None of them had any idea how to negotiate this new relationship at the start. She and Mamrie had talked about it for a long time before they seduced Hannah but the practice was wildly different from the theory. They'd been right about Hannah freaking out and three weeks after their first night together they'd spent four hours talking to her through a locked bathroom door, trying to persuade her that they weren't doing anything wrong. What Grace hadn't anticipated was that both she and Mamrie would freak out as well. Mamrie's crisis had taken the form of convincing herself that Grace only wanted to be with Hannah and attempting to do the 'noble' thing and step back. Grace had flat out called her an idiot and then spent several hours making love to her on the sofa. Hannah had come home from visiting Maggie to find them stretched out together under a blanket and refused to explain why she laughed loudly before joining them.
Grace's own meltdown hadn't been about having two girlfriends, exactly. She was actually surprisingly cool with that. What preyed on her mind was how much she had to lose. Her two best friends had become her two girlfriends and she couldn't shake the idea that being this happy meant the other shoe was about to drop. Grace's first instinct, as ever, was to bolt before she could get hurt. Eventually they'd all trouped down to Hannah's therapist and begged for help.
Doctor Williams had pointed out that they were now effectively navigating four relationships; three couples and the triad, and that if they wanted it to work all of them had to be equally important. Hannah had confessed to feeling like the third wheel in Grace and Mamrie's relationship and the two of them had opened up about the difficulty they'd had admitting they both wanted Hannah. It took time and honesty and more bravery than Grace knew she possessed, but their relationship had passed the six month mark and Grace was starting to trust that this new happiness wouldn't be snatched away from her.
Then the murders start.
At first it's not relevant to her life at all. There are a couple of small news items about women missing from the LA area that Grace doesn't pay attention to, then one night there's a major story about a recovered body, badly mutilated. The three of them agree how awful it is and change the channel.
A couple of weeks later another body is found, and then another, and suddenly the mayor and police chief are giving a press conference about a fucking serial killer at work in Los Angeles. It's completely surreal. The city is suddenly filled with the world's press, discussing and dissecting what exactly is this guy's problem. The press call him the Hollywood Ripper and soon Grace is hearing the name every day.
It creeps slowly into her own life. Hannah refuses to let either of them go anywhere alone and Mamrie snarls every time the news reports go into voyeuristic detail about what was done to those poor women. She ends all her Daily Grace videos now with a reminder to anyone in LA to keep safe and all her social media sites are slowly filling up with speculation and discussion and the number of people reminding her to take her own advice is really pretty touching.
When the latest body is recovered in pieces, Hannah gets calls from her both her sisters telling her to get out of the city. Grace and Mamrie get similar calls over the next couple of days, but Mamrie refuses to let the bastard chase her away and like hell are they going to leave her there alone. Grace makes them both move in with her temporarily and they get the place fitted out with the best security system their combined savings can buy.
——-
It's been a month, and the city feels like it's under siege. Twelve women are dead and another three are missing. After yet another news report featuring grieving families with microphones shoved intrusively in their faces, Mamrie loses her temper and drags Hannah to the hardware store while Grace is instructed to set up her camera outside. When they return Mamrie sets up a plastic tub on the bench and puts on goggles and gloves. She smiles at the camera like always, but Grace can see the anger behind it.
"Hi, and welcome to You Deserve A Drink. I'm Mamrie Hart, and who do I think most deserves a drink this week? It's everyone's favourite pathetic impotent psycho, the Hollywood Ripper! This one's for you, pal!"
Mamrie's 'drink' involves bleach, acid, rat poison, ground glass, rusty nails, dog shit and a twist of lemon. In between each ingredient she replaces her usual jokes with vicious, hilarious insults. Grace stares in absolute amazement at first but soon she's laughing so hard that tears run down her cheeks.
"I think I'm going to name this one the Lethal Injection. So here's to you, you fucker," Mamrie addresses the camera, holding up a cocktail glass filled with the vile concoction and Grace is glad she's wearing gloves because she's pretty sure it's eating through the glass.
"Drink up! As for me," she places the glass down carefully and lifts a bottle of champagne into view, "I'll be saving this for the day the cops shoot you in the head. Cheers!"
Mamrie flips the camera off and walks out of shot. Grace feels like she should applaud.
The video barely needs any editing and Grace finishes it as soon as she can. From the bedroom she can hear Mamrie apparently working out some of her frustration with Hannah and as soon as she hits the upload button she rushes to join them.
A few hours later she returns to her computer, intending to link to the video from all of their social media as usual. She fires up YouTube to grab the URL and stares at the screen in shock. In just over three hours it's garnered over half a million views.
"Mames, get over here!" Grace yells. Mamrie walks over, followed by an adorably rumpled Hannah. Grace just points.
——-
By day two the video has 4 million views. Some enterprising soul on Tumblr photoshops the moment Mamrie drops the dog shit into the tub so that she's wearing a crown and a banner hangs behind her saying "Queen of Los Angeles". Grace is seriously thinking about having t shirts printed.
On day three it hits 15 million views. Hannah has been quiet all morning and when Mamrie is in the shower she pulls Grace aside.
"Grace, we need to get Mamrie out of the city," Hannah tells her seriously.
"Why?" Grace asks.
"This thing has gone majorly viral. What if he sees it?"
"Then he can suck my dick, Hannah." Mamrie's voice floats through from the bathroom. "We're being careful, we're doing the buddy system. Stop worrying so much."
——-
The three of them have a schedule, sister-wife style, so that Grace gets time with each of them individually and time to herself when they go out without her. They try to have a group date night at least once every two weeks and by chance Pearl's birthday party has fallen on one of those nights.
Grace is pretty sure that every single person Pearl had ever met is at the club and it was quite possible that people were being pulled in off the streets from the sheer gravitational force of awesomeness. It's amazing, though, what has become normal in the weeks since the killings started. The bouncers are reminding any woman who leaves the club alone to stay in sight or find a friend to stay with. Patrol cars roll past from time to time. She wonders if the exuberance in the club is an unconscious fuck-you to the psycho whose presence hangs over all of LA like a fog. Grace has better things to focus on though; Hannah and Mamrie are dancing together, looking hot enough to throw off sparks and occasionally looking over at Grace as if to enquire whether she's enjoying the show.
She is. She makes her way to the dance floor, enjoying the way they watch her approach hungrily. Hannah reaches for her hand and pulls her in and soon they're dancing together in their own little world, spinning and twisting and dipping in and out of each other's orbit. Grace knows people are watching but their unique friendship is well known and she isn't too worried. They're all notorious for teasing the various ships they're involved in and Grace is confident that their behaviour won't raise too many eyebrows.
She has no idea how long they dance together. It's intoxicating to touch each other in public and Grace recognises the desire building between them. Hannah's hands are starting roam a little further than could be explained by friendly flirting and Mamrie is smiling indulgently. Grace nudges Hannah and mimes getting a drink. Hannah nods distractedly and returns her attention to Mamrie.
Grace laughs. A couple of months ago being dismissed like that would have left her feeling insecure for the rest of the night but these days she is confident enough that their focus on each other is nothing but hot.
She orders a soda and leans against the bar, enjoying the show her girlfriends are putting on. Mamrie has resorted to holding Hannah's arms in place as they dance and Grace isn't sure that's a helpful idea. Hannah and Mamrie have a mild dominant/submissive dynamic that surfaces from time to time and from the looks of it, being restrained is not doing anything to calm Hannah down. She laughs at the resigned expression on Mamrie's face as she gives up and drags Hannah off the dance floor and towards the exit, no doubt hoping the fresh air will cool the little energizer bunny down. Grace suspects they'll ending up making out instead.
She chats to a few people, finishes her drink and dances with Pearl. After quarter of an hour, Hannah and Mamrie haven't returned so Grace goes after them, muttering under her breath about fire hoses and bromide. She heads for the back alley, expecting to see the two of them wrapped up in each other, probably breaking a few decency laws by now.
That's not what she sees.
What she sees what is that is Hannah lying on the ground no this isn't happening with the side of her head matted with black-red blood please be alive baby and Mamrie's purse lying next to her with its torn strap trailing from her hand.
Grace doesn't scream. She runs to Hannah's side and finds a pulse thank you God and then calls 911 with shaking hands hurry hurry hurry come on you motherfuckers get here NOW and tries very hard to listen to the instructions the dispatcher gives her headwound/fatal/braindamage/coma.
She holds Hannah's hand and watches the shallow movement of her chest and doesn't think until she hears sirens. She doesn't take her eyes off Hannah until the paramedics are edging her out of the way and then she looks up to see a crowd has gathered. Nick is desperately trying to get to her despite the uniformed policeman blocking him and Pearl is standing in shock, hands over her mouth.
"Ma'am?"
She turns to see a woman with a small notebook and a shield on her belt and suddenly her brain jumps back into gear.
"Mamrie!" She yells.
——-
Grace is shivering. The precinct isn't cold and she's been handed a cup of coffee but her blood feels like ice. She's explained what she knows four separate times now and she just wants to get out of there and find out if Hannah is still alive. She doesn't think about the other thing. Finally she's given a ride to the hospital. The cop escorting her speaks to a nurse and she's ushered through an endless parade of doors and corridors and elevators until she's outside Hannah's room.
Hannah is awake. She's talking to another detective and she has a huge dressing on the side of her head and her face is black and blue and one eye is swollen shut but she's alive and she's awake and Grace's legs are barely holding her up at this point so she stumbles into the room and she and Hannah just stare at each other.
"Excuse me miss, I'm conducting an interview," the detective says.
"This is Grace," Hannah answers without looking away from her. Her voice is slurred and her lisp seemed more pronounced.
"Your...other girlfriend?" Grace vaguely registers his tone, somewhere been hesitant and disapproving, but she's too busy drinking in the sight of Hannah to care.
"Yeah," Hannah answers distractedly. The detective says something Grace doesn't catch and leaves. The two of them look at each other for a moment longer before Hannah speaks.
"I tried, Grace. I swear, I tried to fight him."
"It was him, then?" She's been not thinking about it for hours now and saying it aloud makes her want to vomit.
"Yeah." Hannah looks down and Grace finally notices the scrapes on her hands and knuckles. She sits on the edge of the bed and strokes the uninjured side of Hannah's face gently.
"What happened?"
Hannah won't look her in the eye.
"We were making out and he asked for a light or something, I don't remember. Mamrie told him to get lost and he said something about the video."
Grace's heart lurches in her chest. Hannah's gaze is unfocused and tears are steadily tracking her face
"He tasered her. I tried to stop him, I did, but he was so strong, Grace. The detective says they found blood on the wall, they think he smashed my head into it."
Grace is silent until she's sure she won't throw up.
"What about you? What do the doctors say?"
Grace has never seen Hannah look so disgusted with herself.
"Concussion and a cut on my head. I'm fine. They're letting me out in the morning."
They fall silent again. Grace scoots over until she's curled up against Hannah's uninjured side. They lace their fingers together and Grace presses a soft kiss to Hannah's temple.
——-
When Grace wheels Hannah out of the hospital the next morning they're greeted by a barrage of cameras. Hannah instinctively covers her face and Grace sets her lips into a thin line, ignoring the shouting reporters. She makes out enough to know that the details of their relationship have been made public. A hand touches her arm and she wheels round, ready to explode, only to find Nick pointing in the direction of his car. She sighs in relief and they get out of there as fast as possible.
There's a car in Grace's driveway when they arrive. Hannah inhales sharply at the sight of the red Ford and Grace only has a second to register the response before Maggie comes flying out of her front door and pulls Hannah into a tight hug, sobbing desperately. Maggie's parents follow more slowly and approach Grace.
"Pearl called us," Mrs Bowen explains, "we came as fast as we could."
Grace nods dumbly. She can see Pearl in the doorway and someone who might be Sarah behind her. Nick ushers them all into the house and Hannah is installed on the couch with Maggie curled up next to her, assuring her that Naomi is on her way.
"Grace," Pearl says softly and jerks her head toward the bedroom. Grace follows her and closes the door.
"I called your mom," Pearl says, "to let her know you were okay."
"Thanks," Grace says dully.
"Grace..." Pearl hesitates. "Have you seen the news?"
"No."
"They're saying the Ripper took Mamrie."
"Yeah," Grace says and doesn't think about it.
"Because of the video?"
"Yeah."
Pearl makes a choked noise and then shakes her head as though to clear it.
"You need to talk to Sarah. Somebody told the press that the three of you are...together and it's all over the news. You're about to get swamped. She knows how to handle the press, let her deal with it."
Grace feels like everything is happening very distantly.
"Okay."
——–
The press is camped outside Grace's house and Pearl and Sarah have been talking to lawyers in some effort to protect what's left of Hannah and Grace's privacy. The detective who outed them has been fired. Nobody has asked if it's true, if they really are together, but she and Hannah have been inseparable so maybe it's a moot point.
Mamrie has been gone for two days.
In an effort to not think about it, Grace goes online and scrolls Tumblr, wondering how people are responding. There isn't one mention of their relationship. Everything in the tags is support for Hannah and Grace, sharing tipline numbers and information and an overwhelming sense of determination to get Mamrie back. Out of some morbid impulse Grace navigates to the Lethal Injection YDAD. It's gone over 30 million views. She closes the laptop and breathes deeply and evenly through her nose in an effort not to vomit.
Beside her, Hannah stirs into wakefulness. The swelling has gone down and the bruising has begun fading into one yellow-purple blotch over her eye and temple but she still looks beat all to hell. Grace kisses Hannah gently and tries not to notice the moment she wakes fully and remembers.
——-
On the third day Grace finds Hannah on her knees at the foot of their bed praying in a jumble of English and Hebrew. She digs through a drawer until she finds a rosary and kneels beside Hannah. They hold hands tightly and Grace tries to recite the Hail Mary but what comes out is "I commend you, dear sister, to Almighty God-" before Hannah turns and slaps her.
They look at each other for a long moment and just when Grace thinks Hannah's going to say something that means they have to think about it, Hannah kisses her hard and before Grace really knows what's happening they're tearing at one another's clothes and Hannah is pushing her onto the bed and soon her thoughts are drowned out in the white noise of pleasure.
They lie together afterwards and try not to notice the space where Mamrie isn't, but something has broken the dam and Grace knows they're both thinking about it.
"Is there any chance, do you think?" Hannah asks.
He took the others at random and they were butchered. He had a reason to go after Mamrie. He left you alive so he could get out of there with her quicker.
Grace's jaw works briefly as she tries to think of any way Mamrie might still be alive. Finally she shakes her head, once.
Hannah swallows.
"My dad called me this morning," she says. Grace blinks.
"What did he say?" She asks, afraid she already knows the answer.
Hannah's face contorts in a way Grace doesn't recognise and it takes her a moment to realise Hannah is fighting back rage.
"Nothing good," Hannah says.
"Is that why you were praying?"
Hannah nods tightly. Grace takes a deep breath and hopes they can survive what she says next.
"Hannah, if anyone could talk their way into Heaven, it's Mamrie."
Hannah smiles briefly, by reflex, but pretty soon they're holding each other as they break down.
——-
When Grace comes out of the bathroom Hannah is staring at her phone.
"What?" Grace asks, when what she means is what now?
Hannah looks up with a completely neutral expression, as though she has literally no idea how to respond.
"They found Mamrie."
Grace flinches.
"Are they sure it's her?" Grace almost asks if they could identify her, remembering what had been done to the others.
"Grace, she's alive."
Grace feels her own face go blank.
"What?"
"She's alive. They found her and she's alive!"
They break every speed limit on the way to the hospital and ignore the press as they sprint inside. A nurse Grace vaguely recognises leads them to a small room and Grace is half convinced her heart is going to jump out of her chest with how hard it's beating and the nurse peeks in asks if visitors are okay and-
And Mamrie answers. Grace can't make out the words but she knows that voice and Hannah grabs at her arm as though she's swooning and the nurse gestures for them to go in and suddenly Grace can't move. She can't bear the thought that this is some awful, wonderful dream and she's going to wake up and Mamrie will still be dead, but Hannah pulls her forward and they walk in together.
Mamrie is alive. She's bruised worse than Hannah and her arm is in a cast but she's alive and in one piece and even though she still can't move Grace finally feels awake.
Hannah lets go of Grace and kisses Mamrie and Grace feels something click back into place inside herself. She waits for them to ease apart and then claims her own kiss and the three of them just sit and bask in each other's presence.
——-
It's been a week since Mamrie was found and she's a god damn national hero. Grace has heard the official story dozens of times and the real story once in the hospital as Mamrie lay between them shaking like a leaf and she still can't quite believe it. Although unable to move, Mamrie had stayed awake long enough after being electrocuted to see the Ripper smash Hannah's head into the wall. She'd been tied up, shoved into a car and taken to a remote shack almost a full day's drive away
with blood on the walls and the floor and oh god they almost lost her
and Mamrie had waited for him to let his guard down
and by then she had a broken arm and three fractured ribs and the only reason his guard was down was that he was preparing to rape her
and she'd kicked him hard in the nuts and punched him in the throat
and she'd stared at Hannah the whole time she spoke because he told her Hannah was dead and she believed him
and used his own chains
almost rusted over with the blood of fifteen women
to secure him to the wall
and looked at the knives he'd laid out for later and thought about avenging Hannah and all the others
and WALKED for two days back into Los Angeles. The police went to the shack and found him sitting in a pile of his own shit and now he's safely in a jail cell
and this is a death penalty state you fucker
and Mamrie is standing on a dais having a medal pinned to her chest while Grace and Hannah hold hands in the front row and beam at her.
It's been a long week. The three of them have talked to police and prosecutors and doctors and therapists and Grace just wants to go home, lock all the doors and never let either of them out of her sight again. They've been well and truly outed, so when Mamrie steps down they both kiss her and she keeps both of them with her as she poses for photos. The ceremony comes to a close and the three of them make their way back to Grace's house. Grace helps Mamrie out of the car, mindful of her healing ribs and leads her into the bedroom to rest. She hears the comforting beep of the alarm as Hannah locks the place down before coming to join them.
After the weekend they start their lives up again. Hannah wants to take more time but Mamrie tells her in no uncertain terms that she won't allow the murdering bastard to disrupt their lives any more. She hasn't talked about what happened since the hospital but they're all in seriously heavy duty therapy and Grace trusts that she'll talk to them when she's ready.
They film a video together thanking everyone for their support and Mamrie and Hannah sit with her as she edits it. Hannah's bruising is gone and the cut across her head is all but hidden under her hair. Mamrie's arm is still in plaster but her ribs are healing and the deep shadows under Grace's eyes have faded and overall Grace thinks the three of them look okay on the screen. She uploads to Mamrie's channel and when she sees Mamrie has over 5 million subscribers, she laughs out loud. It's the first time she's laughed since Pearl's birthday and it feels so, so good.
YOU ARE READING
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