Survival Games (25 page)

Ty’s arms dropped
and his expression became deadly. Some of the fury locked inside, bled through
into his warning glare. “Do you really want to tango with me right now?”

* *
* *

Tom paused. Instinct
told him that he might get a couple punches in but then Ty would lose control
of whatever beast he had caged inside. This was a man who had been pushed
beyond the edge of reason.

He backed off,
stepping away and returning to Jessica’s battered, barely conscious form. He
scooped her up and carried her into the bathroom, setting her gently on the
toilet before turning on the shower. He pulled her under the balmy stream and
just held her to his chest as the warm water cascaded on his back.

Eventually her
arms wrapped around his waist, the warmth of the shower did nothing to quell
either one of their tremors.

“I couldn’t stop
him,” he said, his voice raw with emotion and trembling as much as the rest of
his form was. “Jess, I couldn’t stop him.”

“It’s okay,” she
whispered in his arms as the water fell over them.

“No, it’s not,” he
said kissing the top of her head. “There was nothing I could do while he...” He
stopped and swallowed hard. “While he…” He couldn’t say the words. Rape didn’t
begin to cover the brutality he just witnessed.

“That’s not the
worst thing that can happen in here.”

Ty heard the water
go on and closed his eyes, leaning his head back against the wall, taking a
shaky breath. He wondered just how much time they had left and his thoughts
were answered by the creak of the door.

Frank leveled the
tranquilizer gun and pulled the trigger.

Ty looked at the
dart in his chest and back up at Frank as he fell over into blackness.

* *
* *

The blackness
turned gray and the smell, ah, God, the smell. Ty yanked his head away and
blinked. His vision righting itself and his heart jumped into his throat.
How
much time passed? Shit!

His hands were
even with his head suspended in the air by painfully tight shackles attached to
heavy-duty linked chains. The same with his ankles, but for now, he stood
barefoot on the cold concrete. He looked beyond Frank at the two very familiar
chairs. One an electric chair that almost every room in the complex housed, but
the other one made his head snap back at Frank. “You son of a bitch!”

“As I said before,
payback’s a bitch,” Frank said. “I thought long and hard about how I was going
to kill you.” He stared up at the chains and waved to the room. “This ended up
winning out because it’s slow enough to see you in agony but fast enough to let
me hack that little bitch to pieces before you die. I’m just sorry she has to
derive any pleasure from it at all.” He turned, staring the contraption. “Ironic
that the bitch gets to die cumming.”

“You were right
about her eyes. I want her to see you suffer, and see her pretty boy suffer. I’m
still not sure if I’m going to kill her first or not. I don’t know who I’d get
a greater pleasure out of destroying after what she did to me.”

He walked over to
the table and picked up a knife. Twirling it in his hand, he advanced on Ty. “On
one hand, I can almost understand what you did to my father. I did contemplate
what I would have done if the tables were turned and Marian was the one your
father screwed every night.” He stopped in front of Ty. “But you still killed
my father.”

He ran the blade
down the unscarred side of Ty’s face, ripping the skin open. Ty jerked back as
far as he could, but it wasn’t enough to get away from the knife.

Ty glared at him
as the blood dripped down his chin onto the floor. He said nothing.

Frank smiled. “If
you had come home an hour earlier, you would have gotten a look at quite a
different scene. If I had to make a comparison between your sister and your
whore, I would say they fought with the same grim determination. Unfortunately
in both cases, it was a waste of precious energy.”

“You bastard.” Ty’s
voice shook and a second later, he realized the chains were vibrating with the
tremors that racked him.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk.”
He waggled his finger. “I thought she meant nothing to you.” Frank put the
knife down and headed out of the room whistling.

Tom stepped out of
the shower and grabbed a couple towels, handing one to Jessica. He noted two
things. The clothes he had discarded were gone and a new set placed on the lid
of the toilet. A shiver snaked down his spine. Someone had entered the room
while they were in the shower and neither of them noticed.

Jessica stepped
out next to him wrapping a towel around her gingerly. The cuts on her face and
breast still oozed. She was still listless until she saw the choice of
clothing. Both items crimson red and both items highly inappropriate given the
nature of the last hour.

He picked up the
silk pajama shorts, scrunching his eyebrows together before he dropped them
back on the skimpy pile. He stepped to the pantry rifling through the towels in
a futile attempt to uncover hidden clothing.

“There’s nothing
in there.” Jessica interrupted his search, still staring at the crimson
outfits. “Silk and lace. Jesus.” She wrapped her arms around herself, warming
her goosebump-ridden arms.

Tom closed his
eyes and wrapped his arms around her. He couldn’t promise that nothing would
happen to her, he knew that now. He snapped straight staring at the clothing
and then the doorway. The room outside the doorway was unusually dark. If Ty
was out there, how the hell did they get the clothes in here? “Just... just put
the clothes on.” He picked up the shorts and slid them on, absently handing her
the lace ensemble, his eyes still on the door. He swallowed despite his
spit-dry mouth.

He glanced at her
when she moved to his side, lacing her fingers in his, staring at the darkness
as well. Her face still bore the jagged oozing scar but it paled in comparison
to her fear laced eyes, which were riveted to the doorway and the darkness
beyond.

“I feel like I’m
walking the green mile,” he muttered, taking his first step toward the door.

“You and me both.”

* *
* *

The room was
drenched in shadows, but one thing was clear, Ty was no longer chained to the
wall. The ‘thump’ of an air gun filled the room and Tom staggered back a few
steps, his hand slipping from hers. They both stared at the tranquilizer dart
sticking out of his chest.

He went down,
hard. And all she could think about was yelling “Timber!” The sudden silly
thought brought a hysterical fit of giggles, but they were cut off by the
second thump and then darkness descended.

Tom jerked his
head away from the god-awful smell and blinked in confusion. When his eyes
found Ty, they widened.

Frank laughed. “I’ll
let him explain while I go get your whore.” He walked out of the room.

Tom looked around.
“Jesus,” he said his eyes widening at the sight of the other chair. The
contraption that they had seen in the video was attached to it. He shot his
eyes back to Ty. “Sweet Jesus.”

Ty nodded. “Now
you get it,” he said as the blood continued to drip from his face.

Tom glanced back
at the other chair and followed one of the cords across the concrete. He had
been zapped enough times to understand what Frank had planned for them. He
started to shake.

“Get your shit
together,” Ty said harshly.

Tom snapped his
eyes back in Ty’s direction, taking in the chains that would eventually tear
him to pieces. “How can you be so calm?”

“I told you I
would die for her,” Ty responded. “You, you need to be the one to get her out
of here.”

Tom looked down at
the shackles holding his wrists to the chair and the strap around his chest. “How
the hell am I supposed to do that?”

Ty shrugged. “You’ll
know when it happens.”

“What if IT never
happens?” Tom asked in exasperation.

“Then we all die
today,” Ty said calmly.

They stared at
each other in silence.

“Do you love her?”
Ty asked.

Tom nodded.

“When you get her
out of here, will you tell her?” Ty paused and closed his eyes. “Tell her that
I loved her? Will you make her understand?” Ty opened his eyes. They shined
with tears and he blinked them back.

Tom nodded again.

“Thanks, man,” Ty
said.

Tom nodded
slightly.

“Game on,” Ty said
and hung his head for a moment.

Tom watched the
transformation and as Ty lifted his head back up, Tom was glad chains secured
the man. Even so, the dark soulless eyes looking out from the bloody bearded
face were enough to set him quaking again.

The Angel of Death
was already in the room with them and his name was Ty.

* *
* *

Moments later
Frank waltzed in with Jessica on his shoulder. He dumped her into the chair,
threading her legs through the arms and securing her like he did before.

He glanced over
his shoulder at Ty and shoved his fingers between her legs.

“Get your filthy
hands off her,” Tom growled, already struggling against the bonds that held him
in place, searching for a weakness, for an escape, but he might as well been
sealed in a tin can and dumped in the Atlantic. It was now just a matter of
time... and pain.

“Wouldn’t you just
die to be inside this sweet cunt?” He moved his fingers in and out a few times,
relishing Tom’s struggles. “Oh wait, you are going to die!” he cackled,
removing his hand and replaced it with the metal vibrator. He placed the
sensors in the same strategic locations they had seen in the video and then he
stood, glancing between Tom and Ty.

With dramatic
flair, he turned the machine on, displaying the mechanics like he was one of
the girls from
The Price is Right
displaying a showcase item.

Ty wanted to
scream, he wanted to struggle in the chains the same way Tom was in the chair,
he wanted to wipe the sick grin off Frank’s face but that would only prolong
his torture, so he remained silent.

“Time to wake up
sleeping beauty.” He waved the smelling salts under her nose.

* *
* *

Jessica came to
much quicker than either Ty or Tom had, the electrical pulses between her legs
aiding in her sudden alertness.

The feel of the
slick cool metal enhanced by the slight electrical current overtook her and she
tilted her head back, the shakes starting as well as the tears. “No, please,
no,” she whimpered.

“What’s the matter,
baby? You don’t like to cum?” Frank ran his finger between her breasts, sliding
his hand under the lace and squeezing the cut breast.

He stepped out of
the way so she could see both Ty and Tom. “Today you get to kill them both.”

Jessica’s chin
quivered, the heat already building between her legs and she was as helpless to
stop that as she was to stop the chains from tearing Ty apart. She glanced at
Tom in the electric chair, his sad eyes met hers. So many unspoken feelings, so
much love in that gaze mixed with the hopelessness that she felt. “I’m sorry.”

Before he could
speak, she swiveled her gaze to Ty and inhaled. A jagged cut slashed through
the skin of his cheek, dripping blood through his light beard. His blue eyes
stone cold, revealing nothing. Nothing at all, but she knew better. She felt
the inferno of emotions raging inside him in time with the hellfire. None of
these things was the reason her gaze locked with his and stayed there. No, it
was his silent plea, his repetitive mantra that filled her head with a voice so
racked with agony, she wanted to cry.

‘Please, please
don’t let him kill her, God please. Don’t take her, you can have me, do
anything you want to me but don’t take her, please God, I love her.

He prayed over and
over again, pleading, making promises he couldn’t possibly keep all for her and
not one iota of emotion reached his eyes. The only indicator of the depth of
his feelings was his riveted stare mixed with the death-like silence.

Only an act of God
or that of a small child could tear his gaze from hers.

Jessica tilted her
head, silently trembling from the force of the orgasm the machine enacted, but
she never broke the connection to Ty, not even when Tom cried out in pain. A
tear slid slowly down the unmarked side of her face.

That tear broke
through the iron wall surrounding Ty and his face transformed. The agony broke
through, visible in the sudden softening of his eyes, his trembling lips
pressing tightly together so the rumbling of despair building in his chest
would not be freed. Agony, not born of physical pain, but of the anguish that
accompanied losing her. Losing her to Tom was one thing, he could fight that,
but losing her to death, that reality bowled him over, sucking the air from his
lungs even as the chains lifted him off the ground.

Tom screamed again
and a hint of singed hair permeated the room.

“I told you he
loved you,” Frank whispered in her ear, sliding the sharp edge of the knife
between her breasts. With a flick, the front of her bra broke open. He flipped
the blade over in his hand so the serrated side faced her skin and with a slow
deliberate stroke, he sliced, shredding her skin and performing an impromptu
partial mastectomy. “That’s for tearing the tip of my cock to shreds.”

A high thin whine
escaped between her lips, but she didn’t break eye contact with Ty. The pain
gripping her chest didn’t discourage her lower body from hurdling over the next
peak. She concentrated on the blue set of his eyes, going deeper into them,
deeper into a meditative trance concentrating on each breath, losing herself,
losing the connection to this godforsaken room.

The familiar
hallway filled her vision and she jumped as a warm hand slid into hers. She
looked down at her son, his once brown eyes now swirling with colors, swirling
like a storm.

* *
* *

Ty’s breath
hitched, the chains creaking, now pulling him in different directions. He
blinked, still concentrating on her. The colors in her eyes started slowly
swirling, sparking hope. He broke her gaze, swiveling his eyes to the mirror at
the back of the room.

The reflection of
the room was there, but superimposed over it was a hallway that Jessica and
Eric were walking through and at the end was a door with blinding white light
spilling around the edges. Raw power. Awe-inspiring miracles resided behind
that door.

And the key was
clasped in her image’s hand.

Come on, come
on, come on.
Ty repeated over and over in his mind, no longer caring about
the pain racking his joints, all he cared about was that she got to that door
before Frank got bored carving her body, especially with the lack of reaction. Even
the sudden snap in his shoulder didn’t dissuade his intense attention. The only
one in the room that voiced pain was Tom and his cries were getting weak.

The key slid into
the lock and she turned, glancing down at Eric as a new bloody welt ripped open
her abdomen. Her hand dropped to the doorknob but before she could turn it all
the way, Eric spun, his eyes widening. Ty’s vision cleared and shot to Frank.

In unison, three
voices screamed “NO!” Two men and a boy, shattering the near silence of the
room and Ty squinted at the flood of light. She had opened the door and Eric
threw himself in front of his mother, blocking the ark of Frank’s knife.

Ty’s eyebrows
rose. The knife stopped, lodged in nothing but air over Jessica’s chest and yet
blood covered it, dripping from the tip. More blood than just the cuts on her
body would warrant. His eyes snapped back to the mirror and he understood the
wail that escaped her lips.

* *
* *

The transition
between the halls of her mind, Eric’s bedroom and the hellish prison her
physical self was suffering took just the blink of an eye. The sight of her son
lying across her chest with the butcher knife buried in his chest pushed her
over the edge. The power escaped full force and the room went white. She
grasped the hilt of the knife, cutting her fingers on the sharp blade below the
smooth black handle, desperate to pull the blade from the image of her son that
only she could see. Only one purpose overtook her mind.
Save my son!

*
* * *

The shackles
binding his wrist and ankles blew off in a blinding spray of metal and Ty fell.
The same acute pain he felt when Jessica healed his arm flashed over his body
and in the time it took to fall six feet, the tingling set in and he landed on
his hands and knees. The same overwhelming purpose overtook him.
Save Eric.
Like
a stealth rocket, he charged.

He hit Frank like
a linebacker, his shoulder hitting him square in the ribs, launching both of
them a few feet in the air. The impact dislodged the knife from Eric’s chest
and sent it clattering across the concrete.

* *
* *

“Mommy, it hurts,”
Eric whispered and she leaned over, planting her lips on his forehead, closing
her eyes and channeling all the healing power she had into her son. Light
flared brighter and as it dimmed, Eric faded, his stormy eyes at peace and his
shoulder fully mended.

Jessica blinked
and the room came into clear focus, the chains hanging with no captive locked
in the shackles. Tom slumped in the chair, his chest still rising and falling,
but his face displaying the slackness of the unconscious.

Behind her, she
heard the unmistakable sound of fists hitting flesh. “Ty?”

The sound paused
and the ruffle of jeans approached. Ty knelt next to her, taking her hand and
scanning her unmarked torso. The machine still hummed, bringing her closer to
the next climax. Without speaking, he glanced back toward Frank and after
kissing her hand, he lowered it, locking it in the shackle before she could
protest.