A Little Mad

Chapter 4

Jerome smiled as they drove through the streets, past the houses. 

"Ennie Meenie Minnie.... That one."  

Jervis smiled brightly. Bailey rolled her eyes. 

"Do I need to hypnotize anyone? I would love to." 

Jerome groaned slightly annoyed. 

"Whatever. Just don't be too long." 

Bailey set up straight and cleared her throat. 

"What is the purpose of this?" 

Jerome laughed. "Do I need a purpose every time? This is just for fun. To send a message and start trouble. At least until I get ready to go after Brucie again. That my dear Bailey needs to be perfect." 

The van came to a stop, and Jerome excitedly jumped out. "Bailey my precious bounty hunter. Could you please keep a watch on the van and for cops?" 

Bailey rolled her eyes. Jerome blew a kiss her way, and she scrunched her nose in disgust. 

"Oh, thank you Bailey. I knew I could count on you." 

Jerome strolled into the house and smiled, noticing it was a semi wealthy family. 

"Oh goody, shit to break." His laugh crackled through the house. There was silence and then they heard whispers from the bottom bedroom. Jerome smiled. 

"Get them already." It annoyed Jerome. He watched as his followers dragged out a man and what seemed to be his wife. Both of the adults stared at Jerome wide eyed and completely terrified. A few moments later, everyone directed their attention to the stairs where a young confused Ethan stood. 

"Mom... Dad..? What's going on?" Ethan's eyes finally landed on Jerome and his worst fears came true. Jerome smiled wickedly. 

"Oh, boy! A kid! What fun?! Bring him to me." 

The man and the woman struggled to break free. Ethan ran back up the stairs in vain, only to be caught.  The woman cried. 

"Please. Don't hurt my baby. Please." 

Her begging amused Jerome and held a knife to the young boy's throat. 

"Oh, I love people who beg. Do it again." Jerome smiled as the tears filled up in the woman's eyes. 

"Mom.." Ethan stared at his mother, afraid this would be the last time he would see her. Jerome chuckled in his ear, sending shivers down Ethan's spine. 

"Well, this has been fun, but..." 

The man tried to break free, and the woman cried out. Jerome only smiled as he dug the knife deeper into Ethan's chest. Jerome finally dropped the boy to the floor, letting him bleed out. Jerome's laugh rang again. The woman whispered a name and Jerome's eyes grew bright. 

"Oh, is there someone else here? Another child? Oh, goody I love a big family." 

The woman broke free only for a cult member to shoot her in the head. Jerome's eyes widened and so did his smile. 

"Wow! This has gone better than I could have ever expected." 

The man glared at Jerome and spoke.  "You will be caught and locked back up. Hopefully, better yet you will be dead." 

Jerome smiled and leaned forward slightly. "Thank you for the sentiment." 

Jerome grabs a gun out of his holder and instantly shoots the man in the head. He turns to look at Jervis and all the followers. 

"If you want to take anything hurry. I'm going upstairs to find whoever... we missed.." 

He smirked as his followers ran around the house. He marched upstairs, joyfully stopping at the top staring at the doors. He noticed the bathroom and then the opened bedroom where the boy must have come from. He looked further down the hallway and noticed a door slightly cracked open. He grinned at another person being in there. He paced himself not want to walk in the room too quickly. Approaching the bed, he stopped. Lying peacefully asleep was a young woman. Mercedes was unaware of who stood before her and that her family lay dead in the living room floor. 

"What is this?" Jerome couldn't help talking to himself at that moment. He reached down and slowly removed the blanket revealing that it was in fact a young woman two years younger than him. He felt his stomach heat, and it confused him. He was lost in the beauty he saw before him. Never had he seen any girl so beautiful that it stopped him from hurting her completely. He had never felt this emotion. Suddenly another figure was next to him. Jervis Tech smiled. 

"What is this?" 

Jervis moved forward only for Jerome to put his hand in the air to stop him. His own actions confused Jerome the most. He knew that her family was down stairs dead and that if he left this girl here, she would wake up to horror the next morning not understanding any of it. Something told him that he just couldn't leave her. Jerome bent down and gently picked up the young woman bridal style. In her sleep, Mercedes instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck. Jerome felt his cheeks got hot. Jervis looked at him, confused. 

"What on earth are you doing Valeska?"  

Jerome glared. Before he could speak, they heard sirens from the distance. Jerome laughed, then realized he was holding a sleeping girl. He spoke to Jervis a little more quietly.

"Let's get out of here." 

Hurrying to the car, Jerome carefully got in the back of the van, trying not to drop the young woman. He set down and carefully held the girl close. It was only after a few moments that he finally looked up and saw Bailey confused as ever. It confused everyone, but no one was as conflicted as the circus act himself.