Page 6 of Piper

“I met the fucking rat upstairs. I don’t need to get any closer to him. Who knows what fucking diseases he’s riddled with?” Chance spits and anger rises up causing my cheeks to redden. I don’t miss the way Ollie looks away at the mention of Reggie being in the living room when he shouldn’t have been. An interesting development I will need to file away for another day because now it’s more important I rip this guy a new arsehole for insulting my mischief.

“Reggie doesnothave any diseases. He is my beautiful baby and you will show him, as well as all of my children, the respect that they deserve. Do you understand?” I shout. He doesn’t answer. Instead, he stares at me like I have a second head, but I don’t care because I have done this before and am used to every possible scenario.

“Your babies?” he asks in disbelief. At this point, Ollie moves to the side of the room and returns holding two large cages, filled with a total of ten rats. I normally keep them in smaller groups in their habitats that are in their bedroom, but for transportation purposes, they have to go five per cage. They are used to it by now and know it won't be for too long. Plus, it will be worth it.

“What the fuck? Why the hell do you have so many rats?” he squeals as he asks me. I laugh because I’ve already told him the answer.

“They are my family.” Now, it’s time for him to look at me like I’m crazy. Again, not something new. I have seen it all before and I don’t care. According to some clinical psychologists, I would be diagnosed as psychotic, but that’s not how I see it. I have been let down by people my entire life. My babies are the only ones who don’t judge me and who are always with me. Obviously, they do pass on because everyone dies, but they are regularly reproducing at a healthy rate. It’s almost like they want me to remain surrounded by family.

Reggie wasthe very first rat I got. He actually isn’t the Reggie I have in my hand because, as I said, rats sadly don’t tend to have a long life. But another black rat with ruby eyes always steps up to the role. I was seventeen years old, sleeping in a council approved room in a hostel when I first met him. I had never felt more alone. My mother had finally gone and overdosed a couple of months before, leaving me with no one. Although I was used to being alone, now it was official. The council found me a bed because I refused to stay in the house with my mother's pimp, who had a proclivity for young girls and would be only too happy getting me to replace my mum as his big earner. Sitting on the disgusting, off-white duvet cover and looking around at the dank, mouldy room that was now my life, I started to feel hopeless. That is when I heard a gnawing sound. In the corner of my room was a rat. He was quick and tried to get away but I caught him. I kept him in a shoe box at first, feeding him whatever I could find. I couldn’t afford to let him out, in case he never came back. But rats are smart and I managed to train him with treats. He had a love of cheese and peanut butter. I named him Reggie and he quickly became my friend. Then another rat was spotted in the building and everyone started to freak out. There was talk of diseases spreading and some of the things they were saying about Reggie and his kind were disgusting. I had bathed Reggie on several occasions. He wasn’t just the perfect pet, he was so much more. I decided that not only would I keep Reggie with me forever, but I would take in more rats. As many as I could cope with.

When I got into university, by some small miracle, I lived in dorms and I only had room for Reggie. I felt bad because he seemed so lonely. I wanted him to be surrounded by others of his kind, but it just wasn’t possible. So, I did as much research as I could into what type of things rats might like. Something that was a bit of a treat for them and that’s when my kink was truly born.

Chance continuesto stare at me with confusion and incredulity. I just smile at him and he must finally see what my face looks like when I smile for real rather than for my image because he looks concerned. I continue to stroke Reggie and he wriggles in my hand, gnawing his sharp teeth down lightly into my glove. He is just as excited as I am.

“I… I just don’t understand. Seriously, why am I here?” Chance mumbles and all the bravado he has been showing since he woke up is finally out of his system. Now I get to talk to the scared little boy.

“You are here because you were the ideal candidate. You are not from here. Nobody knows who you are in this area. You are supposed to return to university in the morning, but if that doesn’t happen, you will not be missed. Your college will think that you have just given up and that you have quit. They won’t chase you because you are too much hard work. When your parents do eventually realise you are missing, they will be so annoyed at your careless behaviour and lack of regard for your future, they won’t care. By the time people work out that you are really missing, the case will be ice cold already,” brags Ollie. He sneers down at Chance, revelling in the heartbreak and pain that now etched on Chance’s face. Not only has he just realised that he will not be leaving this house, he realises nobody will even care. His whole family wants nothing to do with him. His friends never know where he is. He’s so much of a bad boy playboy, it's common for him to go off and lose contact with people for a few days. His pleasure and debauchery are more important than school or reassuring those he cares about. After a while, they stopped trying and this is the state he is in now.

The moment he realises that this is it for him and nobody will be charging to his rescue, or even mourning his loss for quite some time, is soul destroying for him. His whole body that had once been tense as it strained against the restraints goes limp and he sags down into the table. It’s minute but I hear his little sigh and this is the moment he accepts his fate, or so he thinks. This always happens, but they still decide to fight when the time comes. For now, I watch as a single tear tracks down his cheek and he crunches his eyes together, determined not to allow any more to fall. I do admire his futile attempt at bravery.

As I walk over to put Reggie back into his cage, I decide I need to answer Chance’s question more honestly. Ollie told him whyheis here, why we specifically chose him, but he didn’t really answer his question.

“You are here because you are the perfect gift for my children. They are my family and I like to spoil them because I love them. You will not only provide them with entertainment, a good play time if you will, but you will also be useful to their health. Helping with the sharpening of their teeth and the filing of their claws. Not to mention the vitamin health benefits. You cannot even begin to comprehend how grateful I am for the gift you are giving my children.” I smile and look over at Ollie, a strange expression is on his face, one that disappears straight away when he realises I’m looking at him. He almost looked uncomfortable, like he didn’t fully believe in my reasonings, but that’s rubbish because, of course, he does. I have taught him the importance of my babies. He knows how much they mean to me and he understands why things are the way they are. I always thought this was a cause, a belief that he was equally as passionate about once his eyes were opened up to it. Now, I’m starting to question his loyalty.

I mentally shake myself out of that irrelevant train of thought. It doesn’t matter if Ollie believes in my family or our cause. He is a temporary fixture and, despite the fact my body seems to have developed some type of weird connection with him, it doesn’t change the fact Ollie cannot stay.

Six

Ollie

Iknow that right at this moment, I should be looking at Piper and questioning if she is truly sane. The way she talks about her mischief and her family, the reverence in her voice shows how absolutely serious she is. She believes, more than anything, what we are doing right now is what is best for us as a family. She sees it as a gift and I can tell by the way her gaze keeps flicking to me that she expects me to feel the same. This is where my confusion comes in.

Piper means the whole world to me. She saved me at a time when I was on a downward spiral to nowhere. I had two choices in life; join the gang all my other foster brothers were forced to join, or rebel and take my chances out in the world. So, that’s exactly what I did. Essentially, I ran and I hid away from the world, moving from hostels to shelters all around the city, any that would take me. All the while allowing my dark thoughts to monopolise the way I lived.

My parents died when I was just a teenager. It was a car crash, we were hit by a drunk driver who ran a red light. The speed he was going and the impact it had on our car caused us to swerve and roll several times down an embankment. The car was left upside down with us hanging in there, held only by our seatbelts.

You heard me correctly when I said ‘us’. I was in the back seat of the car while my parents were in the front. My dad died on impact. No matter how much I called for him or tried to shake him, he never answered me. In some ways, this was better, despite not getting the chance to say goodbye. With Mum, it was so much worse.

She was suspended upside down, but the dashboard had folded in on itself from the crash and her legs were stuck. Once I had opened my own seat belt and crashed down on to the roof of the car, finally getting myself the right way up, I crawled towards her. There was glass and debris ripping at every part of my skin, yet the pain that caused was nothing compared to the pain I felt emotionally.

The howl of sorrow that my mum emitted when she realised that my dad was no longer with us was a sound that has haunted my dreams ever since. She begged me to try and get out of the car, but I refused to leave her. I tried to free her seatbelt but it didn’t make a difference because her legs were trapped.

I watched as my mum slowly faded away, crying desperately, and making me promise to look after myself. Her sobs of apology that I would have to live my life with no family is something that caused a piece of my heart to die that day. No matter how much I tried to keep her talking, telling her not to go to sleep, she continued to fade in front of my eyes. As she faded, the sounds of the sirens increased and got louder on their approach, but they were too late.

When firefighters finally reached us, they found me holding both of my parents, covered in cuts and bruises, with tears cascading down my boyish face. That was the last day of my childhood. From then on, I had to grow up, and I had to do it alone. Until I met Piper.

She showed me what it meant to have someone care about you, to want what’s best for you, and to take the good with the bad. I opened up to her in my therapy sessions about what happened with my family and that’s where our bond was formed. She took me in and we became the partnership we are today, in so many ways.

But most importantly, she helped me get the revenge I craved for my family. The drunk driver who hit my parent's car, killing my whole family and ruining all of our lives, was a high powered business man. Ironically, he was on his way home from a meeting with the Mayor of London when he killed my family. But, as is always the case when money is involved, he bought his way out of trouble.

Marc Langley was a high powered arsehole who never intended to take responsibility for his crimes. His lawyer argued that as there was no physical proof that he ran a red light, or that he was speeding at the time of the crash, therefore, no way to prove he was at fault. His lawyer even argued that there was a high probability that my parents caused the crash. He argued that Marc’s breathalyser was obtained illegally, stating a loophole which should never have been allowed. The judge didn’t even give the prosecution a chance to argue, they just agreed. Marc said he accepted no fault for the ‘accident’, but that the loss of life weighed heavily on him. That’s why he donated thousands to some orphan charity, along with a car crash victim charity. He also offered to make a voluntary payment to go towards the court for taking up their time with this ‘trivial matter’.

Fucker didn’t even refer to my parents by name. How can the death of two people, something that orphaned a teenage boy, be classed as trivial? The judge accepted his kind donation and found him not guilty. He didn’t even get any points on his fucking licence. Piper and I bonded over my hatred of Marc Langley. She had someone in her life who had ruined it, but she had taken steps to get her own back, to take back the power they stole from her. She asked if I wanted the opportunity to do that, to be part of her mischief, and to get revenge on Marc. Of course, I agreed. The more time I spent with Piper, the more infatuated I became. So, when the time came to finding out what the real plan of action was, how we were going to make Marc suffer, I didn’t argue. He deserved it.

Watching Marc suffer and die at the hands of Reggie had been difficult for me to see at first. It made me question who I was becoming and if this is really the path my parents would have wanted me to take. But then I saw the passion, fire, and sheer eroticism in Piper’s eyes as her body soaked in Marc’s pain. The sound of his cries and the squeaks of delight from her family just kept turning her on even further. That was the first time I had sex with Piper. It was also the moment I fell in love with her and knew I would do anything for her, no matter how much it ripped away at my soul.

Piper joltsme out of my trip down memory lane when I hear her gently cooing to Reggie. She is talking to him about the plan. We have executed this plan several times since Marc, each time worse than the last. Don’t get me wrong, there are aspects of it that I love and that give me a massive high, but they are only because of Piper. Aside from the first time, I have never enjoyed the process again. The sex with Piper is always mind-blowing and it pulls me into her web just that little bit more, but the actual act I find abhorrent. The problem is that I can’t stop. I have to do everything to please Piper and I wouldn’t ever ruin her favourite time.

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