The Fright Factory

by William R. Potter

  “Calm? How the hell am I gonna be calm, Rob?” Jennifer said between breaths.

  “Jesse!” Wesley called. “Jesse—Brandi!”

  “What are you doing, Wes?” Robin asked, irritated.

  “Rebecca? Rebecca, can you help Jenny?” Wesley called.

  Rebecca didn’t respond. Her head was down as though she was staring at her lap.

  “Rebecca!” Robin understood what Wesley was trying to do.

  Rebecca glanced at Robin looking surprised and worried. “Huh?”

  “Beck. Jennifer is going into labor; can you help her?” Robin asked.

  “I, I haven’t worked a delivery in over ten years,” Rebecca said in a weak voice. “Besides I’m tied in.”

  “I know that,” Wesley said, not hiding his impatience. “If I can get Jesse to untie you, can you help Jennifer through a birth?”

  “I guess so…” Rebecca said in a whisper.

  “Becky—please!” Robin said sharp and loud. “Help her!”

  “Oh, um—how many weeks are you, Jen?”

  “Thirty-three.”

  “Thirty-three what?” Jesse asked when he bounded into the room. “What’s going on?”

  “Jennifer is going into labor,” Wesley said. “Rebecca is a nurse. Can you cut her free so she can help Jenny?”

  “Well holy-fuckin’-shit! We gonna have us a wee one soon?” Jesse asked. A strange look came to his face. If Robin didn’t know better, she would think he was happy about the impending birth.

  “Yes,” Robin said.

  “When?” Brandi said from her spot behind the camera. “How long?”

  “There’s no way to know,” Rebecca said. “Could be minutes but most likely several hours from now.”

  “My labor with my first child was about nine hours long,” Jennifer said.

  “Now this brings a whole new wrinkle to the story,” Jesse said. “I like it. Nothing like a little drama to add to a flick. Nice work, Jen.” He looked around at the others. “Well, do it. Pop it out. Let’s see the little bugger!”

  “Huh?” Rebecca said.

  “Have the fucking thing then. Right now!” Jesse screamed, and then pointed the revolver to Jennifer’s belly. “Stop stalling.”

  “Jesus Christ, Jesse,” Wesley said firmly. “A woman can’t rush or slow a labor. It happens when it happens.”

  “Well, that’s just typical of a fuckin’ broad.” Jesse spun away from his captives.

  “Jesse,” Wesley said. “Rebecca is a nurse. Please cut her free so she can take a look at Jen.” Jesse stood with his back to the others. “Jesse, please.”

  Jesse spun around with a silly grin on his face. Robin couldn’t believe how insane the man appeared.

  “Well, gosh, Wes, since you asked so nicely.” Jesse flipped out his hunting knife. Robin’s stomach jolted when she saw the light flash off the blade. “Why don’t I call 9-1-1 and have an ambulance come on out to take Jenny to the ER?” He moved in behind Jennifer and cut the straps. “Take a look then. You’ve got 90 seconds.”

  Robin watched as Rebecca slowly moved toward Jennifer. She began to examine her as best as her limited skills would allow. As she felt around Jennifer’s belly, Rebecca asked how far apart the contractions were. Jennifer said it was several minutes and that they were still not very severe.

  “The baby has definitely dropped down,” Rebecca said. “I would say she is still several hours away from delivery.

  “Well, now, while we’re waiting,” Jesse said. He reached into his jacket pocket for a recording device and held it out in front of him.

  “No, Jesse! Do me instead!” Robin heard her voice on the recording from a few minutes ago. He played it again and again.

  “Hmm, seems as though ol’ Jen-Jen is out of it for now…” Jesse said as his crazy, evil sneer returned. “Guess you’re gonna have to pinch hit for your sis. Batter-up.” He grabbed his crotch and then began to cut Robin free from her straps.

  Robin cringed as Jesse began to grope her breasts. She almost vomited when he kissed her lips. Then he moved his hands up her inner thigh.

  “Oh, Robin, you’re all wet for me,” Jesse said. He laughed and then jolted Robin to her feet. “Gonna enjoy this.”

  “Have fun, babe,” Brandi said as she stepped closer to Rebecca and Jennifer.

  “Robin!” Wesley called.

  Jesse steered Robin across the room. He had his left arm around her neck from behind and his right hand between her legs. When they moved into the bedroom he flung her on the bed and then dropped his pants. “Suck it, you old cow!”

  Chapter 13

  Wesley wanted to convince himself that Jesse was only pretending to be raping Robin in the other room to upset Wesley. He knew different. Jesse was loud as he shouted instructions to Robin. ‘Suck it, bitch’ was his favorite remark.

  “Oh, Robin, I’m so sorry,” Wesley whispered. A tear spilled down his cheek. He imagined Robin trying to distance her inner self from what was happening. Wesley knew if she survived this she would never be the same person. None of them would be.

  He heard Jennifer moaning as another contraction came. Wesley caught her eye and saw her fear and anxiety. He doubted Rebecca was helping Jennifer much and he hoped her training would kick in when Jennifer’s situation progressed to the point of delivering the baby.

  “Take it all, baby!” Jesse yelled. “Come on, make Wessy proud.”

  Wesley glared at Brandi and she stuck out her tongue like a child. For a few seconds she looked like the teenager he knew as Shelley. He imagined working free of the straps and then charging at Brandi, knocking her down, and then choking her to death. He would then take her pistol and shoot Jesse, blasting him with every round in the weapon. He struggled at the straps biting into his wrists. The wound in his hand throbbed with every heartbeat. Brandi must have sensed his thoughts as she had the pistol pointed directly at his head.

  “Come on, Robbi. Smoke it—not like that—shit!” Jesse bellowed, sounding increasingly agitated. “Do I need to teach you how to do this? Fuck!”

  Wesley cringed.

  “Brandi?” Jesse shouted.

  “Baby?” Brandi responded.

  “Shoot Wesley in the head on the count of three!”

  Brandi smiled a sick, condescending smile. “Okay!”

  “One!”

  Wesley’s heart began to pound. His breath was short. “Please, God. Let me get through this....” he said quietly.

  “Two!”

  Brandi gripped the pistol with both hands, readying to fire.

  “Hold up, Bran, she’s got it now. Mmm, now that is nice. How’s it to suck a real cock? Huh? Sorry, guess you can’t really talk when your mouth is full.”

  Brandi giggled. Wesley struggled to keep calm.

  “Fuck is wrong with you?” Jesse roared.

  A minute or two later, Jesse appeared at the bedroom door with Robin in tow. He swung her forward and her momentum carried her stumbling over the chair she had spent so much time tied to. Robin stood, and then righted the chair and sat next to Wesley.

  “Robin?” Wesley said after a few seconds of staring at his wife.

  “I’m,” she was quiet for at least a minute. “I’m okay.”

  “Did he…Did he hurt you?”

  “He couldn’t stay up....” Robin said in a voice barely audible. “He said I’m too old and too fat to get him off.” She glanced at Wesley. “I thought he was going to shoot you.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “He said he’d slit my throat if I didn’t make him finish,” she sobbed. “Then he….” Robin shook her head slowly. “He...all over on me....”

  Wesley smelled urine and knew what Jesse had done. “Jesus, I’m so sorry you had to go through that.”

  “Robin, are you okay?” Jennifer asked.

  “I’m fine,” Robin said. “What about you?”

  Jennifer said she was okay for now but scared. Robin and Jennifer talked about the contractions and how they were b
ecoming much more painful and closer together.

  Wesley searched around the cabin for Jesse and Brandi. He could not see either. He then found the pair of cameras recording every second of this nightmare. Wesley could hear banging coming from just outside the cabin as though Jesse was building something with a hammer, wood, and nails. He had heard this sound earlier.

  Brandi came in the front door alone. She carried her pistol on display in a holster that kept the firearm a few inches below her left breast. She walked purposely across the room to where Jennifer was working through another contraction.

  “How long till the baby comes?” Brandi asked in a calm, serious tone. “Rebecca? How long?”

  “There is really no way of knowing,” Rebecca said. “Jenny’s first labor lasted around eight or nine hours. Second babies tend to come sooner but not always. Under this stress, it could come quickly or take days.”

  Jesse stepped through the opening in the cabin wall, stopped, and then smirked at the group. Over his shoulder was his sports bag. He slung off the bag and then began to pull the couch into the kitchen. He did the same with lamps, an easy chair, and an ottoman. If Wesley didn’t know better, he would think Jesse was clearing the room to make a dance floor.

  “You guys would not believe how much good shit I found in old Ben’s workshop and storage shed,” Jesse said. Inside his sports gear bag were lengths of cedar shingles cut to about one foot and fastened together in the middle with a single, three-inch nail. The pieces together made an X-shape, and when placed on the floor became a dangerous, ceiling-pointing spike.

  Wesley counted at least a dozen of these spike boards now arranged on the open floor space. Anyone falling on one of these spikes would have a horrible wound which could easily be fatal.

  Wesley was watching Jesse so closely that he did not notice how Brandi had removed the straps from Nicole and Robin. Jesse ordered the three women to stand in the center of the cleared and spiked area. He checked each camera and then stood a few feet in front of the women.

  “We saw what the pussy ass guys could do. Now it’s you ladies’ turn to duke it out.”

  Nicole was shaking her head. “No,” she whispered.

  Rebecca was only a few feet from Tommy. Wesley doubted she knew her husband had died during the male fight on the stage. Rebecca had continued to talk to him while she cared for Jennifer.

  “Enough of this Jesse, please,” Robin said, her voice sounding defeated. “Just leave us here and go.”

  “Fuck, no,” Jesse said. “Hello, I make the fucking rules here.” He pulled out the hunting knife and walked over to Jennifer. “You will fight Robbi.” He placed the knife to Jennifer’s belly. “Fight or I’ll cut your nephew out early and eat him for lunch!” He moved the blade across Jennifer’s flesh. “And none of that sissy slappin’ shit. I wanna see haymakers.”

  Robin screeched and charged into Nicole. Both women were screaming, pulling hair, and swinging punches at each other.

  “That’s more like it!” Jesse announced. He turned to see Rebecca slowly moving toward her husband. “Hold on.” Jesse raised the revolver and fired a shot that grazed Rebecca’s right ear. “You’re in this too, Becky!” Rebecca slapped her hand over her ear to stem the bleeding and then continued walking to Thomas.

  Wesley knew Rebecca was seconds from dying. However, his immediate concern was for Robin, now locked in a hand-to-hand struggle with her best friend. Wesley was amazed how both Robin and Nicole managed to avoid the spikes and yet continued to battle.

  “Oh, one more thing,” Jesse said as he removed a small satchel from his sports bag. He walked around the cleared area spreading hundreds of thumbtacks. “Nicole, I just called a friend of mine and asked him to head over to 1298 22nd Street. I told him that if I didn’t call back in two minutes, he should kill everyone there. My friend owes me a monster favor and I guarantee he will carry out my request.”

  Wesley thought about the address and realised it was Nicole’s home and that Nicole’s mother and three daughters were there. Nicole charged, knocking Robin to the floor. Robin screamed out in pain and Wesley shivered as he thought one of the spikes had impaled her. Robin managed to push Nicole off and both were able to stand.

  Wesley saw dozens of thumbtacks sticking to Robin’s back and arms. Her top was now spotted with blood where the tacks had pierced her skin.

  Rebecca was screaming that Tommy was dead. She wailed a sound of tortured agony.

  “Hmm, I think it’s time this baby came out, huh, Robbi?” Jesse laughed and raised his knife above his head as though he was going to plunge it into Jennifer’s belly.

  Robin howled and then crashed into Nicole. Both tumbled to the floor. Robin gasped. The only sounds were Rebecca’s loud sobs and then a sick, choking sound.

  “Oh, God. No, Nicole!” Robin shouted. “No, please!”

  Jesse pulled Robin away from Nicole and then he rolled Nicole’s motionless body to one side. Two spike boards had stabbed deep into Nicole’s back. Blood stained her blonde hair.

  Wesley thought about where the spikes were. He believed the higher one could be in the lung and the other had surely penetrated the heart.

  Jesse smiled and then told Robin to sit down. “Hmm, I’ve bagged me four. Wussy Wes got himself one and now one for Rocking Robbi. Awesome...just awesome.”

  Wesley closed his eyes and thought about what Jesse had just said. It was Jesse’s fault but Michael’s blood was on his hands and now Nicole’s was on Robin’s.

  Rebecca continued to sob. She spoke softly, calling Tommy’s name over and over as though she could will him back to life. Jennifer moaned through another contraction and the rain pattered on the roof.

  Out on the lake, a loon uttered its eerie call. A stellar jay fluttered in through the jagged gap in the wall; however, only Wesley seemed to notice the bird pecking at crumbs on the floor.

  Wesley’s hand was throbbing. He was certain it was infected. The cabin reeked of blood, gore, sweat, and of urine and feces, for Jesse had not allowed anyone to use the bathroom. All this mixed with the stink of gasoline leaking from one of the wrecked vehicles and the ridiculous amount of cologne Jesse wore. Together, the smells, along with Wesley’s hunger and need to relieve himself, made him nauseous and dizzy.

  Wesley closed his eyes and listened to the sounds around him.

  Sobbing.

  Moans.

  Another loon retuning the first bird’s call.

  A thunderous gunshot.

  The acrid stench of gun smoke filled the cabin.

  Brandi was standing a few feet away from Rebecca and Thomas with a smoking pistol.

  “What the fuck, Bran!” Jesse shouted.

  Wesley glanced over at the now dead Rebecca slumped over her pre-deceased husband.

  “Her crying, whining, and shit was driving me bug-nuts,” Brandi said. “I mean, fuck-me-Friday, enough already!”

  “Okay, then. That’s one for Brandi.”

  Chapter 14

  Robin looked around the cabin and could not see or hear Jesse or Brandi. It was becoming routine for the pair to disappear after someone died. She decided they did this to keep the captives guessing and afraid. Jesse was becoming predictable. Robin knew he was dreaming up the next round of his homicidal nightmare. He would burst from his hiding spot with an even crazier method for Robin and Wesley to end up killing each other, Jennifer, or some innocent stranger who wandered into the cabin to investigate what had happened with the vehicles.

  Robin’s body was numb and yet she could feel each tack still piercing her flesh. Her back was stabbing as though one of the nail planks had found the mark there. Her lip trembled and a tear spilled down her face and dripped to her jeans. She had killed her best friend. Nothing could change that. A million memories of their times together flooded her thoughts. Nicole’s shocked, dying eyes overwhelmed happy memories and Robin knew this image would forever have a home in her mind’s eye.

  Robin was beyond fatigued. The emotional roll
ercoaster that was the past few hours had been relentless and draining. She had no real idea of what time it was or when Jennifer would give birth. Outside, the greyness had her predicting it was late afternoon, perhaps four PM or five. It didn’t matter. It was still March 22nd and she had little reason to believe she would still be breathing the afternoon of the 23rd.

  Wesley glanced at her occasionally. His face was swollen and bruised and his left eye appeared difficult to keep open. Jennifer worked through contractions by herself. The duration between the contractions was getting shorter and the intensity of the contractions was increasing.

  “Jen, you okay?” Robin asked when the contraction subsided.

  “No, I um....” Jennifer was taking in long, deep breaths. She sounded as though she had just come in from a run. “Is this real? Mike is dead and I’m having my baby two months early?” She paused and her voice cracked with emotion. “With—with a gun to my head?”

  Brandi rounded the corner from the hallway to the living area. Robin now suspected Brandi and Jesse were working on editing the movie and website and that Jesse would soon afford them with an updated version of the film.

  “Jen!” Brandi said loud enough to startle Jennifer. “What do you need to have this little maggot?”

  “How about a team of doctors and nurses at a hospital?” Robin said, her voice thick with sarcasm.

  “How about I shoot you in the face?” Brandi charged toward Robin with the pistol in her grip. “I’m pretty sure it would be an improvement.”

  “I need,” Jennifer began. “I need to lie down and I need Robin at my side to help me have my baby!”

  “I need - I need! You need someone who gives a steamin’ hot shit!” Brandi glared. “Fucking little spawn can drop out of your box and bash its skull in on the floor, for all I care.”

  “Jesus Christ, what did you two do to get my Bran all jacked up?” Jesse skipped into the room with his laptop in his hands. He set the computer down so all could see and then punched a few keys until a video player came on the screen showing his attempt to rape Robin. “Move Jenny-bo-Benny to the couch, babe. Then free Robbi-bobbi to help if she can. If either fuck with you, sweetums, shoot ‘em!”