Tearjerker Masochist

[Phoebe]

A knock at the door penetrated through my concentration, making me jump slightly. I tightened my recently died chocolate brown hair in what Zee would have called a 'cheerleading ponytail', and readjusted my glasses as I walked to the door.

I opened it to two strangers, a man and a woman. They both wore solemn expressions. "May I help you?" I asked warily.

"Phoebe Perry?"

I leaned against the door, and cocked my head. "Yes... who wants to know?" They flashed me their identification, showing that they were both police officers. I wondered briefly why they weren't in their uniforms.

"Ms. Perry, your sister, Zoey Perry was found earlier."

"She was found? What did she do this time?" They looked at each other with pity. "...What?"

"She was found... dead. She committed suicide."

I blinked at them stupidly. "What?"

"I'm very sorry. She was found-"

"Are you sure? Zoey Perry? She committed suicide? Where? She was at the hospital with her fiancée. "

"Her fiancée would be Kayden Floyd, correct?" I nodded. "He was reported dead a few hours ago."

I couldn't seem to draw in air after he informed me of Kayden's death."Dead?"

They nodded, looking at me with more pity. I couldn’t take that look. Without pausing to think, or even to put on my shoes, I took off running toward her house, unwilling to accept it without seeing it with my own eyes.

"Hey!" they called after me. I didn't pay them any attention, increasing my speed with every step. I stumbled over a rock, slicing the bottom of my foot open. I cried out, but still limped onwards, refusing to stop. Without looking back, I knew I was leaving a bloody trail of footprints.

I pushed past all the police officers, ignoring their insistences that I couldn't go any farther. I got to her room, where the greatest concentration of officers were, and saw the blood trail up the wall.

Forcing air into my lungs became harder and harder, but still, I pressed on.

I stopped when I saw her body, thoughts suspended.

~*~

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

I shoved him inside the room, where a few of his cohorts were also sitting, chained to the wall. He took a swing at me which I easily blocked and headbutted him, following that up with a knee to his crotch. While he whimpered on the ground, I took that as an opportunity to chain him.

Satisfied, I stepped back. "Hello boys. Recognize each other?" They looked at each other, carefully. "You should. After all, you were all some of the most influential people in life. You were there the day my life changed forever. You were the reason my life changed forever. I brought you here to thank you."

They all looked at each other. I smiled, and shut the door, before climbing the stairs to the control room and pushing the button for the intercom. "You'll be happy to know that half of your job is finished. My sister died earlier tonight."

I heard them chuckle and start talking shit. I clenched my jaw and pressed another button. Their screams made me smile.

"Acid is corrosive. It eats through your skin. That's why you're always to be very careful, and not play with it," I lectured sternly, acting as if I couldn't hear their cries of pain. "And if you wait long enough, it'll keep eating, until there's no more flesh to be eaten. That's why it's so important to wash it off."

I pushed another button, and the acid was replaced with water, washing the acid off of them. "Unless, of course, there's more acid after the water."

I pushed the button, releasing gallon after gallon of acid onto their delicate skin. Their screams were like a lullaby.

One that would stay with me for the rest of my life.

These screams, however, I don't mind.