You Know I Make You Wanna Scream

Matt stared at me with a straight face, though I could see the twinges of amusement in his eyes. “What did you do to her?” I demanded, knowing that there’s no way she was dead, despite the lack of pulse.

He shrugged, stepping forward and closing the space between us. “She tried to run and got caught. I just had a little bit of fun. She obviously wasn’t as tough as she thought…although she did a pretty good number on Vengeance and Rev,” he recalled.

My eyebrows furrowed together tightly in confusion. “Who the hell are Vengeance and Rev?” I asked, almost laughing.

“Oh, that’s right you didn’t get the memo. We’re different people now, Myra. We have aliases now…makes it easier to get away with our job. I’m Shadows, your lover boy is Synyster Gates, Zacky is Vengeance, Jimmy is the Rev, and Johnny is still Johnny pretty much,” he listed.

“If you were going for a mature touch, I think you may have failed miserably,” I replied, feeling very edgy after seeing Randi’s body in the condition it was in.

“Why don’t you wait in here with your friend?” he growled, pushing me forward and slamming the door behind him, leaving me in the dark, give or take a few rays of light from the slits in the door.

I sighed as I leaned up against the wall nearby. From what I could tell, there was a bed almost directly across from where I was sitting. I wouldn’t dare sleep on that thing, even if you paid me. A shiver crawled across my skin leaving millions of goose bumps behind. I wonder how many murders have taken place in this house? I wonder how many lives those monsters destroyed?

I groaned as I felt a newfound hatred rise inside of me. How could I be so stupid to come back here so soon, to bring Randi and Chris into the nightmare? I’m such a terrible person!

Of course the guilt didn’t end there. Would any of this still be taking place if I had gone to the police three years ago? Why did I have to let my fear get the best of me? It’s my fault that countless people have been murdered, that Randi could be murdered, and that I could be murdered.

Suddenly it felt like the weight of the world was resting on my shoulders, slowing cracking my bones to dust. I couldn’t help but break down. Tears drenched my face as sobs racked my body. I can’t handle this.

A few minutes past before something crawled up next to me, leaning against the wall. It was Randi! “Are you ok?” I asked her, immediately wiping away my tears and helping her into a comfortable position.

She slowly lifted her head and replied, “I’m still alive aren’t I? God, I wanna rip that mother fucker’s throat out.”

I laughed a little. “Join the club. Nice to have you back, Randi.”

“I felt disgusted with myself. I can’t believe that ass actually got me to go unconscious. He was ruthless, Myra. He enjoyed being evil…he enjoyed it.”

“They’re ten times worse than the first time I saw them killing,” I mumbled.

Randi, probably not understanding much of the back-story, asked what exactly had happened, and in some strange way, I found that finally telling the story to someone else was almost comforting.

Randi was able to talk me through my guilt and promised that we’d find a way out of here together. “Even though I can barely move, and probably won’t be getting proper medical attention, I’ll do everything I can to help,” she added.

“Hmmm, didn’t you say they took you from your truck? Do you still have your cell phone on you?” I asked, generating some ideas.

She paused to recall. “I’m pretty sure I left it in my purse, which is somewhere in this room. But I honestly doubt they would’ve left it in there.”

It was our first chance, and I wasn’t going to pass it up. I crawled across the rough floor, arms outstretched in search of her purse. Unfortunately, all I found was the empty bag. “Looks like you were right,” I sighed.

“What do you think happened to Chris?” she asked.

“They’re perverts, so I’m guessing they left him out, thankfully. I bet he’s already figured out that something’s wrong by now…I hope.”

“Gah! I’m in so much fucking pain right now,” she groaned, banging her head against the wall.

I stood up suddenly, having enough of this unusual sight. ‘Shadows’ must’ve really pulled a number on Randi for her to actually admit to being in pain. “Myra, where are you going?” she asked.

“I’m gonna give them what they deserve,” I replied, reaching for the knob and violently pulling the door open. “This won’t take long.”

I crept out of the room slowly, knowing that there wasn’t much space between this room and the living room. I’d be spotted in a matter of seconds, and I needed to know what to expect.

Based on the distance of the drunken laughter, it sounded like they were still in the kitchen. The Rev had just cracked a dumb joke that sent them all falling into fits of laughter. I couldn’t wait to break up the party.

Obviously, without a weapon, it would be stupid to just charge in there and expect to win with my fists. My eyes scanned the surrounding area in the hallway. I grinned when I saw an attic opening above my head. “Perfect,” I whispered.

I cautiously tugged on the cord and watched as the wooden stairs descended, along with a huge puff of dust. I quickly covered my nose and mouth as tightly as I could. Dust and I never really got along all too well. The stairs made a dull thud once they made contact with the floor, so I knew I needed to get up there fast incase one of the drunks noticed.

The attic’s floorboards were spread out, offering a glimpse of the space below me with each crawl. Luckily, all of them were contained in one room, which meant that none of them could ruin my surprise with their own surprise. After crawling a few more feet, I finally located the kitchen and slowly lowered the other set of stairs down behind the island.

Once I landed on the grimy floor, I spotted an empty beer bottle on the counter. It wasn't as good as a knife, but for a surprise attack it should work just as well.

There had to be some smoke machine hidden in this place somewhere because there was legit a wall of smoke ahead of me. It was so cloudy that I couldn’t even see past Shadows’ head, which I suppose is a good thing because that would also imply that whoever was sitting across from him couldn’t see me either.

I raised the bottle high above my head before slamming it down as hard as I could onto his head. The smoke-filled room instantly grew silent after the glass bottle had slipped from my hand and shattered across the floor. Shit, I guess I really wasn’t thinking ahead of myself.

Now what am I supposed to do?

I tried to make my way back over to the attic stairs, but the Rev stepped in front of me, completely blocking my path and towering over me with an amused smile. “I think someone was looking for a little attention,” he laughed, grabbing my wrist and dragging me over to the table, shoving me down into a seat.

“If you wanted to spend some time with us,” Zacky said as he propped open a window to let the smoke dissipate, “all you had to do was ask.”

I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms stubbornly over my chest. I decided to keep my eyes locked on the ceiling because I couldn’t stand the feeling of seeing their demented faces. I can’t let them distract me from my resolve. I will make them pay for what they’ve done.

After the ceiling lost any more potential interest, I decided to glance over at Shadows and admire my work. There was a thin trail of blood flowing down the side of his face, all of which was leaking from a moderately deep gash in his head. He’d need stitches most likely, which gave me a tiny bit of satisfaction.

“What the fuck are you staring at?” he growled.

I shrugged, not really caring to answer, yet not really being struck silent in fear either. “That’s it, you’re so gonna get it now,” he said, standing up abruptly.

He stalked over in my direction and roughly grabbed my left arm, not even caring that it was clearly broken. I cried out in pain, as the feeling of a thousand needles seemed to crawl across my skin. It ached right to the very bone itself, which only made him squeeze harder.

Suddenly, his fingers unraveled from around my arm and he returned to his seat. “I think I used up most of my creative talent on that other whore. Why don’t one of you come up with a punishment for our old friend here.”

Was he trying to tempt me to attack again? If I had two functional arms, boy, would he be in pain right now.

“Well, she did kinda interrupt our party. I think all she wanted was a drink,” Syn said from across the table.

“Oh, yeah,” I said sarcastically, “you caught me.” He ignored my comment and slid a foggy glass of amber liquid across the table. “You’re insane if you think I’d get drunk around the likes of you, let alone trust that you didn’t do anything to the drink. It’s smoky as hell in here, you know.”

“Myra, I’m ashamed that you would think so lowly of me. Unfortunately, I don’t give a shit whether or not you want the drink. You don’t have a choice.”

I lost track of his body in the midst of the smoky haze and cried out when I felt his hands grip my shoulders like a vulture digging its talons into road kill. He managed to throw me all the way into the living room, which honestly surprised me. Before I could sit back up, he crawled on top of me and pinned my arms down at my sides.

“Get off of me!” I cried. Not only was this a disgusting situation, but also I actually couldn’t breathe. And judging on the excitement in his pupils, I’d say he knew that much already.

“Zacky, bring the drinks in here!” he shouted over his shoulder.

“And how exactly do you plan on ‘making’ me drink when I’m lying down?”

“Ah, good point. Guess we better fix that, huh?” he replied lifting me up off the floor and ramming my beck into the nearby couch.

He walked around me and sat on the cushion behind me, tightly coiling his legs around my torso while the Rev got down and tied my hands together behind my back.

“You do realize that you’re all wasting your time, right? I’m not drinking that.”

But of course, the only response I received was cruel laughter. Shadows came over with a bottle in hand and held it to my lips, expecting me to drink from it. I jerked my head back until I was practically lying in Synyster’s lap. Shadows rolled his eyes as he used two fingers to plug my nose shut, forcing me to open my mouth eventually.

The moment that I felt as if my lungs would absolutely explode, I felt a brilliant idea bloom inside my head. I opened my mouth slightly to suck in some air and, inevitably, some alcohol as well. I swooshed the liquid under my tongue and acted as if I had swallowed.

I felt my lips curl upward before I spat the alcohol right back onto Shadows’ face. He stumbled backward a little after I caught him completely off guard. I attempted to wiggle out from between Synyster’s legs, but he just constricted more and more, almost to the point where I would’ve sworn that my ribs were cracking under the pressure.

“I think she’s gonna need a little help,” Syn laughed as he reached forward and grasped my jaw, keeping it propped open.

Shadows grabbed the bottle of booze and poured it inside my mouth again. Syn then moved his hands up until they were covering my mouth. He squeezed my face so hard, I couldn’t open my mouth even if I wanted to. He tilted my head back slightly, forcing the sour drink to slide down my throat.

I felt my features twist into an expression of unfavorable taste. “Let her finish off the bottle!” the Rev cheered. I stared at the quarter full bottle of alcohol and grimaced.

By the time the remaining contents of the bottle had been sent to destroy my liver, I felt like I was going to be sick. Synyster had since sat in a different position, allowing me to roll over and lie on the floor, my hands still bound behind my back.

Shadows must’ve noted the disgusted look on my face. “Don’t you dare think about throwing up,” he whispered menacingly.

There was something present in his voice that strongly suggested that I should swallow the chunks back down. I tried my best to watch what they were doing, but that was very difficult to do when the world was endlessly spinning. Even though I humored them with a drink, or twenty, I knew they weren’t done with me just yet.

Nowhere near.