The Horror Emporium: A Horror Anthology

by K. A Knight

  “He’s dehydrated and I think infection has set in, without antibiotics and a saline drip, he’s only going to get worse,” he tells us, and we all share a helpless look, not knowing how we can help the young man.

  “What do we do?” I inquire, and he shakes his head.

  “I don’t know, but you need them too. Without them, you’re going to lose the arm and the infection will travel through your blood to your heart, we have to get out of here,” he finishes.

  Using the wall, I pull myself to my feet, my head spinning at the sudden movement, so I wait for it to clear before looking around at them with new determination. “Then let’s find a way out, he got in, we can get out.”

  “That’s the smartest fucking thing you have said since you woke up,” Valerie grumbles, getting to her feet.

  “Let’s do it,” Kadian agrees.

  Chapter 8

  We split up, each taking a section of the room. Kadian and Lucien work to pry open the area where the machine came from, hoping it leads to a crawl space or an opening we can get through. I start near the toilet, almost gipping as I look down, searching for any hints of light. I would crawl through shit to get out, but it looks like it’s just a closed hole.

  Valerie is working along the other wall, trying to see if there are any loose bricks or anything she can use. I check the stairs first, tugging on creaking wooden boards before trying the door again. When it doesn’t budge, I take the other wall, giving Dorris’s body a wide berth as I search the wall with one hand from ceiling to floor, breaking my nails in the cracks as I try to pry them open as well.

  “Come on, you bastard,” I growl. He has to get in here somewhere, but how?

  I look back to see Kadian and Lucien trying the ceiling, so I step to the next wall and try that as well. When I can’t find anything, I grunt and look around again, trying to see the room in a new light. With nothing else to try, I go to the door again, crouching down as I try to pick the lock.

  I freeze when a shadow moves at the bottom of the door, the light that was shining there before blocked. As if in slow motion I drop my fingers and look, pressing my eye to the keyhole, covering my mouth and my scream when I spot the body on the other side of the door.

  A man, the man that took us. Slowing my breathing, I listen hard and hear the whistle of his breath. Staring through the hole, I can’t seem to look away until he crouches down and spies me through the hole.

  “Boo,” he whispers, and I fall back away with a gasp, tripping on the top steps and tumbling down the stairs until I land heavily on my bad arm at the bottom and smack my head, a scream escaping my chapped lips.

  The others rush to my side as I stare up at the door, all of them trying to get my attention and asking what happened. Lucien is checking me over, prodding at my sore head and making me wince. I swallow hard and finally calm myself enough to answer them.

  “I’m, okay, I’m okay, he was there, at the door,” I whisper, and we all turn, silent now, and stare at the door with fear written on all of our faces. One man, he’s one lone man, yet we are all shaking from terror.

  We wait there, but he doesn’t open the door or do anything else, so they help me to my feet and guide me away from the floor.

  “Let’s stay away from there for now,” Kadian suggests as he helps me lean against the wall.

  “Thank you,” I tell them, as they go back to searching. I flinch and reach up to my now injured head—great, just another one to add to the list.

  We spend the next few hours searching every nook and cranny, but we can’t seem to find anything, and the lack of constant food and water has us all exhausted and dropping to our asses again, already tired even after that small search. He’s making us weak, wearing us down. Soon, it will affect us mentally as well, and someone is going to crack from all the overwhelming emotions like Cameron did.

  We have to sit and watch as he gets worse, crying out in delirium as he fluctuates from red-hot to freezing cold, it’s horrible, and when he starts vomiting without even opening his eyes and nearly chokes on it, we have to put him in the recovery position, all of us watching with increased concern. If we don’t get him help soon, he’s going to die.

  “Are we finished trying to escape?” comes his voice again, making us all sit upright. “Tut tut, naughty little mice, trying to escape their cage. Shouldn’t you be punished?”

  We all freeze at that and his mocking laughter sounds from all angles. “Maybe I’ll just move up our next game.”

  We stay sat silent and he sighs. “Very well, next game, little mice. For this one, I want to test an age-old saying. The weakest are the strongest when it comes down to it, who will survive?” Then the mic cuts out and we wait with bated breath for whatever test he’s going to throw at us.

  Nothing happens at first.

  Then slowly, four chains descend from the ceiling, two opposite each other with spiked type fishhooks on each. They stop just above my own height and hang there. I look to Lucien who shakes his head in confusion too. When we don’t move for a couple of minutes, a sigh comes down the mic.

  “Two people, two chains each, the first one to the top survives, the other person dies, simple enough. Now, little mice,” the madman snaps.

  “Well, fuck, one arm over there isn’t climbing shit,” Valerie snarls.

  “You have five minutes, if no one wins, you all die,” he tells us again, making us all panic as I push to my feet.

  “I’ll do it, it’s strength,” Kadian volunteers, standing at the bottom of the chains, which he has to reach up to grab.

  “But whoever goes against you dies then, asshole,” Valerie snaps.

  “She’s right,” I agree, trying to think of a plan to keep us all alive.

  “What if—” She looks around then. “What if we string druggie boy over there to the other? Technically, he will lose.” We all stare at her and she shrugs. “I’m just saying what you were all going to think about at one time or another. Doc, you even said it, he’s going to die, better him than one of us.”

  “It’s not a bad idea,” Kadian says and I stare between them both.

  “If we do that, we’re killing him!” I yell.

  “So, what? We kill your lover boy there or me?” Valerie snaps back, and I close my mouth, because she’s right.

  “She’s right, Natashia,” Lucien whispers, not looking at me.

  I look between them all. “I won’t be part of that.” I shake my head, turning away.

  “Fine, you don’t have to be, we’ll fucking do it, fucking ice queen,” Valeria snarls.

  I hear them grunting and when I can’t help myself, I look over to see Lucien and Kadian heaving Cameron up while Valerie pushes at his feet. They press his hands to the hooks, curling them around it. He doesn’t even make a noise, he’s that far gone, but when they try and let go, he falls to the floor with a smack, making me cringe.

  “You’re going to have to impale his hands on the hooks,” Valerie grumbles, grabbing his feet again as they lift him.

  They hesitate, but silently do as she says. The noise of it ripping through his hands has me crying silent tears for the poor boy, but at least he doesn’t seem to feel it, he just twitches in their grip as Kadian smashes the hooks through each hand, then steps back, grabs his hooks, and starts to climb as Lucien and Valerie hold Cameron there.

  “Tut tut, little mice, no cheating, he must stay on his own,” he chides over the mic.

  Valerie and Lucien share a look and both let go of Cameron at the same time. His legs drop, his feet almost dragging on the floor, and the weight ripping the hooks farther through. He wakes up with a blood-curdling scream, which echoes around the walls and imprints on my heart.

  His howl of pain carries on as he twitches and kicks, unable to get himself off as Kadian climbs as fast as he can, grunting as he wraps his legs around the chain and finally reaches the top, tapping his hand on the ceiling and waiting. He hangs there, they both do, while Cameron screams, making us all cringe a
s he howls.

  Blood drips to the floor, pooling at his twitching feet, and I sob as his screams finally cut off and his head drops low. He just hands there, limp, the chains swinging from his movements. With each swing, an arc of blood sprays across the floor. One hits Valerie and she stumbles back, throwing up on the corner and wiping at her face, trying to get rid of the blood.

  “Well, little mice, your plan worked, and now you have to watch as he slowly dies,” the man mocks and Kadian drops to the floor, turning his pale face to the ceiling.

  Wait, we have to just sit and watch Cameron hang there to death?

  Dear God.

  Wrapping my good arm around myself, I slide down the wall, all of us horrified as we back away from Cameron.

  The next few hours are hell. The only sound in the room is his laboured breathing and the slow, steady drip of his blood down the chains to the floor below. He doesn’t wake up once, a Godsend maybe.

  “Fuck this,” Valerie screams, stumbling over.

  She grabs the gun and before we can scream, she shoots Cameron in the head, before dropping the used gun to the floor and backing away again, shaking her head but resolute.

  “What did you do?” I whisper.

  “It was a mercy, a mercy,” she replies, her voice numb as she turns away and curls up in the corner of the room, not looking at the body.

  Another person dead.

  Before the night is through, how many more corpses will there be?

  Chapter 9

  Kadian and Lucien eventually get his body down and lay him in the corner, they also move the others, both of them covering their noses with their shirts as they do so. They can’t do much about the stench or blood, though, but I must admit having the bodies farther away is better.

  Lucien sits opposite me, staring at me, his eyes holding a question. Do I judge him for what he did? Am I disgusted? I can tell he feels guilty, the man’s job is to save lives, so I know it must have been a hard choice. Maybe they were right, maybe they made a good choice in a bad situation and made the most of it.

  Either one of us, alive and well, died, or a man who was doomed to die did.

  Or am I justifying this to myself? Either way, there is nothing I can do now, so I offer him a small, tense smile and then close my eyes again, trying to block out the room and go to a good place, even for a short time.

  “No time to rest, little mice, I have another game to play since you so kindly spoiled my last one. Valerie, this one is for you.” We all look up, Valerie losing all the colour from her face.

  “Are you ready to play my game, little mouse?”

  “Fine, bring it on!” she yells, standing up and waiting.

  A bad feeling starts in my gut. He’s mad, I can tell. She ruined his game, his punishment, and now he’s going to make it hurt…maybe even kill her, and there will be nothing we can do.

  I can’t take any more death, I can’t, God, I can’t.

  “All you have to do, my little mouse, is make it through the flames and to the other side. You seem to think you are so brave—prove it,” he mocks.

  We all look around in confusion. “What flames?” she asks.

  He doesn’t answer verbally, but the floor drops open in a meter-long length, filled with coal and stones, which instantly set alight, the flames slowly growing until they reach the ceiling, scorching the wood there, but not catching it on fire.

  We all stare in dawning horror. This isn’t a game. You can’t win this, this…this is an execution. A punishment for ruining his fun, and when I look at Valerie, I know she realises that. She’s staring at the flames, her face blank and empty, and her eyes dead, the flames reflected in the dark irises.

  “There’s no way I can win this!” she screams, looking around.

  “Two minutes left, little mouse,” he reminds her and laughs.

  “Fuck this, fuck you, fuck all of you!” she yells, looking at the flames and then at us with tears on her face, which she dashes away.

  “You fucking bastard, I’ll see you in hell. I hope you fucking get locked up and killed in jail, you motherfucker!” she shrieks helplessly, breaking off in a sob at the end.

  “One minute, little mouse, that’s not very nice, is it?” he taunts her and she steps up to the fire, screaming into it.

  Almost panting, I look at the others, panicking she won’t do it and we’ll all die.

  “Fuck no, I can’t!” she yells, starting to back away and I scream myself as Kadian darts forward and pushes her.

  She falls into the flames, screaming in agony as she starts to burn to death. “Run!” I cry at her as she tries to battle the flames and make it out of the other side, but halfway through she falls to her knees, and I throw up in my mouth as her hair burns away, her face melting. Her mouth is open in wordless screams as her eyes are scorched and her body starts to turn to ashes.

  I do throw up then, all down myself as I sob, her screams exploding through my head as we watch her body crumble in on herself. His mocking laughter comes through the speakers as he watches this.

  “Not so brave after all, little mouse.”

  Chapter 10

  He was never going to let us go, he was going to torture and kill us in his sick, twisted games, and a man like him would never stop. He would find others and do this time and time again—who knows if he hasn’t already. There was never an escape or a chance to win.

  Anger fills me and I turn away from his mocking voice, analysing the room with new eyes. Fuck this, I’m not dying down here, not now when I finally started to live. To love myself. I won’t die today, tomorrow, or the next.

  I’m getting the fuck out of here, and I’m taking Lucien and Kadian with me.

  Rushing forward, shielding my face from the flames, I kick at the stones. They ricochet along the floor, scorching it before lighting. The bottom of the stairs and the wood starts to move, going up in flames.

  “Fuck you! Now we all die, and not from your games! You didn’t plan this shit, did you?” I scream with a maddening laugh. “How’s that, you sick fuck?”

  “Natashia!” Lucien screams, and pulls me away from the flames as we watch it race up the walls and floors, we might die in pain, but we weren’t going to anyway, and I’m taking a gamble that he doesn’t want us to die this way. I’m betting everyone’s life on that, because if not, I just killed us all.

  “Are you really going to let us die like this? Won’t it annoy you that you don’t get to play the rest of your games?” I scream with no response from him.

  A whoosh sounds as the stairs go up in flames, and Lucien covers my head as I sob, the smoke burning my eyes, and I start coughing as it sears my lungs.

  Oh God, I killed us all.

  “I’m sorry,” I gasp.

  The door at the top of the stairs opens, the creak cutting through our panic, and we look back to see a man framed there. In a black hoodie with the hood covering his face, smoke billowing around him from the room, nearly obscuring the black and white tiles in the room behind him.

  “Run!” I scream, as his booted foot hits the top step.

  “You can’t escape me,” he mocks, his voice deep and distorted over the roar off the fire.

  “Guys, this way!” comes a yell, and we look behind us to see Kadian prying open a doorway we didn’t notice was there, the smoke filtering in giving it away. That must be how he got in and out. The door is hidden in the bricks, and unless you knew it was there, you wouldn’t see it.

  “Go! I’ll hold him off!” Lucien screams, picking up the gun and burning his hand in the process as he fires at the man descending the flaming steps—the shots go wide.

  I hesitate, but Lucien pushes me towards the open trap door. “Go, I’ll be right behind you! We have a date, remember?” he yells at me, taking aim again, and I stumble over to Kadian, coughing into my arm as my eyes stream from the smoke.

  Kadian holds his hand out to me as he steps through the doorway. “Hurry up!”

  I grab his hand and
let him haul me through, and then look back at Lucien who drops the gun. It clicks empty as he turns to reach us, and just as he does, the floor in front of him goes up in flames.

  He’s trapped.

  “Lucien!” I scream.

  He tries to jump through the flames, howling when he burns himself. My eyes go to the madman who’s watching us from the stairs, knowing he can’t get to us, and then he laughs, making my eyes swing back to Lucien who stumbles and falls, the flames racing up his legs. I try to pull away from Kadian and get to him, but he binds his arms around me, dragging me farther back into the entryway and away from the blaze.

  Lucien looks up then, his eyes telling me that he knows he’s going to die, he’s accepted it, and he stops fighting to get to us. “Go, get her out of here!” he yells as he falls, his words tapering off into a scream, which scars my mind and heart as I shout and cry, fighting Kadian as he drags me back through the dark tunnel. Lucien’s screams follow after us until they cut off, making me sob harder but go limp in Kadian’s arms, who picks me up and turns, racing down the dark, winding tunnel.

  “We have to go, I’m sorry, we have to!” he tells me, not looking down as he runs blindly, neither of us able to see where we’re going down here, but anywhere is better than back there.

  “Lucien,” I whisper, just as a light breaks through the oppressive darkness up ahead.

  “We are going to make it, Natashia, we are going to make it!” He grins down at me, speeding up and heading towards the light.

  Are we? Are we going to be free?

  ….at what cost?

  Chapter 11

  The light draws closer and closer, and he holds me to his chest with one arm and holds the other out in front of him as we break through what feels like a bush and into blinding daylight.