Page 6 of Don't Speak
“WHAT THE FUCK, MAN,” he screams, fighting against the restraints I secured him with to the metal chair he sits in. “Who the fuck are you?”
“I’m the man whose woman you put your hands on,” I tell him matter-of-factly. “No one touches what ismine.”
“Who? Nikki? The bitch never mentioned having a boyfriend.”Crack.The sound of his nose giving under the pressure of my fist is music to my ears. By the looks of it, it seems as though Nikki fought back. My little lioness is a fighter.Good. I love it when they fight back.
“FUCK YOU,” he screams, his nose gushing dark crimson liquid. He tries fighting the restraints around his wrists and ankles, but again, it’s no use.
“Watch your mouth,” I growl.
“Please. Please, man. Just let me go. I won’t say anything. I won’t touch her ever again. Just please. Please let me go.” The severity of his situation seems to kick in, and he starts crying. “Someone, help me!” he screams.
“Now those words sound familiar. You didn’t seem to mind when Nikki was screaming them. There’s no use, though. No one can hear you. There’s no one around for miles.”
His crying intensifies, a mixture of tears, blood, and snot running down his face. It’s pathetic, really.
Walking over to my kit, I grab my knife from its sheath and walk back over to him. I had removed his shirt to make this easier for me. Slowly, I drag the blade up along his collarbone, leaving the most beautiful slice. It’s not too deep, but it’s deep enough. I want to make this last.
“You see, Eric. You signed your death warrant when you put your hands on my woman. I can’t just let you walk after that.” I drag the knife up his stomach, eliciting more screams from him. “I’m sick of men like you, thinking you can prey on women, thinking you can hurt them for your sexual pleasure. I heard what you told your friends at the bar. Filming, huh? You sick son of a bitch. Don’t worry, I’ll eventually come for your friends. They can join you in the fiery pits of hell.”Slice.My knife cuts clean through his left nipple, and he doesn’t have time to react before I remove the other one.Slice.
Blood pours from the open wounds, his screams echoing off the metal in the warehouse. It really is quite the symphony. Placing the knife up against his dick, the screams suddenly go silent.Yeah, I thought that would do the trick. “Should I remove this next?” I ask, digging the knife just a bit deeper into his pants. He vigorously shakes his head no. “You’re lucky I have somewhere to be; otherwise, I’d chop it off and make you swallow it.” Yanking my arm back, I lunge it forward, plunging the knife straight into his heart. His eyes widen, life slowly draining from them. After a few minutes, he goes limp. I wait a bit longer before pulling the knife from his chest.
This warehouse used to be a corn processing plant. It hasn’t been used for several decades, but the grain bins are still accessible. Undoing his restraints, I wrap him up in plastic wrap, toss him back over my shoulder, and trek to the bin just outside the warehouse in the back. Opening the door, I toss him in. With the heat like it has been, it should heat up the bin, causing him to decompose a lot faster than normal. He’ll be bones by the time anyone finds him.
Packing up my supplies, I toss them back in the car and head back into town. I have an interview to make it to in a few hours.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Seven years old
It’s Saturday morning, and all the best cartoons are on. Throwing my blanket off my body, I excitedly jump out of bed and head for the living room. Turning on the TV, I pick my favorite cartoon—Courage the Cowardly Dog.
Tip-toeing to the kitchen so I don’t wake up Mommy and Sean, I pour myself a bowl of cereal. My favorite right now is Lucky Charms. I don’t tell Mommy that I mostly just pick out the marshmallows. If I did, she’d probably stop buying it.
Quietly making my way back to the living room, I pull the top of the coffee table up toward me, place my bowl down, and slide onto the couch.
Fifteen minutes later, I finished my bowl of cereal and the episode of my show. That’s okay though, because up next is Dexter’s Laboratory. I push the coffee table back down and sit back on the couch, pulling the blanket over me and snuggling with Bode, our dachshund. He’s my best friend, and we’ve grown up side by side.
Another ten minutes pass, and I hear the door to my parents’ room open. Sean is the only one who walks out, making his way toward me from down the hall. He never wears a shirt in the house, always wearing just his boxers. I think it’s gross.
He and my mom got married six months ago. He makes me call him Daddy, even though I already have a dad. He gets angry when I don’t. I hate it. I hate it so much, but Mommy says I have to or else he’ll get mad. I’ve seen Sean when he gets mad, and he’s evil.
Sean walks over to the couch and sits down next to me. “Good morning, Nikki.”
“Good morning, Daddy,” I respond, the word feeling icky in my mouth. I shift in my seat, trying to scoot further away.
He doesn’t say anything else to me. He just sits there, staring at me.
I get lost back in my cartoon, laughing when Dexter’s sister always ruins his experiments and destroys his lab. I start to readjust myself on the couch to get more comfortable when a quick movement catches my eye.
I freeze. I don’t know what he’s doing, but I know it’s wrong. I shouldn’t be able to see that. Mommy always said boys shouldn’t see girl parts and girls shouldn’t see boy parts, so why does he have his boy part out of his underwear?
My heart starts racing, and I’m starting to feel sick. I don’t want to be here. I don’t want this. Tears start to form in my eyes, and my throat feels like I have a rock stuck in it. Does Mommy know? Where is she? Why isn’t she awake? Why is he doing this? I think I should go get Mommy.
I start to get up, but I’m quickly pulled back down to the couch. “Ouch. That hurts. You’re hurting me, Daddy,” I tell him, suddenly feeling something I don’t feel too often. I’m scared.
“Shh. Don’t speak. You will stay on this couch and do as I say. If you scream or tell your mom, I will kill you, and if your mom finds out, I’ll have to kill her, too. You wouldn’t want Mommy to get hurt, would you?” he questions me, and suddenly, the tears that had formed start spilling over uncontrollably. I simply shake my head in response, frozen in place.
“Good. Now sit.”
