Night of Vengeance (6 page)

Chapter 15

     Melissa looked around from the back of the truck. She pulled the blanket tight around her as the sounds of gunfire erupted from the building. As she sat up she noticed she was alone in the truck. She looked under the blanket and realized she was naked. She couldn’t remember how she’d gotten there. Everything was in a foggy haze. She remembered being at the barbecue place with Chad, then the men came in hurting people. She stopped there and didn’t want to think of anything else.

     As she sat up, she saw she was in an apartment complex. There were some people fighting in the parking lot. Someone was screaming from inside the building the truck was parked next to. Looking around carefully, she climbed out, pulling the blanket to her. Her legs were weak and shaky as she walked toward the building. Many of the units had broken windows, there was one where the door was standing partway open. She pushed it open and stepped slowly inside.

     Looking around, some of the furniture was turned over. There was an empty space on the wall where a TV used to hang. DVDs were scattered all over the floor. She bent down and looked through them. They were all horror films.  Trash covered the carpeting. She went into the bedroom which was also ransacked. There were clothes all over the bed and floor. She sifted through the clothing and found a small men’s “Cannibal Holocaust” t-shirt. She pulled the shirt on and left the blanket on the floor. The shirt was slightly too big, but that was fine with her.

     After more digging around, she found a pair of shorts and some shoes that mostly fit. Everything didn’t match, but she couldn’t afford to be picky. The bed looked incredibly comfortable. She hadn’t realized how tired she was, but she was exhausted. The apartment was probably pretty safe. It had already been ransacked. She could just go to sleep and wake up safe and sound in the morning. Yet for some reason, she felt she had to do some things first. She got up and walked into the kitchen and dug through the drawers. There was a large butcher knife in one of the drawers. She grabbed it and looked at the blade.

     As she stepped outside the apartment looking around. There was a man in the parking lot beating up another man who was on the ground. He was straddling him, punching him ground and pound style, like you’d see in an MMA fight. Melissa walked toward the man whose back was to her. She recognized him as one of the men from the restaurant, one of the men who had raped her.

     As she got closer, she could hear his grunts as he pounded on his victim. He didn’t notice her coming up behind
him. Gripping the knife tightly as she stood watching the beating. She didn’t even think about what she was about to do. It felt as if she were standing outside herself, watching this unfold, helpless to stop it. She lifted the knife and thrust it into the side of his neck. He moved at the last second and the blade had grazed him.

     The cut was deep enough to draw some blood. The man yelled as he fell to the side, looking up in surprise at the girl.

     “What are you doing you little bitch?” he yelled, but she was already on him thrusting the knife at him repeatedly. He put his forearm up to block the blows, causing the knife to graze his arm and hand. She stabbed lower and punctured his stomach several times, then his chest. The knife moved up and down seemingly on its own, stabbing him over and over. Blood sprayed everywhere until the man was no longer moving. Even after he stopped moving, she kept going, letting out a scream before stopping.

     She stopped and looked down at the man’s blood soaked body.
Looking down at herself there was blood splatter on her hands, arms and shirt. She stood and walked over to the man on the ground. His face was bloody and swollen. One of his eyes was open, looking up at her.

     “Th-thank you,” he grunted, struggling to speak. “Please help me.”

     She knelt down next to him and took his hand.

     “I’m sorry,” she said.

     “Sorry for what? I need an ambulance.”

     “There is no ambulance tonight. Help isn’t coming. I’m sorry. It’s better for you this way.”
she said.

     “Better what
—” before he could finish, she thrust the knife into his chest, piercing his heart on the first blow. He wheezed and twitched as she pulled the knife out.

     “Sorry,” she said as she stood and looked around the parking lot. There were more guys fighting in the street. She slowly walked toward them. As she did so, she stopped and used the knife to cut part of the neckline on the shirt, making it hang looser off her shoulder, showing more skin. Some of the men in the street were also at the restaurant.

     As she walked toward them, she heard a woman screaming. She could see they weren’t fighting at all. They were raping another girl. The others were standing in a circle watching, yelling and cheering as they each took their turn. Some of the men had their dicks in their hands, jacking off to the scene before them.

    
These were some seriously sick fucks. Melissa knew that first hand,though Melissa was no longer home. This night had turned into a night of chaos, death and destruction. If that was what they wanted, then that is what she would give them.

Chapter 16

     Randy found some duct tape which he used to secure Elaine into the chair. She cried and sobbed the entire time, begging him not to hurt her. It was far too late for any sniveling on her part. The old Randy may have fallen for it. The old Randy would have been a sucker for her tears and did whatever he had to in order to appease her, only to have her shit on him once again. Not anymore. Tonight he was reborn.

     There was a toolkit in the storage closet where he found some pliers. He walked over to Elaine and placed his hand into hers, looking at her nails.

     “Very nice, you got the pink hearts you always liked,” he said.

     “Randy, what are you doing? This isn’t you.”

     “This is very much me. This is more me than I have ever been,” he said just before he grabbed her index fingernail and ripped it off with the pliers. She screamed so loud it hurt his eardrums. He backhanded her across the face, turning her screams into muffled sobs. “Get ahold of yourself. That’s only the first one. We still have nine more nails to go.”

     “Please don’t! I’m so sorry. I’ll come back to you. I’ll do whatever you want. I’ll be the perfect wife,” she begged.

     “The perfect wife that sat here doing her nails while our children were being fucking killed. Yeah, you’re just goddamn June fucking Cleaver.”

     “I said I was sorry!”

     “Sorry doesn’t fix it! Do you not get it? You stupid, stupid bitch! Sorry does not bring our kids back! Sorry does not undo the hurt and humiliation you caused me these past few months! Nothing can fix it! The kids are dead! Both of them gone, forever, there is no bringing them back. I know to you they were little more than instruments to use in manipulating me. To me, they were my little boy and girl, my children, the only ones I ever really loved. I guess it’s just as much my fault. I didn’t fight hard enough to get them from you. I was weak and pathetic, but not anymore. It’s too late to matter anyway,” He grabbed another nail and ripped it from her finger, eliciting another horrid scream.

    
“That’s right! Scream bitch!” he shouted as he ripped another nail out.

     “Please! Stop! Please! Don’t hurt me no more! Please!” Elaine cried.

     “What’s going on in here?” a man said from behind Randy. He turned and saw the silhouettes of three men standing in the doorway. It was dark outside, so he couldn’t make out their faces. He could tell they were all much bigger than him. “What are you doing to that poor woman?” the man said.

     “This is none of your business fellas,” Randy said. “There’s plenty of other action going on out there. Just leave us be.”

     “Help me! Please! Help!” Elaine began screaming.

     The men got closer, Randy could see they looked like bikers, similar to the guys he’d seen in other parts of town.

     “You might not have heard,” the taller man said. “Things are different tonight. The only ones having any fun, or playing with the ladies tonight is us. You, little man, are not one of us.”

     “Guess I didn’t get the memo,” Randy said. “And sorry, but I don’t know who the fuck you are. This is my wife, or ex-wife and we have some things that need worked out and I plan to do just that.”

     “Tell you what guy, you got some balls. I like that. So I’ll let you walk outta here and leave her for us. In exchange, we won’t hurt you. You can go out there and do whatever you want, but you got about thirty seconds to decide.”

     Randy stood looking at the three men. The other two guys were shorter and stockier, all of them were taller and more muscular than he was. The tomahawk was just behind him on the countertop. In the dark, the men likely couldn’t see it. He was sure they were armed, but their weapons were sheathed or holstered. So he had to get in the first strike. He reached behind him and grabbed the tomahawk and charged at the man on the left. He reached to draw a gun, but he was only ten feet away. Randy closed in on him quickly, planting the tomahawk’s blade in the middle of his head.

     As the man collapsed, Randy heard the other approaching. He quickly dislodged it and threw a backhanded swing toward the footsteps. The spike end of the tomahawk struck the other man in the face, knocking him to the ground. He bent down and chopped his face with several more blows. He spun around to see the taller man standing there holding a gun, pointed at him.

     “Easy there slick. That’s pretty impressive work there. But I’m not like these two. I’ll blow your fuckin’ brains out right there on your old lady
, the man said.

    
Randy held the tomahawk at his side, but wasn’t moving. The gun was inches from his face.

     “I should shoot you just for killing my friends. I’ve worked with these two for years.”

     “So why don’t you?” Randy asked.

     “Maybe I will…” before he could finish, Randy swung the tomahawk at the man’s forearm
slicing it clean off. The gun went off just to the side of Randy’s head, but missed him completely. The man grabbed his bloody stump, looking at Randy stunned.

     “Guess you should have shot me, asshole.” Randy said as he swung the tomahawk into the side of the man’s head. The man stumbled to the ground, as blood sprayed from his stump. Randy followed him to the ground as he swung again, hacking away at the man’s face until his head split open, spilling his brains onto the floor.
He stood and wiped the tomahawk on his shirt.

     Elaine had stopped screaming at some point. Her eyes were wide as she stared at Randy and the bodies lying beneath him.

     “What? You were hoping he’d kill me weren’t you? Well sorry to disappoint you. Besides, if you think they were here to rescue you, then you’re even dumber than I thought.”

     “What is happening Randy? Who were those men? What happened to you?”
she asked.

     “I don’t know who they are. But they came here and have destroyed the town. I figured I may as well get something out of it.
It’s better than being one of the victims.”

     “Are you going to kill me?”

     “Not anytime soon. All the pain and humiliation you caused me over the years will come back to you tonight, all at once,” Randy said.

     “That won’t fix anything Randy. You said so
yourself sorry won’t fix it. Neither will this.” She was crying again.

     “No, it won’t. But I’ll feel a lot better.” As he spoke he picked the pliers back up and ripped out another fingernail. He went to work on the rest of her fingers as she continued to scream.
He didn’t realize it as he worked on her, but he was smiling.

Chapter 17

     Colt stood watching Briggs squirm. His whining was getting to him. Even his dad, piece of shit that he was, at least had some balls. This guy was a pathetic little worm. He never had to work for anything, fight for anything or
encountered any resistance whatsoever in his life. Everything had been handed to him. Colt met a kid like that in prison. A spoiled rich kid who had killed one of his friends in a drunk driving accident. Colt remembered the little shithead getting a few ass beatings.

     That was Briggs
, a spoiled little brat. The unfairness of it all made Colt sick, but what could he do? Sometimes innocent men went to prison while the guilty and their families thrived. It’s just how things were. He couldn’t change it but he could make some things right.

     “Colt,” Briggs said. “Listen to me. The people in this town that you’re hurting
? They didn’t have anything to do with what happened to you. Some of them were just kids back then. What good are you doing killing all them?”

     “This town is a cancer. It is nothing but a toxic poison. The politics in this town, businesses, everything is corrupt to its core. The only way to beat the cancer is to burn it and cut it out.”

     “Jesus, so that’s what you’re gonna do to me? Cut me up? Burn me?”

     Colt reached into the bed of the pick up and took out an old phone book. It was heavy and several inches thick. He weighed it in his hand as he walked over to Briggs. He looked at him for a moment, and then reared back with the phone book in both hands and hit Briggs in the side of the head with it. Brigg’s head snapped to the side as he let out a yell. He lost his balance, but the chain held him up.

     “Ow! Fuck that hurt! Damn Colt. Don’t do this.”

     Colt didn’t say a word as he swung the phone book again from the other side. Briggs head snapped around like a bobblehead doll. Briggs grunted and coughed as his eyes watered.

     “This fun Sheriff? You gonna arrest me? Your town is on fire out there. What’re you doin? I caught you running away you coward.” Colt hit him again with the phone book, this time in an uppercut motion sending his head backward. Briggs left his feet and swung by his arms as blood sprayed from his mouth. “Stay with me Sheriff. The night is young.”

     “Colt. Look. I have money. My family’s money. I can get it for you. All of it
,” Briggs pleaded. His plea just elicited another blow with the phone book.

     “That’s your problem. You just don’t get it. Everything is money with you people. Money, power, titles, positions. Well news flash. Money won’t save you tonight. Your badge won’t save you. How do you like that?” Colt said.

     Briggs spit out blood and looked up at him.

     “That’s all I know man. That’s all that has ever mattered. It got me through life. I’m sorry for what they did to you. Maybe my dad did set you up. Him and mom always fought. She was always loaded up on her pain pills. I don’t think I spoke to her much the last year or two she was alive.” He stopped and spit out more blood. “I know my dad was crooked. A lot of folks knew it. That’s how he always got ahead. What does that have to do with me?”

     “I already told you, the sins of the father…”

     “Yeah, yeah, you said that, but what the fuck does that even mean? I have to pay for the stupid shit he did? Look at me. I’m not even smart enough to pull something like that off.”

     “You reaped the benefits from it. The life insurance. Yeah, that’s right; I know your dad had a million dollar policy on her. Getting your cushy little Sheriff’s gig. You’re the biggest benefactor of my going to prison,” Colt said and blasted Briggs again with the phone book. “Now it’s time for payback.”

     “So just kill me already. Be done with it.”

     “That’s too easy. I sat in that cell for twenty years thinking of what I would do once I got my hands on you. And I plan to do every last bit of it.” Colt tossed the phonebook aside and pulled out his knife. “Enough playing pattycake though. It’s time to get dirty.” He reached up with the knife and started cutting through Brigg’s left ear. Briggs screamed as Colt cut through until his ear came off. He held it up to Briggs who threw up at the sight of it.

     “Oh man, you threw up on my shoes. Now that pisses me off!” Colt yelled as he tossed Brigg’s ear aside and cut a line down his chest. Blood oozed from the opening, which was deep enough to hurt and bleed, but not deep enough to do any real damage. Briggs screamed as the knife cut through his chest and stomach.

     “There you go,” Colt said. “Nothing like a good bleeding, huh?”

     “Shit man, that fuckin’ hurts!”

     “Yeah, that’s the idea. And just think that is the best it’s gonna get for you tonight,” Colt said as he walked over to a table and picked up a blowtorch. He ignited the torch and held the knife over it. After a few seconds, the blade was glowing red.

     “Whaddya say Briggs? Time to heat things up a bit.”