Page 16 of Welcome Home
I can’t do that to her. I won’t. I would never… not unless she made me.
“Oh my God, Oliver?” The shrill voice breaks my stride as I'm halfway to the door, doing my best to ignore the way it grates on my nerves. “Oliver!”
My lips curl up over his useless blunt teeth in a snarl, wishing it were mine on the outside right now. Her needy hand grips the back of my suit jacket and it’s all I can do not to rip it from her body to see if her insides are every bit as rotten as her outsides. I shrug her hand off, wiping the disgust and anger from my face as I turn to face her. “Rachel, it’s nice to see you.” I grit out, hoping it doesn’t come off half as painful as it feels.
She scoffs. “It’s nice to see me? Are you fucking serious? Where have you been? We thought…we thought she killed you!” She whisper shouts, edging closer to me. My eyes dart back towards the door. I can hear Cora inside, the sound of something abrasive rubbing ferociously against a smoother, harder surface.
When I force a calming breath through my lungs, it’s a double-edged sword. Sure, it calms slightly, but it also drags more of her putrid smell in with it. “Well, clearly, she didn’t. Now I’ve got a lot on my-“ the slap comes hard, and rings out louder than I thought possible. The reddening on my cheek matching the haze clouding my vision as they bore into the blonde woman Oliver couldn’t get enough of.
“Don’t you dare treat me like her. Don’t deflect! I'm not your fucking wife, Oliver. I told my husband about us and then poof, you’re gone! Do you have any idea how hard this has been on me?” Her words soften as she takes a step back, her body reacting to me…to what I am long before I give her a reason to. She crosses her arms, waiting for a response and I just stare. If I open my mouth now, I'll use it to rip into her artificially tanned flesh. Even from here, I can smell the skin cancer brewing just below her left arm. I can smell the chemicals in her blood from the pills she pops like candy.
Don’t draw suspicion, Vosz. Keep it together. Ripping her throat out would certainly not be considered keeping it together.
I take a step closer, jerking her chin up with my hand until she’s forced to look up at me. I don’t hide an ounce of the disgust I feel for her as every vile thing she’s ever said about Cora rushes through my mind. “If you ever touch me like that again, I will make sure everyone on this block knows just how pathetic you are. I will tell every secret, every taboo you whispered in the dark. I will ruin you, Rachel, then wipe you from the bottom of my shoe like the desperate fuckbag cockroach you are.”
“I…” She trails off, her eyes widening, her breath hitching in her throat the way it used to with him, but she’s not turned on…she’s scared.
She should be. She should be terrified. If only they knew the monsters that lurked on every corner, the demons they pass on the street. “Go home, maybe talk to your kids today. I'm sure they’d appreciate it.”
She gawks, her bottom lip trembling before she turns back towards her house. Normally watching her cry would be a fun bonus, but my mind is trained on Cora. The sound of her soft pants as she scrubs at something, the tiny whimpers leaving her throat. Something’s wrong and instead of being in there comforting her, I'm out here wasting time. Something I plan to remedy immediately. I don’t cast Rachel a second glance as I burst through the front door, slamming it behind me.
Cora jerks up from the floor, yelping, her pale eyes wide as she grips a sponge tightly in her hand. The yellow elbow high gloves are barely protecting her sleeves from the suds. The smell of bleach assaults my nose, far stronger than it was from the road. “Oh, uhm, welcome home.” She mutters before turning back and continuing her assault on the floor that’s clean enough by now to perform surgery on.
“Cora…” I breathe out, discarding my suit jacket and briefcase as I lower myself to the floor beside her.
She doesn’t look up, just continues scrubbing the place where he laid. “I'll have dinner ready in a moment. Just let me finish up here.” My chest lurches as I lay a hand on her knees, her dress soaked through with cleaning supplies, the skin underneath no doubt irritated from the harsh chemicals. The red bucket to her left is filled with steaming water and goddess knows what else. I’m half surprised she hasn’t passed out from the fumes.
“Cora.” I repeat this time a little more forcefully as a tear slips down her cheek, dropping onto the floor. Blending with the rest of the water there. When she doesn’t respond, a growl slips through my throat as I jerk her hands from the floor, the worn sponge dropping to the ground with a wet thud. “How long have you been here?”
She shakes her head, more tears slipping down flushed cheeks, “I- they know. They found the knife. His stuff. They know Oliver, they know what I did. Oh God. They know.” She blubbers, her words dissolving into incoherent babbles as I jerk her into my chest. Inhaling the fruity smell of her hair deep into my lungs, as if I could implant it there, begging it to wipe away everything else.
I stroke the knotted strands, shushing her as I rock us. “It’s okay, my love. I'll fix this, okay? I'll keep you safe. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn’t come home sooner.” She sniffles, tilting her head back to look at me, her eyes puffy and panicked. Her broken, disheveled appearance speaks directly to that primal, animalistic being inside me. What I am at my core. This broken thing needs me, and I need her.
“Why are you doing this? Why are you helping me?”
I can’t help but smile at the question. To me it’s been so obvious, but perhaps I haven’t worked hard enough. “Because I love you. I'm so fucking in love with you, Cora. You’ve consumed my every thought since I took on his appearance. His memories. You’re everything. I'm sorry I ever tried to stay away. I left you alone for too long.”
She swallows a sob and I clutch her tighter, worried any second she’ll remember how disgusted she is by me. I tense as she lifts her hand, pressing it lightly to my cheek. “I'm not as scared of you as I should be.”
My heart sputters, warmth sinking into my skin at her words. “You don’t have to pretend with me. I never expected anything real in return, only that you tolerate my love for you. That’s enough for me. Let me stay. I'll show you how happy you can be. I’ll worship every breath you take.”
She lowers her hand, taking my hope and heart with it as her eyes steel over. “I'll kill myself before I rot away in prison. I won’t leave one for another. I won’t.”
She flinches as my hand captures the side of her face, pressing my forehead tightly against hers and I can’t find it in me to care. Her words burn like a hot iron straight to my soul. I can see it in her eyes how much she means it. “If you take your life, I will feast on your flesh and wear you the way I’ve worn them all. I will make you watch from the inside as I cut down everyone you’ve ever loved, Cora. Don’t fucking make me do that. Don't make me be the monster you think I am. I want to be by your side, to be used for whatever purpose you allow me, but that can change quickly. Please.” She whimpers, trying to pull away from me, but I don’t let her. I will never let her. “I want you like this, my love. Whole and beautiful, but I will take you any way I can get you. Do you understand that? I can be good to you. So fucking good.”
She nods and I pretend not to see the horror in her eyes. She shudders in my arms and pretends not to see the desperation in mine. “Is he… watching?”
“He’s been gone for a long time. I can bring him back, make him watch. If you’d like. It’s not him in the way you knew him, more like an inner voice. Inner awareness that stays…”
Her lips part and my cock jerks despite how ill-timed it is. “Of course not.” She insists, but I see it there, the heat that flashes in her eyes. The same look she wore that night when he laid at her feet. The cruelty nested inside her slight frame, breaking through the haze of her panic. I bring my fingers up, tracing the line of her full lips. “Such a fucking liar.”
“There’s something wrong with me. Something very wrong.”
I adjust myself, forcing her legs around my waist so that she straddles me, her breath catching in her throat. “Why do you think I came for you? You’re right, there is something different about you, but who’s to say it’s wrong? I saw it… what you did that night. I lived it, each agonizing second.” I whisper, trailing my lips down the length of her soft jaw, letting my tongue dip out to taste her. She sucks in a quick breath, and I smile against the delicate skin on her neck. My lips lingering just over the pulse point there. “How could I not come to you after such a beautifully carnal display like that?”
She tips her head back, allowing me better access to her throat. Blissfully unaware of the damage I could do to her here. What a single taste of her flesh could give me. The smell of her arousal leaks from her and my mouth waters, despite the chemicals permeating the air. Her hands find their way to the back of my head, tangling in the hair there. “What are you?”
“A nightmare.” I answer, nipping at her neck, savoring the soft moan she tries to hide.
