I’m nearing my old childhood home with my mother on my shoulder, and my father is likely dead. Now, I am the only remaining Hill and I intend to take my rightful place in this town. I will lead them to greatness here in Dollywoodland, something they never would see with my useless father at the helm.
The Four Regencies can also fuck off.
I’ve become good at surviving, and there’s no way I’ve come this far, only to become a mindless town follower. That’s why I’ve decided it’s a good idea to marry my one-eyed man. I can see he cares about me. He thought saving my mother would do me some good, he tried to get me away from my father, and now, he wants the Four Regencies to protect me.
When they had me surrounded in that cabin, I could see they wanted to kill me, but they were under orders not to. The way they attacked my father only proved the point. They were told to protect me, no matter what.
Now that it’s nearing time to marry Colby, he’ll want to do it while the Regencies are here to witness the union. He’ll want to ensure they know I will not be a threat to anyone else, and Colby will be all too eager to prove he can take care of me.
Cure me.
I scoff loudly into the pitiful forest behind my home. There’s no need to cure me. I’m the only one left in their right mind around here.
The crashing of branches and the dull thuds of shoes hitting the red dirt have me pausing. Did another one of those things get over the treaty line? I relax when I hear sniffling and nearly roll my eyes when Lils comes stumbling into view.
She stops abruptly, her eyes widening on me and my mother’s still form over my shoulder. Even though her face is caked in red dirt and her clothes are rags, she has the prettiest blonde hair I have ever seen. Better than Tanner’s.
“You killed Heidi?” Her little voice shakes as she lifts her hand to her cheek, wiping away the tears and smearing red mud along the surface.
My eyes skim over the little girl Colby has been protecting for so long, and I see an opportunity to make good on a promise I gave him long ago in the very kitchen of my home. So I let my mouth drop into a frown, my eyes fill with tears, and my chest rises and falls rapidly as I pretend to struggle for breath.
“Colby couldn’t save her, so he gave her to the Others.” I sob into my red-caked hand, knowing I’m smearing the same dirt along my cheeks. Just like Lils. “I couldn’t give her that ending. Even though she and I had our difficulties, she was still my mother.”
Her tiny feet step forward, her tear-glazed eyes widening in shock. “Colby gave her to the Others?”
“Yes,” I whisper. “I don’t blame him for that. He thought he was helping her.”
“I hate him,” she whines, her little chin trembling. “He doesn’t love me like I love him.”
“I can understand the appeal of wanting to be close to your daddy. I loved mine too, and just like yours, he didn’t give it back.”
Her head tips to the side in a look of confusion, but I don’t have the time to explain the reproductive activities of adults to children right now.
“I know you were close to Heidi,” I say to her, as I soften my features. “Would you like to help me prepare her for a funeral?”
“You’re going to give her a funeral?”
I fucking hate kids. They ask too many questions and never shut the fuck up.
“Of course.”
I want to grab her by her pretty blonde hair and drag her inside, but I can’t carry this bag of bones and deal with a tantrum-throwing kid at the same time.
“Okay,” she nods. “I loved Heidi like a mother.”
Poor kid, I think to myself. Heidi was a mother from hell.
I preen at my accomplishment, because little Lillian—Colby’s most prized possession—follows me to the back entrance of the house. I can hear people talking in the front, and I begin to walk down the side, when Lils grabs the back of my shirt, stopping me.
“Colby is out there speaking to the townspeople.” Her face turns up into a sneer. “I don’t want to see him.”
“Good idea.” I nod. That would’ve been a fucking disaster. As soon as he and the weak people of this town saw Heidi, they’d be all up in arms.
We enter through the backdoor; the kitchen opening up in front of us and I look around, expecting to see the evidence of my last massacre. But it looks like Daddy cleaned up before he went and got himself killed.
The smell of chemical cleansers has my mouth tipping upward. I never did like the smell of rotting flesh. My eyes skip to the ceiling, wondering if he took care of Tanner as well. Did he throw away her hair? I want to be blonde for my wedding.
Maybe it’ll make Coly more enamored with me because I will look like Lillian’s actual mother. Then he’ll have grand notions of us becoming this happy family while he cohorts with the Others, as he believes he’s curing us all.
The fool.
“I’m going to take my parents’ old bedroom to get ready for the funeral and the wedding. Would you like to stay in my bedroom?”
“You have an actual bed? Not a cot on the floor?”
“Yes,” I nod. “I have a real bed, and maybe some of my older clothes will fit you. You can go through my closet.”
“Wow.” Her eyes widen. “It’s been years since I’ve slept in an actual bed.”
Years? This one is losing her fucking mind, too. She’s no more than eight at the most. I scrutinize her and decide maybe even younger. What the fuck can she remember from years ago? She would’ve been an infant.
But I smile and nod at the silly little child anyway.
“Let’s get Heidi cleaned up and prepared.” I lead the way to the second floor, Lils following behind like a good little dog. I can finally have a pet again since I haven’t seen our dog in ages.
I throw open my parents’ bedroom door and smile again when I see Pollyx got rid of Tanner. He was really expecting Heidi to come back home. I chuckle softly as I hoist her farther up on my shoulder. She kind of did.
I head toward the bathroom and stop when I hear the little shit gasp from behind me. “You guys have running water?”
“It’s a pumping system that my daddy hooked up to our wells. He said he was fixing it to pump up this high. I hope he did while I was gone.” I drop Heidi onto the floor, her skull hitting the wood planks a little too hard. It’s okay, she’s already dead, and I don’t need her head. “Could you get her clothes off? We can give her a bath.”
I open the valve and breathe a sigh of relief when the water begins to pour through. He really thought Heidi would be coming back home. This place is the cleanest I’ve ever seen it and the water is finally reaching the second floor, something Heidi would beg for.
Once Heidi is undressed, I toss her in the tub, the cold water instantly turning red from the dust.
“Lils!” Colby’s voice calls from downstairs. “Are you here?”
“He sounds worried.” I grin at Lils.
“I’m not ready to talk to him. Can you make sure he doesn’t come up here? I’ll clean Heidi for you.”
That’s a fucking deal.
“Make sure her skin is perfect.”
Lils nods at my instruction as I leave the bathroom, heading downstairs toward my husband-to-be’s frantic voice.
“Will you calm down?” I snap when I find him opening our pantry door in the kitchen.
“Beverly.” He turns quickly, his eye scanning over my body. “Have you been bitten? Did your father hurt you?”
“He’ll never get the chance to hurt me again, thanks to you.” I hope I sound sincere. I even flutter my lashes as if the sight of him has me swooning.
“Oh.” He straightens, his one eye blinking in surprise. “Good. That’s good.”
“Lillian was running through the woods when I stumbled upon her. It was too dangerous for her out there, so I convinced her to come here with me. She’s upstairs, but she doesn’t want to speak to you. She’s still angry.”
“You brought Lils back here with you?”
“Of course.” I smile sweetly. “She’s so small. She needs someone to take care of her.”
“You’re going to make an amazing mother, Beverly.”
“Thank you, Colby.” Back to fluttering these lashes. “I want to be a good wife.”
“You no longer want to fight me on marriage?”
“No,” I exhale. “How I was feeling about Daddy was wrong. I’m starting to feel better now.”
“Really?”
He really thinks he’s curing me.
“It was very wrong.”
“Okay, then.” He nods, a smile lighting up his handsome face. “How about I cook dinner while you spend some time with Lils?”
“That’s actually a great idea! I want her to help me prepare for the wedding.”
I turn my back on him, afraid that I’ll burst out into laughter at the sight of his hopeful face, and head back upstairs.
The sight before me nearly has me tripping on the last stair and tumbling into the bedroom. Lils has Heidi’s body washed, and she’s even laid her out on the bed as she dries her off.
“You’re one strong girl!” I exclaim.
“I’m not a girl,” she retorts. “I just look like I am.”
Oh, she’s more damaged than I am.
“I know you’re thinking I’m crazy.” Her little voice is shrill, and her words probably carrying downstairs to Colby. I hope he hears how crazy this one is.
“No, no,” I try to placate her. “You’re just young and don’t understand—”
“I’m older than you!” she yells, dropping the towel she’s holding. “I just never aged beyond what you’re seeing. It must’ve been the adverse effects of the radiation.”
“Those are big words for such a little girl.”
“Beverly!” she snaps. “Will you listen? I am much older than my appearance.”
Crazy kid.
“All right.” I pop my hands in the air. “I’m listening.”
Kids and their story times.
She tells a story of her family, all of them affected in some odd way by the old blast, and their problems carrying down through their genes. Blah, blah, blah. She has quite the imagination; I bet she thinks if Colby hears her fantastical tale, he’ll want to bed her like my daddy did me.
Once she’s done, her little chest heaving from the effort of her storytelling, I pat along her thick, blonde hair. “I believe you. You must be thirsty after all that. Would you like a drink?”
“Okay.” She nods, those wretched tears still soaking her cheeks. She must be dehydrated.
I get up from the bed slowly and pat Heidi’s arm. I’m leaving two crazies up here together. I need a breather. When I reach the bottom of the stairs, Colby is standing there with a shocked and confused look on his face.
“I think she’s been exposed to too much air lately,” I explain. “I’m going to make her some tea and put her to sleep in my old bed.”
“Yeah.” He clears his throat. “She did have quite a bit of exposure.”
“I got this covered.”
He heads into the living room and lies on the couch, his arm dropping over his face. Colby really does have so much to think about, but it’s his own damn fault for taking all of this on. He made his bed.
I make the tea and while it’s steeping, I head out into the backyard to grab the ax. I’ll need it for Heidi. As soon as my hands wrap around the warm wood, an electric current kisses my palms.
“Hello, my old friend.”
I heft it up onto my shoulder and step back into the kitchen, bypassing Colby, who’s still lying on the couch without paying me any attention. I take the stairs loudly, one at a time, and when I reach the bedroom door, Lils appears.
“Beverly, I think we should talk about you and Colby, and this wed—”
The blade of my ax cracking into the skull of her face cuts off her words as blood sprays out in a beautiful arc. She talks way too much.
I step over her body and let the ax hit the floor, my hands once again covered in the blood of another. I grab my father’s hunting knife from his bedside table and stand over Heidi’s body. My fingers glide along her protruding ribs, each bump so round and perfect.
“These will make a fantastic corset.”
Then they trail down and over her stomach, the skin so pale and smooth.
“And this is for my wedding gown.”
My eyes scan over Lil’s still form, the blood gushing from her head saturating her pretty blonde strands.
“That, I’ll have to wash.” I snap my fingers with a tsk. “Damn it, I forgot my tea.”