Torture ((neko!Ben x Jeff x Liu))

5. Polaroid

"So what's your name?"

Ben's ears perked up when he was spoken to and he lifted his head from the bowl to look up at Jeff who sat up against the wall on his mattress with a lit cigarette hanging from his lips.

"My... My name?" he murmured absently. "Ben."

Jeff chuckled. "Ben? That's cute. It's fitting."

Ben glanced down at the marks in his thigh, then back up to the other. "Is your name Jeff?"

Jeff nodded, pulling the cigarette away from his mouth and exhaling smoke through his nose. "You haven't heard of me?"

Something about the way he said it made Ben shudder, but he shook his head slowly.

Jeff put the cigarette back in his mouth and stood up. He walked over to another corner of the room, rummaging through the drawer of what looked like a writing desk. He took out a thick book with a black cover, then walked up to Ben and handed it out to him.

Ben carefully reached for the book with both  hands. The black cover was made of a rough leather bound at the spine with rows of thin rope. He opened to the first page that consisted of nothing but a fading, wrinkled newspaper clipping.

-the bodies of Margaret and Peter were left unrecognizable after their brutal murders. Their younger son, Liu Woods, was also found dead with his body covered in not only multiple knife wounds but bruises that indicate he could've been beat to death before he bled out from any of the knife wounds. Jeffery Woods fled the home after committing the murders and still has yet to be found. Contact local authorities immediately if any sign of Jeffery-

Ben felt sick as he read, then his eyes flicked to a separate clipping below the first.

It has been only two weeks since Jeffery Woods- now being called "Jeff the Killer" -murdered his family and went into hiding.  Multiple bodies have been discovered now with marks cut into their face and burns around the eyes, similar to the way a few witnesses have said Jeff the Killer made on himself. So far, we have record of nineteen different victims-

Jeff blew out one last cloud of grey smoke and Ben coughed, waving it away, watching as he flicked the cigarette butt somewhere off to the side.

Ben turned the page of the book. This time, instead, it showed a series of polaroid photos taped to both pages, many of them overlapping with smudges of scribbled dates on the bottom margins. Each one showed a close-up of what he could only assume were the mangled, disfigured bodies and faces of multiple different people. Almost immediately, Ben gasped and dropped the book onto the floor, taking a few steps away and staring at it with wide, horrified eyes. Some of the photos had been so graphic that every individual detail of them felt as if it had been burned into his brain. He shut his eyes and held his head, shaking it back and forth violently while emitting small whimpers. "I didn't want to see that!" he cried.

"Those were my first victims besides my family." Jeff's voice was far away and Ben opened his eyes a little to see the man had picked up the book and set it back onto the desk. "These pictures mean so much to me," he said quietly as if lost in memories, then turned to face Ben again. "You're going to have to get used to it if you're going to stay here with me."

Ben choked back vomit, covering his mouth for a moment to swallow it back down. The horrible smell of Jeff's room was starting to make terrible thoughts run through his mind. "But I didn't ask to come here!" he sobbed, black tears dripping down his cheeks and smearing along his neck. "What do you want with me? Why did you bring me here?" he demanded, fear turning to anger.

Jeff looked at him up and down slowly. "I wanted a pet. I was hoping for a dog, but," he shrugged, smiling through the cuts in his mouth. "I made an exception for you."