Lauren Starr's Last Stand

I. It Begins in Turtle Creek and Everything Burns

Virginia twirled her grandmother's silver pendant between her slim fingers, cursing herself under her breath, wondering how she would tell Lauren about her betrayal. The pendant hung from her neck, dangling between her breasts, a gift from her dead grandmother, and Virginia had a habit of playing with it whenever she got anxious. She felt as though she took some refuge, some comfort from her grandmother. Her grandmother's voice softly calmed her, guided her through whatever hardship lay before her. Virginia hoped that today would prove no different. But it was going to be very hard.

Her grandmother certainly wouldn't have approved of what Virginia had done.

Upon touching the pendant, her mind immediately turned to how it felt slapping against her breasts while Christian Cross took her from behind, and Virginia's cheeks burned a bright red.

She hadn't meant for anything to happen. It just did. Not that she'd expect Lauren to understand nor forgive her, at least not at first. Virginia had committed the grievest sin one could upon a friend, short of murder.

At the same time, Virginia felt a sickening thrill at the thought of what she'd done with Cross. It had been wrong, and partly, that was what had made it so exciting. She hated herself for knowing that if the opportunity presented itself yet again, she would not hesitate to take it. Cross was a bastard, but the bastard knew how to fuck.

Virginia hated herself for having such a thought.

"Ginnie?" Lauren asked from behind her, startling Virginia almost out of her riding boots.

"Laurie! Hey, thanks for meeting me," Virginia replied, her eyes fluttering and her heart beating rapidly in her chest, pressing against her sternum. She felt as though she might explode from the pressure; and upon seeing her friend, Virginia loathed herself for what she had done.

"Did I startle you?" Lauren said with a sly smile.

"A bit," Virginia replied, trying to match Lauren's smile with one of her own but failing.

"What's with all the secrecy? Secret meetings in the woods, intrigue and all this?" Lauren said, leaning against a tree. A shaft of sunlight speared Lauren's hair with a warm amber glow. Lauren's beauty struck Virginia more than ever, and Virginia knew that her jealousy partially had made her do what she had done with Cross.

"I've done something horrible. And you'll probably hate me for the rest of your days because of it, but I need to tell you because you're my friend and it hurts to keep this bottled up inside," Virginia babbled, twirling her silver pendant between her trembling fingers. Virginia felt tears seeping into her eyes and leaking over across her cheeks.

"Oh, shit. What is it?" Lauren said, walking over and putting her arms around Virginia's frail shoulders. Lauren pressed her face against Virginia's, feeling the wet tears and making them her own.

Virginia opened her mouth, and before she could stop, it all came tumbling out.

***

The previous afternoon, Christian Cross approached her on the walk home from town, smiling his perfect smile. He stepped in front of her, blocking the path. Birds twittered in the trees, and Virginia fluttered her eyes as her heart skipped a beat. The appearance of Cross was an unexpected but far from unwelcome surprise.

"Well, if it isn't Miss Virginia Hart. Looks like you could do with some help," Christian said, motioning to the armload of books that Virginia carried. His sparkling blues eyes dazzled her with their clarity.

Virginia playfully turned her nose up at him.

"I'm doing quite fine, myself, thank you," she said. Virginia attempted to walk around him, but Christian stopped her with one strong arm.

"I wouldn't be doing my gentlemanly duty if I didn't help you carry your books at the very least," Cross said, pulling them away from Virginia's grip before she could protest, not that she planned on protesting. On the other hand, she basked in the attention that Cross gave her. She wished that it would happen more often, however unlikely since things seemed to be getting more and more serious between him and her best friend.

"Since when have you ever been a gentleman, Christian Cross? I've heard the stories, and I'm not as naive as some," she said with a coy expression, pressing her lips together, and allowed Cross to fall into step beside her.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Cross asked in a mock-hurt voice. He cocked an eyebrow at her, and Virginia could feel her heart beating against her chest. He had the face of a Greek god, perhaps Zeus or Hermes; they had just studied mythology at the school much to the disdain of her parents, devout Christians. Funny how a boy could have such an effect on her, even when Virginia knew that he was unattainable. Or was he?

Something about the way Christian was looking at her made Virginia wonder.

"It means I know you're no gentleman, so there's no need to try and prove otherwise," Virginia retorted, forcing herself to keep looking straight ahead. She didn't want to show how interested she was; better to let Cross make all the moves. Not that she thought he would. Or hoped he would.

"Well, that's good to know. No reason to put up any front for you. As long as Lauren still thinks I'm a gentleman. And you wouldn't inform her otherwise, would you?" Cross said, his arm brushing against her. Virginia swallowed. She felt strangely lightheaded. All because of one boy? Ridiculous!

"A good friend keeps no secrets," Virginia replied. The two of them walked a few steps without saying anything. A breeze stirred the tops of the trees, and a few leaves flittered from the limbs and drifted towards them like dying dreams.

"Well, let's think. What can I do to ensure you keep your mouth solidly shut?" Cross said, breaking the momentary silence. A fallen leaf crunched under Christian's boot. Virginia licked her lips and shrugged.

"Fuck me?" she said and turned to look him in the eyes. She meant it as a joke, or at least she thought she did. Or so she told herself. The main thing is that she said it and left herself open to what happened next because of her words and her growing lust. Christian laughed.

Everything that happened next was a haze.

Cross pulled her off the dirt road and into the woods, far enough to not be seen by a passerby. Virginia's pulse drummed in her ears. And then his hands were all over her, and she ran her hands all over him, feeling his tight muscles bulging underneath his shirt. She wondered if Lauren touched them the same way Virginia did now, her heart hammering in her chest.

His hands were smooth and cool, unlike the hot, sweaty palms of the other boys that Virginia had let slip up her garters, and Christian seemed to know exactly what he was doing. Virginia wondered just how true were the stories she had heard about him. He swirled his tongue in her mouth, and tingles worked their way through her stomach. Virginia pulled away from a lingering kiss.

Impatiently, she got on her knees, fumbled with his belt, and took his cock in her mouth. She ran her tongue along his girth. It was bigger than she could have expected, but she wasn't going to let her momentary surprise dissuade her from giving Cross everything she could. Every time Lauren went down on him from then on, she wanted Christian to think, "this just isn't as good as the time Virginia sucked me. THAT girl knew how to cock-suck."

As it turned out, she choked, gagged and spat him out, saliva dripping from his shaft, a large wad hanging between her lips and his curving, erect penis. The string of spit bowed to the shape of a pregnant "U" before collapsing on itself and splattering on the ground. She coughed and took a moment to catch her breath.

"Don't worry," Christian said with an air of pleased arrogance, "it happens to everybody."

He pulled her up and turned her around, Virginia suddenly facing a tree, the scent of pine and bark strong and deep in her nostrils. Cross flipped her skirt up and maneuvered through her undergarments. She felt the heat of his hardness pressing against her bare thigh and with an unexpected thrust, Christian plunged his cock into her.

"Ouch!" Virginia squealed. Christian's cock was substantially bigger than the ones she'd previously experienced inside of her, and it took a moment for the initial pain to subside and Virginia to realize what it truly felt to have her pussy filled with fat cock. She smiled, pleased at the thought. She must feel so tight to Cross that he could barely stand it. He would remember this experience for years, every time he fucked Lauren Starr he would think of Virginia's slick, tight pussy.

She couldn't have been more wrong.

Christian started to gain speed, his eyes growing large as he watched Virginia's ass ripple against his thighs every time he pounded into her, her moisture dribbling down her thighs. He moved one hand up to pull one of Virginia's tits out of her dress and he grasped it firmly, squeezing as he ground his cock deeper into her. With his other hand, Christian grabbed a handful of Virginia's long, curly brown locks of hair. While he had to play it soft and sweet with the likes of Lauren, he could take all of his aggression out on this slut now, and it only made it better for him that he was fucking Lauren's supposed best friend.

Tonight was the night, he decided. He was growing tired of these games.

When Virginia started to buck wildly against him, Christian knew that she was getting ready to cum. He knew that she would remember this moment for the rest of her life, particularly after certain things would be attributed to the name of Christian Cross once the Wanted posters became customary. Every time she would get off, whether from her own hand or another man's cock, she would think about the time she had cum on the biggest, hardest, meanest cock east AND west of the Mississippi.

"Ohhhh, gaaaaaawd!" Virginia cried, and Christian went ahead and let his cock unleash its ample load inside of her. It would be an even better story to get this girl pregnant and make her sire him a bastard son. Christian almost laughed out loud as the first blast of cum jettisoned inside of Virginia's spasming cunt.

When Virginia later related the story to Lauren, she neglected to mention the part about Christian Cross cumming inside of her.

***

Lauren didn't know how far she had run or for how long; all she knew was that the sun had set, and the dark was chilly and silent. Tears blurred her eyes; for a moment, she had no idea where she was, only that it was somewhere in the woods, and the woods were dangerous at night, especially alone.

With a deep moan, she gave up and collapsed to her knees, her legs refusing to go another step under her. Maybe they just knew what Lauren didn't want to realize: that she couldn't run away from the fact of what had happened.

"No," she groaned.

Yes. It had happened. It had been done. Sickening visions of Virginia and Christian together wouldn't leave her spinning head, and finally, a spew of vomit erupted from her mouth, wrapping her tongue in the sickly bitter taste of bile.

Lauren wiped her mouth with her wrist and sat back against a tree. The scent of pine and bark and fresh vomit enveloped her. She closed her eyes and tried to breathe in some kind of normal fashion. She had to work things out in her mind.

Her best friend. Her true love. Or was he? Not much of a true love if he couldn't even keep it in his trousers with her best friend. But that wasn't at all like Christian! Was he really capable of such an act? Something about Virginia's story just didn't make any sense. Either her story was a complete fabrication, or Christian Cross had played Lauren for the biggest fool of the century.

She sniffed and wiped away a tear.

She had to get to the bottom of all of this, and she would. First of all, she had to stop sniveling and prepare to confront Christian. The last thing she needed to do was give him the advantage of thinking herself into a panic. Lauren stood up, got a sense of her direction and headed home.

She sniffed. This time not because she was crying but from catching the smell of burning wood on a breeze. The scent grew stronger as she neared the ranch. Her mother's screams faintly pierced through the night air.

Lauren broke into a run.

***

Max Starr recognized his attacker even through the make-up and Indian garb. He hoped that someone else would as well if they would only get close enough to see that it wasn't red savages burning his ranch and torturing his family but an exemplary member of the so-called civilized white race.

Only Christian Cross could have such a stunning, perfect smile before murdering another human being. Max had heard stories about the kid's unreliability and rash behavior, but usually, such stories had at least some bit of exaggeration attached to them. Nothing Starr had heard had prepared him. Starr could never have imagined that it would all come to this. Killed by his daughter's fiancee only a month before their wedding, forced to watch his wife raped before his eyes.

"I think she likes it, Mr. Starr, but not as much as Smithy does, wouldn't you say?" Christian whispered, leaning in close to Max's bloodied face. Christian's teeth shone like dead-lights in the orange glare of the flaming curtains.

Across the room, Smith Dooley slapped Elizabeth Starr hard against the face, forcing himself into her prone body on the kitchen table. A long string of drool dripped from the corner of Smith's mouth and onto her bare breasts. Elizabeth's screams tore through Max's ears like stinging accusations.

WHAP! 'Stop them!' WHAP! 'Save me!' they seemed to echo. Max only watched on helplessly.

"Please, stop this, Christian. I'll tell you. I'll tell you about the gold," Max said in a raspy voice, struggling not to choke on his own blood. It hurt to talk, and Max wondered if his jaw had been broken. He had swallowed at least one tooth following a Christian Cross left hook.

Christian smiled his demonic smile. "You know what the funny thing is? Lauren already told me all about it, the truth about your gold. It's funny the things you share in the throes of true... or rather not-so-true love, isn't it? All of this..."

Christian motioned to his compadres, also decked out like Indians, setting fires to the Starr ranch-house and then towards Dooley's unwanted bonding with Mrs. Starr.

"All of this is for my own personal amusement. And also to cover our tracks when we steal the gold. Who would suspect little ol' us when they can pin it on savage heathen fucks? Which they will when we come a whoopin' and and hollerin' like savages through town in the middle of the night. Late enough so that no one will be awake or too sober to recognize us, of course. So why don't you just... shut..."

Christian punched Max Starr hard across the right eye.

"... the fuck..."

Kicked him in the ribs. Starr fell to the ground.

"...up!"

Stepped on Starr's face with his boot. Something broke with a crunch.

"Whoops. Uh, Christian," Smith Dooley's voice croaked across the room. "I think I might've killed her."

***

Lauren knew instantly that the men burning her ranch were not Indians. They didn't walk or carry themselves like Indians, and there were no tribes nearby known for attacking folks unprovoked. Worse, she heard two of them yelling in English. They were too arrogant to think anyone could be watching. Lauren hid herself deep in the brush at the edge of the woods as two of the costumed attackers came close.

"Hurry up, Jonesy. Christian's going to be pissed if he catches us gone," one of the men said in a low voice. Lauren covered her mouth and lowered herself even farther to the ground. Christian? Christian was behind all this? It hardly seemed possible. This morning he was her fiancee, her lover, her everything. After Virginia, she felt things go a little topsy turvy... but this? THIS?

A large wood roach scurried over her hand and under a broken branch.

"Gots tah piss, don't I? Don't wanna catch mah pecker on fire, eh? So what's about this girl, the missin' one?" the other man replied.

"He said if she shows up, kill her. No raping though, just kill her. But we're to throw her in the ol' BBQ," the first said and cackled a hideous laugh. The other man's expression grew grave. He was so close, Lauren could smell his bitter piss on the breeze.

"Don't like this killin'. Be happy to get gone and have a few pieces of gold in mah hand and forget this whole fuckin' thing." The second man stuffed his cock into his trousers, and the two of them hurried back to the ranch.

Uncertain, confused, her entire world in shambles, Lauren felt her senses go numb and wondered if she wasn't already dead.

***

The two men that Lauren had heard talking where named Richard Graves and Bart Jones. Lauren learned their names after a few innocently dropped questions into the origins of Christian Cross's gang, following her parents death. No one suspected she'd go after them because no one suspected Cross was involved with what had happened on the Starr ranch. Everyone knew that Indians had been the culprits, the red savages.

Some years later, Lauren killed Graves in an outhouse near New Orleans. Forcing his head into the bowl, she'd made him drown in his own shit.

She killed Jones in Colorado in some no-name town. He'd developed a taste for young boys, but apparently not one for lead. She'd made him suck on the end of her gun before decorating the walls red and gray with his brain.

***

Lauren peered at the remains of the Starr ranch. Moments before, Christian and his friends had galloped off, whooping in their best imitations of generic Indian war cries. Lauren waited to see if any of them came back, and when they didn't, she stumbled from her hiding spot to view the disaster from a closer perspective.

She felt like a shadow of her former self. Like a phoenix, she was all that floated above the destruction. Flickers of flame licked at her toes like the tongues of demons not yet satisfied by the carnage.

Her father hung limply from a noose tied to an oak tree branch. Lauren had swung from that very branch as a child. Her father had been scalped and burned alive. She tried to push his cries out of her ears; she knew she still couldn't possibly hear them. He was dead.

And her mother? Mere ashes on the wind, traces of ashes, somewhere in the remnants of what was left of the house. She could barely recognize it but for a few bits of scorched lumber.

The scent of their burning flesh was still fresh in the air. All this for a bit of lousy gold, some money in someone else's pocket. Was it worth it? Lauren would make sure that it wasn't. She had to.

"I'll find them," Lauren promised, looking up at Max Starr's corpse with tears in her eyes.

"I'll find them and make them pay."

II. Years Later in Blue Oaks, Getting Close

"Who's the fresh face in the hall?" Cross asked, closing the door behind him as he stepped in Loretta's room. She caught his reflection in the mirror as she brushed her sandy blonde hair; Cross looked ill at ease today, Loretta thought, but it was always hard to tell with Cross. He didn't wear his emotions on his sleeve like some of the other johns she entertained. His intriguing demeanor was only another reason she loved him more and more. She tried not to think into it too much.

"Is that blood on your boots?" Loretta said.

"Yes, it fucking is, and there'll be more where that came from if you don't answer my goddamned question," Cross said shortly, a snarl leaping to his face. He was still handsome with such an expression. The face of an angel on the devil, Loretta decided. She shuddered. Oh, how she ached for his cock.