In the *** House

The image was burned into Victoria's brain like a horrible scar that she could never erase. It made her angry and yet, there was nothing she could do about it. Maybe Violet was right, maybe she'd been right the entire time: their parents should just divorce already. Victoria hated herself for even letting the thought cross her mind, but after what she'd seen this morning any hopes of saving her family was seeming more and more like a childish delusion.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Violet's voice broke through Victoria's thoughts, temporarily shattering the image of their father and the old maid.

It was lunch time so the girls were in the cafeteria and though the noise may have seemed distracting enough it was not enough to keep the disturbing thoughts from Victoria's mind. Violet could sense something was wrong as her sister had hardly touched her food and hadn't spoken more than a few words all day, Victoria wasn't acting like her usual self.

"Nothing just," though she hated lying to her sister, Victoria decided she'd rather have lied than to confess to anyone what she'd witnessed, "just tired." Violet shrugged, deciding against pressing the question as she took another bite out of her apple. It wasn't normally like Violet to be the prying one of the two and Victoria wasn't much of a talker when she was bothered by something anyhow.

Running a hand through her messy dark locks, Victoria rested her forehead in her palm, turning slightly to look up at Violet.

"Hey, give me a cigarette." The demand had caught Violet off guard causing her to nearly choke on her apple.

It wasn't as though Victoria hadn't ever smoked, though she most certainly didn't do it often and only when she was usually pissed off about something.

"Are you insane? After what happened last time with that psycho bitch?" The girls had made a silent pact to avoid Leah at all costs and Violet had even refrained from smoking on school grounds in hopes of avoiding any further confrontations with the girl.

"Oh please, don't even act like you're actually scared of that nut case." Reaching into her sister's pocket, Victoria pulled out both a cigarette and Violet's lighter. Leah was the last thing on Victoria's mind at the moment. She was hoping a cigarette would keep her mind off of her current problems, help relax her a bit so she could focus on a solution.

Confrontation seemed the most likely to help, although the thought of talking to her dad about it now seemed unimaginable after practically running away from him this morning. She didn't even know what to say anyway. Moira seemed nice enough, but she was still extremely old and that foggy eye of hers already creeped Victoria out a bit. What if her parents just weren't in love anymore? What could Victoria possibly do to change the way they felt towards each other if the flame had just died? A part of her wished that she could be just like her sister. Violet wasn't unaffected by the drama though she didn't stress herself out trying to fix their parents' broken marriage either.

"What the fuck did I tell you about smoking in public spaces?" Before Victoria even got a chance to look up, a hand was on the back of her neck, gripping her hair and sending her flying from her seat and onto the floor.

The cafeteria immediately erupted into a chorus of cheers and chants as Victoria struggled to process the sudden pain in both her head and her back.

"I'm not scared of you!" Violet screamed from somewhere to Victoria's right.

"You should be!"

Rolling over onto her hands and knees, Victoria had barely gone to stand up when a designer shoe collided with her face, sending her collapsing back onto the floor. She could taste the blood in her mouth, metallic and salty as it seeped from a tear in her lip. It wasn't just Leah being the bitch this time, her two friends had joined in.

"This time, you're going to eat it!" Leah was on top of Victoria in an instant, however she didn't have the cigarette in her hands instead they were simply in a vice grip around Victoria's throat, occasionally coming up to punch her in the side of her face.

Fighting to keep Leah's hands at bay, Victoria glanced around the cafeteria for some sort of aid. No one was going to bother helping the twins, that much was apparent as everyone was filming the ordeal on their phones and egging Leah and her friends on. The other two girls had Violet pinned against the wall beside her and it was only then she noticed it; lying just within arms reach like some inanimate savior, was her still burning cigarette. Quickly reaching out for it, Victoria brought the cherry to Leah's hand and was set free as the embers sizzled against her skin.

"Oh!" Leah let out a shriek, letting go of Victoria to clutch her hand to her chest, "she friggin burned me!"

Hurrying to her feet, Victoria rammed into one of the other girls that was holding her sister with all her might, knocking the girl to the ground and freeing Violet from their grip. In an instant, her hand wrapped around her sister's and the twins fled.


"I hate her!" Violet exclaimed, crossing her arms as she quickly paced back in forth Victoria's room in frustration.

"She's such a bitch!" Victoria added, running both hands through her hair in agitation. "I just - I just want to kill her!" Leaning against her footboard, Victoria crossed her arms and tried to focus on her sister's pacing to calm her.

"Then do it!" Victoria rolled her eyes letting them land on Tate who was sitting comfortably in her bean bag chair. Violet was currently sporting a black eye and Victoria, a split lip that had begun to swell and if he was patronizing them, neither twin was in the mood.

"One less high school bitch making the lives of the less fortunate more tolerable is, in my opinion, a public service." Tate added, eyes glued to the cut on Victoria's lip. Noticing his gaze, Victoria tucked her lip into her mouth before turning away from him to see what Violet though of his psychotic plan.

"Your boyfriend's crazy." Violet grumbled, receiving a disapproving look from Victoria before laying down on her bed.

"Shut up." Victoria snapped, unwilling to admit any embarrassment from her sister's comment. Tate wasn't her boyfriend, and Violet knew that, though she also knew that Victoria must have really liked him or she wouldn't have continued to go behind their father's back to meet with him. Victoria just wasn't ready to admit it yet, to herself or anyone else for that matter.

"Look, you want her to leave you and your sister alone? Stop making your lives a living hell? Short of killing her, there's only one solution. Scare her. Make her afraid of you! It's the only thing bullies react to." Victoria turned back around to face him, arms still crossed in agitation, yet intrigued by Tate's idea. She'd never dealt with such a persistent bully before, however it made sense; if she could scare the living shit out of Leah, why wouldn't she leave her and Violet alone?

"How?" Victoria's response was instant, almost too eager as the amusement clearly showed in the way Tate's eyes seemed to glisten up at her. Violet rolled over onto her stomach, clearly as interested now as her sister.

"It's simple." Tate continued, "you simply walk up to her and say..."


The basement lights came on with a click. Leah was in the lead followed by Violet and then Victoria taking up the rear. It wasn't until now Victoria had even realized she'd never actually been in the basement. The entire area had this dark aura to it that she might have found almost comforting had it not been for the musty smell that seemed to hover in the air.

"What's down there?" Leah questioned, taking hesitant steps as she made her descent.

"Our stash." Violet assured her.

"Parents toss our rooms every week." Victoria added flatly, distracted as she glanced around the dank room. She was beginning to feel strange, like she had meant to come down here ages ago and didn't. It was as if she was supposed to get something and had simply forgotten, though for the life of her she couldn't remember what it had been.

Victoria paused on the bottom step as movement flashed to her left, the opposite direction the girls had headed. The movement had been fast, zipping around some shelves before she could get a good look at whatever it was. It was likely a raccoon or something of the sort she told herself, not wanting to distract herself from the task at hand. It was just a basement, granted a basement two people had died in, but still just a room. There was nothing scary about a room, Victoria knew that much.

Turning back to Leah and Violet, Victoria ignored the strange feeling and continued to follow after the girls. They lured Leah to their house with the promise of drugs, Tate's idea, and as she was the best liar, Violet had made up some elaborate story about how they obtained their drugs and was going on and on about it to Leah who didn't seem to really care in the least.

"Isn't that right, Vic?" Victoria's eyes stopped their wandering and focused back on her sister. She hadn't been listening to Vi's story, in Victoria's opinion Violet was going a bit far with the whole lobster boats drug smuggling thing. Nonetheless, she nodded in agreement, flashing Leah a reassuring half smile.

"So, where is it?" Again, Leah didn't care. She was growing impatient with the twins and still wasn't entirely certain if it was a good idea to trust the two. After all, the twins couldn't stand her as much as she couldn't stand them.

"Right around the corner." Violet pointed, ushering Leah to go on.

"To the right!" Victoria called as Leah had gone to turn left. She was annoying, she couldn't believe Tate had talked them into this plan because now that they had her alone, all Victoria wanted to do was beat the shit out of her.

"This place is a dump." Leah retorted, feeling her way along the wall.

"Oh, shut up." Violet responded following after her, though not before glancing back to make sure Victoria was still with them.

"I want my goddamn drugs." Victoria rolled her eyes, placing a hand on her sister's shoulder as to get ahead of her. She wanted to be the one to initiate the terror, the one to set things in motion.

"They're just up ahead." Victoria reassured her, flipping the lights on with a smirk to reveal Tate sitting alone in a rocking chair. He was wearing a pair of denim jeans and a black t-shirt that read 'Normal People Scare Me' across the front. As attractive as she found him still, even Victoria could admit the scene was a bit unnerving.

"So this is the coke whore." He sounded amused as he rocked casually back and forth in his chair, looking Leah up and down. Violet came to a stop just beside Victoria, arms crossed and smiling widely at the look of worry on Leah's face.

"Who the hell are you?" She was trying to sound tough, though both girls could still sense the uneasiness in Leah's tone which only amused them all the more. She wasn't so tough without her clones to help her.

"Get the lights." Still smiling, Victoria's fingers returned to the switch, clicking it off without hesitation.

The fluorescent bulbs instantly began to flicker as Tate let out a maniacal laugh, rocking more violently back and forth in his chair.

"What is going on? What is going on!" Leah began screaming, terror dripping from her words as she frantically looked around for an escape.

Taking a step back, Victoria pressed her back against the wall. The lights were making her dizzy, however she didn't want to miss a moment of her revenge on the bitch that had been terrorizing her and her sister since they'd arrived in this hell hole of a state.

Looking back over at Tate, Victoria noticed something change and it was only then that even she began to get creeped out. He wasn't Tate anymore, but only for a second and because of the flashing lights she hadn't been able to get a decent look. It was fast and Victoria wasn't certain if she'd actually seen him change or if it was just the lights playing tricks on her eyes.

"Kill her! Kill her! Kill her! Kill her!" He began convulsing as he chanted and Victoria found herself taking a step towards him before her sister's hand found its way around her upper arm in a vice grip. It was terrifying and still Victoria felt the need to make sure that Tate was alright; she'd never seen anyone uncontrollably shaking in such a way.

Leah's screams echoed around them as Violet began to panic, pulling on Victoria's arm as if to run away only Victoria wasn't going anywhere, her feet glued to her spot on the floor. In another instant, Tate was no longer in his chair but on Leah's back, laughing as he shook her.

"Get off of me! Get off!" Leah screamed and suddenly it was no longer Tate on top of Leah.

It was then that Victoria saw it, clear as day in the flashes of light and whatever it was it was not human. Beside her, Violet let out a scream to match Leah's. The horrifying thing on top of her was real; Violet saw it too.

Victoria's heart pounded in her chest. She couldn't move, couldn't scream, she was frozen in place by the horror that was unfolding before her eyes. She wanted it to stop, at least a part of her did; Leah deserved this, no one should treat people the way she did.

"Get off her!" Violet screamed before falling violently to the ground as if something or someone had pushed her.

More screams, more flashes, and then it came. The thing, the monster, it came to her and Victoria was on her knees, eye level with the creature. It reached out for her and Victoria found herself extending her hand towards the monster as Leah and her sister's screams faded into the distance. It was just... a baby.

A hand rested on her shoulder, causing her to drop her hand and turn away from the creature just as it had gone to touch her. Tate was standing over her, his hand resting casually on Victoria's shoulder as he stared blankly in Leah's direction as though he was oblivious to Victoria knelt down beside him.

"Mommy?" Leah called out, her voice sounding as innocent as a child's before letting out another scream, only this one wasn't a scream of terror but a scream of pain.

The lights came back on suddenly, erasing the chaos as though nothing at all had happened. Victoria found her eyes on Leah who was still laying on the floor, blood seeping from from three deep gashes on the side of her face. Tate was back in his chair, not standing beside her as he'd been mere seconds ago, and Violet was almost in tears standing beside the light switch.

Leah was up in an instant, both screaming and crying as she ran from the basement clutching her face.

"Will you wait?" Violet screamed, half running after her but stopping as she realized her sister wasn't following.

Victoria was still knelt on the cold, cement basement floor, silent. She couldn't process it all, it was as if her brain simply couldn't allow it. What had happened? What was that thing? A monster? A demon? The Devil? Was Tate the Devil? Moments ago she'd been ready to beat the crap out of Leah and now all she felt was...wrong.

"I don't think she'll be bothering you anymore." Tate came to a stop just in front of Victoria, a hand extended towards her and a satisfactory smile spread across his face.

Refusing to look up at him, Victoria's eyes focused on a spot of blood Leah's face had left on the floor.

"What did you do, Tate?" Her voice was gentle, confused more than terrified unlike Violet who screeched over Victoria's words,

"What was that?" Letting his hand fall back to his side, Tate looked from Victoria to Violet in confusion. It had clearly not been the reaction he'd been expecting from either twin.

"What are you talking about? She kneed me in the balls and got away." At that, Victoria's eyes did look up at Tate, because he was lying and both girls knew it. "She must have run into a wall or something."

"No, there was something else..." Climbing slowly to her feet Victoria walked backwards towards her sister, keeping her eyes on Tate.

"What are you talking about? Victoria, you're talking crazy."

"I saw it too, there was something!" Violet's voice was still high in her panic, but she managed to grab her sister's hand, trying to pull her away from Tate.

"This is cool. We showed that bitch." Tate explained almost desperately as he took a step closer, only this time Victoria did step away and it hurt him more than he could ever admit.

"I am not crazy." Victoria's voice was low as she glared back at Tate; he'd hurt her feelings. In desperation Tate lunged for Victoria, ready to wrap her in his arms and apologize for what he'd said and did, anything to keep her from being mad at him, only Victoria's arms were faster as they collided with his chest to push him away.

Her father was right; she should have just stayed away from him. Whatever had just happened wasn't normal and it wasn't safe the way she felt around him or that...thing. Something had come over her and she didn't like it. To make matters worse, he was lying to her face about it as if she was the one that was losing her mind. "Get out, and don't come back." Without waiting for a response, Victoria turned her back on Tate allowing Violet to pull her out of the basement.

"I thought you weren't afraid of anything!" Tate's screams echoed up the staircase after her.