Serial- Part 38

    His voice sent a shockwave of terror through the room that popped like electricity when he entered. Safely clenched within Jill’s fist was the key to their shackles. They just needed to placate him so that he would go upstairs for the night. Once he went to bed they’d be able to escape. Marie and Jill kept their eyes closed, pretending to be asleep in the hope that he would go away.

    He stood between his two captives, so close they could feel his body heat radiating from every pore. He’d never had two victims at the same time before and now, with a third still unconscious in his vehicle, he felt invincible. Just to watch them shudder, he reached out to cup Marie’s chin in his hand first and then Jill’s with the other hand.

            “Time to wake up, now; I brought you a new playmate. It’s up to you to help her learn the ropes around here, okay? Aw, does the cat have your tongues? Well, my pets, I could arrange that for you, if you’d like. Is that what you want, huh? Well? ANSWER ME!”

The fine thread between anger and rage had been severed by their silence. He grabbed a handful of Jill’s hair and yanked it from her scalp until she cried out in pain.

            “Leave her alone,” Marie shrieked.

            “So, you can speak, after all…only, you forgot one thing. You’re not in any position to give orders. I’m the one in control. I’m the one with the power, got that? ME, not you!”

            “Control? Power?” Jill scoffed. “All you have is—“

Unable to control the fury, he smashed his fist into her face. The satisfying crunch of bones and cartilage brought a smug smile to his lips. Spinning around, he crossed the distance to his workbench in one huge stride. Click, Click, hiss…the familiar sound of his blowtorch igniting and a whiff of propane turned Marie’s insides to ice water. She expected to feel the flames licking at her flesh. Instead, there was a jumble of tools being moved around. Please don’t notice the key. Please don’t notice the key, both women pleaded internally.

    He turned around to face them and both of his ‘pets’ had their eyes squeezed tight. One of them has the key but which one, he wondered. Just then, inspiration struck and an evil laugh bubbled up from his insides. They’ll tell me without even knowing it.

            “Ah-ha! There it is.”

Jill’s eyes remained pinched closed yet, at the same time, Marie’s snapped open as she turned her head toward her friend.

            “Thank you, Marie. You’ve saved me the hassle of torturing it out of one of you. Let’s have it, Jill.”

Refusing to dignify his words, Jill turned her head away but it did no good. She had already revealed the location with her clenched fist. Furious that she would dare to defy him, he grabbed a cleaver and heated it to the absolute max before slashing it through her wrist. The cauterized skin sizzled and her severed wrist landed in a puddle of blood. Tucked inside her fist, the shiny silver key was well protected from the sticky mess but her screams of agony reverberated off the walls.

            “Shut up!” He bellowed.

Jill did not obey. Her screams grew louder and more intense until she made her captor snap. Not even bothering to heat up the cleaver again, he hacked into every part of her. Chunks of meat and sinew flew through the air. Blood gushed like rivers and splattered under the weight of each impact. Her screams became gurgles which were replaced by the sucking and squelching of each labored breath until her chest ceased to rise and fall.

    When he finally stepped back to admire the carnage, his was covered in viscera. Droplets of blood dotted his face and dripped from his hair. What was left of Jill’s body looked like it had been through a meat grinder. Howls of agony erupted from Marie’s core.

            “And this is why I don’t have more than one pet at a time,” he sneered. “My new pet will be waking soon so….goodbye, Marie.”

Marie closed her eyes, knowing the sheer brutality of his assault could not come close to touching the pain she’d endured while watching Jill’s suffering. She whispered a goodbye to her friends and family before her last breath.

    With the exception of the table and Marie’s shackles, he hadn’t bothered to clean up the mess before dragging his next victim inside. Perhaps seeing these bodies and the gore-slick floors will do something to keep this one in line, he thought while placing his new pet onto the table and affixing her chains. He took a wet cloth and dabbed at his new girl’s face. The shock of cold and wet, teamed with smelling salts seemed to do the trick. Her eyelids fluttered before drooping closed again.

            “Wake up,” he sing-songed. “Can you hear me? Helloooo? Angela?”

The soothing voice calling her name sounded familiar so Angela opened her eyes. She smiled at the face she’d seen so many times before as he brushed the hair away from her face. The effects of the drug were starting to wear off but she still had to fight to keep her eyes open. Her head lolled to the side and that’s when she saw the remains of Marie and Jill on the cot across the room. Thinking it was just a gag, she tried to laugh but the thickness in her throat made her cough. Only then, as she tried to raise her hands, she realized she was shackled to the table.

            “Oh my God! It was you all along…”
**Please return Monday, October 20th as we draw closer to the conclusion of Serial**