Chapter 15: Madhouse 3-6

Every time I think I've seen everything, I just keep on getting surprised. When I walked into the Voerman sisters' room for the second time that night, I saw Jeanette holding a gun. It looked like she'd been attacked by some wild animal; her blazer was off and recklessly thrown on the ground, revealing her white silk blouse, which was torn near the bottom. Her pencil skirt is torn halfway up to her hip, exposing a generous amount of thigh. It's when she turned to me that things became confusing.

Half of her face was like Therese's: light makeup and eyeshadow. Her hair was down - or at least half down, because the other half of her face was like Jeanette's: heavy, Jezebel-like makeup, red lips, dark eyeshadow that was run-down as if she'd been crying. With the way that Therese or Jeanette or...whoever she was looked, she looked like some kind of insane asylum escapee. Now I knew where their nightclub had gotten its namesake. They - or she - was completely out of her fucking mind!

"You!" Came the voice of Therese, slightly lower and menacing. Authoritative. "I'm really sorry it had to end this way, I truly am. You seemed promising, but...you've been tainted by the stink of my sister's schemes. And now, I'm going to make sure she never double-crosses me again."

"Don't listen to her!" Said Jeanette's voice, higher pitched and chirpy. Scared. "She'll kill us both! Save me and I'll help you find Bertram, I swear!"

"Shut up, Jeanette!" Therese barked. "I warned you to stay away from Tung - he's turned you against me! I always looked out for you! But you couldn't handle my success! You had to meddle, didn't you? I didn't want it to end like this, but you forced me!"

"You never gave me any credit for anything, Therese! I was the one calling the shots!" Jeanette protested. "Bertram was dancing on my leash! How does it feel to know that I've beaten you?"

For my part, I had no idea what the fuck was going on. From what I could gather, Jeanette and Therese weren't two people, but one person with two different personalities. That was a lot to swallow, but it was, funnily enough, the most believable and mundane that I've seen tonight, so I was just going to go with the flow. They or...she was a powerful member of Kindred society, the one running Santa Monia. They were two parts of a whole, so I wasn't sure it'd be a good idea for one to be rid of the other.

"Why are you both fighting?" I asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Therese asked. "I'm about to rid the night of this deviant, back-stabbing whore! Do you realize that, despite her condition, she still...fornicates - with kine, no less! So… unclean!"

"You're one to talk, dear sister." Jeanette said, her tone menacing. "Or should I say...Daddy's Little Girl? You - Algernon. Do you want to know just how depraved the Baron of Santa Monica can be?"

"Shut up, Jeanette!" Therese hissed.

I didn't say anything. I just let her continue on her maniacal rant.

"You'd love the world to think you're a saint." Jeanette continued, despite Therese's protests. "When you thought I was asleep, I used to hear father come in at night. I would hear him whisper into your ear how much he loved you before he-"

"Don't finish that sentence or you're dead!" Therese interjected, cutting her off. I needed to gain control of the situation before she did something rash.

"Both of you stop." I said firmly. "This is pointless."

"Don't you want to hear what happened?" Jeanette asked. "How she became the pillar of the community she is today?"

"Shut up! Just shut up!" Therese growled.

"Stop it right now. Both of you." I said.

"Don't try to stop me!" Therese barked at me. "I've had to overlook her treachery, her seduction, her relations with my enemies - and the consequences of it - but I won't endure her any longer."

"Endure me?" Jeanette asked in disbelief. "Dear sister, you've done everything you could to smother me. You'd love to bury me in your closet, along with all of your other skeletons."

"I'm the good girl, you're the wicked one!" Therese insisted. "You've done nothing but plot against me - when I had our best interests at heart. And despite that, I've always covered up your mistakes. I've taken care of you. And this is how you repay me?"

"Taken care of me?" Jeanette asked, cackling. "You've done nothing but keep me down, blamed me for every mistake. Did you expect me to let you rule my life until the end of time? No, sister, you've had it coming since our last sunrise."

"Is that right, dear?" Therese shot back, narrowing her eyes. "If it wasn't for me, you never would have survived this long. Remember? They tried to separate us, but I refused. I chose this life and brought you into it so that we could stay together. Obviously, you've forgotten."

They tried to separate them? Who was they? I had so many questions, but I obviously wasn't going to get answers from this raving madwoman.

"If you both want to continue to exist, you're going to have to live with each other." I reasoned.

"She's a control freak!" Jeanette protested. "People, things, emotions - if she can't control something, she gets rid of it."

"And you're a wild animal!" Therese sniped back. "You'll rub up against anything that'll take you in for the night, then, when you're stuffed and bored, you bite the hand that fed you."

I had to think of something. Appeal to something that would appeal to the both of them. What did they have in common? What did all vampires have in common?

"Both of you have been working against the other." I said, shooting in the dark. "If you both work together, you'd be a power."

For a moment, she seemed to consider it. Then she shook her head.

"I don't think that's possible." Therese said. "How could I trust her again?"

"Trust me?" Jeanette asked, incredulous. "Who could trust you after what you did to father dearest?"

"Father loved me." Therese said matter-of-factly. "I was a good girl. I always did what I was told. You always hated that he loved me. You disobeyed him. You bought men home when he wasn't there. You were an awful daughter to him."

"That's all in the past now." I said. "Forget about it."

Jeanette ignored me. "Father came home drunk one night and mistook me for Therese, because I'd fallen asleep in her bed."

"Don't listen to her!" Therese shouted. "She's lying!"

I was losing control of the situation.

Jeanette continued, "Therese walked in while he was there and she saw me lying with him. And so, she went to the closet and took out his hunting shotgun, loaded it with deershot, and blew his mind all over the silly clown wallpaper."

"That's a lie!" Therese protested. "Father killed himself because of Jeanette! She made him miserable!"

"As I recall…" Jeanette said, a wicked grin showing up on her features. "Daddy died with a smile on his face."

"No matter what happened, you two need each other." I told her.

"Why?" Therese challenged. "How will this time be any different?"

"Think of how powerful you could be if you worked together." I reasoned.

"Therese doesn't like to share." Jeanette intoned.

"Jeanette's irresponsible. She's undependable. A venture like mine requires class and distinction, which is something a pig-tailed, face-painting harlot does not lend very well." Therese said.

"You do have a way with words, sister." Jeanette said. "You're right, I'm not in the same class am I? I mean, murderers are so respectful these days."

"Therese," I said, addressing one of the personalities. "You have to let Jeanette have more responsibility."

"More responsibility?" Therese challenged. "So she can ruin every opportunity I give her?"

I groaned. There was a type of person who did this as their job, and they got paid no small sum of money to do this. Here I was, helping a crazy lady make peace with one of her personalities, saving the stability of Santa Monica.

She continued. Jeanette spoke this time, "Of course. You're the only one who can secure zoning permits and shake hands. I'd never be able to keep up!"

"Jeanette," I said, addressing her now, "You have to stop sabotaging your sister's plans."

"But I only do it for attention!" Jeanette whined. "And out of love."

"You do it because you're vindictive and jealous." Therese barked.

"And you deserve it!" Jeanette growled.

"If you'll call a truce and run this place equally," I reasoned, "There'll be no need to kill each other."

"If she would stop treating me like a child!" Jeanette said.

"If she would stop behaving like a rational adult!" Therese countered.

"You both must've gotten along at some point." I tried.

Her expression softened. Jeanette said, "Yes...there was a time."

"When I was a child, I didn't have many friends." Therese said. "I suppose Jeanette was the only one. We never did go out of the house much. Father would never let us."

"He said we'd get hurt." Jeanette added. "So we stayed inside and imagined our own worlds. And we spent so much time there, together, ruling over those places. Those were -"

"- happier times." Therese finished for her. "Before we grew apart."

"See?" I asked. "You don't really want to kill each other, right?"

"I never did." Jeanette admitted.

"No...I guess I don't." Therese admitted also. "Jeanette: if I were to give - no, offer you equal control in Santa Monica, would you quit consorting with Tung?"

"I'll stop working with you against him… but since I've got him in my pocket already, there's no reason for me not to pay him a visit once in a while, when he can be of use." Jeanette offered.

"That's not a bad plan." Therese agreed. "There's just one more thing: I want to be in charge of Santa Monica - but only publically. I want you to continue to convince others that our relations are strained, that way - "

" - we know who our enemies are." Jeanette said, finishing the sentence. "I agree."

"Therese, give me the gun." I said.

"Take it." Therese said, handing me the revolver. "I'd hate to see it again and think of what almost transpired. I suppose now that Jeanette and I settled our differences, I'll call off the feud with Tung."

"Therese will tell Bertram that the feud is off and he'll reach out to you when he's ready to meet." Jeanette said. "I'll ask him to be extra nice."

I put the revolver in my backpack. "Thanks, both of you."

"Please give Santa Monica's regards to the prince." Therese said.

"And keep your tongue tied about what happened tonight." Jeanette added. "Otherwise, we'll have to…"

"Kill you." Tourette said.