Page 43 of The Black Lotus
“Yes, Sharon,fiveand you’re about to make six. Having a serial killer as your boyfriend means you learn a few things.”
“Aster takes after his parents?” She asks in awe as she shimmies her arms, her eyes showing a fear that wasn’t there before. My breaths grow heavy, the anticipation thrumming through me.The tables are turned, you stupid old bitch.
“No use in trying to escape, I took away everything before I secured you.” I motion toward her body with my chin, knowing her skin is sticking painfully to the tape. “And to answer your question, yes; he is the Morbid Monet.”
Her eyebrows disappear into her hairline. “So, the news reports, the rumors that the serial killer going after serial killers being the Morbid Monet are true? And you, of all people, are his sidekick?”
“I’m hispartner; we are equals,” I grit out, taking a deep breath so I don’t strangle her.
Sharon closes her eyes, thinking everything over. “No wonder Cynthia wants you dead. You changed her son completely. Youruinedhim.”
“You’re wrong. We are both who we were always destined to become. Partners in crime, the fox and his vixen, taking out one killer at a time.” I wish Aster was here to see me turn Sharon into nothing. If I know him, and I do, he is on his way here right now. Biting my lip, I glance towards the door.I should wait.
The tape groans, the table squeaking as Sharon continues to struggle. I look down at the woman trying to put on a brave face, but the sweat glistening on her forehead shows me she’s anything but brave. She’s just a scared girl who isn’t ready to die.Too bad; she should have thought twice about trying to end me.
Picking up the needle she was going to use on me, I stick it in the air and press some liquid out. “Is this what you used to make my mother deteriorate? To kill her slowly?”
She turns her head, ignoring my question. I balk at her audacity as I scoff, my nails digging into my palm around the syringe.You’ll regret that.
“You didn’t bring any other weapon besides this needle. You didn’t want to see me bleed?” I ask, cocking my head to the side.
Sharon’s lip curls. “Blood is messy; I prefer a long, painful death, not something quick.”
I slowly slide out the blade, the edge already coated in blood. “Unlucky for you, I love watching my victims bleed.”
Her body trembles as I bring my box cutter to her face, tapping the point against her forehead as I decide where to start. Slicing into the top of her eyebrow, I slowly slice under her eye. Her screams echo as my hand digs deeper, her eye popping under the pressure. The two sounds blending together bring me a sense of calm, washing over my anger and covering it in retribution.This is for Mom.I leave the other eye alone, wanting to see her fear as I slice her up.
“As much as I’d love to cut your whole body, I can only carve the exposed parts and cutting any other piece would free you.” I glide the blade along her wrists. “How long would it take for youto die if I slit your wrists? Shall I start draining you?” Sharon flinches away, the flat end of the blade staying pressed to her.
I bring the box cutter up to her bicep, carving deep into her skin, the word ‘alone’ and adding a broken heart beneath it. I drag the blade across her chest as I walk to the other side, a small red line appearing as the blood slowly drips down. On the other arm, I carve ‘forever’ and a little lotus, my brand forever marking her.
Stepping back, I admire my work. “How many injections did you give my mother?”
Her silence has me grinding my teeth together as I jam the small blade into the eye I already cut, pulling out her eyeball while she shrieks. “I’m only going to ask one more time. How. Many. Times?”
“Ten!” she sobs. “I gave her ten.”
“Perfect, you have just enough.”
“Wha-”
Grabbing her hand, I flatten it against the table and start with her pinky, slicing through her skin. Once I get to the bone, I have to really push, not having the right tools for a clean cut. I slice harder, the irritation in me growing at not having my own tools to cause more damage.Guess this will do.
One by one I cut each finger off, her wails becoming almost soothing background noise as I concentrate. When I finish, I wipe the sweat with the back of my gloved hand, admiring what remains of Sharon’s hands.
Tears, snot, and blood coat Sharon’s face, the three liquids making her uglier than her black soul.
“As much as I love hearing you scream, I think I’ll kill you the way you intended to kill my mother.” I read the label in the needle, slowly pronouncing the name. “Xylazine. If I injected all of what you brought, would it kill you? Shall we test that theory?”
Slowly injecting the needle into the side of her neck like Aster taught me, I watch the the liquid disappear beneath her skin. After the first one is drained, I quickly repeat the steps. After the third one, her body spasms, foam flowing from her mouth as her one eye rolls to the back of her head.
After what feels like forever, her body stops moving, the breath in her body ceasing.
She’s dead.My shoulders finally relax, the syringe falls to the floor as my head falls back and my eyes close to savor this moment. I feel like I’ve avenged my mother, freeing my father from a life spent with the one who stole his one true love from him.
Admiring my handiwork, I decide it isn’t enough. This woman who destroyed my childhood, stole years of my life from me.She deserves utter annihilation.
I leave the room I’m in, wandering around the barren home attached to Sharon's kill room. I search but find nothing, huffing an annoyed breath I leave the house and step onto the porch to see a barn. I don’t try to squash the hope filling my chest.There has to be something in there.
