“I don’t have a rag.”
“Use your white pants. They’re already ruined.”
“Whatever.” Elmer wiped it off on his pants, then handed it back.
“And make sure you change your attitude before you arrive this evening.”
“Sure thing, boss.”
Seth was irritated as he walked off, disappearing into the dark.
Screwed, Blued and Tattooed
Herb sat up in a state of panic. His vision was blurry and his heart was pounding so hard that it felt like it was going to bust out of his chest. A man approached him. He was on all fours like a dog. “Try to relax. You’ve been drugged.”
“Been what?” He tried to stand up, but a piercing pain shot through his body. “Something isn’t right.”
“Just stay calm.”
He noticed the man was nude. “What the fuck?” Then he noticed he was nude as well. “What happened to my clothes?”
The man had a slur to his speech. “We’re all nude. We woke up this way.”
“What are you, some type of fucking pervert? Get the fuck away from me!”
“I didn’t do that to you. I’m just trying to help.”
“I don’t give a fuck! Back away before I knock the shit out of you!”
The man scooted backwards. “Dude, you need to look around. I’m not the enemy.”
Another person spoke out. “Leave him be. He’s still confused.”
Herb looked intimidating. He was big, real big, in a corn-fed kind of way—around two-hundred and fifty pounds. His head was bald and he had a long black goatee. The skin around his neck, head and below his elbows was very tan and leathery. The rest of his body was white as a ghost. It appeared he stayed outside a lot in a t-shirt.
His vision was starting to clear up. He didn’t recognize where he was. The room was small, around twenty feet by twenty feet. The walls were made of halite blocks and the ceiling was made of wood and around twelve feet high. The floor was made of concrete, but it was also covered in rebar that made a grid pattern. The bars were spaced about six inches apart and welded together. There was a door made of steel. There was also a small window about six feet from the floor with some type of display hanging on the wall above it.
Herb noticed the man talking to him was very skinny. He looked sick, or maybe he was just a crackhead. Sores and dark spots covered his body and his brown hair was very thin. He had piercings in both nipples, an earring in each ear and some type of studs sticking out of his head. There was a tattoo on his forehead that read Murderer, and another one on his left chest that read, Hello, my name is Kurt, and I like to spread HIV. It was outlined with a border, making it look like a name tag. Herb got up on one knee as he stared at him. He was still woozy. “What are you, some type of fucking weirdo?”
“You don’t know shit.”
He looked around. “Where in the hell am I?”
“I’m not going to answer you with that kind of attitude.”
Herb looked at him and started to respond, but then noticed there were two other men. One was sitting with his back against the wall, the other was lying down. The man lying down was very obese with long shaggy hair and a bushy handlebar mustache. Herb couldn’t see his face, but judging by his skin, he appeared to be old. He wasn’t moving and looked dead. The other man was average in size and appeared to be in his mid-thirties. His skin had a dark complexion; he was possibly Puerto Rican or Mexican. He was well-groomed compared to the other two. Herb looked at him and repeated his question. “Do you know where I am?”
The dark-skinned man was sitting with his legs and arms stretched out. “I’m not sure.”
“Have y’all tried the door?”
“Kurt did. It’s locked. There’re two keyholes. We might be able to pick them with something.”
“Have y’all tried to find the keys?”
“Of course.”
“What about busting through it?”
“It’s useless. It’s steel, and the hinges and lock are on the other side.”
“Have you checked the window?”
“Not yet.”
“Why the fuck not?”
“None of us can reach it.”
Herb noticed the man was also tattooed. He looked closer. The tat on his chest read, Hello, my name is Luis, and I like to ruin lives. The one on his forehead read, Rapist. “Why is that shit tattooed on you?”
He looked down. “I… I don’t know.”
“What are you, some type of pervert?”
He looked up with an aggravated expression. “Don’t get all judgmental. You’ve been tattooed as well.”
Herb rubbed his forehead, noticing it was sore. “What the fuck?” He looked down and noticed one on his chest that read, Hello, my name is Herb, and I like to destroy futures. He looked at the skinny man. “Did you do this to me?”
“No. But whoever did thinks you’re a molester.”
“What the fuck did you call me, you fucking Tinker Bell?”
The man put his hands out in a defensive manner. “Hold up! That’s what it says on your head. I didn’t have anything to do with it.”
“Fuck you.” He started to stand, but pain shot through his groin. “Oh shit!” He felt his penis. It was sticking out straight, but he wasn’t hard. “What the fuck?” He then noticed his ball sack. It was very swollen, almost twice its normal size, and blue. He felt it. “Oh my God! Something is wrong.”
“There are probably screws in you too.”
Herb looked at Luis. “What are you talking about?”
He nodded towards his limbs. “Haven’t you noticed? I have screws in my joints.” He had several screws in his shoulders, elbows, knees and ankles. His skin was very swollen and blue around each screw.
Herb frowned. “Damn! That looks bad. Who in the fuck did that to you?”
“I’m not sure. I woke up like this. We all did. We’ve all been screwed.”
Herb felt his nuts again. “Oh shit! I think you’re right. I can feel something inside my sack.” He looked at the end of his penis, noticing a round object with an X in the middle was inside his urethra. Horror overcame him when he realized it was the head of a Phillips head screw. “Oh my God! I have to get this out.” He tried to grab the screw head, but it was too painful since it was nestled down inside his pee hole. “This can’t be happening.” He started to panic as he tried to pull the head of his penis back to expose the screw.
Kurt scooted closer. “It’s no use. You’re just going to do more damage.”
“What the fuck do you know, queer bait?”
“I have them too.” He held out his hands, palms down. Each of his knuckles had a short screw driven through them and his skin was swollen and blue. He flipped his hands over showing the tips of the screws were protruding out on the other side. He spun around on his knees. “They’re in the bottoms of my feet also.” More were driven into his heels and between his toes.
Herb looked aggravated. “Cry me a fucking river.”
“That’s rude. Mine hurt just as bad as yours do.”
“Yeah, but at least they’re not in your fucking dick and balls.”
“You’re worried about that, but at least you don’t have them in your head.” He lowered his head to show he had more. “This is bad. Real bad. They might have went into my brain. I could have brain damage or something.”
“I don’t give a fuck about you.” Herb was too preoccupied with his own issues to be concerned for anyone else. He started feeling around his ball sack again. “I don’t think they’re screws. I don’t feel anything sticking out.” He could tell his testicles were swollen. “But I think there is something inside my nuts.”
Kurt scooted around to the backside of Herb and looked between his legs. “Damn! It looks like you have a blue bouncy ball between your legs.” He looked closer. “And I can see some stitches. Someone must have stuck some screws in them.”
Herb jerked around. “Get the fuck away from me and stop staring at my ass
, you fucking queer!”
Kurt became angry. “Fuck you, asshole! I was just trying to help. And I wasn’t staring at your ass. Your fucking balls can fall off as far as I’m concerned.”
Herb pointed to the other side of the room. “Move over there and stay the fuck away from me.”
Kurt was bitching as he scooted on his knees. “It’s just my luck I would get stuck with a homophobe.”
“Piss off, you fucking redneck.”
Luis intervened. “You two need to stop bickering and work together.”
Herb was still examining his privates. “I don’t give a fuck about you or that pervert. I just want to get the fuck out of here and get to the hospital.”
Luis pointed to the window. “Then go see what’s on the other side of that. Maybe it’s a way out.”
“Don’t tell me what to do, you fucking chicano.”
“You need to watch the name calling.”
“What the fuck are you going to do about it?”
Kurt was shaking his head. “Don’t sweat it Luis. He’s just a fucking hater.”
Herb glared at him. “Fuck you. You don’t know shit about me.”
“What’s your problem? Why are you so angry towards us? We’re all in this together.”
“I’m not a part of this sick and twisted shit. You two fuckers must have pissed off the wrong person and I somehow got dragged into it. I didn’t do shit to deserve this.”
Luis spoke up. “You can keep telling yourself that, but the fact remains you are a part of this. So, if we’re going to survive, we have to work together no matter how much we dislike each other.”
“You don’t know shit.”
“If you could see past your rage and bigotry, you’d know I’m right. The window is too high for Kurt and me to see through it since we can’t stand. And Donny is out. You’re the only one who can do it.”
“Who’s Donny?”
Luis pointed at the fat man on the floor. “Duh! His name is tattooed on his chest.”
“Listen here, smartass, I’ll knock your fucking teeth out.”
“Stop acting like a Neanderthal and help us find a way out of here.”
“That’s it, sissy boy.” Herb stood up. He had to hold his legs apart to ease the tension on his balls. “I’m going to tear you a new asshole.” He started walking bowlegged towards Luis.
Kurt intervened. “Hold up, Herb! There’s something you need to know.”
“Shut the fuck up before I crush your skull.”
“Before Donny passed out, he told us that we’re going to be burned to death unless we find a way out.”
Herb paused. “What?”
Luis nodded. “That’s right. Whoever did this to us told him why we’re here and what’s going to happen to us. A bunch of screws have been drilled into his teeth, so he was having a difficult time talking. The pain finally caused him to pass out before we could get more information from him.”
“So, he’s alive?”
“Yes. He’s just unconscious.”
“What kind of shit was he saying?”
“That we’re all going to suffer immensely for what we have done. That’s why we have our crimes tattooed on us. It’s a reminder of why we’re going to be punished.”
“First off, I’m not a fucking molester.”
“And I’ve never raped anyone, but it doesn’t matter. The person that did this thinks we’ve done those things.”
Kurt was looking down. “I haven’t given anyone HIV. I don’t even have it.”
Herb glared at him. “Sure, motherfucker. That’s why your skinny ass is covered with those AIDs spots.”
“They’re not AIDs spots.”
“Whatever, dude, just stay the fuck away from me.” Herb knelt by Donny. He noticed his name tag red, Hello, my name is Donny, and I like to bully the weak. The one on his forehead read, Abuser. Herb cringed when he noticed how Donny’s mouth had three-inch sheetrock screws driven into all his lower back teeth, through his jaw bone, then out the bottom of his mouth. More screws had been driven into his top back teeth as well.
Herb shook Donny’s body to wake him, but he didn’t budge. “Yeah, he’s out cold.” He looked at Luis. “So, what else did he say?”
“That’s pretty much it.”
Herb stood up and walked over to the window. It was small—around one foot by one foot. “This is weird.”
Luis leaned forward. “What do you see?”
“It doesn’t go anywhere. It’s like a long box on the other side with some type of strange setup.”
“What do you mean? What kind of setup?”
“There’s a red button mounted on the back wall of the box. It’s about ten feet away. And then there’s a clear pipe running over to it.” Herb noticed the pipe ran from below the window to the center of the switch. It was small in diameter, about a quarter inch, and was being supported by metal stands so it wouldn’t bow. “The pipe sticks out of the wall here.” He looked into the end of it. “I can see the button.”
“The button might be the door release. If you push on the pipe, will it press the button?”
“It looks like it would.” He pushed on the pipe, but it didn’t move. “It’s secure. It won’t budge.”
Luis looked confused. “Then what the hell is it for?”
“Not sure.” He noticed some writing on the wall. “It says, for the pain to stop, please press button.”
“Where does it say that?”
“It’s next to the button.”
Kurt was sitting on the floor on the opposite side of the room from Herb. “It sounds like we’re supposed to press it. Push on the pipe harder to see if you can get it to move.”
Herb slammed the palm of his hand on it. He became excited. “It moved a little!”
“Luis was getting excited too. “Did you press the button?”
“No, it only went in about an eighth of an inch.” He hit it several more times. “It won’t move any further”
“How close is it to the button?”
“Right in front of it.”
Kurt noticed the display above the window was on. “Oh shit! It’s counting down. You must have activated it.”
Herb looked at him. “What are you talking about?”
“The display. It’s counting down.”
Herb looked up. “Oh shit! You’re right.”
Luis couldn’t see the display from where he was sitting. “What do you mean counting down?”
Kurt got on his knees. He looked scared. “We have fourteen minutes left.”
Luis started to panic. “What does that mean? What’s going to happen?”
Herb went to the door and started pounding on it as he shouted. “Hey! Let me out of here! Open this fucking door! I know someone is out there.”
Luis shouted, “Donny is awake.”
Herb ran over to him and knelt. “Hey, what do you know?”
Donny could barely speak. “You started the timer, you fucking idiot.”
“How in the fuck was I supposed to know that would happen?”
Kurt had scooted next to Donny. “We have about ten minutes left. What’s going to happen?”
“The floor is going to heat up. We have to press the button.”
“How?”
He pointed to his mouth. “The screws. We have to….” He passed out.
Herb shook him. “What about the screws?” He shook him harder. “Wake up!” He opened one of Donny’s eyelids, noticing the inside of his eye was bloodshot to the point it was solid red. Screw heads were embedded in the side of his temples. He cringed. “Oh fuck. He’s got screws running into his eyes from the side of his head.”
Kurt was panic stricken. “We have to stop the timer.”
“How?”
Luis had figured it out. “I know what to do. We have to put screws into the pipe. We can press the button with them.”
Herb frowned. “That’s stupid. The pipe is too long. Most of the screws are one inch long. Some are onl
y a few inches long. They’re not going to reach the button.”
“They will if we put all our screws in the pipe.”
“Do you think that will work?”
“I think so. One screw will push another and so on.” Luis made a quick count. “Between us, we have about twenty-five short ones and thirty long ones. That’s around ten feet, give or take a few inches.”
Herb’s eyes got big. “That’s about how long the pipe is.” Anger over came him. “Whoever did this is a sick son of a bitch. I’m going to rip out their fucking heart when I get out of here.”
Kurt pointed at the display. “Oh my God! We only have a few minutes left. We have to get these screws out.” He tried to unscrew one in his hand. “It won’t budge. How are we supposed to get these out?”
Luis was trying to rip some out of his knee. “I can’t get them out either.” He looked at Herb. “What about you?”
Herb had a terrified expression. “I’ll have to tear my penis and balls apart to get them out. I can’t do that.”
Kurt shouted, “We only have a few seconds left!”
Before anyone could react, an alarm sounded, then a loud buzzing sound echoed out as the rebar on the floor started arcing. Within seconds, the rebar started heating up. Herb quickly jumped on Donny to avoid being burned. The metal was becoming so hot that it was starting to turn red. As Herb lay on Donny, smoke was billowing out from under him as the backside of Donny’s body burned. Luis was trying to get to his feet, but the screws in his knees were forcing his legs straight. The rebar was burning lines into his skin as he desperately fought to stand. Kurt had managed to stand on his tippy toes where his feet were between the heated metal. The pain of standing on the screws in his feet was almost unbearable. He finally lost his balance, falling onto his face. He screamed at the top of his lungs as he rolled around on the floor. The rebar had become so hot that his skin was being charred where he touched the red-hot metal. He was pissing and shitting as he rolled around. Donny was now awake and trying to get up, but Herb was holding him down to protect himself from getting burned. Donny was thrusting his head back and kicking his legs as he endured the horrific pain. The smell of charred flesh and smoke were filling the room as screams of pain echoed out.
The complete “A Glimpse into Hell” series - 5 books, 195 chapters, 1700 pages, 600K words of pure gore Page 122