Page 94 of King of Clubs

I had survived this family before and I would do it again but I would need to maintain focus and that wouldn’t happen if I allowed the panic to swallow me whole.

The carport was weary.

Broken timber slats with green paint that had long ago chipped lined two of the walls. The other was a brick divider separating this from the neighbouring space.

Lori had already warned me that if I so much as whispered a protest while moving from the car to her apartment, she would call Lucas and my‘little boyfriend would suffer’. Which meant I would stay quiet.

I wanted to kick her in the fucking face when she mentioned Sebastian again, but I was mostly terrified of losing someone else I loved. Realistically, I knew there was a fairly small chance Lucas would be able to come close to hurting Seb, in fact, if I wasn’t currently restrained at the mercy of a knife wielding lunatic, I’d find it laughable. But I wasn’t risking that he might catch him off guard or have found some of his junkie friends to help.

She came around to my side of the car, opened the door and looked down at me in disgust. The rusty knife gestured that it was time for me to move. Grabbing my purse, I swung around until my feet were planted on the floor, predicting she would take any perceived disobedience on my part as an opportunity to hurt me. My wrists burned, the rope viciously rubbing against them as she reefed me out of the passenger seat.

Shoving me forward, the echo of the car door boomed around the otherwise empty carport and I baulked at how eerie these flats were despite being only a short drive from Sebastian’s place. She threw my pale blue jacket over my wrists, not seeming to notice the purse I was holding, and from the outside we probably looked like a couple of friends who’d spent the day gossiping over breakfast.

Instead, I was doing my best to maintain my calm while trying to decide whether Lori or Lucas was more of a threat. Given the state of the woman shoving me from behind, I figured it was likely her. Wrists untied I could probably give it a red hot go, however, the psychotic tinge to her hallowed face was concerning enough that even if I knew how to fight, I would be reluctant to act.

The stale smell of her body odour washed over me again as I felt another strong blow to my back, propelling me through the front door before it too was slammed shut.

“Welcome to my new home, sister. I’ve been waiting for you to visit me. Even bought your favourite snacks for when you arrived. But you never did. Even when I kept bumping into you, you never once called to see how I was. What kind of sister does that?” I heard the lock behind me click into place with finality. I really was trapped now.

“Thanks for having me?” My sarcasm was intentional but the slight lilt at the end indicated my obvious uncertainty.

“Shut the fuck up and go sit on the lounge.” I did what she said, taking note of my surroundings for anything which could be of use. The lounge smelt new and looking at the unit and television, most of the other furniture also appeared fresh. A book shelf housed a number of picture frames and my eyes widened when I saw a picture of Lucas, Lori and I from the New Years Eve after Lucas and I started dating. I vividly remembered the barbecue out the back, the mosquitos had been aggressively thirsty and Lucas was so attentive, rubbing insect repellant into my ankles to ensure I didn’t get bitten.

Lori had stayed the night and we’d celebrated as we entered the new year, the photo we took just after midnight with our glow-in-the-dark glasses now marred with disdain.

“Oh, great idea. Let’s take a trip down memory lane,” she taunted, noticing me looking. “We can start here,” snapping me out of my daze, she grabbed the photo off the shelf, smiling affectionately at the picture of us.

I took her in, from her rumpled clothing to her tousled hair. The way she twitched uncontrollably.

She was clearly unwell.

“Doesn’t Lucas look so handsome? He was a good man before you destroyed him.” She was staring at the picture, her face softer than I’d seen it all afternoon.

Did she really believe I was the one who hurthim?

“He told me all the things you did to him. Did you know that?” She began vibrating with her words. The light filtering through the blinds highlighting the beads of spit flying out of her mouth.

“I used to think he was hard on you. Maybe he hurt you. But then he told me howyouhurthim. Told me how ungrateful you were. And then you went and destroyed our lives, just like he said you would. I thought when I saw you at that nightclub you would see him and realise. You would realise how much better you were with him. You were meant to go home with him that night, you silly bitch. And then he came home without you, Marlee, and he was mad. Mad atme. As if it were my fault you left him. I couldn’t leave the house for two weeks after that. Two fucking weeks,” she was escalating. Each falsity laced with more hatred than the last. Her revelations both heartbreaking and terrifying.

I needed to try and calm her down, treat her the way I did with Lucas when he became erratic. Agree and validate.

“He was handsome,” I agreed. “It was one of the reasons I fell in love with him, Lori,” I softened my features as she assessed me quizzically. “Do you remember that night? How we danced to Whitney Houston and made resolutions to get natural tans that year?” I forced a chuckle and her lips twitched slightly, as if she too could remember the happy moments we shared. But I saw the instant the curtain closed and she threw the frame to the floor, pressing her heel onto it hard. The burst of shattered glass splintering as cracks separated the three of us.

“Enough!” She snapped. “Now I have you, we can put everything back the way it should be. You can take care of Lucas and I can go back to being the sister he loves. I only ever tried to help. Tried to keep everyone happy. And now with you back, I can,” she smiled, her voice dipping into a smooth tone, “I’m making us tea, would you like sugar?” I simply stared. Unable to do anything other than watch what could only be described as a psychotic episode.

She continued as if she hadn’t asked, adding two spoonfuls of sugar to both cups.

“We have much to discuss and I want to hear all about your new boyfriend and what makes him sospecial. Maybe now you are with Lucas again, he might be interested in dating someone else,” her words held a haughty arrogance and I swallowed my anger. I hated her. But I also pitied her. I wanted to tell her he broke me too. That this wasn’t the answer, but she was too manic, too crazed, too dangerous.

Too. Too. Too.

She stalked towards me with the tea, handing me mine as if my wrists weren’t fucking secured. Discreetly leaving my purse under the jacket on my lap, I tried to take the mug from her, hissing as the boiling water spilt over the rim, landing on my already raw skin.

“Oops,” she said with a performative smile as she sat down on the lounge beside me.

“We’re going to go for a little drive later as there’s something I want to show you, but first drink your tea and I will tell you a story about a little girl who only ever wanted to please everyone. She grew up with an older brother and sometimes he was a little mean, but then she got a sister and her life changed. Changed for the better.” Her words flustered me, a one woman circus on a journey of her own.

I didn’t want to drink her fucking tea, I wanted answers but there was no use arguing. She had all the power here. For now, I needed to bide my time and play along. I took a sip, trying not to scold my tongue.

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