*There is a gulf that separates Bad People and People who do bad things*
I came to the House in the Valley pretty much by luck. I had been on the run for twelve hours and I was hot, dirty, hungry and exhausted. My clothes were torn, I was cut up from thorns and brambles, and my feet ached from running on the uneven ground of the countryside. I was lucky to find the place in the dark. It was a massive ranch-style house that appeared to be well off the beaten path. I felt luck, but first a little background.
My name is Bartholomew 'Bart' Travers and I tend to make bad choices in friends. My current predicament was brought about by my best buddy Eddie Marx. I'd been bailing Eddie since elementary school. I took it a step further when Eddie got in a fight with a guy when we were fifteen. The guy tried to stab Eddie so we tussled and I ended stabbing this dude.
I spent six months in juve -- alone. When I got out, I hooked up with Eddie again but things were never the same. Eddie had gone from crazy to crazy-mean. One night Eddie told me to meet up with him at a nearby corner grocery. He's waiting around when we get there. He presses this gun into my hands and tells me we are going to rob the place. I freak, but Eddie begs me to back him up.
Stupid me, I agree. We go in and Eddie and I pretend to be looking for shit to eat. Suddenly Eddie runs up to the store owner and starts yelling at him for all his money. I move up so that I can cover the door as well as Eddie. Eddie gives me this crazy look then shoots the guy -- or, shoots at the guy. Eddie, that loser, misses. The store owner comes up with a shotgun and cuts Eddie in two.
Now I'm thinking that running for my life is the right thing to do. My mind does the quick math of me making it to the door and the speed at which the guy with the shotgun can aim at me. I step out and scream at the top of my lungs that I'm running away. I hold the gun up pointed at the ceiling. The bastard shoots at me anyway. There are Cheetos everywhere. Of its own accord, my arm comes down and I fire the pistol. The guy falls down behind the counter.
I start running and don't stop even when I reach the truck stop miles outside the city. There I see a Highway Patrol car and I take off behind the place going overland. In the city I pretty much stayed away from parks. To say I have no knowledge of the wilderness is putting it mildly. I was so lucky to find that house; I could have wandered the wilds until I die of thirst.
I came to the back of the house and found a door with glass panels that appeared to lead to a kitchen. I got ready to knock out a pane when my professional criminal training took over. I tried the doorknob and opened the door. It swung open quietly and I breathed a sigh of relief.
First thing I did was make it to the refrigerator and pig out. There were all kinds of healthy shit, like apples, peaches, and carrots. I was so hungry I choked down some hotdogs raw. I was putting some stuff on the island in the middle of the kitchen when I noticed movement. I shut the door and pulled my gun out. There was this girl/woman in a mid-thigh length white teddy with midnight black hair that hangs down to her waist. She stars at me with large dark eyes that gave her face a child-like appearance.
"Don't move or scream and I won't hurt you," I whisper. She nods. "Is there anyone else in the house?" Again she nods. "Take them to me." She stares at me and I suddenly feel like a total idiot. "Take me to them," I correct myself." She turns and slowly walks out of the kitchen. She stops and waits for me to follow. I start noticing there were a lot of flowers in the house.
She leads me down the hallway past several doors, some closed and some open to a variety of rooms. I notice one looks like a kind of game room, the kind that had both a PS2 and an X-box, not that I've actually owned either. Finally we come to the room at the end of the hallway. The door is slightly open so she pushes so that I can look in. I look over her shoulder and see a second woman who looks like the sister of the first lying on a huge bed is propped up on her elbows and is looking at me.
"He's come looking for food," the first girl says in a hauntingly sexy voice. The second girl nods and pulls aside the covers and swings out of bed. She is dressed identically to the first girl and it dawns on me that they were twins.
"What are you going to do to us?" the second girl asks me.
"I'm not going to do anything to you if I cooperate," I promise.
"Oh," she says in that identical haunting voice. She almost sounds disappointed. "Let's get you some food." She walks right to me, ignoring the gun and edges passed me to the corridor. "Let us feed you."
"Umm ... okay?" I say. I find myself following the second girl and dragging the first one along with me.
"What is your name?" the first one asks.
"Bart."
"What does that stand for?" the second one inquires.
"Bartholomew," I answer.
"I don't like Bart," the first one says. "I'm Penelope."
"We will call you Bartholomew," the second one states. "I'm Phoebe."
"Penelope, Phoebe, I don't want to hurt either one of you. Just give me what I want and I'll be gone in a few hours. All I need is food, a shower, and a little sleep."
"We will feed you. What would you like?" Penelope asks.
"How about a ham and cheese sandwich; maybe two?" The girls look at one another then smile to me.
"We can do that. Sit at the counter and we'll take care of you. You might want to keep your gun pointed at us. We are very dangerous," Phoebe jokes in that lilting tone.
Considering I'm six foot-two and two hundred pounds of muscle plus I have a gun, and they are perhaps five-seven and one-thirty, even combined I can take them.
"Okay, I'll make sure to keep an eye on you both," I humor them. They stare at me with this kind smile that I'm I normally get from nerdy girls when I stop some thug from shaking them down for their homework.
As they fix me my sandwiches and some soda to drink, they keep stealing glances at me. I keep the gun on the counter as I fidget.
"What's with all the flowers?" I ask idly.
"We buried our Father today. He died Wednesday of a heart attack. It was very sudden. We miss him terribly because he was the center of our life," Penelope explains.
I jump up and wave my hands in despair.
"God! I'm sorry. I didn't know. I'll take the sandwiches and go."
"No, please," Phoebe says. "If ... if you leave we will have to call the Sheriff and he will arrest you."
"Oh crap," I moan. "This is the last thing I need. I already have enough trouble."
"What are you in trouble for?" Penelope inquires. I hesitate to tell them. They look so alone and vulnerable; not to mention kind of sexy now that I was no longer starving. I have to leave.
"I killed a man, or I think I killed a man," I respond.
"How does someone think they killed someone?" Phoebe asks.
"I shot a man in the chest after he blew my buddy in half. We were robbing the guy's store, so even though I didn't mean to shoot him, I'm still going to jail forever if they catch me."
"That's so sad," the both declare softly.
I'm diving into the food and am starting in on the second sandwich when I notice Penelope (or is that Phoebe?) moving her hand toward my gun. I snatch it up and glare at her.
"Don't do that," I bark. The offending girl seems contrite.
"You had better restrain me," she responds.
"Yes, you can't trust her," the second one says. "We have twisty ties in the draw over there," she says indicating a drawer.
"Penelope?" I guess.
"I'm Phoebe," she corrects me.
"Fine Phoebe, I'm going to have to tie you up now. You shouldn't have tried that." She nods meekly. These girls are starting to creep me out. I grab Phoebe by the arm dragging her over to the indicated drawer and pull out the ties. I stare at her, trying to figure out which way to proceed. She holds her wrists together in front of herself and looks up at me. I repeat -- creepy.
I tie her wrists together, study the situation then have her kneel down. I twisty-tie her ankles together too. I finish my meal in silence.
"Okay, I'm going to take a shower. Penelope, come here and I'll tie you up to," I command.
"No," Penelope says. "If you tie us up together we'll untie one another. You had better take me with you."
"But I'm going to take a shower."
"I know. Can I take my clothes off first?" Penelope questions me.
"I guess ... why would I do that?"
"You have to keep an eye on me, don't you? I have to get in the shower with you because you can't trust me out of your sight," Penelope explains.
"I ..."
"You had better keep the gun on her," Phoebe adds. "Better yet, keep a hand on her at all times."
"Ah ... thanks for the tip." I take a second to realize how I'm being used. "Phoebe, are you comfortable?" She looks up at me, tilts her head quizzically and shakes her head.
I stick the gun in my belt, kneel beside Phoebe and heft her up with one swift pull. She folds into my arms as I swing her up and stand.
"Where is a sofa, or bed?" I ask Penelope. She starts walking into the next room without comment. She motions to a sofa in what seems to be a cavernous living area. I kind of wish I had asked her to cut on a light as I navigate the furniture to set Phoebe down. I prop a pillow under her head trying to make her as comfortable as possible.
"Are you going to be okay?" I inquire.
"Thank you, yes," she smiles, but it's a strange sort of smile that makes me think there is some joke that I'm missing. I think I'm too tired and am starting to imagine things. I move to Penelope who has been studying me the entire time.
"Come on," I sigh. "Take me to the shower and we can get this over with." Penelope nods and takes the way down the corridor that leads to the room she was sleeping in. She walks into a large bathroom and cuts on the lights. I've put the gun on the vanity and started in on my sneakers when I spot her shifting out of her nightgown in one subtle gesture.
