In the *** House

Time passed slowly as Victoria waited quietly in the closet for Tate to return. She hated feeling useless and she couldn't stop herself from worrying about her mom and Vi. What must have only been a few minutes felt like hours. She should have went with him, she was certain she could have helped some how; at any rate it would have been better than just waiting.

The closet she was in was some sort of utility closet and oddly enough there was an ax, but when she'd gone to pick it up in hopes of using it she found it to be much heavier than she'd anticipated. There were a few other things laying around, a tape measure, lighter fluid, things of that sort though the only other object that could have been utilized for a weapon was a small hammer. Unfortunately for Victoria, however, the handle was conveniently broken. There was nothing she could be but useless, waiting for Tate like some helpless damsel.

The sound of footsteps pulled Victoria from her thoughts. Climbing up onto her knees, Victoria quietly pressed her ear to the door. The piece of her that had hoped it was Tate was shattered once she heard her sister's voice,

"What's he doing to my mother?" Violet sounded bitter, angry. If she was frightened, she wasn't going to let it show. She said "he", meaning that so far there was one downstairs with their mom and one upstairs, but Tate had said at least three so there was at least one more wandering around the house somewhere. If Victoria could take the one with Violet off guard, she figured maybe she and her sister could take them. The only backfire would be if the third, unaccounted for, intruder showed up; then both girls would be screwed.

Whomever had had Violet ignored her question and the house quickly filled with the loud sound of running water. Victoria closed her eyes for a moment as her heart beat fiercely in her chest; they were going to drown her sister. Taking a deep breath, her hand found the door knob. It was now or never, she couldn't wait for Tate any longer; Violet had failed to get the intruders to the basement and she refused to stand by and let them kill her sister.

"Bianca, it's almost time!" Victoria instantly froze. There were two of them upstairs, there'd be no way she and Violet could take them both and they likely had weapons.

Violet was running out of time, where the hell was Tate?

There was more talking going on from the bathroom. Pressing her ear to the door Victoria could make out her sister's voice, but it was too muffled by the running water to understand what she was saying. Gripping the ax in her right hand, Victoria struggled to hoist it over her right shoulder. She had to do something before it was too late.

Taking a deep, shaky breath, Victoria grabbed the door handle in her left hand, ready to go help her sister when the sound of wet footsteps just outside the door caused her to stop yet again.

"You better not be lying you little shit." The woman spat as she must have been walking Violet back downstairs. She'd done it, Violet must have somehow convinced the intruders to go down to the basement.

Opening the door slowly, Victoria remembered her cell phone; she'd left it on top of her desk when she'd been sketching. If she could just get to it now she could call the cops. No one had yet come looking for her so she could only hope that they had no idea she was even there, meaning they wouldn't have snagged her cell.

Sticking her head out from the closet, Victoria took a quick glance around the upstairs hall. The hall appeared to be empty, still Victoria was careful to keep as quiet as possible as she tiptoed towards her room. She couldn't risk alerting the other intruders to her presence. Gripping the ax she'd slung over her shoulder, Victoria quickened her pace. The door to her bedroom was just in sight, just past the bathroom.

"Hey!" Victoria froze as an unfamiliar voice called out to her just as she'd crossed the open bathroom door. It must have been the other woman, she was dressed in all black, clutching her stomach as though she was about to be sick or already had been. This was something Victoria had not anticipated; she had assumed both women had gone downstairs with Violet.

"You, you're not s-supposed to be here," the woman stammered, covering her mouth as she took a step towards Victoria. Panic raced through Victoria as the woman continued to approach her. She looked deathly ill and Victoria was certain she could outrun her if she ditched the heavy ax, though Victoria also couldn't let the woman warn the others she was there, it would ruin Tate's plan and put her mom and sister in even more danger.

Before she could stop it, the ax gripped in Victoria's hands was swinging towards the woman with every ounce of strength Victoria could muster. It had been her only option: attack or be attacked however, the sickening squish sound the metal made as it buried itself into the woman's abdomen made Victoria's stomach turn. Victoria found her eyes glued to the woman's face as she stared at Victoria in horror; her warm blood covering Victoria in spurts.

"Hey..." The woman managed, her arms moving for the ax.

Before Victoria could react, a pair of hands were reaching around her to grab the ax from her hands. Victoria was paralyzed as she watched Tate pull the ax from the woman's abdomen, only to send it swinging right back a second time.

Something wasn't right, she should have been scared or sickened by the sight and though the sight did make her stomach turn a little, what she mostly felt was... a sense of triumph. These people had come to kill her family, kill her and here she stood fighting back.

Victoria found herself mesmerized, raising her hands slowly to wipe away some of the woman's blood from her face; it felt like paint. Looking back up, Victoria noted the woman was miraculously still alive, but Tate's hand was now wrapped around Victoria's wrist, pulling her in the direction of her room.

"I told you to stay hidden!" He was still gripping the bloody ax in his right hand as he swung Victoria into her room, causing her to stumble over her own feet. She didn't like his tone, however, she was more concerned about the woman.

"What are you doing?" Victoria swung her arm out, motioning towards the door, "she's still alive, she'll warn the others!" She didn't want to think of what they'd do to her mom or her sister if they saw what she and Tate had done to their friend. Victoria wasn't afraid though, she wanted to finish them off; teach them a lesson for fucking with the Harmon's.

Looking up at Tate, she noted how they were both covered in the woman's blood and the feel of it, the feeling of the ax sinking into the woman's flesh was still vibrating through her fingertips. It felt like... some sort of power. No longer was she afraid; they should be afraid.

"I'll take care of it." There was the faintest hint of a frown on Tate's face as Victoria looked up at him.

"But I can help, you saw..."

"No!" Never had Tate yelled at her that way, as though she was no more than a child to him, a child that was clearly in the wrong. It surprised her more than it angered or frightened her, though Tate must have read her emotions wrong because his face changed quickly. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean..." cupping Victoria's face in his free hand, Tate pulled her into him. "You're a good person, Victoria." Planting a kiss in her hair, he pulled away again sending chills coursing through Victoria's body. "I'll take care of it."

Victoria stood there, unable to move as she watched Tate hurry from her room still clutching the ax. She couldn't understand what that had been about, but she could still feel Tate's lips pressed against the side of her head. He was such a strange boy and yet Victoria couldn't help the feelings she had towards him, there was just something about Tate that intrigued her; made her want him more and more. Being with Tate was like playing with fire; she knew it was possibly dangerous and yet she could not stop herself.

"Victoria!" The sound of her mom's voice, pulled Victoria back to reality. Her legs immediately bolted for the door, towards the sound of her mother.

"Mom!" Her mother's hands found Victoria's the instant her bedroom door had swung open, pulling her into a quick hug.

"W-What is this? Are you hurt?" Vivien's voice was shaky as she noticed the blood Victoria was covered in.

"No, it's not mine. Where's Vi?"

"I thought she was with you!" Her mother turned back towards the hall, "Vi! Violet!" The two ran down the hall, both refusing to let go of the other's hand as they hurried towards the stairs.

"Violet!" Victoria screamed, ignoring the blood that now lined the hallway walls as she tried not to stumble down the stairs in her hurry.

"Violet!" Vivien called out as Violet had ran around the corner to greet the two at the foot of the stairs dressed in an old time nurse uniform. Their mother grabbed Violet's hand in her free one and the three women ran for the door, screaming for help as they made there way as far as possible from their home.


Victoria sat quietly on her bed, knees curled up to her chest, hair still dripping wet from her shower. Her father had returned from Boston, the police had swarmed her home, and they'd all been questioned so many times that Victoria was beginning to feel as though it had all just been a dream. It didn't sound real anymore, not after repeating it over and over half a million times.

She'd lied to the police about the blood, told them one of the other intruders had done it in front of her after they'd gotten into an argument. She'd had to lie; the woman was found half a block away dead. Tate was wrong, Victoria wasn't a good person; not anymore. Good people didn't kill people, right? It had been different when it was happening, when the adrenaline was going, before Tate had told her she was...good.

A faint knock on her door interrupted her thoughts, but Victoria did not look up as her father let himself into her room.

"Saw your light still on," Ben made his way cautiously to Victoria's bed, sitting down on the edge."You alright kiddo?"

"I'm fine."

"Your mom said that you told her Tate helped you get away?" Without looking up at him, Victoria nodded. She was thankful her parents didn't say anything to the cops about it, she didn't want Tate dragged into all this legal mess. "What was he doing in the house?" Now Victoria did look up, because instead of being grateful that someone was there to help his family, Ben was reverting back to the whole, 'stay away from him' thing.

"Does it matter?"

"Victoria..."

"I didn't let Tate in if that's what you're thinking, but you know what? I'm glad he was there because you weren't." Ben's face fell as Victoria turned away again. She was done with the conversation, she was done with him. She didn't care if her words hurt, they were the truth; Tate was there, her father was not.

Without another word, Ben stood up and made his way back towards the door.

"I'm still your father, Vic." Victoria could see that he was looking back at her as he stood there in the doorway. "I do love this family."

Victoria rolled her eyes as the door closed quietly behind him. She wanted to believe that and yet the logical part of her brain was telling her that something hadn't been right; how many times had her mom tried to call him while he was in Boston? He'd already proven himself to be an unfaithful husband and his recent actions were not helping to sway Victoria's opinion on the matter.

Climbing out of bed, Victoria walked over to lock her door behind him. She wanted to be alone, she didn't want to think about what had happened or her father or her mother. She doubted she could fall asleep anytime soon, but she still wanted the silence.

No sooner had she flipped her light switch, there was a knock at her window.

"How the hell did you get up here?" Victoria asked Tate as she slid the window open to let him inside.

"I'm Spider Man." He teased as he climbed inside to sit on the window sill. "I saw your light on, thought you'd like some company but," Tate motioned towards the lights, "I guess my timing isn't as good as I thought."

Victoria smiled, wrapping her arms around herself as she sat down on the edge of her bed.

"I just wanted to be alone." She admitted.

"Oh..." Tate glanced down at his hands as he fidgeted with his thumbs. "Should I come back..."

"No," Victoria responded too quickly, almost desperately. She wanted to be alone, but she didn't want Tate to leave. Standing up, Victoria grabbed Tate's hands in her own, pulling him towards the bed. "I don't want you to leave..." Victoria's voice was soft, almost a whisper as she pulled her knees once again up to her chest.

She didn't know how long they'd sat there in silence before Tate's arm found it's way around her, pulling Victoria into him. Resting her head on his shoulder, images of the woman flashed in Victoria's mind. Why didn't it bother her more? She had killed someone, she and the beautiful creature sitting next to her; they were murderers.

"If that's what you want, I won't go anywhere." Tate's voice was low, matching her own as he rested his chin on her head. Without responding, Victoria closed her eyes as she concentrated on Tate's breathing. Maybe they were murderers, but maybe they were both good too; she didn't want Tate to go anywhere.