by K. L. Donn
What was even more shocking was the fact that there was another woman in the room, just standing there with an evil smirk on her face. She was tall, maybe 5’9”? She could have been beautiful, but the hatred and evilness on her face made her ugly. “Ah, the golden child arrives, I see.” She snorted.
“What did you do to her?” She tried to keep her voice strong, but it cracked at the end.
Looking at Kennedy with such hatred, Emily was taken aback by it. They didn’t know these people, and how could they hate them so much to do this? “She’s a feisty one, I like that. But unlike the usual, I’m not allowed to touch you. My husband wants you all to himself, so he brought her for me,” she said with a sick smile on her face and lust in her eyes.
She’s getting off on this? Emily thought, disgustedly.
Walking closer to her, the woman bent down and gently grabbed her chin, lifting her face up before saying, “Do you know who I am, sweetness?” At her negative shake, she continued. “The Gypsy Butcher, baby.” She purred and it took Emily a minute before the name registered. The serial killer that had been murdering and raping woman all across the eastern and central seaboard for years. Looking to Kenny again to make sure she was still breathing, the woman continued. “The news is one-sided. They think men are always the evil ones. They underestimate us women all too often. You see, I get off on cutting women up, watching their skin split open and blood spill.” She shivered in pleasure. “It’s unlike any high I’ve ever experienced. And Adam? Oh, sweet Adam, he loves coating his cock in their blood, seeing the fear in their eyes; his bloodlust is almost as potent as mine.” Looking back at her, Emily was repulsed by the pleasure on her face. “He just doesn’t have it in him to kill. So I make them bleed, he rapes them, and then I butcher the bodies limb from limb. I enjoy hearing bones break; the screams alone are something I could bathe in if it were possible. But for now, I’m enjoying this sweet young woman. She’s feisty and strong. But I think I might be able to get further with her if you’re in here. You see, she keeps begging me to leave you alone, and I’m betting you’ll do the same.” She smirked at the fear on her face.
News flashes of the gruesome murders this woman has committed ran through her mind. Emily tried her best not to vomit right then. Struggling to stand upright with her hands and feet still tied, she met the woman’s eyes with so much fury running through her veins she felt like she would explode. “What is so wrong with your brain that you think this is ok? That torturing women and letting that piece of shit you call a husband rape them? What has to be so wrong with you two that you can’t see just how disgusting you both are?” She snarled out with much more bravado than she felt. She just wanted to get any and all attention off of Kenny.
When she started laughing at Emily’s angry questions, she knew she hadn’t affected the woman’s mind the way she had wanted to. “What do you think you’re going to accomplish by insulting me, you little whore? You’re both dying no matter you say or do, but honey? Listen and listen well— the more you fight me, the worse I’ll make it for your little friend,” she said nodding to Kennedy’s still passed out form hanging from chains on the wall.
Swallowing the lump in her throat, Emily tried to think of something, anything to get them out of this alive. Her mind was blanked out in fear. For herself. For Kennedy. For their families when they found them dead. I’m so sorry Dane and Coop were her last thought before something hard hit her on the back of the head, knocking her unconscious.
Screams slowly pulled Emily out of her unconscious state. The torment she heard in them made her want to vomit. Opening her eyes gradually, she took a look around her, seeing she was in the same room. Only this time, she was chained to the wall the same as Kenny had been.
Oh God, the screaming. Kenny!
Panic was quick to take hold of her body, making her head swim even more. Focusing was difficult, her eyes wouldn’t center on any one thing. Tilting her head over, she saw Kenny.
What she saw was an image that would be forever ingrained in her memory. “Kenny…” She sobbed out.
She was laid out on a cheap wood table with her hands and legs chained down to each leg of it, naked and covered in blood. It was like a scene out of American Horror Story. She might have been naked but she was covered in her own blood; there was so much on her, the table, the floor.
It was everywhere.
Seeing movement from the corner of her bleary eye, she looked to see him standing and watching as his wife tormented her. Carving her like a pumpkin. Little slices marred her entire body, and it looked like she had a needle that dotted little holes in the soles of her feet and her upper thighs. Her breasts were nearly unrecognizable.
This can’t be happening, she thought despondently.
“Hey!” She tried yelling, but it sounded more like a wisp of air. Clearing her throat and swallowing the little bit of saliva in her mouth she tried again, more powerfully— meaner. “Hey, bitch! Why don’t you take on someone not tied up and defenseless?” She tried goading her into leaving Kenny alone.
Meeting Kenny’s stare was the hardest thing she’d ever done. Seeing the pain in her gorgeous blue eyes that dulled her normal happy look was nearly her undoing. But she knew she had to stay sharp in order to get these two freaks attention off of Kenny and onto her.
“C’mon, mama, come play with a big girl.” She tried taunting again. Hearing him laugh in the corner only pissed her off more. Soon she felt no fear, just anger. A rage so bright and furious burned through her veins that her heart was pumping at an unnatural rate.
Looking towards him she asked, “She’s not woman enough for you anymore, is she? She’s lost that spark she used to have, huh? That’s why you’ve been trying to nail my ass for years!” Cringing when she heard Coop’s voice reprimanding her for cursing, she smirked when the woman— Gypsy Butcher, she said— turned around. “Ya, you know it, too, don’t you, honey? You feel him pulling away every day. He barely touches you now, huh. It must suck knowing you can’t keep this fruit cake, and yet, I have two gorgeous men all to myself. And this one…” Nodding her head in his direction. She kept going at her until she slowly started walking away from Kenny. “He wants me, too. That must burn.” Laughing at the dirty look she shot to her husband, Emily waited.
Storming over to her husband she slammed her mouth on his, dropping her needle and knife and grabbing his hair to pull him closer. Only he had his eyes on Emily the entire time, and he never touched her once.
Well fuck, you’ve done it now. She’s gonna be pissed you were right. She chastised her smart mouth because she could practically feel the woman’s anger rise at his lack of response to her kiss. Pulling back from him, she watched his face and seeing that his eyes were on Emily did not bode well for her.
“Maybe you’re right? But guess what? That just means I get to spend more time with your friend.” She tried to taunt her, but it fueled Emily’s fire to bite back. She was being reckless now and helpless to stop it.
“Yeah, but really, where haven’t you marked her? Look at me all creamy, smooth skin, and not a single mark on me. A clean pallet, if you will. Or hey, have you tried carving freak show there up? Did y’all ever think it’d be fun to do it to each other?” Emily! Shut the fuck up! Her mouth was going to get her in so much trouble. But for Kenny she would take it, all of it.
Seeing the indecision on her face had her hopeful. Probably not the best thing to be feeling, but she was. As long as she left Kenny alone, she didn’t care what happened. Watching her bend down, she grabbed the knife and needle and started walking toward her. Shit! Pulling on her bindings, she felt one of her feet give. Looking between them, she saw that the woman was too focused on her, and he had a sick bloodlust in his eyes, following the movement of her knife as she walked closer.
As she was only a few inches from her, she snarled in Emily’s face. “Not so tough, now, are you?”
Feigning bravado, Emily shrugged her shoulders in response. Looking back at Kenny, s
he saw her mouth ‘no’ at whatever she was about to do.
When the woman turned to her husband to say something, Emily lifted the leg she realized was free just moments before and kicked as hard as she could into the woman’s back, making her fall and sprawl out on the floor, face first. When she didn’t move, he rushed forward. Turning her over, she had the knife lodged up to the handle in her chest.
“Oh fuck,” Emily whispered at the same time Kenny let out an audible gasp of shock.
When he slowly looked up at her, the hatred and evilness in his eyes had her nearly wetting her pants. The rage written in every line of his face was something made out of nightmares.
“You stupid whore. I was just going to have fun with your body, play with you a little; I wouldn’t have carved you up the way she would have. But now? Now, I’m your worst fucking nightmare.” He snarled so low that had she been able to breathe, her breaths would have drowned out his voice.
“Let’s not be hasty here,” she said smartly. “I mean, fuck… You know what, asshole? Untie me and bring it.” She snarled with as much venom in her voice as she could muster. Knowing that she was going to die didn’t make it any easier to accept, but with the thought that maybe she could keep him occupied long enough that the guys would find them. She had faith they would, then at least Kenny would get out.
As he was stepping towards her, the glass in the window shattered and a small canister was thrown in. Watching its movements with her eyes, she was unprepared for the loud boom and blinding light followed by a hail of fire.
Fucking military men and their toys was her last thought before the ringing in her ears was so intense she couldn’t think straight.
Arriving at the cabin they suspected the girls were at, they parked off-road about a mile away and moved the rest of the way on foot, speaking by hand signals alone; not wanting to trip any sensors this person might have. With no new, fresh intel, they were going in blind.
Breaking the tree line of the woods just a few feet from the cabin, Coop watched as Nate and Creed went to the back while Ty and Linc circled around to the front, leaving the windows on either side for him and Dane to watch. The cabin was a small single-story log house with just one window on each side of the four walls, front, and back door, and what looked like a cellar door leading below.
Hearing a scream rent the air Coop wanted to rush in, but without knowing where Emily and Kenny were located in the house made it more dangerous, and they faced the risk of getting one or both girls killed. So he waited.
“Clear,” he finally heard Creed whisper through their ear mics, followed by a soft crackle.
“Clear.” Dane followed suit.
“Clear,” Ty confirmed.
Which meant they were probably in the room he had to clear.
Listening closely for movement, he crept closer. Leaning in to see the corner of the room, he did a quick sweep. Small, with one door. He saw Kenny laying naked on a table in one corner covered in blood, with some crazy woman with an evil smile on her face, stabbing her in the feet with what looked like a needle. “Shit,” he whispered after seeing the rest of her body; cuts and bruises everywhere.
“I’ve got ‘em guys, and it’s not looking good,” he whispered in a pissed off tone, trying not to let his worry bleed through his voice. Looking around some more, he saw a man in another corner with his eyes plastered across the room. Following his gaze, he saw Emily chained to the wall, unconscious, by her arms and her legs were tied with ropes.
“Em’s out cold; Kenny’s chained down.” He relayed, not going into detail.
“Linc and Nate are coming to you Coop, stay there, do not mo —”
“Fuck, Em’s waking up.” He interrupted Creed’s orders. “She’s pissed and taunting this bitch. We need to move fast, man.”
“Dane, stay where you are. Nate, get ready to breach. Once we get inside, Coop, shoot the flash-bang in; we’ll stun and capture. Confirm,” he demanded, knowing full well him and Dane, as well as Nate and Ty, were more eager to get inside than him and Linc. They didn’t have a personal stake in it, whereas the four of them did. Which was why they knew Creed had to be in charge of this mission, or rather, he demanded it.
“Fuck, shit, fuck. Emily is taunting this crazy bitch, and it’s working.” He relayed again, smirking when Dane whispered, “That’s our girl.”
Watching the by-play of what was going on inside was its own form of torture, and knowing they were probably scared to death wasn’t helping his nerves either. The way this woman, whoever the fuck she is, sauntered around the room like she owned it made him sick. Realizing she was the one seemingly responsible for the torture of countless women was something from a nightmare.
“Who’s this bitch?” Linc whispered once he and Ty made it to the window Coop was looking in. As he was about to answer, things started happening in what felt like slow motion. Emily kept goading her, laughing when she kissed the man, and then snarling as she came closer to her restrained form. When the woman turned around to face Kenny again, Emily pulled one of her legs free and kicked her from behind making her land on her own knife.
Seems like sweet justice to me, he mused.
“Go, go, go. Situation critical,” Linc implored once he saw the man stand up after checking on his partner.
As Ty shot out the window, he pulled the pin on the flash-bang canister and tossed it through. Ducking and covering their ears, they waited for the backlash.
Hearing gunfire from inside, he carelessly jumped through the window doing a tuck and roll and coming up on his knees just feet away, with his gun aimed at the last spot he’d seen the man. Only to see him lying flat on his back with three bullet holes in his forehead.
“I thought the mission was neutralize and capture?” Linc asked energetically like he was upset he didn’t get to do battle.
Rushing to Emily, he knelt before her to untie her feet while Dane searched the man for a key to unlock the chains shackling her arms to the wall.
“Baby girl,” he whispered, looking into her frightened, yet relieved eyes. “Are you hurt?”
Shaking her head no, she looked to Kenny as Nate and Ty were trying to untie her, but she was fighting them, stuck in the nightmare in her head. Every time one of them would touch her, even by accident, she would let out the most haunting scream he’d ever heard. His heart was breaking for the pain she must be feeling.
He heard Linc off to the side, calling for an ambulance and police and trying to explain what was happening when Creed walked in the room with a blanket. Watching as he approached slowly, his eyes locked on Kenny, he gently placed the blanket over her, covering her nudity, and then started untying the bindings on her wrists. Fascinated when she would only try to pull away rather than scream.
Getting Emily untied, Coop gathered her body to his, taking all of her weight so her arms could rest until Dane could unlock the chains. Burying his face in her neck, he kissed just below her ear, whispering, “I fucking love you, Emily.” Like a prayer.
“Emily, baby girl —” Listening to Dane’s voice crack when he got her unlocked and hugged her between them, nearly brought Coop to his knees. The emotion lurking behind his words had tears gathering in his own as Emily, silently, cried between them. “You ok, baby? The ambulance is on its way now.” He told her, spinning her around to face him.
Running his hands all over Emily’s body still didn’t bring home the fact that she was in one piece. Dane could still feel the panic running through his veins, the rush of adrenaline from shooting that fucker in the face. He meant to just disarm and cuff the guy, but it didn’t happen that way. He saw the way he was looking at Emily and screaming about what he wanted to do to her, and he saw red... knew he was going to follow through, whether he went to jail or not. The fact that he merely existed would haunt Emily and Kenny for the rest of their lives, and he couldn’t let that happen. He figured Creed and Nate were thinking the same thing because they all shot him at the exact same moment, creating three nea
t holes in a row on his forehead, killing him instantly.
Gazing down when he felt her put her hands on each side of his face, he finally felt his heart rate slow down, and he could breathe again. He no longer had the constrictor wrapped around his lungs. Not knowing what was happening to her was pure hell.
“Baby,” he whispered, kissing her lips gently, just a touch of their lips meeting. “I love you so much.” He murmured in a low voice.
Searching his eyes, she rubbed his cheek with one hand before turning to look at Coop, seeming to search his as well, and placed her other hand around the side of his neck. She pulled them both to her so they were all touching foreheads and whispered, “I love you both, so very much.” Brokenly, she said, “Thank you, thank you for coming in time. Kenny, she couldn’t… I tried… Oh God.” She broke down crying between them.
“Sshh, baby, she’ll get through it. We’ll all help her.” He promised, hoping Kenny wasn’t too broken to come back from the edge she was currently tethered to.
She didn’t think it would happen… that they would actually find them. She should have known better. Known they weren’t going to give up until they found them. Emily had no idea how long the couple had held her and Kenny but knew it had been at least a day. Her biggest regret was that Kenny had to pay the price for her sins.
She knew she’d done nothing wrong and that it wasn’t her fault this couple had targeted her, but it didn’t make the guilt sway or lessen. It would forever be her fault that Kenny’s once happy demeanor, once beautiful smile, would no longer hold the same bright flame she used to.
Sitting in the back of an ambulance with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders and paramedics and police trying to question her, she watched as Kenny was treated. How they eventually had to sedate her just so they could assess her wounds. She would flinch and scream anytime anyone other than Linc and Creed would touch her. If it was them, it was just a flinch, no scream. She had been curled into herself looking off into nothing, a blank stare written across her features... Dull… Dead. Her innocence was taken.