Category: the meat grinder

Have you ever been to the Rocky Horror Picture Show? Have you ever wondered about the camaraderie that goes on within a rocky cast? Oh boy do I have a story for you! Who am I you ask? I think it best not to identify myself I don’t need problems with the police.

The Rhode Island cast colloquially called RKO ARMY (the latest of several name changes) had just finished their best show ever; over 200 people were in the audience I was among them. I should have been up on that stage performing a part I was a star at for 20 years, but no I was in the audience. Our cast (or rather my former cast) at its height was over 30 members strong. Now it’s down to about 20. I used to be in their number but for reasons I’d rather not go into I was expelled.

I am still friends with a few of them so I have knowledge of issues and get togethers. The cast had just finished its 1000^th show and they planned to celebrate. One of our members had a secluded house deep in the woods of Cumberland, it was ideal for parties. There were no neighbors to disturb and difficult to reach, so the police weren’t inclined to pay visits without a reason.

Their 1000^th show, and in my opinion the best one the cast ever did. They were going to party and they invited cast members from over two decades past and present and other casts from neighboring states to help celebrate this milestone. Except, they didn’t invite me. First I got expelled from the cast I helped to start (I am a founding member) and then I was purposely uninvited to their grand celebration. For this they would pay, they would all pay!

I sat patiently in the audience waiting for the show to be over; watching the audience leave telling cast members how good the show was. I was hoping some of my former teammates would at least acknowledge me; all I got was a few dirty looks. They knew that I knew about their party, but no one invited me including the house owner who was hosting. Oh how they would pay!

I drove away but reentered the plaza from a different point that allowed me to watch them leave unobserved. I knew exactly where they were going, I had been there before. In fact I had visited there just recently when I knew no one would be around. I wanted to case the place and learn the layout of the grounds and woodland area. I have locksmith skills so I was easily able to make duplicate keys to every lock and padlock on the place. I planned my revenge carefully. I purchased a high powered crossbow and some arrows from a sporting goods store. Who needs guns? They are loud noisy things. Arrows are nice and quiet and you can always pull them out and use them again.

I parked my car about a mile from the road that led to the house and covered it up with broken tree branches and bushes. It made pretty good camouflage I thought. As I walked through the woods towards the house, I checked to see if the machetes and axes and other things were still where I had hid them. It was all still there. Now for my revenge, now for justice.

I hid high up in a tree with my night vision gear and watched them as they started their barbeque and broke out their beers and drinks, they had no idea I was there.

As the party got underway two of them walked off into the woods together obviously for sex. I knew these two. I first met them in a graveyard next to a parade the cast was putting a float in. We smoked a couple of joints together. I knew for a fact they were among the people that lobbied for my removal from the show. They did that behind my back, all the while smiling in my face, even after I gave their new baby a teddy bear. I overheard them laughing when they thought I couldn’t hear about how they just threw it in the trash. They were now nice and isolated from the rest they would die first.

I notched up an arrow in my crossbow and took careful aim watching them for the best moment. I waited until they were in a close embrace up against a tree and fired. The arrow went through the back of his neck and through both their throats and into the tree pinning them to it. They were still alive making gurgling sounds, so I put another through their heads. As I watched them die I thought to myself Jason Voorhees has nothing on me.

I climbed down from my tree to better pick my next victim. The next one was a good one he was a veteran cast member. I had worked with him many times. In the earlier years he made several jokes about me comparing me to teddy ruxpin, a talking teddy bear. He stopped doing that after he watched me in a fight with a drunk and I tossed the guy over a bridge into the Blackstone River, however I never forgot the insults. He walked away from the house to smoke a joint and have a piss. I didn’t want to waste an arrow on this guy; I wanted to do him up close and personal. I took my machete and snuck up from behind. He turned and saw me. “You!? What the hell are YOU doing here?” Those were the last words he would ever speak in this world. Before he could even move I took his head off with one swipe of my machete. I took his head with me I thought it might prove useful later.

I figured sooner or later they will make a run for it so I’d better disable their cars. On one car, a pickup truck, I opened the hood and connected a wire to one of the spark plugs then ran the wire underneath the truck to the gas tank. Then I put the other end of the wire into the gas tank itself. The wire was the same color as the truck and it was dark, so in a panic they would be unlikely to see it. The end result would be when someone started the car, boom! The next car I simply punctured the gas tank to let the gas drain out into a gas can. I thought the gasoline might prove useful later. On another car I loosened the lug nuts on the tires so the tires would fall off. The others I simply flattened the tires. No one would escape me this night.

The owner of the house was a kinky bastard. He enjoyed sex toys and restraints. In his back yard was a human sized turn table with restraints for forced group sex. After a while one of the girls went out back with two guys to play on the turn table. This bitch went with every single guy in the cast but me claiming I was too creepy. Jeeze, a guy gets caught with one damn sheep and he’s marked for life. I waited until she was restrained and blindfolded. After the first man, a heavy set comic book store owner, inserted himself into her from behind and she opened her mouth to take in the second guy, an equally large man and would be politician, I fired from five feet away. The arrow went completely through the first man’s head and into the throat of the second man. They both died instantly, but the man who inserted himself stood rock steady on his feet, his brain had caused some kind of muscle freeze. An extra bonus for me! The man with the arrow in his throat had an arterial spray sending blood down on the woman on the turntable for a few seconds before he fell over. Apparently she thought he was urinating on her as she squealed in delight, and I’m the creepy one? I ran up quickly and severed the penis of the first man at the root so the shaft stayed in her.

At this point she seemed to realize something was wrong and tried to get free of the restraints. I took her head off with my machete, another souvenir for me to use later. I walked away carrying her head. Before long the others would start to notice people were missing. So far the score was six down and twelve to go. This was getting to be fun.

I returned to the woods to plan my next victim and soon I got a two for one. Two cast people walked out the front door heading towards the cars. At first I was worried they would find the sabotaged cars, but no they just wanted to smoke a couple of joints. One I knew well he used to be a very close friend of mine, but when the ouster took place he didn’t speak up for me. He stood by silently and allowed them to vote me out. His death would be painful. The other I didn’t know at all but I recognized her from her movie roles. This woman was one of a very few cast members to actually advance to becoming a professional actor. She wasn’t involved with the vote but I really couldn’t leave witnesses so she had to die as well. In this case I simply walked up to them carrying my machete and gas can. “Hello Andy,” I said. “Hold this for me for a moment will you?” I handed him the gas can. “I need to get at my weed.” This guy was a bigger stoner than me and that’s saying something. His eyes sparkled at the thought of more pot. In one quick motion I swung my machete and decapitated the young actress. Her head seemed to actually live for a few moments before it bled out her eyes looked at me with a ‘why?’ expression. “I’m really very sorry,” I told her before she bled out. “I can’t leave witnesses.” My old friend looked at her headless body in a shocked silent horror. “Shame on you,” I told him. “She was young enough to be your daughter! Suppose your wife Fran learned of this?” I kicked him hard in the testicles. As he dropped to the ground holding his groin I took the gas can from him and poured the gas all over him. “You should have spoke up for me buddy,” was my last words to him. I walked away about ten feet. I lit one of my arrows on fire and shot him igniting the gas. Amazingly no one in the house heard the whoosh of the gas going up or smelled the burning flesh. I knew the music was a bit loud and they were all indoors but damn you’d think they would have noticed . . . something at least. I returned to the darkness of the woods.

I hid in the darkness and watched the house from behind, they still didn’t notice anyone was missing, they were partying so hard. The barbecue was fired up for food later but no one was attending it because they hadn’t put the steaks and such on it yet. I snuck up and closed the lid and placed the head of the man on top of it, once they found him that would really get the party started, at least my party anyway. As a side note to any who read this story, see what happens when you exclude people from your party?

After about a half hour they decided to start cooking the food. Two of the girls went out back to get the barbeque going and saw the head on top of the grill and screamed. The rest ran out to see what was happening and saw the head. Not very far away they saw the turntable with the headless woman and two men. They started to panic and decided to make a run for the cars to get the police. I ran around to the front of the house and threw the head of the woman from the turntable through the window! I crouched behind a big rock with my crossbow at the ready. They all came spilling out the front door at once in a blind panic falling all over each other in a desperate attempt to escape!

I put an arrow through the head of the owner. The kinky bastard was supposed to be my friend as well. He was the cast leader and could have stopped the vote but he let me get railroaded out. That was bad enough, but he didn’t invite me to the party and he invited cast people that hadn’t performed in years. I got him right between the eyes.

A few of them saw me and recognized me, but it didn’t matter nobody was getting away. They made it to the cars. A few quickly learned all four of their tires had been flattened. One of them learned his car no longer had any gas. They all piled into the remaining car, the pickup truck, the one rigged to explode! The boom was quite satisfying. I thought I got them all but surprisingly one actually climbed out of the wreckage. All four of his limbs were on fire! He screamed in pain and danced a macabre dance trying to put out his flames; he dropped to the ground and trying to roll it out. This was my final stroke of luck for the night; this was the guy that started my ouster vote in the first place. He actually managed to put out his flames and looked up at me from the ground moaning in pain. “You know I could have pissed the fire out for you if you wanted, all you had to do was ask,” I told him as I notched my final arrow and put it through his head.

I collected my crossbow and machete and looked around to make sure I didn’t leave any evidence of my identity behind. I got in my car and drove away. It was a shame I thought to myself, they had just done the best show ever.

Three months later, after all the police investigations had died off for lack of evidence, I went to the theater owner we had performed at for so many years and asked if I could resurrect the show in the memories of all my departed friends. He knew of the ouster of course but didn’t know I was purposely not invited to the party. Rocky was a money maker for the theater so he readily agreed. I simply took possession of the spotlight and props. I ran an ad in the Providence Journal asking for new cast members to come join our new show. Many people replied including a few old faces that simply weren’t there that night.

The show and the Rocky cult will go on as it always has as it always will. No more ousters it hurts people’s feelings.

---

The drive had been long, and her Dad seemed to be taking them into the middle of nowhere. She couldn’t remember the last time they had seen a living soul. Finally, they turned off into the longest driveway she had ever seen, and as they slowly trundled towards the house, the long arms of ivy reached out and menacingly clawed at the roof, and the thick hedges on either side played the part of a car wash that only cleaned your car of paint.

Her Dad told her the place was early nineteenth-century and, to Annie, it certainly looked as though that was the last time anyone had done any gardening. She wound the window down, but the musty smell of overgrowth began to seep through the window, an unpleasant and oppressive odour that made her screw her face up and shut the window so quickly she rapped her knuckles on the door and winced.

“Are you okay, love?” her Mum asked.

“Didn’t hurt,” she replied.

The light had changed since they turned in, the sky blocked out by the sprawling bushes that lined the driveway, and the place had that stereotypical haunted house feel, the only thing missing was thunder and lightning and perhaps a few crows lining up on either side. Annie let out a little shiver of nervous excitement as the house came into view and gave out a little “caw” and giggled to herself.

The car pulled up, and she looked out the window and could see a few pebbles scattered in between all the weeds. She took in the surroundings and imagined it back in its day, how grand it would have been, and turned to face the house and noted the decaying and slightly misshapen windows and eroding brickwork, victims of age and the elements. She felt sad for how neglected it looked but was pleased they were going to breathe new life into it.

“So what do you think, Annie?” her Dad asked.

“I like it, Dad. It’s even older than you eh?” she laughed.

He dropped the suitcase and started to run towards her, and she laughed and set off towards the house and passed an old fountain that looked like it had been there since the beginning of time. She noted how old and green it looked and she caught that damp smell of rotting vegetation again that was starting to make her gag. They arrived at the front door together, and they both pushed it open. The place was huge, high ceilings and a massive hallway leading into the kitchen and living areas and it looked just as sad and neglected inside. “Christ, what have we done Annie?” he asked smiling at her.

He picked up the white envelope on the hallway table next to a bottle of champagne.

Jim and family, welcome.

The envelope gave way, and the keys spilled out, and the subsequent clatter echoed through the hallway. Made of some form of metal, Annie immediately thought how ancient and purposeful they looked.

“It’s okay Annie, I’ve always liked heavy metal,” Jim gleefully joked.

“Dad joke alert,” she replied.

“Liz, champers! Annie, you’ve got a ten-second head start, and I’m coming for you,” Jim said and pretended to claw at her face.

Annie giggled and ran upstairs, her footsteps were thunderous on the wooden floor, and the high ceilings served only to provide the perfect acoustics for noise.

“Liz, we are going to need some more rugs,” Jim commented.

Annie flung open the first few doors of the hallway until she found a room with a large dark brown wardrobe in. As with the fountain it looked as though it had been there for eternity, heavy and old, with a huge ornate metal lock across its front. She tried the door, and it opened. Even more spacious inside than it looked; it was empty and had a strong musty smell that she could only put down to age. She cautiously checked inside for old vampires having a midday snooze but of course, found nothing, and stepped in and closed the door. She shuffled into the storage space to the left of the doors and waited.

Annie had already seen quite a few horror films; unbeknownst to her parents, but they could never get across the smell of the old buildings and the thick taste of history in the air. The wardrobe creaked as she shuffled to try and get comfortable and the feel of the cold wood on her skin was only slightly unpleasant, but the smell was oppressively present, and it was dark, no light got through at all, and she became gradually nervous.

She heard her Dad slowly and noisily coming up the stairs, most likely carrying one of the heavy suitcases, or perhaps it was a monster, making its way up and dragging a huge sledgehammer behind. She scared herself and reached her hands out to open the doors and momentarily forgot she’d shuffled to the left, and when she pushed the wood, nothing happened, just another ominous creak. She felt something under her left palm as she started to panic and flail and finally, she managed to throw the doors open, and was relieved to see her Dad stood at the entrance to the room with her suitcase.

“You’re mine now!” her Dad shouted and grabbed her and swung her around by the arms.

As she spun around, she noticed the mark of the cross on each of the walls, where the previous owners had obviously suspended them, and the surrounding wallpaper had yellowed over time. They gave her an uneasy feeling, as far as she could recall none of the movies she watched that contained crucifixes had a happy ending.

“It’s going to keep us busy this place,” her Dad uttered as he gently put her down and trundled back downstairs.

She poked her head inside the wardrobe to find someone had carved the letter H roughly into the wood, and just as she leaned inside to inspect, something hit the window behind her. She turned quickly in fright and emitted a strange gurgling noise that she would laugh about later, but not right now. Heart thumping, she slowly edged over to the other side of the room and nervously peeked through the window but could see nobody on the sprawling driveway below. When her Dad called out lunch, she didn’t hesitate and ran downstairs.

“So what do you think to your room?” her Mum asked and then finished the glass of champagne.

“That one is mine, is it?”

“Sure is, we gave you the biggest so you can get all your Chinese plastic in there,” said her Dad.

“Funny, Dad, you should do stand up.”

“ Liz, pass the bottle would you please?” asked Jim. “I could get used to this.”

“So how can we afford this, Dad? I mean our last house was tiny in comparison.”

Jim looked across at Liz; Liz shook her head and poured herself another glass.

“We just got lucky with our house Annie, and this came on at a bargain. The right time, the right place really,” he said.

Annie went across to a cupboard in the kitchen and pulled at the heavy oak door to unveil a huge pantry. “This is the size of our old living room,” she commented with glee.

She walked inside and ran her fingers on the shelves, “You could get about a million cans of baked beans in here.”

“Jeez, we would need a million cans of air freshener though, sport!”

Annie and Liz laughed, and Jim asked them to guess what was for lunch. They were both right as he slammed the can on the table and got a loaf out one of the bags.

Annie walked back to the table and started rifling through the rest of the stuff. “Dad, how come there are still lots of their furniture in the house? There are old wardrobes, cupboards, chests of drawers, and some beautiful rugs, like the one I am stood on, and look there is still cutlery in the drawer. Don’t they want their stuff?”

“You are too smart for your own good,” he said and looked across at Liz and shrugged, “the previous owners died, sweetheart. The bank had to sell the house to repay the loan, and it meant we could buy the house as is, with all the furnishings. Our poxy collection on its own wouldn’t come close to filling this place. So there you have it, Sherlock.”

There was no sign of a can opener in the cutlery drawer, everything but, so she went through some of the other drawers and cupboards.

“No good, Dad.”

Jim walked over to the kitchen and looked in the same places she had and then took a knife from the wooden block next to the sink. Annie noticed there was one missing from the set as her Dad started ferociously stabbing the can of beans with the knife. Tomato sauce started spluttering everywhere.

“Dad, you’re killing it, stop!”

He put the knife blade under the lid and eventually forced it enough to get the contents out. They noticed an absence of a toaster, so they put the grill on and waited for what seemed an eternity for it to warm up.

“So how did they die, Dad?”

“Accident,” he replied, and too quickly for her liking.

“Dad, come on, really, how did they die?”

“They asked too many questions,” he replied.

After lunch, she explored more of the house before returning to her room, and to find the cupboard door closed. She was sure she had left it open and tentatively walked towards the door, grabbed the heavy metal handle and pulled it towards her. The heavy door creaked open, and Annie made a note to ask her Dad to oil the hinge. She was happy to find nobody behind it but put her hand in first just in case; she traced the now familiar H but gasped when she felt the other marking next to it.

She looked behind her nervously with a fleeting feeling someone was watching but, of course, there was nobody there. She could hear her parents talking downstairs, and with that comforting sound in the background, she quickly stuck her head around the cupboard door and then immediately back out again. There was a letter e, and she would bet her granny it wasn’t there before.

The cobblestones crunched outside as someone pulled up the driveway and Annie rushed across to the window. The furniture van had arrived.

*

“Please no, Mum, not again!”

“Get in,” the burly woman shouted, grinding the rosary beads in her hand as though they were coffee beans.

“Mum, I didn’t do anything!”

“Do you want me to get your Dad up here? You know what will happen,” she said menacingly.

The girl without a name stepped into the cupboard, and the heavy doors were shut behind her and locked. She cried for a while but not for long, she had been here many times before, and the crying never helped. She didn’t want to give that asshole Frank a reason.

When they let her out last time, she could hardly walk. God knows how long she was in there for but she had finally come to the conclusion that God didn’t care anyway.

She hoped it wouldn’t be as long this time.

Her life for as long as she could remember, was this normal?

She knew the bible back to front, a perk of God-fearing parents. If she ever did get passages wrong, they would beat her, but there was never anything in the bible about being treated like that or doing those kinds of things to kin. She gripped the handle of the knife and imagined doing things, acts of violence that God would not approve of, and lifted it to the cupboard door and clumsily carved the letter H into the wood.

*

Annie woke up to the sun pouring through the moth-eaten curtains, and for a moment forgot where she was and then looked around and admired her work from the day before. Her old room had felt so cluttered with stuff, but it didn’t touch the sides in the new one. She spotted the key on the pillow next to her and did a nervous sweep of her room; someone had been in while she was asleep. The thought lingered for a while and gave an uneasy feeling. She knew there was no such thing as ghosts, no good or evil spirits, no God, no Devil. Her Dad said that there is enough evil in the world already, even if there was a Devil he would be holidaying in the Bahamas year-round.

Her attention turned to the key, and the nervous feeling slowly subsided with admiration of its ornate beauty. She picked it up and slowly twisted it around between her fingers, and thought it so beautifully intricate that it must open something incredibly precious.

Who are you? Where are you?

She jumped out of bed and put on her dressing gown. She tried the key in the wardrobe door, but it wasn’t a fit and had no luck in the other rooms. Downstairs, she thought.

“What are you up to chick?” Liz asked as she came out of the bathroom.

“Just playing,” she said, wanting to keep the key her little secret.

“Okay, can you be extra quiet? We are both tired after yesterday and want some more shut-eye.”

Annie slid down the bannister, “Yeehaw!”

She landed gracefully. From now, Mum, sorry.

She looked around downstairs but could only find locks on the front and back doors, and there were several on those, but the key didn’t fit in any of them; she would pause for breakfast and continue the hunt later.

Even with their furniture in place, her footsteps still echoed loudly, so she started to tiptoe, and headed over to the pantry with the intention of filling a bowl with as many Cheerios as would fit. When she opened the door, she found the box already open. Her parents hated sugary cereals. Unless they secretly didn’t, and it was just an act she momentarily thought. It was then that she heard a faint noise that sounded like someone crying, and she immediately took a deep breath and held it and listened intently. When no further noise came, she slowly breathed out and then thought she heard more noises that sounded like movement. They were faint but present, and coming from deep within the pantry.

Probably rats?  

“Rats don’t cry,” she whispered to herself.

She moved some of the boxes out the way, some were light, but others had to be shoved aside as they were heavy and full of pots and pans. Finally, she reached the back of the pantry but could no longer hear any noise. She traced her hand around the panels and under the shelving, and then she felt an indent and bent down and saw the unmistakable shape of a keyhole and the outline of the white door, camouflaged against the rest of the plasterboard. There were some scuff marks near the keyhole itself as though someone had tried to get through in a hurry.

“Gotta be,” she whispered.

She heard her Dad running downstairs, and she pushed some of the boxes back and grabbed the Cheerios and rushed back to the table.

“Thanks for being so quiet, Miss Thunderfoot,” he said sarcastically, and reached into the pantry for the muesli and poured some into two bowls.

“What are you going to do today?”

“Probably just explore,” she replied.

“Okay, we are going to pop out later to pick up some paint, and a can opener. Any idea what colour you want for your room?”

“I don’t need a can opener for my room, Dad,” she said smiling, “can I borrow your laptop to get some ideas for paint though please?”

“Sure, make sure you are ready to go soon though.”

Sucker.

Annie picked up the laptop from his room and took it into hers. She typed up their new address into the search bar and found a news report of a murder-suicide from two months ago. The bodies discovered were at least a month old. She read on. Frank, and Melissa, blah blah blah, people never saw them apart from at church, and even then they didn’t speak to anyone, just sat on the back pew. No family, no kids, no friends, and lived an isolated life. Both found upstairs. Frank with multiple stab wounds to the neck, chest, face, and Melissa a single stab wound to the chest.

No wonder they got a good deal on the house!

“You ready, love?” her Mum shouted.

Annie quickly closed the page and deleted the search history. She put on a pair of jeans and her red t-shirt on and ran downstairs, “Red, I want red.”

“Anything but red, Annie,” Liz replied.

They left the house and didn’t get back until dark, the car full of pots of paint, wallpaper, flat pack furniture, and a can opener.

Annie carried the paint to her room and found the cupboard door wide open again. Once again she cautiously poked her head inside and saw another letter, an l. Hel now carved into the inside of the wardrobe.

She started to go through some of the possibilities, Helen, Helga, perhaps not Helga.

Help?

As she glanced down, she noticed the hairs on the bottom of the wardrobe and carefully picked some of them up and held them against the light from the window. They weren’t hers, they were a different colour, dark brown and long, and as she rolled the hair between her fingers, she thought how dry it was. She put it in her Jeans pocket and went down for supper and thought only fleetingly about telling her parents. They seemed happy though, and since Mum lost the baby they needed this, and she wouldn’t ruin this new start for them.

She ate her food, said goodnight and ran upstairs.

*

Frank came into the room; he brought with him some bread and a can of soup and put the tray down at the end of her bed.  He put his hand on her leg just above the chain, and she immediately stiffened.

She had a plan, but he was strong, and he would kill her for sure if she didn’t get it right. Sometimes she wondered if that might be the best thing that could happen.

He moved his hand up her thigh and smiled down at her.

“It’s wrong, Dad, you know that.”

“Child, you don’t exist. Nobody knows you are alive, you are invisible, an accident, and a bug to bear and I will have what’s mine,” he replied.

He knocked the bible off her table. She closed her eyes and bit her lip and fantasised about sticking the blade into his neck, eyes, and chest. She would feel no guilt. She was locked in the chains, though; she would have to wait until they moved her.

No guilt, would that make me evil?

She had seen Melissa looking at her too recently, with envy possibly and perhaps she wanted some of it. Frank had been relentless since she started bleeding, he said it’s because she is bad and she’s bleeding out all the evil inside her.

Next time, she thought.

*

Annie woke up after hearing a loud creak and saw the wardrobe door wide open. There were rushed footsteps on her floor, but it was too dark to see. She quickly got out of bed and turned on the light.  The bedroom door was ajar, but the hallway was pitch-black, and she was still squinting from the light. She couldn’t make anything or anyone out. She glanced back at the inside of the wardrobe door and when her eyes finally settled she saw the word Hell.

Hello?

She stepped into the hallway, slid down the stairs and ran into the kitchen and heard a door shut.

“Annie? What’s going on?” her Dad shouted after her.

She stared at the pantry and then said, “Nothing, I think I can hear rats in the house.”

“All I heard was one big rat! You woke us both, go back to bed.”

She thought about telling him but didn’t. She was thirteen now, and she could handle it.

She surprised herself and slept through until late morning, and when she awoke found a scrunched up piece of paper on the side of her pillow. She straightened it out and read the text.

John 3:20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.

Above the text in red pen, written very clumsily was HelP, somebody had written Hell first but changed the last l to a P.

*

They dragged her out of bed, and Frank slapped her across the face.  Before she knew where she was, Frank hit her again, hard, and she fell against the bed. She knew something was coming and quickly grabbed the knife from under the mattress and slid it into the right pocket of the gown and out of sight.

The knife was a small victory.

She had bided her time and waited for the right moment, and as Frank led her out of the pantry one day, she had quickly turned around and grabbed the knife and slid it into her bible.

“Get upstairs now! You have sins to repent!” Frank screamed at her.

She wanted to do it right then and felt her hands tremble at the thought. Hell terrified her though.

If this is normal, what is Hell?

She walked upstairs with Frank closely following, “You are going back in the cupboard, we might leave you there for some time,” he said.

Frank pushed her into the room, and she saw Melissa in the bed, and some relief set in when Frank unlocked the cupboard and shoved her in. She could hear them in bed, and they moaned and groaned. The same noises Frank made when he was on top of her.

“Can you hear us?” Melissa shouted.

“Do you want to join in?” Frank said and laughed.

She heard whispering.

She prayed that if there was a God for it not to happen. She clenched her fists and held her breath. Someone fumbled at the lock with the key, and then the doors were opened.

“Okay, as a treat,” Melissa shouted, “come, join us.”

Frank got back into bed and smiled and beckoned her with his finger.

“If you don’t come here right now, I will slit your throat.”

She edged closer to the bed and put her hand in the right pocket and wrapped her hand around the blade. She eyed the crosses on each wall of the room, the rosary beads hanging from the dresser and the bibles on the tables either side of the bed. Judgement was everywhere, but she could not control the rage that surged through her body. She rushed at Frank and before he could even try and defend himself the blade sank into his neck, driven by years of stale hatred.

He stared at her in disbelief with wide eyes and put his hand to his neck to stem the bleeding. She ripped the blade out, and the fountain of red followed. As she subsequently drove the knife down hard into his chest, she screamed until there was nothing left to exhale and her lungs were empty of all the festering hate. Melissa screamed then too, finally finding her voice, and then Frank’s arms started flailing and almost knocked the knife from her grip. She stabbed him again, this time between the legs and then through the eye.

“AND THESE WILL GO AWAY INTO ETERNAL PUNISHMENT, BUT THE RIGHTEOUS INTO ETERNAL LIFE,” she screamed as she brought the knife down again.

“Where is God now?” she asked as she turned her attention to Melissa, Frank now a gurgling mess.

Melissa started to beg, “D … Don-”

She slammed the knife into her Mum’s chest with both hands and screamed, “WOE TO THOSE WHO CALL EVIL GOOD AND GOOD EVIL, WHO PUT DARKNESS FOR LIGHT AND LIGHT FOR DARKNESS, WHO PUT BITTER FOR SWEET AND SWEET FOR BITTER!”

She pulled the knife out and watched crossed legged as her Mum’s life drained until she finally stopped breathing. Annie then threw herself to the floor and on all fours and wept and heaved as though vomiting out the evil within and seeking redemption for her sins.

Finally, she stopped and looked at the bloodshed around her. They were her parents, yet she felt no remorse, just relief. She guessed she was going to Hell, but questioned how it could be any worse than what she had already experienced.

She spent the next few hours cleaning the blood away. She wiped the blade of the knife and wrapped Frank and Melissa’s fingers around it, and then placed it between them on the bed.

The tears came, a mixture of relief and terror, and she had no idea how long she had been a prisoner or why her parents thought her evil or did those horrible things. They were the only people she had ever known or even remembered setting eyes on, and now she was on her own and wondered how she would survive. She had killed people, broken a commandment, and surely there was no way back from that in the outside world.

Why did God let me suffer through this?

She wandered around the house for a while and tried the windows and doors and, of course, they were all locked. The thought crossed her mind to smash the glass with a chair or some other heavy object but the plan stopped after that, she was a murderer with nowhere to go. Before long she was soon drawn back to the room where she had been held captive for most of her life, harrowing but familiar, sickening but home.

Thanks to her parents zero tolerance for other people, the pantry was full, and after that, she would be in God’s hands.

She grabbed some dried noodles and closed the door behind her and said a prayer.

*

Lunch was spread out on the table, an assortment of bread, cheeses, and meats. Annie thought they were finally getting their act together. She helped with the dishes and went to put the remaining crackers and bread in the pantry and checked the Cheerios to find nearly half the packet was gone. She put the leftover food on the same shelf next to the box and closed the door behind her.

Liz got out the Monopoly board, and Annie and Jim moaned in unison.

“It always ends in tears,” Jim said.

“Normally yours,” Liz laughed, and he nodded and shrugged.

The game lasted four hours, and in between, they ate pasta, and her Mum and Dad drank lots of wine. Jim won by a mile, and he let them know about it frequently, at one point doing a lap of honour around the living room with his t-shirt over his head and singing the words from Sweetest Victory.

As they packed up, Annie told them she was tired and wanted to go to bed, and they both had looked stunned but gave her a kiss goodnight and said they would be up soon anyway.

Annie went up to her room and grabbed the torch from the hallway cupboard and waited. She played for a while and read a few pages of her book, and when she finally heard her parents coming up the stairs and giggling like children, turned the torch off and ducked under the covers. They both came in and kissed her goodnight, and it was all she could do not to break out into a nervous giggle. A few minutes after they left, she grabbed the torch and stuck her head out the door, and heard more giggling and then the light finally went out, accompanied by more laughter. She took her chance and slid down the bannister to avoid the creaking floorboards.

Annie picked out some leftover cheese and ham from the fridge. She flicked on the torch and opened the pantry door and noted the crackers were gone, and there were crumbs from the bread leading to the back of the room. She closed the door behind her and took the key from her dressing gown pocket and slid it into the keyhole and turned, and heard the mechanism unlock, and she pushed the panel inwards.

She shone the torch into the makeshift doorway, and then slid herself in and closed the door behind her. She was in a new room, one that shouldn’t be there and one with a very unpleasant odour. The torch was shaking in her hand, and she felt she had become the stupid protagonist in one of those silly horror films she had seen, the one that made all the silly decisions.

Get a grip, Annie!

As she started to move the torch from the left side of the room to the right, she stopped mid-sweep and almost dropped it. In the middle of the bleak and very bare room there was a bed, furnished with dirty yellow sheets that were possibly once white, and then her eyes were drawn to the chains.

She moved closer and heard a noise from behind the bed and gasped as a head popped up, a dirty face underneath a flurry of auburn hair, matted in places but erratic in others. Her eyes were just as wild, nervously darting from side to side as if watching for predators from both sides.

“Who are you?” Annie asked.

“I don’t know,” was the answer.

A girl.

“Why are you in our house?”

“This is my house,” the girl replied.

Annie knew she was out of her depth but didn’t feel in danger; she edged over to the girl and held out the food and placed it on top of the mattress. She noticed the bucket underneath the bed and the nasty yellow sheets speckled with dark red spots. The smell was overpowering, but she stood her ground. She saw the empty cans of food and empty packets everywhere and then spotted the elusive can opener.

The girl stood up and grabbed the cheese; she broke huge pieces off and shoved them in her mouth.

“Jeez, you are hungry,” Annie commented.

As the girl slowly stepped from behind the bed and edged toward her, Annie noticed the out of place looking bump for a belly on the otherwise skinny frame.

I guess it might be okay now, the nameless girl thought.

“I’ve stopped bleeding. The evil has left me,” she told Annie.

---

I hate getting gas on the way to work, and I try not to if I can help it. It’s so early in the morning and always still dark out. My husband would take my SUV out to fill it up in the evenings (happy for a reason to pop in at the convenience store and buy himself some smokes), but I have to let him know when that gauge is nearing empty. I had just started out my drive this morning for my long commute when the dreaded fuel light blinks on. I swing into my usual station to fill ‘er up.

Tired, I wish I could have stayed in bed this morning and I lean against the driver’s side door. Setting the gas nozzle to automatic pump, I drearily watch the numbers scroll up as my tank fills up. Usually I look around while it pumps, checking for people who might steal my purse from inside the SUV.

Usually. But not today.

I never even saw it coming. I think it was a taser. It felt like a boulder dropped on me.

When I wake up, I’m tied to a chair; legs to legs, arms to arms. A gag is covering my mouth and I begin breathing fast as I look around in a panic. At least my nose isn’t covered. But I guess I wouldn’t have woken at all if that was the case. It looks as if I’m in a storage warehouse or some windowless room. Something’s causing a small light behind me but I can’t turn my head around that much to see what it is. It casts a low glow on the room in front of me and as my eyes adjust to the darker environment, I want to scream.

There’s a length of thick chain hanging from the ceiling, an open set of thick leather wrist straps dangling from the last link. Below that is a drain and I swear it’s dried blood staining the floor around it. Straining my eyes against the darkness I see the shine of stainless steel on a bench or table beyond the chain, the shine of very sharp blades; a lot of them.

I’m in a fucking torture chamber.

Many minutes later, I hear footsteps coming closer. They’re muffled by a door that is opened only seconds later. Overhead lights blink on in a blinding flash. The sudden light hurts my eyes so I have to squint and look down. I’m shaking so much my earrings are making tiny tinkling sounds in my ears. Besides that, all I hear are footsteps as they continue into the room and stop in front of me. I’m looking down as a pair of cowboy boots and jeans come into view. They turn to face me. Slowly I look up, afraid to close my eyes, even though I don’t really want to see it coming if I’m to die right now. My eyes are quickly adjusting to the bright light better than I want.

Brown cowboy boots, jeans with a leather belt, then a dark T-shirt with something on the front (I’m much too afraid to read or care what it says), then up to his face. I knew it would be a man by stride and weight of his footfalls. I expected to see a monster, but he was just an ordinary looking man, maybe even on the handsome side. His blond hair was short and curly and his blue eyes bore into mine. There isn’t a hint of emotion on his face and I start crying. He takes a step back and tilts his head to both sides, as if inspecting me.

“So you’re into horror? Zombies?” he queries as he pulls over another chair to sit down in front of me.

At first, I’m frozen, but then I slowly nod. What does it matter what he thinks of me?

“I saw all those zombie decals on your back window. That’s why I chose you.”

Fuck.

“I found some business cards in the CD holder on your visor,” he looks at me strangely. “The name on it is the same as on your driver’s license. I followed the link and found a website to horror books. You wrote those? That’s really you?”

Yeah, and I’m probably going to die more horribly than I’d ever killed anyone in my books and stories.

I nod my head vigorously, tears flying from my cheeks. He just stares at me, and then his face breaks out into a huge grin.

“I love horror!”

No shit.

He pulls his chair closer to me and I push back in my chair, as if I could get away from him.

“I never met a real author before!” he beams. “I just downloaded one of your stories and I’m going to read it right now. Do you have to go to the bathroom?”

What the fuck? Was he afraid I’d soil myself while he cut me up? He’s got a damn drain!

He sits expectantly, waiting for my answer so I shake my head. He jumps up and pulls his chair back away from me.

“You sit tight. I’m going to go read it. I’ll bring you something to drink when I’m done.”

He runs out of the room and shuts the door behind him.

Not only am I scared, now I’m very confused. Did my zombie stickers make him want to kill a horror writer or was he going serious fanboy on me? Now that the light is on, I look around more, hoping something in the room can help me escape; that is if I could get off this chair. Without my hands free to wipe my nose, a runner of snot runs down from my right nostril. I can feel it pooling on the top edge of the gag. I want to wipe it so badly. Hell, I just want to have the freedom to do it.

Now that it’s brighter, I can better see what’s on the workbench by the chain. I’m seeing it from an angle since I’m seated, but a hacksaw looks like a hacksaw, no matter what view it’s from. I was right about the blades. One looks like a huge bowie knife and there are a couple others half that size. There’s a jigsaw plugged into the wall and I shudder when I notice it has dried blood on the blade. Hung in brackets on the front are axes of various sizes.

If I don’t get out of here soon, I’m a dead woman.

I wonder why he was reading one of my stories first before coming back to … Oh shit. I’d really hate to die like one of my characters. Is that what he’s doing? Research?

Almost an hour goes by before I hear the sounds of him coming back. His footsteps are rapid, as if he is running.

Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!

“Fuck! That was amazing!” He slams the door and runs up to me, pulling his chair under his ass in two quick movements.

He’s smiling, so I take that as a good sign. I hope.

“I read ‘Retribution’,” he went on. “Holy shit. It was so good I downloaded ‘Pie Bingo: Last Man Standing’ right after I finished it. Then I read that one too. Damn! You’ve got a sick ass mind! How did you come up with those ideas?”

I just stare at him, tilting my head, hinting at my snot-encrusted gag.

“Oh yeah, sorry.”

He stands up and walks behind me. I hold my breath, waiting for the sharp pain of a blade across my throat. Instead, he unties the ropes around my arms then unties the gag and removes it. Using the back of my shaking hand, I wipe my nose and lips. Moving my jaw up and down a few times, I lick my dry lips to moisten them. He quickly sits back down in front of me smiling.

I might have a chance here.

“Thank you,” I say to him, forcing a grateful smile on my face.

Suck it up honey and suck up to him.

“Well, usually I come up with ideas when I’m driving to or from work. It takes me about an hour each way and I listen to music but sometimes my mind wanders. ‘Retribution’ was started after seeing a dumpster next to a building. Simple as that. ‘Pie Bingo’ came about after playing bingo at a local pie shop.”

He bows his head and is quiet; too quiet. I hope I didn’t just mess up my chances. Suddenly he looks up and his smile is gone.

I’m fucked.

“I gotta tell you,” he begins, “I was planning to hang you up on that chain.” He angles his head and glances up.

My mouth goes dry again and I think my heart skipped a beat.

“But I’ve changed my mind. I’m going to let you live,” he went on. “I want you to write a story. My story; you’re going to be my personal scribe. I’ll get you a laptop but I have to still keep you on the chair.” He looks apologetic as he says this. “Oh, I forgot your drink. Bottle of water okay? Are you hungry?”

“Just thirsty,” I reply hesitantly, afraid it’s a trick. “And I have to use the bathroom now.”

There was no way I’m eating anything of his. Who knew what he did with the flesh of his previous victims.

After a closely guarded bathroom trip, he lets me walk around for about five minutes. I take this time to check out my surroundings. The bathroom is through the wall behind my chair, and the door out of the room is to my left. There are no other doors or windows. My arms and legs are numb from the tight ropes. I limp around until feeling comes back in my legs, and I shake my arms about. Finally, he sits me back down and this time only ties my legs, looser than before but still impossible to escape. He brings me a cold bottle of water (sealed for my protection – I checked). I drink deeply and immediately get brain freeze. I put my hands up to my temples as he walks out and comes back minutes later with a laptop and a small desk. He sets them up right next to me then walks out the door.

“I’ll be back shortly. If you want to start on my story while I’m gone, that would speed things up. My name is Troy.”

After fifteen minutes I realize he must have left, and not just the room. I use my arms to hold my balance and tried to lift my chair from the floor. It moves a couple of inches then stops. Without my arms tied, I’m now able to twist around and see that he has one of the back legs attached to the floor with cables. Stumped, I sit there for a few minutes until I look over at the laptop.

Internet!

I’m able to turn the chair to face the desk, the legs scraping the floor in a horrible grinding sound. I open the laptop and turn it on. Immediately I click on the IE icon on the desktop.

Service Unavailable, please check your internet connection and try again.

I click on the Connections icon at the bottom but all the available wifi connections that come up have locks by them.

Dammit!

I guess writing my way out of this is my only option. Who knew I’d have to depend on my writing to save my life. I check to make sure he has Word on the laptop and he does. I start a new document and wait for him to come back and tell me his life story. I began typing out notes: description of the room and what has happened to me up to this point. After that, I’m going to write it out exactly as it is, starting as an interview with him, then whatever he tells me. I’d never done non-fiction before. Every bit of horror I’d written were just ideas I had while driving (what I call car-dreams) and nightmares, either mine or someone else’s. How much more horrific will it be hearing first-hand what he’s done to other people; what he had been planning to do to me? Will it shock me, knowing it’s real? It doesn’t matter. If it gets my ass out of here unscathed, I’ll write anything he wants me to.

Over an hour goes by and I begin to wonder where he’s at. My emotions are torn. I don’t want him to come back and change his mind. But on the other hand, if he doesn’t come back, I’ll die here; a long drawn out death of starvation (well, the dehydration will get me first). I regret chugging the bottle of water and want to save the inch or so that’s left. Like that would do much good.

Another half an hour is gone and I’m squirming uncomfortably on the chair. After finishing the last of the water, now I really have to use the bathroom again. I’m holding it, trying to squeeze my thighs together when I hear a door slam somewhere beyond my door. The footsteps come closer and he opens the door and walks in.

“I’m back!” he calls out. “Oh, I see you’ve already started. That’s great. Look what I have for you!”

Troy steps back through the door and bends over. He comes in backward, pulling something that drags along the floor behind him.

Not something, but someone.

I piss myself right there. I barely feel the warmth as it pools under my ass and runs down my legs into my socks. He’s brought in another victim to replace me. The man is unconscious on his back, his arms limp above his head, knuckles scraping along as Troy drags him by his feet. He drops him on top of the drain then walks to the wall beyond the workbench. Until now, I hadn’t noticed that the chain runs through a large loop bolted into the ceiling. I follow the length of it to the wall where Troy stands. One of the links is set on a steel hook bolted into the wall; the remainder of the chain hangs down the wall to lie on the floor. Troy unhooks the link and lowers the chain until the straps are a few inches from his new victim, before inserting a new link onto the hook. He walks back over to the man and put the straps on his wrists, buckling them tight. Back at the wall, he grasps the chain, taking the link from the hook, and begins pulling the chain down. The links make loud metallic clinking sounds as each passes through the ceiling loop. As the victim began rising from the floor I can see Troy’s muscles bulging through his shirt. He is strong and powerful; he has to be to pull a man on a chain up in the air. Hand over hand he slowly pulls down the chain until the man’s toes barely graze the floor. Troy carefully places a link over the hook and steps away to admire his handiwork. The unconscious man sways just a bit as the tips of his shoes gently brush the floor.

Troy turns to me smiling brightly; then his face turns sour.

“What’s that smell?”

I start crying again; sure he’s going to kill me for pissing myself and staining his crazed image of me.

“Oh I’m so sorry,” he apologizes, coming over to me. “I was gone too long and you drank that whole bottle of water.”

He kneels down and begins to untie my legs, oblivious to the urine drying on them. “I have a pair of sweat pants you can wear. I bet you don’t have to go any more though.” He chuckles and I nod, sniffling, “Go ahead and get cleaned up,” he points to the bathroom door.

While I get up, feeling my pants sticking uncomfortably to my legs, he walks to a box that sits against a wall and digs inside for moment. He holds up a pair of grey sweat pants and eyeballs back and forth from them to me.

“I think these will work but I don’t have any panties. Sorry. You’ll have to go commando.”

He tosses them to me and I back into the backroom, afraid to turn my back on him. He only smiles at me so I take a risk and shut the bathroom door. I wait for a moment to see if he’ll come to the door, demanding I open it, but I’m met with silence. By looking around I know he isn’t worried about me escaping. There are no windows and the only door enters into the torture chamber.

The first thing I do is strip out of my urine soaked panties and pants. I grimace when I realize my shoes and socks are ruined as well. My feet get cold easily so I’ll have to ask him for socks. Using the water from the faucet, I wipe down everything below my waist then dry myself with a towel hanging by the sink. As I slide the pants up my legs, two things occur to me. One, I notice there isn’t a single thing inside this small room I can use to help me escape. And two, I shiver as I snug the waist up, wondering who died so I could wear these pants.

I step back into the room, my bare feet slapping on the concrete floor. Dammit, they were already getting cold. I summon up the courage to ask him for socks. He nods in understanding and goes back into the box, pushing things aside to find some. As he does so, I glance to the door, my door to freedom, and wonder if I could outrun him. No way. I look back at him as he stands up with a pair of white crew socks in his hand.

“These will keep your feet warm and cozy.”

Cozy? A serial killer using the word cozy? That’s creepy.

I realize the only way I’m going to live is to play along. Not only do I have to write as if my life depends on it (because it does), but I’ll have to act as if I’m getting into it. Besides, he’ll have to let me go so I can publish it. That seems important to him, that I tell his story for everyone to read. I’ll have to work my expressions and reactions carefully. If I go ‘all in’ too quickly and easily, I think he’ll see right through it. I’ll have to ease into it.

But how to do it and keep the hanging man alive as well? That’s the real question. If I’m going to play along with Troy, I’ll somehow have to let the man know, without him giving it away.

I sit back down in the chair and pull the white warmth over my feet. I notice he’s wiped the floor under the chair and the smell of cleanser is strong.

I bet he has plenty of cleanser around here.

I’m about to turn the chair toward the desk when he puts his hand on the armrest and stops me. He pulls a fresh new piece of rope from his back pocket. Damn, I had hoped he’d actually forgotten. After tying both my legs to the chair, he turns it for me, the legs again scraping the floor, and adjusts me to a good position right in front of the laptop.

“Good?”

I nod and position my fingers over the keyboard. Then it hits me. Troy hasn’t gagged the man yet. If I get a chance to let him know what I’m doing, I have to keep him from blowing it or we’ll both be dead.

“I had a gag when I woke up,” I say to Troy. “Does he need one too?”

“You don’t want to hear him scream?” he asks me, a serious look on this face.

Oh shit, I said the wrong thing.

“Just kidding,” he grins. “I’m going to put it on before he wakes up. I usually enjoy the screams, but when they go on for a long time, they hurt your ears. Especially women with higher pitched screams. Gotta protect your ears. You only get one pair in life.”

What the fuck do I say to that?

I watch as he reaches to his worktable, plucking up a piece of cloth. He folds it precisely and ties it over the man’s mouth. The man’s head is still hanging down. I realize I don’t know his name and I’m typing ‘the man’ repeatedly.

“What’s his name?” I ask Troy.

“That’s a damn good question,” he replies, reaching into the man’s back pocket and pulling out a wallet. “I usually don’t care, but for the sake of history we have to make this right.”

He flips it open, reading the driver’s license.

“His name is Lester Goodson.”

I add that information to my notes at the top of the page.

“Oh look, he’s got a wife and two kids. How adorable.”

He says this so carefree, as if he doesn’t care that he’s ripping a husband and father away from his family. He holds out a picture for me to see. Lester’s wife is at least eight inches shorter than he is; her skin is smooth and dark, hair long and curly. She is gorgeous. His sons are about five and seven and cute as buttons. They are a beautiful family. My heart grows heavy and I hope like hell I’ll be able to save us.

“Now I want to start this out via interview style,” I tell him. “I’ve noted everything that’s happened up to this point. I want to get some background on you. That will be the first chapter. This might end up being a really long short story or a novella.”

“Or maybe a long novel?” he asks hopefully.

“Maybe,” I concede. “Let’s start with what made you decide to uh make your first kill. Now tell me in detail how you did it.”

I really didn’t want all the gory details. Although any time that he isn’t chopping away at Lester, is more time that he’s been missing, and maybe the police are already looking for him. Or me. Yeah, I’m sure I’m already missed by my husband and work as well, I hope. I’m positive there are security cameras at the gas station. They might be out looking for me already. The longer I could stall the better.

“When I was in the third grade …”

I managed to drag Troy’s background out for almost two hours. I type as slow as I can and make him repeat quite a bit so I can get it all. He isn’t angry in the slightest; happy to spend the time on it, only worried that it won’t be perfect. A few minutes before we are done, Lester wakes up. His head is whipping from side to side and now that he is fully awake, he’s in panic mode. His eyes open even wider when he sees the worktable full of blades next to him. His face registers confusion when he sees Troy and I at the laptop. I want to make a gesture to him, let him know I’m on his side but Troy is facing me so I don’t dare. At the first groan beneath the gag, Troy only glances up at him, dismissing him for the moment while I continue to compose his life story.

“Well, we’re finally up to now,” Troy says joyfully, clapping his hands and standing up.

He turns to look at Lester, that strange joy still on his face. I thought Lester might piss himself like I did and his dark face pales. He looks over at me and I stare down at the laptop, fiddling with a word on the screen.

I don’t know if I can really do this. What if Troy kills Lester right in front of me? Would that make me an accessory? It’s not like I can stop him.

“Well, I’m going to go change in to something a little more protective, if you know what I mean,” he says to me, patting me on the head.

I’m just his little pet scribe now. He walks out the door, whistling. I can hear his footsteps get fainter as he walks further away.

I turn to Lester, keeping an ear out for Troy.

“Lester, I’m a prisoner as well.” I point to my bound legs. “That crazy asshole’s got it in his head that I’m supposed to write his life story. I’m trying to figure a way to get us both out of here. Do you understand?”

He nods.

“I’m going to play along as if I’m getting into it,” I continue. “I don’t want to him to hurt you but I don’t know how to stop him. I tried to drag out writing the story, but he told me all he was going to for now. Now he wants me to write about what he does to you, here and now.”

Lester begins shaking and I look over at the door, listening.

“I’m hoping that you and I have been reported missing and maybe the police are already looking for us. I’ve been stalling but I think I’m running out of time. I don’t know what else to do to stall. So if I act funny, remember it’s just an act. I’ve got to make him believe me. Oh shit, he’s coming. You got it?”

Lester nods again and fear spreads across his face, as Troy’s faint footsteps grow closer.

I realize I haven’t saved the document once since starting, so I quickly name it Troy_Story.doc. I can’t imagine what he will do to me if I lose it all to a computer crash or something. He’ll probably take Lester down and hang me up in his place.

The door opens and Troy steps in. I half expect a white hazmat suit or something more, well more ‘plastic’. Instead, he has on a red sweat suit with elastic covers over his shoes. As he gets closer, I can see faint stains on his clothes.

Red. Blood. This is his killing outfit, probably his favorite. I gulp. I guess I had better write that down.

Lester shakes even more violently, causing his body to swing erratically. Troy calmly puts a hand on his chest to still him. Reaching to the worktable, his other hand hovers a few inches above the top, trying to decide which tool to start with. He picks up a small metal stick that I couldn’t recognize earlier from down in my chair.

I recognize it now. It’s a scalpel.

Moans are audible from beneath Lester’s gag and tears are pouring down his cheeks. I‘m near to crying myself but I hold it in. Troy delicately pulls Lester’s shirt out, plucking the cloth away from his skin. He starts the cut at the shirt’s bottom hem, and then deftly slides the scalpel up the cloth. It makes a whispering sound as it cleanly slices all the way up to Lester’s collar. He pushes the cloth halves to the sides, tucking them in Lester’s waistband, exposing his chest. His nipples become erect as the cool air touches them.

Troy looks over to me and nods as I began typing what I’m seeing. Turning back to Lester, he begins humming as he carefully places the scalpel against Lester’s right breast and shallowly slices down about a foot. Lester screams behind the gag and I quickly wipe a tear that leaks from my right eye before Troy can see.

This shit is real, really real! I want to fucking wake up now!

Blood wells up in the vertical line, pooling into one huge drop before sliding down Lester’s chest.

Troy turns to me, “Isn’t it fascinating how the blood forms like that? Why doesn’t it drip from several places? It’s almost as if the bottom drop is waiting for the others to catch up.”

I tremble as I type that sentence verbatim. He smiles, realizing what I did; happy his original quotes are in the story as well.

“Are you still cold?” he asks me.

He sees me trembling. Shit.

“Yes, actually I am,” I answer and shiver a little more for effect. “Do you have a sweat shirt for me?”

Happily, he puts down the scalpel and goes back to his box, digging for a shirt.

Lester’s tear filled eyes meet mine, and I want to cry.

Troy returns with a bright blue sweatshirt with a dark red stain on the collar. He holds it out, urging me to raise my hands in the air. I close my eyes and do so. He pulls the shirt over my arms and head, carefully pulling my hair out of the collar, then pulls the bottom snug at my waist. I open my eyes and I’m glad I can’t see the stain, sure that it’s blood, from my angle.

With a cheery whistle, Troy picks up the scalpel again and quickly slashes a diagonal cut from above Lester’s right breast down to his lower left abdomen. Lester’s face looks as if has someone punched him in the stomach. This time the blood drips in multiple places, racing down his belly. The many blood rivers that trace downward paths have me memorized. The blood is bright red against Lester’s dark skin. I swallow my saliva, trying to keep down the vomit that threatens to enter my throat.

He was going to do this to me!

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Troy whispers, also entranced by the blood.

Over the next twenty minutes or so, Troy cuts Lester over a dozen times. I realize he is only making shallow cuts and I’m afraid of what the upgrade will be. I type as slow as I can, forcing Troy to wait between each cut, praying that any moment we’ll hear the bullhorn of police announcing their presence.

My prayers are not answered.

Troy sits down in his chair, admiring his work, while I finish typing. I tell him I need to edit what I’ve written as I go. That’s bullshit of course. You don’t worry about editing until you’re done, but he doesn’t know that. It was yet another seemingly useless stall tactic. I just hit ‘Save’ when the screen blinks out and the laptop turns off.

“What happened?” Troy screams.

I pick up the laptop, inspecting it all around even though I don’t have a clue how to fix a laptop. Troy however is freaking out. He jumps up and hurls curses at the ceiling. He picks up a hammer from the table and both Lester and I wince, expecting him to hit one of us. Instead, Troy hammers dents in the walls of the room.

Realizing how long I’d been typing, I suddenly figure out what might have happened.

Loudly I say, “I think the battery just died. Do you have power and extension cords?”

He freezes mid hit and turns to me. Thankfully his anger wasn’t directed at me and slowly relief replaces the rage his face was wearing.

“The battery! I didn’t think of that. It probably wasn’t fully charged,” he smiles, “Remember I didn’t plan on letting you live originally.”

He runs out, presumably to get a power cord, and I look to Lester. The casual way he says that turns my stomach and I almost throw up. Lester’s eyes are sympathetic as he looks at me, although I wouldn’t blame him if he hates me. He’s only up there because Troy decided not to put me there. I don’t know how I’d feel in his position.

Troy runs back in, the power cord and a six-foot long surge strip in his hands. He plugs the surge protector into the wall behind me and inserts the power cord into that. It just barely reaches the laptop. He turns it on, holding his breath like a child. The machine boots up without a problem and he turns to me.

“How much do you think you lost?”

Despite the situation I’m in, I proudly tell him, “I save constantly. I had just saved it before it died.” I scroll the end of the document and show him. “Didn’t lose a thing.”

Troy slaps his thighs, “Well, time to get back to it.”

Lester squeezes his eyes shut, tears dropping from them. I can’t even imagine what he is feeling right now. Troy stands before his workbench and picks up a knife, smaller than the Bowie, but bigger than the scalpel. Muffled screams come from Lester and an idea comes to me.

“What souvenir will you save from him?” I ask him, making my voice as curious as I can. “You do take them, right?”

He halts with his hand on its way to Lester’s arm. “You want to see them?” He becomes excited almost immediately. “I can bring them to you. That would be incredible to have them included in my story!”

He drops the knife back on the table and runs out of the room. Lester’s thankful look just makes me feel worse. I had found another way to stall but would it do us any good?

Troy comes back, so excited he forgets to shut the door behind him. He holds a large sealed Tupperware, and sets it on the desk next to the laptop. While he’s intent on opening it up, I glance past him through the open door.

Dammit, the only thing I can see is a plain white wall.

I glance down at the Tupperware before he notices and stifle my disgust when he opens it. The container is full of small body parts with jewelry attached. There are three fingers, male and female, with rings still snug on them. I see an ear with two stud earrings firmly attached (a diamond and a gold star). Despite my revulsion I look closer at one unidentifiable object with a small steel barbell, finally realizing it’s a pierced tongue. The largest ‘prize’ of all is at the bottom, a dainty woman’s hand with a bracelet encircling the wrist, which ends about two inches from the edge of the palm.

“He has a wedding ring on his finger,” Troy says after looking Lester up and down. “I think that would be perfect. Don’t you think?”

Troy looks to me eagerly, itching for my approval. I notice his eyes go to my earlobes where thin steel gauge hoops hold various silver charms. He looks almost wistful as he looks back into my eyes. Swallowing my loathing, I put on a hesitant smile and nod, intending to look like someone who is curious but can’t believe they really are. He cocks an eyebrow and something gleams in his eyes, as if realizing I’m gaining some interest.

It’s working. I turn back to the laptop.

“Can I put these in the story?” I ask shyly. “I mean, they’ll make it so much better. Did you know their names?”

A huge smile envelopes his face, “I was hoping you’d put them in the story but I don’t care about names. Actions are more important than names. Don’t you think?”

I nod in agreement, as I begin typing out descriptions of the hideous trophies. When I’m done, I look questioningly to him, waiting for those background stories. More stall tactics.

“I pretty much described them to you earlier,” he says, with only mild impatience. “We’ll go back and put them together when we go over the book later.”

He turns back to the workbench and I know I’m out of ideas. He picks up the knife he previously dropped and without a word, slashes Lester’s right arm from bicep to wrist. Lester turns his face up and screams through the gag. This is going to end badly for Lester if I don’t think of something quick.

I gasp softly, as if in pleasure, and then cover my mouth as though embarrassed. Troy turns towards me, pure happiness lights up his face.

“You do like it!” he exclaims. “I knew you would if I gave you a chance. It’s not always easy to admit, but there’s a dark side to everyone and I knew I’d find yours. I saw how you looked at my box.”

He makes a mirrored cut down Lester’s left arm. Both cuts were deeper than the scalpel cuts and blood pours down both arms to drip on the floor. I make myself stare while he does it, opening my mouth just so slightly, breathing hard.

I really want to vomit.

I can see Troy watching me from the corner of his eye and I want it to be good. I’d never done well as a thespian but today I could win an Academy Award.

Suddenly Troy kneels at my feet and cuts the ropes holding my legs.

I’m free.

I look up, asking permission to stand and he nods. I slowly stand, dancing back and forth to get the blood moving in my legs again.

“You’re ready.” He says to me softly.

He leans in and kisses me on the lips, gentle and soft, and I kiss him back. I want to spit or wipe my lips on my sleeve but I suppress it, instead smiling shyly at him. He takes my hand and positions me in front of Lester. Taking the hand he’s holding, he places the knife on my palm, closing my fingers gently around it. I look down reverently at it.

Every expression, sound, and word, make him believe I want this.

I turn to face Lester, looking him in the eyes. Since Troy is to my right, I tilt my head just a fraction, briefly rising then dropping my left eyebrow, Vulcan style. I hope Lester gets the hint. I raise my knife hand to his chest and he turns his face away from me, tears pouring down his cheeks, moaning. I think he’s steeling himself for what he knows I must do. I place the blade on his skin, pushing just a bit then back off, shaking my head, showing nervousness I don’t have to fake. I look back to Troy and he smiles and nods encouraging at me. He knows my first will be hard to do. I also know that my first cut, shallow and short, won’t alert his suspicions; my hesitation is perfectly justified. However, after that, I don’t know what to do. Grimacing slightly, I puncture Lester’s skin and draw the knife down between Troy’s previous cuts. Lester screams again. It’s only a few inches long and jagged. Not very ‘pretty’ by a precise killer’s standards and I turn to Troy for his approval. He smiles even wider. I have done well for my first time. He steps up next to me and takes the knife from my hand.

“Like this.”

He continues my cut further and deeper and Lester’s head wobbles and his eye are fluttering. I’m afraid he’s passed out.

“This knife is too small,” Troy decrees, walking around to my left, and tossing it on the workbench.

He picks up the large Bowie knife and hands it to me. I adjust the handle so it feels good and strong in my hand. Lester opens his eyes and they widen again as I lift the knife.

Troy looks as if he’s in the throes of passion but his face quickly changes as I swing the knife around and bury it in his throat. Lester makes a sound behind the gag that sounds like a cheer. Troy’s hands go to his throat. He tries to grab the handle but as soon as he touches it, he falls to his knees to the floor. I step back, out of his arms’ reach. He wavers for a moment then falls to the side.

I don’t waste any time. I move the laptop to my chair and push the desk under Lester. He gets his feet planted on it and stands up, loosening the chain. I run to the wall and unhook it from the link. Lester somehow musters some strength and pulls down on the chain, the excess links drooping next to him. He sits down on the desk and holds out his wrists so I can undo the straps. Then he pulls down the gag. Carefully he slides off the desk and stands unsteadily, holding my arm for balance. He looks down at me and I’m crying because of what I did to him. He smiles and pulls me into an embrace.

“We need to get out of here,” he says.

It’s the first time I hear his voice.

We take two steps toward the door and hear a noise behind us. As we turn, we see Troy already up on one knee, trying to stand, using the desk to help him up. The knife in his throat has plugged the hole so he isn’t bleeding as fast as I’d hoped. I suddenly wish I’d slashed it instead. With a powerful swing of his fist, he knocks Lester to the ground.

He only has eyes for me. I’m the one who tricked him, betrayed him. He wants me.

Before I can back away, he puts his hands around my neck and squeezes. I close my eyes in pain and my tongue protrudes from my mouth. Now I understand why this happens in the movies; it’s an involuntary reflex. He crushes painfully and I think everything I did was for nothing.

“Hey you!” Lester yells. “How important is this to you?”

Troy turns, lightening up the hold on my neck a bit, and I open my eyes at the same time Troy sees Lester.

He is holding the laptop above his head.

“No!” Troy screams inaudibly.

I guess I really did a number on his throat. Oh well, tit for tat.

Lester laughs manically and slams the laptop edgewise on the concrete. It bursts into a shower of plastic and electronics.

I feel the hands leave my throat completely and I cough harshly as I sink to the ground, trying to suck in as much air as I can. Troy is on his hands and knees, frantically trying to pick up the pieces of the destroyed laptop. Waving my hand, I point wildly to Lester then to the workbench. I still can’t vocalize. He runs to it and picks the largest axe from its bracket and stands over Troy. He looks at me and I nod vigorously. Taking aim, he brings it down on the back of Troy’s head. It lands with a meaty thud and Troy drops to floor amid the rubble. Lester walks back over to me and kneels down. We hold each other again for a moment.

“I’m sorry,” I croak. “I hurt you. I tried not to.”

Lester smiles, “We’re both alive, and trust me, your little cut was nothing compared to what he did to me.”

I smile back, “And what he did to you was nothing compared to what we did to him.”

We get to our feet and hold each other up as we walk out the door. Troy will never torture or kill another human being again.

---

 

He should have never have let her into the apartment but when a beautiful woman shows up at your doorstep wearing nothing but a raincoat and a smile, a man can only be so strong. He knew that he still shouldn’t but the rush of blood from head to groin left him helpless, unable to slam the door in her face. A man can only be so strong at such a site, at some point logic and reason go out the window faster than a bullet from a gun. One look at that smile she wore with nothing else made him putty in her very skillful hands. He took a step back to allow her entrance closing the door behind her as the raincoat she wore hit the floor. His clothing soon followed before they ever made it to the bed, any thought of the danger he was in seemed further away than some distant galaxy far, far away as the infamous scroll had always begun.

The next three hours were perhaps the very best of his life. There were moments of pure ecstasy followed by a moment of absolute nirvana by way of intense orgasm. Unless his neighbors were deaf they were either enjoying the noise or being tortured by it. He and his sexy visitor could really have cared less, if the neighbors didn’t like it they could call the cops or leave for a few hours. After his third extremely loud orgasm the couple collapsed exhausted from the effort. She rolled over kissing his neck whispering in his ear that she hoped he had enjoyed her surprise visit. All he could do was smile as she slid out of the bed giving him one last long look at her shapely silhouette before bending over, just like he loved, to retrieve her raincoat. She blew him a kiss slipping out the door leaving him to pass out in his own euphoric bliss.

                                                                 ***
You just know the day is going to be bad when you wake up with a splitting headache. His eyelids felt so weighted down it was as though they were chained to the floor. It took all the effort he could muster to even open them to tiny slits which he could barely see through. It took his brain no more than a few seconds to realize something was very, very wrong here. He couldn’t move his arms or legs, his head felt like he had been paid a visit from a Louisville Slugger but what really terrified him was that he couldn’t remember anything. He could tell he was tied standing up to something hard and he thought he may be naked though he couldn’t be totally sure. His brain was screaming out, “WHAT IN THE FUCK IS GOING ON!” However, his mouth wouldn’t cooperate in the slightest so that all he could manage were a few muffled grunts barely audible unless someone had been standing maybe an inch away, no one was. Through the tiny slits of his eyelids he saw only black but even in this dazed state he didn’t imagine that he was alone wherever he was.

His struggles hadn’t gone unnoticed at all. While he struggled to open his eyes more than a few millimeters someone turned a single bulb on, hanging over his head, throwing him into a dim spotlight. He wasn’t yet able to see anyone but he knew for sure now that he wasn’t alone wherever in hell here was. From what the faint light and his eyes were showing him this had to be some basement or something. The floor was hard appearing to be concrete or cement covered in a thick layer of dust which only told him that, wherever this was, no one came here very often or possibly ever. His tongue still felt like a fuzzy balloon inside his mouth making anything more than a grunt near impossible so instead he closed his barely open eyes and tried to concentrate on how he could have possibly come to be in such a predicament. What was the last thing he could remember? Where had he been? What in the hell did he do to end up here?

His mind found no answers. The last thing he could remember was being in his rather crappy apartment watching TV or something. This was no help unless some random group took offense to him watching old episodes of Magnum P.I. but he rather doubted it. What had happened after that? He concentrated the best he could with his head pounding away like a gremlin with a jackhammer was trying to break free from the inside but still he could remember nothing. He gave up thinking and just tried to open his eyes once again. That didn’t go any better.

He was still barely able to open his eyes more than a couple of millimeters and the dim bulb swinging over his head did little more than make his head ache worse. He still couldn’t see anyone though knew he wasn’t alone, obviously. His wrists and ankles ached from the rope binding him tightly to some old wooden post whose dry splintered surface pressed into his skin like he was being stabbed with a thousand needles, even in the most sensitive areas. He hadn’t noticed at first but there was also a rope chaffing him at the waist holding him tight to the old splintered post. Every slight movement pushed splinters into him making him feel as though he was on the losing end of a knife fight. His tongue still felt like two pounds of fuzz inside his mouth. He was thinking of all the things he would do for a tiny sip of water when a door at the far end of the room opened. The man silhouetted in the light coming from the outer room appeared to be just an average man but given his current circumstance a chill ran down his spine at the sight. Perhaps the man came with some answers but somehow he didn’t think that was going to happen. What the hell had he done? If he could only remember.

The new entrant just stood in the doorway for a long moment, foreboding and ominous as a lion stalking its prey. He just stood there saying nothing, making no move, merely staring at the piece of meat tied to a wooden post in the center of the room. Finally maintaining his thousand mile stare he took a slight step into the room closing the door behind him. All was dark again on that side of the room then came the whispering. Tied where he was he couldn’t make out any words nor determine how many voices there were but he thought there were at least three though he had no way of knowing. His eyes were slowly beginning to cooperate but they were still less than halfway open and there was really nothing to see. The bulb swinging above his head was bright to him but cast very little light at all as though it were trying to shine through mud.

He heard shuffling feet but he still was unable to determine how many men (he only assumed there were no women down here with him) there were. The footsteps grew slowly closer making him break out in a cold sweat, fear pulsing through his veins. As much as he wanted to know where he was, and how and why he had come to be here it wasn’t too hard to tell that it wasn’t going to be Santa Claus stepping out of the darkness with a bag of goodies for him. No, it was far more likely that pain was shuffling its feet in his direction, agonizingly slow in his direction. He began to think snails might move faster than whoever this was making their way toward him in the dark. There was a pause to the shuffling and he was barely able make out a faint silhouette at the very edge of the bulb’s small reach. Just as when he had entered the room the man paused for a very long moment before taking one methodical step forward just inside the small circle of light.

He didn’t recognize the man from Adam. Almost nothing stood out about him, he was fairly average height around six feet tall with short cropped light brown hair, a couple days of matching stubble and a lean yet muscular frame, the kind of person anyone has seen a million times walking nonchalantly down the street. The only thing that did stand out to him were the man’s eyes. They seemed cold and dead staring at him like a wolf staring down a wounded animal about to become its dinner. It seemed an appropriate analogy to his mind since he felt about as helpless as a jackrabbit with two broken hind legs waiting for a hungry wolf to clamp down on its throat ending the little game. All he could do was wait for the wolf’s next move as he was tied helpless and naked to the old wooden post. The wolf just stood there staring at him, not saying a word, not making any move. He would’ve asked why he was here but his tongue still wasn’t working so all he could do was wait for the wolf.

The wolf with the dead eye stare said not a word standing before him. Then the wolf lowered his gaze and began to circle around the perimeter of light. The wolf traversed the perimeter thrice making him feel even more like some helpless wounded animal. What could these people possibly want with him? What could he have done that was so incredibly atrocious to put him here in this precarious position? He still couldn’t remember anything past sitting in his shitty little apartment watching an old Magnum P.I. episode. What had happened between then and now to put him here? Damn, he had never been a violent person so it wasn’t like he had murdered someone. His brain began to ache as much as his wrists and ankles from the effort of thought then there were the damn splinters from the dry post poking him in the testicles like he was sitting on a cactus. All he wanted was death or answers. He feared he’d only get one of those options.

He could feel a bead of sweat break free at his temple rolling its way down the side of his face as he stood there waiting. Waiting for the wolf to speak, to hit him, to cut him, to kill him or whatever the bastard was going to do. His fear only grew the longer the wolf circled saying nothing until the shuffling footsteps stopped directly behind him. Again there was a long silent pause as more beads of sweat began to drip their way down the side of his face finally sliding off the tip of his chin. He had never really been very patient and this wait was not only killing him but pounding fear through his veins. The wolf’s shuffling feet stopped behind him until he felt the wolf no more than an inch or two behind him. The wolf stood just far enough back as to not brush against him but close enough that he could feel the wolf’s body heat. The wolf simply stood there doing nothing, knowing that it was torturing his helpless prey. Then the wolf leaned in closer until its vicious lips were no more than a few millimeters from his victim’s ear. The wolf’s breath almost tickled while the anticipation grew within. The wolf remained poised at his ear saying nothing though speech was imminent. Would he get any answers or a threat? Cold fear sweat continued to drip down his face as he waited for the answer.
“You never should have let her in pal. I’m afraid it’s not a mistake you’ll be making again.” The wolf’s voice was deep, filled with malice and spoken in a gruff whisper.
His mind raced, who the hell was he talking about? He didn’t have any girlfriend, did he? Who had he let in? Magnum, what had happened after damn Magnum P.I.? Was he involved in some affair with a married woman? His mind raced for the answer. When was the last time he had been with anyone? Oh fuck, what stupid damn thing had he done this time? Hadn’t his crotch gotten him into enough trouble in the past? His mother had been right, he never did learn a fucking thing. He couldn’t remember it but he knew no matter how good it was, the sex wasn’t good enough to be going through this. His mind was frantic searching for a face. Just who in the hell had he let in?

His thought was cut short by his first real dose of pain. Sure the ropes binding him to the post burned and ached and splinters were pressing into him like a million needle injections from his balls to his should blades but that pain was no comparison at all. He had been hit with something small and hard in the center of his back. He had no idea what in the hell it might have been but he knew he had never felt any pain like this before in his life. He had been stabbed once many years ago and that had hurt worse than anything before it but that was surpassed by whatever had just been smacked into his back with force. Then it came again and again. It no longer mattered that his tongue felt like a giant turd sitting in his mouth, he screamed louder than he had ever known he could. The beating continued and so did his screams. He could tell this wasn’t going to stop and no one would be coming to his rescue. Wherever he was, he was alone with the wolf and this pain.

After more whacks with the object than he was able to count the beating came to a stop, at least momentarily. His back felt as though it had been skinned, it burned and throbbed from the pain. The wolf slowly circled around in front of him and he could finally see the object that had been causing him so much pain. The wolf stood before him now tapping the bloody thing in the palm of his hand as though goading him which, of course, he was. The end of the claw hammer was coated in what appeared to be a thick layer of red paint. It wasn’t quite dripping but it was damn close to it. The wolf smiled tapping the hammer gently in the palm of his hand tormenting the subject of his unwanted attention.

“I… I… don’t know wha-what you th-think I’ve done. I swear I haven’t been with any wo-woman! Ppplease!” His pleading did little more than make the wolf’s smile widen.
“Oh, you did, asshole. Have no fear, I’m here to help you remember. You really should have never let her in. The boss didn’t like that, no, he did not like that one little bit. He doesn’t take too kindly to anyone touching her. Speaking of touching I’m afraid it’s time to ensure you’re not able to touch much of anything ever again. I hope you don’t mind sitting down to use the bathroom from here on out because I’m afraid you’re not going to be able to hold your junk very well after this. What’s left of it anyway. I’m afraid the boss gave rather specific instructions. If it makes you feel better you should live through this so chin up, asshole!” The wolf’s feigned sympathy dripped sarcasm as intended.

Again his mind raced at what the wolf had said. Who in the hell had he slept with to bring this on? Did he even know who she was and do it anyway or was it some drunken one night stand? Damn, why in the hell could he not remember it at all? What had they given him? Did they whack him over the head before bringing him here? His head was still pounding but he felt drugged not slugged. He had often worried about something just like this. This wasn’t the first time his little purple headed warrior had done the thinking and gotten him over his head into deep shit.

“Wh… who was she? I… I can’t ‘member bbut can you tttell mme that?”

“The wrong woman, fuckstick. Now you may want to shut the fuck up and take a deep breath.”

The wolf approached the front of the post reaching out to where his hands were bound. He did his best to clench them into tight fists not willing to freely allow them to be smashed to mush. The wolf was none too pleased with the tactic. He said nothing merely raised the claw hammer over his head bringing it down with all the force he could muster square onto the middle knuckle of his right hand. The pain shot like a bolt of lightning up his arm to his shoulder then somehow straight to his splinter pierced testicles. He held his left hand tight, clenched in a fist but the right fell open utterly useless throbbing in agony.

“Sure you wanna keep that fist clenched? Believe me this ain’t gonna get any better but if you fight me I can make it worse. It’s your choice.”

He thought for a moment almost relenting but what was the difference really. The wolf was going to smash his fingers to smithereens with that hammer no matter what he did. Why not make the son of a bitch work for it. That thought hadn’t even fully formed when the hammer crashed down on his left fist just as it had on the right. There were no more fists for the wolf to pry open. Again the pain shot straight up his arm to the shoulder and again somehow right to his balls like he had been kicked by Chuck Norris wearing steel-toed boots. He lifted his head as best he could opening his eyes to find the wolf smiling a giant shit eating grin back at him.

“Hard way, eh? Like I said, it was your choice, asshole.” Still smiling the wolf produced a handful of shining silver steel spikes from his back pocket, “I assume you were thinking, how much worse can it get? Well, now you get to find out. Congratulations! It’s you’re lucky fuckin’ day, fucktard!”

The wolf grabbed the fingers of his worthless right hand pulling them out so his palm laid flat against the post. Using his palm to hold the fingers flat the wolf positioned one of the spikes in the center of the back of his hand. One strike drove the spike straight through his hand producing a scream to be admired by horror movie aficionados putting most Scream Queens to shame. It was a glorious scream that should have been heard for miles if anyone were around to hear it. The wolf seemed to be taking no chances or perhaps just satisfying his sadistic side hammering the spike in as far as it would go. He repeated the procedure on the left hand then proceeded to nail a spike through the cuticle of each finger. His lights went out about half way through the first hand.

He had no idea how long he had been out but he had awaken to intense pain. The rope holding his wrists to the old post had been cut but that was little consolation. His hands were now bound to the post in the worst possible way imaginable, at least to his mind, and the pain told him that it really couldn’t be a whole lot worse. His hands were now held fast by twelve very large steel spikes, one through the back of each hand and one through the cuticle of all ten fingers. He wasn’t walking away from this post right now without amputating both hands which at the moment seemed like a plausible option. The pain traveled in waves up through his arms to the nerve centers at each shoulder. Each pain wave, coming at about one second intervals, seemed to travel in slow motion hitting the brachial plexus with an explosion of white hot pain that never failed to go straight from his shoulder to his now shriveled up, splinter filled man sack.

“Look who’s awake! I was positive you’d be out much longer. I told ya you wouldn’t like the hard way and we ain’t even to the fun part yet, jag off! Lucky you!” The wolf seemed far too happy to see him conscious again. “If you didn’t like the nails you’re really not gonna like this!”

He didn’t think he had ever seen a smile so wickedly evil even in a horror movie. Unfortunately, he was the star of his own personal horror movie now and there was no pause or stop button to end it early. The pain was pulsing from his fingers down to his balls when the next wave began. He longed for that hammer to be wailing away on his back about now. The pain in his back was long forgotten and barely even registering with the overload from being nailed in place but now the wolf was done stalking its prey, done circling the wounded animal that would be its dinner. Now the wolf was merely playing with its meal before devouring it. The hammer slammed down again and again forever ruining the flesh and bone it pounded into. The pain which was off the scales prior to this new pulverizing beating was now just indescribable. He wanted to pass out again but it wasn’t happening this time. He wanted to scream but the sound seemed to be stuck in his throat choking him. Tears rolled down his cheeks while he prayed to god, he had never believed existed, for all this to end or for death. All he really wanted right now was a quick death that wasn’t going to come no matter what deity he decided to pray to and he tried every damn one he had ever heard of.

The wolf continued hammering away for what seemed an eternity. By the time he was done the mess nailed to the post wasn’t even recognizable any more. All that was left was a mass of unrecognizable flesh barely held up by the spikes driven into the post. It looked as though someone had pinned a couple of T-bone steaks to the post and set an M-80 (or a dozen) off inside them. His hands were a bloody mess with fragments of bone sticking out here and there contrasting the bright crimson with flashes of pure white.

The wolf stood back admiring his handiwork. The boss had told him to make sure this piece of filth was never able to touch her or any other woman ever again, he felt he had fulfilled that request completely. There was only one bit left to go then this poor soul was free to go. 

He had no idea how he hadn’t passed out from the pain. His hands no longer just throbbed, the pain was a steady stream of white hot acid pulsing through his veins. There was nothing to compare it too nor any real description for it. He still had absolutely no recollection of what he could have possibly done or who “she” was but apparently “she” was the absolute wrong woman to have done it with. He no longer even cared who she was, he just wanted to die and end this suffering. If the wolf was to be believed that wasn’t going to happen though.

“I gotta give ya credit pal you’re really hangin’ in there like a trooper. There’s only one bit of nastiness to go then you’re free to go. I’m afraid the boss was pretty specific about your punishment so you’re not likely going to enjoy this next bit any more than the last. Do you even remember who you fucked with yet?” The wolf almost sounded genuinely sincere as if he empathy after the hand destruction.

“Nnno. Wh… who?” A little bit of stuttering was all he was able to manage.

“Considering what I have to do next I don’t think it would hurt to tell you now though I would have thought you’d remember by now. I doubt she gave you her real name but you really don’t recall who you’ve been banging the hell out of for the last month?”
Suddenly he could see her face in his mind then her luscious body. He had never known a woman with skin so soft like silk against his lips, hips and fingertips. She had also tasted so very sweet as though she were literally made of vanilla and jasmine infused honey. He had gotten to know every inch of her intimately in the last several weeks. His head had known she was just a mountain of trouble but he had never been known for thinking with the proper head. He had never seen a woman so beautiful. He still couldn’t remember her name but a woman that beautiful had to belong to someone dangerous enough to keep her. Given his current predicament he could only assume she was married to someone very powerful and most likely nefarious as well. For the life of him he still couldn’t remember her name.

“I… I… cccan’t rrremmmember nname… wh… who?”

“She probably didn’t give you her real name and if it makes you feel better she never gave her real name to the others either. I think she just enjoys fresh meat. I think she is also sadistic enough to enjoy knowing that this happens every single one of you. The master is extremely protective and jealous but I’ll let you in on a little secret, I think he enjoys letting her find fresh meat to seduce so he can reduce you to well… this. I hope you know a little bit of history or her name won’t mean anything to you. Her real name is Lilith but the boss just calls her mother.” The wolf’s wicked smile returned with the disclosure as he opened a straight razor to remove the manhood from the piece of meat in front of him.

---

 

The stairs creaked as the security guard climbed to the upper floor. He hated this part, the stairs were narrow and the whole building made noises. Of course, he told himself, it didn’t help that it was this house. He’d never been in it before but he’d heard enough about it. Everyone knew they were just stories to scare the kids or the girls but it didn’t help now he was here alone, not now he had to sleep here himself. Not that he figured on getting much sleep, especially if She decided to visit.

*

Paul O’Shea assembled his crew in the local Prince Rupert Hotel. “The Stalwarts”, as he had christened the regular members, were sampling the hostelry’s local delights. A little early, he felt, but they knew their work and their limits. Meantime, he was interviewing some new members from the locale, specialists in their fields, he was told. He sipped his coffee, hoping to god that they weren’t the usual self-important local bumpkins he normally had to deal with. Thankfully, they weren’t too bad, he had to admit, although Dr Bartholomew Bartlett PhD was a trifle annoying. However, as he had the most contacts and some local media status, he was put in charge of the “auxiliaries”. Once O’Shea had his troops, he arranged the first briefing for the following evening in the Prince Rupert.

The conference room was abuzz with excitement as the auxiliaries and local trades-folk assembled and wolfed down the complimentary sandwiches and wine.

“Hark at the Hoovers!” a stalwart technician was heard to comment, “All the same on every job, extras, super-luminaries, local specialists… all the same, all bloody hoovers. Come up to the table and hoover it all away!” His stalwart buddies nodded sagely at his words of wisdom and surveyed the melee whilst hoovering their pints. O’Shea entered the room and the multitudes found their seats.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, “O’Shea began, “you’re probably aware that there is something special planned in the local area,” the multitude chuckled accordingly, “Well, until today I could have told you, but then I’d have had to kill you!” Cue more chuckling. “As you are no doubt aware, myself and my stalwart crew are members of the television production History Hunters, a popular archaeological programme. You’ve also probably worked out that the History Hunters will be filming an episode in your fair town of Severnsbury. WE are very excited about this, as it is a beautiful, well preserved mediaeval site with a lot of history, but again, you probably know that too.” Nods and chuckles and, “get on with it,” sighs.

“Well,” O’Shea continued, “now for the moment you’ve all been waiting for.” The multitude pricked up their collective ears, “A few months ago Sunforques, the well-known national pub and hostelry chain, acquired premises in Severnsbury with the aim of converting the current site into a small mediaeval themed tavern. Naturally, they want to keep the buildings as close as they can to the original state whilst incorporating the structure into the new interior design. However, they have also given permission for archaeological research to be done on the foundations of the building, which is still standing I hasten to add, before proceeding. Of course, we are very excited at this unique chance and also very honoured that History Hunters has been asked to undertake the research. And so, to aid us in our endeavours, we have gathered together a number of locally respected specialists, that is, your good selves!” Laughter and applause.

“ Neal Tobias, Severnsbury Sentinel. Could you tell us, Mr O’Shea, where the archaeological dig is to take place?”

“Well, Mr Tobias, I was just about to do that but let’s say your shrewd, archaeological journalistic technique has unearthed the information,” winked O’Shea, to a roar of merriment. “So, in answer to Mr Tobias’s digging, we’ll reveal that the site is located in the 15th century structures which form the junction between Fish Row and Grope Lane.” Gasps of excitement and astonishment. “This area, as you know, is not only one of the oldest and most picturesque areas of the town but also has a long and rich history of trading and…”

“Oh yes indeed!” piped up Dr Bartholomew Barlett PhD. “A special sort of trading indeed, for instance, did you know that the original name of Grope Lane was Grope…”

“Yes, thank you, Dr Bartlett! I’m sure many people will be aware of the colourful past of the area. Ladies and Gentlemen, may I introduce you to Dr Bartholomew Bartlett PhD, who will be leading our team of local researchers?” Polite applause and Bartlett lovingly waving to all, especially the cameras. “Now,” continued O’Shea, “let’s discuss some technical matters, shall we? Then we can excavated the bar!” Wild applause.

*

During the post-announcement soiree O’Shea was making the customary introductions between the new members of the team. Accordingly he approached Dr Bartlett accompanied by a woman.

“Dr Bartlett, I’d like to introduce Dr Hayley Mackenzie who’ll be working alongside you.” Dr Mackenzie held out her slender hand whilst Bartlett puffed himself up to the required level of pomposity.

“Ah, DOCTOR Mackenzie!” he declared, holding on to his wine-glass and cigar, “And from which honorable institution do you hold your title?” he asked. Dr Mackenzie smiled slightly, withdrawing her hand,

“The Open University,” she replied unselfconsciously. Bartlett’s eyebrows rose and fell.

“Oh, my apologies, I had assumed it was from a proper institution, like my own,” He sighed.

“Of course, one would have liked to, Mr Bartlett, but having a job and a family does get in the way a little,” Dr Mackenzie replied tartly. The tone was lost on Bartlett, who shrugged in slimy sympathy,

“I wouldn’t know, Dr Mackenzie, having never married. One devotes all to one’s discipline, you see. Ah well, needs must as the devil drives, I suppose, eh, Mr O’Shea?” O’Shea had coloured somewhat at Bartlett’s comment,

“Dr Mackenzie comes highly recommended, Dr Bartlett, something supported by some of my fellow OU graduates.” Bartlett nodded with a self-assumed comprehension and not a hint of embarrassment,

“Of course, Mr O’Shea. I understand completely. Well, I shall look forward to working with you, Dr Mackenzie and feel free to drink from my well of experience.” He raised his glass and turned back to his little group. O’Shea and Dr Mackenzie turned and walked towards the bar.

“Oh god, sorry Hayley!” O’Shea sighed. Hayley shrugged,

“Heard it before but that line was a killer, wasn’t it?”

“What, the ‘never-married’ one?”

“Yeah, probably never found anyone stupid enough, even from the OU!”

*

The location of the excavation was a narrow lane in the centre of the town. Severnsbury had been a prosperous town in its heyday, a religious and mercantile centre which attracted a number of trades and traders. The centre of the old town still retained the classic black and white houses of the 15th century, with their distinctive timberwork and time-sloped structures. Grope lane led from the more recent renovations of the High Street up to the old mercantile centre and the cobbled street of Fish Row. This would be a particular headache for the excavators because of the need to remove any cobblestones individually and mark them to return in the exact spot from which they came. O’Shea ‘s team loved this kind of work. The overtime was amazing. The local research team stood in the lane surveying the relevant structures.

“Amazing building, isn’t it? Nothing fancy as such, but all the history in its little rafters,” O’Shea smiled, his more romantic side beginning to peep through. Hayley Mackenzie nodded with a slight smile. One or two of the other researchers ran their hands across the wooden beams on the outside of the houses.

“Our job, “ O’Shea began, “is to go down…” Bartlett chortled,

“Very apt, considering what this place was, eh? Did you know, Dr Mackenzie, that the original name was…”

“Yes, thank you, Mr Bartlett, I do know.”

“So, who knows what we’ll find, eh!?” Bartlett droned on. O’Shea continued.

“We’ll be trying to get down to the inner foundations and maybe around the outside. It seems the lane was narrowed at some point, might be interesting to find out why and if it had any connection with Dr Bartlett’s original name,” he smiled, nodding at the appreciative Bartlett.

“So what exactly will we be doing, Mr O’Shea?” asked a young man in the group. O’Shea turned to him.

“Now, John… is that right?” the man nodded, “Yes, sorry, John Frenchman every one, assistant archivist at the county libraries. Well John, you’ll be searching land records etc and finding out about the architectural records and so forth, seeing how the buildings changed over the years. Also, maybe some legal records, court documents etc to see if we can get a few tales of the past, that kind of thing. I’m sure there must be something juicy.”

There were a few knowing smiles from the local historians which set O’Shea’s heart aglow.

*

The security guard settled down in the  “watchman’s” room. He’d brought blankets and the kettle was on but the portable TV was giving him problems. He’d never liked this building, even as a kid walking past it. Now, just his luck, he’d been lemoned with the night shift and a dodgy telly. He switched it off and picked up a Dan Brown thriller from the table. Better, than nothing, he supposed.

He stiffened as he heard the little steps running up the staircase outside the room and the little giggle. He cursed silently. If it had just been the noise, he could have put it down the the ancient beams cooling down in the night. But that giggle… that changed it all. He tried to ignore it but the sound of footsteps resumed in the room above him; that room.

He slowly rose from the chair and picked up the torch, the heaviest, and made his way out onto the staircase. The wooden boards creaked in a warning fashion as he climbed slowly, tensely, up each step, his breath becoming shorter and his chest tighter.

He paused at the doorway of the room and flashed the torch around. He couldn’t see anything untoward but slowly, almost painfully, he put his hand around the doorframe and fumbled for the light-switch on the other side of the wall. He wasn’t going in their without a bloody light. He held the torch like a club, half expecting his wrist to be seized by an unseen hand.

The light went on. Nothing. The room looked ordinary, boring, even. He breathed a sigh of relief, chuckling to himself at his own stupidty. He wouldn’t tell the lads about it, he decided. Still, he’d just have a quick look. It was just possible, after all, that some local kid had snuck in for a dare. Hadn’t they all done that at one time?

Crossing the threshold, he didn’t notice a difference in temperature. If he had, he’d have put it down to the room simply not being heated during the digging project. That said, the slight breeze around his neck could have come from an open window… somewhere. It was the tingling coldness which enveloped his neck which stopped him in his tracks, followed by the slow, almost caress-like movement of the sensation down his arm and chest.

His torch arm was paralysed, either by fear or the cold sensation, and his chin and neck felt cupped in a light but firm hold. A warmer, softer breeze blew into his face, becoming warmer as it got close to his neck and ear. He realized with an increasing horror that it wasn’t just his arm which had stiffened. The eyes in his petrified face forced themselves to look downwards as the cold sensation turned warmer and moved slowly down towards his rising bulge.

As the sensation touched him there, he heard the giggle once again. Snapping his eyes upwards, he saw her, screamed and found the use of his legs again. Throwing himself backwards he all but rolled down the stairs, followed by the mocking, bell-chimes of the girlish laughter.

*

The security boss had nodded and left silently, leaving a steadily fuming project manager sitting at his desk.

O’Shea gripped his vape between his teeth and muttered a curse that would have driven the devil away in embarrassment, before throwing his pen at the wall in frustration,

“This is bloody ridiculous! Is it cold or wet there? Do they want wi-fi, porn channel? What?” he cursed.

The door opened and Hayley MacKenzie peeped cautiously into the room.

“Trouble Paul?” she asked. O’Shea nodded sternly.

“F-ing exodus of night-watchmen. Can’t keep them and nobody will say why.”

“What did the security chief say?”

“Nothing, but he knows something, I know he does… He’s holding something back!”

“Intuition?”

“You don’t survive long in my job if you can’t tell. Sod it! What’s the problem?”

“The problem is…” Mackenzie smiled, “that you need a drink!” O’Shea nodded.

“A big stiff one!”

“Wouldn’t mind a big, stiff one myself, as well as a drink.” The good Doctor smirked. O’Shea recoiled in mock-horror.

“God, you’ve been working with Bartlett to long!”

“Spending any time with him is too long. Look, forget the Prince Rupert, I know just the place, old coaching inn. I think you’ll like it.”

“Sounds good, what’s it called?”

“Errrm, The Coach and Horses, believe it or not.”

“Now who’d have thought it?” he chuckled. “Your local?”

“Not really, but it does a great pint of… Somerset apple juice!”

“And I took you to be a shandy girl!”

“Well, why should a girl have ale on the lips when she can get the tongue in cider!”

“Doctor Mackenzie!”

“And it also happens to be where some of your security team drink.”

*

The pub was fairly busy but comfortable. The crowd were generally working locals, not a trendy young crowd. Mackenzie and O’Shea found a free table in a corner and O’Shea nipped over to the bar, returning with two bright orange pints of Cheddar cider.

“So,” he asked, sitting down and taking a sip, “How’s it going with the research team?” Mackenzie took a large sip of her own chilled cider and smiled, semi-triumphantly.

“Not bad at all. Perhaps even more than OK.” She smiled knowingly. O’Shea rose to the challenge.

“Looks like somebody has a secret they are dying to tell me,” he opined, staring into Mackenzie’s smirking face. The smirk peaked and she took another sip.

“Oh yeah! You’ll love this…” she began. However, O’Shea’s loving would have to wait as there was a rather loud story being told across the bar which made both O’Shea and Mackenzie down their glasses and listen.

A stout, middle-aged man was standing at the bar, regaling a group of what appeared to be his drinking buddies. He seemed excited or agitated and the audience appeared transfixed. O’Shea nodded towards the orator,

“He’s actually one of the security team. I think he’s a foreman.”

“Could be worth a chat then,” Mackenzie replied.

O’Shea waited until the speaker left the group, heading towards the gents, and casually stood up and strolled to the bar. As the man returned, O’Shea “ stepped alongside him,

“Hello George, fancy meeting you here. Is this your local?” he smiled. George’s eyebrows rose and he nodded at O’Shea.

“Oh, alright Mr O’Shea. Enjoying a night out are yeh?”

“Yes, nice place? I’m here with Dr Mackenzie, would you like to join us?”

“Oh, well, very kind of yeh, but…”

“Nonsense, George! I’m sure your friends won’t mind for a minute, what are you having?” O’Shea pressured the security-man, motioning to the barmaid to bring some fresh pints over. George accepted he was taken and shuffled over to the table with O’Shea. He nodded to Mackenzie and sat down, raising his pint to his lips. O’Shea sat down opposite, took a sip of his cider and smiled across at him.

“Now then, George, Dr Mackenzie and I just caught a little of your show over there with you mates. We were hoping you could do an encore and tell us a bit more about it.”

“Ah, Mr O’Shea…”

“Paul, George, please… we’re not at work now,”

“Oh,,, right, of course, Mr… Paul. Well, really, pay no heed to all that. It was just the beer talking and a bit of bravado for the lads, you know,” George flustered. O’Shea kept eye contact while giving a smile which only reached his cheekbones,

“Sounded a bit more than that, George. From the little I caught, it sounded like some critical information about working conditions and the spreading of rumours which could make it difficult to recruit new staff,” he crooned, sipping his cider without breaking eye contact. George reddened,

“Mr O’Shea!”

“But I can’t imagine a foreman spreading such disinformation. I mean, what would his boss think?”

An awkward silence descended.

“It was noisy though, Paul!” Mackenzie chipped in. Maybe we misheard it, it’s possible.” She smiled warmly at George, who was now a deeper shade of purple and gazing into the depths of his mild. O’Shea held the line for a moment longer before shrugging and grinning,

“Of course we must have misheard. That’s why I asked George over to explain it to us, off the record, didn’t I George? I’m sure we’d be interested in hearing it all properly, don’t you think Dr Mackenzie?”

“Hayley!”

“Of course, Hayley. Now, why don’t I get us three Scotches and you can give us the full story, eh George?” He left George and Hayley together while he went to get the whisky. Mackenzie gently touched his hand,

“It’ll be OK, George. He just wants to know what’s going on. And it sounds pretty interesting to me, too.” George sighed and shook his head.

O’Shea returned with three double malts. George downed his in one and began.

“I’m not comfortable talking about this, Mr O’Shea, ‘spcially not in-front of a lady… no disrespect, Dr Mackenzie…”

“Hayley!”

“…Dr Hayley, it’s just not summat I’d usually talk of,” he mumbled.

“It’s OK, George, I’m a big girl!”

“Well, you see,” George continued, “It’s that place, the one we’re lookin’ after. I don’t suppose as yeh both know the history of the place, do yeh?”

“Well, I know a bit,” Mackenzie interrupted, George nodded,

“Of course, Dr Hayley…”

“Just ‘Hayley’!”

“Oh yeah, sorry. Mr Bartlett said you wasn’t a real doctor! Anyway…” he continued, oblivious to Dr Mackenzie’s flushed expression, “ I’m talking more as local history and tales. I mean, you might not know that the old lane was knowed as…”

“Yes, we know! And why.” Dr Mackenzie assured him. He nodded and took another sip of his ale.

“Well, you’ll know as some of the history what went on there but there’s local stories of a Madam Sabrina, who’s supposed to haunt the place.”

“Oh come on!” protested O’Shea, “You’re not telling me that…”

“Wait, Paul!” Mackenzie interjected, “ Tell us more about the story. Who was Madam Sabrina?” George looked towards O’Shea, who nodded.

“Well there’s sum as says she were a well to do lady and them as says she were a “different” kind of lady, if you get my drift.” They nodded to show the drift had indeed been got. “Well legend has it that she murdered a chap, as like her lover or a chap as had slighted her. Course, she were caught an’ ‘anged but her ghost is supposed to haunt the place, waiting for her chap to come back, I suppose.”

“So has this something to do with the lads leaving the job? Are they scared to stay there?” O’Shea asked, only just hiding his incredulity.

“Well that’s the strange thing, Mr O’Shea. That house ‘as been a lot of things over a lot of years but even quite recently there were a couple of rooms at the top which were rarely used, an’ certainly not slept in.”

“Why not?”

“Well, the usual, knocking noises… I mean like somebody tapping, not the other kind! But people getting strange feelings and such.”

“So, was that happening to your guys?” O’Shea asked.

“That’s the interesting thing, Mr O’Shea, we put some of the younger chaps in there to watch the place, as some of the older ones were a bit wary, believe it or not.”

“Are you wary, George?” Mackenzie asked. The watchman blushed a little and nodded sheepishly.

“Must admit, I am, Ms Hayley but I heard tales from my father, who were a glazier there once. He did a late shift there once and never again!”

“So… a few noises are scaring them, is that it?” O’Shea sighed. George shook his head.

“A bit more than that, strange dreams, errm, strange… sensations! Like they was being touched, a lot, and weird thing was that when they woke, their clothes and things were scattered over the room and their change was missing!”

“What?” Mackenzie and O’Shea chorused.

“Loose change. Gone. Wallet and things scattered. Between that and the… sensations, couldn’t get anyone to stay up there.”

“It couldn’t just be they were drinking a bit and…”

“None of my lads drink, Mr O’Shea, not on the job. We ‘ave our professional pride too!” he stated indignantly. O’Shea apologized,

“But it couldn’t just be someone was coming up while they were asleep and…”

“Locked doors, Mr O’Shea. Not saying it was Madam Sabrina but it were enough to spook ‘em, as it were. It’ll take some work to get any of ‘em to stay there again.”

The production team assembled the following morning. O’Shea was puffing at his vape in solemn thought. As the morning chatter declined, he finally spoke.

“Houston, we have a problem!” The team looked serious, “But, it could be a bit of a godsend!” The team looked puzzled. O’Shea looked at them all and began quietly,

“It seems that some of the security team are scared to stay in the building because of some strange disturbances which they blame on an old legend. Does anyone here know about Madam Sabrina?” One or two local team members raised their hands. O’Shea nodded. “Well, for those who don’t, Dr Mackenzie, here will fill you in. Hayley?”

Mackenzie bade everyone a good morning and opened a file.

“OK, as you’re probably all aware, Grope Lane is believed to have been a red light district known, originally as…”

Bartholomew Bartlett opened his mouth to declare but Mackenzie was relentless,

“…Gropekuntelane.”

Bartlett sat down in a huff. Some of the team Smiles whilst others tittered quietly.

“Oh titter ye not!” Mackenzie grinned, “It was once a pretty common street name. Anyway, there is a local legend about a ghostly female who is thought to have been one of the local working girls, Madam Sabrina. So the story goes, she killed someone and was executed and now haunts the place.”

Bartlett piped up,

“Oh now, now, is this what passes for historical research in your institution? A few old wives’ tales? There is no evidence for this at all…”

“Well actually, Mr Bartlett, there might be. John Frenchman, here has some interesting documentation which he discovered yesterday and I was about to tell Mr O’Shea last night. John?”

John Frenchman coughed and blushed slightly,

“Thank you Dr Mackenzie, Well, it took some finding but there is a rather damaged piece of parchment from the local court records. It seems to be an extra-ordinary proceeding. It’s a bit hard to read, so we’ve sent it for further analysis, but it mentions a Madame Havren who was found guilty of the murder of a guest in her house. What makes it even more interesting is that she seems to have been hanged from the window of the house itself, rather than the local gallows.”

The room was quiet. Bartholomew Bartlett guffawed,

“Oh what nonsense, why would anyone be hanged from the window of a house. I’VE never heard of such a thing and I…”

“Presumably as a deterrent to other house-owners doing the same thing. Perhaps the client was somebody important.” Frenchman offered. Bartlett huffed.

“But the name is totally different!” he sniped. Frenchman shrugged,

“It appears it could be a Welsh variation of ‘Sabrina’.” At this, Bartlett rose, slamming the table in frustration,

“There is no precedent for such a punishment! It is simply a myth!”

Mackenzie sipped her coffee and savoured her moment,

“Perhaps not a precedent, Dr Bartlett, but in August 1530 an Edinburgh tailor was sentenced to be hung from the doorway of his own house for concealing his wife’s death by plague. You can find it in ‘Extracts from the Records of the Burgh of Edinburgh. AD 1528-1557’, published in Edinburgh by the Scottish Burgh Record Society, 1871, page 35!”

Bartlett choked on his cigar.

“So perhaps not as rare a punishment as you assume, Dr Bartlett,” Mackenzie concluded. Bartlett retired to his chair and smouldered.

“So,” O’Shea announced, “we seem to have some historical basis for the legends. This appears to be a significant discovery and so I have discussed with the production company and the site owners, Sunforques, that we extend the episode on the excavations and include a special edition about the local legends and the new information.”

The team chattered excitedly as Dr Bartlett shook his head and gazed into his tea,

“The noble discipline of historical research is now brought down to a study of fairy tales!” he sighed.

“Perhaps not, Dr Bartlett. In fact the ‘fairy tale’ as you call it might be the seed of some new excavations and important discoveries.” Everybody hushed and looked towards O’Shea.

“You remember, John, what I said early in the project, when I asked you to check architectural records?”

“You said something about the lane having been narrowed at some point, I think.” Frenchman replied.

“Exactly, and we aren’t sure why. Well, I’m just wondering if it was to accommodate something or to help people avoid something.”

“Such as?” Bartlett asked, his curiosity rising in spite of himself.

“What normally happened to hanged felons?” O’Shea asked into the air.

“They were sometimes gibbeted or…” Frenchman froze mid-sentence.

“…buried beneath the gallows!” Mackenzie concluded. “Paul, do you think she’s down there?”

O’Shea shrugged and grinned,

“Which of you would like to find out?”

*

The evening bells chimed in the local church, a stone’s throw from Grope Lane. Paul O’Shea was unpacking his sleeping bag in the upper room of the old house. Hayley Mackenzie chuckled,

“Is your hotel so bad?”

“Well, somebody has to show these big tough security guys that there’s nothing to fear and someone needs to be here, so it may as well be me.”

“Aw c’mon, we could get some of the diggers to rough it here. They’d be OK with it, I’m sure. Bet they’ve camped down in worse places,” Mackenzie posited. O’Shea shook his head,

“Nope, the buck stops here! Apart from that it means I don’t have to endure Bartlett’s moaning over breakfast!” he grimaced. Mackenzie smirked,

“Ah, now I understand! You might like this,

There once was a doctor called Bart,

Who was such an insufferable fart.

He’d slag off your uni,

And make it sound puny,

To make up for his tiny, wee part.”

O’Shea burst out laughing at the limerick,

“Where’s that from?”

“Ah, some of the archaeologist girls were having a drinking competition last night and making up limericks about him.”

“Why him, especially?”

“Well, apparently he’s been spending a lot of time around the dig, taking photos and such.”

“Nothing weird in that is there?”

“Normally, no. But he seems to be very interested in some of the younger diggers, students, the female ones in shorts and t-shirts. They reckon his camera probably has more necklines and thighs than soil and clay.”

“Oh god! Has he…?”

“No, they say he’s harmless but annoying. They’ve started wearing longer gear if they know he’s around.”

“Well, as long as he doesn’t start trying to recreate the Lane’s history!”

“I’m sure even Madam Sabrina would think twice!” joked Mackenzie as she left the room.

O’Shea made up his bed on a table and lay down on top of the sleeping bag to read himself to sleep.

*

The two o’clock chimes sounded and O’Shea felt his eyes partly open. He was aware of  the change in room temperature but could not decide if he was awake or not. He tried to move his hand to reach for his phone but seemed to be suffering some form of paralysis. A slight fear began to grow in his mind as he struggled to move.

Then he felt the soft sensation, stroking down his arm.

The feeling moved up his chest and he felt a warmth close to his neck, and gentle touches as if somebody was kissing him. As he tensed his muscles the breathy sigh caressed his ear,

“Shhhh!”

O’Shea rolled his eyes to the side but felt something gently push his head back toward the centre, where he was held as if two hands cupped his chin and jaw. A warm, moist breath lightly blew across his throat and face.

The force holding his face slowly moved down his body, pulsating, massaging his chest and moving lower… lower… He realised he was stiffening, rising,,, and the sensation reached his loins and slipped under the waistband of his shorts.

He felt himself slide out into the open, the warm pulse caressing and massaging his throbbing self.

Suddenly a heavier force seemed to swing over him and pinion him on either side of his ribcage while his arms and chest were stroked and gently pummelled. The weight shifted and his hardened hotness blended with a moist softness as the weight pressed down upon him. He gasped in surprise and ecstasy. The force seemed to close around his lower part and hold it firmly.

O’Shea tried to move his head, to look down his body but once more the “hands” cupped his chin and moved his head backwards before he felt something  narrow snaking around his throat as if something, a cord or a strap, was holding him from behind, and a small shape appeared net to his face in the corner of his eye, giving a little giggle He struggled to breathe as the weight rose and lowered rhythmically upon his body. Unconsciously his hips were moving in time to that of the force upon him, his breath quickening and the muscles of his legs and stomach quivering as he resisted, held back,,, then his hips jerked in a physical crescendo and his being went limp across the table.

Yet the tension around his throat remained. Then it relaxed and he opened his eyes slightly.

Through the crack of his eyelids, he thought he could make out a small, blurred figure rummaging through something, his clothes.  A sound of delight and the tightness around his throat eased, Then the weight seemed to dismount. He could breathe easily once more.

A hand stroked his head and face and a smiling visage came close, its breathy warmth on his cheek.

“Thank ‘ee!”

Darkness overcame him.

The sunlight hit O’Shea in the face and he screwed up his face as he woke. He sat up groggily, surveying the scene. His clothes were lying, scattered across the room and his wallet lay disembowelled under a chair. As he sat up he noticed his own state of undress and his sex-soiled shorts, from which flopped his flaccid member. Cursing, he tried to rise and clean himself up.

“Morning coffee, Sir!” Mackenzie announced as she threw the door open. “Oooops!”

*

The hastily dressed O’Shea drained the last of his coffee. He still found it difficult to meet Mackenzie’s eyes.

“So, you think Madam Sabrina came to you in the night?” she asked. He shrugged,

“I don’t know! Maybe it’s just all the stress and some crazy wet-dream… Damn! I feel like I’m fourteen again and explaining to my mother why I’m washing my sheets!”

“NO need! I’ve two of my own and I learned never to ask or comment!”

“Wise! But there’s one thing which gets me, my wallet!”

“What about it, is it missing?”

“No, that’s the weird thing, my wallet was on the floor, my cards and banknotes were there too but…”

“Your coins had gone?”

“Yep!”

“Maybe Madam Sabrina needed to spend a penny?”

“Or make a phone call?”

“Or maybe paper money and cards didn’t exist in her day but coinage did.”

“I really wish you hadn’t thought of that!”

“Mind you, my real question is…”

“Go on?”

“Was she any good?”

“I really wish you hadn’t asked that!”

The conversation was cut short by a thud outside the door. The thud was followed by a haughty rap at the door, which itself was followed by Bartholomew Bartlett’s head peeping around.  

“Ah, just come to check on our brave leader, but I see you are already tending to him!” Bartlett smirked. “Did you have a nice night, Mr O’Shea?”

O’Shea grimaced slightly.

“Ah, it was a bit restless, Dr Bartlett, but thanks for asking. The bells and such, you know!”

“Ah yes, I’ve heard that things can get a little… hard, sleeping on the table. Especially in this room! Well, I’ll see you at the meeting!” With a chuckle, Bartlett disappeared.

Mackenzie and O’Shea looked at each other,

“How much do you think he heard?” Mackenzie asked. O’Shea shrugged ,

“Probably most of it but he’s likely as not heard the rumours from security too. I wonder what his next move will be?”

“I don’t know, but I think our move is to speed up that dig.”

*

O’Shea outlined the plan for the extension of the dig and a new schedule for filming, including interviews of local people, ghost-lorists and historians from the team. He mentioned nothing of the previous evening but made it clear that the rooms were not to be used at night and security would now be based nearer to the excavation area on the ground floor.

“Obviously, we’re moving in new equipment and we don’t want some drunken idiots trying to play Bonekickers!” The archaeologists in the team shuddered at the mention of the defunct TV programme. “Right, if there are no questions, let’s get on with it!” The meeting ended.

“Bart Bart was strangely quiet,” Mackenzie mused, “Do you think he’s plotting something?”

“Maybe! But I don’t see he can do anything detrimental to the project. It wouldn’t be in his interests. Now, I’m off to see George and the guys.”

*

George met O’Shea’s gaze with a surprising amount of concern. Several other members of the security also nodded to him with an air of sympathy and understanding.

“So now you know, Mr O’Shea!”  George said softly. O’Shea nodded,

“Now I know!”

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you more earlier on, Mr O’Shea, but…”

“It’s OK George, I understand!”

“A bit embarrassing for the younger lads, as you can imagine.”

“Not that much fun for us older ones, eh gents?”

A few serious nods and coughs went around the room.

*

The following morning the meeting assembled and John Frenchman rushed into the office, his face aglow.

“We’ve got an update on the court record!” he declared. Everyone jumped up excitedly but O’Shea stopped Frenchman from announcing his news.

“It sounds great, John, and I can’t wait to hear it but I think we should wait until Dr Bartlett arrives. Has anyone seen him?”

Nobody had, although some of the archaeologists commented that Dr Bartlett had been seen the previous evening looking rather excited about something but was last seen leaving the Prince Rupert and heading over to Grope Lane, saying he was going to take some night-time pictures.

O’Shea tried Bartlett’s phone but to no avail. After half an hour he shrugged,

“Sod it, if he can’t be here on time he can find out later. Go on, John, let’s hear it!”

Frenchman regained his excitement as he fumbled in his file,

“OK, well it seems we were right. Madam Sabrina was hanged for killing a client. She was the owner of the house and this guy was some local big-shot.”

“OK, so we have confirmation. Well done guys! That’s fantastic!” O’Shea yelled in glee. Frenchman stopped him with a look,

“There’s more! Let me read you a bit,” he said, taking a sheet of paper from the file, “Don’t worry, we’ve had it translated into Modern!” he chuckled eagerly.

“ And it is hereby decreed by these persons of this court, that the whore and mistress of the said bawdy house is to suffer death by hanging at the hour of noon on this very day. Her accursed corpse having hung from the window of the room wherein she committed her foul deed of murder for one full motion of the sun, shall be laid to rest beneath the steps of that same house as a warning to all who enter and who ply that trade in the locality of Gropekuntelane.”

The room was silent. Frenchman looked overjoyed and then the assembly cheered. Mackenzie hugged O’Shea.

“Oh Paul! We were right! YOU were right! Oh I wish Bartlett were here to see this!”

Before O’Shea could answer, a solemn security man entered the office. The noise died down when the expression on his face became obvious.

“I think you’d better come upstairs to the rooms, Mr O’Shea!”  

*

O’Shea and Mackenzie reached the top of the stairs, to see another security-man watching the door. He stepped in front of them,

“I think maybe you should look on your own, Mr O’Shea. Sorry Dr Mackenzie but it’s not pretty.”

O’Shea opened the door and entered, Mackenzie pushed past the guard and followed. They both stood stupefied. There, across the table, with fierce red lines around his throat, his trousers at his knees and his spent seed upon his stomach, lay the corpse of Dr Bartholomew Bartlett.

*

The dig resumed after a tasteful few days break. The police had released the body for burial and stated that whilst there were some unexplained aspects of Dr Bartlett’s demise, they were not looking for anyone else in connection with it. O’Shea was incredulous.

“A man dies in a room, apparently alone but with red marks around his neck, and they don’t think there’s anyone else?” he gasped. His boss shrugged and sipped an espresso,

“Well the autopsy says he died of natural causes, had a heart attack or a stroke, or something.”

“I bet he had a stroke! Question is, who was he stroking!?” O’Shea punned darkly. His boss snorted in amusement.

“Himself, apparently! I think the evidence was pretty clear. Seems the excitement was too much for him!”

“But what about the red marks around his neck?”

“You know, Paul, I can’t work out why you are trying to delay this project any further,” the other man said, shaking his head. “Look, we’re in the clear, we’ve got a great dig, a great subject and now, let’s be honest, GREAT PUBLICITY!” he banged the table in crescendo. “And apart from that, nobody seems to know what red marks you are on about, the pathologist didn’t see any at all.”

O’Shea stared at him.

“You’re joking! Hayley saw them too, and the security guys. Now you’re saying they weren’t there when he was on the slab?”

“Apparently so. IF there were any marks, they must have faded. I don’t know, I’m not a medical doctor, neither are you. You’re a TV producer and you’ve got something to go and produce, so I suggest you get on with it!”

*

Mackenzie and O’Shea stood watching the archaeologists.

“I think we’re down to a level which corresponds with our time frame,” one of the young women called over. “If she’s here, it shouldn’t be long!”

O’Shea turned and clasped Mackenzie on the shoulder. She looked back at him with a sad smile on a serious face,

“I know, Paul. Let’s hope it’s worth it?”

“It’s just I don’t know how I’ll react, seeing her!”

“I doubt she looks as good as when you saw her last,” she replied drily.

They headed out into the lane and met Frenchman, who was returning from the local Starbucks. O’Shea took his latte and drank deeply.

“Just run me through what we have on Madam Sabrina, John.”

“Well, this chap she killed was a local merchant, pretty rich and powerful. Madam Sabrina considered him her own personal client and took him upstairs to her private room. Apparently it was a common practice to get guys drunk and get a young maid to rifle the clothes and purse while she and the client were on the go. According to what we know, he refused to pay her and had no coinage on him. Probably knew her tricks. She was so incensed that she strangled him then and there. At least that was her testimony. The rest as they say, is history!”

“So just a simple case of a snotty customer not paying?” Mackenzie quipped.

“There’s something more,” Frenchman broke in. “Perhaps a bit more disturbing,” he warned as he produced another page. “I wanted to show you this in private because it might be a bit of a hot one!”

O’Shea stared at him, as he began to read the page,

“So too, shall hang alongside the aforesaid murderess, her daughter of nine years who not only witnessed the said murders but was known to lure the unwary unto their fate and was likewise wont to rifle the pyrses of the slain and was said, on occasion, to choke unfortunate victims whilst her mother gave favours.”

The coffee had suddenly lost its taste.

*

O’Shea and Mackenzie stood by the barrier, watching the archaeologists scraping down to the final level.

“Paul, do you think Bartlett deliberately went to…?”

“I’m trying not to entertain the idea, Hayley. Even he…”

“Well, that would explain why all the trousers and wallets got rifled, wouldn’t it?”

He didn’t reply and they stood in silence watching as the earth of centuries was gently moved back.

“What you said before, about her not recognising paper money, that’s why she wanted coins.” O’Shea stated flatly.

“Weird, huh?”

“But what would have happened if  me, or the lads, hadn’t had any coins? What then?”

“Doesn’t bear thinking about, does it?”

There was a call from the excavation site. A member of the film crew came running over.

“Mr O’Shea, Dr Mackenzie, we think we’ve found her!”

O’Shea threw his empty coffee cup into a nearby bin and they hurried into the site. They were met at the entrance by the dig leader.

“What have we got?” O’Shea demanded

“We’ve just uncovered parts of a skeleton. Looks like a foot. Seems to be another skeleton next to it.”

“Great! Can we see her?” Mackenzie asked. The archaeologist nodded,

“Well you can come a bit closer and we’ll fix the cameras up to see the rest of the uncovering. We can gauge where the head is and start there, it’ll make it more exciting for the show.”

The work paused while the film unit moved in under the instructions of the diggers. Mackenzie and O’Shea moved closer and watched s the sand and soil was brushed away, slowly, more bone became visible. The digging stopped as the chief archaeologist spoke to the camera,

“It seems to be the skull of a woman, and is intact as far as we can see, At first sight, there seems to be some damage to the vertebrae in the neck. Obviously, we’ll need to analyze it but it could be consistent with a hanging.”

The cameras then moved over to the second grave as the team began to uncover the remains.

The skull was much smaller and the bones of the little neck were also damaged. O’Shea watched expressionless as the bones were uncovered, moving down one side of the body along the arm, towards the hand. Where the archaeologist stopped suddenly. She called over to her colleagues. O’Shea’s stare hardened as the consternation around the grave grew. Suddenly he slipped under the barrier and strode across the dig. The kneeling diggers gazing up at him in bafflement

His eyes grew wider as he stared down at bones before him; the skeletal hand of the long dead little girl firmly clutching between its fingers the plastic credit card of Dr Bartholomew Bartlett.

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