"Dad, we have guests," Jimmy called into the living room.
The girls and the man were standing in the kitchen. Their eyes were going over every detail of the old farmhouse. Jimmy extended his arm out toward the table.
"Have a seat," he said.
They each pulled out a chair and sat down. The floorboards creaked as Charles walked into the kitchen. I imagined that Tommy would come down any second. I could not see him missing this opportunity. I wished that Jimmy would tell me to go upstairs. I hated looking at their faces and knowing that they only had little time left to live.
"Who is it?" Charles asked.
"Their car broke down a few miles away," Jimmy said. "They're going to spend the night here and then go into town in the morning."
"Of course," Charles said. "No need for them to freeze in the cold."
His voice sounded a lot sweeter than I have ever heard. Even when he first talked to me at the club, he did not sound this nice. Scott reached across the table and shook Charles' hand.
"I'm Scott," he said. "This is Brittany and Erica."
"My name is Charles," he said. "This is my son Jimmy and his wife Juliet."
Charles pulled out a chair and sat down.
"Where are you all from?" he asked. Jimmy pulled out a chair. I did the same, but Charles' hand shot out and stopped me. "Juliet, get our guests a glass of water."
I nodded and went over to the counter. I filled three glasses with water and brought them over to the table. I sat down next to Jimmy. The stairs thudded as Tommy came downstairs. Everyone turned to look at him. He walked in and raised an eyebrow.
"Their car broke down," Charles told Tommy. "This is Scott, Erica, and Brittany. This is my youngest son Tommy."
Tommy leaned against the counter. He crossed his arms over his chest and looked like he was observing us.
Erica's mouth was slightly ajar as she looked around the kitchen. Brittany took a sip of her water. I wished she was able to persuade the others to sleep in the car. It would have stopped them from having this terrible fate.
"Where are you from?" Charles asked them.
"Vancouver," Erica said.
"Canadians," Jimmy said. "What are you doing all the way down here?"
"We're on vacation," Scott said. "We left this summer and took the first semester off so that we could travel around North America."
"Sounds like fun," Charles said. "But you must miss your family."
"We're university students," Brittany said. "They aren't calling us every hour to see how we are. They're used to having us out of the house."
"When's the last time you talked to them?"
"Yesterday."
"How long have you been gone?" Jimmy asked.
"This is our fourth month on the road," Scott said. "We should be back home in a couple of months. Brit and I are getting married in February."
Erica's hands shook as she brought the glass of water up to her mouth. She was nervous, despite the fact that she is the one who convinced them to come into the house. I prayed she would change her mind and beg to leave. The doors were locked. Even if they wanted to leave they would not be able to.
"Jimmy, Tommy," Charles said. "Come upstairs with me. We need to make sure that the spare room is in shape for our guests. I'm sorry, but there is only room on the bed for two people. One of you will have to camp out on the couch."
"I'll do it," Scott said.
"Good, that's settled," Charles said before he lifted his lips into a smile. "Juliet, be a good girl and stay down here to keep our guests company."
"Yes," I said.
They headed up the stairs and left me alone. Scott and Erica were across from me and Brittany was sitting at the head of the table.
"Are you two brother and sister?" I asked Scott and Erica. I could not think of any conversation topics, and I wanted to confirm my suspicion while I still could.
"Yeah," Erica said. "He's my older brother by three minutes."
"Oh, twins," I said, pointing out the obvious.
Erica reached out and ruffled Scott's mop of blond hair. Their parents are going to be heartbroken when they realize they have lost two babies.
"You're really young," Brittany said. "It's nice to see other people our age that are married. Everyone tells Scott and I that we're too young."
"Yeah, we've been married for a few months."
"Why don't you have a ring?"
"We can't afford one right now. Can I see yours?"
Brittany held out her hand. On her finger was a gold band with a diamond. I held her hand and leaned in closer to look at it.
The boys came back down the stairs. Jimmy put his hand on my shoulder, and I let go of Brittany's hand. He leaned down so that he was close to my ear.
"I need to talk to you," he whispered.
I nodded and stood. Jimmy laced his fingers through mine and led me into the living room. He put his hands on my hips.
"I need you to be good," he said in a hushed tone. "You need to go up to our room and close the door. I don't want you to leave no matter what you hear. Can you do that? I'll come up as soon as I can. I promise."
"I will," I told him.
The tension left my muscles. I did not have to watch what was about to happen.
"I love you," he said before he gave me a quick kiss.
"I love you too."
I hurried out of the living room and up the stairs. I went to our bedroom and closed the door. I pressed my ear against the door.
"Can you come down to the basement with me, Scott?" I could hear Charles ask.
The basement?
Oh God.
I held onto my stomach as it felt like it was twisting itself into a knot. I could not stand to hear what was about to happen. I crawled onto the bed and wrapped my arms around myself. I was expecting to hear a scream, but it was quiet. They are probably going to kill Scott first because he is the strongest and would pose more of a threat than the girls.
I wished Jimmy was here with me. I would love to hear him reading to distract me. I wanted to be in his arms and for him to tell me that everything is going to be okay.
Minutes passed before I heard the first scream. It was loud and high-pitched, so it must have been one of the girls'. Scott must already be dead. Another scream joined and I covered my ears with my hands. It did no good as the screams rang in my head.
I had to stop listening to this, but I did not know how. I ran into the bathroom and locked the door. The screaming continued. I turned on the shower and the water flowing was masking some of the sound. I slipped out of my clothes and got into the shower.
I kept my hands over my ears, and the screaming was barely audible. I washed my hair, so that I did not get in trouble for wasting water, and got out when the screaming stopped.
My clothes lay crumpled on the floor, but I did not want to put them on. I needed to put on something new. I needed something that had not seen those three people.
I wrapped myself up in a towel and looked in the mirror. My bruises were almost faded, but Tommy's bite mark was visible. I had to put something on before Jimmy saw it.
I dug through the drawers in the dresser. Jimmy always hands me my clothes, so I did not know where things were. I found one of his T-shirts and a pair of underwear. I sat on the foot of the bed. My wet hair was tangled and soaking the back of my shirt.
My knee bounced as I waited for Jimmy to come into the room.
When he finally came into the room, my eyes went straight to his shirt. He was wearing a white T-shirt, but now it was covered in a wet sticky crimson. My jaw hung open and I could not look away from it. Jimmy saw my shocked reaction and pulled the shirt over his head. The keys dangled against his bare chest. His jeans were splattered with blood.
Jimmy ran and kneeled down in front of me. He ran his fingers through my wet hair. I couldn't help but stare at him in shock.
"Julie, it's alright," he said. "You're okay. I'm not going to let anyone hurt you."
"The blood," was all I managed to say.
"I know, it's a lot," he said. "But none of it is mine. None of it is Dad's or Tommy's. Most importantly, none of it is yours. Your family is safe, Julie. I am keeping you safe."
My body was frozen in shock, so all I could do was nod my head.
"I'm going to take a shower," he said. "I'll be back soon."
He kissed my temple before getting up off of his knees. I listened as he took a shower. I had to keep reminding myself that I was okay. Jimmy killed those people to keep us safe. I squeezed my eyes shut.
When Jimmy got out of the shower, he was in clean clothes. He got back down on his knees in front of me. He put his hand on the side of my face and I opened my eyes.
"I have something for you," he said.
"Really?" I asked.
He nodded and reached into his pocket. He held out a diamond ring. It was the ring that Brittany had on her finger.
"I'm sorry that I wasn't able to get you a ring on our wedding day," Jimmy said. "We pawn off all of the jewellery that we find. I convinced Dad to let me keep this. I saw you looking at it so I assumed you would like it."
I let out a deep breath. Jimmy took my hand and slid the ring onto my finger. I held my hand out and fiddled with it. Jimmy went out of his way to get me this ring. He was protecting me, but he also wanted to make me happy.
"Thank you," I said. "It's beautiful."
"Always keep it on your finger, okay?" he said.
I kissed Jimmy. I crawled into bed as he turned off the light. He lay down next to me and curled me into his body. I spun the ring around my finger until I fell asleep.