Page 252 of Mayhem and Minnie

There’s a faint sound of pain but not much else. They’re still trying to get a look at Minnie.

I smash their faces again. And again.

I smash them until I hear the bones crack, until their faces are bloody and disfigured. And when that’s still not enough to get them to stop looking at her, I grab one of the larger shards of glass off the floor.

The first is Mickey. He did say the nastiest things, didn’t he? So as he’s looking at my Minnie, all battered and bloodied but still conscious enough to be enamored by her, I dig the glass into his eye socket and carve out his left eye.

I dump it to the ground before I do the same to the other.

Only when his sight is gone does the spell break and his cries of pain begin anew. But while he’s writhing on the floor, I apply the same treatment to Crew.

Left eye first, right eye second.

Their chorus of agonized screams are like a symphony to my ears.

Minnie is rooted on the spot, staring at me.

I wink and smile at her.

Grabbing the almost limp-from-pain bodies, I dump them atop dead Drew.

“Get in the car,” I tell Minnie.

Digging through their pockets, I find a lighter. Given the alcohol on the ground and the fuel nearby, this should do the trick. I flick it open and throw it next to the bodies.

A small flame erupts, slowly growing bigger as it encounters other things to consume in its path.

Before the fire gets out of control, I get behind the wheel and drive the van out of the gas station.

Minnie’s quiet.

She’s not looking at me.

“Was all that necessary?” she finally asks, half an hour into the drive.

She bites her lips in uncertainty as she fidgets with her hands in her lap.

“What? You’ll have to be more specific.”

“I get that you beat them up. They were rude. I also get that you defended yourself when they pulled a gun. But did you have to…” She swallows. “Did you have to mutilate them, too?”

We drive by a forest, and I pull the car off the highway, seeking cover among the thick foliage.

I stop next to a gathering of tall trees. There’s no beaten bath in the forest, which means it should be a safe area to stop for the night—with no other unwelcome surprises. I need to replace the number plates too since I have no doubt that sooner or later someone will put a BOLO on the van. Since we’re leaving this world—if everything goes as planned—I don’t have to be as careful with the coverup as before. But I also can’t let us get caught while we still have work to do.

As I stop the engine, I turn to look at Minnie.

“Was it necessary to smash their faces?” I ask in a bored voice.

She nods.

“No. But I wanted to.” I shrug. “Was it necessary to dig out their eyes? No. But I wanted to.”

“But—”

“We agreed on something, didn’t we, Minnie?” I let my lips curve up in a smile.

She frowns.

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