Maria sat down on the bed, taking her hand when Vincent closed the attic door once more.
“Maria, please go talk him out of it. He might listen to you.” Lake’s tears only multiplied.
“I can’t,” Maria whispered to her as she laid Lake’s head on her lap, gently smoothing her hair.
“W-why not?”
She continued the rhythm of stroking her hair. “Do they not deserve it after all they have done to you? I just saw them, Lake. They have gone mad and lost all sense of reality. When you are born insane, you have to keep some kind of anchor to keep you grounded, to keep you in touch with reality. The moment you lose that, you have lost your humanity. They need to be dealt with for the sake of other people and for themselves. To know you have lost it like that—to the point of no return—can be the ultimate suffering.”
Lake could see that her mother and John had gone crazy, and whatever they deserved for hurting her was something she would never take into her own hands; therefore, the choice wasn’t up to her. Still…
She tried to keep it together, shedding tear after tear. “She’s my mother, my family, my blood.” Lake didn’t know if she was trying to convince Maria or herself anymore.
“Family cannot be determined by blood. Family is determined by actions. Family is about trust. Family is about acceptance. Family is about love. True family is earned, not born.” Maria’s voice was clear and strong, giving her strength with each word she spoke.
The tears slowly started to stop as she took in Maria’s words…
Family is about trust… I’m sorry, honey. He made me get you here.
Family is about acceptance… You little trailer trash whore.
Family is about love… Lake, I love you. You will never understand how much I fucking love you.
The tears in her eyes finally stopped. Everything was finally clear.
Chapter Fifty-Seven
You’re Gonna Burn, Motherfucker
Vincent shut the attic door without feeling bad for what he was about to do. Seeing her up there like that, not knowing if he was going to come and save her, had killed him almost as much as thinking she might not be alive. He was going to have no regrets with what he was about to do, and he sure as fuck didn’t feel sorry for it.
Heading down the other hall, he went inside the open bedroom door. Maria had told him Ashley wasn’t there, but she also had told him that he should take a look at her bedroom.
Walking in and looking around, he saw bags and bags of stuff, all of it unworn or used, the tags still on everything. He knew immediately they were all things her mother had probably bought for Lake, only for Ashley to have taken them. Even though Ashley couldn’t wear most of the items, she clearly didn’t give a shit, wanting simply to take anything she could from Lake.
It was honestly unbelievable the amount of stuff she could have returned yet didn’t. Ashley also could have thrown it away, but she hadn’t. Instead, she had hoarded it while constantly looking at the dominance she had over Lake. It was obvious John’s feelings for Lake had warped Ashley’s mind, as well. They both wanted control over her, but that fucking shit had finally come to an end.
Going downstairs, Vincent saw Nero and Amo had taken the pleasure of tying them to the kitchen chairs.
“Fuck, thank God. I can’t take these stupid fucks another second,” Amo said, tying John’s wrists behind his back tighter.
“There’s no way this bitch is Lake’s mother.” Nero set the keys to the moved cars down on the table.
John started to laugh. “I told you she’s dea—”
Vincent’s fist hit his face right over his already-broken nose, causing a terrible sound to erupt. “Motherfucker, do not say that about her again. She’s not dead, and you fucking know it.”
John was unfazed. “She is! She’s nothing without me, just like her piece of shit mother was nothing before me! Do you know why I call her trailer trash?”
Picking up a heavy sock from the table, Vincent started swishing it around, hearing all the change inside rattle.
“Because her fucking father was born and raised in a trailer park. His parents were probably fucking inbred retards. And her mother is a fucking whore who left him to fuck anyone with money. Do you know what trash plus trash equals? Fucking trash!” He started laughing again. “They even named her Lake because they fucked on a lake, and that’s where she was conceived. You see? She’s a fucking retard like her father and a fucking whore lik—”
Vincent swung the sock full of change across his face, and then he began to beat him with it. The sound of tiny pieces of metal hitting hard flesh satisfied him as he heard Lake’s mother cry.
Pam forced her face in the opposite direction, unable to look at the brutality of what he was doing. “Please, he made me do it! I would never hurt my baby!”