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DEATH

“When they found the lamb's wool caught on thorns, they assumed violence. They didn't know how gently darkness helps shed old skins.” ~ Anonymous

The man standing in front of me was a notorious serial killer, but I hadn’t known that because he knew how to charm people and stay off the grid. He wasn’t charming me. I understood exactly who he was. Men like us were experts at playing games, setting the stage for our prey. He was doing just that. I suspected before the night was over that I would have to fight for my life, but I was ready. A part of me had sworn that if I ever had a chance to end the son of a bitch who murdered my family, I would make him pay. Even though I’d told Ella she could help, it might not be possible. Regardless of how this all played out, I promised myself I would see her and my children soon. I refused to die at this man’s hands.

“No, I don’t need anything to eat or drink.” I glowered at him. “Tell me about the Fletchers,” I demanded again.

He cleared his throat, his brown eyes dancing with mischief. It was clear he was enjoying himself.

“I was always different than others around me while growing up. Hell, I only had a few friends that wanted to have anything to do with me. You and I are wired differently, we think differently, feel differently than most. Once I realized that, I kept to myself, but as I said, a few of the guys in school took to me, and we were friends until we graduated high school and each of us moved in different directions. It was at that time I realized I might not ever have friends again, but I was at peace with it. Then, my freshman year of college, a guy in my chemistry class named Chuck asked if I wanted to hang out with him and a few others. Just a small weekend gathering around the bonfire, a few beers, some good-looking girls. I was bored at school by that time and making straight A’s without studying. My time was spent in the library reading about every serial killer that came before me. I was fascinated with what I learned about them, and it felt familiar here.” He patted his chest directly over his heart.

“Anyway, I agreed to get together. That Friday night, I met Chuck at my dorm, and we walked to the back of the campus and through the woods,” he continued. “Eventually we came upon a small circle of people around a campfire. Chuck introduced me to everyone, and I took a seat. They were friendly enough, but I was on high alert. I had trust issues, and it seemed strange that Chuck asked me along when we barely knew each other. But I also understood that normal people who wanted to get to know someone, invited them to hang out. So, I kept my suspicions to myself.” He shifted in his seat as if what he was about to say next was hard for him to share.

“There were a few young ladies there, and they were beautiful. The other four were guys my age, and one seat was empty. It took me listening to everyone’s conversation to catch up on the gossip. I learned that Cindy was the girl that normally sat in the empty chair, but she’d had a baby and didn’t get to hang out with the group as often. She’d lived in Australia most of her life and intended on returning once the baby was old enough to fly across the ocean.”

“What does this have to do with the Fletchers?” I asked, impatient.

“Everything,” he snapped. It was the first time he showed any kind of emotion other than being hospitable and pleasant. He smoothed his white shirt with his palm, composing himself before he continued.

“That night I didn’t really learn much about the others except that they were very close friends. I didn’t think much of it, but Chuck invited me again and soon it was a few times a week that we would all hang out together. One of the other girls, Lily, took an interest in me, and we started to date here and there. It was during one of those dates that she explained why Chuck thought I might be a good fit for the group. She said each of them had a dark secret that they’d shared with each other. At first it was a sociology experiment to see if people really bonded over secrets, but then they learned to trust each other on a deeper level and become true friends. Chuck saw something sinister in me and thought I might be a good addition.” The Pied Piper grinned. “After giving Lily one hell of an orgasm, she confided in me that Cindy didn’t actually —” His phone rang, and he picked it up off the coffee table in front of him. “Excuse me, I have to take this.” He rose from his seat and walked into another room, leaving me with my fucked-up thoughts of how to kill him once he finished telling me what I wanted to hear.

While he was gone, I looked around the living room, searching for anything that might tell me more about this man, but he returned rather quickly.

“Where was I?”

“Cindy,” I reminded him.

“Ah yes. As I was saying, Lily confided in me that Cindy hadn’t given birth to a baby, but she’d stolen two from a mother who had left the babies in the stroller near the park bench while she met with someone halfway across the park. In Cindy’s mind, that woman didn’t deserve to be a parent if she left her children unattended. Cindy had always wanted to be a mother, so she took the two boys.”

“Xavier and me?”

“Yes. After Cindy stole you both, she changed her name to Emma Jo.”

“My mother.”

“Yes. And my new friends knew this secret about her.”

“They never turned her in?” If they had, I wondered how my life would have turned out. Would I have become the same monster I was now?

“Eventually, I was trusted enough in the group to learn all of their secrets. Emma Jo’s secret was peanuts to the rest of us. One man was a serial rapist, another a thief, another loved to kidnap and drug young women. The ladies also had their dark secrets. By the end of our freshman year in college, the serial rapist fell in love with Emma Jo. The weight of college and caring for her newborn and toddler had left her vulnerable and desperate, making her an easy target for Martin’s advances. Around that time, she sold the baby for cash, but kept you. She shared that information with Martin. Emma Jo naively believed she knew who he really was, but the truth was far darker. Martin was not a serial rapist of women, but something even more depraved. After they got married, they moved to Australia until you were in grade school. Martin landed a job in Minnesota, and that’s when they relocated back to the states.”

As he fell silent, the realization of his words hit me like a sledgehammer to the chest. A fiery rage consumed me as I remembered my so-called father, a monster who had repeatedly violated and scarred me in unimaginable ways. A flash of a memory bombarded my mind, and I resisted the urge to stagger backward with the weight of it.

“She knew what he did to me all along, didn’t she?”

The Pied Piper nodded. “She told me about the time she witnessed what Martin was capable of, but she was too terrified of him to turn him in.”

“So, she sacrificed me instead!” I roared. If they weren’t already dead, they would be my next victims. I hadn’t hurt a woman in my life, but she would have been my first, and I would have refused to feel one ounce of guilt over it.

“Would you like me to continue, or have you heard enough?” he asked.