That morning before anyone woke up, Lance dressed and drove into town. All the towns� inhabitants knew who he was and kept their distance, allowing him to quickly gather the things he had set out to purchase. When he was finished he quickly made his way back to the house, not wasting a minute.
When he returned home he ran into JC, who had mumbled something about finding Chris and talking to him. The minute Justin caught site of Lance he fled from the room. Joey was nowhere to be seen. The absence of his friends did not bother him and he continued to go about his plans.
~*~
Joey walked into his room and flopped down onto the bed. He yelped in pain when something pierced his back. He quickly got up and inspected the offending object. Objects, rather. A Bible and a set of Rosary beads had been placed in the middle of his bed.
Joey frowned as he fingered the beads. He hadn�t picked up a pair since his early childhood in New York when his mother would occasionally bring him along to early Sunday morning mass. He was Catholic by birth but hadn�t really practiced much. He looked over to Chris� bed and saw that he also had received a Bible and a set of Rosary beads. None of the other guys were Catholics, so where the hell had they come from?
He got up from his bed and exited the room to see if anyone knew about it when he saw Lance come out of JC and Justin�s room. �Hey, Lance, do you know who put that Bible and set of Rosary beads on my bed?�
Lance nodded. �Yep, I did.�
Joey�s brow furrowed in confusion. He watched as Lance pulled out a piece of paper from his back pocket and tack it to the wall. Lances walked down the hall and onto the stairs and Joey followed but not before getting a good look at the picture. It was a portrait of the Holy Mother staring down upon the house. �Dude, you aint Catholic.�
Lance stopped his actions and looked at Joey with a look of sincerity and smiled. �Joe, God has no denomination.�
Joey stared at Lance questioningly. �Um, why�d you put those on our beds?�
�Everyone needs to have a little religion,� replied Lance calmly. He tacked another picture up and continued on.
Joey studied the picture closely. It was an elaborate portrait of Christ on the cross in the back yard. Something was definitely up. Lance could barely draw a stick figure let alone a full out portrait of a person. He followed Lance down the stairs, occasionally waiting as Lance stopped and hung his portraits. They all contained either Jesus Christ or the Holy Mother and the house. It was kinda creepy, Joey thought.
~*~
JC had checked everywhere in the house and still couldn�t find Chris. He even checked the boathouse. It was as if Chris had vanished and it had JC worried out of his mind with the thoughts of his dream lingering in the back of his mind. He needed to talk to Chris at once and it was if the house was keeping him away.
Finally, after looking around the docks and the boathouse one last time, JC retreated to the kitchen. Justin was sitting cross legged at the kitchen table with his puzzles and looked to be talking to himself.
�No, Ali, I don�t want to do that one,� whined Justin. He pushed one puzzle box across the table and grabbed a different one. �I wanna do this one.�
�Who�s Ali,� asked JC.
Justin beamed proudly and motioned to the chair across from him. �She�s my friend. But she�s being a brat right now because she wants to do a puzzle I already did.� JC mouthed an �oh� and stared as Justin looked away from JC and said, �Yes, you are a brat. So there!� and proceeded to stick his tongue out.
Yep, I have got to talk to Chris, thought JC, as soon as I find him. �Justin, I�m going to go to the bathroom, I�ll be right back, ok?�
�Sure, Jayce,� answered Justin, smiling broadly. JC smiled back before leaving.
�Aliiiii,� whined Justin. �JC is my friend, he�s not cute.� He wrinkled his nose in disgust. �Ew, no, quit talking like that.� He covered his ears and closed his eyes as he chanted loudly, �I�m not listening, I�m not listening, I�m not listening.�
When JC returned, he stopped dead in his tracks. All the cupboards and drawers were wide open and Justin was in his chair, hands over his ears and chanting. JC went over and pulled Justin�s hand back cutting his chanting off. �Justin, did you open the cupboards?�
�Nope, I�ve been sitting here the whole time,� he replied.
JC frowned and looked around again. �Why were you covering your ears?�
Justin wrinkled his nose and stuck his tongue out in antipathy. �Ali was sayin� all sorts of icky stuff about you. Bleck!�
JC�s eyebrows arched. �Who�s Ali?�
�I told you,� replied Justin innocently, as he went back to putting his puzzle together. �She�s my friend.�
�Where�d you meet her?�
�Around,� came Justin�s nonchalant reply.
JC sighed, knowing that Justin wouldn�t give him the answer he wanted, and went to close the cupboards and doors. I really need to talk to Chris. This is getting too weird.
~*Joey and Chris� Room Later That Night*~
Joey flipped over onto his stomach and grunted. He kicked his legs and freed himself of the offensive blankets tangling them. He was in deep sleep and dreaming about Butch again.
�God, I hate him.�
He sat down roughly into a wooden chair and put his head into his heads. He gripped his hair tightly and tried not to cry out in fury. He folded his arms and laid his head down, allowing himself to daydream.
It seemed as if Butch daydreamed about the same things nowadays. It always revolved around doing something harmful to his father. His father had caused his family a lot of pain and anguish and Butch felt as if his father needed to pay.
He sighed and let himself become immersed in his fantasy. He and his father were arguing again. Over what, he didn�t know. Only this time he hadn�t backed down, he was in his fathers face, screaming with rage.
Joey sat up in his bed and swung his legs till his feet touched the cold, wooden floor. He stood slowly and turned to look at the sleeping figure in the bed next to him. Quietly he walked till he stood next to the bed, staring over Chris.
�Get out of my face, boy,� growled Mr. Dafoe. He put his hands on his son�s chest and shoved as hard as he could.�
Suddenly Chris stirred and opened his eyes, jumping when he saw Joey starring intently at him. The moon shone through the window, bathing Joey in light. Chris clutched his chest. �Fuckin� aye! Don�t do that!�
Joey neither moved nor acknowledged Chris. He just stood there, staring intently. His eyes were narrowed into slits and his fists were clenched at his side.
Butch didn�t move, barely flinching at the pressure. He narrowed his eyes and grabbed his father by the collar of his shirt and pulling him till he was eye to eye. �That wont happen this time,� he smirked maliciously and snarled, �father.�
In a blink of an eye, Joey reached down and yanked Chris up by his nightshirt. Chris yelped and scrambled to free himself from Joey�s grip. But Joey was a good foot taller than him and had a fifty-pound advantage. No amount of squirming would make Joey release him if Joey truly wanted to keep hold, which Chris feared he did.
�Joe, let go, man. You�re sleepwalking, wake up, dude.�
�You release me now, boy,� threatened his father. �If you don�t let me go this instance I will beat you within an inch of your life.�
Butch laughed bitterly. �You�re in no position to threaten me.�
�I�m your father, I�m in every position.� Mr. Dafoe gripped Butch�s wrists and tried his hardest to loosen the grip.
When Chris realized that Joey wasn�t about to wake up or release him, he opened his mouth to call for help but before he could utter a sound, Joey�s large hand clamped over his mouth, his plea muffled. Joey turned Chris around to where his back was against his chest. He kept one hand clamped over Chris� mouth and the other around his shoulder, making sure there was no way Chris could worm his way out, and began walking towards the hallway. Chris squirmed and wiggled and tried every maneuver he could think of to loosen Joey�s grip and none of them worked. He even tried licking Joey�s hand and Joey would not budge.
Butch kept a firm grip on his father�s shirt as he walked out of his room. Mr. Dafoe kept spouting off threats and tried to free himself from Butch�s grip but Butch was stronger than he looked and held on tightly.
�You�re going to pay for all the heartache you caused this family, Father,� growled Butch, his eyes enflamed with rage.
Joey walked down the hallway, pushing Chris forward. Chris was petrified. Joey kept muttering about �paying� and �heartache� and Chris had no idea what he was mumbling about. When he realized where Joey was walking them, Chris doubled his efforts to loosen himself.
Butch walked out of his room and down the hallway, dragging his father along with him. �You�ve beaten us for no reason! You moved us away from all of our family to this God forsaken house all because you wanted to! You never asked us anything, just ordered us around!�
�I did what was best for my family,� argued Mr. Dafoe. �Brooklyn was turning into a dump and I was not about to let my family live in that city of sin.�
Butch shook his father and growled in rage, �Things are about to change around here.� When Butch reached the top of the stairs he grinned maniacally at his father. �Watch that first step, it�s a killer.�
When Joey reached the landing of the stairs he paused and leaned down to whispered into Chris� ear, �Watch that first step, it�s a killer.�
Chris kicked and thrashed and screamed into Joey�s hand as loud as he could. Joey released him and pushed hard. Chris tumbled forward, falling face first onto the staircase. He tried to grasp the railing but couldn�t get a grip on it and continued to tumble down the stairs. He landed at the bottom with a loud thud and suddenly everything went black.
Butch stood at the top of the stairs, a triumphant smile set upon his lips. His father�s body lay strewn upon the floor, legs and arms bent in unnatural ways and blood oozing from behind his head. He looked one last time before returning down the hall.
JC, Lance, and Justin came running out of their rooms the minute they heard the loud bang. They all came to a dead stop behind Joey as they all stared at Chris� lifeless looking body at the bottom of the stairs.
JC�s heart lurched into his throat as he saw Joey grinning down at him, a gleam of happiness in his eyes. My god, he thought. What have I done?