lida irving will love you to death (tangledvines) wrote in light_of_may, @ 2014-03-02 03:29:00 |
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“You know they’ll grow to love you.”
The little hairs of his mustache were thick and wiry and they tickled the flesh of her neck as he trailed little kisses there. Facial hair was something that Lida could ultimately do without though she felt some men looked like overgrown children without a small smattering of hair above their lip. Gary was one of the few well established men in New York who was capable of keeping his hair groomed all on his own. He took special pride in the way it parted on the side (naturally, of course) and the fact that though he was pushing thirty, he had a little trail of gray hairs coloring his temple. Lida had to admit the discoloration was charming and made him all the more dashing. Her smile was coy and he could see it easily in the mirror in front of her. His kisses grew into little nips and he dragged his teeth along the cool skin of her neck. She craned slightly, leaning into his touch. His hands slid down her shoulders, tracing little lines down her arms before coming back to rest against her exposed collarbone.
Lida made a small sound of pleasure as one hand skimmed lower, slipping beneath the satiny material of her dress where he cupped her breast. He shifted slightly to allow him better leverage and to change the course of his kisses to the other side of her neck. Gary was completely focused on the woman in front of him; the way her skin felt cool to the touch, the way she craned back and responded to every little touch, the way that her dress hugged her curves even with her sitting at the vanity… he was completely mesmerized by her.
Gary was nothing but a distraction for Lida.
He was a beautiful man with a bank account large enough accommodate many of her expensive tastes, but the thing he had that she truly treasured was in another part of the house, helping set up for the Christmas party. Gary’s first wife had passed away in a terrible automobile accident; someone had been driving with enough cocaine in their system to kill an elephant, but it was the first Mrs. Waddell who suffered. The first marriage yielded a son named Shawn, now going on fourteen. The second Mrs. Waddell (who was actually a Rose-Waddell, one of those women who refused to leave her maiden name behind) begat twins, Cynthia and Christian, but had an unfortunate drinking problem and terrible mood swings. One of the maids found her in the master bedroom with a tub full of red water and an empty bottle of champagne.
The twins were beyond perfection.
With her thoughts on the children, Lida watched the mirror with rapt attention. Gary was an easy man to bend once she found his penchant for losing wives. It took no time at all to be a staple in his bed nor to win him over and have him propose marriage. Third time’s the charm, Lida had joked and those words rang in her mind. The soft melody of those words was cut short by the click of the door knob despite how soft the sound was. Lida watched as the door opened and her green eyes connected with the dark brown ones that belonged to the teenage boy. Gary was unaware, but Lida did not stop him. She watched the expression on Shawn’s face give way to the rage and discontent he was always trying to keep hidden.
“They’re here.” His voice was harsh, cold and full of contempt and he slammed the door shut behind him. Lida could hear his shoes slapping against the oak stairs as he raced to the first floor. She fought the smirk and instead wore a concerned expression as Gary immediately stopped what he was doing. His eyes were wide with alarm and looked from the door to Lida. A hand rose to cover her mouth, making her seem embarrassed and oh so ashamed of her behavior.
“Oh, Gary--”
“No. I will speak to the boy, but you have nothing to fret about.” He crouched down and wrapped his hands around one of hers. “Lida, darling, I love you. Shawn has always had trouble adjusting to change, but I promise you he will come to love you as much as I do.” He pressed a tender kiss to the back of her hand before standing. “You should finish getting ready. I’ll go down and attend to the guests for now.”
Lida turned slightly in her chair and watched as Gary walked away. As the door snapped shut behind him, she rolled her eyes and continued to watch her reflection. Simpering fool. He had to know that Shawn was much too old to change his mind and his attitude. Why, if she had been his mother, she was sure that she would have disciplined him ages ago. The twins, though. They were perfect. She could endure Shawn’s scowls and mumblings if it meant she could be the mother to Christian and Cynthia, the babes that had the lightest scent of Earth about them. She reached forward and grabbed a string of pearls, pulling it high onto her collarbone and shutting the clasp behind her neck. The party waited for her and she always looked her best.
“Shawn, you will listen to me --”
“No! Don’t you get it? She’s using you! She’s a gold digger--”
Shawn’s words were cut off not by his father interjecting, but by the cold sound that could only be skin slapping skin. He’s struck the boy, Lida thought to herself. Though Gary and Shawn were down the hall, she could hear everything they were shouting at each other from the twins’ room. Two pairs of large grey eyes blinked up at her, fear painted in those innocent gazes. She blinked and her smile turned warm as she tucked the comforters easily around their small bodies.
“Now, now,” she whispered. “Nothing to worry about my dears. You two stay here and trot off to dreamland so that Santa may come visit. No one shall hurt you.”
“What about daddy?” Christian asked, his voice barely seeming relieved.
“Would you like me to check on him?” She asked.
“Yes, please.” He nodded and Lida noticed the endearing lisp that came out past his lips. Christian was a sweet boy, sensitive like his sister.
“I’ll be back in a few moments.” Lida shut the door gently behind her. The hallway was long and was lit by the cold white of streetlights flooding through the window. Perhaps the light seemed so cold because of the snow outside. At the end of the hallway, Lida could see that Shawn’s door was ajar. The voices on the other side were soft now, but she could still make out a few phrases.
“... sorry. Shawn…”
“... different. She’s strange and cold…”
“We’re in love. You’ll understand when you’re older.”
“But you love us! You must love us more than her. Listen to me, Dad please. She’s not right.”
“You said that about Miranda, too.”
“And I was right!! There’s something odd about this woman. She’s just… strange. Evil.” Lida stopped next to the door and listened carefully to their conversation. Her lips quirked upwards and she ran her tongue over her fangs.
“Evil? Shawn, don’t you think that’s a bit harsh?”
“Not really, no.” It wasn’t Shawn who answered but Lida as she slipped quietly into the room. “Shawn is a very smart and perceptive boy, though he could have been so much more with the love of a mother.” The look in her eyes was sad as she regarded the scowling teenager and the confused father. “The tragedy is that he is cut from the same cloth as his father; intelligence but with nowhere to apply it.”
“Just what the fuck is that supposed to mean, Lida?” Gary’s voice rose and she noticed a vein beginning to throb along his forehead. Good.
“It means exactly what it sounded like, you twit.” She snapped, the luxurious silk quality dropping from her voice. “Perhaps if you’d turned your skills to business management rather than managing beds, you would have found a woman and kept her. Or perhaps you would have made a better father to your children. Either way, you don’t deserve them. Not even Shawn here.” A small part of her held onto hope for the boy.
“You can’t talk to me like that!” Gary’s steps were hard and determined as he crossed the room. Lida didn’t blink as she took hold of him by the throat, lifting him off of the floor so that his toes barely brushed the rug.
“I talk any way I wish, love.” She turned and looked back at Shawn, whose face was suddenly shining with childlike innocence as fear seeped through his very skin. “Shawn, sweetheart. I will ask you one time and one time only. You have the choice of spending the rest of your life with your father or coming with me and seeing everything else the world has to offer.” Gary grunted in her hand and she glanced back up at him. His face was flushing and starting to turn a little purple from her grip. She looked back to Shawn.
“W-what?” His brows came together in children. “Drop him! Don’t hurt him!”
“You know very well what I said,” Lida’s voice was firm but gentle as she spoke to the child. If there was hope for him, she didn’t want to spook it away from him. “I love children. I’ve always wanted to raise children of my own, but if you do not want to go away from here, I will not force you to part with your father. You have grown attached to him and I understand that. But you must understand that if you choose to stay, you will never see your brother and sister again.”
“You bitch…” Gary’s voice cracked beneath her hand, but she did not acknowledge him or his words. Shawn was the center of her attention.
“You’re taking them? Where?” The boy’s voice was high and a little shrill. Lida was sure she saw tears glinting in his eyes. “Please put him down. I’ll do whatever you want, just put him down…”
She frowned slightly. “You are your father’s heir, I see. Very well.” She licked her lips and sighed, almost as if she was suffering from a mild case of boredom. Turning, she stepped through the bedroom door. Gary was trying to kick at her, but Lida let the swats hit her. It was good that Gary was a fighter; that was a trait that she hoped the twins inherited.
“Put him down!” Shawn cried after her.
“As you wish.”
Lida began to lower Gary onto the floor and she caught the briefest glimpse of relief in his eyes. The sensation was brief because no sooner had his heels brushed against the hardwood of the floor than he was back up in the air, this time soaring over the banister and down past the staircase. The spiral stairs that Gary had originally found thrilling in their design turned out to be his end; his spine cracked against the railing before he tumbled down past the stairs and landed on the first floor with a sickening crunch that Lida knew to be the bone of his neck and skull.
A scream ripped through the air and she knelt down onto the floor as Shawn rushed forward. She scooped both of her hands beneath his arms and tossed him through the air. For someone without her strength, the motion could have almost been a game, but Shawn was tossed across the hallway, where he crashed against the wall. A metal click to her left and she saw the door open to the twins’ room and two small little heads peeked around the door.
“Lida, what’s that sound?” Cynthia asked.
“Santa, sweetheart. He just landed on the roof. Now you better hurry off and go back to sleep! Otherwise, there may not be any presents here in the morning!”
An excited squeal escaped the little girl and she heard two pairs of feet scuffling back to the bed after the door had closed. Lida then turned her gaze back towards the end of the hallway. Her steps were quiet as she approached Shawn’s room for a second time. Hitting the wall had knocked the wind from the boy, but she saw his foot sticking out from under his bed.
“Trying to hide?” She grinned and grabbed his ankle, dragging the boy out from under his bed. “I do love to play games, Shawn.” His screams were shrill and he begged her to let him go and she could hear the sound of his nails digging into the wood of the floor. The smell of urine was fresh and though it caused her lip to curl, there was nothing but pity in her eyes. “Sweetheart, did you have an accident? Let Mother help clean you up.” She pulled him completely free of the bed and was just about to sit him on the bed itself when he found whatever resolve he had left.
“You are not my mother.” He hissed.
Lida clenched her jaw and her eyes lost every hint of pity that had been there just seconds before. “A mother’s love is complete, Shawn. She is there to heal you, to care for you, to teach you. And you have many lessons to learn.” He opened his mouth to scream again, but Lida stuffed her fingers into his mouth, grabbing hold of his jaw. His hands scrambled upwards to try and remove her hand, scratching her as he went. He squealed and hot tears leaked out of the corners of his eyes.
“Quiet now.” Her voice was soft, but firm. Panic set into Shawn’s eyes, but Lida’s face was blank. One hand was fixed onto his shoulder while the other was gripped tightly around his chin and jaw. She felt his tongue, hot against the back of her fingers and the crooked teeth that came down to bite at her knuckles. She squeezed harder, feeling more warmth pool around her fingertips; only the scent told her it was blood and not saliva. The blood was starting to drip out of the corner of his mouth, down past her fingers and onto his chin. Lida leaned forward and licked the small trail, leaving behind a red smear. She shook her head with disappointment. Nothing ever tasted as good as someone touched by earth. She felt Shawn’s body convulse slightly and heave. He was gagging over his tongue, blood, and her fingers. It was clear he was learning his lesson.
“Mother’s reward too, Shawn.” Her voice and gaze were gentle again. The fear was still thick on Shawn’s face, but there was the briefest flash of hope at her words. She smiled at him fully for the first time, revealing fangs. Whatever panic and fear he had felt was nothing compared to what was rushing through him now. She could feel the heat of urine coming off of him again and this time she let herself be disgusted. She snarled and pulled back with the arm connected to his jaw, holding him place with the hand on his shoulder. The effort was like pulling a branch off of a tree and it made a similar sound, though wetter as bones snapped apart and tendons and cartilage smacked against remnants of each other. The warm smell of blood quickly replaced the scent of urine.
She studied the bottom jaw she held in her hand, skin still attached and warm. Mother’s rewarded, though never in the way you thought you ought to be. Watching the way blood trickled down her arm, Lida heard a small flump that was Shawn’s body falling back onto the bed. She supposed it was a wonder that Christian and Cynthia were still in their room; children could do anything they put their mind to. That was the beautiful thing about children and Christmas. They held onto the belief that magic was in the air and all their dreams would come true in the morning.
“Merry Christmas, my dears.” Lida whispered, dropping Shawn’s jaw onto the floor as she walked back through the house.