" Selene considered her words carefully, "I don't want something like this to happen again. And if that means you have to go and...blow off some steam...I understand. But I don't want...I mean I'd prefer if you didn't...you know." 

"Fuck them?"

She blushed. "Yeah, that." 

"Does that mean you forgive me then?" 

She nodded and it felt like the entire world had been lifted off his chest. Scooping her up into a tight embrace, John nestled his face into her hair and breathed in the scent of her. 

He didn't deserve her, not by a long shot. 
"I love you, Honey."

"I love you too." Selene sighed, feeling a sudden wash of exhaustion as the adrenaline left her body. "I'm tired." 

As penance for his fuck up, John banished himself from the house after ensuring his wife was settled and comfortable. Leaving her with the promise that he'd only be gone a few hours. 

"You fucking idiot," he cursed himself as he barreled down the unlit rural road. "What the fuck were you thinking?"

He hadn't been thinking, there in laid the issue. 

He could fix this, he told himself. It was a slip-up, and she'd had the grace to forgive him. 

He'd drive out far enough that he couldn't be tracked, find a body, blow off some steam, and go back. 

She can forgive you, but she'll never forget it. 

"Shut the fuck up," he muttered, unable to stop his own mind from falling over the edge of the rabbit hole and bracing himself for whatever came. 

You fucking animal. 
You had one fucking job, and you've already failed. 

Glancing into the rearview, John's grip on the wheel tightened. 
Thadeus gazed back at him with his infuriating blue eyes. 

"You're not real." John sighed. "You're never real, you're just a figment of my imagination." 

"And you're a wife-beating son of a bitch." 

John winced. 
No argument there. 

"I fucked up, it won't happen again." 

"Sure it won't."

"I won't." John spat. "I've already worked out a plan. And Selene knows now, so she'll understand if every once in a while, I duck out to..."

"Release the beast?"

"Something like that." 

"And just how long is she going to be so understanding?" 

"She's like me."

"No one is like you." 

John looked back and found the old man had been replaced by a frequent flyer hallucination whom he called Lee. 

He didn't know if his name was actually Lee, he didn't exactly stop to ask before shoving a grenade into the bastard's mouth and pulling the pin. 

"Oh good, you're back." 

"Miss me?" Lee smiled sardonically. 

"Uh-huh," John sighed. "If you're here to tell me what a miserable bastard I am, another manifestation of my subconscious beat you to it." 

"I just think it's interesting you're feeling remorse." Lee scoffed. "Wish you could have discovered your humanity before you blew my head off." 

"Yeah, well," John shrugged, "You know what they say. War is Hell." 

"And brother, were you one hell of a demon." 

John smirked a little. "You're being unusually amicable." 

"Well, maybe you're forgiving yourself and seeing the bigger picture," Lee suggested. "Look, it ain't like she doesn't know what you are. And she knows that you know what she is. Lest we forget that she tore a man's chest open with her bare hands." 

"Hm." John chuckled. "That was pretty hot." 

"Hell yeah, it was." Lee agreed. "Look, my point is you're both cut from the same cloth. Is she happy you lost your shit on her? Fuck no. But she understood it, and she forgave you. So stop being such a fucking sad sack and look on the bright side." 

John knew he was just rationalizing this situation to make himself feel better, but it was working. He did feel less anxious. 

"Oh shit, hitchhiker at 10 o'clock." Lee peered over his shoulder. "Have fun." 

The hitchhiker was a bedraggled-looking hippy with nothing but the clothes on his back and a panhandler's cardboard sign. He held his thumb out and waved down the van as John slowed to a stop. 

"You goin' my way, brother?" The hippy asked, reeking of weed and the road. John smiled broadly.

"Climb in and we'll find out." 

Chapter Text

Selene woke to the feeling of something touching her face. On instinct she shot up, snatching whatever was by her face hard, and pressed herself against the headboard. 

"Whoa, hey." A familiar voice whispered in the darkness. "It's alright, it's me." 

Selene scrambles for the lamp and lets out a sigh of relief. "John. What time is it?" 

"Still late." He shrugged. "I didn't mean to wake you." 

She took in the sight of him with a small smile. His shirt was torn and splattered with fresh blood. Across his right cheekbone was a burgeoning bruise, the center of which was speckled with purple. 

"Hm." She sniffed, pressing her thumb to it gently and letting him wince. "How'd that happen?" 

"You should see the other guy." 

His eyes lingered on her neck. Thankfully it wasn't as bad as it had looked hours earlier. The redness and swelling were all but faded, and he hadn't hurt her badly enough to bruise. 

"Take a shower." Selene sighed. "And come to bed." 

He obeyed silently and as he undressed, Selene sat back and tried to remember what she'd been dreaming of. 

It hadn't been a pleasant dream. 

She was strapped to a gurney, her wrists and ankles aching from the restraints. 

If she looked on either side of her she could see faceless nurses in crisp white uniforms and paper masks wheeling her down a seemingly endless hallway. The lights overhead burned her eyes. 

Over her head, the end of the gurney hit a pair of double doors and she was pushed into a pale green room of painted bricks. The light in here was even brighter and 6 more faceless people awaited her. 

Selene shivered, moving to rub at her eyes. The sound of the shower running brought her back to reality. 

She was struck with a sudden revulsion at the idea of being alone. Untangling herself from the thin blanket, Selene pulled her white slip over her head and eyed the half-open bathroom door. 

The steam from the shower fogged up the mirror and silently she slipped through the crack in the door and sat patiently on the closed toilet, her knees drawn up to her chest. 

The porcelain was cold on her feet and back. 

Yes, she thought to herself, this felt safer.

When the shower cut off, the hair on the back of John's neck stood on end at the sudden awareness that he wasn't the only person in the room.

It's just your nerves, he told himself, it's been a long fucking night. 

Had he not caught himself, he would have instinctively lashed out at the small, dark form in the steam that stared at him with wide blue eyes. 

"Fucking Christ." He swallowed hard, "Honey, what the fuck?"

"I had a bad dream."

"Mh-hm" John nodded, wrapping the towel around his hips. 

"I..." she shifted, clearly embarrassed. "I didn't feel safe alone." 

"What was it about?" He asked, his heartbeat slowing as he rubbed a circle in the steamed-up mirror and looked over the bruise on his cheek. "Your dream?"

"I was back in the hospital but everything was....weird. Like it was a stretched out and longer than it was supposed to be." She explained. "And I was strapped to a gurney and they were wheeling me down C block. I couldn't speak or ask where we were going and then we got to the ECT room and then I woke up."

John paused, glancing back at her in the glass. 

"ECT? You got shocked?" 

"A few times." She nodded. "Usually after I had an episode...it mostly stopped after I turned 18."

John knew a few people who'd been put through ECT. It was seldom voluntary save for one guy from the VA Hospital who thought the shocks would make his nightmares go away. 

He never did find out if it worked. 

Mostly they'd been guys from prison, the ones who'd managed to get sent to the funny farm before getting locked up. 

He'd heard varying reports. 

Some said it was painful. 

Others said they just felt numb. 

All said they'd never go through it again if they could help it. 

"Well," he grumbled, trying to shake the idea of his wife being pinned to a table while some quack ran volts through her brain from his head, "no one 'round here's gonna shock you...at least not while I'm around." 

She could tell he meant it too. 

He didn't bother dressing before climbing into bed after her, snickering as she shimmied out of her slip and tossed it on the chair. 

The night had taken it out of both of them, because next thing they knew the shrill ringing of a telephone filled the small house.

"Oh, fuck me," John groaned. Selene's grip on his side rivaled that of a koala to a eucalyptus tree, so making it to the phone was a struggle. 

"Yes?" He finally grunted into the receiver. 

"Oh good, you're up."

Thadeus. 

Fuck. 

"I am, what do you need?" 

"In the PO box in Amarillo, there is a folder waiting for you. I trust you still have the key." 

"Uh-huh." 

"How is my granddaughter?"

"Sleeping." 

"Hm." The old man didn't sound convinced. "Well, have her call when she has a chance. Her aunts are positively vexed she didn't tell them about the wedding." 

"Uh-huh. Anything else?" 

"That is all."

John hung up with a sigh.

Fucking Amarillo? 

"Shit." He eyed his sleeping wife unsurely. There was no way he could leave her alone for that long, at least not yet. He rocked her shoulder firmly and smiled a little when she scrunched up her face in displeasure. "Rise and shine beautiful, we've got work to do."

"Nhhhhgg" Selene stretched. "What time is it?" 

"Noon-ish?" 

Selene nodded and sat up. "Who was on the phone?"

"Your granddad. He's got a score for me in Amarillo." 

"So..." God did she already sound brokenhearted. "You're leaving?" 

"We are leaving, Babydoll." He corrected her. "Now get dressed, I'll make food." 

Amarillo. Selene swallowed hard. She knew she would have to re-enter society eventually, but all the same, it was overwhelming. 

At least she wouldn't be alone. 

Choosing the only set of clean street clothes she had, Selene brushed and pulled her hair back with combs before forcing down a cup of black coffee and an egg on toast. 

Amarillo 

Jesus that was way up north. Were they really driving all the way there? 

"Check the mail slot for me will ya?" 

She obeyed, peering into a small metal mail slot on the front of the house and finding a small Manila envelope with 2 plane tickets, a wad of cash, and a note. 

Consider it your honeymoon

-TM

Well, that was nice of him.

"You ever flown?" 

"Twice." She nodded. 

"Good, here." He tossed a book on the table as he reached for his leather jacket. "Keep yourself entertained on the way." 

The paper cover was well worn and the spine broken in, clearly a favorite. 

Selene flipped it over to read the title. 

A Clockwork Orange 

Well, she had been meaning to read more books. 

Travel would be terrible this time of year, it being the holiday season, but that was ideal for this sort of work. 

With a million people all being shuffled from one place to another, who could possibly pick out a face from the crowd? Incidentally, Selene also helped with this. 

People might remember a solitary male, someone without a group to blend into, without an easily identifiable title or purpose for existing.

But a couple? 

One of a million.

Lone Male Traveler became Forgettable Husband to Equally Forgettable Wife. 

A man with his own business to worry about, and therefore certainly didn't have the time or motive to harbor ill intent. 

On the plane, they sat in coach, as any regular person would. Selene was trying to engross herself in the book, but a quick look indicated she hadn't managed to get through more than a few pages. 

They touched down a few hours later, and John ghosted them into a pre-determined motel close to the airport for an easy getaway. 

There he would find a pre-rented car and pre-paid room assigned to one William and Julie Smith for exactly 2 days. 

Selene looked around anxiously, wringing her hand and half tempted to reach for the sedatives in her bag. Her anxiety only spiked further when she realized John was putting on his coat again.

"Wait, where are you going?" 

He eyed her, gauging her obvious nervousness, and smirked. Why was it she was at her most adorable when she looked scared half out of her mind?

He'd already slipped 300 bucks into her clutch, also with a slip of paper with 3 addresses on it to keep her busy. The cab was already on its way.

Tugging her chin towards him and a long, firm kiss, John shrugged. 

"To work." 

Chapter Text

Selene couldn't sleep. 

It was well past midnight and the few bags of clothes she'd returned with from the shopping district had been carefully packed into her bag. 

She'd showered, eaten dinner, and even ventured a glass of heady red wine while getting just a few pages further into the book John had lent her...and he was still nowhere to be found. 

It wasn't just that she couldn't sleep, but also that she refused to. 

She'd been left to her own devices in a strange city, a plane ride away from everyone she'd ever known, and he had left her all alone. 

Didn't he know how nervous she was? 

Didn't he understand that she would be a wreck without knowing where he was? 

She needed to relax. 

Pouring a second glass of wine, Selene paced the room up and down like a big cat in a cage. 

She eyed one of the paper bags that poked a corner out of her travel bag.

She hadn't been brave enough to spend more than a few minutes in each store, but there was one that she took a risk on. 

This was supposed to be her honeymoon after all. 

That would show him, wouldn't it? 

Setting the wine aside, she stripped herself of the hotel robe she'd been drying in and snipped the paper tag off a pale pink nighty that hung from her shoulders with flimsy silk straps. 

They'd had one in white, but somehow she felt she'd lost rights to the color. 

It hung to her knees with two short slits on either side and a lacey panel just over her breasts. 

She would dress like she'd been waiting for him, fall asleep on top of the covers, and when he came back and found her he'd feel like a cad for letting her wait up for him. 

1 am rolled around, and then 2, and though her eyes were heavy she wanted to be a little half awake when he arrived so she could tell if he was properly contrite. 

At about 2:15 there came the thudding of footsteps in the hall. They were slow and even, and Selene fought back an impish smile as she posed herself on the bedspread as if sleeping. 

The key rattled in the lock and the hinges let out a high squeal until the door closed with a heavy thunk. 

She waited for him to say something, he would certainly assume she was still awake as the lights were still on. Instead, she heard him shuffle to a chair by the TV and lean on it heavily, hissing as he peeled off his coat before dragging himself into the bathroom and closing the door. 

Selene sat up with a frown and furrowed her brow when she heard water running. 

Eyeing the coat draped over the chair, she grabbed it and found it wet. The fabric left her hands red and she gasped. 

No wonder he was gone for so long, she scolded herself for her impatience and rushed to the bathroom door. 

"John?"

There came a muffled grunt of pain through the thin door. 

"Go back to bed, Babygirl." 

"You're bleeding." 

"I'm okay." He breathed through the pain. "Nothing I can't handle. Go on back to sleep." 

There would be no sleep tonight, she knew it. She opened the door and found him shirtless and leaning on one good elbow over the sink while he prodded at an ugly, blood wound on the other arm. 

He glanced at her disapprovingly but sighed. "Go get the little black case from my bag and bring it here will ya?" 

She obeyed quickly, the hard shell case rattled with loose items inside as she sat it on the sink and opened it for him. 

From it, he drew a bottle of iodine, a long pair of thin steel tweezers, and a scalpel. 

"Do me a favor, start making a thick pad with the gauze there." He nodded to the thick roll of gauze as he cleared the area around the wound with the iodine. "Don't panic on me, I've done this before." 

Selene couldn't watch and she she turned away and winced at the strangled, pained noises he made. 

Something small and metal rolled into the bowl of the sink and Selene peered at it as John took the gauze pad from her and pressed it to the wound. 

"Wrap it tight. Good girl." He breathed deeply. The worst was over. 

Selene tapped off the gauze tightly and stepped back. 

He was covered in blood from his face and down his chest, and Selene was unsure how much was his. Most of it was concentrated around his nose and mouth, that much she was fairly certain was his. 

She expected him to clean up, and scrub off as much evidence as he could, but instead, he straightened up and rolled his neck. 

"I've got one more thing to take care of. Get back in bed and I'll be back in an hour." 

"No." She demanded immediately. "I want to go with you." 

John shook his head sternly, pushing past her. "Do as you're told." 

"You know I can handle myself!" She insisted. "John I haven't seen you since this morning, please-?"

Her pleading was cut off by a vice grip on her wrist and another on her jaw. 

"Listen to me." He shook her a little, his stormy eyes cold and hard as he forced her to look nowhere but into them. "And you listen good. This isn't like the other times, do you hear me? This isn't personal and it isn't for fun, this is a fucking job. So, no, you cannot come. You will get back into bed and you will stay there until I come back. Do you understand me?" 

Selene squirmed in his grip a little until he shook her again. "Do you understand me?" 

She nodded. 

"Then say it."

"I understand." She sniffed, her eyes filled with tears. "I understand, I'm sorry." 

His grip softened, and Selene let out a trembling whimper as he traced his thumb over her bottom lip. 

"Go lay down, okay? I'll be back soon." 

The gunshot was still echoing through the sky as John walked back to the car through the overgrown field. 

"You were kind of a dick back there at the hotel." 

He glanced to the side and found the man he'd just left lying in the grass walling beside him. His eye hung out of his shattered socket from the beating he took, and the bullet wound in his forehead was still leaking blood. 

"How would you know, you were tied up in the trunk?" John muttered bitterly as he slipped the gun into his waistband. 

"There she was, all dressed up in lingerie she picked out for you, she tried to wait up, and what you do...?" The walking corpse ignored him, sauntering with his hands stuffed in his pockets. "You make her cry...again." 

"If she'd just listened to me the first time, it wouldn't have happened." John snapped. "I had you bleeding out in the trunk, I'd just dug a fucking bullet out of my arm, look I do not have to explain myself to you; you're not even real!" 

"Real enough to piss you off." 

They reached the car and John sighed, leaning on the hood for a moment in contemplation. The corpse waited for him expectantly until the assassin sighed. 

"Alright. I go back. I apologize for snapping but NOT for telling her no; I didn't say anything wrong. Clean up, sweet talk'er a little bit, eat her pussy, and then boom, we're golden." 

"You know, you can't expect to solve all your problems by sticking your tongue in a woman's snatch." The corpse crawled into the back seat as John turned on the engine but not the lights. 

"Can if you do it right." 

Selene lay on her side in the dark hotel room, still wide awake. Her pink nightie was shoved back into her bag.

She was just as angry as she was sad. 

Angry that he raised his voice with her, but devastated that he had even gotten upset enough with her to do so. 

The door squealed open again and the orange light from the hall filled the entryway a moment before it closed again. 

She watched his shape in the darkness approach the bed and kneel by her head.

He didn't say anything but he reached up and stroked her face gently, tucking some hair behind her ear as he did so. 

"Still awake?" 

For a moment she almost didn't answer, letting him think she'd fallen soundly asleep without a thought to his previous harshness. 

Instead, she reached up to touch his hand on her face. 

"Yeah." Her throat was still choked with tears.

"You okay?" 

She nodded, a lie. 

"Come on." His hands found her body and pulled her gently but insistently off the bed. "Come here." 

She embraced him, not tightly as she was still put off, but she tucked her chin over his shoulder. 

He smelt of blood. 

He smelt of death. 

"Kiss me." 

His hand found her face and she heard his chuckle. "I haven't cleaned up yet." 

"So?" 

The blood on his mouth was dried and flaked as she kissed him. The moister from their lips and tongues revived some of the gore and tainted the kiss with a sharp, coppery tang. 

Fumbling through the darkness, John's back hit the bathroom door and he reluctantly removed one hand to open it. The light over them hummed with electricity as hands found flesh and lips found necks. 

"Get on the counter." He growled, wishing his arm was strong enough to lift her himself. 

The smooth surface was cold on her ass, but Selene obeyed and gasped when he pulled her forward to the edge. She tried to find something to balance on as her husband settled between her thighs and didn't hesitate to delve his tongue into her cunt. Exploring from her slick hole, through her folds, and up to her clit. 

Her hand found his hair and her fingers tangled themselves to the roots as he wrapped his arms around her thighs and tugged her sharply until she was on her back with her knees hooked over his shoulders. 

The position itself was uncomfortable and precarious, but the way he feasted on her cunt while almost glaring down at her made it so entirely worth it. 

His face left red streaks on the soft inside of her thighs and stained the lips of her cunt with his blood. 

Selene rolled her hips against his face desperately, a keening whimper escaping her chest as he focused on her clit, alternating flicking with his tongue and suctioning his lips to the bundle of nerves until her thighs started shaking around his head. 

"John. Joh-ah! John, please! Please, please please!" She begged him, her clit burning from the constant stimulation while her cunt pulsed and quivered around nothing. 

Without missing a beat, he switched from torturing her sensitive clit to lapping at her aching hole, creamy from her orgasm. 

"You want this cock, sweet girl?" He panted, finally peeling himself away from her thighs to jerk at his belt and zipper with one hand and rub circling on her tender clit with the other. 

His long cock sprung from his briefs as he traced her entrance with the warm head. "Is this what you were waiting up for? Waited all night like a good girl for me to come stretch that cunt again?" 

She blushed hotly at his words. "John, please-"

"Nuh-uh. Not until you ask nicely." 

She looked as if she might die on the spot of embarrassment and he loved it.

"Please John, will you please-" her tongue couldn't finish, weight down with mortification. 

"Please what, Baby?" 

"Please fuck me." She forced the words out with a squeak, turning her face to the side to hide from him. 

He pressed into her slowly, relishing the way her face tensed only to contort into a mask of pleasure with every inch until he bottomed out. 

His head seemed to be nestled into the deepest part of her that she didn't know even existed until recently. 

He didn't pull out immediately, instead keeping himself deep inside her and rolling his hips against hers. Selene let out a trembling breath and clung to him as he fucked her with short, shallow strokes. 

With each movement, his head stroked a sweet spot that drew short gasping squeals from her. 

"There you go, look at that sweet face." John loomed over her, keeping his movements slow despite the animal instinct to pound into her. When she grew impatient and needy, he waited under she began rolling her hips back to him urgently, desperately seeking more friction. 

"What's wrong, baby?" He teased. "Oh, I remember. Getting that tight cunt filled and stretched isn't  enough, no you asked me to fuck you." 

He emphasized the word with a long stroke, pulling almost all the way out only to push back in faster. 

"Isn't that right?" 

"Yes." She nodded furiously. "Please, please, please." 

He gave into her request all too eagerly, throwing away pretense in favor of leaning her back and rutting furiously. 

Her whines escalates into moans, unable to hold them back now as his mouth found the pulse point of her throat and sucked dark love bites across her flesh and he fucked into her. 

One hand braced on the counter behind her, John's free hand wanted to stray to her throat but thought better of it and instead groped at her breast. The soft flesh pillows between his fingers as his hip snapped forward more forcefully. 

Despite her inexperience, her body molded to his perfectly, soft and giving as he shaped her with each bounce of her ass against his hips. 

All she knew of sex, she knew from him and it was enough for her to stay up until the wee hours of morning in the hopes of being split open again and again on his cock. 

Selene's eyes were twisted shut as she clung to his chest, her mouth hanging agape as she felt the heat, wetness, and friction churning inside of her. 

She bucked her hips against him feebly as his thrusts far overpowered hers and all she could do was readily accept his touch and his intrusion into her body. 

It was soon becoming all too much and her legs tightened around him, crossing at the small of his back. 

"Please." She whimpered "Close, please. Yes, yes yes." 

Her breathing grew erratic and high with each thrust until finally her resistance snapped and her fingers curled into his flesh like claws. He continued fucking her well through her orgasm and almost laughed at her whining moans of overstimulation as he chased his own high. 

Her face twisted from pleasure to discomfort and back again as he pulled her from the counter and bent her over the sink facing the mirror. She cried out when he thrust back and continued his merciless pace as her hands grasped and her thighs squeezed together.

His end was coming quickly, pushed forward by her barely coherent cries of "too much" 

"Mh-mh, you begged for this cock, Babygirl. You're going to take it till I fill that cunt with my cum. Aren't you?" 

"Yes!"

"You wanna feel my cum in that pussy?"

"Yes! Yes-Ah!"

Selene's cunt instinctively tightened when she felt the rush of heat fill her up so fully she fucked her hips back at him, milking his cock. 

"Fuck!" He cursed, hips jerking sharply as the last of his seed was buried deep into her body. His hands slipped from her shoulders to her breast to give them a squeeze as he lay kissed across her back and shoulders.

"Good girl, that's my good sweet girl." He purred, waiting until the last of the spasms melted from her cunt before pulling out. 

Selene panted, struggling to unfurl her fingers after clinging to the edge the the counter so tightly. She fell back against him gently, her hips still grinding back against his sensitive cock  as his cum dropped from her cunt and down her thighs. 

"I think this would be best continued in the shower." 

Chapter Text

The plane ride back was oddly peaceful. 

They didn't speak much, not to each other and certainly not to anyone else. 

Selene leaned slightly on John's shoulder as the plane landed and allowed him to take her bag when they disembarked. He was the perfect gentleman, likely his way of apologizing without forcing his mouth to form the words. 

The whole drive he kept one hand resting on the steering wheel while the other massaged her thigh.  Occasionally she would squeeze his hand slightly, running her finger over the ridges of his hand soothingly. 

Despite the silence, she couldn't help but notice his eyes flicking regularly to the rearview mirror. He frowned deeply each time, almost looking as if he wanted to say something but held back. 

She glanced back a few times as well, wondering if perhaps they were being followed but saw no one for miles behind them. 

"What's wrong?" She finally asked, "You're acting all skittish." 

"Nothing." He sniffed. "Nothing. Just a little tired is all." 

When the road went from paved to rocky, Selene peered into the distance and frowned. 

There was someone in front of the house. 

She saw an old, beaten-up car parked by the figure and patted John's leg urgently. "Who is that?" 

As they drew closer, the blurry shadow of a figure turned into a woman. An eerily, uncannily familiar woman. 

"Ah, shit." John breathed as they pulled to a stop. "Stay in the car honey. I'll handle this." 

Selene glowered at the stranger through the window but didn't argue. 

The woman was of average build but beautiful of face. She smiled broadly as they pulled up, flashing slightly crooked teeth behind plush lips as she tossed her tawny hair over one shoulder. 

John approached the stranger casually and exchanged words Selene couldn't hear. The longer she looked, the worse she felt. 

This woman; her eyes, the curve of her long nose, the sheepish pose of her ankles that bounced her weight from one leg to the other. 

She knew her, she had to have seen her before. 

Sitting back in the passenger seat, Selene caught a glimpse of herself in the side mirror and froze. 

With a trembling hand, she tilted the rearview towards her and stared at her face in sections before glancing back at the stranger. 

Eyes. 

Nose. 

Lips.

Even her hair.

Her heart began to pound in her chest, hammering against her ribs like a convict trying to escape a holding cell. The edges of her mind became foggy and blurry as her breath caught painfully in her lungs. 

"No." She whispered hoarsely. "No, no, no, no, no." 

Eventually, the driver's side opened again with a squeal and John leaned on it with a sigh. He opened his mouth to explain the situation but paused as his eyes raked over the trembling creature pressed against the passenger seat. 

"Selene?" He leaned in and brushed her leg with the tips of his fingers and she jolted up as if he had shot her. "Whoa, okay. Easy there, princess. What's going on?" 

Selene's mouth was dry and sour as she tried to find the words. 

"That woman." She whimpered, the back of her eyes heating up, "she looks just like me." 

"Meadow?" He looked over his shoulder in confusion. "I...I mean, I guess you look kind alike." 

There was a passing resemblance to be sure. They might pass for cousins, maybe sisters in a dim light. But whatever Selene saw had her shaken to her core. 

"Hey, come here." John chuckled, pulling her over the wide seat toward the driver's side door until she sat in front of him. "What's the matter, Babydoll? Huh? You're not jealous, are you?" 

No, Selene wanted to say, not that wasn't it at all. But she couldn't force her mouth to say the words, so he took her silence as confirmation. 

"Awe, you don't have anything to worry about, baby." He assured her. "Meadow is just an old friend. She just came by to see if she could score, but I told her I ain't got anything for her."

Selene remained unconvinced, wrapping her arms around him tightly. "Is she leaving?" 

"Course she is. Unless you want her to stick around." 

Might be hot, he thought impishly. Letting an experienced and eager look-alike rock his sweet little wife's world. 

"No!" Selene urged instantly. "No, please...John, there is something wrong with that woman. I can feel it!" 

The woman's car started up behind him and Selene watched it go over his shoulder. As she pulled away, the woman stared at Selene intently with those too-familiar eyes. 

"Okay, easy." John scoffed. "It's been a long trip, and you're over tired. Let's get you inside." 

Selene didn't object as he ferried her inside, their bags slung over one shoulder. The house seemed safe enough, she decided as he unlocked the door. She wouldn't have been able to get in here. 

At her insistence, John double-locked the door behind them and nudged her forward with a bemused look. 

"Go take a shower, wash the road off." He instructed her as he tossed the bags to the side. "I need to make a call." 

Closing the bathroom door, Selene paused as she stripped her clothes off. Staring at herself in the mirror, she analyzed her features intently. 

It was impossible, she told herself. It was ridiculous. 

But it had happened to Lewis. 

If it happened to Lewis and it was happening to her, who else could it happen to? 

Maybe she should call the doctor? 

No, he never believed her. 

And she hadn't told John, it was too much to explain. 

Surely he'd notice, wouldn't he? If she went missing and some double wearing her face took her place. He would know something was wrong. 

But he hadn't even noticed they looked identical. 

"Yeah, everything went fine." John leaned against the wall, lighting up a cigar as he pressed the phone between his ear and shoulder. "Selene?" 

He paused a moment, letting smoke simmer in his lungs before exhaling. "She's alright but...I don't know something shook her up when we got back...Old customer of mine showed up to score, I told her to fuck off but uh, Selene looked kinda scared of her...yeah...yeah I'll keep you in the loop." 

Hanging up the phone, John leaned back on the bed thoughtfully. 

What could have gotten into her? Meadow was a little annoying, some dime-a-dozen flower child selling her body for whatever drug she could get her hands on, but she was harmless enough. 

They did look alike though. Meadow was older by a few years, her body fuller from popping out a few kids who lived God knows where, but in the face, you could see the resemblance. 

The bathroom door squeaked open, calling his attention. 

God, if she wasn't just the most adorably pitiful-looking thing. Wrapped in a large towel with her long hair limp over one shoulder. Under her eyes sat grey rings of mascara she hadn't successfully scrubbed off, giving her an even more haunted look as she eyed him cautiously. 

"Come'ere, sweet girl." He sat up and chuckled, out reaching one arm that she moved towardly like a magnet until she stood between his legs. "Feel better?" 

She shrugged silently, allowing him to peel the towel from her body and press a kiss to her bare chest and neck as he squeezed the remaining water from her hair. 

"John?" 

"Uh-huh?" 

"You uh...." she swallowed hard, fear edging her voice. "If I weren't...me. I mean if I weren't myself, you would know right?" 

John paused his kisses, looking up at her. "I don't follow." 

"I mean if I looked like me, and even maybe acted like me...but I wasn't me. Could you tell?" 

"Is this about Meadow?" John smiled a little, a gesture that was not returned. "Baby, you are nothing like her." 

Selene bit her lower lip unsurely. "But she looks so-" 

"I will admit you look similar." John nodded, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her closer. Her flesh had started to chill. "Not identical, but similar. But you, Princess, are my perfect little killer."

"Really?" She blushed slightly. 

"Of course." He insisted. "Even if you look all sweet and shy, I know that deep down you are nothing like her or anyone else. You are special. I knew from the moment I saw you sitting there, looking so beautiful and savage in all that blood, that you were made for me, and no one else."  

Selene's breath trembled as he pulled her onto his lap.

He would know, she understood that now. He was like her, he would be able to see through any clever disguises or tricks just as she had. The knowledge made her heart sing. 

"I...I was afraid she might try and take you away from me." She confessed. "Try to replace me." 

John scoffed darkly, taking her chin in his fingers and wiggling it back and forth. "Let her try. Let her see what happens." 

Chapter Text

John had always considered himself in obstinate opposition to the domestic. 

However, if this was what all those sad-ass saps were talking about when they said marital bliss, maybe it wasn't such a bad deal.

His core tensed and relaxed as another bolt of pleasure shot through him and a growling moan echoed through his throat. His fingers tightened on the handful of tawny locks tangled in his grasp as he pushed her down deeper with slow insistence, his other hand gripping the arm of the chair. 

"You're doing so well, baby." His fingers brushed her soft jaw and cheeks as she gagged slightly around him. She wasn't able to take much, but it was only her first try. 

They'd have plenty of time to practice.

She'd been reluctant to try at first, having only heard of such an act and never in a flattering context. But he had found that the quickest way to get her on her knees, so to speak, was flattery.

 "Look how pretty those eyes are. Look up, sweet girl. Let me see you." 

She obeyed instantly, icy eyes watering slightly from the head of his cock striking the back of her throat. A savage voice told him to push her head down fully and see just how cute she looked teary-eyed and struggling. 

Let her learn the hard way how to use that pretty, pouty mouth properly. 

Instead, he reigned himself back and thrust shallowly into her throat, reveling in her surprised whines and wet gagging. 

"Fuck, That's right. All the way, baby girl. Just relax for me." 

Tears ran down her cheeks as Selene tried her best to accommodate his length in her novice throat and John instinctively took the reigns. Her jaw ached from effort and her knees bore imprints from the carpet, so if allowing him to use her throat meant she could return to the comfort of his lap quicker, she was more than willing to comply. 

The time she spent hadn't been a total waste, as he came fairly quickly after taking control. She squealed in surprise when, without warning, he pulled out only halfway and coated her tongue and mouth with his cum. 

It was a salty, mildly sour taste, certainly not pleasant but not as frightening as she thought it would be as he gripped her chin and tilted it up at him. 

"Open." 

Slightly confused, she obeyed and parted her lips wide for him. Whatever he saw pleased him greatly, judging by the satisfied smile that spread across his face when he pressed his thumb to her tongue. 

"That's my good girl. Swallow." 

She did so gladly, happy to get the taste off her tongue before he pulled her from her knees and into his lap for a deep, lazy kiss. 

"Good job, honey." 

"Is that really something men like?" Selene questioned, unsure how her mouth, a hole full of hard and potentially sharp teeth, was so desirable. 

"Mh, very, very much." He assured her, laying kisses across her shoulder. "There are lots of things a lot of people like that might surprise you." 

"Like what?" She turned to him curiously. eager to learn. Sex itself was fantastic enough, she hardly saw the need to build upon it. But, she didn't want to bore him either. 

"Well," he tried to figure out where to begin. He didn't want to put her off too quickly, but if she was willing to learn that was all the better. "A lot of people enjoy a little pain when they fuck."

"Pain?" She scoffed skeptically. "Why?" 

"Makes the pleasure that much better." He smirked. "Wanna give it a try?" 

Selene shifted uncomfortably. "What sort of pain?" 

"Nothing too bad, princess." He promised. "Do you trust me?" 

Giving in mostly out of curiosity, Selene allowed him to shift her from his lap to bend over his knees. 

This wasn't an unfamiliar position, but she hadn't been laid across someone's knee since she was a child. It felt rather silly to do it as an adult. 

"John, are you sure you aren't just making fun of me?" She glanced over her shoulder and was surprised to find his eyes darkened and hungry. 

His wide hands caressed down her spine and over her ass before flipping up her skirt and roughly palming a hand full of her ass. 

Selene closed her eyes, enjoying the familiar sensation and biting her lip as his fingers pressed over her clothed slit, focusing pressure on her clit. 

He kept at his surprisingly gentle touch until she whined slightly and tried to press against him for more. 

The crack of flesh striking flesh sharply scared her more than it hurt. The sting only began to spread across her ass when he pressed his weight across her shoulders when she tried to wiggle off his lap. 

"Shhh, sh." He soothed, pulling her panties down fully around her knees and slipping two fingers into her. "Just relax." 

When his fingers curled against her g-spot, she immediately forgot the pain and arched her back with a needful whine.

She was only rewarded with a few moments of sweet pleasure before his hand disappeared from her and a second strike came across her other cheek. 

This time she cried out, but to her surprise it was more of a squal of pleasure than a sob of pain. 

A third strike came followed by the sweet intrusion of his fingers, testing how wet she was getting from this unfamiliar treatment. 

Her fingers clawed at her thigh as his free hand went from pinning her shoulder to stroking her hair and pressing the side of her face against his denim-clad leg. 

"See, that's not so bad is it?" 

She could only give a weak moan in response as his fingers curled deeper into her, but she clenched and cried out when he struck her now reddening ass again. 

"What I fuckin' ask you a question, you damn well better answer." He growled, spanking harder. "Now what do you say?" 

"It hurts." She whimpered, momentarily forgetting the pleasure of it all until three fingers entered her, stretching her slightly as he teased her g-spot. 

"And yet, look how wet and sensitive you are." The smug satisfaction was evident in his voice as he slapped her again. "I'll tell you what, princess. If you can go for 5 more without getting wet, we'll stop. But if you can't...well we'll just have to decide that after won't we? Ready?" 

Selene nodded, not trusting herself to speak without whimpering as she braced for the first strike that came with a stinging swiftness. 

She couldn't contain a cry as his palm hit already sensitive flesh, or the moan that came after when he rubbed her red ass soothingly. 

"Awe, poor little girl." He said mockingly, "only 4 more." 

By the third, Selene was whimpering with each jolt of pleasure between her legs, quite sure she had already failed his test. With each hit, she could feel his cock twitch and harden against her side. 

After the 4th, he dipped his fingers back between her legs and chuckled darkly. "You're just loving this aren't you?" 

The final strike against her abused ass sent a high yelp from her throat as she gripped him tightly and bucked her hips against his leg. 

"John, please!" She blushed hotly. "You've made your point."

"Oh, I don't think I have. Not yet." He righted her and stood with his hand on the back of her neck. "We're just getting to the best part."

Stripping off her dress and pushing her toward the bed, her face buried in a pillow, John took a moment to admire the swelling hand prints that stood out starkly against her ass as he undid his pants once more. 

The sting of his weight against her wounded ass mixed with the pleasure of his cock filling her completely, and the sensation was unlike anything Selene had felt before. 

John's grip on her hips tightened as her cunt immediately clenched around him. 

"There you go, baby." He purred, pinning her to the mattress by the back of her shoulders as he bucked into her without restraint. "Doesn't that feel so much better?" 

The intensity of each movement was cranked up to an 11, and she could feel every inch of him pumping in and out of her body. 

"Please." She gasped, fists tightening on the blankets "Oh fuck, deeper, please." 

He complied, if only because the short, choked moans that told him he'd reached her sweet spot were so pretty. 

Her legs began to tremble under her, and John knew she was getting close. Pulling her up slightly, he bent over her to reach her ear. 

"You wanna cum, baby?" 

She nodded desperately, sweat gathering at the nape of her neck and brow as he plowed into her. "Please. Please, John, please, please." 

"Mmmh, what a good girl, asking so nicely." He praised, sending another spasm through her. "You can cum, baby. And I want to hear you say thank you, like the good girl you are. Understand?" 

She nodded mutely, her brow furrowed in concentration until something deep in her core finally snapped and she nearly fell forward as she came around him. 

"Yes! Thank you, thank you, thank you. Fuck, oh fuck." 

With her peak reached, John focused on his own pleasure. Pinning her under him once more, he pounded into her spent cunt hard. Muttering broken curses and taunts in her ear, he gripped her shoulders in a painful vice grip and pulled her against him as he filled her with a choked roar. 

Folding over his wife, John pulled her to him, still buried inside her with a sigh.

Selene swallowed hard, her mouth dry from panting and her cunt still tightening and pulsing around him as she pressed her sweaty back to his bare chest. 

"I don't want you to go tomorrow." 

"I know." He nodded. "You'll be okay, I promise. I wrote down the number you can reach me at if anything happens." 

She nodded silently. 

Isolation had spoiled her. She'd gotten to hoard him all to herself and the idea of being left alone, even for a few days, was horrid. 

"You can always go stay with your granddad." 

"No." She sighed. "No, I- he hasn't forgiven me yet." 

John hummed sympathetically and kissed her temple. "You'll be okay. You're tougher than you look, remember?" 

He left her with his pistol, a stocked pantry so she wouldn't have to leave for anything, and cash for emergencies. 

"You sure you don't want me to drop you off at your granddad's place?"

"No." She sighed, kissing him firmly and reluctantly untangling her arms from his neck. "See you in a few days." 

Chapter Text

Alone. 

Selene had never been alone, not truly. 

Someone, somewhere, had always been keeping an eye on her in one way or another. 

But not here. 

Out on the edge of the dry Texas grasslands where it began to blend into the desert, in a tiny house on an unmarked road, she found herself well and truly alone for the first time in her life. 

It wasn't as terrifying as she thought it would be, though she did triple-check all the locks on the door and the windows. 

The quiet was what really got her. 

In the still quiet, every noise seemed ten times louder than it might have been otherwise. 

The hours dragged on long and slow without another body to keep her company. Selene found herself half-dozing at the end of the bed, curled into a tight ball under the blankets while some black and white movie played on the small TV. 

She didn't make dinner, nerves getting the best of her stomach, and took a much longer shower than necessary. The heat of the water was meditative,  hitting the back of her skull and water falling down her shoulders as she slowly loosened the tightness in her body. 

How could she already be missing him? 

It had been less than a day. 

Part of her felt foolish; a silly love-addled fool who waited around like a dog whose master had gone to work. 

Somehow the comparison didn't offend her, instead, it was somewhat comforting. 

Sleep didn't come easy. The bed felt so much bigger than it had yesterday. Hesitantly, she rolled from her side of the bed by the window to the side John usually occupied. 

It smelt of him.

His soap. 

Slightly stale cigar smoke.

The scent of sweat. 

The last time he'd laid here, she'd been on top of him. Straddling his hips and blushing helplessly as he struggled to keep his voice steady between gasps and whines. 

She'd never seen him so vulnerable.

It had been intoxicating. 

Holding the memory in the front of her brain, Selene found sleep came more naturally. 

She wasn't sure what time it was when she woke up, she hadn't checked the clock, but the sun was fairly high in the sky and the wind had started to pick up. 

A storm must be moving in, she thought as she peered up at the grey clouds through the window. 

The coffee pot garbled and sputtered behind her, the only other sound in the house beside her bare feet on the cold linoleum. 

Managing her time with laundry, Selene clicked on the table radio to listen to the news while folding clothes. 

It was mostly traffic reports and local politics she didn't understand and wasn't interested in, so she eased the dial in a slow circle until she hit a station that seemed to be running some radio play. 

Might as well, she shrugged, settling on the carpet with crossed legs and refocusing on the laundry. 

"Don't you think it's strange?" A girl over the radio asked in a hushed tone. "That house has sat abandoned for twenty years, never for sale, never foreclosed on? It just sits there, rotting." 

"Ah, I bet there are lots of houses like that." A man brushed her off. "Letting a house like that sit empty might be a financial burden, but I doubt it's anything sinister." 

The coffee pot sputtered to an end and Selene unplugged the machine before pouring herself a cup and settling back on the ground against the bed.

"You know, Tom? Sometimes, when I'm riding my bike down the street, I swear I can feel someone watching me from that house." 

"Don't be ridiculous, Janet. Who would possibly be watching you?" 

Rapid knocking against the front door made Selene jump, spilling coffee down the front of her shirt slightly. 

"Fuck." She growled, then quietly stared at the door. John hadn't told her to expect any visitors. 

The only person she could think of who would come calling was her Grandfather. 

Tucking her hair behind both ears, Selene sighed and made for the door. Peering through the spy hole, she saw no one, and yet the knocking came again with more insistence this time. 

She unlocked the deadbolt but kept the chain latched as she opened the door slightly. 

"Hi! Selene, right?" 

Selene's stomach dropped to her knees sickeningly as her own face stared back at her with sheepishly pleading eyes.

"It's Meadow?"

"I remember." Selene nodded coldly. "What do you want?" 

Meadow smiled awkwardly, scratching at her arms persistently as she fidgeted and shuffled in place. 

"Is uh- is Johnny home?" 

Selene's frown deepened and her brow furrowed deeply. "No, he's not." 

She began to shut the door but Meadow urgently grabbed the edge. "Any idea when he'll be back? It's just...I know he said he didn't have nothing but, I'm fiending real bad ya know? And I got money, real money if I could just get something to take the edge off-."

Her voice was edgy and tense as she tried to laugh every other sentence off like a joke. Selene's heart began to pound as Meadow's grip on the door tightened and she pushed harder. 

"Let go of the door." She hissed and Meadow pouted. 

"Come on! Please? Look, you're all alone, right? Johnny and I used to have this arrangement and maybe I could, I mean, you're real pretty and all, and I bet John wouldn't mind if-"

Meadow's mania grew with each pleading word and Selene was nearly hyperventilating as her eyes flashed from side to side and her hand went to the first thing within arms reach. 

"I said let go!" Selene barked, slamming her coffee mug against Meadow's fingers. The ceramic cracked and hot black liquid spilled down the door and her hand as Meadow stumbled back and off the small porch. She landed on her back and Selene slammed the door shut as hard as she could and frantically locked both deadbolts. 

Backing away from the door, Selene's body was trembling. 

This was it. 

Meadow was slamming her fists against the door furiously, yelling profanity and pleas until she stopped with a hard kick of frustration to the door.

Stepping over the ceramic fragments, Selene peered through the front window and watched as Meadow glared heatedly at the front door. She screamed something that was muffled well enough by the door that Selene couldn't make it out but the fury on her face frightened her. 

Meadow flipped a vulgar finger at the house and stalked back to her car. 

Once she was in the car and started down the road, Selene frantically rushed to the fridge and grabbed the number John had left her. 

She threw herself onto the ground between the bed and the wall, huddled there as she pulled the phone down to her level and dialed. 

"Pick up, pick up, pick up!" She begged tearfully as the phone rang. Blessedly she heard a click. 

"John?"

"Selene?"

"John, please come home." She begged, the sound of his voice breaking the dam that had been holding back her sobs. "Please? Please, I need you, I don't want to be alone anymore. Please come home!" 

"Whoa, whoa, slow down Princess." Her husband soothed her. "Take it easy, what's happening?" 

"That woman came back," Selene whispered into the phone as if Meadow may be listening. "She tried to force her way into the house. I managed to get her out and lock the door, but she looked so angry and please please just come home!" 

John let out a heavy sigh and kept his voice calm. "Alright. First things first, I need you to breathe. Okay?" 

She nodded and took several deep breaths, steadying her pounding heart. 

"Good, now I am too far away to get there before tomorrow night. But, I'm going to make some calls and someone will be there to keep you company until I get there, okay?" 

"O-okay" she whimpered. "What if she comes back?" 

"If she comes back, you have the gun. I showed you how to use it, it's already loaded. You just have to pull back the hammer like I showed you, okay?" 

"Uh-huh," she sniffed. 

"That's my girl. Sit tight, I'm on my way." 

John hung up the hotel phone with a sigh and quickly dialed a new number. 

"Come on man, pick the fuck up." He muttered and swallowed with relief when he heard a click. 

"Hey, man. Yeah, I know, but it's urgent....some shit went down at my place earlier and my girl's pretty shaken up. Think you can hold down the fort until I get there?.....a hundred....fine two hundred, but not a penny more, asshole.....she's uh, well she's a little fragile. Listen, if it's bad there's an orange bottle of blue tablets in the bedside table drawer. Have her take one but only one....I'm about 8 hours out....thanks, man." 

Hanging up, John lit up a cigarette and slipped back into the bathroom. 

Still bound and gagged, his quarry was right where he'd let it and was staring up at him in confused terror. 

"Sorry 'bout that. Family emergency, you understand." John sighed, settling on the toilet and leaning back to consider the naked man in the bathtub before shaking his head in disbelief. "That stupid junkie bitch, what a pain in the ass...not my wife, of course. No, she's a sweetheart...a little high-strung maybe, but that's women for you. Anyway, you and me've gotta wrap this up, my friend. I hope you don't mind if I make this quick." 

Chapter Text

Selene spent the remaining hours huddled between the wall and the bed, the pistol within reach as she listened in silence. 

Every moment she expected to hear the sounds of fists on the door or the windows, her doppelganger demanding entrance. Every slight sound made her jump, her nerves raw and frayed until her hands were trembling terribly. 

When the sun had set, she was half dozing, the anxiety leaving her fatigued. It was when she was on the edge of sleep that a steady knock came from the front door. 

Jerking awake, Selene's hand went for the gun and she waited. 

Another knock came, as calm as the first one. 

"Who's there?" She demanded, "I'm warning you, I have a gun!" 

"Cálmate, Mamita. It's just me." A vaguely familiar voice called through the door. "John sent me, remember?" 

Hands shaking, Selene kept one hand on the gun, carefully undid the locks, and opened the door. On the other side stood a dark-haired dwarf dressed in jeans and a slightly oversized leather jacket. 

"I know you " she breathed. "You're...what's your name?" 

"Out here, you can call me Paulo. It's good to see you again, Lunita" 

"I-it's Selene." 

"Same thing." Paulo smiled a little. "Can I come in?" 

Selene nodded, setting aside the gun and locking the door behind him. 

"So, what's going on Lunita? Someone got you spooked?" Paulo looked around and Selene swallowed hard. 

"It's a bit hard to explain. You'd think I'm crazy if I told you." She sighed, sitting at the kitchen table. 

"Try me." 

Selene sniffed and eyed him carefully. "Promise you won't think I'm crazy?" 

"On my honor." Paulo raised a hand. "What little is left." 

Selene took a deep breath and nodded. "I uh....there's this woman who keeps coming around the house and uh...she looks exactly like me, I mean exactly, and I'm..." she led off, folding her hands over her mouth as she began to tremble again. "I think she's here to try and replace me." 

Paulo frowned in confusion. "Replace you? Why?" 

"I don't know...I really don't but it happened to my older brother and now it's happening to me and I don't-!" 

Fresh sobs rolled from her chest and tears ran down her face. 

"Hey, hey easy there, Lunita." Paulo hushed her, still lost but recalling John's insistence that his wife was fragile. "No one's going to replace you while I'm here, so just relax okay?" 

Selene nodded, wiping her tears and letting out a shaky breath. 

"Look, you eaten anything today?" 

"No, I'm not hungry." 

"Might make you feel better," Paulo suggested, grabbing a waxy-looking red apple from a small bowl and placing it before her.

"Tell you what, I'm going to put on a fresh pot of coffee, you get something in your system, and you and I will wait it out til John gets back, huh?" 

Selene nodded slowly, eyeing him gratefully. "Okay, thank you." 

"Huh, I'll be right back." 

Paulo slipped away, eyeing her back as he made for the bedroom. He shook his head and muttered under his breath. 

"John, te juro que eres mi dueño. Esta perra está realmente loca."

The pill bottle sat patiently in the bedside drawer and he rolled the cylinder over in his hand. 

Across the paper label were the words Austin State Hospital, starting to fade slightly. 

"Only one." He reminded himself and he dumped a few in his hand and poured all but one back into the glass. 

When he returned, Paulo observed a single bit taken from the apple and nodded. "Here, take the edge off" 

He placed the tablet on the table and Selene shook her head. 

"No, I don't need them. Not anymore." 

Paulo shrugged, not going to force the medicine down her throat, and instead tried to keep her occupied with conversation. 

"So, you were in Austin State, huh?" 

Selene stiffened slightly. "Yeah, why?" 

"No judgment here." He assured her, "I was born in one of those places, hell stayed there til I was 18." 

"Really?" Selene looked at him with wonderous eyes. "But why?" 

He scoffed and motioned to his stunted body, "Take a look, Lunita. People like me can only be found in three places: freak shows, circuses, and state hospitals. Mi madre was a teenager, unmarried, she left me with the nuns and never looked back." 

"That's awful." Selene frowned. "I'm sorry." 

"Eh," he waved off her pity like it was a fly. "Don't be, look at me now! I did pretty well for myself, all things considered."

Selene nodded, smiling a little. "I guess you did...thank you again for coming all the way out here. I'm really starting to feel silly about it now. Thank you again for coming all the way out here." 

"Eh, don't worry about it." Paulo shrugged. "Hm, I promised coffee didn't I?"

"Don't be silly, I've got it." Selene rose from the table. "Give my hands something to do." 

Flipping on the outside lights, Selene peered through the curtains out into the country darkness as the machine gurgled away. 

"So, you said the same thing happened to your brother?" 

"Yeah." Selene nodded, face deadly serious. "I was just little, two or three, but...one day he just came home different. He started hurting me, really hurting me, and for no reason. I didn't understand what was happening at the time, and my parents kept covering it up. One day I realized that whoever that boy was, he wasn't my brother. Lewis would never hurt me, it didn't make any sense." 

"Your parents couldn't stop him?" 

"I don't think they knew how. I told them that Lewis or whatever it was, was evil. That they had to send it away. They didn't do anything, didn't believe me." 

"So?" Paulo swallowed slightly. He'd seen Selene's work in the arena and he wasn't stupid enough to think that just because she was unmasked she was any less dangerous. "What happened to him, er-it?" 

Selene returned to the table, sitting with her arms folded on the wooden top. It felt good to get everything out without being judged. She hadn't told the whole story since she was a child. 

"My little brother Ben was born when I was 3, and even then I knew that it wouldn't be long until that thing tried to hurt him. So I put myself between them, let Lewis do whatever he wanted so long as he didn't touch our brother. And it went on for years, until one day when I was 13 that thing decided it wasn't content with just hurting me anymore. Ben was playing by this creek on our land and I saw Lewis pick up the rock. I didn't even realize what I was doing at the time, but next thing I know that thing was face down in the creek and it wasn't moving....and that was it, we were safe...and I got sent to Austin." 

She fell silent as her story drew to a close and tossed a glance at Paulo, her eyes begging him to believe her. 

He almost did, the sincerity on her face told him that at the very least she was completely convinced of her story. 

Not wanting to rupture the trust she'd put in him by revealing her story, the dwarf nodded solemnly. "That's quite the story, I will admit." 

"But you believe me?"

He shrugged. "You don't strike me as a liar." 

A faint smile of relief painted her face as she let out a shaky breath. 

Slowly she reached for the blue tablet on the table and popped it between her lips, swallowing it dry. 

"Thank you." 

Paulo waited around the house with Selene for the majority of the next day and slowly came to realize how his compatriot had been so enamored in such a short time. 

When at ease, Selene was as sweet as could be. She kept herself busy with the laundry she had abandoned yesterday and made them both breakfast. Paulo's back ached from sleeping on the living room sofa but a hearty breakfast of eggs and sausage made it worth it. 

"We spent so much time talking about me last night, I never asked about you. You married?" Selene asked over the running faucet. 

"Nah, not me. I'm not the marrying type" Paulo shook his head. "Not many ladies are looking for a Chilean dwarf who makes his money in murder." 

"Oh, I'm sure there's someone," Selene assured him. "Did.. did you hear anything last night?" 

"Not a peep." He assured her. "Maybe seeing my car out there spooked her." 

"Maybe." Selene nodded, hesitantly hopeful. 

Almost as if the universe itself by challenged, there came a loud, wet bang against the front of the house. Selene squealed in surprise, stumbling away from the window and hitting her lower back against the kitchen counter. 

Paulo sprung to his feet, grabbing the gun on the table and moving towards the window. He saw a car speeding off in a cloud of dust and couldn't determine the make, but could see streaks of red on the wood of the porch from the window. 

"Stay here." He muttered, making for the door as Selene fumbled with a freshly washed kitchen knife poised to defend herself. 

The door opened with a squeal and Paulo peered out. No one was waiting for him, so he exited fully and tracked the red streaks to just under the front window. 

"Esos hijos de puta" he muttered, kneeling over the bloody head of a dog, decapitated and thrown at the house. 

"Paulo?"

"Stay inside." He called back to her, standing up fully with a disgusted shake of his head. "Don't look out here, Lunita." 

With a black trash bag, Paulo cleaned up the dog's head but kept it to the side so John could take a look. 

He knew that John had no intention of pursuing the issue before. He just wanted Selene to feel safe. 

But this had taken things to a new level. It couldn't go unanswered. 

Selene was a trembling mess after, taking another blue tablet and falling into an uneasy sleep for the rest of the afternoon while the dwarf stood guard. 

At nightfall, John's van rolled to a stop in front of the house, from the outside it seemed every light in the house was on. 

Unlocking the door he found his friend sitting in a kitchen chair facing the door, pistol in his lap. 

"What the fuck?" John eyed Paulo in confusion. 

"Things have escalated since you called." Was all the dwarf said grimly, "Your wife's in the bedroom." 

Not bothering to kick off his shoes or remove his coat, John made for the well-lit bedroom and found Selene sleeping over the covers, a kitchen knife on the bedside table. 

"Selene, baby?" He sat on the end of the bed and the movement jerked her awake. She looked around in wide-eyed confusion before landing on John and crumbling and throwing her arms around his neck.

"John!"

"Shhh, I know."

"I was so frightened!" 

"I know, honey. I'm here now, you're okay." He soothed her as she practically crawled into his lap and pressed her face to his neck. 

"It was that awful woman, I know it was!" 

"What was, baby?"

"The dog head! Someone threw a disgusting dog head on the porch and drove away, and I just know it was her!" 

"Okay, okay." John's jaw tightened sharply. "It's okay, honey. I'm going to take care of this. Just lay back down, I'm going to go talk to Paulo." 

"I want to come with you!" 

John smiled a little at her earnest insistence and pressed a kiss to her brow. "Okay, come on then." 

Chapter Text

"I am not asking for your assistance." John shook his head. "I don't need your funding. Hell, I'm not even looking for approval." 

"Then what exactly are you asking of me, John?" Thaddeus leaned back in his office chair, eyeing his grandson-in-law skeptically. This meeting had been about as impromptu as it got, set at 7 p.m. for later that same night. 

Selene had arrived with him, completely silent save for polite greetings. Her eyes were ringed with darkness and distant. 

"I'm asking you to turn a blind eye." John breathed. "I've done the prep, our mutual friends are willing to help with a nominal fee that I will pay. All I need is the locale, and your silence." 

Thaddeus looked past the mercenary to his granddaughter. "What say you, my love? Are you two of one mind?" 

Selene looked up at him and tried not to look at John for confirmation before nodding. "It worked the last time. I don't want to wind up like Lewis, whatever happened to him." 

"Oh fuck, this again," Thaddeus muttered under his breath and cast his icy eyes up at John. "You know this could be resolved if you just sent her back to Wiesel." 

"We're well past that." John shook his head. "If he couldn't crack it in 15 years of inpatient treatment, once-a-week therapy won't do shit; you know that. Besides...." John's eyes were stormy and cold, a rolling tempest threatening behind his pupils. 

"That dog head was no fuckin' hallucination. That was real as hell and for that, someone is damn well gonna pay" 

Thaddeus hummed curiously. "And I assume, should something go awry, you are prepared to deal with the consequences?"

"Gladly." 

For the first time in his life, John found himself wishing he had more friends. 

Paulo was a decent guy, good to have around, but he'd need more than that to make this shit work. 

"What sort of numbers are we looking at?" 

"Three guys plus the woman." John shrugged. 

Alex and Allen, the brothers formally known as Psycho and Schizo, were a pair of mechanics originally out of East Texas. They had no formal training when it came to killings and frankly, John had no idea how they managed to get work with Magnus, but what they lacked in experience they more than made up for in enthusiasm. 

"No Sex and Death?" 

"Johann and Crystal shipped back to Berlin. Come on, a flat rate of a thou plus 500 a head. What do you say?" 

The brothers exchanged glances and Psycho leaned forward, "Tell me more about the woman." 

"The woman is on reserve. That's Selene's kill, no negotiations." 

"What about before Selene gets to her?" Schizo pressed and John rolled his eyes. 

"Christ, do whatever the fuck you want just don't kill her, okay?" 

With that go-ahead, the brothers were in. 

"But what if she kills me before I kill her and you can't tell the difference?" Selene asked, tucked under John's arm the night before the hunt. 

"Hey, I thought we covered this." He scolded her lightly. "I would know you anywhere. I would know you in complete and total darkness. You gotta trust me on that if this is going to work, honey. Okay?"

"Okay." She nodded. "Do you promise you'll stay with me, to make sure?" 

"Oh my life, you will not leave my sight." He kissed the top of her head firmly. "Now get some sleep, babydoll." 

They didn't bother with costumes or masks that night, but John knew he wouldn't be at his best if he neglected his pre-show ritual. 

"Stay here, hon." 

"But you said-!" 

He shot her a sharp look, reminding her not to question him on these things before nodding to the Brothers Idiot. 

"Go make friends." 

Selene sulked slightly but nodded and slipped away towards Psycho and Schizo. The brothers didn't recognize her at first, but Schizo was the first to break into a grin. 

"Moon boy!" He laughed. "Shit, why didn't that windbag say it was you?" 

"It's Selene, actually." She smiled a little. "I'm sorry, I don't remember which is which." 

"Oh that's easy" the taller one grinned. "Psycho is the handsome one....and that's Schizo" 

"Hey, fuck you, you string bean fuck!" 

"So, I didn't know you and Doom was married." Psycho ignored his brother. 

"Oh, we weren't during the game." Selene smiled shyly. "Thank you for helping out with this." 

"Hey, any excuse to get the ole saws wet, eh?" Schizo nudged his brother. "Blood keeps the gears oiled." 

"Lunita!" 

Selene whipped around with a grin. "Paulo!" 

"Alriiiight, now it's a fucking party!" The dwarf pointed at the brothers. "Where's John?" 

"Doin' his weird hype shit."

"And the rats are in the maze?" 

"Sure are." Psycho nodded to the active monitors. "Take a look."

Sure enough, the four rats had been scattered about the maze and were scrambling in confusion. 

"Eh, they don't look so tough." Paulo shrugged. 

"And take a look at that." Schizo drooled over the monitor that showed Meadow huddled in a corner. "God Damn I'd-" 

"Hey." Psycho hit his brother over the head. "Mixed company asshole, have some fuckin' decorum " 

Schizo glanced at Selene a chuckled awkwardly. "No offense." 

Selene winced a little but nodded. 

They were being kind enough to help out, she wasn't going to raise a fuss over the liberties they took while doing it. 

"Alright, folks." Doom's voice was thick with blood and eagerness. His pale flesh against the scarlet gore that engulfed his mouth and nose looked ghoulish and terrifying even to the more hardened of them.

Selene however, stared in wide-eyed rapture. He always looked so magnificent like this, it reminded her how large he was. Not in stature but in spirit, in the way he loomed over a room and demanded not just respect, but fear.

She approached him cautiously, almost wanting to ask permission first, and when he spotted her his eyes flashed with delight and his hand outstretched for her.

She complied eagerly and let out a trembling gasp when he jerked her forward into a slick, coppery kiss. His blood painted her face beautifully.

He eyed his small battalion with a grin, taking in expressions ranging from light disgust to arousal.

"Let's make it hot." 

 "What the fuck is going on, man?" Meadow's boyfriend, Miller banged on the walls around him. "Someone fucking answer me!" 

"Miller man! Over here!" Curtis yelled through the halls. "Make some noise, I'll find you!" 

"What's going on, Curt? I'm freaking the hell out!" 

"Man, I told you we shouldn't've been fucking with the crazy bitch!" Curt jogged until he spotted a flash of movement. "Miller, that you?" 

"Where's Meadow, she with you?" 

"Nah." Miller looked around and the crumbling warehouse around him. "Nah, I don't know where she is. But they took'er I know that." 

Curtis heard movement again and rolled his eyes. "Which moving man, I'm trying to find you!"

"I ain't moving!" 

"Then who the fuck-?" 

Curtis's question died in a howl of pain that set Miller's heart racing. "Fuck! Hey, leave my brother alone, man! "

He began to hear movement encircle him and he pivoted violently. "What the fuck was that? Hey! Hey, come out here!" He demanded furiously. "You come out here and face me like a fucking man!" 

"If you insist." The voice came from below him and Miller looked down to find a dark crop of hair and mischievous eyes looking up at him. "Hola"

The knife burned at if plunged into his thigh and sent the man to the ground in a collapse of fear and pain. 

Chapter Text

"So...they're fucking crazy, right?" Schizo side-eyed his brother skeptically as they walked through the dimly lit halls of the maze. "Doom and Moonboy-eh girl, I mean." 

"Hey man, I ain't here to judge nobody's love life." Psycho shrugged. 

They wandered the halls on strict instructions from their benefactor to hunt down their female quarry. They had clearance to do whatever they wanted with her, so long as she arrived in the carnival room alive. 

"Do you think this is like a weird fucking sex thing...or like an early Christmas present or whatever?" Schizo pressed. "She looked pretty damn happy." 

"Maybe?" Psycho laughed, "Look man, women are complicated creatures. Before Darleen left, she was always talkin' bout 'spicing up the marriage' or whatever the fuck. Keeping things interesting. Maybe if I'd fucking kidnapped a few idiots and taken her hunting, she wouldn't've left." 

"Or you coulda just done the dishes." 

"Shut the hell up." 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Shhh, see that shadow moving?" Doom's breath hit Moon's ear as he whispered over her shoulder. "You take the back, I'll take the front." 

Moon nodded, her grip on her knife comfortable and almost loose as they split up and rounded on their prey on their side. 

Moon didn't know this third man's name, and honestly, it didn't matter. He whipped himself around into a furious cyclone, trying to monitor all sides of him until his back hit the wall. 

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit." He whimpered, feeling on the wall as if trying to find a foothold or a way out. "Come on, there's gotta be something." 

Moon waited until she spotted her lover across the way, waiting for her move. Tapping the thick edge of her knife on a metal pipe, she harkened her arrival with a faint  tink-tink-tink  that drew her prey's attention. 

"Fucking shit." The man scrambled back at the sight of her, the crimson stains of his friends' blood standing out starkly from her white tank top. 

The blood that painted her mouth and cheeks gave her a savage air to go with the flat deadness behind her eyes. 

"Fuck," He let out a shaking exhale as he held his arm out as if to fend her off. "You stay the fuck away from me, you psycho bitch!" 

Moon advanced on him slowly, taking her sweet time in the knowledge that he had nowhere to go. 

Panting now, he began to frantically search for a way out, any possible passage of escape, before whipping around and running in the opposite direction. 

Doom moved quick as a flash, his feet braced wide to push back the man's weight as he tried to fly past him. Their quarry went stumbling backward, hands outstretched and grasping at nothing but air, as the floor rose up to meet him and his head hit the concrete. 

"What's the matter, buddy?" Doom chuckled, towering over him and placing a flat foot on his chest. "You ain't scared of that pretty little thing, are ya?" 

"P-please...please, you ain't gotta do this." 

Doom sighed, casting a tired, bemused look over his victim as his wife approached and leaned over the man curiously. 

"You know, you always say that. You ain't gotta do this. But you see, the thing is," he chuckled, his red-stained teeth leering over the man, "You folks really left me no other option. I mean, think about it." 

The man's eyes flashed to Moon then back to Doom as tears began running down the sides of his face and pooling at his ears. 

"Consider the alternative. Your junkie slut of a friend comes around harassing my wife, and when she can't get what she wants,  you  decided the best course of action is to throw a dead dog's fuckin' bloody head on my porch, and you thought I would just  what?  Let you go? Is that really what you were expecting?"

"I'm so sorry." Their prey wept, sniffling and struggling to breathe. "Please, I am so so sorry."

"Don't fucking say sorry to me, say sorry to  her ." Doom motioned to Moon, who knelt beside their prey patiently but expectantly. The man tried to gather his composure as he forced out the words. 

"I am so sorry. Really, I am." 

"That blood was a pain to get out of the wood." 

"I'm sure it was, I apologize. Please..." he darted his eyes to Doom and stared at her pleadingly. "Tell him to let me go." 

Moon considered this momentarily, leaning over the man, and for a moment he thought she might kiss him. Instead, he felt the cold burn of steel entered his guts and drive up to his lungs. The blade tore through blood vessels and muscles only to stop as it pierced the lung. 

"You're forgiven." She sniffed, standing up and watching him struggle to breathe with the newly introduced tear in his respiratory system. 

Doom pressed his foot a little hard, forcing his remaining air out faster like deflating a balloon until he was left to suffocate. 

"That was real sweet of you, forgiving him," Doom noted, slipping an arm over Moon's shoulder. 

"Eh, felt like the right thing." She shrugged. "Do you think that's the last of them?"

"Almost." Doom smiled a little, a scheming gleam in his eye. "I got a little surprise for you. Come on." 

She took his hand and allowed herself to be led through hallways and tunnels until they reached the carnival room, the domain of the clown brothers. 

Moon could hear a woman's screams echo off the walls, overpowered by howls of laughter. There was the growling rev of a chainsaw followed by a louder, drawl-out wail as the woman begged for her life. 

Doom slammed his hand on the steel walls to announce their arrival. 

"Dicks away, gentlemen. There's a lady present." 

"Oh, fuck." She could hear Psycho mutter, followed by the jangling of belt buckles and zippers. "We uh, got'er all ready for ya!" 

As they entered, they found Meadow tied to a chair in the center ring. She was bleeding from several deep cuts across her chest and legs, accompanied by slashed and torn clothing that left little to the imagination. 

Meadow looked up as they entered and burst into tears. "Oh, thank God. John! John, help me, please!" 

Doom shook his head slowly, clicking his tongue against his teeth. "Meadow, Meadow, Meadow...look what trouble you've gotten yourself into now." 

"Please! Please, Johnny, I'm sorry. I wasn't right, I wasn't in my right mind. I didn't mean it. Please!" She begged. 

Moon eyed the woman in disgust, her stomach twisting at the familiar tone Meadow took with her husband. Her grip on the knife tightened as Doom's hand squeezed her shoulder.

"She's all yours, baby girl," He grinned, pushing her forward slightly. The clown brothers stepped to the wayside as she advanced on Meadow, who stared up at her with trembling lips. 

"Please. Selene, right? Look, I'm sorry. I just needed a fix. I was just looking for a fix, I wasn't gonna hurt you." 

Moon frowned and knelt before the chair. Her eyes scrutinized Meadow curiously, taking in every inch of her up and down. It was strange, seeing herself in so low a state. Perhaps an ominous reminder of the sort of trouble she ought to avoid. 

"Who are you?" She asked her twin and Meadow shook her head. 

"What?" 

"I asked you who you are, really," Moon demanded less politely. "Where did you come from?"

"I don't...Connecticut?" Meadow offered weakly. "I don't understand. You know me, remember? John!" She called over Moon's shoulder. "John, tell her. Tell her who I am!"

Moon's temper flared as she grabbed Meadow's face and gripped her jaw tightly, jerking her head back where it was. 

"Do not speak to him." She growled slowly. "If you speak to him again, I swear to God this will go  slow . It will go  slow  and it will go  hard , and if you're  lucky  I might let you die when I'm done. So keep your fucking mouth shut, do you hear me?" 

Meadow let out a trembling breath and nodded. Moon eyed her curiously, the knife hanging from her fingers. 

"You know, I still remember when you people took my brother." she sniffed. "I was just little, I don't know how my parents didn't notice but I certainly did. He came back so different; meaner. I remember I went to hug him and when he held me he grabbed my wrist and started grinding the bones together until I was crying." 

Meadow stared at her in confusion. The clown brothers glanced at each other and then at Doom who held up a hand, indicating to let her continue. 

"And every time it happened, I would ask myself why. Why did you take him, and why replace him with something so mean and sadistic? When I got a little older, I thought maybe that's why the world is the way it is. Maybe, sometimes normal people get replaced with these mean, evil things and all the awful people you see aren't really people at all they're...I'm not sure, like you I guess." 

"I don't understand," Meadow whispered. "I don't understand, what the hell are you talking about?" 

"Lewis said that too when I finally confronted him on it. I thought he was just a really good actor, but now I wonder...maybe you don't know." Moon sat back on her heels and tilted her head slightly, eye to eye with Meadow. "Maybe you really don't remember where you came from, or what you are; maybe you really think you are who you're sent to replace. Or...maybe you're just a really great actor. I guess I'll never really know, huh?" 

Meadow never got a chance to respond before the blade flashed and her face split open in a long, deep cut from jaw to temple. She wailed in pain, ducking her head to avoid the blade but Moon jerked her head back by her hair and continued to slash away at the visage of her doppelganger. 

Slashing through lips, nose, and eyes, until all that remained was a screaming mess of unidentifiable viscera and blood. 

Behind her, she could hear the clown brothers cheering her on, as well as the Spanish shouts of Sick who'd rejoined the group. 

Even with her face in tatters, Meadow struggled against the ropes that held her until Moon regarded her work with satisfaction and drove the knife into her heart. 

She struggled for only a few more moments, before falling limp and lifeless in the chair. 

Splattered in blood, Moon stepped back and let the knife fall from her hands. She stared blankly at the creature in the chair, still not fully convinced it was dead until she bumped into something solid that wrapped its arms around her in a warm embrace. 

"Good job, baby." Doom purred in her ear. "My perfect little killer." 

Moon smiled, giggling a little as a blush crept across her face. "She's gone."

"Dead and gone, sweetheart." He confirmed. "You'll never have to worry about her again." 

A rush of relief flooded her body and Moon tilted her head up to catch his lips, combining the blood on each other's mouths until, to the outside viewer, it was as if they were consuming each other alive. 

They separated only briefly for Doom to cast a scathing look at the three men who until now had been leering with interest. "What the fuck are you idiots staring at? You got your money, now get the fuck out of here before I pop those eyes out of your goddamn skulls!" 

They didn't need any more prompting than that, though Paulo was brave enough to linger just long enough to watch Doom's hands go up his wife's shirt.

"I told you it was a weird fucking sex thing." Schizo muttered under his breath.

"I can't fucking stand the way they look at you." He growled under his breath, teeth pulling on Moon's lower lip as they fumbled with belt buckles and bra clasps. 

"Let them look." Moon breathed, tugging her pants down and kicking them off to the side carelessly. "They don't matter." 

"Yeah?" Doom grinned, "Maybe I should call them back then, let them see how fucking gorgeous my wife looks under me." 

Moon laughed at that, playfully pushing him off her and rolling over to straddle his hips. "Hmmm, no." 

"No? Why no?" 

"Because," She leaned over him, bracing her palms against his and letting the ends of her hair tickle his face. "I'm all yours. Remember?" 

"Oh, yeah." He hummed, raising his hips under her and grinning at the shaky gasp the pressure drew from her chest. "Lucky me." 

"You know." Moon stripped her shirt and bra over her head and let her breasts bounce free, guiding her husband's hands over them and arching her back to press the soft mounds against his palms. "Just because they can't see us, doesn't mean they can't  hear  us." 

"Why Selene Aaron, when did you become such a fucking cock-tease?" 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Paulo managed to ensure the monitors were turned off before John and Selene left the maze, but not before the three killers were able to satisfy their curiosity.

There was a brief debate on whether the bodies should be incinerated or set up and left for the next game, and it was decided that while the men could be left to rot, Meadow simply had to go. 

Selene watched the body burn for almost two hours until it was down to nothing but bones and she was certain there was no chance of it coming back. John kept her trapped in her arms as they watched the incinerator blaze furiously and was strangely stuck by how romantic the setting was. Threading his fingers through hers, he kissed the blood spatters on the back of her hand and hummed. 

"I never thanked you..." Selene stared into the flames, transfixed. "For everything." 

"Anything for you," he assured her and she leaned against him slightly, tightening the space between them. 

Dawn was breaking over the horizon by the time they returned home, both tired and limp from the night's excursion. They stumbled into the shower together, each ensuring the other's mask of gore and cruelty had been properly scrubbed off to reveal the human underneath. 

Selene tended to the wounds John had dealt himself before entering the maze, handling him with all the gentleness of a kindly nurse.

They ate light and refreshed with cold water and clean clothes before slipping into bed and curling into each other.

For the first time in days, Selene slept soundly without a sedative and found comfort in the knowledge that while she may not have been able to save Lewis or Ben, her nightmare was finally over. 

Chapter Text

Oct 31st, 1977

"Well, Selene. I must say I am impressed." Weisel stared at his chart, nodding. "It's been a long road; but, in my professional opinion, you seem to be fully recovered." 

"Really?" Selene's breath trembled a little as she sat in the hard chair in the doctor's office. She'd started going back to talk therapy shortly after dispatching Meadow with a renewed confidence that this time would be different. 

Weisel had become a trusted confidant, and while she couldn't tell him everything she had waded through the early growing pains of marriage with his support. 

It was strange, to do a full lifetime of maturing in only 7 years. But, she'd done it and with the support of her husband, friends, and doctor, she had reacclimated to the outside world. 

"Now, I am open to keeping you on a lighter dose of the anxiety medication for general health. But I think that we've done just about all we can do for you here." The doctor smiled proudly. "Congratulations, Selene." 

"Thank you, doctor." Selene sighed, collecting her pocketbook and coat as she stood. "I really couldn't have done it without you."

19 hours later

The small house reverberated with the echoes of the headboard crashing against the wall, leaving shallow dents in the drywall with each jolt and bounce. 

The air was thick with smoke and the smell of sex and shallow pants and groans overlapped each other in a high-low harmony. 

Selene's lips, red and swollen from hours of love and abuse, formed half-coherent begging as the flesh of her ass and thighs rippled against her husband's hips.

The head of his cock bullied its way in and out of her tender, swollen cunt which had been the victim of John's tender affections since late the previous evening. 

It hurt; friction burns and bruising lighting up her body like a Christmas tree, yet still she begged. 

"Don't stop, please please please please." She whined sweetly as John clutched at her calves pressed against his chest and held her legs together to increase the tight grip of her plush cunt. His sweat dripped onto her from overhead and drenched the already damp sheets. 

"Close, close, fuck!" for the 8th time since hitting the sheets Selene felt the pressure build then burst almost instantly, the orgasm arching her off the bed and into short, overstimulated wails she didn't bother to muffle. 

"Goood girl." John laughed tiredly, landing a hard bite to the meat of her calf. "Keep cumming honey, I ain't half done with this sweet ass." 

Before he could make good on his promise, their savage rutting was interrupted by the shrill cry of the telephone. 

"Ignore it! John, don't you dare! John!" Selene demanded as John scowled and slowed to a stop. Irritated, Selene lunged forward, pushing him onto his back before snatching the phone herself. 

"Hello?" She cooed over the receiver as she straddled John's hips and slid her soaked cunt over his cock teasingly. She bit her lip and grinned down at him. "Hmmm Sorry. John is unavailable at the moment. Second Honeymoon, remember?" 

Whatever came over the receiver instantly melted the impishly eager smile on Selene's face and she stopped rocking her hips. 

"What?..... All of them?" Selene covered her mouth and nodded slowly. "Yeah...yeah, here he is." 

John's brow furrowed in confusion as Selene passed him the phone and crawled off the bed. 

"Yes? Christ, all of them?" John shook his head. "Jesus, why the fuck didn't you call me sooner? Hell yeah, I'm fuckin' annoyed. Double last year's fee. Fine, we'll be there in 90 minutes." 

Slamming the phone down, John hopped into the closest pair of pants and heard the sound of the tap in the bathroom running. He approached slowly and pushed open the door. 

"Selene?" 

"I can't believe it." Selene ran a wash rag over her face and neck. Her movements were hurried and frantic but her eyes that stared out at him from the mirror were wet. 

She was already dressed, clothes tight to the body and comfortable as she pulled her hair back into a tight bun. 

"You can stay here." 

"No." She snapped. "Paulo is already dead, all the others too. I'm not letting you go in there alone." 

John smiled a little, wrapping an arm around her waist from the back and pressing a kiss to her shoulder. 

Selene paused her frantic movement and sighed. 

"I hate this." 

"I know." He nodded slowly. "But that's the job. We take the risk every time we go in, you know that." 

"I know." Selene nodded back, wiping her face one last time before letting out a shaky sigh. "Let's go gut those fucking assholes." 

"That's my girl."