The Criminal Diaries

      Raquelle, Natalia, and Anna contacted Victor Johnson shortly after Edward, Daniel, and Terrence went to help Peter out. They explained the situation in all details, told about all the theories they got, and provided the address of the neighborhood where Ryan saw Rose some time ago. And while the girls agree on everything with the captain of the police, the dog Sammy does not leave them alone and listens closely to every word as if he hopes one of them may have a message about finding Helene alive and healthy, and Marcus not killing her and her boyfriend.       “Alright, girls, I got it all,” Victor says confidently and quietly, addressing the friends, who are talking to him on the speakerphone. “You can say something else?”       “Nope, we told you everything we know now,” Raquelle shakes her head.       “So, how long ago did your men leave?”       “Well, just recently,” Natalia replies. “The girls and I decided not to ride out the storm and to contact you immediately.”       “Yeah, the guys asked us to wait for two or three hours, but we think it’s too risky,” Anna adds. “Who knows what may happen.”       “And you did the right thing!” Victor exclaims. “That’s good you decided not to wait and to do what was right.”       “Would you help us? Would you help the guys before Marcus Longbottom does something to them?”       “Don’t worry, sweet girls, of course, I will help you. Since you told me everything in time, my colleagues and I have enough time to get ready. We will examine the information you gave us and work on the plan of getting that man and his gang arrested.”       “Yes, Mr. Johnson, we’re begging you, save the men and find Helene,” Raquelle begs with pity in her eyes. “Do your best for them not to be killed before you come.”       Sammy sitting next to them whines with great pity and barks loudly.       “Sammy has been restless for one week, while his owner is not near,” Anna sighs heavily, caressing Sammy’s head. “He doesn’t eat anything, doesn’t play, and doesn’t even sleep.”       “I get it,” Victor expresses sympathy. “Don’t worry, I will do everything I can. My colleagues have already got an order to get an operative group that is going to get all the instructions from us.”       “We will probably not have a chance like this anymore,” Natalia assumes. “And I don’t know what would’ve happened if Ryan Clayton hadn’t seen Peter in that neighborhood and contacted Anna.”       “That guy really did a crazy thing by deciding to tell you nothing. Who knows how it would’ve ended if you hadn’t known anything.”       “Peter won’t deal with Marcus and his accomplices all alone,” Anna says confidently. “There are too many of them, and he’s alone. It’s his way to death.”       “Yes, yes, I know. But even if the guys went to help him out, it doesn’t mean they would hold on.”       “We know, Mr. Johnson,” Natalia replies. “Raquelle, Anna, and I didn’t want to let Edward, Terrence, and Daniel go there. But they were stubborn and were determined to help Peter.”       “Right, on the one hand, it’s bad you didn’t change their mind. But on the other hand, it would be easier for him. There is a chance that they can play time, while we work on the plan and reach them.”       “Asking you for help is the only thing we can do now,” Raquelle sighs heavily. “The girls and I are powerless in this situation.”       “Don’t worry, girls, you did everything you could,” Victor calms down. “I repeat, you did the right thing by telling me everything immediately.”       “It’s hurtful that we just have to sit and wait,” Anna replies thoughtfully.       “I understand. Nevertheless, leave this to me and my colleagues. We will sort it out, and I will keep you aware.”       “Thank you so much, Mr. Johnson,” Anna thanks with all her heart. “We would be grateful to you if everything ended well.”       “Most likely, it’s all going to take several hours. So, I advise you to find something to do. Watch Samuel, visit Mrs. Marshall… They need your care like never ever.”       “I think we should not tell Mrs. Marshall about Peter and Marcus’ meeting,” Raquelle assumes. “We’d better tell her everything when this story ends.”       “Right. Nevertheless, I highly advise you to visit her at home or call her. The poor woman is so restless there.”       “Thank God, our families help us watch her,” Natalia replies. “My parents, Anna’s parents, Raquelle’s aunt and grandfather… Even Terrence and Edward’s parents are not indifferent.”       “Yeah, their help means a lot to us,” Anna adds. “It’s super hard for all of us now. We’ve been dealing with too many things.”       “I completely understand you and feel truly sorry for you,” Victor expresses sympathy. “And I am doing my best. Mrs. Marshall calls me multiple times every day, and I calm her down somehow. And not to make her nervous, I have to hide a part of the information from her. I don’t tell her that the case seems too hopeless due to the lack of clues.”       “We don’t tell her anything, either,” Raquelle confesses hesitantly. “For example, she knows nothing about what Marcus’s accomplices are doing to Helene. And we hope she’ll never know. It’s going to be a great shock to her.”       “Anyway, we will surely use the chance to catch that band.”       “Please, tell us about the operation so we don’t feel excited,” Natalia begs. “And we will be praying that you find the men soon. And find out where our friend is.”       “You know I always try to think positively,” Victor replies with a slight smile. “And I don’t doubt that we can do this again this time. Just like we always brought the previous cases to an end.”       “We believe in you, Mr. Johnson,” Anna says confidently. “We believe you will not let us down.”       “Alright, girls, I have to say goodbye to you. I will be working on the mission and will come back to you if I have some news.”       “We will be waiting with impatience!” Raquelle exclaims.       “If you have more interesting information or remember something, call me shortly. Everything is important in our case. Any little thing that we can cling to.”       “Deal!” Natalia exclaims.       “See you later.”       “Yeah, Mr. Johnson…” Raquelle, Anna, and Natalia pronounce at the different time.       After Sammy barks quietly, Anna finishes the call by pressing some buttons on the screen of her smartphone and squeezes it tightly in her hand.       “Oh, I feel kinda anxious anyway…” Raquelle confesses thoughtfully, putting her hand on her heart. “It’s gonna be hard for the guys…”       “I hope Mr. Johnson and his colleagues will find them in time,” Anna begs.       “Do you think we did the right thing by deciding to say nothing to Mrs. Marshall?” Natalia asks hesitantly.       “I guess so. That woman is getting through a strong stress, and she’s been taking cures for one week. We must not shock her with anything.”       “We’d really better tell her about the meeting when everything ends,” Raquelle replies. “When we know how this story ends.”       “And whether we know why Marcus actually started it all. What Peter did to make him so mad.”       “And what’s Helene’s fault!”       “Well, we know about it well…” Natalia replies thoughtfully. “We know Helene was some kind of a criminal.”       “It’s okay the guys understood it all and didn’t insist on telling them everything,” Anna notices. “Yes, they want to know it, but they gave Marshall a chance to speak first.”       “Anyway, Peter doesn’t care about her secrets anymore,” Raquelle replies. “He doesn’t hide it.”       “But it will not save Helen from having to tell him everything. If she wants Rose to trust her and not to think she can betray him, she must be honest with him.”       “No, girls, I believe she won’t do that to him,” Natalia shakes her head. “And I believe that guy will not turn his back on her when he knows the truth. Yes, the secrets of her past are terrible, but does it matter when you regret everything and do nothing bad to someone you love in the present?”       Sammy barks quietly in approval.       “Sammy thinks so.”       “Oh, girls, let’s talk about it later,” Raquelle sighs tiredly. “The most important thing is that she’s found alive. That the guys don’t suffer. That they all come back to us.”       “I feel the expectation is gonna be alone,” Anna assumes. “We should really do something. We can’t just sit on the sofa and spend hours hypnotizing the phone with the thought that Mr. Johnson or some of the guys will call us and tell us good news.”       “Not sure if I can think of something else and do something, while my man may be in great trouble if something goes wrong,” Natalia expresses anxiety.       “Let’s believe it’s gonna be okay,” Raquelle says confidently. “They did everything when they had to save someone. And the situations weren’t always easy.  But it’s okay, they did it.”       “Aha, and we were waiting for the news from them, we got a lot of gray hairs! And lose a big part of nerves!”       “As I understand, I don’t need to offer you drinks and food ‘cause we all can’t swallow anything,” Anna throws her hands up.       “Nope, I vomit a little at just one thought of food,” Raquelle raises her hands in front of herself.       “I won’t be able to eat and drink anything ‘til the guys are back,” Natalia says.       “At least, we know where they went, and Mr. Johnson is working on the operation of the arrest of the criminals and saving the men and Helene,” Anna encourages.       “And we did our best to help them,” Raquelle adds. “So, we only have to wait and pray that everything ends well.”       “No choice,” Natalia shrugs.       Sammy barks quietly again and starts butting his head against Anna’s feet as he is sitting next to her on the floor. The girl caresses the dog’s head softly, and her friends follow her example at some moment, giving him some attention with the thought that their hearts break at the sight of his sad eyes full of pain that speak everything for him.       

***

      Helene is also restless because Peter and Marcus's meeting happened, no matter how much she wanted to slow down time and delay this moment. But unlike her friends, the girl cannot change any turns of events or try to save her boyfriend, who cannot even imagine what dangerous game he decided to play. She can only lie on the bed and pray so hard for any solution to this problem. But by this moment, she lost any hope of salvation and almost accepted her inevitable loss.       At some moment, Helene decides to get up and walk a little, trying to ignore the dizziness that tortures her. She has not had any little opportunity to get out of here or just give a sign to her close people so they establish her current location. This kind of hopelessness is the reason the girl understands that she has nothing but to say goodbye to everyone. That’s what she is doing now. Thinking of her close people and those who suffered because of her. Marshall apologizes silently to every one of them and expresses hope that those people will forgive her and will not wish her to burn in hell.       But the stomach pain that has been torturing her for a long time and a sense of hunger that drives her crazy do not let Helene focus on something else. And she cannot walk on her weak legs for too long. That’s why she sits on the bed again at some moment. After the time she spent in the dark, the girl’s eyes hurt and water a little when she looks at the light in the window. Though it’s getting more unbearable to be in these walls that literally choke her, and she is not used to the company of creeping living things and flying insects.       Since Elijah left, Helene has been thinking a lot to try to distract herself from what’s happening. But she has to come back to reality when someone opens the door sharply with a loud slam, making her feel that her heart starts beating like crazy. She sees three men entering the room: Ronald and David, who she knows already, and another person she has never met before – a young man with absolutely white hair, colorless eyelashes, pale skin, and blue eyes.       “So what, dolly, here we are!” Ronald exclaims cheerfully. “Still holding on?”       “Relax, you have a little time,” David adds confidently. “Your suffering is about to end.”       “By the way, we would like to inform you that Peter has already met Marcus. He is about to know the reasons that made our lord hate him.”       “Aha, Luther and Darren have just sent us a couple of messages. Which means one thing: you two have a little time. Before you reunite somewhere in the afterlife.”       “Do what you want…” Helene sighs resignedly, looking to the floor with dead eyes. “Nothing will help me anyway.”       “O-o-o-oh, wow!” Ronald laughs evilly. “It took more than one week for you to realize it.”       “Aha, you squeaked, ‘Please, let me out of here, I don’t wanna die, I feel bad, I’m scared,’” David adds.       “I don’t want to die…” Helene pronounces in a quiet, low voice. “But I can do nothing. You deprived me of any chance to move.”       “I hope you’ve already said goodbye to all your close people. Your grandmother, the girls, the men. And ask those who suffered because of you, for forgiveness.”       “I hope they will remember only good things about me.”       “I doubt that those you hurt for nothing will remember good things about you,” Ronald assumes.       “I’m asking you about just one thing since I have to die.”       Helene moves her dead eyes to Ronald and David, who sits on the bed at this moment.       “Let me contact Peter somehow. Please, I want to see him for the last time. I want to tell him how much I love him and consider him the best thing in my life. And how hurtful it is to know I… I’m dying.”       “Marcus was thinking about it for a long time,” Ronald confesses. “Thinking whether he should’ve let two lovebirds meet before death.”       “And to your happiness, he decided to organize your last meeting,” David adds.       “Really?” Helene pronounces excitedly. “Will you really let?”       “We want to specify that nobody is going to drive you to Marcus’ home. You were here, and you will stay here. The lord will organize your meeting with that reject with a video call.”       “Yeah, Marshall, wait for a while,” Ronald pronounces confidently and claps Helene on her lap. “You will have two minutes to tell him everything you want.”       “And then Rose will watch your inevitable death with a videocall,” David adds.       “What?” Helene opens her eyes widely.       “What did you want? Did you think we’d kill you and just let him know it verbally? Oh, no, babe! Do not even hope.”       “The lord wants your sweetheart to see everything,” Ronald confesses. “So, he doesn’t say we’re lying to him, and nobody wants to tell him the truth.”       “Peter will not handle it,” Helene says in a shaking voice. “He will go crazy from grief.”       “He will not. After you die, he will be next. As well as his friends, in case they want to follow that freak.”       “By the way, your sweetheart came alone,” David specifies. “I mean, he went to Marcus’ home alone. But it doesn’t mean he didn’t take his gang and didn’t come up with a plan.”       “I wish the guys had helped him…” Helene sighs heavily and presses her knees to her chest. “It doesn’t make sense to help me, but Pete has a chance.”       “His chance of surviving and not dying is as zero as yours, shorty. Now, even if Marcus lets him leave the house, he will leave it as a corpse. That will never be found after being well hidden.”       “I’m sure Peter is guilty of nothing for Marcus and did nothing bad to him.”       “Oh, no, he is guilty!” Ronald protests. “And Rose must be happy he will know why he will have to die for.”       “And why does your lord want to kill the absolutely innocent man?”       “You will never know it.”       Ronald brings his face close to Helene’s face, while she steps back sharply with widely open eyes.       “Marcus decided it. He doesn’t want to tell you how he is connected with Peter.”       “Though we can kindly tell you a secret about their connection being much deeper than you think,” David adds. “Much deeper. And our lord lost his close person because of your boyfriend.”       “I will not believe Peter can be a killer,” Helene says in a low voice. “I will not believe that such a wonderful man could do such terrible things.”       “Did someone say he killed someone?”  Ronald smiles innocently.       “Yes, Marshall, we actually said nothing, but you came up with nobody the fuck knows what,” David adds.       “Why else does Marcus want to get rid of my man so hard?” Helene asks surprisingly. “Just to take revenge.”       “Right, he is taking revenge, but not for the reason you thought about.”       “Tell me since you started it.”       “Oh, no, we will not tell you details!” David shakes his head. “A hint at the connection of Rose and our lord is enough already.”       “However, you can think a little about it and ask yourself about what connects Peter and Marcus,” Ronald suggests.       “For example…” the unfamiliar man with white hair says something for the first time in a while, coming closer to the bed. “Try to compare these two. Have you never noticed the resemblance between your sweetheart and our lord? Haven’t you noticed they have something in common?”       “What?” Helene frowns slightly.       “Eye color, hair color, features, habits… When we looked at Rose for the first time, we understood that Marcus wasn’t wrong.”       “Don’t you want to say Peter is related to that man? That heartless killer, who should’ve been executed for everything he did to the innocent people?”       “And now sit here and reflect!” the man with white hair smiles evilly. “We will say nothing more to you! We will not confirm or deny anything.”       “Yes, of course, Marcus didn’t ban us from speaking,” David adds. “But since he said he didn’t want you to know something, it means we can’t go against him and tell you everything.”       Helene says nothing and just swallows nervously, thinking a little, and assuming that these people are right to some extent because Marcus really reminds her of Peter a little.       “Alright, dolly, we have no time to talk to you here!” the white-haired man pronounces cheerfully, putting his hands on his hips. “Marcus sent us here to follow some instructions and get ready for fun.”       “By the way, you’d hardly care about it, but since you’ve never met this guy before, let us introduce him,” Ronald takes a word. “This is Shawn. Shawn Oldman.”       “Don’t be afraid of his little alien appearance,” David adds. “He is just an albino. That’s why he looks so unusual.”       “And yeah, my friends told me so much about how good they felt when they came here to fuck you,” Shawn says with a sly smile. “I was even a little hurt and jealous ‘cause I had never been a witness to that and slapped your naked ass.”       “Yeah, the guys and I spent a wonderful time in your company,” Ronald says with his head proudly raised. “Sex with you was the best one in our lives.”       “I am even sorry about losing such a wonderful chance to have fun and get rid of tension,” David sighs disappointedly. “You were awesome. Especially when you were out.”       “Do you like to give pain to girls so much?” Helene asks without emotions. “Do you like to use them against their will and ignore their pleas to let them go?”       “C’mon, shorty! C’mon, cutie! What kind of pain! We tried to do everything carefully when you lay quietly and didn’t annoy us with your screams and attempts to escape this place.”       “And even if we ever hurt you somehow, the fault was on you,” Ronald adds. “You were told a million times that you should’ve befriended us. We told you a million times that prisoners must obey their kidnappers and do what they want. You have not been their guest all this time, just saying.”       “I’d rather die than tolerate the way unfamiliar men feel you up and use you dirtily,” Helene replies quietly, glancing aside.       “Nothing personal, dolly, we just wanted to relax a little. And play with the gift Mr. Longbottom did for us. We would’ve insulted him to the bottom of his heart if we’d rejected what he gave us with all his heart.”       “By the way, Marshall…” Shawn pronounces thoughtfully and glances at his watch on his hand. “Most likely, the talk of Rose and Marcus will last for a long time. Which means we have enough time…”       “M-m-m, that’s right…” David agrees, sits closer to Helene, and caresses her knee. “It’s enough to use you for the last time by one.”       “Yeah, cutie, what about pleasing us a little and showing Shawn that we aren’t lying?” Ronald smiles mysteriously and moves his hand to the inside of Helene’s thigh, while she tenses all his muscles strongly and freezes in fear. “We will get pleasure, and our friend will get rid of tension…”       “Maybe, you will not?” Helene asks hesitantly, looking at the three scarily.       “Don’t be so tense, baby,” Shawn insists, raises Helene’s face by the chin, and sets his look into her red, puffy eyes. “You just have to take it just one time. We will do our business quickly and then start to get ready for the operation of getting rid of Rose’s girlfriend.”       “Do what you want to me, but not rape me. I will not handle it.”       “Do you want us to take some measures?” Ronald asks, takes an electric gun from the pocket of his coat, and presses the button to release a short electric wave in the air. “If you don’t want to remember anything, holding the button for a long time can knock you out for some time.”       “My whole body hurts…” Helene sniffs quietly. “I feel too bad… I’m too weak… I have no strength… And I’ve got a sore throat…”       “Ah, it’s a shame that such a beautiful girl is about to die,” Shawn sighs with sadness in his eyes and runs his thumb over Helene’s lips. “Die so early… It’s a shame that she can’t satisfy our needs anymore.”       “I don’t want this… I do not… But I have no strength to fight… No hope for salvation…”       “You’re doing the right thing by not hoping. Because you will die right here, at this place.”       “I did nothing bad to you,” Helene says in a quiet, shaking voice. “Why are you doing this to me? Why is it me? Why?”       “We don’t hate you, Helene, not at all,” David replies softly, caressing Helene’s back with his fingertips after he runs his hand through her top. “You really did nothing bad to us.”       “And trust me, dolly, if not for Marcus, nobody would kill you or harm you,” Ronald adds, caressing the curve of Helene’s neck with his fingers. “We’re doing this for him. But actually, we give a fuck about you and Peter. No matter if you’re alive or dead – we don’t care.”       “But why do you rape me every freaking day?” Helene asks desperately, a little louder.       “Sorry, it’s a man’s nature: when a man sees a young, beautiful girl who spreads a sexual smell, it’s hard for him to resist her,” Shawn throws his hands up.       “It doesn’t mean you can fuck any girl that you meet on your way like this!”       “Do you think men want to waste time wooing, going on dates, and doing other shit?” Ronald surprises. “Do you think they want to spend money on gifts, café, restaurants, movies, and other entertainment just to win the trust of a girl and make her believe he doesn’t only need sex from her?”       “Aha, as if Rose wanted to win your trust by entertaining you and pleasing you!” David sneers evilly. “He would he fucking happy to bring you to his home, throw you on the bed, and get his dick in your ass on the first date.”       “Exactly!” Shawn agrees. “If a man tells a girl he wants to fuck her immediately, she will just fuck him off and find the one who can at least pretend that he is serious about relationships.”       “If you don’t need serious relationships, it doesn’t mean other men think so,” Helene protests.       “You could ask Rose’s friends about when they began dreaming of fucking your friends at their first meeting. By the way, your girls are pretty delicious candies that cause a wish to taste them better.”       “These guys are not this type! Sex isn’t in the first place for them! First of all, they want to be with those who can take care of them.”       “Oh, c’mon, shut up!” Ronald waves his hand. “Stop telling us some bullshit!”       “Exactly, since you know nothing about men, you'd better sit and say nothing,” David adds. “So, you can seem smart.”       “Anyway, I will not let you touch me again,” Helene says determinedly and creeps aside. “I will not…”       “Nobody will ask you about it!” Shawn exclaims. “Either you give yourself to us at your wish or we take you by force.”       “No, please, don’t… Not this!”       “So, don’t you want to give up at your wish?”       “I say, do what you want, but don’t rape me. I don’t want this… I don’t!”       “Alright, we got it!” David exhales sharply. “Guys, you know what to do.”       Ronald creeps up on Helene shortly, grabs her hand, and pulls her sharply toward himself.       “No, please, don’t!” Helene begs excitedly with a heavy breath and starts resisting Ronald and David, who are trying to put her on the bed. “No, for God’s sake! Don’t! Let me go! Don’t do this!”       “We’re not going to spend much time on you,” Ronald says determinedly. “We don’t have time. We need to do this before Marcus contacts us and gives us a sign.”       “Don’t touch me! No!” Helene tries to push Ronald and David off herself, even if she cannot fight those who are much healthier and stronger than she is. “Please, don’t do this… I don’t want…”       “We promise, everything will end very quickly,” Shawn promises, spreading Helene’s legs by force and caressing the inside of her thighs. “You just need to lie quietly and relax, while we do what we need.”       “Don’t worry, you will not have to suck anyone today,” David assures, clenching and unclenching Helene’s breasts, while Ronald is holding her by force. “Today, you can actually do nothing. We will do all the work.”       “Oh, fuck, it’s a shame that we can’t caress you like this anymore,” Ronald says disappointedly, runs his hands through Helene’s top, and caresses her belly, while his friends are holding her, despite the girl’s attempts to break free. “Caressing the short, light, and fragile girl is really cool. Unforgettable feeling.”       “Stop, I’m begging you!” Helene begs in despair.       “Fuck, we told you to lie quietly!” Shawn growls irritably, trying to straighten Helene’s legs so she does not hit him against the groin with her knee, and grabs her by the hips with both hands. “Stop shaking your legs! You’re gonna hit my balls now! Stop it, I said!”       “Hey, men, I guess the gal won’t give up at her will,” David assumes. “She is weak, but she keeps biting and fighting.”       “She’s just nervous because of her loss. She understands that she is too weak against us, but she does not want to admit it.”       “It always happens. Even if a victim dies in two seconds, they don’t give up. Even if they lose consciousness, they don’t stop.”       “That’s why I suggest we choose the simplest and checked way,” Ronald suggests with a sly smile.       While Ronald takes the electric gun from his pocket, Helene manages to get out of the grip of David and tries to move to the edge of the bed and get up from it. But at the last moment, the criminal puts the gun against her neck and holds the button for a few seconds, letting the electric wave fill every cell of the body that starts shaking in uncontrolled seizures. The girl does not scream. She just makes quiet, tormenting sounds with widely open eyes and a sense of a fast heartbeat. And when the man lets go of the button, the soft body of the brunette falls to the bed like a stone, while Marshall’s breath slows down, her eyes remain widely open and look into the distance, and she falls into the darkness and stops hearing or reacting to what’s happening.       “Ready!” Ronald raises his head proudly. “We didn’t even have to work hard! It worked quickly, like magic!”       “It’s much better!” David exclaims with a smug smile and waves his hand in front of Helene’s open, dead eyes. “The gal is gonna agree on anything.”       “I didn’t get sweaty and tired at all,” Shawn raises his head proudly.       “But now we can do our business quietly, while Marcus tells Rose about him being his sonny,” Ronald notices and puts the electric gun on the table near the bed.       “Oh, yay, I can imagine how overwhelmed that idiot is gonna be after he knows who his father is. And learn more about the alcoholic woman, who left him, and the late wife of Mr. Longbottom.”       “They’re gonna spend a lot of time talking about it,” David says confidently and runs his thumb over the cheek of the unconscious Helene. “So, we have enough time to fuck this girl for the last time.”       “Marshall is really pretty good…” Shawn notices, raises Helene’s top, and runs his hand slowly over her belly. “And when she’s unconscious, she seems super sweet.”       “The important thing is not to make it too long ‘cause she will wake up soon,” Ronald adds, squeezes Helene’s breasts with both hands, and caresses her nipples intensively with his fingers.       “Why? We can hit her for the second time!” Shawn runs his fingertips over the front of Helene’s neck and squeezes her breasts intensely. “Our electric guns are low-power – they can’t kill. But they knock out for a while.”       “Exactly, no need to be worried!” David exclaims cheerfully, turns Helene’s head aside slightly, and leaves a few short kisses on the curve of her neck. “Moreover, we’ve gotten through it. Everything was fine – the girl woke up by the end or after all of this.”       “Anyway, let’s not waste time so we can start a little party now,” Ronald suggests, takes off his coat and puts it aside, encouraging his friends to follow his example. “We don’t have to spend much time getting ready! I feel it’s fucking tight in my pants already.”       “No wonder,” Shawn smiles slyly, runs his hands over Helene’s thighs and his fingertips over her crotch, and takes her little yellow sneakers. “Seeing this beautiful girl. That is dressed up so sexually… A top, shorts… M-m-m…”       “Enjoy the moment, guys!” David encourages, puts his hand on the top of Helene’s head, turns her face to himself, leaves a short kiss on the lips of the unconscious girl, and gets her involved in a more continuous one. “For us, this is the last chance to play with Marshall.”       “Damn, we should’ve done this during the video call with Marcus!” Ronald exhales sharply, raises Helene’s top much more, and caresses her naked breasts with both hands as he breathes heavily. “Fucked the gal before Rose’s eyes.”       “Come on, we’ve made him ‘happy’ with a large collection of videos and photos of us fucking her!”       David squeezes Helene’s jaw with his finger to open her mouth, gets his tongue into her mouth, and runs it over her palate and tongue, feeling a very slow, brief breath of the girl.       “We showed and told him everything in all details.” David leaves a few kisses on the front of Helene’s neck and under her chin and starts pinching the skin on the curve of her neck. “We won’t surprise him with it.”       “Let’s go then!” Shawn encourages cheerfully, takes Helene's shorts and underwear off her thighs, throws them aside, runs his fingers through her vagina, and rubs her clitoris intensely. “Let’s have a lot of fun!”       “With great pleasure, buddy!” David smiles widely, straightens Helene’s arms, and takes off her top, which he throws aside, leaving the girl absolutely naked.       “Fuck, this shorty is so awesome!” Ronald moans with enjoyment, takes the electric gun from the table, raises Helene’s head, puts the gun against the curve of her neck, and releases another continuous wave by holding the button, seeing her body shake in seizures. “Yea-a-a-a-ah…”       And when Ronald lets go of the button, the body of the unconscious Helene gets sharply soft, even though it keeps shaking at times, while her eyes are still dead and open.       “I will never forget the moments when we played with her like this,” David promises and caresses the inside of Helene’s thighs. “She is gorgeous…”       “Does nobody mind if I get into her first?” Shawn asks. “I haven’t been honored to join you yet.”       “If you’re ready, go then,” Ronald approves, leaves a few short kisses on Helene’s lips, and sucks her nipples. “But we will caress her a little. I really love this thing, to be honest.”       “Yeah, Oldman, you’re first, we’re after you…” David agrees, massages Helene’s breasts, runs his hands over her belly, and leaves a few short kisses on it. “Caressing this chick is not worse than getting in her front and back.”       “Let’s go, Marshall!” Shawn smiles widely. “Show us everything you can do!”       David and Ronald caress and kiss the body of the unconscious Helene with no rush, and sometimes release short electric waves through it with the electric gun. Shawn joins his friends without minding after he lets down his jeans, spreads the girl’s legs widely, and gets ready to use her shamelessly. The naked girl keeps lying unconscious with widely open eyes that express no emotions, a rare, brief breath, and pale skin. It’s easy to notice how skinny she has become after spending one week without food and water. How shrunk her cheeks are. How her ribs are sticking out. And it’s easy to notice the lack of attractive curves expressing the beauty of the healthy body that has never been tortured with any kind of diet.       

***

      Edward, Daniel, and Terrence are not even close to the neighborhood where Marcus’ home is. Even if the roads are free now, and they do not have to spend time in traffic jams, their way is not so quick. No matter how much they want to find their friend and protect him as soon as possible, Perkins tries to follow the traffic rules and not to prevent other drivers from going somewhere for their business. In parallel, he and his friends are talking about all the assumptions about their girls and Peter’s possible family connection with Marcus, who is well known for his thirst for blood.       “Hey, guys, do you think if the girls are right that Peter may be Marcus’s relative?” Edward asked hesitantly, sitting comfortably in the backseat of the car.       “Anything is possible,” Terrence shrugs, knocking his fingers on the door of the passenger. “Though it’s hard to say something surely.”       “But I do believe it may be the truth,” Daniel says confidently, holding the steering wheel with one hand and holding his second hand on the gearbox. “Honestly, when I met Peter for the first time, he started to remind me of someone. I didn’t understand who, but I was sure I wasn’t wrong.”       “Actually, I didn’t view the photos of that asshole too closely. I cared about the information about him, not the way he looked.”       “I didn’t memorize him well, but I got a strange feeling on the day Raquelle, Natalia, and we found the article about him,” Edward confesses. “It’s like… I had met that man somewhere before, but I didn’t know where.”       “Imagine if Marcus is actually the father of Peter, whom he’s never known a thing,” Daniel says and changes the speed with the gearbox.       “I feel like it was what Natalia hinted at when talking about their resemblance. But she didn't say it directly ‘cause she wasn’t sure about it.”       “Well, father or not, but he could obviously be his uncle,” Terrence replies thoughtfully.       “His father could have a brother?”       “Who knows! And actually, don’t forget that we know nothing about his family! Not saying about his mother being a long-time alcoholic who gave a fuck about her own son.”       “Indeed, what was his family like? Were they just regular workers or some elite folks?”       “After talking to the girls, I seriously got an interest in this question,” Daniel confesses. “Maybe it’s wrong that Pete wants to know nothing about his family. Maybe, it’s critical to him!”       “I guess you’re right,” Edward agrees. “Since he’s been on the hook for a long time. And he was almost killed in the hospital on purpose.”       “Listen, guys, c’mon! We’ve never thought that something is not right about this story. The doctor infected him, and he was suspended from his work… When Lewis told us about it, we didn’t ask him more about it.”       “I wonder if Lewis knew about the attempt to kill Peter in the hospital on purpose?” Terrence asks himself. “Or did he hide it from us?”       “Who knows, Terence… But don’t you think he was sometimes too insecure? And Helene somehow said Lewis answered some of her questions kind of strangely.”       “I’m sure he would’ve blamed the medical confidentiality for everything if he were asked about it,” Edward assumes.       “We should talk to Mr. Johnson about it,” Terrence says confidently. “Maybe, he can even send his colleagues there so they talk to the hospital staff, especially Lewis.”       “It would be cool if they checked closely that doctor, who transfused blood for the second time. Find out how they got a job in the hospital, what their colleagues thought of them, and what patients thought of them. Maybe, we were actually deceived… Maybe that asshole didn’t work there and ended up there by cheating, but Lewis decided to hide it, but the hospital staff closed their eyes to that.”       “But why did they need it?” Daniel wonders.       “Maybe, for the prestige status,” Terrence shrugs. “They always bragged that the best of the best doctors worked in the hospital that had a perfect reputation. As I understand, they care about it too much and are ready for anything to keep it.”       “There’s no smoke without fire, guys,” Edward notices with a sly smile. “A brilliant reputation doesn’t always mean an honest way and hard work. Maybe, good doctors work in the hospital, and they’ve healed at least every one of us. But they’ve got their dark secrets that nobody can make public.”       “I hope on just one thing – the asshole, who infected Peter’s blood with some shit, was punished strictly, not just fired,” Daniel replies thoughtfully. “If they keep working there as if nothing happened, I’m gonna be overwhelmed.”       “You know, guys, I wouldn’t be surprised if Peter wasn’t tried to be killed for the first time,” Terence gives his opinion. “If this case wasn’t the only one.”       “At least, he said nothing to us.”       “But we can’t exclude this possibility,” Edward notices. “Many more things could happen to Peter, but he could be silent about them for one or another reason.”       “Does it happen that we don’t know everything about him? Even if he says it’s not the truth!”       “Yeah, Rose is such a secretive guy…” Terrence sighs tiredly. “He forgets one thing, says nothing about another… He has hidden so much from us.”       “You’re right, bro!” Edward exclaims. “And in this case, I wouldn’t be surprised if Rose actually knew everything about his family. But he doesn’t want, he is afraid, or he is ashamed to talk about it.”       “Oh, yeah, don’t tell us he knows about his family ties with Marcus, but he decided to be silent because of the things that bastard did in the past,” Terrence chuckles.       “No, it doesn’t look like the blond knows it,” Daniel protests and changes the speed with a gearbox. “He doesn’t look like he’s lying when he says he knows nothing about his family.”       “I wonder if Peter has already noticed that he is kinda similar to Marcus?” Terrence asks.       “I doubt he looked at the face of that old bastard closely,” Edward assumes. “He only had one thought about getting away from him. Running away. Saving himself. Saving Helene.”       “If they’re really relatives, and Marcus wanna get rid of our friend, then why?” Daniel wonders. “If, as that bastard says, he doesn’t need money, how could we explain it?”       “Good question I can’t get an answer for now.”       “I can’t assume what that guy did, either,” Terrence throws his hands up. “He is not a robber, not a killer, not a rapist…”       “Or Peter is guilty of nothing, but that bastard thinks differently and wants to make him responsible for something,” Daniel gives his version.       “Aha, he did a bad trick, but the strange man, who has nothing to do with him, has to pay for it?”       “Of course, Marcus’ brain ended up on the Moon, but he hardly chose Peter as a victim to pay for his tricks without a reason,” Edward replies quietly.       “Who the fuck knows!” Daniel exclaims. “That’s a sick bastard! The bastard, who has killed hundreds of people for nothing! He the fuck liked terrorizing people!”       “That’s right!” Terrence agrees. “Marcus can easily come up with it. Though it’s not a secret to us that he definitely wants something from him.”       “Oh, in short, a million questions, zero answers,” Edward runs his hands over his face with a tired sigh. “And nobody the fuck knows when we’re gonna get them.”       “C’mon, it’s not the important thing now!” Daniel exclaims. “Our main goal is not to let Marcus and his accomplices do anything to Peter. Not to be too late before something horrible happens.”       “I wish we could save him…” Terence leans back in the seat. “We don’t have a chance to find Helene ‘cause we don’t know where they’re hiding her. But we will not give Peter to them so easily.”       “He’s a brainless idiot! What did he count on by deciding to go there alone?” Daniel changes the speed sharply with the gearbox. “Does Rose really think he’ll get away from that gang all alone if they attack him?”       “He’s gonna probably say he just wanted to protect us and not to put our lives at risk,” Edward assumes with his arms crossed over his chest.       “Aha, but can he put his life at risk?” Terrence resents.       “I give a fuck about what Marcus says about us!” Daniel exclaims. “I give a fuck that he may kill us if we keep meddling. We will meddle! May he know it! When the case is about our friends and close people, we ain’t gonna close our eyes to this.”       “We would’ve known nothing if not for Ryan,” Edward notices. “We should thank him for letting us know it.”       “Right, we all were madly lucky that guy ended up there and saw everything. Otherwise, you and I would’ve kept sitting under the sun, blinking our eyes, and working our tongues. Not knowing the blond decided to go to the knacker’s yards.”       “It’s alright, we’ll find him, deal with Longbottom’s assholes, and kick Rose’s ass,” Terrence promises. “Teach him for turning off his brain.”       “C’mon, guys!” Edward smiles shyly. “I completely understand him. If Natalia were in the same situation, I would listen to nobody and do any stupid thing to save her.”       “You didn’t surprise us, died. Everyone knows you’re not right in your head.”       “Ha, come on! You’d go to play the role of a psycho and give fucking trouble to anyone who dares to touch Raquelle with a finger or just think of her.”       “My girl is all safe next to me.” Terrence fixes his hair slightly. “I watch everyone and everything to react in time.”       “Still, I understand Edward’s thought,” Daniel says thoughtfully. “Peter is going crazy because Helene may die at any time. Anyone can barely think when their close people are in trouble.”       “Yeah, but sadly, we’re powerless in this case.” Edward throws his hands up. “Marcus won’t tell us where she is, no matter how hard Peter tries to persuade him.”       “When we have a small chance to save her, we will use it immediately,” Terrence says confidently. “We won’t leave our friend in trouble. The friend, who we all owe for saving the blond’s life.”       “We’ll never forget how much she’s done for him,” Daniel replies. “Never forget how much effort that girl made to take the guy out of the afterlife. How much effort she has made to make him feel happy and do nothing for him for his love for her.”       “Agree,” Edward nods. “It’s our time to pay her back for her effort. To remind her how grateful we are to her.”       “And no matter what she’s hiding from us, I’m sure it’s not a reason to turn our backs on her and think she’s a bitch. Nobody is perfect, everyone makes mistakes.”       “Oh, we’ve got such secretive friends…” Edward sighs tiredly. “One hides something, another hides something… And they don’t rush to talk about it.”       “Come on, MacClife!” Daniel chuckles kindly. “Did ya forget how you were full of secrets? How you pretended to be Edward Lockhart and wore wings and wore leases with the thought that nobody would recognize you?”       “Indeed, bro!” Terrence agrees. “You aren’t the one to talk about secrets.”       “Mistake of my wild youth,” Edward smiles innocently. “Now I’m older and much wiser.”       “I dunno, I think nothing has changed since that. You were the pain in the ass that loved getting in fucking trouble, and you still are.”       “And my head still hurts because of you. And you haven’t stopped annoying me since we met for the first time.”       “Hey, Perkins, don’t you think some babies in the backseat are talking too much?”       “I’m interested in a different thing,” Daniel says thoughtfully, and changes the speed with a gearbox. “Why is the baby sitting in my car without a baby seat?”       “Damn, you’re right!” Terrence closes his mouth with a hand. “Why didn't we think about it before?”       “Aha, Uncle Policeman is gonna see this hooligan and stop me. Make me pay a heavy fine for the baby being put in danger. Because he didn’t the fuck put on the safety belt.”       “Ar-r-r, here’s the fucking victim,” Edward throws gloomily and puts on the safety belt that he forgot initially.       “Yeah!” Terrence exclaims. “This little idiot hasn’t been fixed with a safety bell all this time!”       “He must be put down on his knees for not obeying!” Daniel adds. “Or he can just be hung by the balls!”       “Hang yourself by the balls!” Edward exclaims. “I can even help you if you want.”       “M-m-m, my bro is so excited to get a chance to kick someone’s ass that it’s getting hard in his pants,” Terrence laughs.       “Hey, I do not allow you to please yourself in my car!” Daniel says loudly. “You will finish it when you go to your home.”       “Fuck, shut up, you, idiots…” Edward growls irritably, rolling his eyes. “Just because I’m the youngest of us, it means you can mock me?”       “Who else can I take it out on?” Terrence throws his hands up with an innocent smile. “My little bro, who must be educated all the time.”       “And I can do to you as many things as I can’t do to my sister,” Danie adds. “Cassidy is a girl. But I don’t hurt girls.”       Edward wants to say something, but decides to be silent, leaning back in the seat and moving his eyes to the window with his arms crossed over his chest. While Terrence and Daniel look at each other with a quiet laugh. Then Perkins driving the car changes the speed with the gearbox and presses the gas pedal harder to move faster on the road that is absolutely empty today, to their luck.       

***

      Marcus’s statement about being his father makes Peter deeply shocked. Every single cell of his body protests against this piece of news, and his brain refuses categorically to accept it and says it cannot be the truth again and again. While he is breathing heavily with the thought that he lacks air and can barely stand on his feet since he suddenly feels the weakness and dizziness, Mr. Longbottom remains absolutely quiet, smiles slyly, and keeps his arms crossed over his chest as he watches the reaction of the guy being pale from horror.       “No…” Peter pronounces in a shaking, quiet voice, shaking his head sharply. “No, it cannot be the truth! No way…”       “It’s the truth, Peter,” Marcus confirms quietly. “You are my son. The son I’ve been looking for so long. The son I tried to get rid of. But who magically avoided what I wanted so badly.”       “No… No… I don’t believe it… I don’t!”       Peter swallows nervously, looking at Marcus closely with widely open eyes.       “You… You… Are my… Father? No…”       “This is how we can explain our resemblance. When I saw you for the first time, I immediately thought I saw myself being twenty years younger.”       “You are lying…” Peter hisses through his teeth. “Lying! You are not my father! You are nobody!”       “Why are you so sure about it, my boy?” Marcus rounds his eyes surprisingly. “You know nothing about him! You don’t know his name, his appearance, what he is doing, and everything like this!”       “My father can be anyone but you! Not a fucking criminal that killed hundreds of innocent people more than twenty years ago and hasn’t paid for that yet!”       “No matter how much you don’t want it, it’s the truth. Yes, maybe, you didn’t want to know anything about me and lived a quiet life. But it would have happened early or late. We would’ve met anyway.”       “I don’t believe you!” Peter cries. “I don’t believe any of your words! You cannot be my father!”       “You know, I didn’t want to believe my son was alive until the very end. I thought I got rid of him and would never see him again. But no! Here you are! In front of me!”       “You confused me with someone.” Peter chuckles nervously with a heavy breath. “Yes, you are wrong! I’m not the one you need.”       “I wouldn’t have started it all if I hadn’t checked the information several times.”       “It can’t be the truth!”       “Yes, yes, my boy, I completely understand you. You are in the denial stage. You don’t believe what you hear and think I am lying to you.”       “And were you so obsessed with a wish to kill your own son? Are you fucking crazy?”       “I’ve never wanted to become a father. I do hate children. I hate all these diapers, vests, bad shouts during the day and night. I shook with horror at just one thought about having to get through it all.”       “Seriously?” Peter explodes and starts walking nervously in the whole room. “Were you the fuck trying to kill me just because you never wanted children and forgot about contraception when you wanted to jump in bed with a woman?”       “You became my unwanted child that should not have been born. All my efforts in preventing this situation didn’t lead to the desired result. And when the pregnancy happened, it was too late to fix something. It was too late to blame myself for the mistakes.”       “Now I’m starting to understand why my mother refused to tell me about my father. I asked her about it several times, but she closed the topic immediately and told me not to talk about it anymore.”       “Yes, Cornelia knew well who I was,” Marcus confirms. “She could’ve told you everything because nobody banned her from that. She did not, as I see. I don’t know why, but a fact is a fact.”       “She probably started to drink because of you. Because you turned out to be a nasty bastard that left her with a child in her arms.”       “No, Peter, it’s not quite the truth. I didn’t have that woman weaned to vodka. She started drinking when you were a baby. And the reason for that is very interesting.”       “It’s clear that my mother loved you, but you got out! Because, as you confessed, you never wanted children.”       “I think I’ve told you I never had a romantic relationship with Cornelia. We never dated and were not a couple. Besides, I didn’t meet her just recently, after I learned about you and your band.”       “What kind of bullshit?” Peter snuffs, frowning strongly. “What are you talking about?”       “I’m talking about Cornelia not being the one you’ve thought she was all your life. Besides, sometimes a mother’s instinct words in case a child is your own. But when it’s a stranger, a mommy, saying softly, may give a fuck about them.”       “What?”       “Have you never asked yourself if you had some resemblance to her?” Marcus smiles mysteriously, crossing his arms over his chest. “Yes, nothing is left of the old her due to the alcohol. But even in this case, you can recognize something similar.”       “Do you doubt her connection with me?” Peter asks surprisingly.       “No, I don’t. Because there is no one. It’s never existed!”       “Huh?”       “Cornelia is not your mother. She is an absolutely strange lady to you.”       “Not my mother?” Peter opens his eyes widely, getting a little pale in horror.       “Not your mother. Cornelia just raised you.” Marcus sneers evilly. “Of course, if you can call it like this, knowing that she’s a long-time alcoholic who gave a fuck about you and called you her curse. Just like me. I must confess that we are really similar in this case.”       “Fuck, did you overheat under the sun?” Peter asks irritably, stopping sharply and putting his hands on his hips. “How long are you going to say this stupid shit? Do you understand what you are talking about?”       “I completely understand. I am not drunk, not drugged. My mind is absolutely clear. And my words about the woman you’ve been calling your mother all your life are one hundred percent true.”       “It seems like you decided to strike me down with all these confessions!”       “I promised I’d answer all your questions.” Marcus smiles innocently. “So, I keep my promise. Of course, I don’t know why you’ll need it in the afterlife, but alright. You will know why you’ll die for.”       “Alright, who did you decide to make a candidate for the role of my real mother?” Peter puts his hands on his hips.       “My late wife, Julia. She is your real mother. Not Cornelia.”       “Your late wife?”       “You have a great resemblance to her.”       Marcus comes to the coffee table, takes a medium-sized photoalbum from it, turns some pages, and takes one photo that he shows to Peter.       “Look at this yourself.”       Frowning slightly, Peter expresses mistrust as he views the girl that Marcus is posing with in the photo. The middle height, skinny, with thick ash blonde hair that got a cold wave procedure, careful eyebrows, gray almond-form eyes, and some features that really remind him of himself. The photo was approximately taken on their wedding day since both of them are wearing beautiful clothes: the man is wearing a well-ironed coffee suit, and the girl is wearing a white dress with sloping sleeves that show her fragile shoulders, a deep but shy décolleté, and a ballgown skirt made of silky fabric.       “This photo was taken on our wedding day.” Marcus starts viewing the photo after putting the album in its place. “The wedding we were waiting for so long. That we had, despite the protests of our relatives. Just because we were half-brother and half-sister.”       Exhaling slowly, Marcus puts the photo carefully near the album and starts walking in circles in the whole living room, while Peter watches him closely.       “We were kids when Julia Bennet and her mother, Ellen Bennet, went to the home of my father and me. They dated for a long time and decided to introduce their children to each other. I didn’t care a lot about my father’s affair with that woman and didn’t mind it, even if I wasn’t happy with his wish to consider that woman a mother and her daughter a sister. Nevertheless, everything started well enough: I got along with Ellen and liked Julia. We found a common language and spent a good time playing together, while the adults flirted. And by the moment of our parents’ engagement, we were thick as thieves and were truly happy to be a family soon.”       Marcus falls into silence for two seconds, thinking about something with sadness in his eyes.       “So, our parents’ wedding happened. And we lived well all together for several years. I tried so hard to be a good older brother for Julia, and she always treated me warmly. She was so kind that she sometimes closed my eyes to some tricks I did to her. But time went by, and we grew up. Became teenagers. I didn’t notice that I started to look at Julia not like a sister. I saw a girl in her. A sexual and attractive girl that I started to fall in love with. I wanted that good girl. I dreamed of her every night. But of course, I told nobody about it, obviously. We were kind of a family! I kept these feelings deep inside and kept pretending that Julia was more than a sister to me.”       Marcus stops and glances at Peter looking indifferent at first sight and noticing silently that his enemy’s voice got some kind of tenderness after he started talking about Julia.       “But I got sick of this and confessed everything when Julia broke her foot after an idiot who was bullying her pushed her off the stairs. She had to spend much time in bed, but I got the responsibility to take care of her: feeding, drinking, explaining everything they examined at school during her departure. In short, I spent a lot of time with Julia. And on one of those days, when my father and Ellen worked, and she was still in bed, I told her I considered her more than a sister. I was really afraid, but I couldn’t be silent forever. And my friends noticed I spent too much time on my half-sister.”       Marcus locks his fingers tightly.       “But luckily, being anxious wasn’t worth it. Julia didn’t laugh at my feelings and reject them. She also confessed that she considered me more than a brother. She said she admired the way I protected her from the bullying of the company of one asshole who mocked her every day. She said her heart was beating faster at these moments. And with me, she always felt safe. When I heard it, I was ready to jump off the ceiling from happiness. I was happy to know she didn’t care about other boys but me. And how she could like someone when Julia was bullied by boys, and her mother thought it was the way to show their sympathy for her, since they didn’t know how to get close to her.”       Marcus flashes a slight smile, while Peter keeps listening to this story silently.       “After this, we started to date. But we told our parents nothing because they would not like it. We acted like loving brother and sister, and they were happy we got along so well. While we didn’t kiss and hug passionately, nobody suspected that we had a romantic relationship. Everyone admired the way we got along. Julia took care of me, helped me with my studies, and comforted me at hard moments, but I started to protect her much harder from those bullies and could start a fight with them and beat them strongly. Of course, after this, I had to listen to lectures from my teachers and head teacher about how doing this is bad and pronouncing ‘sorry’ with disgust. But I was ready for anything to protect my Julia’s honor and dignity.”       Marcus glances aside.       “But we didn’t hide for too long because our parents found out that we dated at some moment. They started a great scandal about brothers and sisters not being able to date. And they didn’t care we were just a stepbrother and a stepsister, not siblings. It ended with just being banned from doing stupid things and telling us to think of our studies, going to the university, and the future with someone else.” Marcus chuckles quietly. “Do you think we listened to them? Not the fuck at all! Julia and I kept dating and going on dates. Besides, we decided to get married shortly after she turned eighteen. We didn’t have to wait for too long since she was already seventeen. And after we refused to end our relationship, Ellen decided to send Julia to study in a different city where there was a good college or something like that. And she didn’t care that Julia didn’t want to and was determined to get married to me. I think that woman needed a little time before finding a candidate for the role of her husband. But it didn’t happen, luckily.”       Marcus starts walking in circles again in the whole living room, looking at everything he sees.       “We talked about everything and decided that Julia would run away from home. I was working at that moment, earning enough, and getting ready to move to a rental apartment. So, the solution to the problem with a place was found quickly. And while her mother and my father weren’t at home, Julia and I took our stuff quickly, wrote notes for my father and Ellen, and went in my car. We moved into the apartment. It was smelly and required a repair, but we didn’t care. We didn’t waste time and started to equip it while waiting for Julia to turn eighteen. And when it happened, we went to register our marriage. She changed her maiden name, Bennet, to my surname, Longbottom, without thinking. And then nobody could do us part.”       Marcus raises his head proudly.       “But later, we found out that our parents got divorced because Ellen caught my father cheating on her with a young lady. So, nothing prevented us from being married literally. We stopped being half-brother and half-sister. We could, and we became wife and law. And we started to live together: I worked and provided for my sweetheart, and Julian kept studying at the university and had a part-time job as a waiter at the café.” Marcus smiles widely. “Even if we had difficulties, we solved them quickly and lived very well. Julia and I didn’t regret going against our parents and deciding to get married. We felt so good together, and our neighbors couldn’t stop being happy for the idyll in our relationship. We lived several wonderful years. The best ones in my life.”       Marcus frowns slightly and crosses his arms over his chest.       “But somewhere at the end of the 90s, Julia started to complain about the rapid fatigability, dizziness, and nausea. She blamed overworking and didn’t want to go to the doctor, but I insisted. My heart squeezed painfully, I had a bad presentiment. And after a full examination, Julia told me she was pregnant. I can’t describe the stupor I fell into. I never wanted or planned to have children and thought my wife and I would live without them. But Julia knew nothing about it. And we actually never talked about a wish to become parents. But I understood that she wanted it because she was happy with the news about her pregnancy. And she was upset when I didn’t share it with her. On that day, I asked her to give me time to accept this information and had myself locked in the room for the rest of the evening. Thinking about what to do. Thinking about what to do with my unwanted child.”       At this moment, Peter swallows nervously, feeling that it’s hurtful for him to hear these words from the one who called himself his father.       “I knew it would happen early or late. Julia and I were married for several years, and our familiars and friends tortured us with a question about children. So, two years after the wedding, I started to think of getting a vasectomy to prevent fertilization. Find a way to excuse my departure from home and get to the clinic. I wouldn’t have dared to suggest Julia get her tubes tied. That’s why I planned to find a moment and get a surgery. I even went to one or two consultations and was told it was possible. But I couldn’t also find the courage to do it and delayed it until the very end. And when I decided to do this and even saved the money, it was too late because Julia told me she was expecting a child from me.”       Marcus sighs tiredly, running his hands over his face.       “I had to accept the fact that I couldn’t change anything. I was guilty of delaying the surgery until the end. Though deep inside, I kept being super mad at myself. So, I had to make a lot of effort to come to Julia the next day, tell her I was very happy with the birth of the child, and apologize to her for my strange reaction yesterday. I said I was just in a stupor and didn’t know what to do. She didn’t know I hated that child and never wanted to become a father. We were getting ready for the birth together, went to all the examinations… I pretended to be happy during one of the ultrasounds when we were told that Julia was expecting a boy. She cried from happiness when they showed her his legs and hands, but I just pretended that I was delighted. I did my best for my wife to be happy. When she was pregnant, she was super sensitive and vulnerable. I had to think of all my words and all my actions not to hurt her.”       Marcus exhales slowly with closed eyes.       “But I’d lie if I said I didn’t try to change my mind about the situation. No, it’s not the truth! I honestly tried to love that child! Made myself think he was guilty of nothing. Besides, my beloved woman would’ve given birth to him. For her, I tried to get some love for my son. I thought I could love him later after his birth. If he made us happy with his success. And I must confess that I wasn’t categorically against him by the end of her pregnancy and was ready, maybe not to love him to death, but to try to do my duty and raise a son. Still… It was my mistake. My responsibility.”       “You’re not the one to talk about responsibility,” Peter throws gloomily, crossing his arms over his chest, and sneers evilly. “It’s said by the man who killed hundreds of people and has not paid for that.”       “Alright, my boy…” Marcus smiles slyly. “Alright, I confirm it – it’s the truth. I really had to do with the wave of murders that happened in some cities of our country starting with the end of the 80s and ending in the middle of the 90s. And yeah, I don’t regret it at all.”       “We knew it well. We read an article about all your wild crimes. We read how you killed your victims, dismembered them, raped them, and put them under many more tortures.”       “I just madly liked the fucking feeling when you chase your victim, torture them, and murder them in the end. I realized I liked it when I drowned the stray cat when I was a child because I was fucking done with its never-ending meow. And when I was a teenager, I beat up a couple of bullies who bullied me all the time. My victims screamed, begged for mercy, and tried to break free, but I did not stop. And I felt satisfied when my victims became silent and soft. I had no regret about it. I was happy with what happened. And some time later, I understood I wanted to do that again. And I found a couple of more victims. But I didn’t kill people yet, I just harmed them a lot.”       “You’re really sick…” Peter replies in a rude, low voice. “Just a sick bastard.”       “It lasted for some time, and then I realized I wasn’t happy with it anymore. So, I decided to try something new. That stopped getting me excited later. And little by little, I came to the moment when I started to kill people in different ways. I found victims, caught them in desert places, and dealt with them. But later, I was done with it and started to do everything openly. Using the fact that everyone was afraid to get closer to me. It was super funny and exciting. I killed and harmed people and animals for the feeling that I had when trying to catch a victim and disarm them. And I wasn’t happy to kill those who asked me about it. Though I never let people stay alive. I covered all the tracks and got rid of all the witnesses, so to speak.”       “You are an asshole… Why the fuck haven’t you been crushed by an airplane? Why the fuck haven’t you been crushed by a meteorite? What kind of fucking injustice? Innocent people died for nothing, but the killer is living as if nothing happened!”       “Life is the most unfair and thankless thing that a human has. It may deprive you of everything for one second and get out with no track, not giving you any kind of apologies, as if it’s always been right. And all those people were just unlucky. There could have been many more victims if they hadn’t managed to run away and hide from me.” Marcus smiles slyly. “For example, your precious Helene. I recently remembered that I met her when she was a baby.”       “What?” Peter opens his eyes widely. “Helene? You met her?”       “She was walking in the shopping center all alone, without adults. I guess she was lost. And when I came to her, that girl ran away from me with hysterical shouts. I watched her and saw that she found her grandmother and grandfather, who was alive back then. They were definitely scared because of their granddaughter’s disappearance.”       “Fuck… Fucking shit!”       “Nobody could catch me because I was always careful and showed my face to nobody. I always wore a mask and put on dark glasses at times. And the one who saw me died immediately. I also always got rid of clues and buried corpses far from the city. I burned some of them, I threw some of them in the water… A bigger part of the corpses that have been found and recognized were buried in the ground. There are not so many drowned ones, but there are many fewer than those I burned. However, who cares?! Nobody has proved anything yet!”       “You must be executed for such a great number of crimes! You don’t deserve any other punishment! And now I mean the crimes that have been officially registered! I guess there are many more of them!”       “Right, more! Not all the relatives, friends, and familiars cared about those who died. Not everyone reported the disappearance. Not everyone was found, not everyone was recognized.”       “You’re the one to know everything about it!” Peter sneers evilly. “The one who had diaries, in which you described all your crimes.”       “Yeah, the criminal diaries, so-called. I liked to describe the feelings and emotions I felt when watching the last minutes of my victims’ lives. There were so many of them that I wanted to share them. But telling people about them would be something like shooting yourself in the foot. That’s why I gave my heart to the pages of the diaries that I had so many. I still have a part of them, but the other part is lost, sadly. Found by the policemen, who did not do anything thanks to this, though. Just like they did not move off with a sketch based on the words of one of the victims, who memorized my face and described it to the police, but died shortly after that.”       “Fuck, what did Julia find about you? Why did she the fuck fall in love with you? Didn’t she have any other candidates? She should’ve chosen a killer as her husband?”       “I am ashamed that Julia knew what I was doing. Ashamed of promising her to stop and giving up to the police, but not doing this. For her, I tried to be nice to people and do my best to make her proud of me. But I could do nothing for myself and my thirst for blood and the sufferings of living creatures. It was like a drug: after I tasted it once, I couldn’t stop anymore. I stopped doing that when murders stopped giving me pleasure and became something like a routine.”       “I imagine how ashamed your father was for having such a nasty sonny.”       “Your grandfather wasn’t so holy. My mother left him because that man had an unbearable character. She wanted to take me with her, but the judge decided to leave me with him for some reason. Harming was nothing to him. Your grandmother suffered at least once per week, and he hit me with a jump rope all the time, never praised me for my success, and always exploded when he had some failures.  Everyone said I was his shame, his son could not be such a stupid freak.”       “So, were you mad and took your aggression out on innocent people who did nothing bad to you?”       “I did nothing bad to my father, but he hated me and was ashamed of me. He wasn’t happy to talk bout me when his friends and familiars asked. And nothing changed after he married Ellen. He still hated me and treated her very well at first. But then Julia’s mother started to suffer. And her daughter suffered. Then I stood by her and was ready to tear apart that man. And I gave a fuck that I could’ve had my back burn from hits with a jump rope, and my legs and arms hurt from being twisted in all sides.”       “In short, I got it! You killed people because you wanted to take revenge on innocent people for the way your father treated you. And you were humiliated so many times that you thought it was normal.” Peter sneers evilly. “I guess you beat and scared your wife at times.”       “Sometimes Julia and I had conflicts, but we solved them quickly. And if you say I dared to beat the love of my life, I shall hit your head against the wall.”       “But the guys and I know that the woman suddenly disappeared. Nobody knew anything about her since the beginning of the 90s.”       “What are you hinting at?”       “I’m hinting at your fault for killing her! But you preferred to cover all the tracks and get rid of that woman’s corpse. You were afraid that she would tell the police about you and tell them about all your crimes.”       “No, Peter, Julia didn’t die because of me,” Marcus protests determinedly. “I would never dare to do that to my beloved woman, who encouraged me to get better. Who gave me all her love. When I became a widower, I couldn’t even dare to think about replacing her with someone.”       “Wow, what an emotional story…” Peter rolls his eyes.       “And you, sonny, don’t sneer and roll your eyes. I lost my wife because of you.”       “What?” Peter opens his eyes widely and points at himself. “Because of me?”       “If not for your fucking birth, Julia would’ve been alright. She would’ve been alive. Death wouldn’t have done us part.”       “Pardon, honorable, but I don’t know your wife and saw her in the photo for the first time. And I didn’t know you and lived a good life.”       “Yeah?” Marcus surprises surprisingly. “Do you, asshole, know Julia was actually banned from giving birth? She suffered from a congenital aneurysm! She had weak vessels since childhood. And she never had good health! My wife could have died! Pregnancy and labor could’ve led to aortic rupture. And I found it out a few weeks before your birth! She knew it well, but she decided to give birth because she wanted to become a mother. If I’d known it, I would’ve rushed to get a vasectomy shortly not to put her life in danger.”       “What do I the fuck have to do with it?” Peter explodes.       “You should never have been born in this world!”       Marcus rushes to Peter and threatens him with a finger, while the blond tenses all his muscles.       “My Julia would be with me alive and healthy now if she hadn’t given birth to you! You, nasty asshole, ruined everything! YOU, BASTARD, RUINED MY WHOLE LIFE!”       “That’s interesting, huh!” Peter smirks evilly, crossing his arms over his chest. “You made a child with your wife, she gave birth to the one, but I am guilty! Where is a fucking logic?”       “Julia knew that the pregnancy could kill her from the beginning. She suffered from poor health all her life and often got a cold in childhood. And her aneurysm was the reason why a pregnancy would’ve been an extreme load for her. But your mother didn’t even think of abortions, even if she completely understood that it could’ve led to her death. And I was terribly mad, scared, and confused. I didn’t know what to do, where to go, or how not to let the catastrophe happen. And it’s the reason why my growing love for the child started to fall asleep again. I did feel that he would give me a lot of grief. Felt that the boy would be my curse for life.”       Marcus moves his gloomy eyes aside.       “That’s what happened… I lost my wife. I lost my beloved woman, whom I could not save from the worst. I didn’t care what would happen to the child. I wanted just one thing – to see Julia alive. My stupid mistake about delaying a vasectomy didn’t lead to her death.”       “The only one you should blame is you,” Peter replies confidently. “The child is not guilty of being born. Not guilty of the woman and the man making them.”       “Wrong, Peter!” Marcus turns sharply on Peter. “You are guilty! You are guilty of Julia’s death! You killed your own mother! Killed! KILLED! SHE DIED BECAUSE OF YOU!”       Marcus slaps Peter strongly in the face, making him grab his cheek.       “And you, bastard, will pay me for that,” Marcus threatens with a heavy breath through his teeth. “I hate you… I hate! You should have died! YOU! JULIA COULD HAVE BEEN ALIVE! LIVED, THE FUCK!”       “Alright, but what’s Helene’s fault of it?” Peter throws his hands up. “What did you the fuck get her involved in this case? What did she do to you?”       “I want to kill her to give you a strong pain. You cannot live without that girl and love her to death. And if something happens to her, you will take it. That’s what I am aiming for.”       “That’s how! Do you mean you want to make me suffer as well as you allegedly suffered because of your wife’s death?”       “Exactly! I want you to feel my pain enough. With every single cell of your body. I want to see you scream, fret, fume, and suffer… I want to see you as broken and lonely as I was when the doctor came to me and told me about Julia’s death. When I was so furious that I was ready to destroy the whole hospital to the fuck. When even several murders I committed on the same day could not tame my pain.”       “She is guilty of nothing! And I am not guilty of the death of that woman.”       “You are the main source of all my problems,” Marcus says in a low, rude voice. “It’s been twenty-seven years since she died, but the pain is still strong, and my wounds are bleeding. I still cry over her grave and buy her big bouquets of chrysanthemums that she loved. I don’t believe she is there, in the ground, but I am here. Living with my sonny, who the fuck killed the person and lived as if nothing happened all these years. HE DID NOT THE FUCK WANT TO DIE! SOMETHING SAVED HIM ALL THE TIME! The universe literally did not want to give me a gift and erase the real pain in the ass from this world.”       “Think this is one of your punishments for all the murdered people that are lying now in the ground. Though I don’t believe Julia really meant something to you, and you really loved her to death.”       “Don’t dare to say these things, fucking puppy!” Marcus roars. “I do not want to hear anything like this! YOU GOT IT?”       “I don’t believe in your full story, to be honest, I don’t believe you are really my mother, your wife is my real mother, and the woman I lived with is nobody to me.”       “I haven’t told you the full story, my boy. What you’ve heard is just a part of what happened. And I will be happy to tell you everything. Before I give my guys an order to deal with you and your gal. Before I add your names to my personal archive. And do my best so that nobody finds it. Not to find the criminal diaries with your names in them.”       Marcus raises his head proudly with a sly smile.       “Yes, Peter, the names of you and Helene will be added to it. And the names of your friends would be in the one if they came here. But since they got some brains and left you, the pages of my diaries will get just one story about me dealing with my sonny, who became the reason for the death of my deeply loved wife.”       Still tensing all his muscles, breathing heavily enough, and understanding that his legs can barely hold him from weakness, Peter says nothing for a few seconds and looks closely at Marcus with widely open eyes. Although he still has doubts about his family connection with this man, something inside does not let him calm down and makes him think about this situation more carefully. Think about the reason why his possible father has been trying so hard to get rid of him for so many years. Since the time when he would not have thought that he would run into something like this in the future.