While Helen would probably appreciate your company, you don't really feel like dealing with all the little kids that are going to be hanging around her so William it is.

You head over and sit in a chair near him.

"What are you watching?" you ask.
"Nothing really, mostly Ground Zero ads. These fuckers are really raking in the money preying upon people's fears like this. Gotta say though, if I was the corporate type, I'd sure want a piece of that action." William remarks.
"You believe its all a scam?"
"Heh, well as always the best lies have truth mixed in with them. A day of mass destruction is definitely coming. I believe that. The writing is on the wall, but I know damn well GZ isn't the savior from that. Nothing is except yourself and how strong your will to live is. Yep, dark days are coming and it's going to weed out the weak so only the strong survive."
"Like the Morningstars."
"Heh, well some of us I suppose. To be honest, I'm not sure about some of the people here. I mean I love 'em because they're family, but…(sigh) well take Brandon over there. The guy would be killed and eaten in a completely savage world with no laws. His wife too. I dare say even you might thrive better."
"Thanks…I think." You answer.
"You see, this place. This compound that Bobby has tried to bring all the family to…it's just another form of restriction. The day is coming soon where unbridled chaos is going to become a reality and Bobby…Tiamat bless him is misguidedly still clinging to ways that should be abandoned. Now is not really the time to hide in a fortress like some 80s cult. Now is the time we should be out there embracing the chaos like Tiamat intended."

Looks like there is a bit of dissension in the family that doesn't involve you. At least not directly.

"I thought you supported Bobby." You ask.
"(sigh) Yeah…I thought I did. I mean I still do. I respect WHAT he's trying to accomplish and his plan. And I'm obviously not going to overthrow his power or anything…but I just don't think this is going to be for me. Y'know? I've always been a bit more of a drifter and after being here a few days, I'm starting to get really bored. That fight you had with Diana was about the most interesting thing that's happened here and while I'd certainly like to see the outcome of that drama, I don't think I'm going to stick around long enough to find out. I'm going to be heading out, along with Aaron." William says.
"Aaron? That guy sitting in the corner who looks like a ball of pent up energy?"
"Yep. He's even more anxious to leave more than I am. I think he only showed up to meet up with me since he doesn't have a vehicle and it's always good to have at least one person to watch your back."
"So…when are you leaving?"
"As soon as possible, in fact I'll probably talk to Bobby, before I do. He's going to be disappointed, but I know he'll understand…so how about you?"
"How about me what?" you ask.
"Well, are YOU comfortable here? I mean you haven't been here long and you already got into a major fight with Diana and nobody here seems all that close to you. Polite perhaps, but you're not exactly bonding here." William says.
"Well that might take time, besides, still better than my own family so far." You answer.
"Hm, well what about this wedding? From what I know, Bobby sort of sprung that proposal on you. You okay with that?"
"I love Bobby."
"Yes, I know you love Bobby. I don't doubt that, but that's not necessarily a good reason to get married. Hell, love can sometimes be the WORST reason to get married. Also if I know Bobby, he's probably already got it in head that you'll be popping out a whole mess o' babies."
"…yeah, I actually already addressed some of that yesterday."
"What about the wedding sacrifice??
"Wedding sacrifice?"

William pauses for a moment.

"You mean to tell me, he hasn't told you about the wedding sacrifice?" William whispers to you.
"No! He…he's not going to mutilate me is he?" you ask in a hushed tone.
"No! No, no, no nothing like that. I just can't believe he hasn't told you considering it's pretty important and he's pretty big on all this ritual crap to Tiamat."
"Well what is it?!"
"Nothing, you just have to sacrifice someone on an altar in the name of Tiamat to prove your allegiance and dedication to the family."
"What?!"
"That's the rules. I mean personally I think just a simple prayer while bludgeoning something to death in an alley works just as well, but like I said, Bobby's all into the rituals. Guess he takes after his dad that way, but then again so do I. It is said that most sons become like their fathers after all."

Those last words by William aren't very endearing ones given what a fanatic Bobby's father was. Still your main concern is this human sacrifice thing. You didn't think that you'd have to do it, in fact you aren't sure if you're going to be able. While you've had murderous thoughts about Diana, that's a little different. For one, you haven't acted on them, and two that's self-defense. You don't know if you have it in you to murder some innocent person in cold blood, let alone to some cult goddess you don't even believe in.

"I take it, you aren't really enthused about the possibility of killing someone. Well someone who isn't immediately attacking you at any rate." William says.
"Um, well…I wasn't expecting to."
"See, this is something Bobby REALLY should've told you before dragging you up here. (Sigh) You're supposed to be the love of his life and he should KNOW if you're completely in sync with him. I mean not everyone is cut out to be a member of one of Tiamat's chosen and that's fine, but again he really should've asked you first."
"So…wait, where are they getting this…um sacrifice?"
"The sacrifice? Oh got a whole mess of them in the basement in the left wing of this place. We captured a bunch of folks and locked them in cages before starting to move the family in…and I'm guessing that's another thing you didn't know about." William says noticing your surprise at this revelation too.

You're just silent. Combined with the mess with Diana, the wedding and all this new info, you're starting to seriously wonder if you're strong enough to go through with all this now.

At this point William leans over to you and keeps a low tone.

"Look, I can see that you're probably not cut out for this life and as I said, that's perfectly fine. But Bobby… well I don't think he'd take it well if you backed out now or worse, backed out on the wedding day."
"I know." You say with your voice starting to get a little quivery.
"Shhh, okay. Look, it's not too late to leave this place. I'd be willing to take you with me, and I'll drop you off wherever you want. Of course we'd have to do it secretly."
"How?"
"Well, my van is the dark blue one out front. Here's the keys." William says and hands you some keys, which surprises you.

"Don't worry, I trust you. Besides, that big gate has to be opened up first anyway. All you have to do is hide in the can, until me and Aaron leave which shouldn't be long. Just make sure you keep the doors unlocked so we can get in." William says.
"Aren't they going to notice I'm gone?"
"Well, this is a big place, so if you went missing for a little while people would probably think you're either just wandering the house or maybe back in your room before suspicion arose. I'd also be willing to make up a story if it came to that. In any case, if you're going to do it, we need to do it now."

You stay at the compound

And suddenly all your instincts cry out "DANGER." You also remember Bobby telling you that you shouldn't listen to William since he's a shit stirrer and he's certainly doing a good job here.

William seems too eager to help you given everything you've heard him spout about survival of the fittest and wanting to embrace pure chaos. Technically you still aren't "family" and if you aren't with Bobby, what's stopping him from just gutting you and tossing your corpse along side the road or worse when you leave the compound? And that's not even counting that creepy Aaron guy who is going to be travelling with him.

Even if he is on the up and up, you have no idea where to go. Going back home isn't really an option, in fact going back to town sounds like a bad idea all around given what Bobby told you yesterday. And you certainly don't want to be travelling around with William while he raises hell, since again he's libel to "raise hell" on you.

You still don't know about the whole wedding sacrifice, but you do know that running away with William isn't the answer. You're going to just have to deal with your situation another way.

You take a deep breath and hand William his keys back.

"I thank you for the offer William, but I'm staying." You say.

William looks a little surprised at first, but then his face turns to a smile.

"Well… Tiamat certainly sent a blessing to Bobby when he met you. I hope he realizes it." William remarks.
"If he doesn't, I'll be reminding him." You answer.
"Of that I have no doubt. Okay. Well it was nice meeting you Suzy, and may Tiamat's blessed chaos always swing in your favor." William says and then gets up. He makes a head gesture to Aaron who apparently has been watching the pair of you the entire time.

The pair of them leave the room and you get the impression they're not going to bother telling Bobby they're leaving the compound either. Perhaps William figures you'll mention to Bobby that he attempted to whisk you away, along with confronting him about the wedding stuff, which you will most certainly be doing.

As soon as you can at any rate since Bobby is still talking with Diana, or at least he was until you see her running out of the kitchen and trying to cover her face. It's obvious she's crying or at least about to.

Bobby soon comes out of the kitchen as well. He doesn't look in the best of moods.

"Food's in the kitchen, serve yourselves." He says. Nobody says anything, except Helen who asks what's going on when she enters the room. Bobby just waves her away and tells her to see to the children as usual then he slumps down by the chair next to you. Bobby's family at this point heads into the kitchen, not wishing to

"It's done." He says.
"Well don't look so down about it. And what's done exactly? Did she get the message? Am I still going to have to worry about her?"
"No. For the last time no. It's done. It's over. I made it quite clear that it's over between her and I. So clear in fact that she probably hates me more than you now."
"I seriously doubt that, but do you think it's wise to let her run around this house if she hates you?"
"(Sigh) Suzy, I'm not throwing her out and I'm not killing her okay?"
"Okay fine. If you want to live dangerously…"
"Suzy, how about this. If you REALLY hate her that much, then why don't YOU kill her? Seriously, you have my permission if it will get you to stop bitching about it."

You didn't really expect Bobby to say that, but then…

"Well I suppose that would make the wedding sacrifice a lot easier." You say which causes an eyebrow raise by Bobby.

"Great, so you know. Who told you? Wait, I know. William did right?" Bobby says.
"Yeah, I think he hoped to scare me into leaving with him…speaking of which I think he and Aaron left." You answer.
"Figures. (Sigh) I don't even know why I'm bothering trying to hold this family together. Most of them aren't even here. One of them hates me, and the rest aren't exactly sterling examples of Tiamat's Chosen. In fact the ones that are here are probably here because it's safe and filled with enough supplies to live comfortably."
"Well, what's wrong with that?"
"Nothing I suppose, but supporting about bunch of freeloaders wasn't really part of my plan to honor Tiamat."
"Well maybe you need to change your damn plan. I mean its still early, but if you really feel like someone isn't pulling their weight around here, then you need to just kick their asses out, family or not. I mean you're the boss around here and your word is supposed to be law."

Bobby sits up a bit as you continue to speak.

"Look, you know you're a leader and you know the head of this family. So you can't give into all this self-doubt. You NEEDED to lay down the law to your sister Diana., but you know that's just going to be a temporary fix. Now I think you KNOW what you're going to have to do with her, but your past with her is preventing you from doing it, which is why you made your outburst about me doing it a few moments ago."

Bobby continues to listen intently.

"Now, I'm not going to do it for you unless she gives me cause to, but she's going to have to be dealt with by our wedding day. Whether that means you exiling her ass or killing her, that's up to you. Love isn't one-sided Bobby, and if I'm going to have to ultimately submit to your beliefs and everything that goes with it including murdering innocent people, well you're going to make a sacrifice to me as well. If not, well you can throw me on that slab and thrust that dagger in me and get it over with."

Bobby looks a little overwhelmed by your ultimatum. He's never heard you speak like this before and really; you're a little surprised you're saying what you're saying yourself. You're rolling the dice and betting everything here. You think you've got the inner strength to go through with all this, you just hope that Bobby proves to be just as strong.

"Suzy, you are the love of my life and what you've just told me just confirms that Tiamat's chaos did favor me when I met you. You're right. I know I have to do something more permanent with my sister Diana. I'll come to a decision tomorrow though. I think I need the rest of the day to recover from all the shit I've already had to go through. It's not even night yet!"
"Well, okay. I understand. Well, should we go eat with the rest of the family?"
"Might as well."

You and Bobby briefly kiss each other and go join the rest of the family who have congregated in the dining area. None of them say anything to you or rather none of them ask any questions if everything is okay or anything. Diana isn't here and Bobby makes the announcement that Aaron and William have left and then tells Brandon when he's done eating, he can go check the front gate to make sure they closed it properly.

The remainder of the day is a bit out of the norm for you since you spend it mainly with Bobby's family. They're surprisingly really into board games. Unsurprisingly most of the board games seem to involve conquest or killing everyone else.

While you never really played many board games before, you catch on quick thanks to your years of playing strategy games on your computer and its fun enough that it keeps your mind off other things. You even manage to win a game of Scorched Earth.

Diana never joins in, and at one point Helen (who was playing separate games with the kids) goes to check on her out of concern, but she remains in her room.

Eventually you start to get tired of socializing and you feel you've bonded enough with Bobby's family for one day so you return to your own room. Bobby tells Ronald to take watch for the night and goes with you.

Before you settle down for bed, you check your phone out of curiosity to see if anyone has tried to call you.

"Somebody call you?" Bobby asks.
"Nah, though I didn't really expect anyone to. Pretty much says it all about my ties to my own family." You say.
"Well I think we both know you're already with your new family now."
"Yeah. Still, I can't help but wonder how they're all dealing with the situation in town. Though who knows, maybe its calmed down now. Anyway, doesn't matter." You say and get into bed.

Bobby follows and it doesn't take long before he's grabbing and grinding up against you. You return his affection and have pleasant round of passion before going to sleep.

Next day…

THURSDAY


"And Suzy is the winner of the world twelve inch salami eating championship! Let's all hear it for our little blonde small town girl!" The announcer shouts which is followed by a roaring crowd.

Not even feeling full, you wipe the sour cream off your lips… and you stand up and yell:

"Alright this is getting fucking insulting! For the past four nights now I've been winning contests involving eating phallic shaped food. What the fuck is the symbolism here? That I'm some whore that sucks cock all the time? For fuck's sake, I've only had the one goddamn boyfriend and soon to be husband. If anything I'm the exact opposite of a whore! So whoever or WHATEVER is trying to send a message to me needs to just come out and fucking say it."

And with those words of indignation, your surroundings immediately change to that of a blasted wasteland. There is nothing around you save for burned out buildings in the distance and dead landscape. Reminds you a bit of a video game you once played.

"You know, the entire world is soon going to look like this…how I wish I could be young and alive to experience the uncertainty and chaos that is going to shape the years to follow." You hear a voice say.

You turn around and see Bobby's grandmother again. She's an old lady walking with a cane this time.

"But enough about the future, let's talk about the present. You survived a lot longer than I thought you would, maybe you are worthy of my grandson after all. You even are starting to manipulate him a bit, that's good. The true leaders in Tiamat's service have always been women anyway. I swear if it wasn't for us prodding them in the right direction every now and then, most men would be content just jacking off to pass the time. Still, you aren't quite there yet. I think today should prove to quite interesting. Survive today and you might just meet Misty yet."

"Okay, I want some answers, who the hell is Misty, and what's going to happen today?" you demand.
"You'll find out soon enough what's going to happen and as for Misty, well why don't you put some thought into it. I mean it's pretty simple even for you blondie." Bobby's grandmother replies with slight distain.
"Well what's deal with all these contests in my dreams?"
"Sorry, I really don't know anything about that. If you're lucky and actually meet Misty, maybe you can ask her, but I just assumed you really liked dreaming about sucking dick...in a symbolic way I guess. Hmm, come to think of it this would explain why Bobby's so enamored with you. Maybe you aren't a whore blondie, but you sure got the mouth of one. It's almost as if it was a highway for oral sex."
"Hey!"
"Don't take offense blondie. It's a good thing. Suck a man's dick right, and you can practically get him to do ANYTHING for you. I mean you got natural talent. Hell, maybe even Tiamat blessed you with it so you stood an equal chance against Diana. Now that girl, as much as she loves Bobby, she just can't suck a dick properly. Bad gag reflex, slightly oversized teeth, I dunno. Tiamat works in whimsical ways I suppose."
"How do you even know all…nevermind I don't want to hear anymore." You say.

Bobby's grandmother ignores you though and continues to speak.

"Still, Bobby always did have a slight obsession for blowjobs. He likes them a lot more than he's probably told you. He's a bit too much of a gentleman that way."
"Gah! I'm done listening!" you shout feeling increasingly uncomfortable about hearing Bobby's grandmother talk about his sexual interests.
"Oh, alright Miss Prude. I'm rambling and it's time for you to go anyway. See ya Deep Throat!" Bobby's grandmother cackles again and then raises her cane and all your surroundings go black…

And then you wake up.

"Something bad is going to happen today." You say to yourself.

(Then again why should today be any different from the rest of this week?)

You look around and see nobody in the room (Save for Bobby's grandmother's portrait staring like a gargoyle). Looks like Bobby woke up before you as usual. You look at the time on your phone and see you've actually slept until the afternoon.

While the normal thing for you to do would be to just stay in your room and avoid everyone, but given your recent dream, you think your best bet might be to be a little proactive today.

After going through your usual routine of washing up and getting dressed you head down to the main living area where you know everyone usually gathers.

Before you get there you bump into Helen, who looks a bit harried and is carrying a pistol in one hand.

"There you are, good. Saves me time. Bobby told me to go get you." Helen says.
"Wha…what's going on?" you ask.
"Aaron came back and he's threatening to drive an army truck through the front gate if we all don't leave the compound. He claims that we're defying Tiamat by not embracing the chaos outside. Bobby's been trying to negotiate with him through the intercom, but he thinks we're going to have no option but to open fire on Aaron."
"Where the hell did he get an army truck? Is William with him?"
"Apparently the town has been in a state of martial law since yesterday and the National Guard have taken over according to Aaron's ranting. I guess he stole one. I don't think William is with him. Anyway Bobby wants you to be safe so follow me to where all the children..."

Loud shouting by Bobby in the distance suddenly interrupts Helen. You immediately rush towards where he might be located despite the protests by the Helen that you need to come with her though she just runs along with you.

You soon manage to catch up with the most of the family (Save for the younger children and Diana) who are standing in the foyer with their weapons ready and Bobby who has opened the front door.

"Aaron, I tried being reasonable. YOU left here without permission, but that was fine because it's obvious you didn't feel happy here. There are several paths to Tiamat's glory and you obviously had your own ideas about which one you should pick. Anyone here is free to leave, but NOBODY is going to be forced to leave due to your threats! Again, if you try coming in here, you're going to be shot down like a fucking dog and I'll personally perform Tiamat's ritual of desecration over your stinking body so your soul NEVER enters Timat's glory!" Bobby shouts and walks out with his rifle drawn. Bobby's brother Jordan is the first one who cautiously follows afterwards and then everyone else slowly walks towards the door as well. You don't think anyone has even paid any attention to you or Helen (who keeps pulling on you to leave).

"My soul is already with Tiamat! You can't do shit about it ritual boy! If you unworthy fucks won't embrace chaos as Tiamat intended, then I'm gonna bring it to you!" Aaron shouts through a bullhorn, which is followed by a laugh.

The truck revs up and Bobby orders everyone to open fire. You and Helen are still inside at this point so you don't actually do so and just hang back as you watch Aaron mow through the gate followed by a hail of bullets peppering the oncoming truck.

The truck swerves hard to the left smashes into Brandon's parked vehicle. You can hear him swearing about it. Meanwhile you also see Jordan jumping up and down in victory and running over to the wrecked truck.

"Yeah! We got that bastard! Whoo!" he shouts.
"Hey Jordan, get the fuck back here, don't go off ahead like that by yourself!" Bobby shouts.
"Aw, it's fine, he didn't survive that!"

And that's when Aaron proves Jordan wrong, starting by recovering from his crash and shooting several holes into Jordan. Then he follows up by throwing several grenades out the truck window.

"SHIT!" Bobby shouts and everyone runs back, but not before several explosions occur. Nobody is killed, but everyone scrambles and on the ground crawling for cover. Bobby himself crawls behind cover of another parked vehicle and continues to fire in the direction of the truck.

Helen now really tugs at you saying you need to come with her where its safe, but you wonder if you should try to help Bobby considering he's the only one currently trying to kill Aaron. Everyone else has completely retreated and is even running past you.

You help Bobby

This is the man you've chosen to marry for better or worse. If you aren't going to help him in a matter of life or death then that wouldn't say much for your commitment.

Besides, if he gets killed this whole compound is going to turn to shit and you'd no doubt be at the bottom of it, assuming Aaron doesn't kill you all first.

Pulling away from Helen, you grab one of the dropped rifles by one of Bobby's family and rush outside towards Bobby who is still taking cover behind a car and firing upon the Aaron. He sees you out the corner of his eye while still keeping an eye on the direction of the truck.

"Keep your head down, I think Aaron escaped out the passenger door of the truck and is hiding behind Brandon's car now. Where the hell did you come from anyway? I told Helen to go get you and the younger children to a safer location when Aaron showed up." Bobby exclaims.
"Yeah well I'm showing you that I'm not just going to let you do this shit alone. I'm with you all the way. No hiding with Helen and the kids, no matter what you say."

You're interrupted by gunfire on your position and Aaron ranting.

"You think you can stop what's coming by hiding? Hah! People are already fucking EATING each other out there! Shit, I'll be doing you a favor by killing you now. Actually now that I think about… your blonde bitch looks like a fine piece of ass in more way than one!" Aaron shouts and starts laughing maniacally and then throws another grenade your way.

You and Bobby have no choice but to leave your position and make a dash back to the house entrance. It's somewhat of a minor miracle that you and Bobby aren't hit by any of the bullets he fires at you. You manage to get inside just as the grenade goes off and adds to the total of destroyed vehicles outside.

You and Bobby are on the floor though Bobby has partially managed to cover you with his own body.

"What the hell did he do, rip off the entire National Guard armory?" you say as Bobby back kicks the front door shut from his prone position.
"I don't know but…"

Two more explosions are heard on the left side of compound. Aaron is apparently throwing explosives through the windows now.

"Shit, I hope nobody ran and hid over there." You remark as the pair of you start to get up off the floor.
"Where the fuck IS everyone anyway? Nice to know I can REALLY count on these fuckers when the going gets tough. Why the fuck am I even bothering again? Fuck!" Bobby yells in frustration.

You understand his anger, but it's probably not the best time for a rant.

"Bobby, calm yourself. You can yell at those idiots later, but right now all that matters is that I'm here helping you okay?" you say.
"Hey…I'll help too…" a voice suddenly says. You both look and see that it's Helen with a pistol in hand.
"Helen, you're supposed to be with the children!" Bobby exclaims.
"Veronica and Brandon are with them. When they ran, the children's room upstairs was the first place they went. Guess they were concerned about their daughters."
"…well I guess I can understand the pair of them running to their children. So they're looking after all the kids then?" Bobby remarks.
"Yeah, I figured since they were doing that, I'd come help you, though I hope I just don't get in the way."
"No, it's good. Glad you're here Helen. What about Ronald and Denise?" Bobby says.
"Haven't seen them. Um, I haven't seen Diana either…in case you were wondering." Helen remarks briefly glancing at you after saying it.
"Hopefully Aaron kills her." You remark.
"Yeah, well I actually was going to exile her today, but that might have to wait assuming Aaron doesn't kill her." Bobby says.
"Okay, enough of all this. What's the game plan?" you ask slightly disappointed that Bobby's decision was to exile Diana rather than death, but you aren't entirely surprised. Still, there's always the hope that Aaron does kill her.

Bobby quickly snaps back to the situation at hand.

"Well it sounds like he's stopped with the explosives, or maybe he's just fishing out more. I'd say the safest bet is to get to the second floor and shoot him through one of the windows. No point in going back out the front door when we can get the vantage point."
"How do we know he's still outside, he might've already entered house through one of the holes he's undoubtedly made with his grenades." You say.
"Yeah true. No telling where he might be heading first. The armory maybe?" Helen remarks.
"He's still gotta come through this way if he wants to go there. Given his state of mind though he might also try to do something like run upstairs and kill all the children for fun. Hell, I wouldn't put it past him to try to access the prisoner's dungeon and set them all free. It is on the left wing after all."
Maybe we should split up and take different floors?" Helen asks.
"Maybe though I'm not keen on the idea of splitting up. (Sigh) Okay. Since you said Brandon and Veronica are with the children, I'm going to hope they're up to dealing with Aaron if he shows up. I'm going to the left wing of the house and try to stop him there. I want you two to stay here and guard the foyer in case he somehow manages to sneak past me and is heading towards the armory. He's going to have come through here." Bobby says.

Helen immediately complies with the plan, but you're not so sure.

"I really think I should come with you. Splitting up is always a bad idea in these situations."
"I don't like it either, but it's a big house and we need to cast a wide net to deal with this asshole." Bobby says and then puts his arm over you and takes you aside.

"Besides, as glad as I am that Helen stepped up, we both know she's not exactly a fighter. I don't want her coming with me and possibly getting in my way when I'm hunting Aaron, but by the same token I'd feel more comfortable if you were here with her since I know you can handle yourself and aren't going to freeze up in a fight. I'll be fine by myself. Don't worry about me. I mean I did kill your uncle Ed by myself right?" Bobby whispers.

You glance over at Helen and as brave as she's trying to appear, she still looks like a deer in the headlights. Bobby's right in that her survival would probably increase if you were here and she had the misfortune of Aaron popping up.

Then again by the same token, YOU'D actually feel safer being with Bobby. You'd also worry less about Bobby's own safety if you were watching his back. After all, this situation is also little different than the one with your uncle. Aaron's not just carrying a knife; he's carrying around grenades and machine guns for one thing. Also, while Helen might be a nice girl, she's ultimately not your responsibility.

You go with Bobby

"Bobby, I'm coming with you and I'm not budging on this. We're going to take out this crazy bastard together. I'll worry less if I'm with you watching your back." You say.

You half expect Bobby to argue, but that doesn't happen. Instead he smiles and then kisses you on the lips quickly.

"Okay then, you're with me. Helen! You're going to be guarding this area alone. Do you think you're up to it?" Bobby asks.
"I am." Helen says with a nod still attempting to not look nervous.
"Okay. Remember, if you see Aaron shoot him on sight and don't even think about it. Oh and if Ronald and Denise ever come out of hiding and pass through here, tell them to fucking help you."

With that last bit of advice, you and Bobby proceed to head towards the left wing of the house.

You and Bobby cautiously walk through the corridor keeping your eyes and ears open for any sign of Aaron, but so far you haven't seen or heard him. The smell of gunpowder and smoke is in the air of part of the house and peering in one of the rooms you see the results of Aaron's grenades.

The room is charred, blackened and wrecked. Whatever items were in this room have been completely destroyed and there is now a large hole allowing direct entry from the outside to the inside.

"So much for the second den. Glad none of my personal stuff was in here. (Sigh) One more thing to fix." Bobby remarks.
"He either wounded himself during or you must've hit him from before, look." You say and point at small splotches of blood in the room and creating a trail going to one of the other doors. (Or rather the entryway since the door itself is in pieces and not even on the hinges anymore.)
"Yep, he's going towards the dungeon. Knew he'd be somewhat predictable." Bobby says and the pair of you follows the blood trail.

You pass through a series of room to get to your destination. Some furnished, some empty. The left wing of this house seems to be designed a little oddly though, almost mazelike. Eventually you get to a small room that has a door leading to what you assume is the dungeon Bobby mentioned.

"Well he's probably down there. The blood trail is heading down and we would've seen him if he'd doubled back. You ready?" Bobby asks.
"Yeah." You remark.
"No seriously. Are you ready? Because while I know you've got your mindset on killing Aaron, you MIGHT very well have to kill whatever prisoners he's managed to convince to help him. You might be less inclined to kill them due to them…well having a legitimate reason for wanting to escape."
"Bobby, I already told you, I'm with you on this one hundred percent. If that means shooting a few prisoners well Tiamat's going to be getting a few extra souls to eat early or something." You say causing Bobby to chuckle a bit.
"Well that's not exactly how it works, but as always I'm touched by your enthusiasm."
"You're going to be touched all over by my enthusiasm after this is over." You say and then give him a deep tongue kiss along with a firm caress to his crotch.
"Whoa, easy there girl. We'll get to that. Let's take care of this first." Bobby says reluctantly pulling back from you.

To be honest, you're not even sure what came over you. Maybe you're starting to not only accept this type of life, but enjoying it as well which might concern you more if you weren't in the middle of hunting someone down and shooting them.

Bobby descends first and then you. While descending you start to catch the sent of what a dungeon full of unwashed prisoners locked in it smells like. It isn't the most pleasant, but actually better than you expected from a dungeon.

When you get downstairs the dungeon is relatively well lit. You see rows of empty cages to the left and right side and on the very far end you see Aaron who has a group of what you presume to be the prisoners. He's apparently bullied them into acting as a human barrier.

They're a mixture of old, young, male and female and they're a dirty, miserable and practically naked lot. Most of them are barely standing up. Looks like taking care of them wasn't high on Bobby's list though then again why would it?

At this point if you have to shoot them (which seems likely) you think you'd be doing them a favor.

Aaron himself doesn't look all that great from what you can see of him. He's obviously been wounded and this is his last ditch effort to…well whatever his grand plan was. He's holding something in his hand though above his head, probably another grenade.

"You think you've won? Hah! I've already beaten you! You kill me and this grenade drops, then what will you do for sacrifices? You'll have to go out and get more and I guarantee NONE of you are prepared for the beautiful chaos that lies outside. None of you are truly worthy of Tia…" Aaron rambles insanely.

Aaron is completely delusional at this point. Bobby doesn't even argue with him, the whole time Aaron is talking, Bobby is taking careful aim at his head. A single shot drops Aaron and then Bobby tells you to run which you both do up the stairs.

You get to the top just in time for the grenade to explode. No harm done to you, but you can imagine the mess that's down in the dungeon now.

"You okay?" Bobby asks.
"I'm fine. Guess you'll have to repair your dungeon too." You say.
"Yeah…fuck!" Bobby yells and slams his fist into the floor.
"What's wrong? Didn't we win?"
"That sonofabitch killed all the prisoners! Now who the hell are we supposed to sacrifice for the wedding tomorrow?!"
"Well…do I have to sacrifice someone? I mean I'm not asking because I don't want to do it. I'm just asking is it absolutely necessary for the wedding? I mean couldn't I make a sacrifice later when we get someone else? I mean I'll even come with you to make the capture."
"(Sigh) No…I suppose in the scheme of things it isn't necessary. I just wanted everything to be perfect. I dunno…Aaron might've been right about one thing. Maybe I am a little caught up in ritual…but still I THINK it's important to revere Tiamat in a formal way! Just because I'm not completely running amok stealing army trucks and throwing explosives at shit doesn't make me any less dedicated to glorious chaos! I mean…does it?"

And that's your cue to support the fragile male ego again.

"Well of course it doesn't my love. Your way is obviously a more intelligent approach to chaos. Just because something is chaotic, doesn't mean it's mindless. You're playing the long game and attempting to build a dynasty. Instead of burning out quick, you're plotting and planning labyrinthian schemes to eventually burn them all." You say while looking into Bobby's eyes and stroking the side of his face.
"I'm so glad you understand me." Bobby remarks and hugs you tightly.

Bobby really does always feel completely better with just a few supportive words from you. Its sort of amazing really since you didn't realize you had this sort of power over him, then again you two were never really in a situation like this before except the first time you met and that was when you counted on him to "rescue you." That dynamic has clearly changed. You guess this is what his grandmother meant when she spoke to you in the dream.

In any case Bobby tells you he's going to check the dungeon to see if maybe there were any survivors just in case. You offer to help, but he says there's no point in both of you trudging through blood and gore, which is probably covering the place. You tell him you'll just wait for him and kiss him before he heads back downstairs.

No sooner has Bobby left, when you hear footsteps coming from the room nearby. Still paranoid, you hold up your pistol not knowing who is coming through

"Who's there?" you ask.
"Hold on! It's just me! Don't shoot!" you hear a female voice say.
"Helen?"
"Yeah, it's me! Is everything okay here? Heard another loud explosion in this direction." Helen says and enters the room cautiously.
"Yeah everything's fine. Aaron's dead. How come you're not guarding the foyer?"
"Well I was, but then Diana showed up and…"
"Wait, you've seen Diana?" you interrupt and Helen's head drops a little looking sad.
"Yeah…she was um…I dunno. She showed up in the foyer and wasn't acting…I mean she'd always had a mean streak in her, but I just couldn't take it…"

You aren't sure what happened, but obviously something occurred between Helen and her sister.

"Helen, out with it. Where is she and what happened?"
"She's tied up in the large living room and unconscious. I had to knock her out."
"Wait you knocked out Diana?"
"I had to. She was talking crazy like Aaron. She wanted to kill you."
"Well that's hardly surprising." You say.
"Well she also wanted to kill Bobby and she wanted me to help in all this! I…I just couldn't do that! I mean I don't have any hatred for you (sniffle) and I love Bobby! You know? He's the leader of this family and should be respected! I protested and tried to reason with her…but she just kept pushing and pushing like when we were kids and all my life! I couldn't let her go through with it. (sniffle) Then she started threatening that she'd do something to the children…and I just lost it."
"It's okay, Helen. You did what you had to." You say trying to keep Helen from getting too weepy.

It's still hard to believe that Helen stood up to… well anyone, let alone her sister. Maybe your recent actions provided a bit of a model for her to follow of standing up for one's self, maybe there was just only so much bullying she could take and that last threat was the final straw. Maybe it was a combination.

Either way, this event has given you an idea.

"So, she's still alive?" you ask.
"Yeah, I mean even after all the horrible things she was saying, I still couldn't kill her…she's still my sister."
"Understandable, but she still has to pay for this treachery as all who betray Tiamat do."

You call downstairs for Bobby.

"What?" Bobby answers.
"Anyone alive down there?" you ask.
"No, just charred bloody body parts everywhere. Looks like we'll have to do the wedding without the sacrifice."
"No, I think we'll be okay. Come on up." You state with a big smile.

When Bobby comes back up you explain what recently occurred with Helen and suggest that Diana be the person you sacrifice. Bobby is silent for half a second and then agrees.

"I'm not going to say I'm ecstatic about this, but it is what it is. You are my soon to be wife and Diana has proven to be a traitor. Death by your hand is certainly a fitting punishment. Do you have an opinion on this Helen?"" Bobby remarks.
"I…my opinion on the matter is unimportant…. It's just…very sad that Diana couldn't have been… nicer. I support you Bobby and you too Suzy." Helen says obviously upset.

With that settled, Bobby, you and Helen all make your way back to where Helen said she tied up Diana. When you arrive, you see Diana unconscious on the floor with her arms and legs hogtied tightly with a bunch of duct tape and also her mouth covered with it.

You also see Denise and Ronald nearly setting her free! Bobby scolds them of course and brings them up to date on the situation. Helen excuses herself and says she wants to check on the children and tell them everything has calmed down now.

"Yeah and tell Veronica and Brandon they can come down too. Them and YOU two, I need to have a long talk with. " Bobby says pointing at Denise and Ronald who are somewhat a little worried about Bobby's comment.
"What about her? Where are you going to keep her?" you ask pointing to Diana.
"Well there are still a couple of intact cages down in the dungeon. I'll probably throw her unconscious ass in one of them and she won't be coming up until the big day tomorrow. Shit, there's so much to do, cleaning up, getting prepared, (Sigh) well we better get started."

Bobby tells you not to worry about doing anything as you did enough today just standing by him and he wants you to just rest up for tomorrow. You offer to help, but he really won't hear of it. You don't press the issue since hey if he doesn't want you doing any work, you're not going to argue about that. Before you leave he tells you that he's got a spare gun in his clothing drawer just in case of an emergency.

You grab a quick meal from the kitchen before heading back to the bedroom where you stay for the rest of the day and night. You hear noise occasionally from downstairs. At one point you hear the sound of vehicles outside and looking out the window you see someone driving the damaged army truck in front of where Aaron crashed through the gate as a temporary barrier you guess.

You stay up for Bobby as long as you can, but eventually you realize he's really focused on trying to fix and clean up the house as much as he can and probably won't be back anytime soon. Too bad, since you weren't kidding about displaying your enthusiasm to him after the Wild West shootout was over.

Taking matters into your own hands with your battery powered substitute, you satisfy yourself before going to sleep, hoping that tonight's dream doesn't have you deep throating the Washington Monument or something.

Next day…

FRIDAY


"And now Suzy, having beaten the chicken soup out of all her other opponents this week, will take this final challenge by herself! Will she be able to do it ladies and gentlemen? Will she be able to impress Misty at last? We'll find out today! Let's give our small town girl some encouragement for her task at hand!"

As the crowd claps, whistles and stomps their feet in support, you sit at a large table by yourself looking at…

A big bag of dicks.

It's even labeled as such. BIG BAG OF DICKS in big black lettering so you can't miss it.

You don't even look inside the bag; you take their word for it and double face palm before exhaling and looking back up.

"Really?" you ask in disbelief.
"This is the last task Suzy…" the disembodied announcer's voice whispers.
"I don't give a shit, I'm not eating a goddamn bag of dicks! That's just fucking disgusting for one thing and for another…

Suddenly Bobby's grandmother appears as she has been doing in your dreams.

"See? Told you she wasn't going to do it. Still, it was funny to see the reaction." Bobby's grandmother cackles and with a wave of her cane, you're back in that blasted wasteland you were in last time.

"So what now? Am I going to meet this Misty, whoever the fuck that is?"
"Not quite yet. You're still not married to my grandson. Misty has decided that she'll meet you after that event…and sheesh you still haven't figured out who Misty is yet? You suffer a head injury when Aaron was tossing grenades around?" Bobby's grandmother asks and then taps you in the forehead with her hand.
"Ow! Stop!" you say and back away.
"I hope you aren't this slow on the uptake today. Oh well, guess you can't help being blonde. Anyway, congrats on your wedding and you've got my blessing. Good luck!"

Good luck? Somehow that doesn't sound reassuring. You're about to ask Bobby's grandmother what she exactly means by that, but then she waves that damn cane again and you're enveloped the blackness and then you wake up.

"Gah, fucking bitch." You say groggily.
"Um, I'm sorry for waking you…but we really need to see if this fits." a familiar female voice remarks.

You look around the room and see Helen coming in carrying some red clothing.

"Huh? No, not you…wait what are you doing in here anyway? Did Bobby spend all night working on the house?" you ask
"I'm bringing in your wedding dress and yes, Bobby has been working on the house for the most part. Trying to patch up the big hole in the house, cleaning up the dungeon, blocking the front gate. He had to bury our brother Jordan as well. I don't believe he's actually slept yet."
"Oh yeah, forgot that that asshole killed one of your siblings. I didn't know him that well, but sorry for your loss." You remark.
"Thank you. Yes, it was very sad, but to be honest Jordan wasn't the brightest. I remember numerous times when looking after him I had to stop him from eating something poisonous or doing something else life threatening so it's actually amazing he lived as long as he did. Still, he had some very endearing qualities. He looked up to Bobby a lot, wanted to be just like him. He even had a small crush on me I think to partially emulate Bobby and Diana's old relationship." Helen says with a smile before her face goes back to normal.

"But we are all just puppets in Tiamat's glorious chaos, so we all need to just move on right? Could you see if this fits?" Helen cheerfully asks holding up the red clothing which now looks a lot like lingerie.
"Wait, that's the wedding dress? It looks like slutty underwear from Hot Secret." You answer and get out of bed.

Helen's face looks a bit offended by that statement.

"My grandmother wore this on her wedding day! She had this dress made of the finest silk, not whatever cheap material they use in North Tiwanaland or some place! THIS is a one of a kind article of clothing! It's not something you'd find in some edgy teenager hang out!" Helen remarks.
"Okay! Geez. I'm not trying to insult the dress or your grandmother. It's just…well I thought I'd be wearing something a little more… substantial. But seeing as your family isn't exactly conventional and when in Rome…I guess I better try it on. Um, you washed it right?"
"Of course. Hand washed it myself. Can't risk putting it in a machine." Helen says and hands it to you.

You have to admit; it does feel rather nice in your hands.

"Oh, here's the stockings and the shoes too." Helen says and hands you what is apparently the rest of the outfit.

"Red fishnets…red high heels…" you say.
"Yes. Those shoes were also special made with the finest…"
"Leather. Yes, I can imagine. Let me guess the fishnets were made with the finest silk as well."
"Well of course, what else would it be?"
"What else indeed. Okay, well I guess I'm going in the bathroom to change."
"You don't need to you know. I mean I won't be offended if you change in front of me. We're practically family now." Helen says.
"Um…no that's okay. Besides, I should wash up before changing anyway. I probably still smell of sweat from yesterday's events."
"Okay, well I guess I'll just wait out here then and remember you can call if you need something.

You enter the bathroom and go through your usual routine of showering and such. Afterwards you finally get around putting on the "wedding dress"

The first thing you do is look at the dress before putting it on and wondering if it's going to be bigger in the chest area. While you're not lacking in that region, you've met Bobby's grandmother (in dream form anyway) and she's got at least another couple cup sizes on you. In fact her body type back in her prime was more of an old school 1950s pinup girl hourglass figure than your own "petite" size.

The funny thing is, as soon as you put it on, it seems to fit perfectly to your own body. The material isn't any sort of spandex or stretchy material, it's silk like Helen said, but given Bobby's family's strangeness, you have to wonder if it's…magical?

"Magical underwear." You scoff; shaking your head in half disbelief you're even considering it. Not surprisingly the stockings AND the shoes fit you perfectly as well.

Yeah, Grandma Morningstar probably had all this stuff weaved by a giant magical spider voodoo priest or some shit because it doesn't make sense that any of this stuff would fit you so well.

Regardless of its origins, you do feel pretty comfortable despite looking like a Hollywood streetwalker. The heels don't even hurt your feet, though you're still a little unsteady on them due to not being used to wearing such things. Let alone these being stilettos.

The last time you wore heels was when Uncle Ed made you wear stripperiffic clothing with the intent to lure Bobby and his dad into the woods where he could kill them. While everything turned out for the best because you met Bobby that fateful night, the part with Uncle Ed still gives you the shivers just thinking about it.

You look at yourself in the mirror one more time, before leaving the bathroom.

"Well Suzy, you might look like a whore in this thing, but at least you look like a high priced one." You say to yourself.

When you exit the bathroom Helen stands up and looks at you.

"Oh my. You're…you're…so beautiful looking. I knew it would fit you perfectly." Helen gushes.
"Yeah I am pretty hot looking in this get up. Shit, still can't balance on these heels though." You say.
"Oh we have to go show everyone now what you look like. Maybe take some pictures!" Helen says approaching you.
"What? I thought I was just putting it on as a test drive as it were. While I won't deny this stuff feels pretty comfortable on my skin that I don't mind wearing it, I sort of don't want to be walking around the house with it on until show time. Besides everyone can see how awesomely sexy I am then."
"I think they should see you now. It'll raise the spirits around here seeing you dressed like this." Helen remarks as she begins touching your arm.
"Well it'll raise something with the males around here when they see me of course. Not sure about the ladies of this house, though you're getting a little too close there Helen."
"Oh please? At least go show Bobby. I know he'd like to see you." Helen says ignoring your previous remark about invading your personal space.
"I'm sure he's really busy right now, besides isn't it bad luck for me to see him right before the wedding?"
"Oh you're thinking of those silly traditions for other weddings. That's not the case here. Come on I'll take you to him." Helen says and at this point is pulling on your hands almost causing you fall.
"Hey! I nearly fell! I told you already that you're too damn close!"

Helen immediately backs away and looks down submissively.

"I'm sorry Suzy. I didn't mean to violate your personal space. It's just I thought…well it's Bobby."
"What about him?
"Well, as I said he hasn't slept and he's been working everyone like a task master trying to get the house as much in order as he can. And that's his right of course. He is the head of this family. Still, during all the hustle and bustle when I was going to see him when he was cleaning up the dungeon. I caught him weeping and praying to Tiamat. Normally I wouldn't have intruded, but he looked so…vulnerable and sad. He kept going on about he wasn't even sure if this wedding was the right thing because he wasn't confident that he'd be a strong enough husband for you and be a good provider. He was having doubts about even leading this family after all the mess that's happened this week."
"Oh geez. I've already told him several times that I loved him and that I was behind him no matter what." You say.
"Well maybe that's all he needs again. Sometimes a little boost is all that someone needs to feel better. Like I remember yesterday when I was with the children during Aaron's rampage, I told them that they would be safe because Tiamat's chaos was in their favor that day. They were so brave after that, they were perfectly fine when I left them alone to help you and Bobby." Helen says.

You go with Helen now

If Bobby's feeling a little down about everything and Helen feels like you could cheer him up, it couldn't hurt to go see him right now. Not like you've got anything better to do.

"Alright, I'll go see him. I suppose I might as well get used to walking around in this thing." You say.
"Oh I know he'll be so glad to see you, here let me get the door." Helen says and opens it for you.

You walk down the corridor with Helen nearby going on about how she's so glad you're officially going to be part of the family.

"And don't worry, when you start having all those babies, I can certainly help you out on that front."
"Great. I'll be looking forward to it…" you say unenthusiastically while at the same time still trying to maintain your balance on the heels.

When you get to the stairs you stop.

"Shit, I think I should take these heels off before heading downstairs. I don't want to fall." You say.
"Oh don't worry about that, just hang on to the railing and I'll be right here to make sure you don't fall. In fact I can even put my arm around you just to make sure you don't." Helen says and goes to balance you a bit.
"Well thanks, but I really don't need your arm around m…" you start to say and then Helen punches you in the face.

The punch itself isn't even that hard as far as punches go, in fact Helen even winces when she does it as if she wasn't confident in her abilities and was reluctant to even do so.

However combined with being on top of the stairs and your high heels you lose your balance completely and go tumbling down them.

Falling down a flight of stairs is always a bit of a crapshoot, sometimes people survive it with just a few bumps and bruises and other times they break their necks and die before they reach the bottom.

You fall somewhere in between, you break your neck, but you don't die. You won't be moving anytime soon though. You'd probably be in more horror about the situation of not being able to move if your head wasn't so scrambled from the fall.

As you struggle to remain conscious, you see Helen coming down the stair before you. Her face has a sad expression.

"Oh no. I was afraid this might happen." She says with the tone of being genuinely upset.

As Helen approaches and kneels near your head you both hear the sounds of gunfire outside and shouting inside the house. Neither of you know what that's about, but you're in no condition to worry about it.

Helen picks your head up and speaks.

"Sorry Suzy, but I just love Bobby too much to let you have him. I wish there could've been another way, but I'll make this quick."

You don't respond, you just close your eyes and let go.

And then a final snap.