The thing that Bevie has to understand about me is that I’m not like the others. I’m not afraid of her, her father, or really much of anything else. Hell, after Mom died, I thought I had lost all the emotions we’re supposed to carry, but Lils keeps the love in me alive with her playful banter and her need to be taken care of.
I just never knew it would switch to someone as volatile and disturbed as Bevie.
Still, she has to be mine.
There’s no other way.
I’ve never wanted anyone as a wife before until I saw this damaged girl bedding her father through an open window and felt my cock get hard for the first time in forever. And the longer I stand inside of their tumultuous home, the more I wonder why he has such a hard time letting her go.
Perhaps there’s something special about her she only shows to him, and I’m even more intrigued by this fucked up little family life that they’re so desperate to hide from the outside world.
“Do we have a deal, or do you want another round, old man?” I ask him softly.
Pollyx stiffens at my jab at his age, Bevie grinds her teeth to the point where I can see her jaw flexing, and I clear my throat as I busy myself getting prepared to face the elements outside again.
Nothing out there can rot her muddled brain any more than it already is, so I’m not concerned about her attire when we leave.
Because we are leaving.
Together.
“And you’ll bring Heidi back?” he asks in a defeated tone.
“Deliverable by midnight,” I assure him as I reach up and place the scarf over my nose and mouth.
“No! I won’t go!” Bevie shrieks as she pushes her father away and slams her fists into the floor.
I chuckle as I reach down and grab her by the elbow, pulling her up to her feet.
“Well?” I ask, glancing at him one more time as I tighten my grip around the arm she’s trying so desperately to wring free.
“It won’t be forever,” Pollyx says to her as he stands up, his shoulders slightly slumped. “We’ll see each other again, Bevie.”
“No!” she howls again as she attempts to claw at his chest. I pull Bevie against me and secure my arms around her to keep her from hurting anyone else, including herself.
“No later than midnight,” he tells me before he turns around and walks away toward the back of the house. Almost as if he can’t bear to let her go. Almost as if the bond that’s grown between them in the absence of his wife has corrupted his mind as much as his daughter’s.
I pick Bevie up off the floor, her legs kicking and flailing, and chuckle as I open the front door and step out into the low hanging fog in Dollywoodland.
Everything will play out how it’s meant too. She’ll see.
* * *
Bevie finally stopped acting like an animal once we crossed the border and she had to leave her beloved dollies behind. It’s almost like the mania that possesses her only seems to do so when she’s close to him. I’m filled with cautious hope she might actually be more normal than I gave her credit for.
“Can you walk?” I ask her softly as I stop just outside of the border. She wipes the tears from her face as she nods, and I set her down. “Good, keep your head down. These elements take no prisoners when they’re in a mood,” I instruct her as I place a hand on the back of her head and gently lower it.
Bevie glances over her shoulder at the border, and the moment I feel her instinct to run back to her father, I grab her by the arm and half-drag her farther away.
The temptation will be gone soon enough. When I finally have her in my arms as my wife, she’ll know it’s for the best and memories of him as her lover will fade.
“We’ve still got a way to go,” I tell her as I tuck my gloved hands into my pocket and continue walking.
Bevie isn’t faster than me.
If she tries to run, I’ll catch her.
And when she falls into step beside me, I finally feel the smallest sense of relief.
It’s not the dolls that kept her stuck in one place.
It was him.
I have to find a way to rid us of him permanently, without breaking her heart.
But first, I have to catch it in the palm of my hands and love it the way it deserves, I tell myself as I steal a glance at her.
* * *
“Is this where you live?” Bevie asks when we finally stop.
“Not exactly,” I begin as I scratch my chin nervously. “But it is where we’ll live together with Lils.” I watch her body stiffen and her mouth become that straight line that I saw on Heidi. I smile despite her mood.
“Who’s Lils?” she asks, spitting out the little girl’s name like venom from an Adder’s tongue.
“She’s a good girl,” I tell her softly. “I’m hoping she’ll be our daughter until we can have one of our own.”
The hard expression on her face doesn’t waiver. If anything, it’s becoming replaced with something not quite sinister but dangerous enough for me to know to keep them apart until I’ve wrangled the monsters inside of my would-be wife.
“You’ll meet her after a while, and you’ll love her as much as I do,” I promise her as I push open the door to the cabin that overlooks the dense forest of enormous trees and usher her inside.