Malevolent (Tex Sawyer)

Malevolent: 8

It was becoming increasingly difficult not to be a hypocrite. When every bit of you pulsed and rushed in agony, all you wanted to do was cry. Just succumb and let out the scream, the wail and anguish. Everything the Sawyers enjoyed and waited for. Biting down on my lip, I could feel the tears threatening to spill again, the company not being able to offer any reassurance through any fault of her own. She was as trapped as I was, like a mouse in a cage with no exit in sight. I could imagine what she had been through in the small time she had been stashed away. She had told me how it started with a hitchhiker and all of it made sense, like myself she had fallen for the apparently charming cowboy who led multiple others to their death. It was a well rehearsed routine and one that caused rage among other emotions but the pain flooded and washed it from my mind. It was when I stopped, when I moved and breathed after they were done that I could feel it. The broken arm, the belt welts, the nerve damage that had been caused by multiple broken fingers in the past.It was too much, far too much to go through and knowing it would most likely continue just forced my stomach to twist and turn. Finally I relented, I let the beads of water drip and fall into my chest. My teeth relinquished my lip as I let out a small noise trying to remain quiet.
"Someone will come." The female offered again as I shook my head. The notion was laughable but not surprising. It was a mistake I had made, hoping for someone, anyone to come and pull me away from this ring of hell.
"No one is coming."
"They will." There was a strength in her voice that was eerily familiar, the optimism, the hope but it was all for nothing. "People don't just go missing."
"They do," I disagreed bluntly, "all the time. You know what happens when somebody tries to help? The same as the others, tortured or dead but either way on the fucking dinner table and they make you eat them."
"We can escape." Against my will I scoffed. There was a part of me that felt disheartened for throwing away whatever suggestion she had but this was it. Things didn't get any better and if she didn't learn it now then she would have to discover for herself the harder way.
"Don't you think I've tried? I've tried multiple times...different ways...it's always the same place I end up. In this fucking hell hole getting hit, humiliated or raped, they just strip your sanity from you layer by layer until you're just bone. Doesn't matter if you do what you're told, they hurt you and just when you think you've felt every pain going they get inventive." A dry chuckle crackled in my throat as I thought of every last punishment I had received at the family's hands.  "They can be really creative when they try to be but then maybe you stand more of a chance, Junior is as dumb as a box of rocks." Rolling my head against my chest I sighed and inhaled deeply. "Know how I escaped him once?"
"How?" Her voice was sounding more determined now, it was as if she was willing to give it a go. It appeared as though she was one who would learn the harder way but then maybe it was possible. It seemed the family underestimated her and perhaps if she was smart she could get further than I had. Stretching my legs out to regain the sensation from the pins and needles, I sighed and tilted my head backwards. I couldn't see her full face but part of it was visible under her hair, her blue eyes were rimmed in tears and an unpleasant bruise, her eyebrows soft and having her look more delicate.
"Does he still have that spelling toy?"
"The one where everything is food?" Again, a laugh escaped my lips and pushed my head back against the wood. It wasn't funny, not at all but my mind kept whirring and I despised it for its weakness to hope in an impossible situation but a possibility lurked. If I could distract the others and she could escape, she could get the relevant help required.
"Have you tried helping him with it?"
"No, I've just kind of-"
"Screamed at him?" I asked knowing the answer, it had been said what a screamer she was and the noise she made. "It usually has the opposite effect. You scream to get away and they take it as an invite. If you help him, you turn the tables. He thinks he's made a friend and if he gets frustrated by the game you can scold or manipulate. I told him off, I made him face the wall and he did. He hates me now by the way." I added with a small grin knowing it to be a fact that I got under his skin, mask and all. "So the worst case scenario is he'll kill you and dying is better than a repeat of everything even if you don't know that yet."
"Are you always this cheery?" It was plain to see that she was trying to make light of the situation, reality being far more bleak and once more, I did not blame her. It was a method of trying to cope with all that had happened and was yet to come.
"It comes and goes. Mornings are usually worse." I shrugged before wincing at the discomfort that came from my arm. "Alfredo and Tink have a bowl in the front room where they toss the keys for their trucks. Grandpa keeps watch but he's not someone to worry about. Front door is usually unlocked because they don't get visitors then if you get that far you drive and you just keep driving."
"What if someone can help?"
"How many times do you think a good samaritan has been carved up?" I recalled Roger, a fleeting memory now but the message was clear as was the look on his face when Hewitt showed up. The collapsed jaw, the mess of teeth... "You don't stop. Not for other cars and definitely not for sheriffs-"
"But-"
"You stop for a cop, you get another bastard and trust me, Charlie or should I say Hoyt...he even makes Tinker nervous."
"So trick Junior, swipe the keys and drive. Seems simple enough."
"Don't be fooled, you're still outnumbered." It was naive to think for a second that it was plain sailing. It was an onerous task.
"There's still two of us though." I shook my head, the laughter slipping out as I despaired at her statement and her innocence.
"I'm not sure you've seen the state of me but I'm not really in driving condition and unless Tex is out on the road, he'll be watching and if he isn't then Tink checks in. I'm not trustworthy, they expect misbehaviour from me but you, it looks as though you could have a chance. I can't run right now anyway." It was the veracity of the situation, I would slow her down if she had the slightest chance in hell of being free. She made a small noise, as if ready to make an argument before deciding to remain silent. Kicking at the gravel before me, I sealed my lips firmly and took in the light of the sun. "Tell me when."
"When?"
"When you're planning your getaway." I remarked, sighing. "I might be able to buy you time."
"Are you sure you don't want to come?"
"I would only be a complication in the plan."
"But-"
"You know you're looking at your future though if you slip up." I warned wearily edging my head back to her. "And I can enjoy having one functioning arm until then." Flexing the fingers of my right hand, I listened to the sound of the kitchen door opening and the heavy steps that followed. "You're okay." I told her as she flinched and her chin pressed on my shoulder not wishing to see who was coming. I would have suspected Junior also, you would hear each step he would make and the squeak of his leg brace. Tinker however when in a hurry could be quite hulking in his movement.
"Me or you?" She whispered back as I closed my eyes with a gentle breath.
"Probably me, I'm a bad influence on you." As the crunches came closer, I wasn't surprised when the tanned man stood before me shaking his head.
"Like hell is this a good idea." He stated simply, "The last thing we need is her learning your sly tricks."
"Today." The female's voice gently spoke in a hushed manner. I nodded and felt scepticism fill my bones as Tinker leant over to uncuff my functioning hand.
"Bad enough having one rebel to babysit. Know what they say about girls together? They scheme together." Tink continued irritably as I blinked simply. The less he knew, the better. His earring reflected the sunbeams as I stood up with him pulling at my right side. "You missy are staying with Grandpa. This whore can-"
"My name is Brittany." The red head spoke loudly. Her voice strained in her throat but as I looked upon the seething face of the moustached man, I couldn't help but laugh as he gruffly pulled at me.
"Two damn minutes and you have the lamb out of the slaughter. You better not have been teaching her anything else." Throwing my head back, the giggling unstoppable as Tink led me back inside and away from my new comrade. "Swear I'm the only one of you jackasses that think." Junior whimpered and Tex questioned what he did wrong as I continued walking to the front room to accompany Grandpa.