It's up to Me to Make You Bleed

I wasn’t given a chance. I could barely even get a scream out of my dried throat before the swift sound of a swinging hammer swooshed in the air. The cold edge of the sledgehammer made contact with my skull and I was knocked to the ground.

Warm blood began to pool down my cold flesh as everything around me seemed to multiply in a dizzy spell. I tried to speak, but words seemed like Calculus equations right about now, and let me tell you…Math is not my forte. The sides of my vision began to dim and soon all I saw was darkness.

How could someone have broken into the house and sneaked behind me without me knowing about it beforehand? Well, it would appear that it’s too late now. Who the hell knows where I’ll end up?

The entire left side of my face seemed to be numb as consciousness graced me with its presence. I wanted to try and scrape away some of the dried blood with my fingernails, but I was unable to move my arms. They were tied tightly behind my back, while my ankles were tied to this chair’s legs.

From what I could tell, whoever the hell has me here is stupid and inexperienced because they used rather large rope, meaning it’s gonna be ridiculously easy for me to just slide my small wrists out of these loops.

“Going somewhere?” a deep voice asked as he walked behind me and tightened the ropes. The rough edging of the rope scraped my skin as any circulation to my hands was being cut off.

I chose to ignore this man and focus instead on my surroundings, so I’d know where to go when I made my escape. The room itself smelled like a brand new house…like it was just built. A small window allowed thin traces of moonlight to sneak into the room, suggesting we’re in a basement somewhere.

Judging by the footsteps, I’d say there were two guys in the room. But there was only one thing that caught my eye. Directly across the room from where I was tied down, there was a small, but bright red light. What the hell could that be? I bet that if I could figure out what that tiny light is, then I’d be able to determine who is doing this, or at least what their intentions are.

“I bet your mind is just racing with questions,” a strange, but oddly familiar voice whispered in my ear.

I groaned as another attempt at removing the ropes failed. “What makes you think that?” I asked, masking my doubt with confidence, “I know exactly where I am and what you want from me.”

Even though I had yet to figure those things out, it couldn’t hurt to throw them a little off course. Neither one of them said anything, probably because they were too stunned.

“Alright, smartass, where are you then?” the first voice growled.

“In a basement,” I simply answered. They both shared a sigh of relief, which I thought was odd, but I looked past it.

No threats have really been made yet, so I guess that’s why I was so calm and clear-minded at the moment. But they planned on changing that rather soon, unfortunately.

*Julianne’s POV*

Joe and I ended up coming home much later than I had expected, but it shouldn’t really make a difference. “Kids, we’re home,” I announced to a rather dark and empty house.

I received a verbal response, but it didn’t belong to any of the kids in my house. A loud, whipping sound followed by an ear piercing scream was the response I received.

Worried, I ran into the living room to find an incredibly graphic video being played on the TV. Either those were some good graphics or I was watching a real person being murdered right before my eyes.

I slowly backed up toward the couch so that I could reach the remote and turn this disgusting tape off. My foot landed in a large puddle of some liquid. “Joe, get the lights,” I said shakily.

He nodded and flicked a light switch on. My eyes slowly looked down below me to find that I had stepped in a puddle of blood. A scream of my own now reverberated off the walls as I quickly got out of the blood.

I landed on the floor, which gave me a better view of the room. Blood was spattered across the curtains, on the couch, and over the walls. A thin trace of bloody footsteps led to the back door, which was unlocked…I always made sure to lock it before leaving. This must mean…someone was kidnapped.

I ran up the stairs as fast as I could to find all the boys asleep in Jimmy’s room. I wanted to feel relieved, but that didn’t mean that my baby was still safe. Walking down the hall, a chill crawled down my spine, as if I knew that my efforts would be futile. She wouldn’t be there.

I twisted the doorknob, only to reveal an empty room. A choked scream escaped my throat, which must’ve woken the boys up. “What’s wrong, Mrs. S?” Brian asked, still sounding half asleep.

“S-she’s gone,” was all I could utter, pointing in her room. “Courtney is gone.”

The police didn’t do much to help, or console me. They said they’d have to wait 24 hours before they can file a missing person report. Wouldn’t the trail of blood be enough to tell them she was taken? I swear, sometimes when you really need someone they just cast you aside.

Regardless, I knew I wouldn’t be getting any sleep tonight.

*Jimmy’s POV*

After Brian had taken care of moving Courtney’s body down to the basement, we decided to head up to my room and pretend to be asleep to avoid a scene when Julianne and my dad got home.

Needless to say, I never would’ve expected her to ever pick up on what has happened so quickly. I assumed she would’ve at least not noticed until tomorrow morning. “Stupid bitch is onto us already,” I growled.

“How are we going to get down to the basement now?” Brian asked.

I shrugged, “We’ll just say we’re going to watch a movie if anyone asks.”

Slowly, the three of us crept back downstairs to our lovely torture chamber. And we were ready to play our first game with our unsuspecting actress. It will incorporate her fear of needles in a sort of 20 questions-style game. We already will know all the answers to the questions, so if she answers incorrectly, we get to stab her with a needle.

The camera is just going to love this.

*Normal POV*

“What do you say we play a little game?” the second voice asked.

I rolled my eyes, “Oh, so now we’re acting out a wannabe scene from Saw or something?”

“Even better because it’s really happening to you,” he laughed. Ok, that kind of discouraged me a bit.

“It’s pretty simple. We are going to ask you a question, and you respond. If we think you’re lying to us, then you will get a needle shoved into your skin. Isn’t that a great way for us strangers to get to know each other?”

I smirked to myself knowing that this would be a waste of their time. They don’t know me, nor do they have proof that I’d be lying. Looks like I’ve already won.

“First question: what is your middle name?”

“Beatrice,” I said, barely able to maintain a straight face.

“Yeah right,” he laughed, shoving a needle deep into my arm.

I cringed as I felt that thin piece of metal invade my layers of skin. And he didn’t just stick it in, he shoved it until he made contact with my bone.

“Tell us the right answer.”

“Marie,” I mumbled.

“Alright now let’s try this again,” he said, “have you ever had sex?”

I scoffed, “You sick perverts, like hell if I’ll tell you that much.”

“Oh sorry I don’t think that’s the correct answer. All you had to say was that you’ve never had a guy’s dick shoved inside of you,” he smiled as he shoved another two needles into my neck.

“One final question: how would you like to die?” the other guy asked, with a sick sense of amusement.

“Watching you fall into a fucking pit filled with burning lava,” I growled.

“Oh that’s feisty, but once again incorrect.”

This time instead of hearing one of them grab a needle or syringe from the box, I heard a much different noise. This time they picked up the entire box and emptied the rest of its contents onto my body.

I screamed out as tiny pin pricking sensations crawled across my skin. I had needles dangling from nearly every part of my body – my legs, my chest, my arms, my torso, even my tongue. It was like I had been pierced multiple times all over. Blood began trickling from the countless, tiny holes. And already I had had enough.

“You bastards better let me go now!” I shouted, even though it sounded a little distorted due to the needle that penetrated my tongue.

“Name calling isn’t very nice.”

The second guy was the one standing closest to me. He had his arm raised to hit me, but his hand never came down. I couldn’t see his face because it was covered by a mask…but I could sense his hesitation.

Both men were big guys, so I’m sure they’ve been in their fair share of fights. The fact that he stopped mid action, ready to hit me suggests that this is something they’re new at.

Maybe I can use that to my advantage....if I live long enough to do so.