Fettered

Escape Attempt

"All right, y'all wanna stay alive here, we're gonna need t' discuss some things," was what Lucas had told her the day after her encounter with Jack. Since then, he'd been going over what to say and do around his folks and Eveline. If she could get them to trust her, she'd never have to worry about them again. So she memorized signals, triggers, and some interjections he suggested she use, though overall he told her not to do much talking.

"And y'all don' gotta eat that nasty shit, just slip it t' Diane, she loves it."

It was dinner with the whole family that night, and a woman that she'd never seen. She was skinny, young, with black hair unruly in her face. Persephone sat between her and Lucas, forcing a straight face when Eveline jumped into her lap. She quietly held the young girl as Eveline bounced on her legs and chattered about her 'new big sister' — though she was having trouble pronouncing her name as anything other than 'Persepenny'. Eveline took a liking to her long, thick hair and braided it as they waited for dinner.

"Your hair is so pretty, Sis!"
"Thank you," she replied, blank eyes staring at the table.
"Why don' ya come over here, Evie?" Lucas said. "I think yer big sis is a little tired."

Eveline smiled wide and switched laps, giving Persephone space to breathe. Marguerite soon arrived with the food and handed out bowls and spoons. She dropped a good sized portion of the food into the bowl in front of Persephone. She felt her throat clench up and stomach lurch when the acrid scent of death hit her in the face. Looking away from the mess of organs (and a whole finger), she swallowed back the bile.

When dinner started, Eveline got to her seat between Jack and Marguerite, who kept touching her hair and calling her precious. They didn't notice Persephone spooning as much 'food' as possible to Diane, apologizing internally for giving such vile crap to the poor creature. Diane did seem to eat it right up but it didn't make Persephone feel any better, knowing she probably would've gobbled down shit had it been given to her.

"So, Persephone," Marguerite said.
Persephone's heart jumped, and she tightened her lips to keep it from showing.
"You and my son, together again. You better be treatin' my baby right."
"Of course..." She paused for a moment, staring down into her lap.
Jack slammed his fist on the table, dinnerware rattling. "Dammit, young lady! You look at'chur mother when she's talkin' ta ya!"
Persephone's stiff gaze landed on Marguerite's saccharine smile.
"Well, I for one am glad my son's got such a nice girl," said Marguerite. "Ooh, I wonder if we could have a weddin'!"

Wedding? No. No, no, no, no — Persephone would not let herself be wed to Lucas, not under these circumstances and certainly not 'till death by insanity or this crazy house do they part. She glanced over at Eveline, who clapped and bounced.

"I've always wanted to be in a wedding! I wanna be the flower girl!"
"Oh, Evie," said the black-haired woman, her eyes lighting up, "you'd look so beautiful with a little flower crown!"
"All right, let's not get too ahead a' ourselves," said Lucas; the only one making sense in the whole room, scarily enough. "We wanna make sure our newest family member is nice n' comfy first, right?"
"Of course," Jack agreed. "Best not to rush these things, you know."
Eveline frowned and crossed her arms tight. "But I want a wedding! Don't you, big Sis?"

Her large, childish eyes looked Persephone over. Persephone's gaze darted to Lucas. Lucas reached up and tapped his cheek twice, then pretended he was simply itching his jawline. Persephone held back her grimace. It would probably be the only answer Eveline would accept, otherwise a major tantrum could come on.

"Yes," Persephone said, emotionless eyes locking onto Eveline's. "I'd love to have a wedding one day."
Eveline giggled and squealed. "Yay!"

If she was going to plan a wedding, Persephone was going to drown herself in the bayou.