by Jeff Strand
"I swear, we won't tell—" Maddox began.
"Stop it. Stop right there. You're welcome to beg and blubber and wet yourselves and do whatever it takes to express your fear. But don't insult my intelligence by lying and saying that you'd just leave here and never speak of it again. You're the dumb ones, not me. Remember that. Apologize."
"I'm sorry," said Maddox.
"That said, yes, I believe that Mr. Cliff Fletcher will be the first casualty of the night."
Fletcher slumped over, his bald head almost touching the floor.
"Thank you," said Maddox, so delirious with relief that he didn't even care how ridiculous it was to thank her. "Thank you so much."
"I think we'll head outside," said Gina. "My neighbors aren't up in my business, but they're close enough to hear you guys bellowing outside, so I'm going to ask you to keep the volume down. You can handle that, right?"
"We can," said Heck. "We can, I promise. We won't make a peep."
"Get up, all of you," said Gina. "I know you're afraid but try to have some respect for yourselves."
Maddox, Heck, and Fletcher stood up, quickly.
"Let's go. It's already late, and you're going to be suffering for quite some time, so we need to get this train moving."
They followed her down the hallway. She opened the front door and they followed her outside and around to the back of the house, by the koi pond.
"Step into the pond," Gina told Fletcher. "Don't worry, the fish won't bite you."
"Do I have to?" Fletcher asked in a soft, scared voice.
"What do you think?"
Fletcher waded into the center of the pond. At its deepest, it didn't even come up to his knees. Maddox felt bad for the poor bastard, but it was right that he should die first. Tough shit for him.
"This would be easier if we could do it in the deep end of a swimming pool, but we can work with this. What you're going to do for me, Cliff, is drown yourself."
Fletcher shook his head.
"Are you saying no to me?"
"Please, Gina. There has to be another way."
"There is. Two other ways, actually. And by that I'm referring to the much worse ways that your friends are going to die. You won't be alive to consider yourself fortunate, but trust me, you're getting off easy."
"Okay."
"Not that drowning is the kind of death somebody should aspire to. When that cold water starts going into your lungs you won't feel very lucky, believe me. It's an awful, awful way to go. Take a deep breath before you dunk your head under the water. That'll give you just a bit longer to live. Now, when you can't hold your breath any longer, the panic will set in. Few things cause more sheer panic than drowning, and you're going to want to lift your head out of the water, but know that if you do, I will be so enraged that your death will make the fates of your friends seem like they died in their sleep after a night of great sex. Do not lift your head out of the water. I don't care how scared you get, how much your lungs burn, how much it feels like your chest is going to explode, keep your head under the water. Do you understand me?"
"I understand," said Fletcher, sounding like a scolded five-year-old.
"Do you have any final words? If so, keep them to yourself. I don't wish to hear them. Drown yourself."
Fletcher knelt down into the pond and dunked his head under the water.
"That's right, you murderous piece of garbage. Gasp for breath under there. Take in that water." Instead of speaking loudly, as if trying to be heard underwater, Gina was whispering. These words were clearly for her own benefit. "Agony. I want you to die in absolute agony."
Her voice softened even more, to the point where Maddox couldn't quite hear what she was saying, but her eye was twitching in anger and this was clearly less about wicked mockery than simple fury.
Fletcher's body began to thrash.
"Stay under there," said Gina.
The thrashing became more and more violent.
Maddox didn't think he could drown himself. It didn't matter if a worse punishment awaited him above the water; if you couldn't breathe, you were going to seek air, no matter what.
"That's right, suffer!" said Gina, no longer speaking as quietly. "Suffer, you son of a bitch. I hope it hurts. I hope it fucking hurts." She wiped away a tear.
After several hard-to-watch moments, Fletcher finally stopped moving. His body floated to the surface, facedown.
"My neighbors mind their own business, but I still shouldn't leave a dead body floating in my koi pond," said Gina. "Besides, I don't know if the fish will start eating him. No reason to make this more grisly than it needs to be. Could you pull him out of there? Just drag him off to the side. I'll take care of the body after you two are dead."
Both Maddox and Heck splashed into the pool, each of them taking one of Fletcher's arms. As they dragged the corpse out of the pond, Maddox hoped Gina noticed that he was doing more of the work, and would reward him by killing Heck first.
"That's fine," said Gina as they pulled the corpse onto the grass. "I didn't want to see him all bloated with bites taken out of him. Let's go back inside."
Maddox and Heck followed her into the house. Gina asked if she could get either of them something to drink, but Maddox knew she was just teasing.
"Basement time!" said Gina. "That's where your true penance begins."
They walked down the stairs into the basement. Maddox didn't like seeing the large plastic tarp spread out on the cement floor. He also didn't like seeing the axe. He wanted to say something funny to lighten the mood, maybe something about being surprised that she cut firewood in her basement, but he couldn’t get the words to connect in his brain.
"I have to warn you, things are about to become very gruesome," said Gina. "Hector is about to regret some of his recent life choices."
"It wasn't me," Heck insisted. He pointed to Maddox. "He set everything up! This would never have happened if it wasn't for him!"
"That's why you're the one to be dismembered," Gina explained. "You'll bleed out pretty quickly once your arms and legs start coming off. At least I assume you will. I've never done this before."
"I can't," said Heck. "I can't do it."
"Did you think I meant for you to chop yourself up?" Gina giggled. "A hand or a foot, maybe, but I don't see how it would work beyond that. I'd never ask you to do something so depraved."
She walked over and picked up the axe.
"Lie on the floor," she said. "Spread-eagle."
"I don't know what that means."
"Spread-eagle?"
"Right."
"Really? I thought everybody knew that term. I'm pretty sure it's not a regional thing. It means to put your arms and legs out, sort of like you're making a snow angel, but don't move them."
Heck lay facedown on the tarp and extended his arms and legs.
"Oh, no, no, no. You have to see what's coming. Roll over."
Heck rolled over. Maddox wasn't sure if his intention had been to hide from the sight of the axe blade falling upon him, or if he didn't want anybody to see him cry. Maddox, personally, didn't care who saw him cry anymore.
Gina turned to Maddox. "Be a dear and grab the roll of duct tape that's on the shelf over there, will you? Even if he tries his best to be brave, I'm sure your friend will be noisy."
Maddox went over and got the roll of tape. He extended it to her.
"A gentleman would offer to do it for me."
"Sorry." Maddox knelt down beside Heck and duct taped his mouth shut.
"Thank you. Keep the roll handy; we'll need it again in a bit. Step off the tarp, please."
Maddox walked off the tarp. He didn't want to see what was about to happen, but he knew that Gina would make him watch, so there was no reason to even pretend that he could look away.
Gina stepped over to Heck. "We both know this is going to hurt. I won't pretend otherwise. Still, count your blessings. You're the psychopath, not me. I could chop off your fingers, one at a time, and then your to
es, and then your ears, and then your disgusting, disease-ridden penis. But I'm not up for that level of torment." She raised the axe over her head. "We'll keep this simple."
She slammed the axe down on his right arm, just below the shoulder. Heck screamed, muffled by the duct tape. Though Maddox had seen worse than this during the massacre of Gina's sister, he still gasped and put his hand over his mouth. Gina twisted the axe to pop his arm off all the way.
"Nobody said you could close your eyes," Gina told Heck. "Open them. Watch yourself bleed. Watch every goddamn drop spew out of your body."
Heck opened his eyes.
"That's right, you evil piece of shit. No blindfold. No going to your happy place."
She slammed the axe down upon his other arm. This time she got him just above the elbow. Maddox had done a good job with the duct tape. It stayed on and the neighbors wouldn't hear anything. He hoped that Gina noticed and appreciated how well he'd done.
"I could do some sick things with your severed arms," Gina said. "Repulsive, mentally ill things. I'm not going to. Keep those words in your head: This could be worse."
Heck didn't look like he agreed.
"Your legs are next," Gina informed him. "I'll do my best, but I can't promise to lop them off in one swing. Maybe your buddy here could, but I wouldn't ask him to do anything that might mess with your friendship."
She hoisted the axe over her head, then brought it down upon his upper left thigh. It sunk deep but not nearly enough to sever the limb. Gina pried the blade out of his leg.
"I'll try to hit it in the same place," she said, raising the axe again.
She slammed the axe down upon the leg. She did not hit him in the same place.
It took several more swings to remove the leg. Gina wiped some blood from her face and glanced over at Maddox. "This is more of a workout than I expected. I don't know how lumberjacks do it all day."
Heck's eyes were still open, wide with terror.
"I'll try to do better when I chop off the other leg," said Gina, breathing heavily. "My arms are getting sore, though, so I might do worse."
She did indeed do worse, but as far as Maddox could tell, Heck bled to death before she was finished and he didn't have to feel the last six or seven swings.
"I said I wasn't going to mutilate him for no reason, but the job seems unfinished if he still has his head," said Gina. She swung the axe at his neck, decapitating him in a single swing. Then she tossed the axe to the floor.
Gina's shoes made wet squishy sounds as she walked to the edge of the tarp toward Maddox. Blood dripped from her clothes.
"I need to take a break," she said. "I'm not as young as I used to be."
"That's fine," said Maddox.
She stood there for a couple of minutes, catching her breath. Maddox was going to die. He was going to die horribly. There was nothing he could do to stop it.
"Do you have kids?" Gina asked.
"A son."
"Does he live with you?"
"No."
"Ever see him?"
"Not really."
"So not having a father anymore isn't really going to impact his life, huh?"
"I guess not."
"Are you scared, Larry?"
"Yeah."
"How scared?"
"After what you did to Fletcher and Heck? How scared do you think?"
Oh, crap, he hoped he wasn't being rude.
"I wish I could turn off what I was doing to your mind," said Gina. "It's making you less afraid. However scared you're feeling right now, it's not even a fraction of the terror you'd be experiencing if I wasn't doing some puppeteering. I'd love to know that you were getting the full impact of what's happening to you...but, of course, you'd become dangerous to me. I can't have you fighting back and escaping, now can I?"
"I wouldn't fight back," said Maddox.
"Now, now, we both know that isn't true. My arms are feeling better, so I think it's time to get back to work. I don't feel like cleaning up two separate messes, which means that I'm going to need you to lie down next to your friend."
Maddox walked over to Heck's dismembered corpse. He slid Heck's right arm and leg out of the way with his foot, then lay down in the pool of blood next to his torso. It immediately soaked the back of his clothes. At least it was warm and didn't get in his ears.
"I hope it's not too wet and sticky," said Gina. "Do you know what I like, Larry?"
"What?"
"I like bones. That's not innuendo. I mean literal bones. I've always been fascinated by them. I think they're beautiful, don't you?"
"Yes."
"You don't have to agree with me. I know it's a quirk." Gina walked over to one of the shelves. "I want to see your bones, Larry. Right now, my plan is to expose all two hundred and six of them. I might be less ambitious by the time I quit."
"You're going to cut me open?"
Gina shook her head. "Nothing so precise. This isn't surgery." She picked up a fireplace poker. "I don't have a fireplace, but I knew you were coming so I bought this special. Still has the sticker on it."
"Do you really have to do this?" Maddox asked.
"I'm trying not to show it, but I'm very, very pissed off. When you ask stupid questions, you piss me off even more. Yes, my plan is to beat you with this poker until your bones break through your flesh, so I guess from your perspective it doesn't matter if I'm angry or not, but still, if you're going to die, why end on a note of stupidity?"
"I didn't think it was a stupid question. There has to be a way we can work this out. I can be your personal servant."
"What an offer. I can spend every waking moment around somebody I despise. Sorry, not interested." Gina sighed. "However, now that I've criticized your stupidity, I just realized that I skipped a step. I can't see your bones burst through your skin if you're wearing clothes. So I'm going to need you to get up and strip."
Maddox sat up. Blood ran down his back.
"This isn't about perversion, so keep your underwear on, but everything else goes."
Maddox slowly untied his shoes, pulled them off, and tossed them off the tarp. Then he removed his socks and tossed them aside as well.
"Do it faster," said Gina. "We're not in any hurry, but when you undress that slowly it feels like seduction."
Maddox stood up and took off the rest of his clothes except his blood-soaked briefs.
"Perfect. Now lie back down."
Maddox lay back down in the blood. He could feel a small piece of meat under his shoulder blade and wondered if Gina would be upset if he sat up and pushed it away. He decided not to risk it.
She tapped the end of the poker against his shin. "I think this would be one of the most painful bones to shatter. Do you agree?"
"Yes."
"Forgot the tape. I can't seem to get it together, can I?" She wasn't taunting him. Gina seemed genuinely annoyed at the skipped steps. She went over and got the duct tape, then brought it to Maddox. "You know what to do."
Maddox sat up and wrapped the tape around his mouth, winding it three times around his head to make sure it didn't come loose. He gave her back the tape then lay down in the wetness again.
"Thank you," said Gina. She placed the roll of tape on a shelf and then returned to the tarp. "Okay, I think we're ready to see how many of your bones I can expose."
Maddox braced himself for the pain. She brought the fireplace poker down hard upon his left shin. The pain was far more intense than Maddox was expecting, and he screamed. A bone broke for certain, but no sharp end protruded from his leg.
"I didn't expect it to work on the first try," said Gina.
It worked on the fourth try.
In theory, Maddox should have eventually become numb to the pain, but apparently it took more than two broken legs and two broken arms to reach that point. Every blow of the poker hurt just as much as the one before it.
He lay there, weeping, appendages twisted and mangled. Gina rested the poker against the wall. "I need a break," s
he said. "I'm going upstairs to lie on my couch for ten, fifteen minutes with a glass of White Zinfandel. Don't go anywhere."
Gina went upstairs, shutting off the light behind her.
Maddox lay in the dark, wishing he could die. He was afraid of death in a big way, but he needed this misery to end. It wasn't fair that Heck and Fletcher got off so easy. He wasn't any worse than them. He didn't deserve this.
Maybe he'd be rescued.
A while later, the light turned back on. It was Gina who came downstairs, not a guardian angel, and she looked well rested. She smiled at him as she picked up the poker.
"You didn't escape. Did you even try?"
Maddox shook his head.
"I don't blame you. I wouldn't want to jiggle around those shattered bones either. Ouch. So it really doesn't look like you're much of a flight risk. Do you know what that means?"
Maddox shook his head again.
"It means that I can release my mental grip on you. Give you the full experience. The level of pain will be the same, but if you think you're scared now..."
She didn't snap her fingers or anything like that. Maddox's awareness returned to him, all at once. The realization that he'd been suicidally stupid in showing up at Gina's house to return the money. The horror of watching his friends—and, yes, he considered Heck and Fletcher his closest friends—die ghastly deaths. And the complete understanding that he was close to death himself.
He screamed and screamed and screamed.
Gina laughed.
"I'm not ready for this to end, so I'm going to keep working on your arms and legs. Then I'll move on to your ribs. I really hope you're still alive to get to see a few of your broken ribs. Eventually one of your bones will puncture a lung or something and you'll die. And I bet you think that's the end, don't you?"
Maddox didn't respond.
"Your friend's suffering didn't end when his body stopped twitching in the water. And just because your other friend's severed head is right next to you doesn't mean he's at peace. Oh, no. They're not having a good time right now. Not at all."
Maddox wished he could speak through the duct tape. He would've asked, "Are they in Hell?"
Gina smashed the poker against his left wrist. She smiled as if she'd heard his unspoken question.