by Tim Miller
“That sounds fucking brilliant. Except the killing me part.”
“Once again, by then these videos will be public. Once that happens you’re as good as dead anyway. I don’t see you lasting too long in prison.”
“Good point. If you guys are so slick, why not destroy the video, stop it from going public?”
“It’s already out there, my friend. This is the digital age. It’s like piss in a pond. This person has already emailed it to the Elkhart Times in an encrypted file. I say it will take a week or so for them to decrypt it and we are off and running.”
“Fuck.”
“What do you say?”
It was really tough making a decision of this magnitude when he was under this kind of stress. Seeing Procter suffer would give him plenty of pleasure, even if he bought it after. Then again, who was he kidding? He’d talked his way out of every other bad situation in his life. He’d just use these guys for his purposes, then slither out of it like he always did. That was his gift.
“Ok. Sure. We start with the Attorney General.”
“Good. Here is my number.” Mr. Black handed him a card. “Text me your list by morning. Up to five people for three days.”
Al looked the card over and it was blank except for the number written across it. Mr. Black was already walking away.
“Hey! So what is this group called?”
“They call us the Suicide Hotline,” Mr. Black said as he disappeared around the corner. Al looked at the card and back up at the huge yard.
“But who called you?” Al said to no one.
Almost a month went by, which drove Al insane. Over that time the accusations regarding his financial dealings had heated up. The state police even came in and searched his home office as well as at City Hall. They removed computers, files, cell phones and everything else they could get their hands on. Al was wondering where this Mr. Black and his pals were. Thinking back, it occurred to him just how stupid he’d been.
Mr. Black could have been one of the Attorney General’s goons sent to get him on an audio recording plotting to kill him. That would be just great. He’d be fucked for sure. That wouldn’t even make any sense though. For one, he was sure them approaching him like that would be entrapment. Second, if he had the video of him with those little girls, they’d have already arrested him on the spot.
Part of him considered taking his own life anyway. The curtain was about to fall and he knew it. He had no illusions that those videos and photos wouldn’t be public any day. No way would he spend his life in prison. He still wanted to know who’d turned on him and drink wine from their skulls.
Those questions were answered when he got home. Things were different. The house was darker than usual and all the furniture had been moved. In the living room was a large table set up and a couple of men standing around. All were wearing military-style fatigues and black executioner’s masks.
“There you are, sport,” one of the masked men said. “You ready?”
He looked at the table, strapped down and naked was the Attorney General himself, Charles Procter.
“Holy shit. What is this? What’s going on here?” Al asked.
“Just what you asked for. You said you wanted your enemies to suffer. Per Mr. Black, you fall under our VIP program. So here he is.”
The hooded man wheeled a table over which was filled with various instruments. Al looked at them confused and then back up at the masked man.
“What is this? What am I supposed to do?”
“Don’t play so innocent. I saw your kiddie porn videos. You’re a sadistic fuck. I can see it in your eyes. You’ve been itching to get this guy. Think about it. He wants to put you in prison for life! He wants to lock you up and take away everything you’ve worked for. But now, he’s all yours. You can make him suffer like crazy before putting him into the ground. Or one of us can do it.”
Al looked down at Charlie who had a ball gag in his mouth and complete terror in his eyes. He was grunting something as Al looked up at one of the men.
“Can we take the gag out?” he asked.
The man nodded to one of the other hooded men who in strapped the gag and removed it from Charlie’s mouth.
“Al! What are you doing? Are you insane? You know who I am!”
“Yes, Charlie. I’m well aware.”
“Why are you doing this? You think this will help you?”
“No. But it will sure make me feel better.”
Al ran his fingers over the various tools until he found a blowtorch. He turned on the nozzle and lit the end as a blue flame shot out.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Charlie screamed.
“I’m going to torture you until you’re calling me daddy. At least that’s the idea.”
“Fuck! Don’t do this! Please?”
Al held the blowtorch just above the skin along his stomach. Charlie thrashed and screamed at the slightest contact with the flame.
“All right! All right! Let me go! I’ll drop the investigation! I’ll drop everything! You have my word!”
Al laughed and shook his head.
“Oh, Charlie. We’ve both been at this game for a long time. You know neither of our words is worth a damn thing.” Al picked up a saw and played with it in his hands.
“Here,” one of the hooded men said. “You might need these.” And handed him an apron and face shield. Al put them on and retrieved the saw. He’d seen them on TV. It was some kind of bone saw like they use in autopsies. He walked over to Charlie and grabbed his foot.
“Sorry Charlie. I think this is going to hurt a bit.”
“No!” Charlie screamed as Al began sawing through the bone in his ankle. Blood splattered onto his apron and face shield. He wished he had like a windshield wiper or something to clean it off with. Charlie’s screams were louder than the screech of the saw as it efficiently removed his foot with a clean cut. Blood was squirting from the wound.
He tossed the foot to the side as one of the men handed him the blowtorch. He lit the torch and used it to cauterize the wound until it was a blackened crisp.
“There you go. Bleeding stopped. Can’t have you bleeding out now can we?” Al said.
“Fuck you! I’m going to bury you under the fucking jail, you cocksucker!” Charlie yelled.
“No, Charlie. You’re not.”
Al took the saw and began cutting along Charlie’s left arm at the elbow. Charlie screamed and struggled until the arm was totally severed. He took the blowtorch once again and used it to seal the wound. He picked up the severed arm and ran the fingers along Charlie’s penis. To his surprise, the penis twitched.
“Uh oh. What is this?” Al said as he did it again. “Holy shit. You like that!”
“Stop it! Please!”
“Dude, you’re getting a boner from your own severed hand.”
“It’s involuntary! Please stop!”
Al worked it up and down until Charlie was fully erect.
“I’m impressed, Charlie. You must make the ladies happy.”
“Fuck you!”
Al used the severed limb to stroke and stroke until Charlie’s penis was throbbing and twitching. Quickly he dropped the severed arm, fired up the blowtorch and held the flame against his hard boner. Charlie went from confused moans and grunts to shrill howls that sounded like a wounded animal. Al watched with amusement as Charlie’s penis turned brown and then black as it shriveled into nothing. He continued to hold the flame over his crotch while watching Charlie’s testicles melt into nothing until his groin consisted of a charred lump of burnt charcoal.
One of the hooded men leaned over, lifted his hood above his mouth and threw up. Al looked at the tall one who shrugged.
“You are fucking hardcore, sport. That shit really stinks too.”
Charlie lay on the table trembling, his arm and foot missing along with the black hole where his junk used to be. Al picked up a set of pliers and a vice and walked to Charlie’s face. Using the vice to pry his mouth o
pen, Charlie tried to scream as Al used the pliers to reach in and rip the top front tooth from his mouth. He dropped the tooth on the floor before ripping out another tooth. Each tooth made a tearing, crunching sound as it tore free.
It took just over an hour, but Al managed to pull each of Charlie’s teeth. At this point, Charlie was reduced to crying and sobbing as bloody bubbles oozed from his mouth. He removed the face shield and grabbed a towel to wipe his forehead.
“You doing ok, sport?” the hooded man asked.
“Yeah. This is just quite exhausting.”
“Well, save your energy. You got one more.”
“One more what?”
The double doors behind them swung open and another hooded man wheeled in another table. On this one, his naked wife, Doris was strapped down.”
“There you go.”
“Doris? What? That’s my wife!”
“Yes, Mr. Mayor!” Mr. Black said as he appeared from behind them.
“She is the one who contacted us. She wanted us to just kill you so she could collect your life insurance. Apparently she didn’t get the concept of a SUICIDE Hotline. So you get the honors of taking her life.”
“Jesus Christ. Doris? Why?”
“You’re a fucking loser, Al. I’ve known about your little girl habit for years and looked the other way. Your financial shit I could deal with. Hell, even the kid thing I looked the other way until this shit just started coming out. I’m not going to be married to a jailbird. We were supposed to go to D.C. Instead you were headed down the toilet. You look like you go on some rampage and then kill yourself, I get our estate and insurance and better yet, public sympathy. I could run for congress myself! So what? You’re just going to kill me now, I guess. They’ll kill you too, you know.”
For the first time she looked over and caught sight of Charlie who was gagging on his own blood, breathing in short, labored breaths.
“What the fuck? You did that?”
Al smiled and nodded.
“Yep. I’m kind of glad they brought you here now. I had no idea you were such an ice cold bitch. I mean I knew, but always figured you had a soft spot for me.” He turned to the table and picked up a large, hook-shaped knife. “I guess now we’ll see just how many soft spots you have.”
Over the next several hours, he sliced, cut ripped and flayed his wife in ways even the skilled operators had never seen before. Even the “sport” guy had to step outside and throw up. By the time he was finished, Doris’ lifeless body lie on the table. Her uterus resting on her stomach with her intestines wrapped around it. Each of her eyes gouged out of her head, but dangling to the side by the optic nerve. Her mouth gaped and several limbs and appendages were missing.
Al tossed the knife to the side and looked up at Mr. Black.
“So now what? She hired you guys, technically. So I’m off the hook now? Shit, you guys got some reach, it looks like. You can destroy those videos, kill the people in that kiddie porn ring and even give me credit for it. Hell, I’ll be a legend.”
“Not exactly, Mr. Mayor,” Mr. Black said. “You see, for our program to work there have to be believable motives behind things. So this morning I sent the video and photos to the local news. The footage will be airing in the next hour or two, I imagine police will be showing up here not long after that. They will find your bodies, all nice and tidy. And once again, we’ll disappear like the ghosts we are.”
“What? No! You can’t…” Before he could finish, the tall hooded man placed a pistol to his temple. Al felt the cold steel and instantly knew what was about to happen. “Wait!” he shouted but was interrupted by the crack of gunfire and then darkness.
5.
Corey Callahan
Reed, Texas
Corey hated physical education class. It had to be the closest thing to medieval torture in the modern age. At sixteen years old, Corey had been cursed with just about everything a teen could be. He was short, skinny, allergic to more things than any functioning human should be allowed, and he was gay. While being gay he didn’t consider an affliction, in a conservative town like Reed it was better to have Ebola.
Corey didn’t consider himself openly gay. He’d always been soft spoken, even before he knew he was gay, people had thought he was gay. He got good grades and stayed out of trouble, but in a town where the high school football team was worshiped like Greek gods, a skinny gay kid didn’t stand a chance. Daily, he did everything he could to avoid anyone from the football team. Corey wasn’t sure what it was about himself that immediately launched people into hostility toward him.
“You’re too shy,” his friend, Sam had told him. “You walk through the hall looking down at the ground. You avoid eye contact. They can already tell you’re smaller and weaker than them. You show fear, that’s like waving a red cape to a bull. You need to look more confident.”
“Why can’t they just leave me alone?”
“I don’t know, man. It sucks. I know.” Sam was a good friend. He wasn’t gay. Corey only knew of two or three other gay kids in the school and they’d managed to keep it hidden. One was actually on the football team. Sam did what he could to look out for Corey, but they didn’t have many classes together, which was unfortunate. One day it became extremely unfortunate.
As usual, the harassment started right after P.E. in the shower. Corey usually tried to wait until everyone else was done before taking a shower, this time they were running late getting done with fitness testing. So they all had to shower at the same time. Despite his best efforts, he couldn’t help but look self-conscious, keeping his eyes on the floor. That’s when Buck Ryan, the quarterback of the football team decided to start in.
“Hey guys! Isn’t Corey sexy?” he said as they all laughed. “I mean, look at the white, pasty, bony body. Just so hot!”
“Yeah! I mean look at his dick! It’s so huge!” Another kid yelled, this was Doug McKellen. The other guys looked at Doug, rolling their eyes.
Corey glanced up at them and looked away to finish rinsing off. He just wanted to towel off and get out of there. When he looked away, Buck wasn’t going to quit.
“What are you looking at? Huh? You wanna suck my dick? That what you’re doing? You sizing me up, bitch?”
Corey didn’t respond. He just continued with his shower before turning the water off. He started out when Buck grabbed his arm.
“Hey! I’m talking to you, faggot.” He shoved Corey against the wall. Both were standing there naked which only made Corey feel even more awkward. Now he was in a physical confrontation with this guy twice his size.
“What? I just want to get dressed. Leave me alone.” Corey tried to twist his arm away but Buck just gripped it tighter.
“I think you do. I think you were looking at my dick. I knew having homos like you in this school was a bad idea. You be looking us up and down. I bet you’re gonna go into the bathroom and beat off to all the naked dudes you saw in here aren’t you?”
“No. Please. Just let me go.”
“Hey Buck, man. Enough fucking around with the kid.” Another kid said from behind him. Buck spun around and punched the boy in the face. Blood gushed from the kid’s nose as he slipped and fell onto his side on the wet shower floor. Buck turned his attention back to Corey.
“I’ve about had it with you, little pansy ass fucker. You like my dick? How about you suck it then? Huh?”
Corey had never given anyone oral sex. He was still a virgin actually. He’d just known for a couple years he was attracted to boys.
“No. Man. Just let me go!” Corey tried to pull his arm away but Buck just gripped it tighter before shoving Corey against the wall, slamming his head into the concrete. Corey’s teeth chattered as his head hit. Buck put his hand on Corey’s shoulder and pushed him to the ground until he was on his knees. Tears ran down Corey’s face as he looked up at Buck who was smacking Corey in the face with his semi-erect penis. Corey cringed as Buck grabbed a handful of his hair.
“Suck it!”
/> Corey looked around and the other guys in the class were standing around. Some watching in amusement, others in shock while the rest had gone to get dressed and ignore what was happening entirely.
“I said suck it, you little bitch! Suck my dick!” Buck reached down and slapped Corey across the face. Corey’s head snapped back but Buck held it in place by his hair. “Now fucking suck it.” He thrust his penis forward into Corey’s mouth. The fleshy shaft was thick and hairy as Corey had no idea what to do with it in his mouth. He gagged as Buck grabbed held his hair and moved his head back and forth. Corey gagged again, feeling like he’d throw up if he didn’t do something.
After a few more thrusts, Corey felt himself about to choke and bit down without thinking. Buck screamed and jumped back, grabbing his dick. He kicked Corey in the face, knocking him backward. The boys behind them were all laughing.
“Holy shit! He bit Buck’s dick!” they were saying.
“Shut the fuck up!” Buck screamed. He ran to his locker and pulled on a pair of jeans before returning to Corey who was still stunned from the kick and trying to sit up. He‘d barely gotten to his hands and knees when Buck ran back over to him, still soaking wet, but this time at least Buck had jeans on. He grabbed Corey by the hair and dragged him over to the bench.
“You’re really gonna get it now, faggot. I’m sure you don’t like sucking dick anyway. But I bet you like it up the ass!” Buck turned and yelled to another boy. “Hey! Someone bring me that mop over there!”
One of the other kids picked up the mop in the corner and brought it over to Buck.
“Hold him down!” Buck said as two other boys held onto Corey’s arms. Corey wanted to scream but the only sound that could escape were sobs.
“Buck, man what are you gonna do?” one of the boys asked.