Category : Stories

Sub Category : Horror

By most standards, one would say the room was quiet. For me, it was maddening. The purr of the ceiling fan, the hum of the refrigerator, the blinds rapping against the window as it danced with the breeze. 

So many different sounds echoed in my head incessantly, driving me to a point I may never return from. I stared down at her waiting for just the right moment. Her eyes dripped of sadness and fear down her pale cheeks, silently pleading for her freedom. Her hands now purple and numb as the tape around her wrists cut off her blood supply. Urine soaked panties, a stench so strong I tweak my nose in response. My stomach turning at the thought of what's to come, I pour the whiskey down my throat, I ignore the sting as I filled my glass again. Fighting for the courage needed to finish the task, when all I wanted to do was run. 
She has been my best friend since the second grade, and now she lay helpless on the floor watching me, waiting in fear for me to take my turn.
 Staring at her long brown hair now a tangled mess, takes me back to earlier before this hell began. 

"Come on, it'll be fun and Brad will be there," she said with that smile I could never resist. 

"But what if my parents hear us? They will tell your parents and we won't be able to go to the concert." I said trying to talk some sense into her. It was pointless, there was no stopping her once she got her mind set on something. 

She sat on my bed combing her long hair. I always envied her, she was so full of life, and not to mention beautiful. All the boys liked her, she was an early bloomer and had developed boobs before anyone else, so she caught all of their attention. Me on the other hand, I didn't need a bra until seventh grade, not to mention my glasses and braces. Even though I spent most of my life in her shadow, I loved her and would do anything for her. Because of that, we are now here stuck in this hell.

Part of me wanted to be angry with her, because if she listened to me in the first place we would still be at my house swimming in the dark like we had so many times before. 

The sudden shock that sent ripples of pain burning through my body shook those memories away. The collar would go off if I didn't follow the rules of this sick game. I stood up, knife in hand and walked towards my best friend who was laying on the carpet. Everything she wanted to say was in her eyes, she knew what I had to do, and she was giving me permission. She hated seeing me in pain each time the collar went off.

Weak and shaky, I walked over to her with heavy feet, sobbing now, I reached down and grabbed her hair in my hand. Her body tensed and her eyes closed tight she waited there expecting the worst. I reached out with the knife and cut off chunks of her hair. 

The rule was to mutilate but not kill, so I chose to start with her hair to buy us some time. I didn't want to hurt her, I just couldn't. 

I dropped the knife and hit the floor, this time was more intense than the last round. 
 "I did what you said," I cried. Again, I felt it down my spine and my body was now convulsing on the ground. I could hear her crying out for them to stop. I don't want to hurt her, but I'm not sure how much of this I can take.

"Get up, and try again," demanded the voice coming from a little speaker in the corner. 

The house was small from what we could see. Looking out through the bars on the window, we were far away from home, out in the middle of nowhere. 

When we first woke up we were both confused and not exactly sure how we got here. The last thing we remember was sitting around the fire pit at the ranch. The ranch was an old place out off the main road, we all hung out there on the weekends drinking with our friends. Brad was going to be there, it's really the only reason I agreed to go. Although, Holly can be very persistent with getting me to agree with her plans, so I probably would have went regardless. 
We sat there watching the fire waiting for our friends, when suddenly it all went black and we woke up here. Holly was screaming one second, and then the next she was on the floor, her body violently shaking then it stopped. She laid there sobbing in her own urine. I reached up and felt that same collar around my neck that sent her down in pain. “Holly, are you ok?” I cried. 
There was one bedroom, with two twin beds. The walls were bare, and riddled with cracks in the old paint. All of the windows had bars on them and by looking outside we couldn't tell where we were, nothing was familiar. The house seemed to be surrounded by rows and rows of neatly planted trees, like an orchard of some kind. We must have been here all night, the sun was just coming up. All I could think of was my parents, they were going to be so worried. 
There was a kitchen stocked with food and water, bottles of alcohol and a tiny old table. We searched the place and never found any mail or personal affects to give a clue as to who brought us here. In the living room, there was a little couch, and a chair. Everything was old and raggedy, like it had been here for years. 
The first time we heard the voice coming from the speaker, it asked me to get the duct tape and bind Holly's wrists together. When I didn't comply I dropped to my knees screaming out in pain. Once the shock stopped, Holly begged me to do just do it. She hated seeing me hurt, and I know how she felt. Seeing her writhing in pain earlier was enough to break me. This monster fit us with shock collars to get us to do whatever he asked. There were cameras in every room, he was watching everything we did. We were just pawns in this twisted game he was playing. 
“Take the knife and pierce her skin,” the voice ordered. 
I looked over to Holly, who was still sobbing and scared and she began frantically shaking her head. I looked at her, then reached up to touch the collar on my neck. I knew I only had a few minutes to do what he said or he would shock me. I took another shot of the whiskey and picked up the knife. Holly began kicking and screaming with tears in her eyes. “I'm so sorry, Holly,” I cried as I reached out with the knife, she held up her bounded hands in defense, the knife sliced right through the palm of her hand as well as the tape that held her hands together. Blood dripped effortlessly onto the floor, Holly ran over to the sink and put her wound under the water. I ran over crying and apologizing when my collar turned on and knocked me to the ground. When I came to, Holly was in front of me, this time she was holding the knife. My hands and feet were taped keeping me from getting away. Her hands were shaking and she was sobbing and kept saying, “I'm sorry, Gretchen, I'm so sorry,” then she cut off the tip of my pinky finger. 
I woke up in pain, it was dark out. I sat up and saw Holly asleep in the bed next to me. I held up my hand, my finger was wrapped. She must have done that. I could see blood leaking through the bandage and I knew I had to change it. I slipped out of bed and wandered to the bathroom looking for something to rewrap it in. After it was all bandaged up, I went to the kitchen to get something to eat. My head was pounding and I felt weak and shaky, I can't even remember the last time I had anything to eat. Sitting at the table eating a sandwich I heard a noise coming from the front door. 
Funny, I hadn't noticed that before. There was a mail slot that opened to the outside and someone dropped a letter through it. I got up and opened the letter, it read…
        An eye for an eye, you know what you need to do, if you refuse there will be consequences. 
It effortlessly fell from my grasp and I looked up at the camera, “You sick fuck, why are you doing this to us?” I yelled. “I can't do this, you can't make me,” I shouted, waiting for the collar to go off. Nothing, nothing happened. I wasn't sure what to do, was my collar broken? Had he given up? I stood there waiting for something. I finally gave up and walked back to our room, just then I heard Holly screaming, I ran and saw a man all in black, wearing a mask holding Holly's severed hand. I felt a prick in my neck then everything went black.