The Perfect Family

Let Me Explain

Vincent:

Matilda was trembling like a leaf as she stood there and watched me yell at her mother's corpse.  My hands fell to my side and panic surged through my veins.  This was not supposed to happen!  I wanted to wait a few months before she found out about what I had done, but everything was ruined because she didn't listen to me. 

If she would have just stayed in her fucking room like I told her to....no, I couldn't allow myself to become angry. It would only cloud my judgement. I had to stay calm and think of a way to explain this.

"You killed her!" She threw her hands over her eyes and weeped uncontrollably. "Mom is dead!"

"No, baby. You have it all wrong." I stood up and shook the dirt from my hands before taking a slow step towards her. "Your mother had an accident."

"You're lying!" She removed her hands from her face and turned around to run into the house. "I'm calling the police! You have to go to prison!"

She bolted through the back door and ran to the living room, searching desperately until she found her mother's cellphone. She picked it up and started to dial 911, but I snatched the phone out of her tiny hands before she had the chance. She let out an ear piercing scream and tried to run away from me, but I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her into my chest. "You have to listen to me, baby." I whispered into her ear, gently pressing my hand over her mouth to silence her screams. "Your mom was a bad person. We could have never been a good family as long as she was alive. I killed her for you, for both of us, so that we could be happy."

She shook her head frantically and I could feel the tears from her eyes pour on to my hand. This was the same exact thing that I went through with Cora when I first met her. She was scared of me when she saw that I hurt James, and now Matilda was scared of me for killing Stella. There had to be a way I could show her that I was not dangerous.

But how?

"Please, don't be scared. I promise that I will not hurt you, Matilda. Don't you believe me?"

She mumbled something into my hand, so I pulled it away and allowed her to speak.  "Why did you have to kill Mom?  She was not a bad person."

"Your mom killed a man."  I said, "She was crazy."

"You're lying!"  She screamed, which pissed me off. 

I knew she was scared, but I was still her father. 

She had no right to disrespect me. 

"Mom would never-"

I covered her mouth again.  "You need to be quiet when I'm talking to you, Matilda.  How can I explain myself if you keep talking?"

She started crying again, and I lowered my hand with a sigh.  This was going to be more difficult than I thought.  I had to be patient if I wanted to make her feel safe with me.  I could not keep getting angry.

"Your mother did kill someone."  I said calmly, "She killed a doctor that used to work with her."

"B-but why?"  Matilda sniffled, turning around to look at me.  "Why did she do it?"

"She hated him.  She hated him so much that she kidnapped him one night and killed him in cold blood.  Your mother was a sick person, Matilda."

"Why did she hate him?"

"I don't know." I lied, shaking my head as the images of Dr. Greer raping Stella flooded my mind.

Matilda looked away from me and stared down at her feet for quite some time, no doubt trying to process everything I was telling her.  I hated that I had to lie to her about what really happened, but it was the only was she would listen to me. 

She finally looked back up at me, chewing at her bottom lip as she tried to hold back her sobs.  "Mom said that we would be happy one day."

"You and I can be happy."  I placed my hand on her tear stained cheek.  "We can start a new life."

"I don't want a new life!  I want my Mommy back!"

She ran to her room and slammed the door shut, locking it behind herself.  I shook my head again and looked down at the floor.  The only thing I could do now was give her a little time to cool off.  There was no phone in her room, so she couldn't call the police, and there was no window for her to escape from. 

She would be okay eventually.  In the meantime, I had to focus on getting on contact with Silver, the man who would help me change my identity.  Once that was finished, we could leave this town and go find Emily and Cora.  Things would be just fine.

~~

Matilda stayed in her room for the rest of the day, still crying and screaming at me for killing Stella.  I listened to her from the sofa for most of the time, then I eventually grew tired of her tantrums and looked around the house for something I could use to quiet her down. There was a bottle of bleach underneath the kitchen sink, and a bottle of acetone in the bathroom.

I used those simple ingredients to make a batch of chloroform a few years ago, so it would be easy to do it again.  I mixed the two together in a small bowl and poured my concoction in an empty jar. 

This brought back memories of the night I went to get Emily back after she escaped from me. 

Why the hell did I always have to resort to knocking people out for them to listen to reason? 

It was kind of ridiculous, really.  But necessary.

I picked up the jar and a kitchen rag and walked to Matilda's door, knocking on it gently.  "Can you please come out here for a minute, sweetheart?"

"Leave me alone, you jerk!"

"Daddy really needs to talk to you a little more about all of this." I said, pouring a little of the chloroform on to the tattered rag.

"You won't get away with this! I don't care if mom did kill some doctor! I still hate you for killing her!"

"Matilda-"

"I'm gonna call the cops when I get a chance! You are gonna be in so much trouble!"

"But, if you call the cops and I go to prison, who will take care of you? You will be put in an orphanage."

She was silent for a moment before saying, "I really don't care! It's better than being with you!"

My jaw clenched and I wrapped my hand around the doorknob, trying in vain to push it open. This was getting us nowhere! I didn't have time to spend all night talking to her behind this damn door.

It was time for me to take action.

Matilda let out a startled scream as I kicked her door down, backing away from me as I came towards her.

I mashed the rag over her face and held her against the wall as she tried to fight me, and within a couple of minutes she fell unconscious in my arms. I picked her up and carried her into the living room, lying her down on the sofa with a weary sigh.

"One day, you'll understand why I had to do this."

**

AN: And the 'Father of the year' trophy goes to...🏆🏆