Chapter Sixteen

The Animal Inside

Once again, the night bore witness to dark behaviors. Once again, it provided shelter and protection for the sinners of the world. Once again, it provided the right stage for everything that should end.

Ethel made sure the hood of her cloak covered her face in full. She would not be recognized. She provided small comfort and support for the drunken man she was almost carrying. He had his face hidden as well, she had made sure her scarf and his hat covered his features as effectively as hers were. He would not be recognized.

It was difficult to help the man walk, but harder than that, was making him do it in silence. They moved together in the shadows, almost like they were one with them. Ethel made sure no one saw them and, if they did, they would never know who they were.

It was all happening as it should be - she had left The Black Cat long before, leaving Graham strict instructions to only leave the bar after an hour had passed. The man, as predicted, had failed to understand the instructions - but they were ready. Victor, seeing Octavius ready to leave too soon, had brought Nicholas to the bar's balcony and proceeded to entertain the man. Victor and Nicholas paid him drinks for at least an hour. Meanwhile, Ethel had been waiting, strategically hidden.

When Victor had deemed it long enough, he had secretly instigated him to leave, staying behind with an already more than cheerful Nicholas. Ethel had no difficulty in finding him, already fully cloaked.

For all intents and purposes, Octavius Graham had arrived alone at The Black Cat and he had left on his own as well.

After a long and troublesome walk, they finally arrived at their destination - the back door of the von Mallesch mansion. Unlike the front door, which was shamelessly sided to one of the city's roads, the back door faced a dark and narrow street that was barely used anymore - unless by other people with twisted intentions. She was relieved to see that no one was there and, due to the solid darkness, even if there was someone, they'd never be able to recognize them.

She quietly opened the back gate, which she had already left unlocked, ignoring Graham's silly remarks and drunken stupor. They walked inside the back garden and entered the house by one of the tall windows that had also been left open. Ethel dropped him in the couch with little care, Graham not even quite realizing where he was. She lighted some of the lamps and was relieved to notice that Preshea had done as told - she had left.

"Come here, lovely creature," Octavius mumbled with a stupid grin that disgusted her.

"I'll be right back, don't go anywhere," she told him in a playful tone. Ethel didn't wait for his reply. She quickly made for the stairs and walked to the children's room. When she opened the door, she found Joshua already deep asleep and Alice still awake, seeing as the young girl immediately sat up in her bed. She looked at Ethel with those impossibly strong blue eyes, not revealing a thought and showing no feeling.

Ethel walked towards her, trying not to wake Joshua. She sat on the girl's bed and looked at her straight in the eye.

"Try to fall asleep," she whispered, "and if you can't, no matter what you hear, no matter how you feel or what you think, don't leave this room. You don't leave this room and you don't let Joshua leave this room. Understand?"

Alice only nodded, her expression still unreadable. Ethel was left wondering if the girl suspected of what was about to happen. She brushed her fingers through the girl's hair and whispered again, "Try to sleep."

She left, without looking back and closing the door behind her.

She returned downstairs and everything she had been inside that room stayed there. What was left was perfectly illustrated in her renewed, twisted smirk. She contemplated her victim. He was still waiting for her in the couch.

"Where have you been, gorgeous?" he asked.

She ignored him and walked towards the bar. "Do you want something to drink? I can make the most delicious poisons." She laughed at her own joke and Octavius stupidly laughed as well, completely oblivious to its true meaning. "I can make drinks to die for. You will never taste anything like it again."

"Sure thing, beautiful, bring one to me."

She glanced at the older man, old enough to be her father, and managed to hide her repugnance. She never flinched, as she poured a dose of a transparent liquid into his drink. The plan was for him to die from poison, it would look like a heart attack at best.

She returned and sat next to him, sensually leaning over while she handed the man his glass. She drank from her own as she witnessed, with pleasure, Graham drinking with thirst.

Ethel chuckled. He was already dead.

The familiar sound of the main door being opened interrupted their small talk. Ethel's enthusiasm only rose when she saw her brother entering the living room. His smirk mimicked hers - he never looked more delighted with a guest. Victor slowly took off his hat and jacket, while Octavius looked at him with a questioning expression.

"Good evening, Ethel."

"Good evening, Victor," she answered, with fondness.

"Ethel?" Octavius asked, confused. "I thought you said your name was Marie."

She laughed in his ear. "I lied."

Instead of taking this as a very obvious warning sign, Octavius merely laughed, completely taken by Ethel's finger travelling on his cheek.

Victor sat in the arm of the couch in front of them, staring at him with a perpetual grin. Graham seemed to finally recognize him.

"Oh, I knew I'd seen you before. You're the good man who was at the bar with Nicholas Skeffington."

Victor opened his arms in what would seem like a pleasant gesture of friendliness, though to Ethel it was very clear he was mocking the poor man. "Guilty."

"Yes, he is," Ethel purred.

Octavius silly smile faded for a second. "What... are you doing here?"

"I'm here to watch." Victor simply replied, folding his arms against his chest.

"Watch?" Octavius seemed to be finally growing suspicious, if not concerned.

Ethel took another sip of her drink. "We are siblings, honey," she explained, with painfully fake sweetness.

Once more, the revelation failed to scare Octavius away. Instead, he glanced between Ethel and Victor, smiled wider and said, in a sadly cheery tone, "Ah, yes. I can see the resemblance, now that you pointed it out."

"Good." Victor answered with amusement. "So you are not completely dense."

"What? Dense?" Octavius answered with the kind of anger a drunken man can display in a second. "Listen, for your information, I am actually quite bright. I am a lawyer!"

"How is that working out for you?" Ethel maliciously asked, grabbing a piece of his dirty old jacket with disgust.

Octavius looked at her in surprise, incapable to reply.

"We know who you are." Victor's amusement had vanished in a moment and he now showed nothing but loathing and hate. "You are Octavius Graham, the famous lawyer who drastically failed."

Graham's features suddenly became infected with concern and shame. "Oh... you know about-"

"Yes, I know about everything," Victor answered with revulsion. "Tell me, Graham, were you not the lawyer who was hired to defend William von Mallesch in court?"

Graham laughed bitterly. "Yes, yes I was," he replied, looking at his hands. Ethel got up from her seat next to Octavius and joined Victor on the other couch, effectively demonstrating her real persona and loyalty. Octavius might've seen that, had he not been that drunk and intoxicated by her dancing hips.

"Then, you are a failure." Victor smirked at him, enjoying the humiliation and bringing the lawyer back into reality. "A child could've won that case."

Ethel laughed. "A particularly slow child."

Octavius seemed to finally give in to bitterness. "You laugh, but the joke is on you." He laughed hysterically, looking demented, like he had been dying to make this revelation for years. "The joke is on everybody!"

"Really?" Victor asked, visibly uninterested. He already knew the answer.

"You see..." Octavius laughed again. "This is a secret but... I lost on purpose!" He spread his arms, as if he was telling a joke no one else understood and that he, himself, found lacking in humor. "I could never tell anyone, for I would be disbarred and jailed, but now, what do I have to lose?" His stance and eyes became dark, as if his revelation was equally nauseating for him. "I'm not dense. I lost on purpose!"

"Now why would anyone do that?" Ethel asked, before drinking some more. She was leaning against the couch, also looking bored, but content on keeping the charade, like she was playing some sick game.

Octavius's eyes remained dark and a smile of malice, very similar to that of the siblings, was born on his lips. "I was paid to do so. A whole lot of money they gave me, too. It was... difficult to refuse." He drank a little more of his doom, though he sounded more sober now than he had before.

Victor walked around the room, a cautious and slow pacing, though his voice portrayed judgment and controlled anger. "So you accepted money to purposely facilitate an innocent man's conviction? The man you were supposed to protect?"

"I did, I did." He nodded, his smile becoming sad and distant. "I was... pretty stupid, in a way, I must admit. Don't know what came over me. I never should've done it. I wouldn't, if I knew then what I know now. I guess... all that money... it was difficult to refuse."

Octavius lifted his glass to his mouth again, though he never quite made it there. He was assaulted by a coughing fit of major proportions, it seemed like he was struggling to breathe all the while.

Neither Victor nor Ethel moved a finger to help him, neither one of them flinched at the man's sudden desperation for air, neither showed the slightest hint of pity or regret. They just watched as Octavius finally composed himself, taking deep breaths and looking tired and confused. He brought his hand to his head, closing his eyes in a demonstration of pain and moaned. His hand quickly flew to his chest and he held it there, as if something was trying to break free from it and he was holding it inside.

He took another sip, to help him free his sore throat.

"So you regret it?" Victor asked, as if nothing had interrupted them.

"I do." Octavius's eyes found Victor. They had a painful glint to them that only brought pleasure to Ethel. She was smiling, starring proudly at the product of her work. The lawyer looked back at her and seemed angry, forgetting quickly about his recent symptoms. "I mean, look where I am now. Look at my life!"

"What do you mean?" Victor sounded confused.

"I got famous for that, you know?" Octavius answered, sounding furious, though extremely tired. "I got famous for losing, losing in such a terrible way. Not the good kind of fame, the awful, life-shattering, career-destroying kind. My career was over the moment I decided to go ahead with it. Shouldn't have taken that man's money... It ruined my life!"

Victor stopped pacing and looked at him with pure fury blazing in his eyes. "Ruined your life?" He could barely keep himself from yelling, his fists were clenched and Ethel figured it was a miracle that he was not strangling Octavius.

The lawyer seemed gracefully oblivious. "Yes! I was never able to clean my name, you know? No one ever wanted me to work for them again after that... shameful loss. I couldn't get work, I spend the money I was given and I lost my family." He laughed. "As it stands, the only thing that bribe ever got me was a lonely, miserable life, a shameful reputation, debts and an alcohol addiction."

"That's why you regret it?" Victor's hands were shaking, he spoke with clenched teeth.

"Yes!" Octavius actually sounded surprised by the question. Ethel wondered who the biggest monster in that room really was. "Why else would I?"

Victor almost ran to him, a menacing expression on his dark features. "You put an innocent man in jail," he whispered in a terrifying tone. "You helped take him away from his family. That doesn't mean anything to you?"

"You think I should pity them?" He laughed. "My good man, I'm too busy pitying myself. I'm the real victim here. Besides, who says von Mallesch really was innocent?"

"Don't you dare..." Victor eyed him with killer intent.

"You're disgusting." Ethel looked at him as if he made her sick.

"We all are, gorgeous." He smiled at Ethel and drank a little more, unaware of Victor's sudden change in direction. Victor was now standing behind him, looking around, searching for something, his eyes full of hate and venom.

Octavius continued his conversation with Ethel, blissfully unaware of Victor's actions.

"You know the funniest thing? I could've won that case and if I did, I would've become famous." His smiled widened, though it quickly faded as a sudden expression of pain crossed his face. He grabbed his chest again and rested his glass on the small wooden table in front of him. As soon as the pain apparently vanished, he continued, "I mean really famous! The right kind of famous! And I would have worked with and for the best."

Octavius didn't notice Ethel's eyes slowly travelling to the figure of Victor behind him. Victor had found what he was looking for - a weapon. He was holding a long, old wooden log that had previously been resting, useless, out of place, humble and innocent, next to the fireplace. He now approached the back of the couch slowly, with hunger and anger in his eyes.

"Everyone would want me. Everyone would know me as the man who freed Sir William von Mallesch! I would have been rich, I would've-"

The sentence was never finished. In its stead, the dry sound of a neck breaking and a skull shattering haunted the room. Ethel was caught by surprise and actually jumped, letting out a small scream that could've been mistaken by a short laugh, her eyes widened and her hand covering her mouth.

Victor stood behind the couch, breathing quickly, looking animalistic with blood splattered all over his clothes. The blood covered the couch, flooded the floor, was splattered across the closest wall, like some kind of perverted painting. Victor dropped the log on the ground - it was colored with the darkest red.

Octavius Graham's corpse fell to the side, his deformed head hanging in a sickly angle, his crushed bones and bulging eyes the perfect picture of their disease.

Once she was finally over the shock, Ethel actually managed to chuckle and grin.

"Victor... the man was already poisoned. He wasn't going anywhere. He had only a few more minutes before excruciating pain and death."

He looked at her, finally taking his eyes away from the disturbing corpse. He looked as shocked and shaken as she had been, but he, just like Ethel, quickly shook it off. His eyes glinted again, wide in all their excitement and madness, his smirk was back and more proud than ever.

"He didn't deserve one more second."

Ethel smiled and drank from her glass. "I think you're right."

Once again, the two siblings weren't as lonely as they thought they were. Once again, they were unaware of the eyes that were watching and the stuffed dog on the stairs.

It wasn't supposed to be there.