by Ledger, John
With that, Wade brought the hammer down hard on Becky's head. The sound of cracking bone was almost too much for me to bear, and I covered my mouth as I stood staring at the scene in horror. He brought the hammer down again and again, until Becky's skull looked more like ground beef than a human head. When he was satisfied, he dropped the hammer to the floor and laughed.
“Holy shit, babe. You see this? It's fucking awesome!”
I doubled over and threw up all over my shoes.
***
“It’s fucking awesome!” he’d said. Emma couldn’t get those words out of her head. Her boyfriend smashed a woman’s skull in with a hammer, and he thought it was awesome. Who was she to judge though, she’d willingly participated in raping the woman just before that. Emma knew she was just as guilty as Wade. He might be a lot sicker in the head than she was, but in the eyes of the law she would certainly be considered a criminal.
After Emma finished throwing up, Wade made her take a shower with him in the dead woman’s bathroom. There was nothing sexual about it, they just needed to clean themselves up. Wade told Emma to hurry up and get dressed as he left the bathroom to rummage through Becky’s house. He came back to the bathroom to find Emma in the hallway by the door. “Look what I found.” He pointed a pistol at Emma and smiled.
“Wade! Come on babe, don’t point that at me!”
“Settle down, Emma. I would never shoot you.” He put the gun and a box of bullets in his bag and snatched the hammer up off the floor. He washed it off under the bathroom sink, and a minute later, they were ready to go. Wade told Emma to wait by the front door until he returned. She did so impatiently, wondering what in God’s name he was up to now. Once they left, it all became pretty obvious. Wade told her to go ahead of him and get in the car. He took one last look around and flicked his cigarette onto the porch. Then he ran towards the car as the house burst into flames.
That was all only a couple hours ago. Instead of getting tired from the insanity though, Wade appeared to be energized by the chaos. Emma thought they were going home to go to bed, but he had other plans. Wade told her that he had a special surprise for her waiting in his hometown of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He wouldn’t tell her what it was, but she knew they were headed on a three-hour road trip. She was ordered to pack a bag, as Wade once again headed outside to take care of “something.” Emma was pretty sure she was going to get a repeat performance of the show from earlier in the evening. Her suspicions were confirmed as Wade came back into the house.
“You ready to go, Emma?”
“Yeah, babe. I’m ready.” She followed him out front, locking the door behind her.
“Get in the car and start it up,” Wade commanded, as he lit up a cigarette.
Moments later, they were on the road again with a fire behind them.
Wade wanted to travel at night. He preferred the night life over the day time hours, and it was about one in the morning when he pulled into Scott’s Place, a twenty-four hour diner just outside of Pittsburgh. He and Emma took a seat in a booth by the counter as he immediately began scoping the place out.
“What are we doing here, babe?” Emma asked quietly.
“It’s a diner, Emma? We’re going to eat.” He laughed, as the waitress made her way over to the table. Her name was Susie and she was wearing a short skirt and tight top that showed off her toned body. Her breasts were popping out of the top of her uniform as she leaned over the table to take their order. Wade chuckled as he eyed her up and down. Emma, on the other hand, was not so amused.
“We need a moment. Thanks, Susie,” she smiled at the waitress.
“Take your time,” Susie replied, as she walked away to leave, Wade staring at her ass.
“Goddamn! What do you think baby, she’s a hot little piece of ass isn’t she? I’m surprised she’s working here instead of in a strip club.”
“She looks like a slut to me.”
“You think? Maybe we should find out, huh?”
Emma immediately wished she would’ve kept her cool and remained silent. “What do you mean?”
“Well, take a look around. There’s nobody here. Susie, a cook, and two old fuckers at the counter.”
At that, the two men at the counter both turned around to look at him. One of them, a large bald man spoke to Wade. “Hey, son. You got a problem with us?”
The other man sat there staring, both of them old enough for the senior special.
“First of all, you old fuck, don’t you ever call me son. You are not my fucking dad, okay? My father was a hero, you fucking idiot.” Wade still sat calmly, as he reached into his bag and felt the pistol in his hand.
“I bet your father is real proud of you. Disrespectful little asshole,” the large man mumbled as he turned back around. That’s when Wade stood up and drew their attention once again.
“Second of all...well, there is no second of all. I’m just going to shoot you both in the fucking face.”
“What?” was all the skinny man had time to say as Wade did exactly that and put a hole through his left eye. The other man lunged at Wade to no avail, as he too caught a bullet to the face. Chunks of blood and viscera splattered Susie and the wall behind her. Emma never moved from her seat and she found herself in shock. A fat man in a grease-stained t-shirt came out of the kitchen with his hands up as he stood next to Susie. Wade laughed as he pointed the gun at both of them.
“Are you Scott?” he asked the man.
“Yes. Please just take the money and leave us alone.”
“Oh, I’m going to take the money. Don’t you worry about that. Emma, go turn the sign in the door. Scott’s Place is closed for tonight.” Wade waited as Emma did what she was told before returning his attention to Scott and Susie. “So, let me guess. You hired her so you can play grab ass with some hot young muff there, Scotty?”
“What? No. She’s my daughter.”
Wade’s face lit up. “Really? You hear that, Emma. We got ourselves a real family affair here.”
“Yes, babe,” was all Emma said, as she sat back down.
“Here’s what we’re gonna do, Scotty. We’re going to play a little game.” Wade unbuckled his belt and dropped his pants. He handed the gun to Emma and began stroking himself.
“Uh, babe, what are you doing?”
“Just keep that gun pointed at Scotty over there. Susie, you come here. This game is simple. You want your dad to live, you’re gonna suck my dick.”
“You sick bastard. I’ll kill you!” Scotty yelled, as he took a step forward, suddenly remembering that Emma was pointing the gun at his face. He stopped dead in his tracks.
“I’m giving you five minutes starting now, Susie. If you don’t make me cum really quick, Daddy dies.”
Susie cried as she got down on her knees in front of Wade, staring at his hard cock in her face.
“Remember, any funny stuff, and I'll kill you both,” Wade reminded her.
Susie expertly took him in her mouth as the tears rolled down her face. Emma couldn’t believe what was happening, and here she was, a part of it all again. She didn’t have much time to think about it though as Wade grabbed Susie by her blonde hair and forced her to swallow his cum. He held her face there until she gagged, and then pushed her away onto the floor before pulling his pants back up. “Give me the gun.” Emma handed it to him right away, he looked angry and she was scared. He pointed it at Scott, who still had his eyes closed, not wanting to see his daughter pleasure this lunatic. “Open your eyes, fat man. I like to look into the face of the person I’m about to kill.”
Scott’s eyes opened right up, “What? But you said you weren’t going to kill me?”
“Dude. You let your daughter suck my dick. You deserve to die. Plus, I’m a liar.” Wade laughed as he shot the man in the face and chest. Susie was sobbing on the floor, spit and semen still covering her lower lip. “Let’s go, Emma.”
“What about her?” Emma replied, as she stood up from the booth.
“She�
��s coming with us. We’re not done with her yet.”
“Oh, okay.”
“Is that okay with you?”
“Yes, babe. That’s fine.”
“Susie! Let’s go. Clean yourself up, bitch. We don’t have all fucking night.” Wade went to the register and snatched up all the money as Susie got up off the floor and wiped off her face. She couldn’t stop crying, and it didn’t get any better when she saw her dead father again. Emma felt bad for the girl, but at the same time she was bitter. Jealous even. She didn’t understand why they needed to bring this girl with them. The only thing she could think of was that Wade wasn’t done playing with her yet. She questioned all of this silently as they made their way to the car.
“You mind driving for a while, Emma?”
“No I don’t mind. I can drive.”
“Okay, good. We need to head to Philly first. I gotta see an old friend. I’ll sit in the back with Susie here, so she doesn’t try anything funny.”
“Okay, babe,” was all Emma said, as she got behind the wheel and headed down the highway. It wasn’t long before she heard Susie crying again, along with the wet sucking noises to explain why. She looked back to see Susie with her face in her boyfriend’s lap. Wade had her skirt pulled up over her back as he fingered her pussy. His eyes were closed, and he didn’t even notice Emma watching him. She turned the radio up and headed towards Philadelphia.
***
Journal Entry 36
Things are happening so fast now. Wade is becoming a different person – one I don't like very much. Not only is he killing people and setting their houses on fire to destroy the evidence, now he has a gun. Let me back up and explain.
After my last entry, Wade decided to set the woman's house on fire after he bludgeoned her to death with the hammer. Before he did that, he found a gun and was waving it around like it was some kind of toy. We went home and packed a bag before he set the neighbor's house on fire and now we're on the road to Philadelphia. I'm not sure why we're going to Philly. All Wade told me was that he had to see an old friend.
We stopped at a diner along the way and Wade robbed the place after shooting everyone inside. Well, everyone except the hot waitress who turned out is the owner's daughter. Now, she's our hostage, riding in the backseat with my boyfriend, giving him a blow job any time he wants one.
I'd like to say I'm okay with it, that it's all part of the game Wade concocted, but the fact that he's getting so much pleasure from this other woman bothers the hell out of me. I know he'd never intentionally hurt me, and I'm sure he doesn't realize how hurt and angry I get when I see him with her, but part of me thinks he's doing it on purpose, just to get a rise out of me. If that's the case, it's working.
After we left the diner, Wade sat with Susie, our hostage, in the back seat as I drove and watched as she sucked his dick and he fingered her pussy. At first I was hurt, and then, I got angry. I turned up the radio and did my best not to watch them in the rear-view mirror, but it was all I could do to keep my eyes on the road. After a few hours, we made it to Philly.
Wade was asleep in the backseat and Susie was staring blankly out of the back driver's side window. Tears flowed down her cheeks, and I didn't know if she was crying because of what Wade was making her do or because of the fact that her father was dead. Honestly, at that time, I didn't care. Her sniffling was getting on my fucking nerves.
I yelled at Wade to wake him up and once he got his bearings, he gave me directions to get to a house in the bad part of town. Eventually we came to stop at an old, rundown yellow house with peeling black trim. The house had bars on all the windows, and I felt dirty just being in the neighborhood.
Wade got out of the car after telling Susie that he'd hunt her down and sentence her to the same fate as her father if she tried to escape. The tone in his voice and the look in his eyes scared me, but since I didn't want any trouble out of her, I was glad he made the threat. Susie looked out the window as Wade left the car. I sat in the driver's seat, staring at her through the rear-view mirror, but kept any comments to myself.
After a few minutes, I noticed Susie's demeanor change. She began looking around, acting more nervous than she had since our journey began. I thought she might try to escape from the car so I was ready for it. I knew what was coming when I heard her nails tap against the door handle. Wade never would have forgiven me if I let our hostage escape, and the way he was acting meant I didn't want to piss him off.
Susie grabbed the handle, flinging open the car door in one fluid movement. Since I was anticipating her escape attempt, I threw open my door and was out of the car before she knew what happened. I reached over and pushed her door closed as hard as I could, catching her leg between the door and the car frame. Susie screamed and scrambled to climb back in the vehicle. Once she was in, I got back into the driver's seat and locked the doors.
I told her how stupid she was for trying to get away and threatened to tell Wade about her escape attempt. She had no comment for me and only sat back in her seat, defeated and crying.
I started feeling sorry for her. “Wade doesn't have to know about this, but you have to stop crying or he'll know something's wrong,” I told her.
Susie didn't say anything, even though a 'thank you' would have been nice. She got her crying under control as she stared at the house Wade was in. After what seemed like an eternity, Wade returned with a huge smile on his face. He must have sensed the tension in the car because his smile quickly faded as he climbed into the back seat with Susie.
“Everything all right, babe? I thought I heard a scream.”
My eyes met Susie's in the rear-view mirror, and she gave me the most pleading look I've ever seen.
“We didn't hear a scream, and we're fine.” I lied. “We're just tired of being in the car, I guess. Where to now?” I was hoping he'd drop the subject and this time, it worked.
As I sat looking at Wade, something was different about him. His eyes told me what he'd been up to inside that house. He was using drugs again. I couldn't tell what he was on, but he had definitely taken something. My heart broke for him, and I became a little scared for my safety. I remembered how he used to be before he quit using, and it terrified me. Although I still didn't think he would intentionally hurt me, his temper when he was using was even worse than when he was clean, and in this situation, I had no idea what to expect. Wade brought me out of my thoughts.
“We're headed to Harrisburg. Let's get going.”
“Harrisburg? Your hometown? What for?”
Wade smiled. “I managed to track down one of the fuckers who keeps leaving you bad reviews for your books. I think it's time we had a little talk with him, don't you?”
“It's just one person's opinion, babe. Does it really matter?” His smile was terrifying and I was trying to calm him down.
“Yes, it matters! If we can make an example of this guy, maybe other people will think twice before bashing a great book. Just think of the news coverage this will get! You won't have to worry about bad reviews ever again, baby. Let's get on the road. I want to get there before it gets too late to talk to this Adam Robins person. He uses the name 'Robin's Hood” on Amazon. Ring a bell?”
I thought about it for a minute but couldn't place the name. “No, I don't know who that is.”
It was then the realization of what Wade was talking about hit me. News coverage? Every cop in town was going to be hot on our trail when the news got hold of this. How could I possibly further my writing career from prison?
Wade pulled out his phone and brought up my Amazon author page. He tapped to the reviews for my second book, Blood Lust, and began reading. “I found myself in love with this author's first book and couldn't wait to get my hands on the sequel. However, this story was a complete letdown, and to me, a waste of money. The sex was clunky and awkward, the action predictable and boring. It pains me to say it, but I probably won't be reading anything else from Emma until she figures out how to get the magic from her first book
back once again.”
At that moment, I wondered why I even bothered writing. Obviously, no matter how much I enjoyed it, I was a fraud. Tears threatened to fall until Wade spoke again.
“Let's go, Emma. This situation isn't going to fix itself.”
I swallowed back the tears and started the engine. Susie still sat in the back, staring out the window. She had moved as far away from Wade as the car would allow, but Wade reached over and grabbed her by the hair, dragging her close. Wade pulled her face to his and kissed her. She tried to fight him, but he was far too strong for her.
I drove out of Philadelphia and got up on the highway. My thoughts raced, and although I really wanted to know what Wade had planned, I was afraid to ask. It wasn't long before he was forcing Susie's head onto his dick once again, so I stared straight ahead at the road and tried not to worry.
We made it to Harrisburg in a few hours and I broke the silence by asking Wade where we were going. Within a few minutes, we were pulling up to Adam Robins' house. Sure, I was terrified, but if I'm completely honest, the thought of confronting the guy was strangely exhilarating. Finally, I'd get to have my say and find out specifically what this guy hates about me and my books.
***
As they sat outside the house in their car waiting for Wade’s command, Susie attempted to get dressed.
“What are you doing?” Wade questioned, from next to her in the backseat.
“I was gonna get dressed. I thought we were going in.”
“We are going in, but nobody said a goddamn thing about you putting clothes on. You’re going in just like that.”
“What? What if someone sees me running around naked?”
“That’s the plan. Now shut up, bitch. Emma, are you ready?”
Emma turned around from the driver’s seat to face him. “As ready as I can be. I don’t really know what we’re doing here.”
“We’re going to visit Mr. Robins and his family. That’s what we’re doing here. And this silly bitch here is our ticket inside. You just follow my lead as usual, and everything will be fine. And you, little Susie Q, do what I say, or I’ll shoot you in the fucking face. Now, let’s go. Everyone out of the car.”