“Huh? How did we get here?”
Cammie shot me a death glare.
“Really, Kyle? We’re here because of you.”
I furrowed my brows apprehensively.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that we’re tied up in this dingy cave because of your stupid choices. Do you seriously not remember?”
I wracked my brain, searching for any inkling of a memory to aid my assessment. I was drawing a blank.
“Nope, nothing.”
Cammie pursed her lips, her fiery eyes softening at my revelation. She adjusted herself - as much as she could, at least - in her stiff wooden chair positioned across from me. She sighed exasperatedly.
“We went to Raw Dog’s last night with Bekah and Arslan. You had too much to drink and I guess you blacked out. You tried to fight this scrawny tweaker looking dude because he ‘bumped into you.’ I saw the whole thing, by the way. You definitely stumbled into him. Ring any bells?”
“Not a thing. But how did any of that get us into this situation?”
“The guy offered to make it up to you. He brought you a drink, and you did the rest on your own. Arslan and Bekah called an Uber and went home early because they were tired of dealing with your wasted ass. You were acting more and more belligerent as the night went on. After you received that drink, it all went downhill. You forced me to have some too. You told me that you didn’t know what was in it, but it ‘tasted like unicorn farts,’ whatever that meant. Everything started spinning, and the next time I opened my eyes, I was staring at your dumbass sitting across from me.”
“So… we were drugged? I do feel like shit,” I said as a pang of guilt stabbed me in the chest like a samurai sword. Was it really my fault that we were in this situation?
The thought that I was probably the worst boyfriend on the planet had just crossed my mind, when I heard them. Footsteps.
“Kyle, do you hear that?” Cammie hissed, straining to listen.
“Yeah. Whoever it is, they’re getting closer.”
Dread bubbled in my gut as our captor’s booming steps grew nearer. Cammie was beginning to sweat, tapping her foot incessantly. I wanted so badly to slip my hand into hers and tell her that everything was going to be okay. That it was all a sick prank and that we’d be home before we knew it. But I couldn’t lie to myself.
Slowly, a figure began to emerge from the shadows. My heart thumped furiously against my ribcage as the mysterious man revealed himself. I took a moment to drink in his features.
The figure before me was lanky, spindly arms jutting awkwardly from a black Metallica T-shirt. Cargo pants framed his legs and muddy white Vans covered his feet. His face was shrouded in a cheap knock-off Scream mask. He gradually approached us, breathing heavily and brandishing a butcher knife.
I had never been more scared in my life. But suddenly, Cammie shattered my silent reverie.
“What’s the crappy mask for? We’ve already seen your face, dipshit.”
My breath caught in my throat. I mouthed an incredulous “what the fuck” to her. She absent-mindedly dismissed my shocked reaction.
The figure began grunting, labored breaths growing more frequent and intense. Cammie had pissed him off. And she knew it.
“Oh, you’re so scary. What are you gonna do with that plastic knife? Slit my throat? You need to use it to cut the crap,” she continued, much to my dismay.
In a fit of rage, the slender figure slung the mask from his face. He was red as a fire engine, an angry blue vein pulsating in his forehead.
“How about I use this ‘plastic’ knife to slit his throat, huh? Do you want that, you stupid bitch? ANSWER ME.”
He hurriedly shuffled over to me, placing the knife under my chin. My eyes grew wide as dinner plates as a wet spot blossomed in my pants.
“No,” Cammie whimpered.
“I can’t hear you,” he grinned.
“I said, no.”
“Louder.”
“NO.”
“That’s what I thought,” the man smirked, removing the blade from my throat. I exhaled the breath that had caught in my chest, then glanced over to Cammie. Tears were silently streaming down her face. My heart shattered for her. No one had ever forced her hand like that before, and she clearly wasn’t coping well.
“Now, if you’re through berating my costume, do you idiots know why you’re here?” he continued, his burning gaze boring into my skull like a mag drill.
I shook my head, taking the opportunity to further soak in his features. My assailant was ghostly white, greasy brown hair cascading down his back, creating an oily, flaky splotch on his shoulders. He sported a dirty disheveled beard, scraggly hair protruding at all angles. His wiry frame told me all that I needed to know.
The only arm workouts this guy did involved lotion and a box of tissues. Which should work to our advantage, if we could find a way to free ourselves from our restraints.
“What about you? Do you know why you’re here?” he asked Cammie, flashing her twin rows of yellow, rotting teeth. She grimaced.
“No. Why don’t you fill us in, Gollum?”
I watched the man’s face shift from contentment to rage as Cammie’s insult sank in.
“Did you just compare me to that little slimeball from Lord of the Rings?” he fumed, clenching his fists.
“Aw, did that make you angwy? Sorry about it… Gollum.” I stifled a laugh as the twiggy incel blew a fuse.
“That is IT! I have had it with you asshats mocking me. I guess I’ll have to teach you morons a lesson.
He stalked up to Cammie, the knife shimmering in his grasp. Without hesitation, he plunged it into the back of her hand. She screamed, her agonized wails reverberating through the damp cavern. I thrashed violently in my chair, fury surging through my veins like a wildfire.
“What is wrong with you? She’s a girl, you demented fuck! Do whatever you want to me, but you do not lay a finger on my girlfriend,” I spat, managing to knock my chair onto its side. I immediately regretted it. Wet, earthy dirt caked my face as I crashed to the ground.
“Oh really? I don’t think you’re in much of a position to make demands,” he smirked, sending a chill rippling down my spine, “but, I’ll comply. As long as she keeps her mouth shut,” he said, glaring menacingly at Cammie as he removed the blade. She shrieked, then glanced down at the fresh blood oozing from her wound, whimpering in defeat.
“Okay. Back to the reason that I brought you here. I don’t know if you remember, but you were pretty rude to me last night. I bought you a drink and mixed it with something… special. And the rest is self-explanatory.” I furrowed my brows.
“Yeah, we got that. But you really kidnapped us and held us prisoner because I was a jerk to you? Doesn’t that sound a bit, um, how do I put this nicely… unhinged?”
He stomped up to where I lay helplessly on the ground and reared back his foot. I squeezed my eyes shut, bracing for the impact. White-hot pain seared through my cheek like a lightning bolt.
“Argh, ouch.”
Cammie glowered at our tormentor, then turned to me.
“Screw you, douchebag. Are you okay, babe?”
“Yeah. Fine,” I said, spitting a glob of blood onto the floor before me.
“Will both of you shut up? Thanks. Now, if you would’ve let me finish, I was going to explain that I brought you here for a purpose. You see, I’m a biologist. I have a sort of… morbid fascination with dissection. I’ve always been amazed by how complex the anatomy of multicellular organisms is. I want to dissect every creature known to man. And you two are going to help me scratch a big one off my bucket list.
The vile grin plastered across his face sent a chill rippling down my spine. He knelt down so that he was eye level with me.
“Now, you leave me with a choice. Which one of you should I open up?”
“Me. Take me. Let her live,” I said instantly.
Cammie’s eyes grew wide.
“No, no, I’ll do it. Spare him and take me, you stupid prick,” she growled, hocking a loogie at the back of the man’s head. It landed in his unkempt hair with a satisfying splat.
Our captor stood, marching furiously over to Cammie. He slapped her hard across the face. She glared up at him, eyes burning with unbridled hatred.
“Do that again. I dare you,” he bellowed, waiting for her to respond.
“With pleasure.”
She spat directly in his face, sending spittle spewing into his eyes. To my utter disbelief, he kept his cool. His calm demeanor unsettled me as he wiped his face with his shirt.
“Alright, you’ve made your decision,” he snarled, spinning to approach me. He again stooped to eye level, producing a rag and a bottle of some unknown liquid from the pockets of his cargo pants. He doused the rag, reaching forward and placing it over my nose.
“Nighty night. Say goodbye to your annoying girlfriend.”
“NO. I- Fu- You can- Woah.”
I kicked and flailed against my bindings to no avail. After a few short moments, I could feel myself losing consciousness. My heart angrily pounded against my ribcage, threatening to rip free from my chest. I locked eyes with Cammie one last time. The abject hopelessness in her gaze absolutely broke me. Tears began to cloud my vision, until everything went black.
“Ugh, where am I?” I muttered, groggily rubbing my eyes.
I wearily surveyed my surroundings. I was on a park bench. One that I didn’t recognize. Panic surged through my veins as my memory slowly began to return. I started hyperventilating. Cammie’s defeated face flashed over and over again in my mind as I whipped out my phone to call the police.
Once the screen lit up, I vomited all over the wet morning grass. I’ll never be able to rid my mind of the terror that awaited me.
I was greeted by a barrage of pictures of Cammie’s naked body. Her skin had been sliced open and pinned to a mat like a frog in a high school biology class. Attached to the last image, was a message that read:
Thanks for lending your girlfriend to me. I promise that I’ll give her back. But I can’t say for sure if she’ll be in one piece.