Chaos

As the excruciating minutes went by, Sabah finally found a position in which he could somewhat breath. If he turned his head up just a bit, he would flood his mouth with blood and choke. Turning it down would make it almost impossible to draw in air thanks to being held up by his arms. He was surprised at how well he could concentrate, considering his face felt as if it’d been poured in acid and then left to dry in the desert sun. He’d managed to cope with the blood still flowing down his face, though dizziness from losing so much of it was starting to set it.

     Time passed slowly, his only companion the endless noise coming from the earplugs, which shut out anything else he might have heard. Even under such extreme stress, the one thing on his mind was Nailah. He was afraid to think of what might be happening to her. Meanwhile, he was on a constant struggle just to keep on breathing. He’d no idea of how much time had gone by, and that scared him. Every minute he was alone was a minute Abricci spent with Nailah.

     Sabah kept trying to focus his mind as he used to, but was failing miserably. He knew that if he could only reach the level of concentration he needed, he might be able to get out of the deep s**t in which he now found himself. As it was, however, it was useless.

     He was so fixated on maintaining his optimal breathing position that he almost didn’t feel the fingers running down his shoulders, tendril-like and hot against his cold skin. His hanging arms kept his gaze facing forward, so he tried to twist his entire body, cringing as the waves of pain coming from his stomach coursed through his body. Still, through his swollen eye, he managed to catch a glimpse of a figure cloaked in shadows, standing at a dark corner of the room.

     “Ah, young one…you look so delightful in your helplessness,” said a metallic, tremulous voice. Sabah’s eyes opened wild as he realize the voice had come from the earplugs. “I must admit that I did a fabulous job, though I might have done it differently if I’d had it my way.”

     The words seemed to make no sense to Sabah. He didn’t have time to think about them before he felt the thing’s fingers again, wandering through his ribs and coming up to his neck. They closed around his throat, pressing ever so lightly, as if they were a threat in disguise.

     “You see, I don’t like the whole noise act that I pulled off on you,” the voice said again, and though it was equally confounding, it seemed to be closer. “It serves a purpose, however. I don’t want you to listen to the girl. Oh, just imagining her screams”�"the voice seemed to almost pulse with pleasure�"“feels so deliciously good.”

     “Who are you?” Sabah sputtered, breathing heavily afterwards. “What the f**k are you talking about?”

     “Don’t you recognize me, boy?” taunted the voice, and the grasp around Sabah’s throat drew tighter. “You brought me here, you called me. Not me who is outside with your little friend, but me who isn’t. The only possibility in which your girlfriend doesn’t suffer.”

     The voice had seemed familiar to Sabah, and now he realized over the metallic tinge that it was Abricci’s. But he couldn’t grasp what was going on; the cryptic messages that seemed to make no sense. And the fact that the voice was coming from the earplugs even though Abricci was right by his side made a chill run down his spine.

     “Oh, I’m not really here, you dim kid, but I could have been. And in a few moments, you will wish that I had indeed. Still, I’m doing you a favor by saving your simple little mind,” the voice, as the fingers around Sabah’s throat, were starting to fade away. “One day you’ll thank me…”

     As sudden as he his appearance had been, Abricci vanished, as if he had never been there in the first place. Sabah’s mind was racing to try and make sense of it all, but he couldn’t fit the pieces of the puzzle he’d just been handled. He wasn’t given much time, as light soon flooded the room from the opening door. From the corner of his eye, Sabah saw Abricci enter, shirtless and gleaming.

     “Still alive, are we?” He flaunted, grunting as he stretched his arms and neck. “That is just perfect. I have a little surprise for you, y’know? Can’t wait to show you!”

     Too tired to answer, Sabah just locked his gazer on Abricci as the man crossed the room and let the clasped chain go. The boy fell on the bloodied floor, his legs giving away and bringing him to his knees. His arms fell in front of him, heavy thanks to the chain’s weight. His torturer removed the tapes that held the cotton and the earplugs, but the boy showed no reaction.

     “Hey, hey. Don’t go dying on me now, boy,” Abricci said and patted Sabah on the head, almost affectionately. When Sabah took a deep breath, Abricci sighed in feigned relief.

     “Where’s Nailah?” he asked groggily, blinking repeatedly and swaying his head slowly. Now that he’d been released, he was starting to feel the burden all over his body.

     “You’ll see her in a minute, boy. Here”�"Abricci took a bottle from the fridge, opened it and threw cold water on Sabah�"“to wash out the blood. You look horrible.”

     Abricci sat beside Sabah, sullying his pants with blood and water, and took a deep gulp from the water bottle before offering it to the boy.

     Sabah brushed it aside. “Where’s Nailah?” he insisted, unrelenting.

     Abricci closed his eyes, took a deep breath and, without warning, smashed Sabah’s face against the floor. The boy groaned and put his hands over his face, suffering. Abricci took him by the hair and started pulling him out of the room, eliciting screams of pain.

     “You kids�"” Abricci grunted with effort, “no f*****g respect whatsoever.” Sabah was basked in light as Abricci dragged him into the adjacent room. He felt something wet and sticky come in contact with in his arms and shirt as he was forcefully yanked. “I mean, look at what happened to your little friend here.” Panting, the tall man pulled Sabah up and threw him against the bedframe.

      The once white sheets were completely stained red. Blood still dripped from them, forming a puddle on the floor�"the same puddle through which Sabah had been dragged. In the center of the bed lay Nailah, arms spread like a bloodied saint. Her eyes, which used to shine with such vivid light and curiosity, now had an opaque emptiness to them. Forever more they would stare into the distance but take in nothing. With trembling hands and twitching lips, Sabah’s gaze slowly shifted down to take in the whole scene. The lips whose only color now came from the coagulating blood around it; the monstrous gash that crossed her throat; her naked body, riddled with red bite marks and shallow cuts. Suddenly, all the pain that Sabah was feeling ceased to exist. His mind refused to process what his eyes were showing him. He crawled miserably around the bed, taking Nailah’s hand and bringing it to his heart.

     “No…No, Nailah, no. Stay with m-me, Nailah�"” he sobbed hard, his composure all but gone. “We’ll get through this. Together, remember? I promised you.”  Sabah lay his head against her chest and cried copiously. “Sorry, I’m so sorry. W-we were supposed to get through this together, and yet…and yet…”

     Abricci’s shrill laugh echoed through the room, and his face was a mask of unadulterated pleasure. The mockery over his friend’s death only made Sabah feel more wretched and powerless. He would have ignored him, if it weren’t for the agony that his next words carried.

     “Oh, you should have seen her face when I ripped her clothes off. When I started f*****g her, she struggled. And how she struggled!” His voice was laced with ecstasy-driven madness, but he continued, his excitement rising as he spoke. “I almost wish you could have heard her screams, especially when I started biting her. And her puzzled look when I gutted her, Lord! I’m getting hard just�"! The way life swiftly fled her eyes! She was marvelous! Fantastic! But in the end, she was just a pawn”�"Abricci stared at Sabah, his arousal palpable�"“the last piece to break you.”