It's up to Me to Make You Bleed

My mind couldn’t possibly begin to process what I had seen. Matt and Jimmy just killed that girl. I wanted to scream and run away, but I was frozen in place…frozen with fear.

Matt looked at me with an unreadable expression; however, Jimmy’s was perfectly clear. He looked totally evil – it was almost as if he had turned into a different person. Matt slowly approached the vehicle, clearly intending to confront me about the matter at hand. And I would’ve been perfectly fine with discussing the matter…if only he wasn’t still holding the knife.

I gripped onto the door handle for support; my legs were wobbling like crazy and could barely support my body. There was fear in my eyes, I knew it…and they surely knew that as well.

“Sarah,” Matt said, almost with disappointment, “what the hell are you doing here?” Wait, did that even mean anything right now? They’re probably going to kill me for finding out their secret!

Jimmy rolled his eyes before taking a menacing step forward. “He asked you a question.”

I swallowed sorely before deciding to respond. “I-I realized that you never asked what my order was, so I jumped in the trunk, planning to scare you guys in the drive thru…” I whispered, shamefully.

Matt’s impenetrable stare finally cracked into a sympathetic look. I took that as a good sign…maybe he really does have feelings for me. Regardless, it was clear that he and Jimmy had opposing opinions on the matter and that is what made me nervous.

*Normal POV*

Shortly after our experience, Brian fell asleep, which gave me just enough time to slip out of bed and go into the living room. I was still in shock that that happened…but it was necessary. Now, he won’t suspect a thing. Now he won’t bother me anymore for that because shit, that had to have been good enough to keep him reeling for a least two more days.

And the best part is….he could be dead by then.

Anyway, I was hoping to indulge myself in some TV, but was surprised to find that Zacky had already beaten me to the couch and the remote control. “Shark week?” I groaned, “Why does it seem like every guy loves this shit?”

“Honestly,” Zacky scooted over, “there’s nothing else on. This is actually ridiculously hard for me to watch. Jaws gives me nightmares.”

I smirked to myself remembering this one night where after going to the beach Jimmy wanted to watch Jaws. Zacky actually screamed at some points during the movie, peering between pillows.

“I totally remember that,” I laughed, verbalizing my thoughts…totally slipping out of character.

Zacky’s eyebrows scrunched in confusion as he stared at me thoughtfully. I was never absolutely sure if he ever recognized me from the start; after all, he would be the only one in the group who actually knew that I was still alive.

“So, it really is you,” he whispered, smiling in relief.

I grinned, “Damn right. Man, I have so much to tell you!” I paused and leaned in closer so that only he could hear. “Ever since I moved in with my dad I found out he was an assassin and he’s trained me to be one as well. I’ve been waiting for the perfect time to get my vengeance…and now it’s here!”

Zacky was interested. “Wait, so you kill people?”

“Only the bad ones.”

“And you plan on killing the three of them?” I nodded with pride. “Huh,” he breathed, “I’ll be interested to see how that plays out…”

“You and me both,” I whispered, returning my attention back to the shark on screen upon hearing Brian stir in the other room. It felt good having Zacky as an ally. Maybe I can use that to my advantage.

*Matt’s POV*

This was bad, very bad. Ever since Jimmy, Brian, and I entered this side job of killing, I haven’t been able to have a steady girlfriend. At one point, I thought that Val was going to be the one…until she betrayed me.

Apparently, or at least she claimed, that she’d known about what we did for a very long time, just didn’t say anything about it. One night she followed us out, hiding in the shadows. She wasn’t going to just sit there and watch us kill some random girl. So, what did she do?

She retreated from her hiding spot and interfered, catching Brian off guard and whacking him from behind. She almost broke Jimmy’s camera, which royally pissed him off. Then she thought she’d be able to help the girl back onto her feet and get her out of the alleyway and back into the public’s eye.

But I wouldn’t let her. She was my responsibility. My target. I met her at the exit of the alley, beating her and the original girl to death with a pair of crumbling cinder blocks near a dumpster. I didn’t regret it for a single moment.

But things were different now. I’m getting older now and although I don’t want to abandon the killing, I don’t want to be alone either. I need to come up with an excuse. “Jimmy, why don’t you head back to the hotel and meet up with the others? Then we’ll meet you back at the house shortly. I need to talk with Sarah here.”

I knew that Jimmy didn’t want to go through another female liability and was more than willing to kill Sarah, but I just couldn’t let that happen…not yet, anyway. “Whatever,” he spat, glaring at Sarah as he walked past her to get into the car.

I turned to face Sarah who was still trembling and eyeing the bloodstained knife in my hands. I’m thinking it might be helpful to get rid of that. I wiped the blood off on my shirt and tucked the knife back into its hiding spot. “C’mon, let’s go get some burgers and I’ll explain things to you.”

Of course I wasn’t going to reveal the long truth about the real reason or the real deed we perform, but I would give her an explanation for today. After I brought the tray of food to the table, I sat down and watched her hesitantly reach for the wrapped burger.

“Sarah,” I sighed, “I’m not going to hurt you. I need you to just relax.”

“Relax?” she laughed. “Matt, I just watched you kill some random girl. What the fuck?”

I held my hands out in defense. “I can understand why you feel that way, and I plan on explaining everything.”

“What’s there to explain? You’re a murderer…”

“Look, you might think that was some random girl, but she wasn’t. Her father killed my father and I just couldn’t stand that lingering disrespect for my father by allowing her to live. I was just taking a life for a life,” I lied, relying heavily on emotional expression to deceive.

Her expression softened ever so slightly as she finally decided to touch her food. “That doesn’t really make it right…but what you’re saying is that you’re not a serial killer? That was the only time?”

I really should be getting an award for this insanely good acting. “That’s right. It just had to be done…I couldn’t feel at ease until I did it. Jimmy offered to come along and help, just in case I decided to chicken out.”

Sarah looked skeptical, but in the end I knew that I’d won her over. Soon enough all her suspicions will vanish. But, if she discovers something else like what happened today, my hands are going to be tied. It would be inevitable.

*Normal POV*

Zacky and I exchanged numbers so that we could continue our discussion about my vengeance and the past ten years of my life. It felt so amazing to finally get everything off of my chest, especially to one of the people who saved my life in the first place.

However, all discussion ended the moment Jimmy stormed through the door. “Pack your shit up, we’re checking out,” he mumbled.

“Where’s Matt, didn’t he go with you?”

“Him and Sarah went out to lunch,” he stated bitterly, shoving his clothes into a duffle bag.

Zacky and I shared an eye roll before I grudgingly got up off the couch and entered the other room to grab my purse. Brian was still laying down, so I nudged him awake. “C’mon, we’re leaving now.”

He mumbled something incoherently before rolling off the side of bed and sliding into his discarded jeans. I felt his eyes burning into my back…practically begging me to give him some sort of recognition, some definitive sign that that moment we had was real, and would happen again.

But I couldn’t give that to him. That would defeat the purpose.

We all piled into the car with Jimmy driving. Unfortunately, since Brian’s under the impression that he and I are going to be a “couple” soon, he decided to call dibs on sitting in back with me. Damn it.

The ride was fairly silent, with the exception of the static-filled music playing from the radio. Soon average streets turned into private drives and gated pavement. Their driveway was slanted, creeping up a mountainous incline covered with palm trees and man-made rock walls.

I wasn’t surprised that they lived in a mansion, nor was I surprised that the mansion clearly expressed the extent of their wealth. After all, my dad’s place really wasn’t too much smaller than this one.

“You know, most chicks I bring home with me are amazed with the place,” Brian teased as we got out of the vehicle.

I faked a laugh and shrugged, “I’m no stranger to money.”

“Is that so?” Jimmy intruded, “You never really told us much about yourself, Chelsey.”

“If I told you,” I smirked, “I’d have to kill you.”

The best part to using that cliché line was that it was kind of true in this case. Jimmy receded with an eye roll as he dragged his feet up each of the stone steps leading to the front door. I ought to give him something to really get him in a bad mood about…

Brian gave me a quick tour of the house and let me get comfortable in his bedroom. He stepped into the attached bathroom to take a quick shower, which I gladly declined. It was bad enough that he’d already seen me naked during this encounter.

He didn’t take long enough for me to actually have some snoop time, so I just relaxed on the king sized bed. Brian stepped out of the steamy bathroom with a towel wrapped loosely around his waist. My eyes somehow became glued to his amazing physical features – covered in a layer of water droplets and steam. My heartbeat increased drastically as sexual fantasies flashed through my mind.

He noticed. Of course he would notice. His fingers slowly wrapped around the upper portion of the towel as he began to loosen it even more. Just as Brian’s entirety was almost completely exposed, Zacky burst in through the door frantically. His eyes landed directly on Brian’s dick and he shrieked, not hesitating to shield his eyes.

“Dude, what the hell? We just got home and you’re already naked!” Zacky said.

“There is a woman in my room…what else would you expect?”

“Just fucking put some pants on man I have to tell you something.”

Brian complied. “What is it?”

“We left our guitars back at the studio!”

“Shit,” he muttered, now searching for more clothes.

I propped myself up on the mattress, confused. “What the hell is so urgent about guitars?”

“They’re practically our children,” Brian supplied. “Look, we’ll be back soon.” I waved them off, still partially lost, but content nevertheless.

A nap seemed incredibly tempting right now, despite the fact that I was laying in a murderer’s bed. However, regardless of my efforts, I couldn’t seem to fall asleep. Maybe it was my desire to search this place and see if there’s any more evidence of what they’ve been up to these past ten years.

Even though I have the assassin’s intelligence on my side, that doesn’t always means that I’ll get all the information I really need. Some people are capable of hiding. And I need to figure out what these boys have hidden.

The house was silent, which surprised me because I knew that Jimmy was still around here somewhere. I took cautious steps and always made sure to remain as silent as the house itself. So far, I’d knocked out the entire first floor…only finding a couple of guns, some drugs, and a random man thong.

Checking the bedrooms seemed too risky because I’m almost certain that he’s up there. That left me with nothing more than the basement, which is always a great place to search for secrets.

There really wasn’t much down there except for a few occasional stacks of cardboard boxes and some work out equipment. As I was turning to return upstairs, I tripped over something metallic, landing hard on my knees. I bit back a moan of pain as my eyes darted down to my feet to find what was the cause. It was one of those canisters that store roles of films. Weird…

There were a few more randomly strewn across the floor. I followed the trail until I found a wall covered from top to bottom with shelves of VHS’s. Each of them was labeled with a title, date, or both. I found a tape called “The Art of Subconscious Illusion,” dated June ‘00.

Could it be…?

Eagerly, I grabbed the tape and retreated to the entertainment room on the other side of the work out area. Thankfully, there was a VCR. I popped the tape inside and stared at the screen. I was absolutely horrified. I was watching one of the worst memories of my existence being played on the TV. I saw it all from the camera’s perspective…the torture, the escape attempts, my mother’s murder, and my attempted murder.

But there was something on there that hadn’t been seen when it actually happened. In the very beginning there was a noticeable hesitance in Matt and Brian’s actions and words…but by the tape’s conclusion, it was as if they’d turned into different people. How the hell does that happen?!

Against my better judgment, I selected some other videos and actually ended up puking by the end of the session. The things they did to those women…it was repulsive…inhumane.

Anger crystallized inside of me. Enough of this bullshit act. I came here for a reason and it’s about damn time I do what needs to be done. As I made my way back up the stairs, I grabbed some supplies and headed to his bedroom.

The lights were off. Slowly, I opened the door – unsure whether he would be facing the doorway or not. His desk and computer were aligned with the window, horizontally. His back was facing me and, from what I could gather, he was reading some article or something online.

I grinned to myself as I tip toed over to him with a pillowcase in hand. I raised it high above my head before bringing it down around his, holding onto the ends tightly before using a spare piece of rope to tie it securely.

“WHAT THE FUCK?” he screamed, struggling to pry my hands off his neck.

Maintaining my grip, I threw him down onto the floor and gabbed my foot into his ribs. His fingers instantly flew up to the tightly tied rope in hopes of undoing the knot. I was quicker. I pulled a knife out of my boot and slashed his arms, which undoubtedly slowed his efforts.

Blood leaked out onto his t-shirt, forming a small puddle above his stomach. Because the puddle had caught my attention so strongly (and because I didn’t want to stick a bloody knife back into my boots, I shoved it deep into his stomach, just above the bellybutton and watched with amusement as the blood that had spilled from his arms now leaked back into this new gash.

I reached back down and tightly gripped his narrow throat, using all my strength to bring him back to his feet before slamming him roughly into the wall, knocking down a few picture frames in the process.

“Get your fucking hands off of me. I swear whoever the hell this is will regret this,” he growled, before ripping the knife out of his stomach and throwing it onto the ground.

I wanted so badly to say a few things, but then he’d know who it was…well to a certain extent anyway. Besides, I still had more to do. I had brought a large pot of boiling hot water up with me, which was now resting outside his bedroom. I sprinted out of the room to grab it.

Once I returned, I saw that he was actually making progress in loosening the ropes. Looks like I need to act fast. Without another moment, I threw the pan of water at him, watching as the water splashed up onto him primarily causing him to scream in agony as the heated water ate away at his skin. The pot came after, knocking into his skull.

He fell down to his knees, shaking. I reached for my knife and held it to his neck just about ready to reveal myself before killing him.

That was until I heard the front door downstairs open.