10. Before The Great Collapse

This chapters contains vivid descriptions of torture, murder, mentions of rape, mild drug/alcohol use, course language,  as well as some subjects that may disturb, offend, and/or upset the reader.
Frey learns the hard way that fighting back is not such a good idea, and Rema begins falling down the rabbit hole.

-Frey-

I wake up the next morning, splinters of wood stuck in my chest and stomach and under my fingernails. He broke the damn table from being so rough with me, then beat me into unconsciousness.  I look around, seeing I'm back in that f*****g basement, completely f*****g naked and chained to the wall.

I see red, punching the wall into my knuckles bleed. I scream in rage.  How the f**k could I be so damn stupid?  How the f**k could I let him do this?  I had him! I f*****g had him right there!  I could have stabbed him in the f*****g heart until it stopped f*****g bleeding and everything would have been f*****g finished!  Why?  Why the f**k did I let him get to me?  I'm supposed to be stronger than this!

I hear the door open and his footsteps come down the stairs.  That smug f*****g face looks at me. "Why are you throwing a fit down here like a damn child?"

"F**k you!" I scream at him, yanking at the chains around my wrist.

He shakes his head, walking over to me and bending to my level. "You really developed quite a mouth, didn't you? Forgot your place?"

I lean forward, sinking my teeth into his cheek and ripping a large chuck of flesh out when he pulls back and smacks me across the face.  I smirk at him with a bloody mouth after spitting out the skin.

"You f*****g b***h!" He kicks me directly in the jaw, knocking me backwards and then grabbing my throat and choking me while he repeatedly bangs my head on the floor.

I laugh like a madman at him, only making him more angry.  He won't break me. Not that easily.  And as soon as I get the chance, I'll f*****g kill him!

He hits me with a closed fist in my face, "Stop laughing you damn idiot!" He clenches his teeth, obviously angry at my reaction. "You're lucky I don't f*****g kill you!"

I headbutt him as hard as I can, knocking him backwards.

He holds his head, getting up and grabbing a crowbar then smashing it into my stomach.  I hear my ribs break and can't hold in the scream of pain. He hits me again in the side when I roll over, then again in my back.  He grabs a handful of my hair and tries to get me to turn towards him and I slash at him with my overgrown fingernails, cutting across his face.

I can taste blood in my mouth and my body aches, bones screaming at me almost too much to bare.  I feel hands grab mine and I whip my head up to see him holding a pare of pliers.

He gives the most twisted, sickening grin. "I think we should take care of those nails of yours."

My eyes widen. He wouldn't. He wouldn't possibly...  My train of thought is rudely cut short when he pulls my hands open, placing the pliers around my index finger's nail and yanks the nail right off.

It hurt way more than I thought it would, I curse at him and try to kick him.  He just sits on my legs and proceeds to pull off another fingernail, and then another.

"You sick f**k! Stop it! F*****g stop it!" I scream at him, my eyes clenching closed.  God, it f*****g hurts.

"Shouldn't have scratched me, you f*****g b***h." He says in a matter-of-fact sort of way, pulling off another fingernail as he does so.

He's f*****g insane! Who would do something like this?  What kind of sick mind would somebody have to have to yank off another person's fingernails.  I bite down on my lip as hard as I can, drawing blood, to try to keep the screams and whimpers from escaping my mouth.

He starts on the other hand and I struggle again, trying to get out of his grip.  He smacks me across the face with the tool, grabbing my hand again and yanking off my thumb's nail.

Oh my f*****g god, it hurts. I can't stand it. It f*****g hurts. It hurts so f*****g bad!

I struggle the best I can, but it's no use. He's still able to pull all the nails off my fingers, waving the last bloody one in my face before he lets it drop from the pliers.

"You're f*****g sick!" I spit at him. My fingers sting and throb as the air hits the sensitive skin under the nails that's now exposed.

He just laughs at me, then snaps one of my fingers with the pliers.  I can't bite back the scream.

"Oh my f*****g god, stop it!" I throw my head back, tears starting to drip from the corners of my eyes. "Just let me go! Just f*****g let me go! I'll never come back and bother you, I won't tell anyone what you did to me! Please, just let me go!"

He suddenly rolls me into my stomach, his fingers digging into my hips. "Don't be stupid, Frey. I just got you back, why would I let you go?"

Why didn't I murder this sadistic m**********r when I had the chance?


-Rema-

I expected him to come back after a day or two, but a week has come and gone and still no sign of Frey.  I've even gone out looking for him, but I haven't see him anywhere. It's like he disappeared completely.

I blame myself.  I was so stupid for coming onto him like that. Seriously, what was I thinking?  I pushed him away and freaked him out.  I didn't mean to, I just can't help the way I feel.  I want to be close to him, to love him and teach him to love me.  I want to share my life with him.  I don't care that we're probably the two most fucked up, broken people in this world - or that I was with an abusive a*****e for a number of years and he was kept in a basement all his life.  I don't care that he believes he's not able to love, or that I'm the type of person who'd drive him crazy enough to want to kill me.  I don't care about any of that.  I just want him.

"Rema, you got to stop sulking.  He was a random homeless guy, get over it." Kacia tells me, walking in to see me drinking at the kitchen table for the third night this week.

"He wasn't just a homeless guy, stop talking about him like that!" I snap at her.

She sighs, sitting down across from me and grabbing a shot glass. "Still, he isn't worth you sitting here and crying in a bottle of whiskey."

She takes a shot while I just chug from the bottle.

"You don't understand."

"I do, believe me, I do.  I had many guys walk out on me, it sucks, but if they do that they're just a******s and not worth sulking over."

"You don't understand." I repeat.

"Well, what happened? Explain to me what I don't understand."

I take a deep breath, rubbing the dry tears from my eyes. "I made a mistake, tried to take things too fast and came onto him... He rejected me and walked out. Just f*****g abandoned me like... Like I meant nothing to him."

She frowns, "Geez... Well he's crazy to turn down a gal like you." She gives a faint smile and shakes her head. "It happens, Rema, don't beat yourself up over it.  I've done the same thing before, Rejection sucks. But if he really cares about you, as a friend or a lover, he'll come back. If he doesn't, then he isn't worth it and he doesn't deserve you.  I mean, you took the guy in off the street, fed him, clothed him. He's crazy to just leave like that."

I don't reply, just chugging another couple large gulps before I stand up. "I'm going out."

"Rema, you're plastered. Just sit down for a while and watch TV or something." I hear her say as I open the front door, but I ignore her and just walk out.

I walk the dark streets for about twenty minutes, my mind running it's self into a dark hole. Without thinking, I spot a girl.  Blond hair, blue eyes, fair skin, modest dress.  Something about her lights up my world, and for some reason I completely forgot what I was doing and started to follow her.

I follow a few yards back for about two blocks, watching her lips move while she's talking on the phone. As soon as she hangs up and places the phone in her back pocket, I grab her by the hood of her jacket and yank her into an alley, sending her flying to the cold hard ground.

She looks at me with wide eyes, crawling backwards.  I pull the pocket knife from my bag and start walking towards her.

"What... What do you want?" She asks in a small, scared voice.

I ignore her and she throws her purse at me.

"There's money in there, my car keys, credit cards, even my wedding ring! Take it! Just don't hurt me."

The bag hits the ground and I step over it, not a feeling or thought going through my head.

She looks at me with complete horror, inching backwards until she bumps into a wall. "Get... Get away from me you psycho b***h!" She screams.

I bend down, jabbing the knife into her stomach.  Her eyes widen and hands claw at my wrist as I slowly twist the blade.

I look at her with a blank expression, eyelids heavy as the blood bubbles over her lips.  She makes silent screaming noises before her struggling stops and the life fades from her eyes.

I pull the knife out of the girl's stomach, folding it and putting it back into my purse.  I take out my phone and call Zekk.

"Hello?"

"There's another... The alley on 24th and 2nd street, beside the clothing store..." My voice even sounds dead to me.

"Again Rema?  Are you all right? You don't sound like yourself, girl..."

I hang up the phone and put it back in my purse and start walking home.  As soon as I walk in, I lie on the sofa and go straight to bed.

I'm woken up a few hours later by someone shaking me.  I rub my eyes and see Zekk standing above me.

"Rema, what is going on with you?" He asks, "Why'd you kill that woman? Don't tell me she attack you, cause she looked completely harmless."

"That's none of your business." I mumble, rolling over and pulling the blanket over my head.  I hear him sit on the edge of the sofa by my feet.

"Girl, I'm starting to worry about you... You've been doing this too much, nearly every day this week. You seem distant too... Did something happen?" He asks.

I ignore him, trying to go back to sleep.

"What happened with that dude? The one you had me bring here from the park?" He pauses, as if he's thinking. "You got worse once that guy showed up... Did he do something to you? Hurt you?  I'll murder that f****r, just give me the word. He's just some homeless junkie, no body would even give a s**t."

I sit up in a flash, slapping him across his face hard. "How f*****g dare you!" I hiss through clenched teeth. "Frey didn't hurt me! He didn't do a thing to me! He's not a f*****g junkie, will everybody stop saying s**t about him! None of you know a f*****g single thing about him!"

Zekk looks at me with wide eyes, he rubs his cheek then pushes a dread out of his face. "What the hell has gotten into you?" He asks, "I've never seen you like this..."

Tears start rolling down my cheeks.

"Look, I'm just worried about you... I didn't mean to upset you... I just noticed you started getting worse since he came around... I thought he might have done something to you..."

"He didn't do anything to me..." I whisper.

He looks around, "Where'd he go anyway?"

"I don't know... he just took off..."

He frowns, "You worried about him? Is that what's going on?"

I nod.

"Does he know you do this stuff? You didn't tell him, did you?"

I think for a moment. Should I lie? Say I never told Frey anything. Should I tell the truth?  I trust Zekk.  He hasn't told on me, I doubt he'd tell on Frey.  Plus, being a gang member and a criminal himself, Zekk isn't a snitch.

"He knows I do this... He does it too..."

If Zekk's jaw were to drop anymore, it'd be touching the ground by now. "What?"

"You heard me..."

"Wait a minute... You're telling me... You, a murderer yourself, decided to befriend a homeless killer? And bring him back home with you? Are you insane?"

"We relate to each other... We understand each other... He doesn't judge me, or make me feel like a monster... He understands me..."

He rubs his temples, exhaling heavily. "Rema... This is quite a mess you got yourself into..." He mutters, "And you have no idea where this guy went?"

"I came onto him... It freaked him out and he just left..."

He snorts, "Wow, dumb guy..." He shakes his head. "Well... I don't really know what to tell you, but please slow down... Stop and think for a minute... This is getting really bad, and one of these days someone might see something and tell on you... Your body count is going up drastically...  You're looking at life if you get caught..."

"I know..." I tell him, "I'm sorry... I'll stop, Okay?"

He gives me a small smile, "Just call me if you need anything, even just to talk... I miss ya, girl... You never call me anymore, unless you want me to clean up your messes."

"I know, I'm sorry."

He laughs, "I was teasin'... Just... Take care of yourself... Okay?" He stands up, "I'mma get outta your hair. Get some sleep."

Author's Note

Okay, so like I said, the next couple chapters are going to be a bit graphic and violent, this is a serial killer story - so you should expect violence and gore. But yeah, expect torture and all kinds of depraved things... I don't enjoy putting my characters through this, but its for the sake of the plot.
Frey's got a lot of fight in him, but his behavior is really going to get his ass kicked. Like I explained before, Frey was going to kill the man, but he was tricked and confused into submitting. With abuse victims, they are usually easily controlled by their abusers, and can be manipulated very easily. They're usually told things like "You'll never survive on your own", "No one would ever want you besides me", etc. It's a very damaging process that can really mess a person up and make them believe they deserve this. Frey knows he's wrong, and still wants to kill him, but at the moment he tried, he was manipulated and is now going to have to deal with the aftermath.
Rema's entering a downward spiral because she got close to Frey, and he walked out on her. She's a worry wort and also feels rejected by him, and with all the hurt she's already felt in her life, she snaps and begins taking her pain out in the form of murder.

Review if you like. If you're interested and this is the first chapter you've read, go back and read the previous ones. I upload often.