Malice in Neverland (Dark Fairytale)

Alice

"Serial Killer" by Lana Del Rey
***

"Now if you look over here, this was when Wendy brutally decapitated someone who made a threat against-"
"No more!" I begged, moving away so I no longer had to look at the horrible images he was showing me. I backed myself to the edge of the couch to get away. Mr. Suave now had a name. James had a lot of photographs showcasing horror on his iPad. The last hour had been spent going through many gruesome pictures. He was getting amusement from showing me what was photographed. Some man with three missing fingers that left bloody stumps? Supposedly the work of Wendy. A woman who tried to kill Wendy one afternoon? She wound up dying by a nosedive from a very tall building in Chicago and breaking every bone in her body upon impact with the concrete. The one that made me move away quickly was the photo of a Hispanic man with a decapitated head that was barely hanging on by a shred of skin. Blood was everywhere, absorbing everything around the chair and the clear plastic on the floor. It reminded me of scenes from old mafia movies I used to watch on TV during rainy weekends. But this wasn't the product of a TV writer's imagination; it was much worse than that because everything was real. Looking at these photos of dead bodies made me realize I would never fall asleep tonight after viewing that.
"I d-don't believe you," I stuttered, starting to shake as James held up the iPad that depicted the photo of a gruesomely skinned dog. I had to look away before I vomited, I was very close.
"This one is particularly cruel," he said aloud as he tsked again. "Dogs are very loyal and forgiving creatures; she was a real monster for doing this one. Dead pet all because someone had to play with few grams of her cocaine for personal use," said James with a sigh. "I've seen that delivery guy around after the death; he's never been the same since."
"Wendy wouldn't do that!" Although I shook my head adamantly, my voice broke at the end.
"I've got every crime she's ever committed or had covered up," said James slyly. "All right here."
"I don't b-believe you," I said again. "Wendy w-wouldn't do anything like that."
"There's a reason she was nicknamed 'The Red Queen'."
"I don't believe you," I said again.

"Right, because after all these years you knew everything about her."
My head was spinning. My hands were cold and clammy and I was having trouble reconciling what I was seeing when he pulled up a video. The image was clear; bold enough of color that it looked like a movie and not camera footage from a wall. It was in a room with lounging sofas and large throne-like chairs. I recognized it as the strip club. On camera I could see a woman with cascading curls the color of burnt red; all dolled up with sky high heels and a see-through red nightie that highlighted her curvy bottom and the swell of her breasts. She was straddling the lap of a man who looked to be in his sixties. They were making out. Things were turning hot and heavy fast; the woman was grinding herself against the man's groin while he kept his hands placed on her slender hips. She was soon nipping at the skin of his throat.

"H-how much..." panted the man as the woman started undoing his dress pants.
"Baby, you already know my price," moaned the woman as the man's hands started snaking his way up her nightie to play with her lady parts. "Ah ah," she teased, slapping his hands away.

"Not until the money, honey..."
Quickly the man stopped his fondling while the woman worked to remove his boxers before she started massaging his now visible erection. He moaned while he slapped around the table next to him to find his smart phone. Once he had it, he started fiddling around trying to hurriedly type something in as the woman quickened her hand job she was giving the man. He looked to have a hard time concentrating as he hurriedly typed something on the phone. It took him a minute but once finished he showed the woman his phone. It looked to be bank account information, but it wasn't visible on the camera. The woman smiled in satisfaction as she stopped her motions towards his groin.

"Why'd ya stop?" groaned the old man, continuing what the woman stopped by massaging his stiff penis. "Viagra only lasts so long!"
"I'm getting ready for something else, baby," said the woman seductively, licking her perfectly sculpted lips as she sunk to her knees. Judging by the chuckle the man gave, I placed a bet he wasn't prepared for the woman's next action. He had clearly been anticipating her to try a new sex act. However, when the woman sunk to her knees, she pulled out a gun that was underneath the lounging sofa. A silencer was attached to it.

"What the..." the man's words were lost as a bullet was suddenly placed into his forehead by the woman; the sound surprisingly silent on camera, as if the silencer blocked out all noise completely. The man's head cracked open like a dropped watermelon upon the bullet making impact. The gruesome sight of all the blood and brain plasma caused me to bolt from my spot on the couch and towards the bathroom. I sunk to my knees and launched the contents of my stomach into the thankfully open toilet. The contents were only water and stomach acid given I hadn't eaten in a while. I dry heaved for a few long moments as I tried to reconcile what it was I had just witnessed on camera.

James was in the doorway, casually leaning against the frame as he watched me. I wiped at my mouth, but I stayed on my knees as I flushed the toilet. The reality of what I saw was too horrible to try and comprehend. "Which part of it got to you?" he said casually as he watched his perfectly kept fingernails.
I could only stare at the toilet bowl. I had no answer. To be fair, I wasn't sure what I was more shocked by. The murder on camera I had just witnessed, or the fact that it was Wendy who had been inappropriate with the man before pulling the trigger.
***