"That wasn't as easy as we thought, was it?"

Jazz was hurrying, with a slight bend at her hips leaning her into her path. Her arms were by her side and, every so often, she'd rub her stomach.

"No, not even close," Cassidy agreed. "He beat the shit out of us, like we were... we were...."

"Shit?"

"Yeah!"

He hadn't missed his sister's movements, but was waiting for her to say something. She would, right? If she was in more pain, or if there was a certain pain located in her abdomen, she would tell him, wouldn't she?

When they were home, he'd ask her.

"He's a nutter," he said. "Fucking lost it."

"Yeah. I suppose I didn't help that."

"Your big mouth just showed us what he was like earlier than planned, that's all. You did us a favour."

But at what cost?

"I guess. Now we know what we're dealing with."

"You still want to kill him?"

"Now, more than ever."

What had they become to speak of murder so calmly? Had death become just another word, though it would never smell sweet? Horror films and thrilling television shows where bullets were thrown about like confetti at a wedding had numbed them to the real impact of taking a life. The devastating mass shootings of innocents happening at far too regular intervals brought the true meaning suddenly home, but it was fast forgotten. For many, it was on the television. It happened in another town. Another country. It was sad, but separate.

And the latest binge worthy streaming show had just been released. With bullets and monsters and brave children fighting in ashen worlds. Let's just watch an episode or six of that, eh?

Cassidy entered his home first and was overjoyed to be greeted by Bobby's bounding welcome.

"Hello, boy," he said. "It's so good to see you!"

The dog still being there wasn't a done deal. He'd been dead, so shouldn't be alive. He could have been some sort of ghost, just one that could be felt and who had a rapid little heartbeat racing in his chest. He could have been temporary.

But he wasn't.

Thank you, Amy.

"We should go see Amy," Jazz said. "Tell her what happened."

"I know. We will. Let's just sit down for a minute and recover."

"Are you OK?"

"I'm fine, apart from a splitting headache. I'm not thinking about me."

"Me? I'm fine. Don't worry about it."

"Snotty, you're not... ty. I've seen the way you're holding yourself. You're limping too. He hurt you."

"Damn right he did. He was a fucking animal."

"Yeah, he was. And you're pregnant."

"So?"

"Don't be stupid about it. He was being nasty. What if he's hurt the baby?"

"I don't think we need to worry about that," she breathed.

"Why?"

"There's no 'if'."

"What? You mean...?"

Cass dropped to his knees and held Jazz's hands. He looked up at her, but she avoided his gaze.

"Jazz, are you OK?"

"I don't know," she said. "I don't think I am."

"We need to get you to a hospital. Now!"

"There's no point. I can tell. There's no point." She did look at him, then. "We need to finish this."

"But what about you? We need to get you checked out, you know that."

"I know we need to speak to Amy, and then go get the bastard."

"No," insisted Cassidy. "He can wait. He's not going anywhere."

"He might be able to wait, but I can't."

She stood up abruptly, grimacing, and pulled her hands away from his. Cass had no choice other than following her upstairs. Amy was waiting for them.

I'm so sorry.

"Don't be," Jazz said. "It's not your fault. We went to him."

You went because of me.

"But you tried to stop us."

Not hard enough.

"It would never have been. Don't worry about it."

I am still sorry.

Accept it or not.

"OK, I accept it. Thank you. But, it's not your fault. We knew what we were getting ourselves into and did it, anyway."

Cassidy wasn't sure he could entirely agree with his sister's assessment. They were warned, and in their pride, still went. They thought they knew, and they were wrong. In the case of his sister, massively so.

They would have gone, either way, though. He couldn't deny that.

What happened?

"We got our arses handed to us, shredded," he said. "We tried to be discreet and ended up getting a mauling. Now we know what's facing us."

Why don't you just leave it?

Jazz needs help.

"I don't need help. It's too late."

"It might not be," said Cass. "You don't know that. Let the hospital decide."

"I do know. I know my own body. I can..." She choked on her words, which changed their direction to become tears, instead. "I'm fine!"

"You won't be fine if you fucking come near me again."

The bedroom door, which had been partially been closed to prevent Bobby from venturing downstairs, burst open.

Greg stormed through. His fists were balled and his face was fury red.

Jazz fell back against her brother and the two of them backed away against the window. Greg stopped by the bed.

"Are you two some weird stalkers, or sumfin? Who the fuck moves into an 'ouse then goes after the people who lived there? Fucking freaks!"

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Jazz said, her anger temporarily masking her fear. "And it's not people. It's just person."

"What the fuck are you on about?"

"It's not 'people.' Amy and her mother are dead, remember? So, it's 'person.' You. The killer."

"I don't know where you're getting your ideas from, but I've warned you."

"Warn all you want. We won't leave you alone until you admit the truth and pay for what you did!"

"I know you, don't I?" Greg pointed at Jazz and she shrank back. "You hung around with my Amy. Jasmine. You're that Jasmine girl."

"Yeah, what of it?"

"This just gets weirder. I bet you were in love with her or sumat. Fucking lesbo. Now it makes sense."

"The word is 'lesbian,' you moron. And no, I'm not and your daughter wasn't. If you gave a shit about her, you'd know it. You'd rather kill her. And her poor mum."

"Fuck off, or I'll do to you what I did to your brother."

Jazz gasped and Cass, who'd remained silent up until that point to see if the man gave something away, stepped forward.

"What have you done to Ethan?"

"He'll be OK, when he wakes up. If he does. How do you think I found you fuckers? I could only follow one of you."

"What have you done?"

Cassidy launched himself at the man, who easily stepped aside. As Cass stumbled past, Greg landed a punch on the side of his head, almost exactly where the previous one had hit. Cass dropped to the floor. He placed Bobby on the floor, and the dog, thankfully, ran out of the room, whimpering.

"Fuck this!" Greg shouted. "Unless you wanna end up like her, you'll drop this shit!"

Jazz ran to her brother and knelt by his side. Cass was trying to push himself up. He managed to grab hold of the side of his bed and use that to pull himself up, with Jazz helping him the rest of the way.

"End up like who?" he said, panting and holding his temple. Blood was seeping through his fingers.

"Nothing. Just leave me the fuck alone. Or else."

"Or else we'll end up like her?"

"Yeah!"

"Amy?"

Greg glared at the pair. His mind was working, they could see. Come on, they were both thinking. Just admit it! He moved closer to them, expecting them to scramble away. They didn't.

"What difference does it make now?" he said, the calm in his voice chilling. "Yeah, Amy. So what?"

"You killed her, didn't you?" Jazz asked. She clung to her brother in anticipation of Amy's murderous father's – stepfather's - next words.

"I did, yeah. She was a whinging little bitch who never did what she was told. Always moaning. Always in my face. Her mum was the same. Once I got rid of her, it was like that little cow decided to follow on."

"Amy was sweet and lovely and didn't deserve what you did!"

"I knew you and her had sumat going on. Fucking freaks!"

"Just because I liked her, doesn't mean I liked her like that. You're the freak, thinking like that anyway. Love is love, whoever it's with."

"Good riddance to the bitch. I didn't even enjoy killing her mother as much as I did her. Now that was sweet."

Jazz leapt up and threw herself at him, screaming incoherently. Cass tried up follow her, the blow to his head making him nauseous. He lurched towards them, but his sister's flailing legs knocked him to the side and he fell against the wardrobe.

Greg was unperturbed by the attack. He lifted her from him, ignoring the scratches from her nails on his face. He threw her towards her brother. She landed awkwardly on one foot, which twisted and snapped. Her scream then was one of pain, rather than anger.

Cassidy, torn between his sister and the oncoming menace, chose his sister. She was sobbing and clutching her stomach. Between sobs, she groaned and twitched. He buried her head against his chest.

"Go," he said. "Just leave us alone."

"It's too late for that, ya little prick. Way too late for that."

As he advanced on the siblings, he clenched and unclenched his fists, and swung his arms. He was grinning.

"You should have just left it alone," he said. "Now, at least you'll be able to say hello to Amy."

At the mention of her name, Cassidy suddenly sat up straighter.

"This is your old wardrobe, isn't it?"

Greg paused and looked at the large piece of furniture.

"Yeah. I'm surprised it's still in one piece. Got a lot of use, that did." He indicated the mirror. "That used to be inside."

He stopped walking and, without fully moving his attention from his victims, regarded the mirror.

"I stuck it inside so the bitch could see herself. See what she was. See where she was and what I could do if she crossed me."

"You locked her in there."

"Good guess, shithead. Gave me some peace."

It wasn't a guess.

The lipstick ants appeared so abruptly, even Cassidy was surprised. Greg stared and half stepped away.

"What the fuck?"

Hello Father.

https://youtu.be/H_1pMc9DuUI