You're Cute When You Scream

The room that I had been in only a few hours ago came into view as we ascended up the stairs. My bandages were loosening at a rapid pace and falling down to my feet. I quietly hissed as the oxygen pierced my exposed burns. He threw me into the room so that I was down on my knees. In my previous experience, I had been in this same position earlier, but I’m sure that will be for a different purpose than now.

“You’ve got some real nerve,” he said from behind me, “Never have I ever had such a fucking hard time with anyone but you.”

I shrugged, “I’d imagine it must be difficult for you. How do you like someone enough to buy them an expensive necklace and have the guts to beat the shit out of them?”

“Don’t flatter yourself too much. That was one side of me you’ll never see again.”

“Pity,” I mumbled, finding myself honestly wishing that it could’ve stayed that way…which was enough to make me want to puke.

“So,” Shadows said after an awkward moment, “do you think you’re funny…calling the cops on us like that?”

“Sure, I got a good laugh out of it. I was so close to escaping. What would you have done then?”

“Hunted down your ass,” he replied, almost immediately.

“Aw, would you miss me that much?” I laughed.

“Not as much as you seem to be thinking. But anyway, I have something for you.” When he said ‘something’ I assumed he was going to be cliché and send a fist flying into my face, but that wasn’t what I got.

He clicked a button near the light switch and what looked like a massage table emerged from the ground. “How about I calm you down first, I’d imagine the strangeness of what happened earlier might be throwing you off?” he asked, gripping my shoulders and pushing me toward the table.

As nice as that did sound, something didn’t feel right.

Slowly, he laid my body face down on the padded table. His fingertips ran up and down my back, which felt surprisingly good. My eyelids slowly drooped shut and the tenseness left my body. His hands worked deep yet cautious around my scarred and raw back, but even with the slight sting of pain, it felt so good.

But just as it was starting to feel amazing, he stepped away from me. My wrists were strapped down, as were my legs. Confused, I lifted my head up to find Shadows smirking toward me, his eyes darkened with evil intentions. I fell for it again.

“You know, Randi, since you were so desperate to escape, I assumed that part of your reasoning was so that you could get some more sunlight. I mean, aside from your burns, you look as white as a ghost. So, I decided to let you try out my new tanning bed,” he grinned, still trying to make it sound like he was doing me a favor.

He pulled what looked like a TV remote out of his pocket and clicked a button. The floor trembled slightly as four white metallic walls emerged from the ground below and sealed me in. Shadows closed the lid and soon bright blue and purple lights turned on. A knob outside clicked and a mechanic voice read, “15 minute tanning session, selected.”

The temperature in this sealed box rose to supernova heat almost as soon as the lights had turned on. Already, I was breaking out into a sweat. My mind was racing with questions and fear. Is he really giving me a much-unwanted tan? No…there has to be something more to this.

My body really needs to learn how to pick up on dangers quicker. I guess my time spent here has dulled my ability to think clearly. Once again my tenseness disappeared as the warm waves washed over me, numbing the pain of the burns and washing away any doubt or uneasiness.

A piercing sound began to torment my ears. My eyes shot open, but by then there was nothing I could do. Large metal spikes materialized above and below me. There wasn’t much space between the ceiling and me so it didn’t take long for the choked scream in the back of my throat to escape. Every inch of my body was being sabotaged as the spikes stabbed, retreated, and stabbed again. Each time, the spikes hit in the exact same hole.

The heat mixed with the spiking in the most awful way. Layers of sweat, mixed with blood, covered my skin and sunk into the wounds, burning each and every time. The only place I didn’t feel pain was on my mechanical leg, but that was nowhere near good news. Each chop slowly obliterated it to nothing but scraps of metal. I was back down to only one leg again…I stand no chance of escaping now.

My clothes were being ripped to shreds. It felt as if my entire body was being pierced, only this was hurting much more than any of my piercings ever had before. I felt some liquid starting to fill up the floor of this case. It didn’t take me long to realize that it was my own blood, pouring from each of the holes and filling up. I was going to drown in my own blood.

I was distracted for a moment when I heard a chink-chink noise. Suddenly, the spikes switched positions so that now they were making even more holes, above and below the previous ones. I screamed out when this time around the spikes found their way to my boobs, stabbing through my nipples head on, straight through.

Tears mixed with the blood on my face, adding further to the puddle that was already starting to swish back and forth across my back. I was losing too much blood and my head began spinning. My arms and legs were locked in placed as my body continued to slowly be chopped to pieces in the tiniest and slowest way.

“GET ME OUT OF HERE!” I screamed, feeling my throat burn with each word.

I coughed as blood managed to seep into my mouth, already getting up to that level in height. I am not going to let him kill me, damn it. …But what more can I do?

The lid was opening and the sea of blood flooded onto his floor. I gasped for breath as I was once again given the ability to breathe air. My entire body was numb, and even after the restraints were lifted, I couldn’t bring myself to get up off that table. Shadows towered over me, gleaming with happiness as he watched the blood drip from my body.

Of all the things that they’ve done to me, none of them ever made my entire body ache so badly. Maybe that’s because…because this time they might be able to kill me. Shadows walked over and lifted me up, discarding me on his bed, which was still unmade from earlier. He started tearing of his shirt and my heart became lodged between the ribs in my ribcage.

He wouldn’t…

*Katie’s POV*

Zacky spent the rest of the night sitting up with me, but it was starting to take its toll on him. I asked one of the nurses if she could help him out of his seat and guide him to the semi-more comfortable chairs in the waiting room. She was pretty talented, I must admit, to move Zacky from one room to another, without waking him up.

Shortly after Zacky’s movement, the doctor came into the room and pulled a chair up next to me. “How are you feeling, Miss Johnson?” he asked with a smile.

“As good as can be expected,” I shrugged.

His smile faltered, “You do understand that with an injury such as this, we need to cover some questions.”

I was hoping to avoid this portion of my hospital stay. Almost immediately I began avoiding eye contact. I never really was a good liar…and that wasn’t exactly very helpful right now. What was I going to say? There’s no way I could bring myself to get Zacky in trouble for this…but at the same time if I’m not honest now, then when will I ever get another chance to turn those other assholes in?

“Of course,” I forced a smile.

“You know that man out in the waiting room, don’t you?”

Sheepishly I glanced up at him. “Yes, I do. He didn’t have any part in what happened to me…in fact in both cases he was the one who saved me.”

“Both cases?”

“Yeah, this is going to sound crazy and insane, but my two friends and I…we’ve been kidnapped by these men and I was trying to escape, but it was just too cold –,” I cried, being suddenly interrupted.

“Randi and Myra,” he said.

My eyes widened, “How do you know about them?”

“Myra came to me with an injury in California, only I didn’t believe her when she told me about these guys. Randi came here a couple days ago, and I couldn’t deny the facts. We worked together to capture two of the men. Is he one of them?” he asked, nodding his head toward the waiting room.

My eyes began to water. “Y-yes, he is.”

“Don’t worry, Katie, I’ll have him taken to join his buddies.”

The doctor stood up, and without thinking I gripped his white coat. “No, you can’t take him away. He saved me. He’s not a bad person, I promise!” I pleaded.

“Katie,” he sighed, “he may be trying to change himself, but that doesn’t erase what he’s done. I can’t allow this madness to continue. I’m sorry but I have to turn him over. He’ll probably be able to get a lighter sentence, with your testimony, but he is a criminal.”

Gently, he pulled his coat out of my grip and solemnly left the room. I watched his shadow dial the phone. I heard the thudding footsteps echoing down the empty hospital hall.

I could only imagine how it happened – them startling Zacky awake, him trying to protest his case, that he only found me on the side of the road; them placing handcuffs around his wrists and roughly pushing him along.

The shadows were getting closer in my vision through the glass window. I watched with tears streaming down my cheeks as Zacky turned toward my direction, offering me the saddest, most hate-filled look I’d ever seen.

I wanted to tell him I was sorry and that I didn’t intend for him to get caught up, but judging by the look on his face, I’d say he wouldn’t have believed me anyway. My head hung low in shame. In all honesty, my only defense had just been taken away from me.