No Regrets

Kelly's gone...

This was the second time Kelly had been shot- in one night. Kelly trembled on the dusty ground. Josh knelt beside her. In a few seconds she was gone- gone gone. Josh begun to sob loudly.
"You wretch! You sorry excuse of a sister! How could you kill your OWN sister?! Your own flesh and blood! No! I'm not going with you! You cant make me-"

"Don't you see what I just did to your sister out of my anger, for just being slow? It seems you haven't learnt your lesson… hmmmm? You wanna go next too?  Look at her lifeless body! Surely you don't want to end up like her…"

She leaned in close and wispered in his ear:
" so if you know what's best for you, step inside and follow EVERYTHING it tell you to do TO THE POINT! Your angellic sister is in a better place - where she belongs…so get in…NOW! Before I lose it!"

" May I say a few words to Kel-"
" No you may not! You fool! She is dead! D-E-A-D! What does that spell? Dead! Get in there before you go to hell!"
She signalled one of her men.
"Skull, get rid of this girl. Put her in a bag and throw her away or something. Immediately!"

" Very well, ma'am"

With that Josh was pushed inside. A dim lamp lit the "living room" . Josh could now get a clear view of Veronica.

She had cuts and scars all over her body, especially her face. She was wearing faded jean overalls, and had a piercing on her nose. Her hair was held in a suprisingly neat ponytail- Veronica used to style Kelly's hair like that when they were younger- when she was the "best sister ever".

Tears welled in Josh's eyes.
"Be strong. Maybe it was better for her not to suffer. Maybe it was God's plan. Lord, help me!" Josh whispered under his breath.

The room had a tattered couch filled with many stains.
"You sleep there tonight" his sister said without emotion, as he pointed at the sorry couch.

The floor was cold and bare.
On a wall, all kinds of weapons were hung- old, used, and new. Many were strange to Josh.

He missed his cozy room, his bed, his warm carpet, his bright lamp…

"Here is your snack . All that drama must have made you hungry."
Veronica sarcastically added, as she threw a hard stale bun at Josh, followed by a dusty can of soda.

"All I could find" , she smirked.
"Besides, you are even lucky I am giving you something. I could have left you to starve."

"I'm not hungry"

"Eat up you fool! You never know where your next meal will come from. If you knew what I was gonna make you do you would eat gladly. ! Its already 4 am. So eat and sleep. You wake up at 6. ON THE DOT!"

With that she left the room.
Josh sighed.
"Oh, and by the way…you are not allowed to leave this room ever until I approve of it. If you want to use the toilet, here is a bucket. "

She threw the bucket, which had a smelly pair of trousers and a shirt- both two sizes bigger.
"Your change of clothes".

Veronica left and slammed the door, to Josh's relief.
He looked at the bread, the soda  , and the bread again. He removed dust off the can to reveal the expiry date.

'It expired 1 year 2 months ago! What does she think I am-an animal?!'

'As a matter of fact, I do' , smirked Veronica, who stood in the doorway.

Josh jumped in fright when he saw her again. She was holding the thigh of a turkey, and a mug of beer in the other hand.

Josh looked at the turkey longingly. He didn' t care where it was from, or who cooked it.

"You really, really amuse me, Josh. You know that?"

" N-no"
" You scared?"

" What do you want from me?"
"Hmm…what do I want from you? I don't know?! What do you think? Maybe I want to kill you for no reason  maybe I just want to make you suffer, maybe I just feel like annoying you, could it be revenge? could it be that I want you to do something for you? I 'll leave that to your imagination darlin…"

She left the room, snickering.
…………………………………………..

Josh did not sleep. He was hungry. He couldn't eat that stuff. He remembered his bag, but he couldn't find it anywhere in his bag.
Crap! He left it by the roadside when Veronica had abducted them!

Only if he could find out how to get food! It was clocking 5. His eyes were droopy, but hunger was killing him.

He couldn't take it anymore. He grabbed the bun and ate it in a few seconds . He found it hard to swallow because the bread was so stale. At least his stomach was full.

He did not risk taking the soda. He lay in the sofa, whose metals poked his fragile ribs. He was truly uncomfortable. He wished he was dead like his sister.

Finally, he shut his eyes to sleep. Just when he had started dosing, he felt a painful piercing in his sides.
"Wake up, you jerk!"
It was Veronica.
The witch herself.
"You heard me clearly say 6 sharp. Get up. We've got a very very long day ahead of us!"

Josh groaned. He wanted to sleep. He NEEDED to sleep. But if he wanted to live, he had to follow orders. But DID he want to live???

"Why don't you just kill me already? "
Josh yelled.

" Because, darling, I want you to suffer greatly. I want you to be tortured. Plus, you are going to help me look for the man who murdered mother."

"But Veronica-"
" Tut tut! Its madam to you okay? Who do you think I am, hmm? Family?"
"Actually, you are-"
" You dont- sass- me "
" I didnt sass you"
"You better not be messin with me"
"Yes ma'am"
" Carry on, lil' bro, what were you saying?" She 'innocently" asked.
" I was wondering, what did I ever do to you for you to want to hurt me so bad?"

" O darlin, poor you, so unlucky. I'm putting  all my anger on you until I find out who killed mom. AND DON'T ASK ANY MORE QUESTIONS! You will do as you are told, okay? Until we find him, you are at risk. Hahaha! I would die if I was in your shoes right now! So…listen closely I WON'T REPEAT IT. You will have to follow instructions exactly if you want to survive. This is your assignment for the day…"