Page 46 of Psychotic Nightmares

I knock on the door of the rapist assholes. Bull has his karambit ready. My gun hides nicely in my waistband in case anything goes wrong. Which it doesn’t when Bulls involved.

“Foods arrived, time to celebrate.” I hear one of the pricks say. If they have takeout coming we best make this quick, Bull has the same thought as he nods at me. The door opens and we act quickly. I pull my gun out, pointing it at the bloke's head. Bull spins him quickly, snapping his neck with a loud crack. Being a doctor, and having the strength of an ox, he can kill people with just a few swift movements. Although it’s not his preferred method, this is the quickest and less messy way to do things.

“Hurry up bro. I’m hungry.” The other calls. He sounds drunk, I let Bull take the lead as he goes searching for rapist number two. We find him sprawled out on the couch, a naked, unconscious woman lies on the floor in front of him. She doesn’t look much older than nineteen, bruises are starting to form on her chest and abdomen. I see the indents of footprints on her face from where the bastards kicked her unconscious. Semen pools between her legs. They celebrated being found not guilty of multiple rapes by raping another. Are they stupid?

“Who are you guys, and where’s Mik?” He hiccups, not bothering to try and run. He takes another swig of his beer and smiles. “Oh, so you're the guys who are here to take us out huh?” He laughs. “That slag said she will have us killed. Or what did the courts call her. Oh yeah, victim number four. They weren’t victims. They were asking for it, dressing like they did.”

Bull cracks his knuckles. This asshole’s done for now.

Crack.

I check the girl's pulse as Bull breaks another neck. It’s there, but very faint. I dial 911 from the girl's phone and we walk out of the building. Bull updates the big boss, leaving him to deal with the clean up.

I don’t speak on the way back to the warehouse, nor do I go in to debrief with Julian about what happened. Instead I go straight home. I prefer the clean kills. Quick, easy and less messy. No need to get washed up before going back to see my boy. I know I need to get a more legal job. Go back to school and finish getting my teaching degree perhaps. But I have a commitment to make sure Julian doesn’t do anything stupid. He has saved my life many times. Too many to count in fact. I owe him my life. He is my best friend, my brother, and in love with the same woman I am. Fuck this is going to be a chaotic situation.She wants me back.Did she really say that? Or did Julian take a few of her words and mix them up, filling in the rest with his fucked up imagination? It wouldn’t be the first time, and surelywouldn’t be the last. Another thought comes to mind - did Pea manage to get Natalie out? By the way Julian is blowing up my phone, I sure hope so.

Pulling into my driveway, I see three silhouettes through the curtains and my tense body finally relaxes. She is safe. They’re both safe. My son and the woman I love.Love.I shouldn’t use that word. I shouldn’t even feel like that towards her, not until I know how she truly feels.

Hearing the laughter coming from the living room as I walk through the front door makes me smile. I2I from A Goofy Movie plays loudly with them all singing along to it. I slump against the door still in my work ‘uniform’. We didn’t get bloody tonight so I don’tneed to change straight away. Iremovedmy jacket, hanging it up next to Peas' matching one. Leaving me in my black jeans and navy blue tee. I’m glad she managed to get Natalie out of that room and brought her back here. So fucking glad. Not only will she be safe here, but we will be able to talk freely without the cameras, without the risk of Julian listening in and hearing something he shouldn’t. I was so worried when she broke down on me that day, repeating over and over again that she didn’t leave me. Julian didn’t say anything to either of us though, so he didn’t hear. If he did things would be completely different. He wouldn’t have let her anywhere near me knowing how I felt, knowing how heartbroken I was when I thought she left.

“Papa, is that you? Come dance with us.” Nico demands while giggling. Slipping off my shoes I join them in the random dance party, Natalie is swinging Nico around in her arms. I catch her wincing a couple of times when he isn’t looking, when she thinks none of us are looking. The smile she wears seems genuine, but I have seen her fake her smile many times. And the one she is giving me right now is faked. I lift the corner of my lips slightly and her face falls. She knows I know. “Yay, papa is home!” Nico wriggles in her arms and she puts him down. He runs straight for me, takes my hand and drags me to the makeshift dance floor. They have moved the couches to the edges of the room and found out the disco light I thought I hid. Peas phone is connected to the speaker beside the television. “Now time for the competition!”

The song finishes and Holding Out For A Hero comes on next. I can tell Pea is in charge of the music, she is a sucker for 80’s. But apparently so is Natalie as Pea throws a hairbrush to her to use as a microphone as they start their duet. It’s nice to see them happy. Pea doesn’t have many female friends from what Iknow of, she spends most of her time with us and the only living member of her family she has left is her cousin, Ziggy. We’ve never met him, but she’s spoken about him a few times. And I know Natalie doesn’t have many people in her life.

As I watch them dance around my living room in some shorts and loose tees, I’m so glad they found each other. I think they’ll be good for one another.

I pick up Nico and swing side to side while the two women dance around us. Looking closer, I can see that Natalie is wearing one of my tops, one that went missing a few months ago. Pea likes to rob our clothes - especially after a job. She says it’s because they’re comfortable to wear after a shower. I close my eyes and try my hardest to not think of Natalie wearing something of mine. She never did when we were together, I offered many times. But she always refused - after reading her diary and seeing how her ‘uncles’ dressed her up in their shirts and had her do aftercare for them I understand why.

Pea plucks Nico from me, using him as her dance partner, not like he cares, he prefers to dance with her anyway. Natalie saunters toward me and starts her performance. We’ve danced before, normally slow, sensual dances. But this is different, this dance is fun, unexpected and has my heart thumping hard enough I’m sure she can feel it. Exaggerating her movements as she spins around me, her hand glides over my chest. I wait for the perfect lyrics and sweep her up in my arms as soon as Bonnie Tyler sings “I need a superman to sweep me off my feet.” she giggles and poses as I spin on the spot. We carry on dancing for the remainder of the song. Never taking my eyes from hers as we spin around the room. The hairbrush now thrown on the sofa as I take both her hands in mine. As the song ends, I lift up one of her legs and dip her. We are both breathless and caught up in each other's gazes.Fuck I could kiss her right now. I probably would have done if I wasn’t reminded about Pea's presence by her whoops and applauding.

“Whew, I think these two won the dance competition, don't you Nico.” Pea laughs as she drops to the sofa.

“I’m still kingof pranks if they win right?” Pea nods, “okay. You two win. I’ll get the trophy.” He runs past us and up the stairs.

“Don’t tell me you have an actual trophy.” Pea laughs.

“Nico made it.” I nod.

“You two have rhythm. It’s almost like you’ve danced together before.” She chuckles.

“We have.” Natalie replies without thinking and slaps a hand over her mouth.

She runs from behind me to the kitchen, quickly followed by Pea. Her voice bounces off the hall walls. “Nat, when did you and Dante have time to dance?”

I follow them into the kitchen, Natalie on one side of the island, Pea on the other, the latter pointing towards the former’s face. Both of them slowly move around the island in tandem.

“It doesn’t matter.” Natalie shakes her head and takes another step to the left. I wince as Pea sprints around one of the corners, Natalie manages to jump out the way just in time before Pea can grab her.

“Come on… tell meeee.” Pea sulks, poking out her bottom lip.

“Nope.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s none of your business.” I interrupt. I get a glare as an answer.

“Did you dance while she was in the medical room?” She starts to question me. I refuse to answer so she turns her attention back to a very embarrassed Natalie.

“Did you?” Pea steps closer to her.