“They have her. Her. Her people. Said I have to help them or they would kill her.”
“Whose people?” I asked.
“Gwen…neth. She’s…she’s Ven…Venenum.”
“But she’s a woman,” Pike said.
“Control,” Roscoe said. “She…controls…all.”
Pike turned to Alé and Lauren.
“She’s in her house. Get her!”
Roscoe tried to sit up but couldn’t. He fell down and blood spurted from his mouth.
“She will be gone,” he said. “And war…war…will come.”
He grabbed my wrist and struggled to keep his eyes open.
“Please,” he said, spitting out blood. “Save…my…daughter.”
As soon as the words were out, he collapsed t
o the ground. His eyes closed.
I took Pike’s hand and pulled him toward the house. Roscoe said she’d be gone but I prayed she’d still be there, naked and sobbing, on the floor. But she wasn’t. I knew it as soon as I approached the front door and saw the look on Lauren’s face. She was gone. As soon as Lauren saw me, she stepped my way.
“Don’t go in there,” she said.
I pushed past her and she grabbed my arm.
“Jessica, please. Trust me. Don’t go in there.”
I stepped into the house and Alé tried to stop me. Pike helped me get through him. Then I saw why they were holding me back. Blood was everywhere. The bed, the floor, the wall. Dominic. His throat was slit open and a large, jagged shard of glass stuck out of it.
His face. I’ll never forget the expression. His eyes were open wide and his mouth was twisted at an odd angle. He’d been afraid.
The open window blew a blast of frigid air in, and with goosebumps rising all over my body, I bent over and threw up on the floor. The rest is hazy.
***
The next day was the worst day of my life. Dominic was buried immediately and the whole town showed up for the funeral. No coffin. Just a burlap bag and a deep grave. As I stood there and watched him lowered into the ground, I couldn’t help but examine the faces of the people who’d shown up. Fucking hypocrites. They’d all laughed at Dominic and called him names. Was I any better? I’d treated him like shit.
I held the picture of Roscoe’s daughter in my hand and used it to take my attention away from the others. The poor guy had been forced into helping Gwenneth. But what about the times I saw him fucking her? He’d seemed so into it.
Then again, Gwenneth had a twat, was pretty sexy, and was holding his daughter hostage. I supposed fucking her and liking it was part of the sham. He was a man, after all, and men are cold hearted bastards for the most part.
I looked at Pike who had his head turned down. He was sadder than I expected him to be.
Alé and Lauren stood across from me. It seemed he might be allowed to stay. Good for Lauren.
I looked at the picture in my hand again and focused on the little girl’s face. She was missing a couple of teeth. The cutest damned thing, and they had her. I wondered what would happen to her. Roscoe had asked me to save her. But how? I didn’t even understand why Gwenneth would be doing all this.
Why would she, a female, go through all this? You’d think she’d be happy to find a world where women can be free and have husbands worship them. You’d think.
I tried to understand what might’ve been her motivation. Roscoe said she ran the whole thing. She was in control. I thought about all the women the Venenum had stolen from cities, towns, and small communities like ours. And I got it. She was a madam of sorts. She pimped out women and in return was treated like a queen. It’s the only thing that made sense.
I wanted to burn the bitch.