It's up to Me to Make You Bleed

Brian and Matt exchanged looks of mixed anger and concern. Clearly, they didn’t approve of my brave act…but at the same time I wasn’t the one who dialed the phone. Then again, they won’t exactly be able to confirm that detail now that the phone is shattered into several pieces on the floor.

“Do you want to die, Courtney?” Matt asked in a pained voice.

“What do you think the answer is?” I replied bitterly.

He had some nerve asking me that question after all the hell the three have them have put me through. Hell, it was obviously too late for him to ask the same question to my mother, that’s for sure.

“Enough with this shit. We’ve gotta act now before my mom decides to believe what Courtney said,” Brian said urgently.

Jimmy was still knocked out cold on the kitchen floor, and it looked like his minions were lost without his direction. Maybe I can use this to my advantage. “You two seem lost,” I smirked, “why not just wait till Jimmy wakes up?”

“We don’t have time for that,” Brian growled, stepping toward me.

Matt reached out and held him back. “Dude, you know Jimmy’s gonna want to record all of this.”

“Are you telling me you can’t work a camcorder?”

“Of course I fucking can,” Matt grumbled, prying the camera off the tripod. Well, there goes that plan.

Brian resumed his forward walking until he was standing right in front of me. “I hope you’re ready, Courtney,” he whispered in my ear, “cause this isn’t going to feel good.”

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion as several possibilities and scenarios flooded my mind. I was so bogged down by the thoughts that I didn’t have enough time to react after he got a good grip on my bruised arm. My throat burned as a scream suddenly clawed at it. My body was hurled forward, flying down the staircase, yet not once running into the actual stairs.

Instead, I made contact with an extended piece of the ceiling that came into view as the stairs began to level out. My back made a slight snapping noise as my body turned numb immediately following the impact. I cringed once my body fell from the ceiling/wall and onto the sharp edges of the remaining few stairs. By the time I reached the carpeted hallway of the basement, everything was black.

It was my tenth birthday, once again 1991. I had never had a birthday party before, so as you could imagine, I was ecstatic. I wrote out a list of all the kids I wanted to invite and allowed my mind to wander a little, imagining all the presents I would get. My heart began to flutter a little to think that my crush, Dominic, might actually be coming!

My mom and I went shopping for a cute dress and she even bought me a birthday crown. Back in those days I really felt like a princess. I had tons of friends, I was outgoing, and I had loving parents. I had everything a ten-year-old girl could want.

Now, the party itself was absolutely amazing. Everyone who was invited ended up coming, including Dominic. But even more memorable than the party itself was that this was probably the very last time that my parents could be seen together, smiling and in love. If only my dad hadn’t been such a damn failure. Then maybe I could’ve had more years like that.

I wouldn’t have lost my perfect life.

My eyes shot wide awake as the blurred setting clarified into a cement ceiling. Tears began drizzling down the sides of my face as I continued locking eyes with the ceiling. Was there anything I could’ve done to prevent that divorce? Or better yet, what the fuck did my dad do that could be worse than cheating?

I didn’t understand what had come over me, or why that random memory entered my mind but I didn’t like this feeling. My body was trembling as tears continued pouring. Could it be that this was all because I was afraid of dying?

By the time my senses returned, I had determined that I was back on that metal bed when Matt had raped me. I felt goose bumps crawl across my flesh as the cool metal continuously made contact with my skin. It also didn’t help that the memory of that nightmarish occasion was replaying in my mind.

The sound of heavy footsteps echoed nearby and I knew that by now Jimmy had regained consciousness. I bet Matt must’ve been relieved. I’d never seen him use a camcorder before, so it looked like his “secret” was safe. The three of them entered the room with dark eyes and demented grins.

“It’s kind of depressing that this is what it comes down to,” Jimmy said, setting up the camera on a stack of boxes in the corner, “I was hoping that this would’ve lasted much longer, but hey, what can you do? This is simply a trial after all.”

“What happened to your confidence? I thought one of you ass fucks said that killing my mom and I was going to bring you millions?”

“Oh, you don’t need to worry about that, Courtney. I know that people will gladly pay to watch your death…it’s just we don’t know where to begin or start. This is all new for us.”

“Would fucking yourself up the ass be something new for you, too?”

His amused smile dropped as he stepped forward, finally pulling his right hand out from behind his back. It appeared as if he had made some sort of poorly constructed, home made set of brass knuckles…only instead of the “brass” part, he replaced it with anything from a wrench, to a knife, to a drill. A sharp object protruded from between each of his fingers. His look of distaste was now replaced with a chilling look of sadism.

“I think it’s only appropriate that we get to see all of your insides as your blood is shed onto the ground. It calls for a more cinematic effect.” I squirmed beneath the leather belts that restrained my naked body. Clearly, if they planned on stabbing me to death, it could take a while.

Brian and Matt followed Jimmy’s example and revealed devices of their own, complete with similar pain-inflicting objects, give or take. My eyes watered as my breaths increased rapidly. The very thought that this could very well be the end made my heart violently beat up against its cage. If they took any longer, my COD could end up being a mere heart attack.

“Since I’m family, I say I get the first honors,” Jimmy commented, stepping forward and grinning down at me.

Out of instinct, my eyes squeezed shut as his fist made a gusting noise, flying downward like a plane spiraling out of control. He decided to attack my torso, digging the sharper objects deep between my flesh, all while the wrench made contact with the outer layer, magically changing my skin tone into a rather unappealing shade of blue. He had to of nailed my stomach pretty badly, seeing as blood began slowly leaking out the corners of my mouth, sailing across the crevices of my chapped lips.

As for below, a small puddle of liquid collected beneath a little bit of belly fat I’d developed since summer began. Jimmy let the knives and drills remain in place a little bit longer before ripping them out, emitting a disgusting tearing noise.

Matt came up next, hardly allowing any time for the air to begin oxidizing the exposed blood. His set of ‘knuckles’ was the same but with a couple additions…take for example, an opened pen to replaced the drill. He looked away from me while my screams of agony filled the room. His attack was higher up my torso, getting closer to my chest. The pen, somehow, was the one I felt the most…possibly because some ink began leaking into the hole he had made. And, well, last time I checked, it wasn’t really all that healthy to be injecting yourself with ink.

By the time he finished, my entire midsection was numb and wet. My body stopped twitching and squirming. My face was void of emotion as I stared up at the ceiling, not really wanting nor able to see the damage. By now my heart had slowed down, not because it was relaxed, but rather because it was running out of blood to pump.

Brian stepped up next to the bed. He stared at me in hesitance, keeping his fists down at his side. “G-guys, I think she’s really dying,” he said quietly.

“That’s the point, dumbass,” Matt grunted.

If I had the mind to do so, I probably could’ve used Brian’s apparent arrival of a conscience to my advantage, but I was too weak to even blink.

“Go on, dude, you get the finishing blow!” Jimmy cheered.

Brian lifted his arm shakily as he continued to stare down at me. I should be flattered by his care, but honestly it was almost making me mad. Where was this when my mom needed help? Where was it when all this shit started?

“Kill me!” I growled, sounding as angry as I possibly could, while mustering the closest thing I could to a glare. “Fucking coward.”

It was almost amusing to watch his eyes twitch so quickly into narrow slits. He let out an animalistic battle cry as he raised his fist up and slammed four knuckled knives into my throat, sending a splash of crimson life up into the air.