“So each time they’d stick a blade in, it was like they were sticking their cocks inside a nice, wet hole. Tell me, Mack—do you feel like a nice, wet hole?”
He stiffens, and I wonder if he recognizes his own words. I don’t care at this point. I just want to see him in pieces, so I plunge a dagger into his left shoulder—the same one he already dislocated. I feel the knife cut through the ligaments and tendons, and I’m fairly certain if I just give his arm a yank, it would come off completely. His body jerks, and he lets out a long, muted cry as he pisses himself. I pull out the knife and cut into his other shoulder.
“Well, isn’t that sexy?” I pat him on the cheek with the side on my blade, leaving a trail of blood on his face. “I know seventeen places in the human body where I can insert my knives and still not kill you. I’m only up to four. I do have to admit, I kinda see the point of those serial killers—those sadistic kinsmen of yours. It does feel damn good watching you squirm around underneath me.”
He moans against the gag, but there’s very little breath left in him. I pull the blade out of his shoulder and flip him over. The shift causes the wound below his ribs to open wider, spilling more blood. I move the tip of the knife across his chest and check my aim before I shove the knife deep inside again, careful not to hit any major organs.
“You’re getting all slippery,” I tell him. “You must be liking this.”
He squeezes his eyes shut, screaming behind the gag and thrashing as much as he can. His movements are slower and weaker, but there is still strength in him.
Without warning, the ground starts to rumble. I pull out the knife, not wanting the movement of the earth to make it slip too deep or mangle an organ. I steady myself against the ground, and the rocks jiggle out of their spots in the dirt.
The quake lasts a full minute, but then the earth goes still again. I look back down at my victim.
“You’re shaking,” I tell him. “Am I rocking your world?”
I stab him again and again. There is blood everywhere—too much for him to withstand for too long. Tears flow out of his eyes, and the stench overwhelms me for a moment as he defecates.
By the time I get to eleven, he passes out from the pain.
“Well, there goes my fun,” I whisper to myself.
I lean back on my heels and look over the mess in front of me. He’s still breathing, but it’s shallow. There is blood all over the ground around him, and I’m quite sure he won’t regain consciousness.
My hands begin to quiver, and I quickly tighten my grip on the knives. With a sudden, deep growl, I slice through his neck and let him bleed out.
I roll him to the river’s edge and then into the deeper water. He floats briefly downstream before his body dips below the surface, and I can’t see him any longer. I look down at myself, covered in blood, and try to regain my senses. My vision blurs into nothing but red, and I drop down to my knees by the shore, shaking as tears flow down my face.
“This isn’t me…this isn’t me…this isn’t me…”
My heart is beating too fast, and my breath is coming too quickly. My lungs hurt. I can’t even feel the knives in my hands, so I drop them to the ground and cover my face with my arms as I rock back and forth.
I swallow hard, and memories surface.
“You’re criminally insane, son.”
I stared blankly at my father as my arms were tethered behind me by two burly men in white coats.
“What, for disagreeing with you?”
“It isn’t the disagreement. It’s your unwillingness to shut up about it,” he said. “You’re dangerous, and you need to be somewhere safe.”
“Dangerous?” I would have tossed my hands up in protest, but they were already secured behind my back. One of the men tightens his grip on my arm painfully. “Are you afraid I’m going to hurt your ratings?”
“You are only hurting yourself.”
“People have the right to know! They have a right to know what you’re doing to secure more land and resources! You can’t just kill people and call it civic duty!”
“You can scream all you want,” he said to me, “but it doesn’t change anything. You’ll be treated well at Havens.”
“Havens?” I felt my skin go cold. He couldn’t possibly be serious. Since the death penalty was outlawed, Havens was where they sent the worst of the worst criminals from all up and down the East Coast.
“They’re already expecting you.”
“Do I at least get a trial?” I glared at him, throwing his own campaign words about a fair and righteous justice system in his face.
“A trial?” He laughed and shook his head. “You think you’re going to get an opportunity to blast me publicly? No, son. I don’t need that kind of scandal during an election year.”