The Night I Flunked My Field Trip
Author: Henry Winkler; Lin Oliver; Tim Heitz
Date: 2004-05-11 00:00:00+00:00
Keywords: Horror; Splatterpunk; Novella; Thriller
Description: Hank is thrilled about the "Best Field Trip of the Year"-everyone from Ms. Adolph's class gets to spend the night on an old-fashioned three-mast sailing ship in New York Harbor! And Hank gets even more excited when the ship's captain chooses him to be the first mate. But being first mate is not all it's cracked up to be, especially for a crazy captain who takes his job a little too seriously. The best field trip of the year is becoming the worst night of Hank's life-how's he going to get out of this one?
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group

Family Night

Tim Miller

Tim Miller
Family Night

© 2013, Tim Miller

San Antonio, TX

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author / publisher.

Cover Photo by Mars Leon 2013

Cover Model Tim Miller

Edited by Lori King

Acknowledgements

As always, I have many folks to thank for their help and support on this book. So many have been there for me from the start. Special thank you to my good friend, Lori King who is a great sounding board and editor and for just listening to me whine. Also to Teresa Mummert for helping me figure out the basics of cover design and picmonkey, and fixing my lettering. Teresa rules! Additional thanks to the greatest cover designer in the history of cover design, Kristy Charbonneau at Covermecreative.com. While she didn’t do this cover, she has done several. Her skill and patience is unsurpassed.

Also big thank you to the ladies at Nerd Girl who are amazing about promoting lowly little indie authors like me. I don’t know how they put up with us, but I’m eternally grateful that they do. Cherri at Goregasm who also loves to help promote my work. Cherri is also my gauge to see how twisted something is. If she says it’s twisted or deranged, then I know I’ve done my job.

Finally I want to thank all of my beta readers. There are too many to name, but you all know who you are, as well as all my friends on my Facebook fan page. You guys kick serious ass and make doing what I do a blast.

Introduction

In 2010, one of the most grisly discoveries in Texas history was made. Numerous body parts and human remains were found on an abandoned farm near San Antonio. Very little information was made public, until now.

Prologue

Carla finished wiping down her tables and saw her manager to cash out. Unfortunately, Sid could never just cash her out without some kind of drama. She figured it’s the price you pay for working at a strip club.

“Hey, babe!” He said. “You come to give me that blow job?” He looked like your typical sleaze. He was tall, middle-aged, and overweight, with greasy, curly hair. He wore Affliction shirts that were too tight. He seemed to think they made him look muscular.

“Fuck you Sid. Can I cash out now?”

“Aw come on. You’re never any fun.”

“I’m plenty of fun, just not with you.”

“When are you gonna start dancing for me? You got the body.” He said. She worked there as a shot girl, but he’d pressured her since day one to strip. She had been training in kickboxing for a few years, which kept her in amazing shape; customers where always checking out her body and hitting on her, which she didn’t mind. The more shots she sold, the more tips she made. She made almost as much as some of the dancers, which drove them nuts.

She knew she’d make a lot more as a dancer, but wasn’t at the point in her life where she felt the need to take off her clothes for money. Her kickboxing did come in handy once, when Sid decided to get too grabby. She threw a knee to his midsection, hard enough to knock the wind out of him. To her surprise, he didn’t fire her, but at least he hadn’t tried to touch her again.

“Just give me my fuckin’ money already,” she said. She’d just finished a ten hour shift and wanted to go home and crash. Without another word, he gave her the nights pay from the register and her tips. It was around $300.00. Not bad for a night’s work. She grabbed her bag and headed outside.

The night air was warm and muggy. It was only April, and the San Antonio weather was already getting hot. The parking lot was fairly well lit. Usually security guys walked her out, but they were dealing with some drunks who didn’t want to leave, and she didn’t feel like waiting around. She walked to her car as she dug for her keys in her bag. As she looked up, she saw the reflection in the window. It startled her at first, as a cold chill ran down her spine.

In the reflection, there was someone behind her. He was wearing a Guy Fawkes mask. Those masks had become popular since the movie V for Vendetta. She’d also seen on the news a group of activists wearing the masks as a form of protest. Yet this guy was standing behind her in a dark parking lot at 3 a.m. He likely wasn’t there collecting for the Red Cross. She slowly turned, and was even more shocked when she saw him straight on.

It wasn’t a man at all, but a boy. A little boy. He couldn’t have been more than five or six years old. He was wearing the mask, a black hoodie and black gloves. It was 80 degrees out and he had to be sweating his ass off in there.

“Hello?” She said, bending down. “What are you doing kid?”

The boy just turned his head to the side, but remained silent.

“Kid? Why are you here?” She stood and looked around. Being out late wearing all black and a creepy mask was usually a sign of being up to no good. Carla didn’t know what to think of it. She looked around behind her and over the car to see if there was anyone else. There was no one she could see.

“Kid? Say something. You’re creeping me out.”

The boy remained silent and still. He would look her up and down. The mask with the same fixed smile expression frozen in place made her shiver. Those masks always did, but this night, more than ever. Something wasn’t right. There was no reason this little boy should be in a parking lot of a strip club.

“Ok, that’s it. You’re freaking me out kid.” She walked toward him, reaching for the mask. He took a few steps back just out of her reach. She was so fixated on him, she never saw it coming.

What she didn’t see was the grown man coming up behind her. The man was also wearing a Guy Fawkes mask, black hoodie and gloves; except he also had a club in his hand. With one swift swing of the club to the side of her head, she fell to the ground. The little boy looked up at the man. From behind a black van parked nearby, a teenage girl walked out, wearing the same outfit as the other two.

The man and the girl dragged Carla to the van and put her in back. The girl began duct taping Carla’s feet, hands and mouth. The man climbed into the driver’s seat and started the van. The boy hopped into his booster seat and fastened his seatbelt. Once everyone was in place, the van pulled out of the parking lot, driving into the night.

Chapter 1

Detective Julie Castillo walked around the parking lot of the strip club. She tried not to look at the sign, as the mere sight of it just pissed her off. Who would name a strip club, “Chesty Cholas?” There was tacky, then there was just plain disgusting, and this place had far surpassed both. She had gotten the call around 9 a.m. that a waitress from the club never made it home. That alone would not normally draw any attention, other than her car was still there with her purse on the ground next to it.

She knelt next to the purse, looking around.

“Hey there,” a man said behind her. It was Ben Sylar. He was another detective who liked to interject himself into other investigations.

“So missing stripper, huh?” He asked.

“She’s not a stripper. She’s a waitress.”

“Eh, same diff. She probably just found a trick to make some extra cash.”

Julie stood and looked at him.

“What the fuck, man? Don’t you have your own cases to work?” She asked.

“Well yeah, but this being your first case as a detective, I figured I’d help out.”

“Your help is neither needed, nor desired. Now please leave.” She said as she knelt back down. She looked near the purse and a few feet away there was a small stain. Looking closely, it was about the size of a quarter, and reddish brown. It was a blood stain.

“Fuck me,” she whispered to herself. Before she stood, she glanced under the car where she saw something else. Lying flat on her stomach, she got a closer look. It was a little plastic, green army guy. She stood and saw Ben was still there playing on his phone.

“All done? Did you find her under there?” He asked without looking up. “How about you let me buy you breakfast?”

“Go fuck yourself,” she said as she pulled out her phone and called for a crime scene unit. It took about thirty minutes for them to arrive. Once they took over the scene, Julie went to find the manager. He had just arrived a little while before. As she walked into the club, loud music was blaring, but the place was totally empty. It smelled like cheap perfume, liquor and feet.

The manager was in an office at the back of the club.

“You Sid?” she asked.

“That’s me honey. You here for a job?” He asked looking her up and down. “No doubt you got the body for it.”

“I’m a cop. You’d called about your missing waitress?”

“Oh, Carla? Yeah. Her car was still here when I left last night and this morning. It’s not like her and her phone is off. She’s a nice girl, you know? So I figured I’d call just in case something happened.”

“Did she leave by herself last night? Like did you see anyone follow her out or anything?”

“No, a few of us were still here, she cashed out and left. We usually have security walk the girls out, but there was a problem with some guys last night and she didn’t wanna wait.”

“Any chance she left with someone else? A guy from the club or anything?”

“Nah, nothing like that. She hates it here. I keep her around because she’s hot and the customers love her. But she thinks we’re all disgusting.”

Julie didn’t comment, but she could easily see where Carla was coming from.

“Did you find any like clues or anything? I saw that big police van pull up outside.”

“There’s a small bloodstain next to her car, but I don’t know if it’s hers or not.”

“What? Are you serious?”

“I saw some cameras on the light posts in the parking lot,” she said. “Where do those feed to?”

“Oh, nowhere…those haven’t worked in years,”

Figures.

“Did you or anyone else see anything at all out of place last night? Any strange cars? Anyone with kids?”

“Kids? What do you mean kids?” He asked.

“Kids, as in children, little people who grow into big people.”

“Yeah, yeah but no, I didn’t see anyone with any kids around here. Carla left, a few other girls left after her. When I left her car was still there. I didn’t think much of it at the time. But when I got here and saw it was still here, I thought something might be wrong. You really found blood out there?”

“Ok, thank you.” Julie said, ignoring his last question. She headed back outside to check on the crime scene techs. They had most of the parking lot roped off. Ben had left thankfully. The crime scene guys would be awhile yet. She figured before anything else, she needed to go take a shower to wash the Chesty Chola off herself.

Chapter 2

Carla woke up in a daze. Her hands and shoulders cried out in pain as she gathered her senses. Looking around, she was in some kind of warehouse, but it was totally empty, except for her. Her hands were tied above her to a pipe and there was duct tape over her mouth. It was starting to come back to her now…the little boy wearing the mask in the parking lot.

Someone had struck her on the head, but she’d never seen him. She had no idea where she was or exactly how she had gotten here, though as the fog cleared it began to dawn on her. She had been kidnapped. She looked back up to her hands bound to the pipe. Trying to move her legs, her feet were duct taped together as well. Looking down at her feet, she could see the tape around them, except it was unusual; the duct tape around her feet was pink with butterflies all over it.

Why abduct someone and tape them up with kids designer duct tape? Her question was soon answered when the door swung open. A man stepped inside wearing the same Guy Fawkes mask as the boy had been wearing. He wasn’t a large man, maybe a little taller than her, with a medium build. He was also wearing a black hoodie and gloves. As he approached her, two others came in behind her.

One was another person in the same outfit, only a little shorter. This one was a girl, she didn’t have her hoodie up, and so her dark ponytail was exposed. The three of them stood around her in a semi-circle looking her up and down. The man walked over to her and ripped the tape off her mouth. It hurt as the tape pulled her skin and tore off her face. She began crying once she could open her mouth.

“Why are you doing this? Please? Let me go? What do you want with me?” She sobbed.

However, they responded only with silence. The man walked over to a small cart and pulled it over toward the others. On the cart she saw a blowtorch, pliers, several types of saws, a hatchet and knives. Panic instantly took hold as she realized exactly what their intentions were.

“No!” she screamed. “No! Please! Let me go! Somebody help me!” They ignored her as she screamed. She still felt dazed from the blow on the head. This couldn’t actually be happening. Who were these people? And what kind of monster has his kids do something like this. The one was just a little boy. The girl was a few years older. He was turning them into monsters. She knew in a few moments, she would be in extreme pain. She closed her eyes and tried to push the thought out of her head.

When she opened them back up, the man was taking a knife from the table. She didn’t know what kind other than it was long and sharp. The man knelt down next to the boy and pointed the knife at her, making a cutting gesture up and down, and then handed him the knife. The boy approached her with the knife. As he stood at her feet, he looked up at her.

Through the mask, she couldn’t even see the boy’s eyes, just blackness. The boy paused while the man walked up to her with a large scissors. He grabbed her shirt and cut it off her, then her bra. He then cut off her shorts and panties, leaving her naked before the little boy.

“Please! Stop it!” She cried as he cut. She tried lifting her legs to struggle away, but it only put a greater strain on her wrists, sending pain shooting up her arms and shoulders. Once her clothes were off, the man tore them away and tossed them into a pile in the corner. She noticed there was a whole pile of clothing in the corner.

“No! Please! No” She cried immediately realizing the clothes were that of past victims. The little boy was looking at her body, up and down.

“Kid, please! You don’t have to do this. You’re just a little boy. You should be playing! Please.” Even with the mask and getup she thought he’d almost look cute if he showed up trick or treating on Halloween. But today there was nothing cute about him.

Ignoring her, the boy took the knife and walked behind her. He ran the knife gently up and down her legs, and against her buttocks, but not hard enough to draw blood.

“Please! No! No! No-no!” she tried to squirm away as the boy bent down and slashed through her Achilles tendon on her left foot. She howled in pain as blood sprayed onto the boy and along the floor. The boy ran around to the front looking up at her, watching her scream in pain.

“Why? Why are you doing this? Please?” Still no answer. He ran behind her again, and cut the other Achilles, as she let out more screams. Pain shot up her legs, through her whole body. She lurched forward and vomited. As the boy watched, he jumped up and down, looking at the other two and clapping.

The man then came over and cut her hands free. Unable to use her feet, she toppled face first onto the concrete floor. Looking up, she saw the three of them standing over her. The girl was holding the blowtorch, and the man holding the hatchet. Carla closed her eyes trying to forget the pain, as she knew they were just getting started.

Chapter 3

The Mask watched her slither across the floor as blood oozed from the back of her legs. He called himself The Mask when in his uniform. His other self was weak, and pathetic. The Mask on the other hand was strong and powerful. People feared The Mask. They screamed and ran when they saw him. The Mask was his true self. Now he was teaching his children the craft.

Some would say what he did was cruel or murder. But it was not. It was art. Not so much the final product, but the process itself was a dance; a unique dance between killer and victim. One that must be done with careful precision for it to be right. The important thing was the silence. There could never be words spoken. You don’t communicate with your victim. The victim was meat.

This one lay on the ground sobbing, trying to crawl away. His son had done him proud, cutting exactly where he’d taught the boy. Now it was his turn. As the girl crawled and sobbed, he walked behind her with the hatchet and knelt down, grabbing her calf with one hand, and hacking her leg off at the knee with the other. Her screams drowned out the squishy, crunching sound as he hacked away. After several whacks, the leg was off completely.

He held it up and showed it to the kids as the woman continued to scream and cry. His daughter walked over with the blowtorch and sealed the wound before she bled too much. The woman thrashed and kicked about, but the man held her in place. Once it was sealed, he took the severed leg over to the boy and poked it at him, teasing him with it. The boy giggled, which was the first sound he’d made all night.

The woman had stopped screaming. The Mask walked over and examined her and saw she was still alive, only passed out. He sat the bloody leg down, walked to the other leg and did the same thing to that leg, hacking it off at the knee. The woman had shot awake as he hacked into her leg, screaming again. His girl also sealed that wound with the blow torch.

As The Mask was walking toward his son, the boy picked up the other leg and ran toward him. The Mask held his leg out like a sword with one hand as his boy did the same. They danced around play sword fighting with the severed legs. The boy giggled again as they played, poking and swatting at each other with the limbs.

The Mask looked at the girl who was watching them. She almost looked amused at the spectacle. They walked over to a table in the corner and slid it to the center of the room. The two kids brought chairs over and sat down a few feet in front of the woman. The Mask held one of the legs off to the side as the girl fired up the blowtorch. He held the leg over the flame, rotating it around until after a minute or two, there was a pop and crackle of cooking meat. The leg turned golden brown as he placed it on the table, and did the same with the other leg.

Once both were cooked, the kids took their place at the table. The Mask took one of the big knives and carved one of the legs as if he were carving a turkey, slicing off long pieces of meat. He gave the kids each several slices. They all lifted their masks just slightly and began to eat. This was an important part of the ritual. While the prey was nothing but meat, their flesh was still sacred. It was necessary to eat the flesh of the prey, so they might gain strength. Plus, this prey will now always be a part of them.

Once they finished the meat, The Mask sliced up the other leg. This time he got up with a handful of the cooked flesh, walked over to the woman who was still on the ground sobbing. He grabbed her by the hair, offering her the meat. She closed her mouth and pulled away. He tried to shove it into her mouth, but she wouldn’t open. He looked at his daughter and jerked his head in a quick motion. The girl grabbed the blowtorch and stepped behind him, straddling the woman. She turned on the blowtorch, touching the flame to her buttocks. As expected, the woman screamed.

He shoved the meat into her mouth and pressed it shut with his one hand on top of her head, the other pressing in her jaw. It took a few minutes, but little by little she swallowed the meat. There was no real purpose to this, other than The Mask got a kick out of watching them eat their own flesh.

Once that was done, he started on the next phase of the ritual. Grabbing the hatchet again, this time he grabbed her arm and hacked it off at the bicep. She screamed and cried as he hacked the arm off and as the girl sealed it with the blow torch. He went and hacked off the other one as well letting the girl seal off that one. This time, he stacked the two limbs onto the table.

Walking over to the cart, he replaced the bloody hatchet with a large knife. The woman continued to scream but she was completely helpless by now.

“No, please! No more! I can’t take anymore! Just kill me, please!” She cried and sobbed, but none of her tormenters paid her any attention. The man came over behind her, straddled her back as he grabbed a handful of her hair, pulling her head back. He reached up with the knife, and sliced through her forehead, scalping her, cutting and tearing the top of her head off and all her hair attached to the skin. He held up the hair and handed it to his daughter.

The woman continued screaming and sobbing as the girl took the scalp and placed it on her head. She mockingly brushed it out of her face, still covered by the mask. She walked back and forth like a model on the runway, tossing the scalped hair to the side. The boy jumped up and down again clapping. The woman lay on the ground sobbing silently. She had stopped begging at this point. The Mask was glad, since the begging would do no good. He was proud of his children. They would make good Masks one day themselves.

Finally, he reached down with the knife and pulled her head back by the chin. As he did so, he began cutting along her neck. The woman gagged and gurgled as blood sprayed all over the floor. In a few moments she was silent as he continued cutting away with the knife until her head rolled away from her body. The Mask rolled it toward his son, who began kicking it along like a soccer ball.

His daughter ran over and attempted to make a soccer-style steal but the boy got passed her, and kicked the head hard, sending it sailing into the wall, where it split open. Blood and brains poured onto the floor. The boy looked at The Mask, and held his hands out, shrugging his shoulders. The Mask gave the boy a thumbs up as he went back to work on the woman’s body with the knife.

Chapter 4

Eddie Mason pulled the minivan into the garage and let the door close behind him. It was early in the morning, but he saw the light come on in the house as soon as he pulled up. The kids were both asleep. He woke them both up, as he slung his rifle over his back and grabbed the large cooler from the back of the van.

“Brandi, help your brother in please,” Eddie said.

“I’m tired. Can’t he just walk?” She scoffed.

“We’re all tired. You don’t have to carry him, just guide him in.”

She rolled her eyes and helped Jeffrey out of his booster seat. He stumbled along next to her as she held him by the shoulder, following Eddie inside the house. As Eddie stepped inside, his wife, Margie was standing in the kitchen with her arms crossed.

“So how was the trip?” She asked.

“It was good. We got one. I cleaned it out in the field, so we’ll have meat for a while.”

“We’re going to eat one of those nasty boar things?”

“They’re hogs, just wild hogs. They eat the same things regular hogs do, but this doesn’t cost anything.”

“It’s still disgusting. You can cook it. I’m not eating that shit. And I really don’t like you taking the kids on these hunting trips. What if one of them gets shot?”

“They’re not going to get shot. They don’t even handle the gun. We camp, we have a bonfire, and they watch me shoot a hog and clean it. They love it.”

“I don’t like it. And that thing stinks. I can smell it from here. You going to put that in the freezer?” She asked.

“Yes. I’ll go do that right now.” He said as he walked the cooler into the back. She followed him into the utility room where the deep freeze sat. He opened the cooler and stacked each cut into the freezer. He’d wrapped everything. He had roast, steaks, chops, and several others.

“Why didn’t you take your boots off before coming inside? You’re tracking mud all over the house.” Margie cackled from behind him. “Did you put gas back in the van? I have to get groceries later and don’t want to mess with filling it up.  You know I hate pumping gas. Oh god, that van is going to smell like pig shit isn’t it? Please tell me you got an air freshener?”

He stopped loading as he was leaned over into the freezer and looked straight ahead. He hated being Eddie. Sadly he was Eddie more than he was The Mask. He’d reverse it in a second if he could. Margie hadn’t been like this when they got married ten years ago. She had been fun and enjoyed life. Somewhere along the way, she became angry and bitter. Now she blames Eddie for everything wrong in her life, or anywhere else for that matter.

He wished he could introduce her to The Mask, but that would not be wise. The Mask was smart, slick and stayed below the radar. Killing his bitch of a wife would draw too much attention on him. No, The Mask had to stay secret for now. He knew the kids would be quiet. They couldn’t stand their mom either. That was why he’d stayed. As long as he’s there, she’d focus her anger on him.

“Did you ever call that place about the job you applied for? I mean, you’ve only been out of work almost a year now. It would be nice to not be the only one earning a paycheck around here,” Margie continued. “My god, I should have listened to my mom. She warned me you were a fucking loser. But no, I thought you were this smart computer guy. That’s great if you’re from fucking India!”

He went back to putting the meat away, wishing she would just shut up, but she wouldn’t. She never stops, ever. Finally, he finished putting away the meat and closed the freezer. She was still going on about something. He walked back to the garage and kicked off his boots, put the rifle away in the cabinet and leaned against his work bench, happy that she stayed inside. He would have to schedule another outing with the kids soon.

Margie’s outbursts had been getting worse. They were happening more frequently and lasting longer. He’d asked her before if she’d get counseling but that just set her off into one of her most explosive fits yet. That was the first time she’d hit him or started throwing things. He was amazed he didn’t harbor more rage than he actually did though his excursions as The Mask probably helped a lot with that.

When he cut up the girl last night, he would fantasize that it was Margie. That’s why he took the tape off. He enjoyed the screams, relished it even. Eating the flesh with the kids was an important bonding ritual, one that would always bind them together. It was different than what he had planned for tonight. Eating meat fresh off the prey while they watched was a special feeling.

Although tonight would be special, too; he would make steaks for the whole family. What Margie didn’t know, is she would be eating another human. The thought made him smile. He’d even cook it extra tough, and pray the bitch choked.

Chapter 5

Julie sat at her desk looking over the crime scene photos from the strip club as well as the inventory list of the victim’s purse contents. The girl’s name is Carla Gonzales, 27 year old single mom. She’d been working at The Chesty Chola for a little over a year. Julie shook her head at the club’s name; whoever had named that place needed to be shot. As Julie looked through the contents list of Carla’s purse, there was one item that caught her attention.

Carla’s phone was still in her purse. That told her something was wrong for sure. No woman would go anywhere without her phone. Not on purpose anyway. Someone had to have grabbed her. It was just a matter of figuring out who or why. She took the list and the photos to her captain’s office. He had told her earlier not to waste too much time on a missing persons case like this. Captain Johnson was sitting at his desk pretending to be doing paperwork. She stepped inside.

“Julie, what can I do for you?” He said. He looked like he hadn’t slept for some reason. His eyes had bags under them, and his white hair looked as if it had been pasted into place.

“On this missing person I got this morning…” she began.

“Right, the stripper.”

“She’s not a stripper. She’s a waitress. I was going through the inventory of her belongings. Her phone was still in her bag. Girls don’t just leave their phones if they are going somewhere, especially with a strange guy.”

He took the list, put on his reading glasses, and looked it up and down.

“There was also blood near her purse.” She handed him the photos.

“Hmm, you have a point. You have anything else?”

“No sir. Just these things.”

“Ok. See what you can follow up with. Talk to her family, friends; see if she had problems with anyone. If this was random, it will be hard unless we find a body somewhere. Take Ben with you. He’s worked these cases before.”

Instantly, she felt sick to her stomach.

“Ben? Why would I take him?”

“This is your first case. He’s had experience with this kind of thing.”

“But he’s a fucking asshole,” she said.

He took off his glasses and leaned forward.

“Yes, I know. But he knows his stuff. I’ll talk to him, and make sure he doesn’t give you any shit. Just remember the point here is to find this girl.”

She grabbed the papers and photos back and headed out to her desk. About ten minutes later, Ben came up behind her.

“So how’s it going partner?” He asked.

“I’m not your partner. You’re helping me on this one case,” she said.

“Same thing. So looks like we’ll be working pretty closely together. We should discuss the case over dinner tonight.”

“Seriously, you need to cut that shit out. I’m not kidding. I have no interest in you, at all. Not even a little. In fact, I cannot even begin to explain the depths in which I don’t desire you, like I would rather drink my own piss than have any physical contact with you whatsoever.” She said.

“Damn, you’re harsh. So when do we get started?”

“Tomorrow. It’s been a long day. I’m gonna go home and look this stuff over.”

“Whatever,” he said and walked off. She grabbed her things and headed to her car. She felt exhausted. On the drive home, the weight of the case began sinking in to her. A woman’s life could be on the line, depending on her. She pulled into the parking lot and turned the car off. She walked up the stairs to her apartment, but the door swung open before she could put the key in. Her girlfriend Sarah was standing in the doorway.

“Hey babe!” Sarah said.

“Hey!” Julie leaned in and kissed her. “I thought you had to work today.”

“No, it was slow, so they sent me home.” Sarah worked a local bar and grill, so sometimes her hours varied. No one at the police department knew about their relationship. Despite more and more acceptance toward gays and lesbians, Julie still didn’t feel comfortable about revealing that part of her life, especially with assholes like Ben around.

Julie walked into the apartment and put her bag down. She sat on the couch, kicked off her shoes and put her feet up on the ottoman. Sarah had the TV on already; some kind of cooking show was playing. Julie never cared for those shows, they only made her hungry. Before she could even see what they were cooking, she fell fast asleep.

Chapter 6

Julie woke up a few hours later to the sound of her cell phone going off. It was her text message notification. She looked and it was from dispatch. A body had been found. She wasn’t technically a homicide detective, so she wasn’t sure why they’d call her in. She had a funny feeling about it. It was already late; she had slept for several hours. Looking in the bedroom, Sarah was already asleep. So Julie slipped her shoes on and headed to the call.

It was on the north side of the city at one of the underpasses. She parked behind one of the squad cars and walked through the crime scene tape. A uniformed officer came up to her as she approached.

“So what’ve we got?” She asked.

“Well, it’s a body, or what’s left of one.”  He said.

“That bad?”

“Just go have a look,” he said as he stepped away. “I just wish I’d have seen this before I ate lunch.”

She walked up to the area where they’d set up the spot lights. As she got closer she finally saw it. She wasn’t even sure how they knew it was a human body. It was more of a carcass. It was part of a skeleton, with no head. There was very little blood, the rest of the carcass was bones covered with some loose skin. She pulled on some rubber gloves and knelt next to the body.

All of the organs had been removed…the legs, arms and head had all been severed. Julie wondered if this was Carla, her missing waitress. Maybe that’s why they called her out. The medical examiner was there and walked over to her.

“Crazy shit isn’t it?” He said.

She stood and looked at him.

“Oh sorry. Dr. Trejo. I work with the M.E.’s office.”

“I figured, thank you. And yes, this is horrible.”

“I been doing this for almost five years, this is some sick shit.”

“So you think an animal or something did this?” She asked. “Looks like it has been picked clean.”

“This was no animal. Look at this.” He knelt down and rolled the body over on its back exposing several large chunks of flesh missing. The back of the thighs had huge square chunks cut out, as well as several places along the back. “See what I mean? Someone cut that out. Her blood has been drained, and organs removed. It looks like someone butchered her, literally. These cuts on her back and legs. It’s like cuts of meat.” He explained.

“Jesus. Like someone ate her?”

“That’s the only thing I can think of. It wasn’t an animal that’s for sure.”

“What the fuck?”

“Hey kids! Did I miss the party?” Ben’s voice sounded from behind them.

“Have a little respect dickhead,” Julie said. “This is a crime scene.”

“Yeah, yeah, there’s no one else around.” He looked down at the body. “Damn. Looks like a turkey after Thanksgiving dinner.”

Julie stood to face him.

“Seriously. Do you offer anything to any investigation at all? Or are you just comic relief? That can’t be it, because you’re not funny.”

“Hey, take it easy. Gotta have a sense of humor on this job, especially looking at shit like this. So what is going on?”

She filled him in on what Dr. Trejo had explained.

“Holy Christ. You mean like cannibals? Do we have those here?”

“I wouldn’t say that just yet,” Julie said. “But it could look that way. I think we need to keep this between us for now. Can only imagine if it leaks there is a possible cannibal running loose. People will be talking Leatherface and shit.”

“Oh God,” Ben said. “Yeah, good idea. Not bad for a girl.”

“Go fuck yourself,” she said walking away, pulling off the rubber gloves. She found the uniformed officer she spoke to earlier. “Hey, officer, who found the body?”

“Some homeless guy. Said he was sleeping when someone pulled up and dumped it.”

“Did he see who it was?” She asked.

“Yeah. He said it was the devil.”

Chapter 7

Eddie sat in the living room watching the late news. It had only been a couple of days since the last hunt, and he was already craving it again. As he sat on the couch, sipping on an ice tea, it came on the news. He sat up when he saw it. They found the body. The reporter looked horrified as she described the scene though she gave very few details. He figured they would. The police won’t give out too much to the public.

Watching the cameras around the scene, he could see people standing around all looking scared. Good. It’s about time someone feared him for a change. Though it wasn’t him they feared at all. It was The Mask. He longed to be the Mask again. It’s as if it was calling his name.

“Eddie!” Margie called from the bedroom, startling him out of his trance.

“What?”

“Don’t forget to take the trash out!”

“I already took it out!” He said.

“That’s what you said last time, and you forgot to do it. The can is already full!”

“I took it out already!”

“If you forget this time, I’ll beat your ass.”

He stood and walked to the bedroom.

“Do you have to say shit like that? Threatening to beat me up?” He asked her from the doorway. She was lying in bed watching TV.

“What are you gonna do about it? Hell, I know I could kick your ass. You’re just a pathetic excuse for a man. You got a tiny dick too.”

He shook his head and walked away. She wasn’t like this when they first met or got married. He wasn’t sure what exactly had happened to her. Gradually, over the years, she got angrier and angrier, with that anger the nastiness came out. All of it directed at him. Sometimes the kids, but she usually flipped out on him, and usually over nothing.

While Eddie knew he hadn’t been the perfect husband over the years, she was just as much to blame for not getting what she wanted out of life. She always wanted him to get a better job, but he had been happy working in IT. He was good at it, and the pay wasn’t great, but good enough. That was until his job got outsourced to India. He hadn’t found a job since.

She was an administrative assistant, but her attitude had gotten her fired one too many times. Now she worked at a convenience store. He’d looked for other work, but with twelve years working in IT, he wasn’t qualified for much else. So here they were. Money was tight, but they managed. It still drove her crazy that she had to work while he stayed at home though he had work of his own to do now.

“I don’t know why you’re walking away!” She was still yelling. “You know it’s true!”

He did his best to ignore her as he rewound the newscast on the DVR to watch his story again. As he watched, in the background he saw something. He saw someone actually. He paused the TV and moved in for a closer look. Was that a detective? There was a beautiful Latina walking around the crime scene. She had a badge around her neck.

“And who are you?” He whispered while watching the screen. Moving closer, he studied her face. Taking out his phone, he dialed the police department. They had an automated system, after listening to a string of recordings, he finally reached a person.

“SAPD, Sgt. Carter speaking,” the voice on the other end said.

“Umm, yes. About that body they found by the underpass the other day. The one that was all messed up. I uh, I might have some information about that.”

“Ok,” the man said, unimpressed.

“Yes. Um, who is the detective working on that case?”

“One moment sir.” The officer placed him on hold for several minutes. No hold music played though. Just a string of don’t drink and drive public service announcements. Finally the officer came back on. “Sir? That would be Detective Julie Castillo. So any information you have should be directed to her. Would you like her voicemail?”

“Uh, no. I’ll just call during the day. Thank you.” He said and hung up.

He reached next to the couch and grabbed his computer bag and pulled out his laptop. This is one area his IT experience will come in handy. He had some homework to do tonight.

Chapter 8

Eddie sat in the van, looking out the back window. Being Texas, most cars came with tinted windows to withstand the heat. Since Julie Castillo lived in an apartment complex, it made it even easier to blend in. It had only taken him an hour or so to locate her address and even her cell phone number. In this digital age, things weren’t as secure as people liked to think they were. Computer guys like him knew how to protect themselves. But the average person was much more vulnerable than they realized.

He could see the apartment door from his vantage point. It was apartment 202, he figured Julie was at work, but wanted to be here when she got home. This was different from his usual plan, but it would be worth it. The other night was his first time doing the ritual with the kids, they’d watched before, but never went all out with him. And he’d never dumped a body before. But he liked to make things interesting.

Another car pulled up and parked across from him. He didn’t pay it any attention, until he saw the pretty blond woman walking up and go into apartment 202. That’s interesting. Roommate? He watched for a while longer, but his curiosity got the best of him. Fortunately he was wearing one of his old, button-up work shirts. He always wore that when out scouting, in case he gets questioned. He can just say he’s there working on a cable line or something. He grabbed his tablet and headed up to the apartment.

He knew apartment complexes usually all had cable internet, since it was cheaper, and it would only be with one company. Taking a deep breath, he knocked on the door. After a moment, the blonde answered. She was slightly taller than he, with her hair draped over her shoulders.

“Hello!” He said, trying to sound friendly. “I’m with the cable company. We’ve been having some signal problems with the internet. So I just need to check something really quick. It will just take like five minutes.”

“Umm, ok? What is your name? They never said anything about any problems, and its working fine.”

“My name is Tom. And yeah, we got a few calls from the complex, and I was in the area, so just checking a few.”

“Well, ok I guess.” She said, stepping by and letting him in. He brushed past her, looking around, taking mental notes of the living room. The most important things he saw were the pictures hanging up. There were several, they looked like vacation pictures. It was the blonde and Julie together, with their arms around each other. In another they were kissing. So they were girlfriends, even better.

He walked toward the TV where the router was hooked up. Standing there for a few minutes, he pretended to type some things on the tablet. Finally he looked up.

“Ok, all done, we’re good. Thank you for your time. I’m very sorry.” He said.

“Oh, it’s fine. Thank you!” She said as he stepped out. Once he was back in the van, he sat for a few minutes trying to think of how to proceed. The plan was for him to take Julie Castillo and use her for the ritual. But now, Julie has a girlfriend. That changes things. He can make it even more interesting. He sat there for several more hours. Julie came home around 6 p.m. At around 8 p.m. her girlfriend left. She had a nametag on her shirt, so he figured she was at work. Around that same time, his phone started ringing. It was Margie. He silenced the phone, and she started bombarding him with text messages. Finally, he turned the phone off. A little after midnight, the blonde returned and went into the apartment.

That gave him some idea of the routine though with Julie being a detective, she could get called out at any time. He started the van, and pulled out and headed back home. If there were somewhere else for him to go, he’d have gone. No doubt Margie was going to flip out on him when he got home and he was not looking forward to that at all. He also thought of where he was going to explain he was. Maybe this time, he just won’t tell her anything. She’ll scream even more, but she never stops, so he may as well have some fun with it.

As he pulled into the garage, he stopped the car, and thought of a plan. The idea he had wasn’t perfect, but it should work unless someone sees them. If they’re quick enough, that won’t happen. Either way, he smiled as the thoughts poured through his head. In the next few days, he would be The Mask again, and he’d finally be himself.

Chapter 9

Sarah and Julie sat on the couch Friday night watching TV. Julie had been unusually quiet. The case she was working on was incredibly disturbing. She’d told Sarah some of the details that hadn’t been in the media. Sarah shuddered at the thought. Julie had no leads on it though and it was clearly bothering her. They would normally go out for drinks or even hit a club. Tonight, Julie barely spoke. About an hour ago, Sarah’s work called, asking if she could come help work the bar. Julie told her to go ahead.

So they watched TV together, until Sarah got ready for work.

“You sure you want me to go in Jules?” Sarah asked. “I can stay home, it’s no big deal.”

“Yeah, it’s fine.” Julie said without looking away from the TV. Sarah finished getting her things and walked out the door. She hated working at night, but that’s when she got the best tips. It was warm and muggy out as she walked down the steps to her car. She walked in between the cars until she reached hers. Standing there was a boy wearing one of those white Anonymous masks.

She hated those masks, they were really creepy looking. But this was just a little boy. He was wearing a hoodie and gloves. Sarah looked around over the cars. It was almost 10 at night; the kid couldn’t be wandering around like this by himself. She looked around, saw no one else. The boy just stood there looking at her.

“What are you doing kid? Halloween isn’t for a few months.” She said. “You playing some kind of joke?” The boy just stood there looking at her. She wasn’t going to bite, and had to get to work anyway. She opened the car door and tossed her purse onto the seat. Before she could step inside of the car, a hand grabbed her ankle. She looked down and saw a gloved hand around her foot, then a second hand grabbed ahold. She tried to shake it off, and finally pulled free.

“What the hell?” As she turned to the side, the boy was now standing right next to her, but was holding a long rod. It was a cattle prod. Before she could scream, the boy pressed it into her side, sending a sharp jolt through her body. Her legs buckled as she landed face first into the pavement.

The Mask sat in the van, watching from a distance. If anything went wrong, he would intervene, but he didn’t think so. They were ready. Once the blonde, whose name he now knows to be Sarah, fell to the ground, he drove the van up right behind her car. As he pulled up, his daughter climbed out from underneath the car and grabbed Sarah’s arms.

The Mask jumped out of the van, slid the side door open and pulled Sarah inside. The kids both jumped in as he slid the door shut, got in the driver’s seat and drove away. As he drove, both kids began duct taping Sarah though they wouldn’t be doing the ritual tonight. He had something special set up.

It was a twenty minute drive to the farm. The place had belonged to his father. Margie didn’t even know about it. He’d been using it for his rituals for a few years. He was glad he’d kept it quiet. He didn’t want Margie wanting to sell it or use it for something stupid. This place was sacred.

He parked the van behind the main house, next to the old barn. The barn wasn’t too big and he’d reinforced the walls and re-did the inside. Once they were there, he got out, and dragged Sarah inside. She was starting to wake up, as he reached the cage. The cage was a new addition. He’d been working on it for a while, but had slacked off. This past week he got it finished. It was made from chain link, but reinforced with some pipe. It was pretty strong, strong enough for his purposes.

Once she was in the cage, he cut the tape off her and locked the door with a pad lock. The cage was about four feet high and four feet long. So big enough she would fit and can move some, but small enough to keep her uncomfortable. She finally awoke, as the three of them sat and watched her. As she came to, she ran her hands through her hair as she sat up. Looking around she saw all their faces, or their masks anyway. Instantly she screamed.

“Who are you? What is going on?”

The three of them just looked at her. The Mask loved this. The power he held over them. This one would be the most exciting yet. Julie would be the one for the ritual. Sarah was just the bait. Not that he wouldn’t have fun with Sarah, there would be plenty of fun for them all. But Julie Castillo is the true prize.

“Let me go, please! My friend is a cop! She’ll find me. If you let me go now, I promise not to say anything.” She pleaded.

Breaking his own rule, he decided to speak.

“I know she’s a cop Sarah,” The Mask said. “Her name is Detective Julie Castillo. Her phone number is 210-599-8811. I’m going to call her in just a moment. And yes, she will find you. That’s the whole idea. You’re going to bring her here.”

Chapter 10

Julie had dozed off on the couch. She had no idea how long she had fallen asleep, but when she woke up, Sarah had already left for work. It was almost 2 a.m. so Sarah would be getting off pretty soon. She opened the door and stepped out onto the catwalk. The night air was cool, but muggy. Julie stretched out. She could hear music coming from some of the other apartments. Not unusual for a Friday night.

Looking across the parking lot, she saw Sarah’s car. It was parked in the same spot it had been earlier. So where was Sarah? She ran to the stairwell, and down to Sarah’s car. She felt the hood, and the engine was cold, so she hadn’t gotten back anytime recently. The driver’s door was unlocked, and Sarah’s purse sat in the passenger seat. In that moment, Julie felt the life drain out of her.

She thought back to the strip club, the missing girl, Carla and her corpse they found under the highway. Her knees began to tremble as her breathing quickened. She ran back to the apartment, trying to catch her breath. As she got inside, her phone started to ring. It was a private number. Maybe it was Sarah. Maybe someone from work picked her up. Maybe she was just fine.

“Hello?” She said.

“Hello Detective,” A man’s voice said on the other end though it had obviously been distorted. “By now you’ve probably figured out your precious Sarah is missing.”

So much for her maybes; her worst possible nightmare was happening and there was nothing she could do about it.

“Who is this? Where is she?”

“Who I am isn’t important. Sarah is just fine, for now. Whether or not she stays that way is entirely up to you.”

“You better let her go! If you hurt her, I will find you! I will—“

“Detective, you’re not helping. I need you to listen closely. First I want you to know she is unharmed.” The voice said. She heard what sounded like footsteps then screaming.

“Jules! Don’t listen to him! He wants to kill us both! Jules!” She heard Sarah screaming. At least she knew she was still alive.

“Now, you know she’s alive, so I need you to follow these instructions exactly.”

Julie stood with the phone to her ear, trying to hold back tears. She tried to keep herself composed, taking some deep breaths.

“Julie?” He said. “I need to know you’re listening. Sarah’s life depends on it.”

“Ok,” she sighed. “I’m listening.”

“There is an abandoned gas station a few miles south of the city. You need to be there…alone in one hour. If anyone comes with you, or follows you, if you tell anyone else, there will be consequences. Do you understand?”

“Yes. I understand.” She said.

“Good. Once you are there. You will be given your next instructions. This part is very important. When you get these instructions, you must follow them to the letter. Do not ask any questions, do not hesitate. It will not be good for either of you if you do. Do you understand?”

“Yes. I understand.”

“Last thing…do not bring any weapons with you. No guns, pepper spray, or whatever else you cops might use. If I discover any weapons, there will be consequences.”

“Ok,” she said, her voice now shaking. “I understand.”

“Good. I wouldn’t waste any time if I were you.” He said and hung up.

Once the call was disconnected, she began shaking and crying. She had to save her. Sarah was the love of her life. She’d been in several relationships, but none as long as with Sarah. No one got her the way Sarah did. Now she might be gone, and it was because of her, it had to be. Was this the same guy who killed Carla? It had to be. The only thing she could think to do was call Ben. As she ran to her car, she dialed his number. He finally answered after three tries.

“Ben! It’s Julie.”

“Julie? What the fuck? It’s like 3 a.m.”

“He’s got Sarah!” she said.

“Who?”

“Sarah, my g—um, roommate.”

“I didn’t know you had a roommate and who has her?”

She explained everything to him over the phone. She was worried if this guy had her phone number and knew where she lived, could he be listening to her calls too? Did she just doom Sarah by calling Ben?

“Ok, I’ll head that way. I’ll stay out of the way so I won’t be seen. You do what you need to do, ok?”

“Ok, I’m so scared, Ben.”

“I’m sure you are. If this is the guy who did that work we found the other day, we have our work cut out.”

“You think we should call the captain? Bring him on this?”

“I wouldn’t risk it. If we spook the guy, Sarah will be dead, and he’s in the wind.”

“Right.”

“Take some breaths, and get there safe, and be careful. I’ll keep an eye out.”

“Ok, thanks Ben.”

She hung up and started the car, driving into the unknown.

Chapter 11

Ben hung up the phone and got dressed. He still wasn’t fully awake as he pulled on his jeans, shirt and grabbed his gun. He’d never heard Julie sound so frantic. She was usually very in control. On the phone, she sounded like anything but in control. He doubted it was their supposed killer that had taken her roommate.

He got in his car and headed to the gas station she had told him about. It was several miles south of the city. There were hardly any cars out at all. There was an old junkyard further down. He pulled in there and shut the car off. From there, he wasn’t visible from the road, but had a decent view of the gas station. There was an empty field behind the gas station covered in tall grass.

The gas station had been abandoned for a long time, but it remained boarded up. After a few minutes his phone rang, it was Julie.

“Hey,” he said.

“Where are you?” She asked.

“I’m here. I found a hiding place. I’ll lie low in case something goes wrong.”

“Ok, thank you Ben.”

“No problem. Hey, this wasn’t some ploy to get me alone at night was it?” He said, trying to lighten the mood. Though once he said it, she immediately hung up. He shook his head and sat the phone down.

Finally he saw her car pull up and pull into the gas station. He watched as she shut the car off and killed her lights. She remained in the car for a minute, when there was a knock on his window. He turned and saw a face wearing the Guy Fawkes mask in the window. He jumped and screamed as it startled him.

It took him a second to collect his thoughts when he reached for his gun. Before he could reach it, the masked figure swung a sledge hammer into the window, shattering it. Glass fragments stung and peppered Ben’s face as he tried to reach his gun. The car door swung open, and Ben tried to kick, but the masked man grabbed his leg, shoved a cattle prod into his crotch and set it off.

Pain shot through Ben’s groin like he had never known. The shock went through his whole body, laying him out flat as he urinated and defecated all over himself. He could smell his own shit and piss as the masked man dragged him out of the car by his legs. Once out of the car, a black hood was placed over his head and he felt himself being duct taped by his hands and feet.

His mind had gone fuzzy for a few moments, but his head was beginning to clear. Julie! Julie was still at the gas station. If this guy was the same as their killer, what did he have in store for them, or Julie? He became angry at himself for picking such an obvious spot to hide. Though at the time, it didn’t seem as obvious, but he hadn’t taken her seriously. Now here he was.

He felt himself being dragged by the feet. Rocks and dirt cut into his back as he was dragged for what seemed like forever. After several minutes, he was lifted into some kind of vehicle and heard a door slide shut. It was a van.

“Who are you? I’m a cop! What do you think you’re—“ before he could finish, someone pressed the cattle prod against his throat and gave him another jolt. The shock was so hard and unexpected; he bit half his tongue off mid-sentence. Blood sprayed all over his face as his severed tongue lay pressed against his face and the hood. The pain was at least as bad as the jolt to the groin. His tongue and half his face throbbed with pain as the coppery taste of blood filled his mouth. The van started to move as his mind faded until he lost consciousness.

Chapter 12

Julie pulled into the empty station’s parking lot. The place was all boarded up, and tall weeds grew all around it through the cracks in the pavement. She parked her car to the side, but there was no one in sight. After a minute of sitting in the car, letting the car run, she turned the car off and climbed out. She walked around the front of the building, still no one.

As she came around the back, a small boy wearing a Guy Fawkes mask appeared from the field. She looked around, but saw no one else in sight. My God! This guy has kids helping him? The boy walked up to her slowly. He was wearing a black hoodie and black gloves. Once he was a few feet from her, he held out a small bottle.

She looked at him and he shook it slightly until she took it. There was a little note on the side with one word.

DRINK

She looked at the boy and was about to ask him what it was, but remembered the man on the phone told her not to ask any questions. That bottle could have anything in it. Would he poison her? Why would he call her all the way out here just to do that? This was her only chance to find Sarah. Slowly she removed the cap and drank the contents of the tiny bottle. The liquid was sweet, but not familiar. Once she drank it, the boy put his hand out and she handed it to him.

He took the bottle and stood there looking her up and down.

“What? What do you want me to do? Where is—“ She began to feel light headed. Everything started to spin, and as she looked around, she no longer saw one boy with a mask in front of her, but several. Finally the drowsiness set in, she tried to fight it off, but it came on fast and strong, until she was out.

When she awoke, her head felt like she had the worst hangover ever. As her head cleared, she saw someone in front of her. She blinked her eyes to clear her vision. It was a woman, Sarah. She was alive, but tied to some kind of long pipe, with her arms spread out over her head crucifixion style. Sarah was also naked.

“Sarah!” Julie screamed. She tried to move but her arms were tied also. Looking down at herself, she too was naked. Her hands bound to a pipe in the same manner as Sarah’s. Sarah was crying and looking off into space, as if she didn’t know Julie was there. Julie looked around and to her left, there was a man tied to a pipe the same way they were. The man was naked and covered in blood. He looked unconscious.

“Sarah!” Julie screamed again. “Sarah! Can you hear me?”

“Meh!” The man to her left said. He was trying to say something but it came out as gibberish. He was looking right at Julie.

“Ben? What the hell? What is going on?” Julie asked, but all Ben would do was mumble as blood ran out of his mouth. She looked around when a door from the right slid open. In walked a man wearing the same mask as the boy at the station. The boy was with him and also a girl. All were wearing the same masks and hoodies.

“Who are you? Let us go please! What do you want?” Julie cried. The man stood before her looking at her.

“I’m afraid I can’t do that Detective Castillo. I planned this all for you.” He said.

“Why?”

“Because you’re special. I knew it the first time I saw you. No one else has had this special ritual. Only you.”

“What ritual you sick fuck! You’ve got kids here helping you. Me and Ben are cops, you have any idea how many will be looking for us?”

“Yes, I’m sure. Your pal Ben said the same thing right before he bit his own tongue off.” The man held out his gloved hand exposing a folded tissue. He slowly unfolded the tissue to reveal Ben’s severed tongue. Julie screamed at the sight. He walked up to her with the tongue.

“You’ve had a long night,” he said. “You must be hungry.” And he tried to shove the tongue into her mouth. She fought him trying to bite and struggle against him, pinching her mouth closed. He tried prying her mouth open with both hands when the girl took out a knife and slashed down Julie’s side. She screamed allowing the man to shove the severed tongue into her mouth.

He held her mouth closed by the bottom of her jaw and pushing down on the top of her head. She made muffled, sounds trying to spit it out.

“You can either chew and swallow it, or choke on it. It’s up to you.” The man said. They stood there that way for over a minute in a sort of standoff. The tongue was slick and salty in her mouth. It was too large for her to swallow it whole. She tried but felt herself gagging. Finally she began to chew.

It was tough and bloody as her teeth sank into it. It took her dozens of bites through it before she was able to get some of it down. She still felt like gagging at the sickening taste. Bile rose into her throat and mixed with the rest of it. She was able to keep it down before finally swallowing the rest. The man let her go and stepped back.

“There, that wasn’t so bad,” he said. “Now we can get started.”

Chapter 13

The Mask was smiling under his mask. She couldn’t see his smile of course, except for the one permanently on his outer face. Everything had gone perfectly so far. He was so proud of the kids. They had executed the plan better than he could have hoped for. He’d known Julie would bring someone with her. After checking out the area, the junkyard was the most logical place for someone to hide, and he’d been right.

He didn’t care that he’d captured two police. No one would find these two, not until he was ready. Though he was disappointed she disobeyed him. Her cop friend would pay for that, not that any of them were going to live anyway.

“Now Julie,” The Mask said. “I thought I told you to come alone. You must think I’m stupid.”

He could see the fear in her eyes, and it excited him.

“I’m sorry! I was scared. He was just going to make sure I was ok. He wasn’t going to interfere or tell anyone. I swear.” She pleaded.

“Well, I can guarantee he won’t tell anyone. Oh, how did his tongue taste by the way?”

“You are sick!” Julie said. From behind them, Sarah was waking up.

“Julie? Julie is that you?” She asked.

“It’s me sweetie, I’m here. It’ll be ok, I promise.”

“Now Detective, you shouldn’t make promises you can’t keep though I’ll get to you two more later. In the meantime, I need to show you what happens when you don’t follow my rules.” He looked over to his daughter and nodded. She returned the nod and walked over to Sarah and cut her loose. Sarah tumbled to the floor crying. She sat up, rubbing her wrists and looking around.

“Now Sarah, I will need you to help me. My little girl here is going to hand you a tool. I will tell you what to do with it. Do you understand?” The Mask said.

She nodded her head rapidly as his daughter handed her an icepick and stepped away.

“First thing, go over to the guy, take the ice pick and gouge his eyes out.”

“No!” She screamed, throwing the ice pick to the ground. “I won’t do it!”

“Well ok then, if you won’t do it to him, then I’ll do it to your girlfriend here. I’ll gouge out her pretty brown eyes. Doesn’t matter to me either way,” He said as he walked toward the ice pick.

“No!” Sarah screamed. “I’ll do it.” As she picked it back up.

“Sarah,” Julie said.

“It’s ok Jules.”

“You don’t have to do this.”

“I’m sorry. I don’t even know him,” Sarah said. “I won’t let them hurt you.”

Sarah walked over to male cop and held up the ice pick. The Mask looked on, enjoying watching her tremble. While he usually preferred doing the dirty work himself, there was a special pleasure in watching so called “normal” people try to do his work.

Sarah cried as she raised the ice pick up to the man’s face. The guy had passed out but began to stir, looking at Sarah and trying to speak, but it only came out as a garbled moan. The Mask watched as she held the trembling ice pick up with one hand, holding the man’s eyelid open with the other. Moving the ice pick closer, and then she lowered it.

“I can’t. I can’t do it.” She said.

“No problem. I assure you, I’ll have no trouble taking your girlfriend’s eyes.” He said as he took out a pocket knife and unfolded it, turning toward Julie.

“No! No! Please! Don’t do this!” Sarah cried.

“Then do what I ask.”

“Please don’t make me. Why? Why are you doing this?”

He sighed and turned back to Julie.

“Ok!” Sarah said. “Fine, I’ll do it!”

This time, she grabbed the man’s eyelid, lifted and thrust the icepick into his eye. The eyeball made a popping sound as the icepick penetrated it. Blood and fluid sprayed her face as the man let out a howl unlike any The Mask had heard before. Sarah rotated the icepick around and withdrew it. She turned, looking at The Mask and went and pierced the man’s other eye. His screams continued as she rotated the icepick around and pulled it out. She turned around, threw the icepick to the floor, fell to her knees and vomited. After throwing up until the heaving stopped, she looked up at The Mask.

“Now we are getting somewhere,” he said.

Chapter 14

Sarah sat on her knees staring up at her captor. The two kids just stood in the background watching the whole thing. She didn’t know who the guy was whose eyes she just gouged out, but it was the most horrific thing she’d ever seen or done. These people in the masks just kept staring at them. The kids were especially creepy.

“Stand up Sarah,” the man said. “This is no time for breaks.”

She just sat, staring at him. Her body felt paralyzed and didn’t want to move at all. Before she could, the girl walked over to her, and kicked her hard in the stomach. Sarah felt the entire amount of air shoot out of her lungs as pain ripped through her abdomen doubling her over onto her side. She held onto her stomach with both hands, gasping for air as the girl stood over her watching her.

“Haven’t you had enough play time?” The man said.

“Leave her alone you asshole!” Julie yelled. “You’re nothing but a fucking coward.”

He turned toward Julie and walked toward her.

“Well, you really are feisty aren’t you?”

“Fuck you. You think all this makes you some kind of bad ass? You think you’re tough. You’re not shit. How tall are you even? Five-three? Five-five? All you are is a tiny, pathetic little man. When was the last time you even got laid? I bet you wouldn’t know what to do with your tiny dick.” Julie shouted.

The man stood looking at her. Sarah couldn’t tell if Julie had pissed him off or not. She was worried that he’d kill Julie, or cause permanent injury. She noticed the kids were both watching Julie and their dad. Looking a few feet in front of her, she saw the icepick lying there. It was as if the icepick were speaking to her, daring her, tempting her to grab it and thrust it into the teenage girl standing just a few feet in front of her. No doubt the man would cut her to pieces, but the girl was just a kid. But she was no normal kid. She started to reach for the pick, but the girl turned around causing Sarah to pull her hand back quickly.

The man just stared down Julie for a few minutes then turned back to Sarah.

“Ok, are you ready to get up? Or do we have to do some more encouragement?”

Sarah stood slowly. Behind her, she could hear the male cop moaning and sobbing. She couldn’t even imagine the pain she had just caused him. What scared her most was wondering how long it would be before someone was causing her pain. Once she was on her feet, the little boy walked over and took her by the hand walking her back over to where she had been taped up.

Sarah didn’t even try to cover her nakedness. She’d been hanging there or caged naked for so long already, she didn’t even care anymore. The man walked toward her holding a roll of duct tape.

“Ok princess, time to put the kids to bed. Put your arms back up.” He commanded.

She stood there looking away. He took his knife and stuck it in her face.

“I can tape them up, or cut them off, which will it be?”

She put her arms back up as he taped them each back to the pipe, this time it was almost tighter than the last time. He backed away from her looking over his work.

“There we go. That’s enough fun for one night. You kids behave.” He said as he walked out of the sliding door, the two kids following behind him. Once they were gone, she looked over at Julie who was staring at the other cop.

“Jules? Julie?” She said until Julie looked at her. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t want to. He was going to hurt you.”

“It’s ok,” Julie said through her tears. “You didn’t have a choice.”

“You know that guy?” She said, nodding toward the man. He hung there limp, blood oozing from his eyes and mouth.

“Yeah,” Julie said. “His name is Ben, he works with me. It’s all my fault. The guy said to come alone. I had Ben follow me, and they caught him somehow. I should have listened. I need to get you out of here.”

“It’s ok Jules. You didn’t know. You had to try.” Now they were both crying. Sarah tried to choke back the tears. Julie had always been the tough, strong one, but now she needed to be strong too. She took several deep breaths.

“We’ll be ok Sarah. It will be fine. I love you.”

“I love you too baby.”

Sarah tried to think positive, but couldn’t help feel like they had just said goodbye.

Chapter 15

Eddie was almost sad to drive home. It had been such a productive night and the kids had fun. He was so proud of how they had performed. This was a new experience for all of them and they had nailed it. Jeffrey was growing up so fast. He didn’t hesitate to use the cattle prod when it was time. Then Brandi, she kicked the woman in the stomach all on her own and hard too. It was just after 5 a.m. as he pulled up to the house.

There was a strange car sitting in the driveway. He’d never seen it before. A sinking feeling hit him suddenly. They were getting home several hours earlier than planned, but they were all exhausted. He pulled the car into the garage and helped the kids into the house. Both were half asleep. He got them settled onto the couches and went back to the van. Reaching into his bag, he took out his mask and dug through his tools, deciding on a hatchet.

Walking through the house, he didn’t put the mask on yet, he wanted them to see his face. Down the hall and to the bedroom, he slowly turned the knob and pushed the door open. There fast asleep was his wife, Margie, and some guy he’d never seen before. The guy was much younger than he, much more handsome too. He had a full head of hair, not the receding hairline like his own. He was tan and muscular, not pale and soft.

Despite how mean Margie had been to him, he couldn’t stop the hurt he was feeling. They had once been deeply in love. He had tried his hardest to give her everything, only to fail in many areas both personally and professionally. As they got older, Margie had gotten more bitter. She began to blame him for not having more money, for not being happier. He’d shouldered it for a long time, striving to do better.

It was just a couple years ago when The Mask called out to him. He’s seen it in a thrift store of all places. The thick, fiberglass Guy Fawkes mask had caught his eye. He knows it didn’t literally speak to him, but it spoke nonetheless. He’d bought The Mask and his life had never been the same since. Then gradually the mask had taken over more and more. As he stood in the doorway watching his wife in bed with this other man, another part of Eddie died.

He stepped into the room, and shut the door, locking it. He’d shut it hard enough to wake them. Margie sat up in bed.

“What the fuck Eddie? You’re not supposed to be home till noon,” She said.

The man in bed with her sat up, looking surprised.

“Uh, hey man. This isn’t what it looks like,” the man said. Eddie ignored him, just staring at them.

“You just gonna stand there? Aww, look at you, standing there all butt hurt. This is why I fuck other guys. Because you’re such a pussy. Just go sleep on the couch and shut the door when you leave.”

The man in bed with her looked at him, then back at Margie.

“Maybe I should just go,” he said.

“Fuck that. Just lie back down. He isn’t gonna do shit,” she said as she rolled back over.

Eddie slipped the mask over his head and began walking toward them. Margie sat back up wide eyed.

“What the fuck is this? You think you’re gonna scare me now. God, you really are pathetic.”

“Dude,” the guy said. “You’re freakin me out, man.”

He paid them both no attention. Eddie was no longer there, only The Mask. He circled around the bed toward the man, holding the hatchet to his side. The guy just watched him as he got closer.

“Margie, what the fuck is he doing?” The man yelled as The Mask raised the hatchet, slamming it into his forehead. Blood sprayed as the man fell to the side, onto Margie. His eyes were wide open and glazed as he tried to yell, but just made a strange stuttering sound. The Mask withdrew the hatchet and hacked at the man’s head and face several more times until what had been his head was nothing but a mangled piece of meat and bone at the end of his neck.

Margie began screaming as the man lie partway on her. Chunks of his hair, flesh and skull were in her face and hair. The Mask grabbed her by the hair and dragged her toward him, hanging her head off the end of the bed. He brought the hatchet down straight onto her face just as she was screaming. Her scream stopped and was replaced with a garbled grunt, then a gurgling sound as he hacked away until she was silent.

He surveyed the room, surprised her screams hadn’t woke the kids. The two bloody bodies on the bed were lying in a heap. You couldn’t even tell they’d ever been human. He stood, using the sheet to wipe off the hatchet. A feeling of peace and relief swept over him. No more sneaking around, no more trying to explain things, and no more having to listen to her constant bitching. The Mask had killed her. He knew with those final blows, the last of Eddie had died as well. Now it was just The Mask.

Chapter 16

Julie looked at Ben, who was just hanging there, slumped over. She couldn’t help but feel pity for him, along with guilt. It was her fault he was there. She’d never liked him, and he was always an asshole. Yet when she needed him the most, he came to help. Now he was hanging there near death, blinded and disfigured.

“Ben?” She said. “Ben? Can you hear me?”

After a few minutes, Ben slowly lifted his head.

“Mmhmm” He said, his head moving from side to side, trying to figure out where her voice was coming from.

“I’m sorry Ben, I’m so sorry. I had no idea.”

He let out another grunt and hung his head once again. Across from her, Sarah was looking at her, crying. Julie began wiggling her wrists around, as her weight had been hanging on the tape, she’d felt it stretching. Her hands felt numb, but she kept wiggling her hand, feeling it gradually loosening little by little. They’d only wrapped it around her wrists, so she was able to flex her biceps for leverage.

Finally, she got her right wrist loose. She reached up and started undoing the tape on her left wrist.

“Yes Jules!” Sarah cried. “Hurry! Hurry!”

Julie finished undoing herself and ran over to Sarah. Her arms and shoulders ached, as if she’d just done a thousand pull ups. Her hands and arms were shaking as she worked the tape until Sarah was free. Both of them were still naked and cold, but at that point, they didn’t even notice. They just wanted out of there. Julie ran to the door where the man and his kids had left through. It was a sliding metal door. She grabbed the handle and pulled. It wouldn’t budge.

“Shit!” She yelled. “It’s locked.”

“Are you sure?” Sarah asked. “What if we both pull?”

“It won’t help. They locked it from the outside. We need to find another way out.”

“Fuck!” Sarah said. “I don’t think there is another way.”

“There has to be.”

They walked around the room, feeling along the walls for any doors, cracks or any kind of opening. However they found nothing. Julie pounded and clawed at the walls, but they were solid concrete. Sarah came over to her as she was pounding against the wall, her fists bloodied from hitting the concrete.

“Hey, don’t do that. We’ll find a way out. There has to be.”

She looked at Sarah and felt more love for her than she’d thought possible. They had met when she had been in the academy. She had met Sarah through a friend who worked with her. Right away they both knew there was something special there. They started dating shortly after and had never looked back. Though she now felt that had Sarah never met her, Sarah would be safe at home or doing something she loved. Not stuck here, naked in some psycho’s torture chamber.

“Jules, what are we going to do when he gets back? If we can’t get outta here, and he sees us loose like this?”

“I know, baby, I know.” They both sat back against the wall. Sarah leaned up against Julie who held her. Sarah reached up and held her as well. She knew when the man returned, they would experience pain like neither of them had ever known. The least they could do was give each other as much comfort in the meantime.

Chapter 17

They had both dozed off, but Julie wasn’t sure for how long. She looked around and saw their tormenters hadn’t returned yet.

“Sarah, wake up!” Julie said. “I have an idea.” Sarah looked up at her and she began to explain.

“We’ll position ourselves on either side of that door. When they come back, the dad usually comes through first. As soon as he walks through the door, I’ll jump him. Once I have him down, you run. Just blow past the kids and run. Don’t let them zap you with those cattle prods, just get out of here.”

“What about you?”

“If I can break away I will. The important thing is to get you out of here. That guy looks like a tiny little bitch. Without his mask and tying people up, he can’t do shit, I guarantee it.”

“I don’t want to leave you,” Sarah said.

“Listen to me; you have to do this, ok?” Sarah looked away from her. “Ok?”

Sarah looked up at her and nodded.

“Good, we’ll get through this baby.” She kissed Sarah’s blood, dirt and sweat caked forehead. They slowly stood and got into their positions. Sarah took the left side of the door, Julie took the right. They waited for what felt like an eternity, when Julie finally heard footsteps. Her heart rate picked up as she heard the clanging sound on the other side of the door, then watched as it slid open. She had to resist the urge to charge through too soon.

Sure enough, the man came walking through first, and Julie didn’t hesitate. She dove at him, taking out his legs, knocking him to the ground. She straddled him, grabbing his hooding along the sides of his head, and began slamming his head into the concrete floor. He grunted and cried out as he struggled against her, but she had taken him totally by surprise.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sarah run through, knocking the girl over and running past the boy. She checked the man quickly to see if he had any weapons, which there were none on his person she could find. She slammed his head one more time before she saw the boy coming toward her with the cattle prod. She spun and knocked it out of the boy’s hand and grabbed it off the floor. She gave the boy a jolt with it, then the dad, watching them both flopping and twitching on the floor in those stupid masks might have been comical in other circumstances.

She stood and ran out of the room through the door. The girl was gone however, but she kept running. There was a small set of steps she ran up, then a hallway. Once down the hallway, she burst through the door and was outside into the heat. The sun was either just going down, or coming up. She couldn’t tell which. She tried to find Sarah, but she wasn’t anywhere in site.

There was a black van sitting near the building. She ran over hoping the keys were inside, but no such luck. The man probably had them still. She just began running. There was a trail that led to a house then around it. Sarah had probably gone that way too. She took off down the trail, rocks and pebbles cutting into her bare feet. Ignoring the pain, she kept going.

Up ahead she saw someone running, two people. One was Sarah; the other was the little girl not far behind her. Shit! The girl was going to catch Sarah. She heard an airplane flying overhead, a loud one. Looking up, there was a small, single engine plane flying over as if it were going to land nearby. She looked back down the trail at the scene in front of her. Julie couldn’t tell if she had a cattle prod or not. Julie held on tight to hers and tried to run faster, to try and catch them.

There was a loud rumbling sound behind her. It was the van. The guy was in the van, headed straight for her and fast. Fuck me! She tried to get to Sarah before the van got to her, but knew they were doomed. The van sped right up to her and a door swung open hitting her in the back. Julie went flying face first into the gravel. Sharp rocks and stones cut into her naked flesh and she felt her nose burst open as it hit the ground. She must have slid for ten feet before coming to a halt.

She struggled to hold her head up, through the fog in her head, she saw Sarah go down too. She wish he had just ran her over, and hoped he still would. Just turn around, step on the gas and make her a speed bump. End it all now. But she knew that wouldn’t happen. Closing her eyes she heard the van driving back toward her. If she had any strength left, she would have tried to run again, but it hurt to move at all.

The van stopped somewhere near her and she heard footsteps approaching. In front of her appeared a set of man’s boots. She looked up and saw the man standing over her. He was still wearing the mask and looked much taller than he had earlier. She hoped he would just kill her right there. But he didn’t, he just stared at her through that horrible mask.

“That,” he said. “Was very stupid.”

Chapter 18

The Mask was furious. He as angry at the women, but almost equally angry at himself. He hadn’t checked their binds and that allowed them to get free. Julie had taken him by surprise and she was much stronger than she looked. He knew he wasn’t very strong physically, which is why he made sure he always had the upper hand using any means necessary.

When she bashed his head against the floor, it almost knocked him out. Had Jeffery not began tugging on his arm, he may have passed out completely. Fortunately he was able to get to the van and catch up to both of them. He’d make sure it doesn’t happen again. Once they were in the van, Brandi duct taped their hands in front of them. For the time being, they were both tired and beaten down past any point of resistance.

When they got back to the warehouse, he dragged them both out by the hair. Neither of them put up any fight as he walked in, the kids going ahead of him to hold the doors open. He walked faster than either of the women could. When Julie tripped and fell, he yanked on her hair as hard as he could and pulled her back to her feet. She screamed and cried, but he enjoyed inflicting some real pain on her. The plan had been to pace himself but now it was time to inflict some real damage.

Once back into their room, he flung them both onto the concrete floor, watching them tumble and listening to their grunts and screams.

“Now ladies, after such an adventure, you must be starving. I try to keep my guests on a high protein diet. Good for energy.” He said as he turned toward Brandi. Brandi stepped into the room with a long, narrow knife and a metal pot.

“Mister, please. We’re sorry.” Julie said. Sarah lie on the ground sobbing. “We were just scared. We promise we won’t do that again. Please don’t hurt us.”

“Oh, I’m positive you won’t do it again.” The Mask said as he walked over to Ben who was still hanging there moving his head around as if he was trying to look at what was going on. The Mask approached him with the knife and knelt down with the pan. Reaching up with the knife he began carving of pieces of Ben’s right thigh in large chunks. His cuts were clean and precise, careful not to nick an artery. Ben screamed and jerked his body around as the girls screamed as well.

The Mask had a towel he used to soak up the blood as he cut, dropping the pieces of meat into the pan. After several minutes, Ben’s thigh looked like a half-eaten drumstick. The pan was filled with bloody pieces of flesh.

“I must apologize to you ladies,” he said. “I don’t have the time to prepare this the best I usually can. Brandi brought in a small gas grill. The Mask fired the grill up, watching the lava rocks begin to glow. He’d begun laying the meat out across the grill and watching it heat up.

“Mmmm,” he said. “That smells good, doesn’t it ladies?” He looked at them, and got a kick out of their expressions. They were looking on in both fascination and horror.

The meat began to sizzle as the fat dripped off sending the smoke and the aroma through the room. After a few minutes, The Mask used the knife to put the cooked meat back into the pan.

“Here we go ladies. Dinner is served.”

The women sat there crying.

“We’re not eating that,” Julie said. “No way.

“You already ate his tongue. This will taste much better. Besides, I thought you were sorry.”

He slid his mask up just enough, exposing his mouth and took a bite of one of the pieces, and slid the mask back down.

“See? It’s good. Don’t knock it till you tried it.” He handed each of them large pieces of the meat. They just sat there looking at each other. “Eat please.” He said, but they just kept crying. Julie threw hers on the floor.

“Eat!” He shouted, holding the knife just inches from Julie’s face. “Eat, or I will cut up your girlfriend next.”

Julie picked up the meat and took a bite, chewing slowly.

“Now that’s a good girl,” The Mask said. He turned toward Sarah. “Now your turn, eat up. Its ok, there’s plenty here.”

Sarah began eating hers as well. The kids walked over to them, and he handed them each pieces from the pot. They turned away, lifting their masks so they could eat.

“See? Now isn’t this nice?” The Mask said. “We’re having a nice dinner together, like one big family.”

He continued handing meat to both women, and they kept eating. Finally the pot was empty, and the meat had all been consumed.

“There, now that wasn’t so bad was it?” He asked. “It’s good you ate all that. You’ll need your strength because the real pain is about to begin.”

Chapter 19

“Ok ladies,” man said. “First thing we need to do, is make sure you don’t run away again.” Sarah sat on the floor looking up at him, her stomach still settling from their meal. It still seemed like a horrible nightmare especially having to eat Ben’s own skin as her only meal. What disturbed her the most was that it didn’t taste half bad. The idea of what it was made her sick to her stomach. Between the flavor and her own hunger, she almost wanted more. Much to her surprise, the meat tasted like pork.

The two kids were standing alongside their father, the little one holding a bag. Reaching into the bag, the man took out a ball peen hammer.

“Sarah, this is for you. I’m going to make this interactive. I feel that’s a much better learning environment, don’t you?” He sounded way too jovial for Sarah’s liking.

She sat there looking up at him, and looking over at Julie who was sitting up, hugging her knees against her body.

“Now Sarah, this is really simple. What I need you to do is take that hammer, and smash both of Julie’s feet with it. Not just a couple hits either, but bash them up really good.”

“What? No! I’m not going to do that!”

The man looked down, shaking his head.

“Sarah, do we have to go through this again? I’m actually being quite nice. After what you two pulled. I brought you back here and fed you. I should have skinned you both alive, but no. I’m giving you a chance to redeem yourselves. Now pick up the fucking hammer, and bash her feet in. You don’t want to know the alternative.”

Sarah picked up the hammer and crawled over to Julie. She looked at Julie, hoping her eyes would give her some guidance as to what to do. She held up the hammer still looking in Julie’s eyes. She could see the surrender and defeat there. Sarah had never seen that look on Julie and it scared her. Julie was always the tough one, the cop, the one to fight her way through everything. Now she saw nothing but sadness and hopelessness.

“It’s ok,” Julie said. “Do it. You have to.” She said through her sobs.

“I’m sorry, Jules. I love you.” Sarah said as she held Julie’s right ankle with one hand while swinging the hammer down with the other. She brought it down hard, causing Julie’s foot to crack and crunch with each blow as Julie howled in pain. It killed Sarah inside to hear. After a dozen blows, Julie’s foot looked like a mangled piece of hamburger. It was purple and shaped nothing like a foot, her toes hanging off in every direction. Julie lay there crying and screaming.

“Good!” The man said. “Now, one more. Just gotta do the other foot.”

“No,” Sarah said. “Please don’t make me.”

“I’m sorry. It has to be this way,” he said.

Sarah turned and grabbed Julie’s other ankle then hammered away as well. Julie kept screaming and howling as her foot crackled and crunched until it was twisted and misshapen. Once she was done, Sarah dropped the hammer and began to cry.

“Now, save your tears Sarah. You’ll need them for yourself in a moment. It doesn’t look like Julie is in any condition to help out. So my lovely daughter here will do the honors.”

The girl bent down and picked up the hammer. Sarah began to cry and scoot away.

“No! No! Please! Don’t do this!” She pleaded.

“I recommend you hold still. My daughter sometimes does her own thing, and you probably won’t like it.”

Sarah stopped moving while the girl stood over her, and then knelt down. She grabbed Sarah’s ankle, pulling her leg out flat. Sarah closed her eyes, pinching them shut as tight as she could, hoping it would all be over soon. She felt bursts of pain up and down her leg as the girl didn’t hit her feet. Instead she smashed the hammer into her left knee cap. The bone exploded on the first blow as Sarah screamed. The pain was worse than anything she’d ever felt before, hurting so bad she became dizzy.

After a few blows, the girl stopped.

“Fuck! That hurts!” Sarah screamed. “I’m gonna kill you, you little bitch!” Though the voice was hers, it didn’t sound like hers. She was dying on the inside and becoming someone else. She doesn’t even know why she said that, but she did. Before she could process anymore of the thought, the girl began smashing away on her other kneecap. More cracking and splitting of her patella bone as she became dizzy.

She opened her eyes and saw Julie lying there watching and crying. The man and boy stood watching also. She wished they’d just kill her. Why did they have to do all this? Did they get some sick pleasure watching them suffer? As she watched Julie writhing on the ground, something switched on inside of Sarah. Julie was breaking down. No one had ever broken the woman she loved before. She would make them pay for what they’ve done to Julie. That was her last thought before she passed out.

Chapter 20

Ben hung there, listening to the girls’ screams. There was nothing he could do. Since that woman had gouged his eyes out, he had been drifting in and out of consciousness. Between the talking and the screams, he wasn’t sure what was a dream and what wasn’t; the last time he’d been awakened by excruciating pain was when the man started cutting his leg up. He couldn’t see but knew what they were doing. He smelled the grill and heard them eating his own flesh.

Most of the pain had gone though. He felt his sanity slowly slipping away each passing minute. He didn’t know if it was day or night. He even wondered if he was even alive. The feeling in his hands and arms had long gone. The last thing he’d heard was the girls hitting each other with hammers from the sound of it. There was pounding, the sounds of bones breaking and more screaming.

He wondered how long he had left. A few minutes before that, he’d fallen asleep and thought he might be dead. Then the man cut into his leg. He may as well have been a side of beef hanging from a meat hook. That is all he was at this point. He tried to figure out exactly how he ended up in this situation. Not that it mattered at this point. The screaming had stopped a few seconds ago.

“Well,” he heard the man say. “That was boring. They both passed out.”

Ben wished he could say something, anything, but his ability to speak was long gone. He never imagined being trapped inside his own body before, but there he was. Footsteps sounded, getting closer to him.

“And how are you over here my friend?” The man was now just a few feet in front of him. “How was lunch?”

Ben wanted to hurt the man and hurt him badly. But he was helpless to harm anyone. He would try to kick the guy, but he couldn’t even feel his leg anymore. It was no longer even throbbing. It had to still be there, just no feeling.

“I’d say the cat’s got your tongue, but one of the lesbians ate it.” The man laughed an obnoxious, dorky sounding laugh. He heard the guy’s daughter laughing too. Ben had no idea what kind of a sick fuck would do this shit, and bring your kids along. This sick fuck obviously does it.

He heard the man moving closer to him.

“How many fingers am I holding up?” The man asked, mockingly.

Ben took a deep breath, mustering what strength he had, and spit onto the man. He knew it landed from the sound of the splatter. He didn’t know if the guy still had a mask on or not, but took some small satisfaction in his one act of defiance to his captor. Ben knew his mouth was filled with blood, phlegm and bile, and he’d just given this asshole a taste of it.

“Now, I’m afraid that wasn’t very nice,” the man said calmly. Suddenly the man punched him right in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. He gasped for breath when he felt a hand grabbing his ragged leg that had been cut to shreds. There was no doubt it was still there suddenly as intense, hot, pain shot through his entire body.

He could tell all three of them were now punching and kicking him. Ben tried to be strong, but couldn’t keep from screaming, despite his best efforts. Someone punched him hard in the face, as he could feel his nose crunching and blood filling his mouth once again. There was another blow with something hard to his mouth, knocking out his front teeth, and then a second blow knocking out more. He tried to spit the teeth out, but the blows continued, causing him to swallow several of them. He gagged as they went down, cutting into his throat on the way down.

After several minutes, the beatings stopped. He could hear them breathing hard. Ben hung there, clinging to consciousness, wishing he would just pass out again, or die. But he knew that would be too merciful. Mercy was not his friend. After several minutes of listening to them catching their breaths, the man finally spoke.

“Ok, this one is no fun anymore. Plus he’s starting to stink. Sweetheart, I want you to take care of him for me. Can you do that?”

There was no answer, so Ben figured she was nodding.

“Ok, great honey. Use this knife. Now, you’re going to want to cut his throat. You will get blood on you, it’ll squirt everywhere. You’ll want to cut from here, to hear.” He felt the man touching his neck on the right side, and then the left showing the girl where to cut. Ben was actually glad he was finally going to die. He wished he could help Julie and her friend. He wished someone knew where they were, or who this guy was, but he couldn’t. All that was left for him was pain and death.

“Go ahead sweetie,” the man said. “You can do it.”

He heard the girl getting closer to him just before he felt the knife. The girl was good. She made one quick cut right through his trachea. The pain was quick and sharp as he felt the air rush out of his windpipe while filling with blood. He gagged and choked for air as he felt his body twitching, fighting for air. The girl was sure not to hit any arteries, so he wouldn’t bleed to death. He had to go through this last bout of suffering before he was free. He struggled for a minute as dizziness set in, no air left in his body as he finally stopped struggling. Death began to overtake him, as the pain subsided. Finally, he was at peace.

Chapter 21

Sarah groggily woke up, both her knees throbbing in the worst pain she had ever felt. She had been dreaming that she was at the beach in Port Aransas, Texas with Julie. They were running through the surf, jumping through waves and splashing each other. That dream seemed a million miles away as her reality set back in. They were still trapped in this hell, slowly being killed.

Looking around, she saw Julie still asleep. Ben wasn’t faring nearly as well. He was hanging upside down, his throat cut with a bucket full of blood just under his head. Sarah felt her stomach lurch, as she placed her hand over her mouth. After a few deep breaths and looking away, she had regained her composure. In some ways, Ben was the lucky one. He was free of this place. She wanted free too, but not the way he went if she can help it.

She couldn’t straighten her legs at all. Both her knees were swollen to the size of softballs. Even the slightest movement hurt like hell. Doing her best to ignore the pain, she scooted across the floor over to Julie. Placing her hand on Julie’s head, it felt hot, real hot. Shit! She began shaking Julie trying to wake her.

“Jules! Wake up! Julie, come on. It’s me! Please wake up!” Sarah said. Julie started to look around, but was obviously disoriented.

“Mom? Where are you?” Julie said.

“It’s me, Sarah!” Sarah patted Julie’s face, shaking her by the shoulders. She stopped when the door slid open. Standing in the doorway was the girl, still wearing her mask. Sarah waited as the girl stepped in, but she was alone.

“What’s going on? Where’s your dad and little brother?”

“Sleeping,” the girl said. It was the first time Sarah had heard her speak.

“Julie has a bad fever. She’s burning up.” Sarah said. But the girl just stood there.

“If she doesn’t get to a hospital, she’ll die. Look at Ben here. You think this is ok?” Sarah continued.

“I’m the one who killed him. My dad taught me how,” the girl said.

“How old are you?”

“Fourteen.”

“My God. And he’s teaching you to kill like this? You think this is ok? If you help us, I can get you help. I can get you away from him. Julie is a police officer, she can help you.”

“I don’t want to be away from him. He’s my dad. We’re a family.”

“What’s your name?” Sarah asked. The girl didn’t reply. “You can’t tell me your name? What will it hurt? You guys are going to kill us anyway, aren’t you?”

“Well yeah. That’s what we do.”

The girl seriously creeped Sarah out. The guy was bad enough. Here was this teenage girl who should be out texting her friends, playing on Facebook, or playing sports. What she should not be doing, is hanging out in weird ass dungeons torturing and eating people. That’s fucked up shit for grown-ups, let alone kids. God knows what kind of monster this girl will grow into.

“Will you help Julie at least? I don’t care what you do to me. Kill me now if you want. Just help her, please?”

“Ok, I think I can help her.” The girl said. She walked in and slid the door closed. Walking over to Julie, she knelt down next to her, and held her head in her lap. Stroking her hair lightly, Sarah finally felt some sense of comfort, that at least this girl wasn’t a total psychopath like her dad.

“She has pretty hair,” the girl said.

“Yes she does.” Sarah said, trying not to cry again.

The girl reached to her side and pulled a large knife from a sheath on her hip. Grabbing a handful of Julie’s hair, she began cutting along her scalp, pulling out hair and skin in one big mass. Julie woke with a scream, flailing her arms. The girl rolled her onto her stomach and finished cutting until most of the hair and skin in Julie’s head was gone.

“No!” Sarah yelled. “Why? Why’d you do that?”

The girl stood, holding Julie’s scalp and examining it.

“Cause she has pretty hair,” the girl said. “I want it.”

Julie lay on the ground, still screaming. There were small patches of hair hanging off the back of her head. The rest of her head was bald and bloody as Julie felt the top of her head, trying to figure out what just happened.

“You crazy fucking bitch!” Sarah screamed. “I’m going to cut your fucking heart out. I promise you. You’ll be dead before I am.”

“I doubt that,” the girl said as she walked closer to Sarah. She looked up at the girl, those empty eyes of her mask staring down at her. The girl put the knife back in its sheath, stared at Sarah for a minute and turned her back to her. She looked like she was going to walk away, but she spun around and kicked Sarah in the face. Her nose crunched under the girl’s boot as blood sprayed over her and Julie. Sarah fell backward sending the sharp pain back through her knees. Her eyes watered as her hands covered her face. Once her vision cleared, she could still hear Julie crying, but the girl was gone.

Chapter 22

Captain Johnson walked into the house. The smell of the dead bodies made him want to throw up. It had been years since he worked a crime scene, but for some reason, he was the only one answering his phone. He looked around at the two bodies on the bed. One was male, the other female, both their faces had been hacked to pieces. There was nothing but bloody shreds of bone and flesh where their heads once were.

This was a crime of passion for sure. Well, maybe not passion, but definitely rage. Whoever killed these two knew them, and wanted to annihilate them.

“Hey, Lopez.” Johnson said to another detective in the other room.

“What’s up Captain?”

“You see Castillo or Sylar? Both their phones are off. You heard from either of them?” Johnson asked.

“Nah, I haven’t heard anything. Maybe they hooked up and don’t wanna be bothered.”

“Yeah, I highly doubt that.” Johnson said as he laughed. “Any info on these two?”

“Her name is Margaret Mason. Thirty-eight years old. Married to Edward Mason. The guy’s name is Tony Brown. Twenty-four years old, single. His wallet was in his jeans. The home is the Mason’s.”

“So you thinking the husband caught them together?” Johnson asked.

“If I were a betting man, which I am. I’d say that’s exactly what happened.”

“Where is the husband? Eddie is it?”

“We’re not sure. They have two kids too. Brandi and Jeffrey, fourteen and five. They’re gone too.”

“You think he killed them too?”

“Doesn’t look like it. Only sign of anything is in here, and some blood in the other rooms, but that was tracked. He didn’t try very hard to cover his tracks.” Lopez said.

Johnson just couldn’t get over why he couldn’t reach Castillo. Sylar he could see not answering when he’s on call. He’s probably passed out or hung-over somewhere. But Castillo was always on the ball. Hell, half the time, she had her radio on and came in before anyone had to call her.

“Yeah, I can see that.” Johnson said. “Put out an APB on him and the kids.”

“How about an Amber alert?” Lopez asked.

“That’s not a bad idea. Look around, there has to be pictures of him and the kids around here. Let’s get their faces all over. Hopefully they’ll turn up quickly. Find out what kind of car they had too.”

“Got it boss.” Lopez said as he walked out.

Jesus H. Christ. What kind of animal would do this? He wondered if the kids were here when he killed their mom; or if they even saw it happen. On the dresser was a photo of the Mason woman, back when she had a face. There was a man in the picture with her; they were on a beach with their arms around each other. It looked like she was a little taller than her husband. Mr. Mason looked like he was balding and a little thick around the middle as well. Not exactly what you pictured in a vicious killer, but Johnson had seen all kinds.

One of his last cases before his promotion to lieutenant was a little old woman who stabbed her son to death with an ice pick. She stuck him at least thirty times in his sleep. All because he stole her food stamp card. He’d learned long ago to never underestimate the horrible things people will do to each other, especially those closest to them. He was looking at it right now.

As he went outside to his car, there was an older man standing at the end of the driveway, just beyond the crime scene tape.

“So he finally killed her, did he?” The man said.

“Who killed who?” Johnson asked. “And who are you?”

“Oh yeah, hi. I’m Roger, Roger Castro. I live across the street there.”

“So who do you think killed who?”

“I figured Eddie finally killed Margie. She’s a crazy bitch, or was anyway. Am I right?”

“I don’t know if she was a bitch. But yes, Margie was murdered, so was some young guy she was in bed with.”

“Oh yeah. She was real fucked up that way. I don’t even think she liked the guys she brought home. I think she did it just to fuck with Eddie’s head.”

“Did they fight a lot?” Johnson asked.

“Heh, you shittin’ me? They were never not fighting though it was usually just her. She’d run around telling him what an idiot he was. He’d just sit there with his face fire engine red, but not saying a word. I knew eventually he’d lose it if he didn’t leave. Looks like he did.”

“It’s pretty ugly.” Johnson said.

“How’d he do it?”

“Excuse me?”

“How’d he kill her?” Roger asked. He was one fucked up old geezer.

“I can’t go into that just yet. Do you know if Eddie worked anywhere?”

“Oh no. He lost his job almost a year ago, been home ever since. Margie been working but that’s it.”

“Any idea where he’d go? Have you seen him at all last day or two?”

“Nah, I didn’t see nuthin’. I stay inside and keep to myself. Only came out when I saw all the commotion over here.”

Yeah, you sure keep to yourself all right.

“Ok, well thank you for your help.” Johnson said.

“Did he shoot her? Stab her maybe?”

“Have a good day Mr. Castro,” Johnson said before climbing in his car. He decided his next stop would be Castillo’s place, and find out what she is up to. He’d need her help on this one.

Chapter 23

The Mask woke from his nap. It was still early in the morning. Even though he wasn’t wearing his mask, he was still The Mask. Eddie was dead, he died with Margie and her lover. He didn’t waste time hiding their bodies. Sure, the authorities would figure out he killed them. He figured it would take them awhile to find him out here. Even if they did, it was no matter. The Mask feared no one.

Jeffrey was still sleeping on the loveseat. The farmhouse didn’t have any beds, just some couches and some beanbags he’d brought. Brandi wasn’t on her couch though. He looked in the kitchen and checked the other rooms, but nothing. Looking out the window, he saw her, in her mask and everything walking back from the warehouse. She was carrying something in her hand. What…the…hell? He ran outside and met her halfway across the yard.

“What did you do?” He asked.

She pulled off her mask, looked up and smiled at him.

“Look what I got!” She said, holding up the scalp.

“What did I tell you about going in there? You don’t go in alone!”

“Why? They’re so messed up, they can’t do anything. The one just sat there while I scalped the other one. She screamed like crazy, both of them did, it was pretty cool.”

Looking at the scalp, he could tell it was Julie’s by the dark hair.

“Is she still alive?” He asked.

“Oh yeah. A lot of pain maybe, but she’s alive. Won’t need a haircut for a while.”

His anger began to subside. As much as he wanted to be angry with her for disobeying him, his pride in her overcame it. Here was his little girl, coming into her own. She took the initiative, went out there and did what she had to do, all on her own.

“Well, I am proud of you pumpkin. Though I would prefer you’d have waited for me.”

“I know. I just…I wanted to see if they’d fear me as much by myself. You know?”

“Yes, yes I do. Did they?”

“This one was passed out until I started cutting on her. The blonde kept trying to reason with me. She was trying to get me to help her escape.”

“Yes, I told you they would.”

“Yeah. It was weird. She seemed to think you were hurting me too.”

“Never sweetie.”

“What about mom?”

He hadn’t told the kids what he’d done. They were sound asleep when he killed Margie. He had cleaned up and took them back here when they woke up.

“Mom’s gone sweetie. She won’t be coming back. I told you, she wasn’t really like us. She never loved any of us.”

Brandi hung her head.

“Yeah, I guess not.”

“Besides, look at the fun we’re having. We have everything we need here. No school, no mom, no arguing. Just us as a nice family,” He pointed to the warehouse. “With plenty to eat.”

“How come mom never did this with us? She never ate like we do?”

“She never realized the strength and power you can obtain from eating this way. She chose to be like the rest of the walking corpses out in the world. Flesh is the true strength. I wish I had started on it when I was younger. You and your brother are off to a good start.”

“Yeah, plus it’s fun. School is stupid. Everyone there thinks I’m weird. They make fun of me and I can’t do anything about it. Here, I can do something.” She said.

“That’s exactly right. Let’s get back to the house; your brother will be awake soon.”

As they walked back to the house, Jeffrey came running out to meet them, his mask in his hand, bouncing as he sprinted up to them.

“Hey buddy!” The Mask said.

“Hey dad! What are you guys doing?”

“Well, since you are both up, how about we get our stuff and head to the warehouse, only for a little bit. Our friend is probably nice and drained by now. We can use him to get breakfast ready.”

“Yay!” Jeffrey said.

“I thought you’d like that. It might take a little bit. Did you want to help me clean him up?”

“Sure!”

“You can help too if you want to Brandi.”

“Nah, it’s not as much fun after they’re dead.”

Chapter 24

No one was answering at Castillo’s apartment. Her car was gone as well. After the fourth or fifth time he knocked, a woman opened the door in the next apartment over.

“Why you keep knockin’? They ain’t home?” The woman said.

“They?”

“Yeah, that cop lady and her girlfriend. Haven’t seen either of them since Friday.”

“Did they say where they went?” Johnson asked.

“Who’s askin’?”

“I’m Captain Johnson, SAPD,” he said as he held up his badge. “I work with Julie. I haven’t been able to reach her.”

“Nah, they ain’t said nothing to me. I don’t usually talk to them. Just see them hanging out.”

“You said she had a girlfriend? Like a roommate?”

“Nah, they’s lezzies. I’ve seen them holdin’ hands and kissing and shit. They’re both nice lookin’ gals, so maybe they’re onto something. I’m stuck with this loser.” She pointed behind her where Johnson saw a fat, bald man sleeping on the couch. He’d had no idea Castillo was a lesbian. Not that it mattered he supposed. She didn’t look like most lesbians he knew, but come to think of it, he didn’t know very many. He didn’t blame her for keeping it quiet. He could only imagine what kind of shit Ben would give her. Speaking of which, where was Ben?

“Was there anyone with them when you last saw them? Or see any men around here?”

“Nope, nothing like that. I just figured they went away for the weekend or something. Some lezzie love getaway or something.”

“Okay. Thank you for your time.” He said as he walked back down the stairs. He knew they hadn’t just gone on some getaway. Castillo was on call this weekend, wouldn’t be something she’d do. His phone began buzzing in his pocket.

“Johnson,” he said into the phone.

“Hey Captain, Pena here in IT.”

“Yeah, what’s up?”

“They brought me a laptop from that Mason homicide earlier. I guess this was the husbands.”

“Yeah. Sounds right.”

“Well, the encryption on this thing is insane. I guess they said he was a computer geek also.”

“Correct,” Johnson answered.

“Well, I was able to open some of the files. He had in here Detective Castillo’s address, phone number, and all kind of other info on her. Looks like he got into the DPS database.”

“Jesus Christ.”

“Yeah, looks like there’s some other people’s info in here. Why would he have Castillo’s info?”

“Tell you what. Put that stuff aside for now. Get ahold of Lt. Ramos. Have him get you a warrant for her cell phone records and last location of her phone, ASAP.”

Pena’s voice became strained with concern.

“Um, ok, sure. You think she’s ok?”

“Just do it and get back with me. Then keep digging through that thing.” Johnson said as he hung up.

Fuck!

He still wasn’t sure where Ben fit in with all this. Castillo had been working that case with the missing waitress. Maybe the guy who grabbed that girl went after Castillo though that made no sense. She had no leads at all; it was a total dead end. He sat in his car for a few more minutes before his phone rang, it was Pena again.

“What’ve you got?”

“Last place her phone was located was way south of town. I’m texting you the coordinates. I’m texting you the coordinates for the area. She would be within a quarter mile of that tower.” Pena said.

“Ok, got it.” Johnson said as he hung up. Looking at his phone he pulled up the numbers Pena had sent and punched them into his GPS. Starting his car, he backed up and headed toward the location, hoping he could get some answers.

Chapter 25

Julie’s skull was on fire. At least it felt like it. She lay there with her head in Sarah’s lap, her eyes stinging from the blood oozing into them. Sarah had been singing to her for a little bit. She recognized the song, but couldn’t stay focused long enough to listen to it. In her years as a police officer, she’d dealt with many crazy people. She’d often wondered what it was that had pushed them over the edge.

She couldn’t look at her feet. The one time she did, she fainted, as they now looked like a pair of grapefruits sticking out of her legs. She had never known so much pain, didn’t even know this existed. She knew the damage that had been done to her was beyond repair, even if she did make it out alive. At the moment, Sarah was holding her quietly.

“Sarah?” Julie asked.

“Yes honey?”

“How bad do I look?” Julie tried to force a smile.

“You look great babe. You’re always beautiful.”

“Liar.” Julie replied. “Do you think we’ll make it out of here?

“Of course we will. I won’t let them kill you.” Sarah said.

Julie was impressed with Sarah’s strength. Through their relationship, Julie had always been the strong one, the fixer, or problem solver. If the landlord was giving them shit, Julie went and dealt with it. When it was time to buy a car, Julie did the talking. Not that Sarah had no guts, she was just more timid. Julie was seeing exactly how brave this woman she loved truly was.

The door slid open causing both women to jump. All three of their captors were standing in the doorway. The man walked in, headed right for them. Julie tried not to look, but saw Sarah staring him down. However, he walked right past them over to Ben’s body. He cut the body down and signaled for the kids to join him. They came walking in carrying sheets of plastic and a bag.

Julie didn’t want to watch, but she could figure out what was going on. Based on the sounds, she heard the cutting, squishing sound of flesh and tissue being cut and torn. Please God, don’t let them have another cannibal cookout. She clung on to Sarah who held her even tighter as they listened to them cutting Ben’s body to pieces. It went on for several hours. Julie must have fallen asleep for part of it, when she woke up, she saw them carrying body parts wrapped up in smaller pieces of the plastic.

As they walked out, she noticed for the first time they had left the door open behind them. She had no doubt this had been done on purpose. It was his way of taunting them, reminding them of the fact they were both now crippled and helpless to run away. She only had to look at Sarah’s knees to be reminded of how bad off they both were. As their tormenters walked out, the man stopped and looked at them through his mask.

“Bye for now ladies. I’ll be back later with a tasty lunch for you. Need to get some meat on those bones of yours.” He said and slammed the door closed.

At least they got Ben’s dead body out of there. She felt horrible for what they had done to him, and hated seeing him hanging there like a piece of meat. Though that’s all he was to them. That’s all any of them were was meat.

“Jules?” Sarah said.

“What love?’

“I have another idea.”

“Oh God, no. Don’t try to escape, you’ll never make it.”

“This isn’t an escape. At least, not a direct one.”

“Then what’s the plan?” Julie asked.

Sarah went on to explain what she had in mind. Julie listened, or tried to look like she was listening. Her mind would fade in and out, but it sounded like she was really onto something this time. At least it was worth a shot. They were probably going to die anyway. There wasn’t much more pain they could inflict. The two women were so busted up; it had to be soon before they came and finished them off. God knows what they’d do to them before killing them though. Sarah was right. This was the only way.

Chapter 26

Captain Johnson followed the GPS’ directions as he got closer to the coordinates he punched in. He was way south of the city, with a lot of nothing around him. Keeping his eyes open, he hadn’t seen a building or anything for a while. The GPS said he was just a few minutes away. The coordinates were only for the nearest cell tower, so she had been in the area.

To his right, there was an abandoned gas station. He pulled in and drove around the building. Along the back side, he saw Castillo’s car. He stopped and climbed out, looking the car over. There was nothing unusual about it, other than its location. No damage, though her purse was on the passenger seat. The sight of the purse caused him a sinking feeling in his gut.

Johnson had been married three times, and none of his wives had gone anywhere without their purse. He was willing to bet her phone was in there also. He’d have to have a crime scene tech take a look at the car and between Eddie Mason having her name and information in his laptop, and the car being abandoned out there, he walked around the rest of the area with the hope of finding something but saw nothing else that got his attention.

He climbed back into his car and called in for a tech to come take a look at it. They said it would be an hour or so. Shit. Last thing he wanted to do was sit there with the car for an hour. He started the car and figured he’d check the area for anything else out of place. He pulled out of the gas station and drove further down the road.

There was a junkyard on the left a ways down. He drove by there and saw Ben’s car sitting in the drive.

“What the hell?” He muttered as he pulled in. He got out and looked at Ben’s car. First he walked around back and saw his stupid “I’m looking for a nymphomaniac that owns a liquor store” bumper sticker. His car however, wasn’t in as good of condition as Castillo’s. The driver’s window was shattered; the inside of the car was a mess. Not a usual messy car mess, but a spilled soda on the passenger seat and a smoldering cigarette on the floor mat.

“This car yours?” A voice said from behind him. He turned to see an older man behind him.

“Uh, no. I’m a police officer.” He said as he showed his badge. “Did you see anyone near this car?”

“No, I got here this morning and it’s sitting here all busted up. I called the city to come tow it away, and they said I have to wait for the owner first. I was hoping you could come take it.”

“It actually belongs to one of my officers who areis missing. Was anyone around here at all today?”

“Nope, no one. I don’t usually come in on Sundays, but I had to pull some parts for a project of mine,” the man said.

Johnson put his hands on his hips and tried to recreate what happened there. From where they stood, he had a good view of the gas station, Castillo’s car sitting in back. That’s when he started to realize something.

“Shit,” he said.

“What?”

She went there to meet someone, and Ben was her backup. For some reason they hadn’t called it in though. Whoever she went to meet had made Ben, got him and her too. He rubbed his eyes with his fingertips. They could both very well be dead. If this was the same guy who took the waitress, unless he was collecting captives somewhere, no reason they’re not all in a ditch somewhere.

“Hey,” Johnson said. “You know of any homes or properties in the area?”

“Oh, there’s a few. There’s an airfield further south, and I think there’s at least one or two farms out that way. Though the one I don’t think has been in use for a long time.”

“Really?”

“Yep, I’m pretty sure.”

Johnson ran back to his car, jumped in and peeled out of the lane. He may have found the killer and his detectives; question is if they were still alive. He drove south for ten or fifteen more minutes, until he saw the airfield. It was small with only single engine planes sitting around. He wasn’t familiar with it, but it may have been a private airfield. Driving around the field, he saw a dirt road that led back through some trees. He turned the car onto the dirt road and followed it through the woods.

It wound around past woods and trees and finally opened into a large clearing. He saw a worn looking farm house with a beat up structure well behind it. There was also a van sitting way up ahead. As he got closer he took out his gun. He knew he should call it in, but there was no time. It would take almost an hour to assemble ERT. Castillo and Sylar couldn’t wait that long, if they were still alive.

Chapter 27

It was like carving a turkey. The Mask sliced away at the meat as the kids sat around the barbeque pit. He thought of how this is how it should be. Back in the days, their ancestors only ate what they killed. That’s what he was trying to teach his kids. That was the purpose of the ritual; to enjoy the kill and eat it together as a family. Margie had never understood that. She never cared about anything other than what was on TV.

He sliced a big chunk of meat from the torso. It sizzled as fat drained off it. He put it on a plate and kept cutting. Jeffrey and Brandi were getting the table ready and setting up some chairs. The Mask carved up more pieces of meat, enough to fill several plates. There was plenty more to go around. He’d show them how to make jerky later. He carried the last plate to the table and sat down with the kids.

They dug into the feast. They didn’t have much else other than the meat. They had bottled water, and some canned beans, but it was plenty. There was nothing more pure, more wholesome than the meat from the ritual.

“Hey daddy?” Jeffrey asked.

“Yes buddy?”

“How come we didn’t eat mommy?”

The Mask was shocked at the question. He didn’t think they’d known he’d killed Margie, but they apparently figured it out somehow. He looked at Brandi whose face had the same look Jeffrey’s did.

“Why would you want to eat your mother?” The Mask asked.

“I dunno. I thought when we killed people we were supposed to eat them.”

“Not always. That’s why we do the ritual. They must be purified through pain before they are worthy to eat. Otherwise, you may as well eat dirt.” He explained.

“So how come we didn’t purify mom?” Brandi asked.

He was quite impressed at their detachment from their mother. They had always been closer to him, but apparently even more so than he’d thought.

“Well, since we’re on the subject, do you guys know why I killed her?”

“Because she was fuckin’ psycho.” Brandi said, surprising him yet again.

“Well, pretty much yes. The yelling, nagging and verbal abuse was hard enough for me to deal with. But it was worse when she let you guys have it. When I killed her yesterday, she wasn’t alone when we got home. There was another man in there with her.”

“Did you kill him too?” Jeffrey asked.

“I sure did. I did it quick, probably too quick. I grabbed my hatchet and chopped their faces up. We wouldn’t want to eat them. There was nothing good inside them. They would only make us sick.”

Both kids nodded and continued eating. It had taken him a long time and some practice to work his way up to doing the ritual with people. He’d started out with animals a few years ago, and then worked his way up to people.

Once he became proficient with it, he’d started showing the kids. They took right to it. Never questioning what they were doing, always taking as much part as he’d let them. They were growing into their own. They were like him. They were lucky. The kids wouldn’t have to deal with the same trials growing up that he’d had to. Not that they won’t have hard times. But they will be stronger, detached, separate from the others, as they should be.

“How’s the food guys?”
Jeffrey smiled and gave a thumbs up. Brandi just nodded as she chewed. The Mask was about to take another bite when he heard a noise…a car. It was getting closer and louder. They were tucked away in the middle of nowhere. Why would a car be out here?

Chapter 28

Captain Johnson pulled off the road about fifty yards from the house and climbed out. He drew his sidearm and held it to his side as he walked along the tree line. As he got to the house, he saw there was another building behind it. The yard wasn’t well kept at all. By looking at it, you’d think no one had lived there in ages. Grass and weeds were three feet high at least.

As he got closer, he smelled something. It almost smelled like barbeque, but had a stronger odor to it. He reached the front of the house which was old and most of the windows were boarded up. Other windows had ripped screens hanging off them. He kept up against the side of the house, looked into the windows when he could, but saw nothing. He circled around the back of the house. The back yard wasn’t in any better condition than the front though in the back of the house there was a large barbecue pit and some benches sitting around it.

Johnson walked over and examined the barbecue pit. He felt the heat coming from it as he approached. Someone had been there recently, like right before he pulled up recently. Meaning, they knew he was there. Near the pit was a large trash barrel. He walked over to the barrel and looked inside. Upon first glance, he dropped to the ground and threw up. His stomach wretched and heaved his lunch onto the grass and then some. He didn’t want to look again, but had to. He knew he had to be sure.

When he looked again, he confirmed it. Ben’s severed head was looking up at him. Ben’s mouth was hanging open, but the eyes had been gouged out. There were other bones in the barrel that had been picked clean. Johnson wiped his mouth as he looked away.

“Jesus Christ.”

Despite more than twenty years in law enforcement, he’d seen just about everything. However after putting together what he’d just seen, this was completely new. He had never run into cannibals before. He had no doubt that’s what he was looking at. That explained the weird smell from the barbecue pit.

He realized Ben’s remains were in the Barrel, but Julie’s weren’t, which meant she could still be alive. He was willing to bet she was in the other building. Holding his gun at the ready, he walked toward the warehouse. There was still no sign of anyone as he approached. They were probably in the warehouse. Johnson moved quietly through the field until he was just outside the warehouse. The door was closed, but there was no lock on it. Before he went to open it, there was movement out of the corner of his eye.

Coming out from the side of the building was a small boy. He didn’t look very old, maybe five or six. He looked sad. The boy had brown hair and was wearing a Transformers t-shirt.

“Son? Are you ok? Are you Jeffrey?” Johnson whispered.

The boy nodded without saying anything. He had his hands behind his back and kept looking to the ground. Johnson walked over to him and knelt down.

“Jeffrey, are you hurt?” He asked as he looked the boy up and down. “Where is your dad and your sister? Is your sister ok?”

Jeffrey nodded again.

“Where is your dad? Can you help me find him?”

With his right hand, the boy pointed toward the building. Johnson turned his head where Jeffery pointed and looked back at the boy. Before he could turn his head all the way back, he barely saw the small, but sharp pocket knife Jeffrey jammed into the side of his neck, and then quickly withdrew.

Johnson grabbed his neck as he felt the warm blood spraying through his fingers. He fell back and looked up at the boy who was staring at him as he was a fly he’d just pulled the wings off of.

“Why?” Johnson said weakly. “Why did you kill me?”

Jeffrey just shrugged as Johnson saw two other figures coming out to join him. Johnson never got to see who they were though. He became lightheaded as his vision began to fade. In less than a minute, he was gone.

Chapter 29

Julie awoke to the sound of the door slamming open. The pain in her head and feet was mostly numb, throbbing now. Sarah was still cradling her head in her lap, but she tried to sit up as the twisted family of killers came through the doorway. This time, they had someone with them. They were dragging someone in.

The man dragged the body by the leg and stopped in front of her so she could get a good look at him. It was Captain Johnson. His throat had been cut and his clothes were soaked with blood. How did they get at him, and why? Though she wondered if he’d come close to finding them.

“Friend of yours?” The man asked. “He came snooping around our home here. I’m not sure how he found us, but it’s no matter. He’s dead now.”

“There will be more you know,” Julie said, though not believing it herself. “The entire department will be here before long.”

“Oh, I doubt that. If that were the case, he’d have brought them with him. Instead he was all by himself. That tells me he was on his own. I just thought you’d like to see how close you came to being rescued. But I assure you, you won’t come that close again.”

Julie was surprised at her lack of tears. She had no other feeling than coldness and death. There were no more tears left.

“I’d love to stay and chat, but I have some things to take care of. My daughter will stay here and keep you company though. As you’ve seen, she’s quite a hairdresser.”

The girl gave Julie a thumbs-up sign. Julie figured she was smiling, but couldn’t tell through her mask. The man walked out with the boy as the girl took out a large bowie knife and began cutting Johnson’s clothes off him.

“You’re a seriously fucked up little kid,” she heard Sarah say.

“Sarah, shhh! Leave her alone.” Julie said.

The girl stopped what she was doing and looked at Sarah. She began walking toward them. Julie couldn’t help but panic, after the last time the girl had decided to terrorize her by scalping her. She had no idea why Sarah was taunting her.

The girl walked up to Sarah and stood over her. She reared back and kicked right at Sarah’s head. This time, Sarah managed to move and grab the girl’s leg, pulled on it as she leaned forward, and grabbed her other leg and leaned into it, tackling the girl flat onto her back. Sarah screamed in pain as she tried to maneuver on her broken knees. Julie looked on helplessly while Sarah and the girl scrambled for the knife, Sarah being on top of the girl.

She saw Sarah rip the mask off the girl and began punching her in the face. Julie couldn’t see her face. She’d never known Sarah could fight at all, let alone like this. The girl grunted and yelped as she struggled to get Sarah off her, but Sarah was too heavy.

Julie began to crawl toward them, pulling herself as her broken feet dragged behind her. The knife was just out of both girls’ reach. Julie crawled past them reaching for the knife as all three sets of hands struggled for the knife. Julie finally managed to get her fingers around the handle and pulled it toward her. As she rolled onto her side, the girl still grabbed at the knife and got her hand on Julie’s wrist.

Julie tried to pull it away as fear seized her, realizing just how weak she had become, this girl almost ripped the knife right from her hands. Julie pulled it away, but the girl was able to get the knife away from her. Sarah was still on top of the girl and began struggling for the knife. Julie reached out in one last effort to get the knife back.

The girl thrust the knife forward into Julie’s chest. Instantly she felt like someone hit her with a sledge hammer. As the girl pulled the blade out, Julie looked down to see blood squirting from the wound just below her breast. Within seconds, her vision went fuzzy as she rolled onto her back, feeling her body twitch and convulse.

She knew the knife had nicked her heart, at least enough to kill her, and she was in the process of dying. As her life pumped out of her, she managed to get a few words out.

“I’m sorry Sarah. I’m so sorry. I love you.” And she was gone.

Chapter 30

“No!” Sarah screamed as she watched the knife plunge into Julie’s chest. Julie’s eyes went wide as her breath escaped her. She heard her trying to speak, it sounded like she said “I’m sorry, I love you,” before she died. Instead of sorrow, rage swept over Sarah; pure, raw, unadulterated rage.

The girl beneath her didn’t look nearly as dangerous without her mask on. She looked like a typical teenage girl, brown hair, brown eyes, probably even a cute smile. But this kid was a raging psychopath. In an instant, Sarah felt no more pain. The pain in her knees and body was gone; there were no aches, no soreness, and no weakness.

She grabbed at the knife again, and tore it free from the girl’s hand. Holding it up over her head with one hand, the girl’s eyes went wide as she jammed the knife into the girl’s face, through her right eye socket. The girl screamed one of the most horrific sounds Sarah had ever heard.

“My eye! Oh my God! My eye! You stabbed my eye!”

“No shit, you little fucking bitch!” Sarah yelled as she pulled the knife out and went for another thrust into the girl’s other eye, totally blinding her. Sarah rolled off the girl and watched her flail around. The adrenaline still surging through her, Sarah stood on her hobbled knees and pulled the girl up by the hair.

“Time to play you little cunt.”

“No, don’t hurt me anymore! Please!” The girl started to cry, blood and fluid ran down her face as she tried to hold her hands over where her eyes once were. “I’m just a kid. It’s my dad! He makes us do all this, or he’ll kill us.”

“Bullshit. You were having a grand old fucking time.” Sarah jabbed the knife into her side, holding onto her by her hair. The girl cried out again. Sarah pulled her up by her hair as high as she could, the girl continued to scream, and clung to her hands, trying to get Sarah to release her grip. In one quick motion, with her other hand, she swiped the knife down across her face, lopping her nose clean off. More blood sprayed from the new opening as the girl continued to scream.

Sarah threw her to the ground and grabbed her by the hand. She held her right hand to the ground as the girl weakly tried to fight her off. Using the knife, Sarah sawed off each of the girl’s fingers. She cut at the joint, so they separated much easier. As she listened to the girl’s screams, it was as if she were watching herself.

Never in a million years did Sarah think she’d ever be capable of something like this. But after what had been done to Julie and herself, this little bitch deserved every second of pain she was about to receive.

Sarah began to cut off the girl’s other fingers as she cried and screamed.

“God, will you shut the fuck up! For someone who is such a badass killer, you sure cry like a little bitch.” Sarah said.

“I didn’t want to hurt you lady! My daddy’s gonna kill you. He will gut you like a pig and keep you alive as long as possible through it.”

“That may be,” Sarah said. “But you won’t be able to see it.”

Sarah punched the girl in the face, sending her sprawling onto her back. Grabbing the girl by the ankle, she took the knife and severed her Achilles tendon on the back of her leg, causing another round of screaming. While the girl screamed, she severed the other tendon as well. Knowing the girl was alive, but pretty much completely helpless and permanently deformed, she took the knife, stood and hobbled to the door.

They hadn’t locked it since the girl was here. The idiots figured they were totally helpless. Wouldn’t daddy be in for a big surprise? She slid the door open and carefully stepped out. It was quiet in the corridor. As she slid the door closed, she heard the girl’s screams stop. The room was soundproofed, which suited her just fine.

She peeked out of the warehouse door, not wanting to repeat the mistakes of the last time. There was no one around at all. It was still daylight, but looked like the sun was starting to go down. The woods were just a dozen or so yards to the right of the warehouse. Instead of trying to stumble down the lane, she headed for the woods.

Sarah stumbled through the trees and behind some rocks as the pain in her legs began coming back. She was starting to tire as well. Her adrenaline rush from earlier was starting to wear off. From where she was, she could see the house and the warehouse. She settled in behind a large rock. This time she couldn’t run away, she would have to kill them. She knew they would come looking for her. Even if they kill her, she’d make sure to be their last victim.

Chapter 31

The Mask cleaned himself and Jeffrey up and changed both of their clothes. He was so proud of the way Jeffrey took out that cop. The boy didn’t hesitate at all, and showed no remorse. He viewed the cop for just what he was, a rodent, a pest that needed exterminated and he took care of it with ease.

He wondered what was taking Brandi so long. He hoped she hadn’t totally mutilated and killed both girls. She was only supposed to field dress the cop and then hang him up to drain. That should have only taken a few minutes. Once they were dressed, he grabbed Jeffrey and his tools and headed back to the warehouse.

The field was quiet as they walked through. The Mask focused his attention on the front of the warehouse, expecting to see his daughter come out at any moment. He couldn’t explain it, but he had a bad feeling, something just didn’t seem right. By the time they reached the warehouse, Brandi had not come out. He looked down at Jeffrey, gripped the door and slid it open.

“Daddy?” He heard Brandi cry. There in the room was the dead cop, Julie also dead, and Brandi sitting covered in blood.

“Brandi? What happened? Oh my God!” He screamed as he ran over to her. Once he sat with her, he brushed her hair out of her face. Her hair was caked with blood and matted to her skin. He pushed it away and saw her eyes and nose had all been removed. She put her hands up to hug him and he saw her fingers had all been cut off. Looking on the floor around him, he saw Brandi’s severed fingers lying all around them.

“No! No! No!” He yelled.

“Can you fix me daddy? Can you fix me? I can’t see! It hurts, that lady hurt me so bad.”

“We’ll take care of you sweetie, daddy will take good care of you,” he said as he hugged her tight. Jeffery stood in the doorway looking on. The Mask cried for the first time since he could remember. It was Sarah that did this. It had to be. That bitch will pay. She thought she suffered before; she hasn’t even begun to feel what suffering truly is.

Brandi had always been so tough, so strong. She learned everything he taught her, and carried it all out to perfection. Both of the women were crippled, he had no idea how one of them could get Brandi’s knife away unless she did something careless. This was all his fault. He shouldn’t have left her alone with them. He thought she was ready, but she wasn’t. He realized that too late though.

“Please help me daddy? Make it stop hurting. It hurts so bad!”

“I’ll take care of it honey, I’ll take the pain away for you.” He said as he reached down and pulled his hunting knife out of its sheath, holding it down by his side. Holding Brandi for a few more moments, with one quick motion, he thrust the knife into her chest, feeling it penetrate her heart as he thrust it in.

She collapsed into his lap. He held her head as she twitched and convulsed as one last breath escaped her, and then she was still. The Mask leaned down, still holding her, sobbing uncontrollably. His only daughter was gone, and there was no getting her back. In that moment, he wanted to die himself. He wished he could just cut his own throat. But there was Jeffrey. Jeffrey still needed him.

He took a few minutes to gather himself, wiped his eyes, picked up the knife and stood. Without a word he walked outside of the warehouse to find Sarah and make her pay. Once outside, he surveyed the area. Both her knees were broken so she couldn’t have gotten far. There was no way she went down the long driveway, he’d have seen her. He looked toward the woods and figured she had to go that way.

He and Jeffrey headed to the woods as he held the knife out in front of him.

“I know you’re out here you little cunt!” He yelled. “I will find you, and we will cut you to pieces, little by little while you’re still alive! My little girl is dead because of you!”

He looked through the trees and rocks, listening. He thought he heard a stick break to his right.

“I can hear you! Come on out and play! You can carve up a little girl! Why not see what you can do with me!” Jeffrey was climbing on some rocks, and when he reached the top he was about seven or eight feet high. Looking around he waved at The Mask. The Mask nodded as Jeffrey pointed. He could apparently see the girl from his vantage point.

The Mask took soft steps as he worked his way to that direction. He saw another small rock formation several yards away. He figured she had to be behind there. Moving slowly toward the rocks, he held the knife out in front of him at the ready. As he got closer, he slowed his breathing, until he was holding his breath entirely. Adrenaline pumped through his veins as he imagined slicing into the girl’s skin, hearing her scream.

He wanted to remain calm though. She was injured, but she’d managed to get this far. The rocks were right in front of him. He reached out and leaned against the rocks, pressing his back to them. Taking another deep breath, he jumped around the corner swinging the knife out in front him. Though once he reached the other side, there was no one there. He looked back to Jeffrey who was still standing on his perch. Jeffrey just stood there with his usual blank look. That was the worst thing about the kid. He was so hard to read sometimes. He turned to look deeper in the woods, as he turned he barely saw the large rock hurtling toward his face.

Chapter 32

Sarah watched as the man got closer. He still had that stupid mask on for some reason. It had to be hard to see in that thing, she was counting on it. She had seen the boy climb up on the rocks, so she crawled further away behind a tree. Still naked, the rocks and sticks poked and jabbed her skin, but she had to push it aside. She could barely even bend her knees. If she got out of this alive, she wondered if she’d ever walk again.

There were dozens of rocks of various sizes all around her. Without being able to stand, she hoped she could muster enough strength to throw a rock with enough velocity to do any good. She found a rock that was the size of a golf ball. Once he was close enough, she hurled it with everything she had. Fortunately he was only around twenty feet away. The rock hit him hard enough to stun him.

She grabbed another and threw it, then kept firing them as fast and hard as she could. He started working his way toward her as she rolled back behind the tree. She heard his footsteps coming closer as she crawled to some nearby bushes.

“Oh, so we throw rocks now, huh?” He yelled. “Sticks and stones may break my bones! Unless Sarah is throwing them!” He began laughing as he continued toward her. She saw his leg appear just in front of the bushes. Reaching out, she thrust the knife into his upper thigh as deep as it would go. He howled in pain as she pulled it out and stabbed his leg again.

As he fell to the ground, he swiped at her with his knife, cutting her shoulder open. She screamed as the blade burned through her skin, warm blood poured along her shoulder. He leaned up and swiped at her again, this time catching her forearm, though not as deep. There was a large branch lying near them. She grabbed it, pulled herself up on it with both hands, still holding the knife.

Using the branch as a walking stick, she began to stumble through the woods, fighting through the pain of each step. She made it to the field and hobbled her way down the long drive. She saw a car sitting way down there. It was probably the cop’s car who had come looking for them. It was such a long ways away.

She was so tired. Every part of her body ached, especially her legs and knees. Her new cut was burning as well. At one point, she toppled over, falling onto her face. Ignoring the aches and pains, she pulled herself back up. Looking behind her, she saw the man coming, though he was hobbling as well, and his mask was finally off. She still had to move though.

After what seemed like forever, she was only a short distance from the car. However, the man wasn’t far behind her, she could hear him. She tried not to panic, but it was too late, in trying to rush herself, she fell again. This time it didn’t take him long to be on her.

“I got you now, bitch!” He yelled. Her hand with the knife was pinned underneath her. The man grabbed her by the throat and stuck the tip of his knife into her throat, just enough to draw blood. He slid the knife up to her face, and started cutting into her cheek at an angle as if he were peeling a carrot.

“Feels good doesn’t it?” He said. The man was bald on top and had a chubby face. She also just realized he wasn’t very tall. He seemed taller before, but maybe the mask just made him seem more imposing. He was just a pathetic little man. “I’m gonna skin you alive. Then me and my boy will eat you for dinner. You like that bitch?”

As he talked, she worked her knife hand free, little by little. Finally it was free. Without breaking eye contact, she thrust the knife into his side. The man screamed as she pulled it out and stabbed him again, and again and again. He dropped his own knife and slid off her as she rolled onto her side. The man was coughing up blood as she stabbed him again, this time in the stomach, then the chest, then she stabbed him in the neck, repeatedly. His body twitched as blood sprayed all over her face. Finally he lay limp. He was dead.

Chapter 33

She lay flat on her back, taking in deep breaths, the pain still coursing through her entire body. Finally, she found her stick and pulled herself up. Slowly she hobbled over to the car. She was happy the asshole was finally dead. She had never killed anyone before, and felt no remorse at all for what she’d done to him. She didn’t feel sorry for the girl either. They were all a bunch of fucking psychos. Which reminded her, where was the boy?

That question was answered as she got to the car. The boy was there standing by the driver’s side.

“What the hell. Really?” she muttered. She walked up to the kid who just stood there staring at her. At least he wasn’t wearing that creepy ass mask.

“Look kid, your family is dead. You don’t have them for backup anymore. Ok? I’m going to get out of here. So could you just move?”

She didn’t know why she even wanted to give him a chance; he was just as much of a monster as the other two. Maybe since he was little she thought she’d give him the benefit. She pushed him out of the way and started to open the door. He ran up and shoved her, knocking her to the ground. As weak as she was, it wasn’t difficult.

“Ok you little shit,” she said as she pulled herself back up. She stumbled back to her feet and went for the door. This time the boy pulled a knife and pointed it at her.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” She said. “You think you’re going to kill me now? Give me that thing.” She reached for it, but he swiped at her. She pulled her hand away just in time. Shaking her head, she moved the knife from her hand holding the stick into her right hand.

“I tried to give you a chance you little fucker.” She said as she raised it just over his head. As she began to bring it down, she felt something slam into her chest before she’d heard the gunshot. It knocked her flat onto her back, but this time she wouldn’t be getting up. She had been shot, but she had no idea from where or by whom. She coughed as blood gurgled from her throat and onto her naked chest. The boy was still standing there looking at her.

She looked down at her chest and saw the large hole there with blood bubbling out of it. After everything she’d been through. After all the pain, all the fight and all the suffering, she was going to die there, naked in some field with this fucked up kid staring at her. Anger surged through her as she contemplated the unfairness of it all. Neither she nor Julie had ever harmed anyone. They were good people. Yet the last few days of their lives were spent enduring unspeakable torture.

As she looked up at the sky, the sun began to fade. The life drained from her as she struggled for each additional breath, somehow hoping she would suddenly be able to breathe right if she kept trying. After a couple minutes, the breaths got harder and harder to take, and were further apart, until she took one last breath; and she was in pain no more.

Chapter 34

Officer Ray Smith looked through his scope after firing the shot. He saw the woman go down; it was a perfect hit, right in the chest. He keyed the mic on his radio.

“All units, that shot was me. I have a subject down.” He said.

They had arrived just a few minutes before. Captain Johnson’s car was rigged with a GPS unit. They were able to use that to find the location. Smith was part of the Special Response Unit or SRT. They had been briefed there was some officers missing and they were looking for this Mason guy and his kids. He got into position to see this woman covered in blood about to stab a little boy, so he took the shot. His radio crackled back.

“All units, move in.” The team leader ordered. Smith stood on the rocks he had climbed on and jumped down. That was the first time he’d ever had to shoot at someone as a sharpshooter. It was a good shot too, just over 200 yards. He slung the rifle over his shoulder and swung the MP-5 from his back and held it at the ready.

The rest of the team was spread out as they each moved down the lane. All were in full “SWAT” gear, helmets, body armor and armed to the teeth. The first team reached the house as Smith stayed outside with the rest. He stayed focused on the tree line, watching for anyone else that may still be around. There was no movement though. Someone from the house began yelling.

“All clear!” the officer yelled from the house.

They kept moving until they got to the car. Next to the car was the dead woman he’d shot. Being closer, he could see she was naked, though she had so much blood on her, you’d think red was her natural color. Another officer knelt down next to her.

“Jesus Christ, Smith.” He said. “This was one of the victims.”

Smith suddenly felt a knot in his stomach.

“What? Is that one of the officers?” Smith asked.

“I can’t tell, but that lesbian cop’s girlfriend was missing too. This might be her.” The officer said. “Why did you shoot her?”

“There was a kid here. She had a knife and was going to stab the kid.” Smith explained, though he was beginning to feel sick. If he’d killed one of the victims, he didn’t know what he’d do. Once he dealt with the mere fact of killing an innocent person, there’d be investigations, review boards. He could lose his job and even go to prison. The thought made him dizzy, so he tried to put it out of his mind.

Before he could have another thought, he heard crying from inside the car. They opened the door to the backseat and found the little boy curled up, crying his eyes out. This had to be one of the Mason kids. He knew the dad had killed the mom and took off with the kids. He didn’t know why the kid was here in Johnson’s car. Another officer picked the boy up and carried him out, trying to comfort him.

“It’s ok son. You’re safe now. You’ll be fine.” Smith heard him saying as he ran back to the command post with the boy. He got his answer why the boy was in the car a few moments later. Eddie Mason was lying dead a few feet away from the car. He’d been stabbed numerous times.  They cleared the rest of the field and then to the warehouse. As he and his team entered the warehouse, they found the most gruesome site he’d ever seen. Caption Johnson was on the floor, dead and covered in blood. Detective Julie Castillo was also lying there dead. She was not only dead, but she was naked, her head had been scalped and her feet were swollen to the size of softballs.

In the back of the room was a teenage girl lying in a pool of blood. Her eyes had been gouged out, nose cut off and throat had been cut from the looks of it. One officer actually threw up at the site.

“What in the fuck?” Smith said. “What happened here?”

“Some seriously fucked up shit.” Another officer called out. The second team came walking in.

“The rest of the building is clear.” One of them said as the rest of the officers lowered their weapons.

What a mess. Everyone but the little boy was dead, and they had all died horrible deaths from the look of it. Smith took his helmet off and stepped outside the warehouse and knelt down. The reality that he’d just shot and killed the only surviving victim began to hit. He wasn’t sure if he’d be able to live with himself, but for the time being, he was going to have to.

Chapter 35

In the aftermath, Eddie Mason turned out to be one of the most horrific killers in the history of Texas. Police combed through his property and even dug most of it up. They found the remains of more than fifty people. Many of them were matched up with missing persons spanning a period of the last five years. There was evidence that he’d cooked and ate his victims in some bizarre ritual. The national media named him “The Alamo Cannibal.”

No one knows why Eddie changed his pattern that day. Maybe he was bored, or just wanted a new challenge. Often serial killers get cocky after getting away with things for so long. Or perhaps he wanted to be caught or killed, and be released from his own personal hell. Either way, he was gone. He was buried in an unmarked grave at the state cemetery in Huntsville, Texas. Margie and Brandi were buried next to each other in a family plot outside of San Antonio.

Captain Johnson and Ben Sylar were posthumously awarded the San Antonio Police Medal of Valor. They were buried with full police honors. The mayor, police chief and governor of Texas spoke at their funerals. The motorcade to their gravesite was over three miles long. Children and adults all lined the streets holding candles to give them a hero’s send off.

Julie Castillo and Sarah Howard were buried together per each of their wills. Julie’s family had never accepted her lifestyle or Sarah. Sarah’s family had been more receptive. Though in death, both families came together and made sure the two ladies would go to their final rest side by side.

Officer Ray Smith was cleared in the shooting of Sarah Howard. There wasn’t much of an investigation. They officially reported Sarah was dead on their arrival and listed her as another victim of Eddie Mason. They didn’t want the embarrassment of a victim being killed by their own officer. Ray was quietly transferred out of the SRT unit and sent to patrol the local high school. However, for him it wouldn’t be so easy to forget. Three months after the shooting, he took his own life using his service weapon.

Jeffrey Mason never spoke a word since he was found by police. None of the authorities so much as suspected any of his involvement in the crimes. As far as they knew, he was another victim of Eddie Mason’s. They tried to have him interviewed by officers, therapists and psychologists. No matter who they put in front of him, he didn’t utter a sound.

The court decided he couldn’t add any new information to the case, and it was probably best to let him forget as much as possible. His name was changed for his own safety and he was placed into the Texas foster system after a short stay in a local group home. To this day, his whereabouts are unknown.

Epilogue

Allen, Texas Six months later….

Heidi Higgins was late getting home from work. Her husband, David would be working late, so she had plenty of time to start dinner. She pulled in to the driveway and grabbed her purse from the car. She had called earlier to check on the kids. Kendra, her babysitter said all was well. Kendra had been a great find.

As a senior in high school, Kendra loved coming over right after school to look after the kids. The kids all loved her and she was cheap, so it worked out for everyone. She didn’t know what she would do without her. As she got out of the car, her phone rang. Heidi pushed the “answer” button as she put it to her ear.

“Hello?” She said.

“Hi, Heidi?”

“Yes?”

“This is Mrs. Williams, I’m Kendra’s mom.”

“Oh hi! I’m just getting home, so I’ll have Kendra back to you in a few minutes.”

“Ok. Is everything ok there?”

“As far as I know, why?” Heidi asked.

“Well, Kendra isn’t answering her phone. I’ve been trying for the last half hour or so.”

“Wow, well I haven’t gone inside yet. But I just talked to her like an hour ago.”

“She usually always answers.”

“Ok, well I’m going in the house right now.” Heidi said as she turned the key in the lock. Stepping inside, her nine year old daughter, Candice was on the couch watching TV.

“Hey mom,” Candice said.

“Hey, where’s your brother?”

“He’s not my brother mom.”

“Candice, we talked about this, he’s just as much a part of the family as the rest of us.”

“They’re in his room. Kendra said they were going to play some stupid game.”

“Ok,” Heidi said. “You hear that?” She said into the phone. “I’m sure everything is fine.” She walked to the back. When she opened the door to Johnny’s room, she dropped the phone. Blood was everywhere. There were little blood handprints on the walls, bloody footprints on the floor. Heidi tried to catch her breath as she looked and saw Kendra’s body on the bed.

She had been cut open down the middle of her torso. Her skin was split open and displayed her ribs and abdominal cavity. Intestines and entrails were strewn about the bed, dangling to the floor. Behind her, Johnny looked up smiling. He was holding a large kitchen knife, his face and arms were covered in blood, and he was chewing.

The End

Special Preview of Tim Miller’s Upcoming Novel

Chapter 1

Robby hated this drive. In their entire trip to and from California, the longest and most boring leg was between San Antonio and El Paso. Hundreds of miles of nothing, not even cell phone reception for much of it. The only radio station that came in was some weird talk radio from God-knows-where. Perhaps being from San Antonio, he was too liberal. But if there was a way to reach in and punch these radio clowns, he would have.

Thank you for joining us on Texas Talk. Now before the break, Burt, you were just explaining your run-in with some spics in the city?

That’s right. Not that there’s any shortage of spics in El Paso, but these ‘uns were a special kind of messed up. They had bandanas on they heads and one had a switch blade. Sumbitch was gonna rob me blind.

That’s no good at all Burt, obviously you made it out ok. Did they rob you then?

Hail no. I had my Colt 1911 on me. I pulled that bad boy out and cocked the hammer back. You shoulda seen them beaners run. You’da thought someone rang the taco bell for ‘em.

Haha! That is great! I tell you Burt, they just keep letting the spics and faggots take over in this here country. I never thought I’d see this here in our great state, but here it is.

“Isn’t there something else to listen to?” Diana asked from the backseat. The four of them weren’t too crowded in the Jeep Wrangler, but the thing rode bumpy as hell.

“This is the only station that comes in,” Robbie explained.

“Don’t you have satellite radio or something?” She whined.

“No, I got my CD’s.”

“No!” Everyone shouted. For a road trip from San Antonio to California and back, Robby had brought a whole four CD’s. Two CD’s were top 40 mixes of songs that had already been overplayed in the last three years. The other two were Tejano music, of which Robby was the only fan among them.

“Just turn it off,” his girlfriend, Misti said as she leaned forward and switched off the knob.

“Oh come on now. What kind of Mexicans are you guys?” Robby asked.

“The kind that don’t like that shit.” Jorge said from the backseat.

“No kidding,” Misti said. “He just started listening to it a few months ago. Some ‘get in touch with his roots’ shit.”

“Whatever.” Robby said.

“Where are we anyway?” Diana asked.

“Somewhere between El Paso and San Antonio. It will be a good, long while before we see much of anything.” Robby explained.

“Is that a house back there?” Jorge said, pointing out the window. Most of them but Robby looked to see a tiny house or shack way up among the rocks and hills. “How do they even get up there?”

“Why? You wanna go visit?” Diana said.

“No way. This area freaks me out. It’s like some Hills Have Eyes shit out here.”

“What’s that?” Diana asked.

“Nevermind,” Jorge said.

“Quit trying to freak me out,” Diana replied.

“No one is freaking out shit.” Jorge answered.

“Cool it lovebirds,” Misti said. “I think we’re all ready to be home. This trip is making us all pissy.”

“I heard that,” Diana said.

“Jorge? Can you drive for a while?” Robby asked.

“Sure, man.” He answered.

Robby pulled the Jeep to the shoulder and climbed out. He’d forgotten how long he’d been sitting in the Jeep’s air conditioning. As soon as he stepped out, the hot blast of humidity hit his lungs like a hammer. It took him a moment to catch his breath. Jorge hopped out of the back seat, walked into the grass along the shoulder and began urinating.

“Jesus Christ dude! You couldn’t wait till we got to a gas station?” Robby said.

“Here’s as good a place as any man. My bladder was about to burst anyway.”

“Yeah yeah.” Robby said.

Misti and Diana had gotten out to stretch their legs as well. Misti was holding up her cell phone playing with it.

“This sucks. I haven’t been able to check my Facebook for hours.” She said.

“Oh God forbid. You might have to talk to…ohh! People!” Robby said waving his hands.

“Shut up, asshole.” She said as she put her phone away. Robby pulled her to him and kissed her.

“Get a room you two,” Diana said. “And I got shotgun.”

“You can have it.” Misti said, as they all climbed back into the Jeep in their new seats. Jorge strapped himself in and pulled back onto the highway.

Coming in 2014

Also by Tim Miller

The Hand of God

Revenge of the Three

Dark Exorcist

Blood Slayer

Hell, Texas  (Coming soon)

About the Author

Tim Miller has studied various religions, as well as psychology and has worked in several fields involving the study of human behavior. After serving four years in the U.S. Marines, Tim spent six years working in corrections and social services. He currently lives in San Antonio, Texas with his wife and their children.

Tim became a fan of horror as a teenager. At the age of fourteen he would often read Stephen King books while listening to Iron Maiden on his head phones. He would write short stories to entertain himself and his friends. You can visit Tim's website at http://timmiller.org

Table of Contents

- Copyright
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Prologue
- 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
- Chapter 17
- Chapter 18
- Chapter 19
- Chapter 20
- Chapter 21
- Chapter 22
- Chapter 23
- Chapter 24
- Chapter 25
- Chapter 26
- Chapter 27
- Chapter 28
- Chapter 29
- Chapter 30
- Chapter 31
- Chapter 32
- Chapter 33
- Chapter 34
- Chapter 35
- Epilogue

- Special Preview of Tim Miller’s Upcoming Novel

- Also by Tim Miller

- About the Author