Prideland

Chapter 20- Spencer

"Aspen!" Spencer banged on the heavy wooden door, coughing violently as he did so. He checked his gloved palm to see splatters of blood. His sickness was spreading more quickly each month so he had to do this now. Snow crunched under his feet and he shivered by the cold aching his lungs. "Open up!" He yelled again to the deserted cottage. Finally, the door latched open and a small child appeared in the doorway, mud covered his face and his brown curly hair tinged in weird places. He looked like he hadn't been bathed in weeks. Spencer crouched down to the kid and saw his blue lips and sunken eyes. "Hey buddy, where's your mom?" Spencer asked softly, running his fingers through the kid's hair. He paused and felt his fingers become wet with some kind of sludge. The child whimpered softly and darted back into the house. Spencer lifted his head up and immediately noticed the disgusting aroma. It was hard to miss, practically plaguing the house with the foul stench of roadkill. "Must be your mom's cooking." Spencer joked, but his face soon turned sour. He stood up and closed the door behind him, spotting his son hiding behind a table. The smell got worse and his stomach squelched with vomit. "Aspen!" He called out again, squinting his eyes to the dim room. He stepped more, covering his mouth to violently cough again, which caused him to lean over and splatter blood on the floor. "Ugh," He croaked out, looking to his surroundings. The smell seemed to have gotten stronger now and the buzzing of flies brought his attention to where his son was hunched over. "Hey kid there's no need to cry-" His voice was cut off by his eyes meeting his son's. His mouth chewed slowly and Spencer saw dribbles of blood down his chin. In his hands were bits of entrails and then he saw Aspen's exposed body clawed open and eaten through. Spencer stepped back, screaming. He felt bile rise up and vomited completely over his wife's body. "No." He breathed, clutching his head. Her eyes looked directly at him, her skin was rotting off. Her pixie wings were broken off and laid in torn pieces around the interior of the floor.

He kept screaming, fighting his quivering legs to run out the door. He vomited again on the porch steps and ended up stumbling into the pouring rain, feeling his body collapse under him. Since when did it rain in Prideland? He slammed his head to the road and screamed as loud as his voice would allow him. This wasn't real. This was a dream. He had seen her yesterday, they had slept together. Sure she was- mostly numb under him and didn't say anything but- oh god had he just fucked a corpse? In the midst of his panic, he hadn't heard footsteps approaching him until he saw a pair of scarlet boots at his face. "Hello Spencer." A voice had rang. He looked up through his blurry, tear-filled eyes to see a black cloak. He couldn't see the person's face but saw traces of brown hair escape their hood. "Did you miss me?"

"Who are you?" He asked, his hands shaking from panic. The girl reached out a gloved hand and placed a finger under his chin, pulling his face up to meet hers. She leaned forward and pulled out a silver dagger from her cloak. "Today is a very special day Spencer." She giggled. "Today is my birthday." His face felt white. "V?" He asked, his voice shaking. The girl slowly lifted her hood and crouched down. "Do you know where we are? This is where you killed me." Spencer shook his head. "No, I buried you in the forest. I-" But he was cut off by V laughing again. "You should know by now that there's more than one way to kill someone." He felt anger inside him, rage. "What did you do to Aspen? To my son ?" He demanded. "I simply just gave them what you gave me." She replied. "What the fuck are you talking about?" He spat out, watching her blank eyes stare back at him with no emotion. "You don't remember?" She tilted her head and another figure emerged behind her, pulling out a broken shard. "I do." A said, gripping her sister's hand. A's eyes glowed a melancholy red and Spencer watched as glowing red ropes shot from the ground, gripping his hands in place. He howled in pain, his head leaning forward. His hands burned and he could feel his vision blurring.

"It was my birthday, and my sister was out of the country, on a trip. I was so excited to turn thirteen. Which means you would've been sixteen." Spencer glared. "What the fuck does that have to do with anything-" The ropes singed tighter as A raised her fist with a smirk. "Let her speak." V's bangs fluttered on her face as she continued talking. "Than had planned a party for me, and I had put on my best dress, but he didn't show up. Do you know why?" She didn't bother to wait for a response. "You were there, uninvited." Spencer felt his face drain of color. "You complimented me by shoving your tongue down my throat, striking me, tearing my best dress. But you stopped, only because I was bleeding so much that you thought I was dead." V watched as A curled her fingers tighter, making Spencer's body ache with torment and hellish pain. "You buried my body in the forest and accused Than of the crime, leaving him now in a form he despises." V snapped her fingers and both sisters shape-shifted into exact replications of Than's human form. His curly hair bounced off his face and his almond eyes looked sad. "Stop it!" Spencer cried out, squeezing his eyes shut. "You cheated on Ian, you lied to him." V spat out, the dagger forming into a spear. "I watched you, waiting for your redemption. But someone has to answer for your crimes." She shot the spear at Spencer's crotch, grinning as she did so. He screamed in pain, blood filling the snow. His penis laid in front of him, cut off. V pulled a silver pistol from her pocket and placed a single bullet inside it. "This isn't for you, you're going to bleed out and die here." She checked the weight and trigger sensors, aiming it at Spencer's head the entire time.

When the gun was ready and loaded, she pointed it at her sister, making A stumble back in surprise. "What are you doing?" She nervously laughed, scratching at her cloak for a weapon, something to get her out of this position. But her clawing fingers only found fabric and ripped pockets. "Don't take it so hard, you knew this was coming." With a loud bang V pulled the trigger and A's body collapsed to the ground, dead. Spencer let out a cry of fear, slinking his head to the ground. "Please!" He cried out, tears swelling his eyes. "I don't wanna die!" He choked out a sob and all of a sudden, his pain vanished like magic. He gasped and looked as his crotch was still amputated, but he couldn't feel the agonizing wilting of blood dripping from his pelvis. "Please..." Spencer whimpered, looking at Vee with a look that she hadn't seen in years, he was begging for mercy. "I'm so sorry for whatever I did, I'll make it up to you, I'll be better I promise." He coughed loudly and spat out a sliver of blood from his throat. "I'm dying anyway, just let me live my last moments in peace." His voice croaked as he struggled his arms, but they were still tied down, so he had no ability to escape or fight, not that he could with his current...injury. "I just wanted to be a hero and save everyone, I didn't mean to turn into the bad guy." He hated himself in this moment, how weak he had become, his downfall, his rapture. Just a few months ago he was the suave prince showing the newcomer around, and just a few years ago he was the awkward kid who talked to the guy in the sewers. How did he become so ridden with hatred? V closely watched his thought process, scanning his face as if she knew what he was thinking. "I'm sorry." He whispered, hanging his head low. "I'm so sorry V." He looked to the few feet in front of him to see A's dead body staring back, her mouth gaping open and her head tilted to the side, a bleeding bullet hole lodged in the center of her forehead. Her clothing was exposed, tight, outlining her curves. The snow drifted down her face and landed pecks on her black hair. He wondered if she had a name, if she was even deserving of one. She had committed crimes far worse and yet- maybe he did deserve the same fate.

He heard footsteps and looked up to see Ian clutching a coat to his chest. When they made eye contact, Ian's fist dropped and his face turned into a blank expression. It was unusual not to see Ian so expressive. "I don't want to know why you did it. I just want to know why I wasn't enough for you." His voice was a deadpan, a silent slate. Spencer had no words. "Look we were together even before you and I met, and you technically broke it off first." Spencer replied, trying to smooth his words over. "What?" Ian asked, confusion and pain making his voice crack. Bingo. "Yeah I mean you were just a fling to me, nothing serious. She's the one I knocked up. You were so clingy and obsessive and all over me the moment we met." Ian stepped back a bit, stuttering his words. "That's not what happened at all." He choked. Spencer was loving this. "Whatever." He replied with a smirk. V crooked an eyebrow and whispered to Ian. "The only reason he's not dead is because I wanted you to have one last confrontation." Ian rolled his eyes. "Oh don't play the "Good Samaritan" bullshit. You didn't believe me, six times I went to you and you said nothing, You don't get to act like my friend when you just shot your sister who killed my friend ." Spencer felt threatened by how angry Ian was, maybe the puppy did have some bite to him. Ian took a deep breath and moved closer, crouching down so he was inches from Spencer's face. "You are a pathetic dickhead, and you are going to die a coward who couldn't keep it in his pants. You are going to die in the snow knowing that I will never forgive you and the gates of hell won't even open for someone as awful as you are." Spencer said nothing but a simple smile. "Gates of hell, huh? will I see you there?" Ian moved closer and Spencer couldn't see V anymore. "Fuck you Spencer," Ian whispered.

With those final words, V drew an axe and swung directly into Spencer's neck, splattering blood all over Ian's face and hands. Spencer's head fell from his body and within an instant, his skin sizzled and revealed itself to be sea foam. Ian watched as the foam dissolved into the snow and vines crept up A's body, gently pulling her into the dirt. Ian just sat there on his knees, his breath shaking as he looked at his bloodied hands, and then at V. "What did you do?" Ian gasped, shock filling his body like a flame.

"Siren's law. For his crime he does not get a proper burial." V shrugged and sheathed the sword back into her cloak. "You don't have to forgive me, I know you never will, but if you ever want a friend again, you know where to find me." V gave Ian a warm smile and handed him the now glowing axe, letting him get used to its weight, slowly walking away, fading into the mist of the barrier.