The Fright Factory
Page 11
She looked to the others and saw Wesley gesturing for her to cut him free. As she returned toward Wesley and Jennifer, she heard Jesse and Brandi moving up the steps. She swung herself around and sat in the chair and slid the knife into a rip in her jeans. She placed her hands behind her back and moved her feet to look like they were tied at the ankles.
“Let’s finish this thing and go home, baby!” Brandi said with an innocent smile on her lips.
Jesse and Brandi stood before their captives. Robin saw the enormous revolver in Jesse’s right hand. Jesse was thanking everyone for doing such a great job.
“The website is going crazy with hits,” Jesse said excitedly. “The Youtube bits and bytes have seen over 250 thousand views.” He spoke as though the website traffic was a significant accomplishment.
Robin wasn’t listening. She was exhausted beyond anything she had ever experienced. Her son Jordan’s birth had put her through more than fifty hours of excruciating labor and still she wasn’t as drained then as she was now.
“You geezers are going to be stars,” Brandi said. “Well, the one that survives this next round.”
“Right you are, babe,” Jesse said as he made a show of unloading the revolver. “It’s time for the big finale, people.”
Robin looked at Jennifer and then back to Wesley. Only one of them would be alive in a few minutes if Jesse was to be believed. She almost smiled when she glanced at the baby now asleep in her sister’s arms. Some premature babies were born with breathing problems. This didn’t seem to be the case with her new niece, if more than an hour of screaming was any indication. The baby now asleep, Robin thought it wouldn’t be long before she was awake, hungry, and loud.
“You listening to me, Robin?” Jesse yanked back on Robin’s hair and stared into her eyes. She nodded against his grip.
“Good luck, sweetheart,” he grinned.
A cell phone was ringing from the kitchen. Jesse turned away to answer it. Robin recognized the ring tone as it was her phone.
“Oh, hello. Is this Monica?” Jesse said in a song-song voice. “Wonderful! No your mom can’t come to the phone right now. She’s a little tied up.”
Robin’s stomach lurched as Jesse spoke with her daughter. She wanted to take the knife and sink it deep into Jesse’s black heart.
“You should hear this, Monica,” Jesse said.
“Monica, its Mom!” Robin shouted. “Call the police and send them out to the cottages I told you…” Jesse swung his fist across Robin’s face. The knuckles of his open hand stung on her cheek and below her eye.
“Shout like that again and I’ll slit the baby’s throat and let it bleed to death in your lap,” Jesse said from an inch from Robin’s ear. “We clear?”
Jesse opened the cylinder of the revolver and then showed his captives one single bullet. He placed the cartridge in the pistol and took a breath.
“That piece of shit movie The Deer Hunter took this game and made it famous,” Jesse said as he moved to within a foot of Robin. “I’m takin’ it back.” He placed the barrel to her forehead and paused. Robin began to whisper the Lord’s Prayer.
“Our father,” she said. “Who art in heaven.” Her words flustered Jesse for a few seconds. She gently moved her right hand toward the knife.
“Fucking shut up!” He spun on his feet and placed the revolver to Wesley’s forehead.
Click! No bullet.
“Fuck!” He flipped open the cylinder and placed in a second round. Then he moved toward Jennifer. “Put the baby down,” he said in a weird, serious tone. He placed the barrel to the top of Jennifer’s head.
“Please don’t,” Jennifer said through sobs.
Jesse shook his head and then pulled the trigger.
Click!
“Fuck!” He moved the revolver toward Wesley and pulled the trigger again.
Click!
“Fuck! You have a goddamn horseshoe up your ass or what?” Jesse forced in a third bullet and then spun the cylinder.
Robin knew she would only have one chance at this. She looked Jesse straight in the eye, daring him to shoot her. “Come on, you pussy! You couldn’t do me, and now you can’t shoot!”
“Fuck you, Robin!” Brandi shouted.
“Open your mouth,” Jesse barked.
“No!”
“Open-your-fucking-mouth!” Jesse twisted at her jaw with his left hand as he jammed the barrel, smacking against her teeth.
Robin opened her mouth slowly and gripped the knife blade tightly in her hand. Jesse hesitated.
“Goodbye, Robbi!” Jesse said. He stared long and deep into Robin’s eyes as he slowly pulled the trigger.
There was a sick sling sound and then thick, warm liquid splashed over Robin’s face. Jesse’s eyes were wide with shock. He dropped the revolver into Robin’s lap and clutched at his throat. The chef’s knife was in Jesse’s neck up to the handle. He was choking, blood spurting from his carotid artery
He staggered back from Robin and jolted the knife from his throat. He looked at the blade, bright red with his blood, and then collapsed.
“JESSE!” Brandi screamed. “Baby?” She glared at Robin and then reached for her pistol in the holster at her hip.
Robin jumped to her feet, gripped the revolver in both hands, and held it in front of her. It was heavy and awkward, but without thinking, she pointed it at Brandi and pulled the trigger. There was a thunderous explosion and then a sharp, sudden pain between her eyes. Then everything went dark.
Robin heard voices. Both Wesley and Jennifer were calling her. The baby was calling too, in her own way. Robin opened her eyes to see Jesse lying about three feet away with his dead eyes looking as horrible as they had when alive. Robin quickly sat up and looked around for Brandi. Her forehead was throbbing and she felt dizzy. She stood, but felt wobbly, and sat in the chair that had held her captive for so long. She looked around for Brandi.
Wesley was saying something but it sounded distorted. Dizziness and nausea kept her from moving from her seat. She didn’t understand what was happening. She didn’t think she was shot; however, she knew something was wrong. And where the fuck was Brandi?
“Brandi’s dead,” Wesley said.
“How is that?” Robin asked.
“You shot her,” Jennifer answered. “She’s over in the kitchen.”
“What happened to me?” Robin rubbed her forehead.
“When you fired the gun the thing recoiled and struck you in the face,” Wesley said. “I think you have a concussion.”
Robin saw Brandi, her body propped against the refrigerator. There was a huge red stain between her breasts and her pistol was still in her hands.
Robin found the knife next to Jesse and then picked it up and slowly walked to Wesley. She cut her husband free and let him remove Jennifer’s tie-straps.
A loud crash outside startled Robin and she moved for the revolver. A flash of lighting lit the cabin and she slowly dropped the weapon.
Wesley took the revolver, set it on floor, and held her close. He had repeatedly risked his life, taunting Jesse and attacking Brandi so Robin might escape. She would never forgive Wesley’s betrayal with Brandi, nor would she forget his bravery with Jesse.
She whispered into his ear, “I love you.”
“Love you too.”
Robin found a quart of milk in the kitchen. She poured a bowl and warmed it for twenty seconds in the microwave. She sat next to Jennifer on the couch and helped her sister dribble milk into the baby’s mouth by wetting her fingers.
The cell phones were not working again and she could not find Jesse’s phone. Wesley used a warm, wet cloth to wash the blood, both hers and Jesse’s, from her face. When the fog cleared from her head, she helped Wesley to tie a tight bandage to his wounded hand.
He sat next to her and squeezed her hand in his good hand.
A few minutes later, an eerie sound echoed in the distance. “What is that?” Robin asked.
Wesley gripped her hand again. “Sire
ns,” he said quietly. “Monica must have heard you and called the police.”
The End
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16