The Lakeshore Strangler

[smngry]

You're a machine!!! 😂

Looking forward to it Gee ☺

[Spanky]

Finally caught up with this. Really solid entries. I was skeptical at Mike's part at first, but it's playing out well and kind of adds another dynamic to thing.

[Gee]

Yeah, idk. I just kind of liked the idea of them all knowing each other

[Spanky]

It definitely gives a good spin on things. Makes that opening scene in the original movie a lot more interesting.

[Gee]

November 24th, 1971

"Come on, Chucky! Please? Do it for me!" Rachael pestered as she put on her best begging face. Chucky was only half paying attention, he put most of his focus on his canvas. After over two years of learning from John, he was painting his first tribute to Damballa. Rachael gently rested her hand on his wrist and breathed out a sigh. "I'm being serious, Chucky. We've been together for two years now. You haven't even met my mother yet." Chucky put his paint brush down and ran his fingers through his long brown hair. "Rach, you know I don't do any of that family-domestic shit." Besides, who do I have to impress? My family is dead and your parents are losers." He brought up laughingly. He imagined all of the Valentines meeting up in prison during visiting hours so Butch Valentine, Rachael's father, could carve the turkey at Thanksgiving tomorrow. The thought made him laugh even harder, and he began to tear up. He looked up at Rachael who he thought might have a decent sense of humor, but he was wrong. She was obviously upset. She shot him a look of disgust and stormed off to the bathroom, slamming the door as she entered.

Chucky cursed under his breath and buried his face in his hands. He never realized exactly how high maintenance this woman was, lately he had began to regret moving her stuff in with him. He sighed deeply and carefully moved his easel over to the side. He stood up and began pacing around the room, stopping in front of the mirror that hung up over the fireplace. Rachael was a bigger pain in the ass than he bargained for but, he didn't want her to regret leaving Mike for him. He studied his features for a moment. He still wore the small scar on he edge of his right eye that Mike Norris gifted him just over two years prior. Chucky smiled at the memory, it was a good one.

Mike charged at Chucky that morning in Kenny's kitchen. "I'm gonna fucking kill you, Ray!" He screamed as he threw a punch into Chucky's right eye. Chucky followed his natural instinct and applied pressure to it. He was filled with fury. He pushed Mike into the wall, knocking the cork board down as his body slammed into it. "Now that's not real police-like is it, Mikey?" He shouted back at him. Chucky could hear the sounds of the left over party-goers shuffle around and scurry out the door, not wanting to get involved. Mike and Chucky stared at each other intensely. "Get the fuck out of my sight, Mike." He spat as he let go of his collar. Mike walked away slowly, his gaze not leaving Chucky's for a moment as he left, and the rest was history.

Chucky could hear Rachael cry in the bathroom, her usual move whenever she wants something. He took a deep breath and walked over to the bathroom door. He hesitated for a moment, then knocked. "Listen Rach, you know I was just messing with you." He could hear her drag herself closer to the door. "Whatever, Chucky. Just leave me alone." she retorted obviously trying to get a rise out of him. It was working. "God damnit, Rachael! If it means so much to you, fine! I'll go the Thanksgiving." Chucky moved himself out of the way just in time for Rachael to spring the door open. "Oh baby, thank you! You'll have a great time I just know it! It's just gonna be us, Momma and Tiffany. Not a big thing at all."

Chucky immediately regretted saying yes. "I thought she was locked up for being bat-shit crazy." He questioned as he carefully placed his easel back in front of the couch and sat down. Rachael joined him on the other side and curled into a ball. "Chucky, she's not crazy. Her and some spoiled bitch at school got into a big spat and she beat her up a little too badly. Tiffany doesn't know any different, she is my daddy's daughter." Chucky shrugged. Rachael could defend Tiffany all she wanted, it wouldn't make her any less crazy. Whenever Tiffany crosses his mind he just thinks of the body parts laying in the creek all those years ago.

He looked back at Rachael who was now asleep on he couch. He wondered how she would react if she knew about who he truly was. A natural born killer.

He turned to face his canvas, almost completed. It was his first painting in what seemed like forever, and it was by far his favourite. He looked deeply into the eyes of his painted Damballa, and begged for the power needed to face tomorrow.


November 25th, 1971

"Oh my god, I can't believe it!" Norma Valentine shouted loudly with open arms as she watched Chucky and Rachael walk up to the apartment door. Rachael blushed, and Chucky tried to hide his pang of annoyance. Norma motioned the two to come in and closed the door behind them. Norma hugged her daughter, then turned to Chucky and gave him a hug. He hated every moment of it. That kind of intimacy always made him feel uncomfortable, he could count on one hand the amount of hugs he had given in his entire life.

Their apartment looked like the backstage of a burlesque show, it was obvious only women had lived here for a long time. The smell of the place was a heavy blend of musk and sandalwood, mixed with turkey. It was nauseating. Norma stood in front of him and crossed her arms, as Rachael always does. "I just can't believe it. Charlie Ray. Did you know everybody in town assumed the worst about you? I always kept you in my prayers though." Chucky tried to smile. Nobody called him Charlie, but for Rachael's sake he would let it pass.

Rachael took his hand and led him to the living room area, which was decorated in multitudes of scented candles and incense. The walls were covered in smoke stained wallpaper and gothic era art. Rachael invited him to sit on the weathered sofa, and he did. Norma soon walked in to join them with a tray of tea in her hands. "Scoot, Onyx!" She shouted at the cat lounging along the coffee table. It hissed, but obeyed. She placed the tray on the table and took a seat on the love seat opposite the couple. "Rachael has told me so much about you. It's too bad it took us so long to really meet. You've grown up so much." Chucky nodded once again to be polite, and grabbed a cup and saucer off the tray. It was an old set, and it reminded him of the one Minnie would use when she entertained. He took a sip of tea, it tasted like shit.

Norma crossed her legs and smiled at Rachael who finally broke the silence. "Where's Tiffany, Momma? I would think she would be excited to see Chucky. She predicted he was alive after all." She laughed and Chucky shot her a look. He didn't know how much he could trust Tiffany. He could see her bringing up that fat asshole over dinner, and how he probably killed his whole family. Norma's shrill scream derailed his train of thought. "Tiffany! Get out here, now!" With the slam of a door and a few heavy footsteps, for the first time in nearly ten years, Chucky laid eyes on Tiffany Valentine.

She had come a long way from the dirty little kid he had always known her to be. She had extra weight on her, but she wore it well with her height. Her dark hair she grew up with was now blonde and down to the middle of her back. Judging by the dark roots at the top of her head, Chucky could tell she dyed it. She was wearing heavy makeup around her eyes, but she did it well. Her body was dressed in a tight fitting satin black gown. They were staring at each other, mesmerized. "Hi." He muttered. "Hey" she breathed back. Norma got up from her seat and ran her head through Tiffany's hair. "You remember Tiffany, don't you? She adored you growing up." Tiffany rolled her eyes. "Mother please, you're embarrassing me." Norma laughed and walked into the kitchen.

Tiffany took a seat in the love seat now that it was free and rested her elbow on the arm of the chair. "It's nice to see you, Chucky. Ten years is a long time." Chucky laughed uncomfortably. He couldn't believe he dreaded seeing her before today. "I know. You look great Tiff, really. I was half expecting to see you covered in dirt." They both laughed heartily until Rachael piped in. "Well I knew you would be excited, Tiffany but I didn't thinks you'd ignore me completely." She said, clearly hurt. Tiffany scowled. "Give it up, Rachael you act like I didn't see you last week." Chucky put his hand over his mouth, trying to block his smile. Rachael looked at him with irritation in her eyes. "I just don't like being ignored." She piped back. The awkward conversation was luckily saved by Norma's dinner call.

The small dining table was covered in food, apart from the four small spots saved for their dinner plates. "I'm sorry that we're eating a little early, I'm working all night at the diner tonight. Can't see us being too busy, Thanksgiving and all." She said as she sat down. Most of the dinner went quiet until Rachael broke the silence. "Tiffany, how was your time in Juvenile Hall?" Chucky looked at her dumbfounded. Rachael was being catty on purpose. Tiffany smiled and took another bite of mashed potatoes. "It was great. It really opened my eyes about a lot of things, and of lot of people." She looked at Chucky. "Chucky, I gotta say. I was really surprised to hear you were dating my sister. I didn't think you were interested in good girls." Rachael put her fork down and laughed. "Oh please, Tiff. Finishing high school doesn't make me a nun." Norma exchanged looks with her daughters. "Now don't you two start fighting. It's Thanksgiving. Were all together, who cares who graduated high school or not." Chucky smirked. "Yeah Rach, I never got to finish high school." Rachael gave a look of disbelief. "Momma, I'm sorry. I'm gonna excuse myself. I'll come back when everybody decides to stop ganging up on me." She got up, pushed in her chair and stormed off.

Tiffany grabbed another piece of turkey with her fork. "I can't believe she still locks herself in the bathroom when she gets pissy, what a child." Chucky laughed. "She does that at home too, I thought it was just with me." Norma giggled and took another sip of her wine. "Not just you, no. My Rachael is a sensitive soul. She was a sassy teenager but that ended with adulthood. Maybe it will work that way with this one too." She pointed to Tiffany as she got up and began to clear the table. Chucky looked up at Tiffany and smiled. "Tiffany, sweetface. You know she's fragile. Now make some coffee or something and I'll convince her to come out."

Chucky got up and walked over to Tiffany. "I'm glad I came." He said quietly to her. She stopped rummaging and faced him. "Do you love her?" She asked, her eyes watering. "I'm going to be honest, for a long time I thought I did. I thought she was amazing, now I feel like a fucking idiot. She's changed." He answered, careful to not be too loud. Tiffany nodded and poured coffee into mugs. Chucky heard the door swing open and he quickly sat back down. Norma came out too but was dressed in her work uniform. "I'm sorry to run out on you kids, but I gotta get going before I miss the bus. It was wonderful to see you, Chucky. Don't be a stranger!" She kissed both her daughters on the cheek and rushed out the door.

"I want to know what both of your fucking problems are!" Rachael cried out, crossing her arms. Chucky had enough of her constant mood swings. "Jesus Rachael, what are you talking about? You were the one who was being a bitch, trying to make Tiffany feel bad." Rachael let out a sarcastic laugh. "That's really rich coming from you, Chucky. You called her bat shit crazy just yesterday!" Chucky froze, he didn't want Tiffany to be pissed off with him. "We're all a little crazy, Rach." He answered slyly. Tiffany gave her a mug of coffee. "Just relax and take a sip, Rachael. I was just kidding around." Rachael breathed in deeply and took a sip. They all congregated back to the living room.

The room was quiet, and Chucky was relieved. There was a limit to how much cattiness he could take. Rachael took her last sip of coffee and turned to Chucky. "I wanted to wait until later to mention this to you but Chucky, I think it's time to commit." Chucky's heart raced. He knew there would be a day that she would spring this on him, but he didn't want it to be today. "I'm twenty four years old. I have to settle down sometime. I wanna be a mother someday and-" Chucky couldn't take it anymore. It was time to explode. "Hold it right there, Rachael. That is never going to happen. I promise you. You must be fucking insane!" Rachael dropped her jaw. He could see tears forming in her eyes. It gave him twisted satisfaction. She sat up straight and fought back sobs "What do you mean I'm crazy? You told me you loved me-" she couldn't fight anymore and broke down crying. Chucky moved himself closer to her and grabbed her face with his hands. "I did love you, Rach. I loved hanging out with you and fucking you, but the moment you moved in with me, well. I hate to break it to you but, you became a real fucking drag!" He threw her face back violently. She cried herself into hysterics and Chucky and Tiffany remained silent watching her. Having had enough, Chucky balled his fists. "Jesus, Rachael! Get ahold of yourself!" She continued to cry, then began clutching her throat and gasping for air.

"Just relax, you'll be fine!" Chucky reassured sarcastically as he put his feet up on the couch. Rachael got up and immediately fell to the ground, foaming from the mouth. Chucky' eyes widened, he looked at Tiffany who seemed to remain neutral as she watched her sister convulse violently on the floor. After several minutes, the convulsions became a slight twitch until it turned to nothing. Chucky slowly kneeled to the ground and felt her pulse. Nothing. He looked up at Tiffany who had a disgusted look on her face. "That rat poison is full of shit! That took forever!" She stormed angrily to kitchen and opened the cupboard under the sink, grabbed the bottle of rat poison and dumped it into the sink. Chucky was shocked, but at the same time he wasn't.

"Jesus Christ, Tiffany! You killed her?" He shouted exchanging looks between the two of them. Tiffany walked back into the living room and plopped herself into the love seat. "Oh spare me the fake innocence, Chucky. I wonder who the Lakeshore Strangler was?" She asked with sarcasm in her voice, and winked at him. Chucky jumped over Rachael's body and pinned Tiffany's wrists to the chair. "What the fuck did you just say?" He spat at her, fuming. Tiffany smiled sheepishly, "Silly Chucky, you didn't really think I thought some random stranger broke into your house and killed everybody, did you?" Chucky's eyes were as wide as possible, his heart racing so fast he could feel it radiate throughout his body. Tiffany managed to free herself from his grip and rested her free hands on his arms. "You don't have to worry though, I made sure everybody else believed that story. I would never fuck you over. I'm not like her" she said pointing to her dead sister. Chucky retracted his shoulders and let out a breath, he wasn't sure why, but he believed her.

Tiffany gently kicked her body and got up from her chair. "You know if she knew anything about you, you would be arrested at the hands of Mike Norris." She grabbed a pack of cigarettes from the kitchen counter and walked back over. "Rachael was a sneak. She still talked to him, you know. She even went to his party when he graduated from the police academy." This made him angry, it was clear her affections still stayed with Mike despite everything, but Tiffany could be lying. "Don't fuck with me, Tiffany!" He shouted, anger in every word. She inhaled deeply from her cigarette, and blew out the smoke. Her body leaning against the wall. "I followed her. The moment she told me she started going out with you, I was hurt. I knew she wasn't good enough for you. I knew I still had to keep an eye out, I watched her. I would follow her at work, whenever she went out. You name it, I was there." She put the cigarette out in the ashtray on the counter and walked over to Rachael's body.

"If you didn't fuck her, she could have maybe stayed alive. I know you would never look at me differently than that poor dirty kid who lived down the street as long as she was around. Our secret has changed me, made me who I am." Chucky looked at her and studied her body language. She wanted him, and it was obvious. Their gazes met and he could see a single tear rolling down her face. For the first time, he had seen something in her. All those years he had spent so much energy trying to forget her thinking she would ruin everything, meanwhile she had spent most of her life living as his monster. She was loyal.

"Tiff-"he approached her slowly. "How many victims?" She smiled weakly. "Whoever it took to make me feel alive again. I couldn't live with the pent up feeling anymore, after I chopped that kid up I just felt a-" Chucky's eyes widened. "A boiling feeling? Something you have to do or you'll fucking explode?" Tiffany laughed. "Exactly! And nothing beats that feeling after." Chucky and Tiffany both looked down at Rachael. Her skin was a graying blue and her face was down in her own vomit. Tiffany reached down as grabbed Rachael's arms. "Grab her legs and help me move her to her old bed in my room." Chucky nodded, grabbed her legs and together they carried Rachael down the hallway and to the bedroom the sisters had shared.

The bedroom was decorated in mostly purple and black with some pink here and there serving as evidence to the girls' innocent childhood. Tiffany dropped Rachael and walked to the bed closest to the door, pushing away all the dirty clothes she kept there. "Up here!" She demanded Chucky who struggled to drag her onto the single bed. Once she was on the bed Tiffany grabbed a towel from the dirty laundry and wiped her dead sister's mouth. After, she pulled the blanket from underneath her on top of her cold body, and positioned her to look like she had been sleeping. She walked over to Chucky.

"Okay, so I'll sleep in my bed tonight and you sleep on the couch. My mother doesn't get home from the diner until about three in the morning. Tomorrow, I'll wake up and scream like I'm in shock and act hysterical." Tiffany began to pace back and forth as she brainstormed. Chucky was impressed by how easily this all came to her. Tiffany stopped in her tracks. "I gotta clean that puke before it stains the carpet!" She quickly moved past Chucky and scurried to the living room, by the time Chucky went to meet her she already had a brush in hand and was scrubbing at the rug. "Won't your mother question why the carpet is so wet?" He asked. Tiffany pondered for a moment, then her eyes brightened. "I'll say Onyx had a hair ball. Stupid fucking cat always does anyway."

When she was done she washed her hands and took a seat on the couch. Chucky took a seat beside her. "So, how old are you now anyway?" He asked, she blushed. "I turned seventeen in September." Chucky considered it for a moment. Close enough. He took her face into his hands and kissed her.

November 30th, 1971

Rachael's funeral was small, but decent enough. It was freezing, and Chucky wished it had taken place inside. He looked to see Norma, who was hysterical. Tiffany stood beside her, comforting her mother and choking on a few tears herself. She had an extraordinary ability to cry on demand. He had managed to tune the priest's droning voice out along with any other noise. Chucky could feel a nudge in his side and looked at Eddie who had come to show his support, even though he knew all too well how Rachael truly died. Chucky mouthed "what?" And Eddie lifted his eyes to the distance. Chucky squinted and his eyes worked out the figure of Mike Norris, leaning against his car. Though far enough away, they both knew of each other's presence there. Mike nodded slowly got inside his car, and drove away. He was onto him.

[Metal Matt]

Another great chapter! Chucky meeting the Valentine family was interesting.

[smngry]

Hell yeah.

Absolutely loved that. Great to see what makes Tiffany tick too. Seeing a glimmer of what we finally meet in Bride.

Great work Gee 😃

[Spanky]

Excellent installment. Liked how everything is connecting and coming full circle.

[Gee]

Thanks everyone

I'm glad everybody likes it so far