Mastim's Curse

Chapter 39

This time, the scream of pain is mine.

Suzie also gives a yelp and then proceeds to go into a panic. "Oh shit! Oh shit! Nicole, are you ok? Oh my God! Can you get down?"

God dammit, I'm hanging from the cycling by a wire around my wrist, and it's cutting off the circulation. The pain is excruciating. How fucking stupid could I be to put my hand right into a snare?

I reach for the knife in my belt to cut the wire. Crap... Where's my fucking knife? It isn't in my belt anymore. It must have fallen out when the trap sprung. Looking down at the ground, with the flashing light and straw on the ground, I can't find it.

Then Suzie's yells change to screams of terror. I realize the ghastly truth of my situation. I don't even have to look to know that the bounty hunter is here.

The lid to one of the coffins slides off and hits the ground revealing a huge, blood-covered man. He emerges with the look and manner of the mentally ill, but what alarms me more is the spiked club he's carrying along with the assortment of metal tools and knives in a tool belt around his waist. He's so big that the chain saw hanging from his belt almost looks like a toy, only it's covered with gore.

I need my hand free now!

"Suzie! The knife... I dropped the knife, find it... find it fast!" I reach up to grab the wire with my free hand and pull my feet up over my head so that they are planted against the ceiling. Then I pull with both hands desperately trying to break the wire or maybe pull it out of its support. It hurts like hell as the wire holds strong and cuts deeply into my flesh. Blood flows freely down my arm.

The killer makes his way carefully toward us, seeming to be mindful of where he places his fee. And judging by the wicked grin on his face, he's happy to see me like this. Suzie, however, is near hysterics as she franticly searches the ground beneath me. I need to buy her more time.

Still hanging upside down and pulling as hard as I can, I shout . "Hay ass-hole, how much are they paying you to do to this? Is it enough to die for?" His eyes lock onto mine and I can feel the darkness inside me reach out for him, yearning for another evil soul to clam.

He looks puzzled for a moment then continues his ominous advance.

"I'm going to make sure you suffer before I kill you." My voice has the talons of a predator.

The look of mirth leaves him and he stops. "I know you. You're that freak... Mastim... Yeah. That's your name. You're sexy. I'm going to play with you a lot. Have myself some fun. Like I did with her." He laughs manically and points at what is left of the naked, disemboweled women hanging nearby.

Holy fuck! This is so not how I want to die. Just the thought of him playing with me is enough to send me into a panic and I redouble my efforts to pull free. The wire must be down to my bone now as the flow of blood is alarming.

Suddenly, Suzie has the knife in her hand.

The power inside me surges, aching to act. "Give it to me."

The strobe light continues to flash, as if in anticipation of the forthcoming bloodshed, and my hand extends toward Suzie. She quickly hands me the blade and the darkness within me erupts. With one swipe of the blade, the wire is cut and I land on all fours on the ground.

"Come get some," I say in a deep throated voice to the man that would butcher us like animals.

He yells in surprise and leaps forward, swinging his club down at me. At the same time, I pounce toward him, staying low so he can't block my thrust. The hunting knife stabs deeply into his leg.

His swing is off the mark because of my move, but it still clips my left shoulder and the club's spikes rip into my flesh. Ignoring the pain, I twist the blade in his leg. He screams in agony and falls backwards onto the ground. I keep a firm grip on the knife which comes out of his leg with a splash of blood. Still saying low, I drive the blade through his booted foot and into the ground, pinning it in place. With a cry of anguish, he sits up and swings the club at me again. This time, his assault is partially deflected by my arm, but it still lands heavily on the top of my head with a sickening jolt.

I pull the knife out of his foot and stab it deep into his thigh, using it as leverage to pull by body forward onto his leg and pinning it under me. I have become death incarnate, relishing the dammed soul that I am slowly devouring.

Like a seal hanging from the mouth of a killer whale, he panics and the club blows come in quick succession but lack force. Suzie joins in the battle now and is beating him with her bat. Thankfully, her efforts severely hamper his attacks on me. I continue to pull out the blade and stick it into him over and over again as I work my way up his leg. A few more frantic blows with the club go unnoticed because I feel no pain right now. Later, if I am still alive, the pain will come and the full impact of the damage being done to my body will have to be faced. But, for now, I am an unfeeling killing machine, a demon as horrible as any born in the depths of a madman's nightmare.

With one last surge, the knife sinks into his groin. He screams with an agony no man should know. He drops the club and grabs at me with both hands, trying in vain to pry my fingers off the knife's handle. With the full weight of my body keeping the knife in place, I watch his resistance diminish as the loss of blood and pain is too much for him. He's going into shock.

It's not long until he stops fighting all together. For a moment, he sits quietly with a face that has lost all hope, and then his eyes roll up into his head and he slumps back onto the ground. His shallow breathing, however, is evidence that he is not dead yet. My dark lust is not satisfied, so I yank the blade out of him. With one last, swift movement, I slam the hunting knife into the center of the man's chest to claim his life and his soul. Yes... That's it. My eyes close as a shudder of euphoria flows though me.

Satisfied, the darkness in me recedes to be replaced with pain. Torrents of pain from the tremendous abuse my body has taken spread across my body as I collapse next to the dead man. Our blood comingles on the floor. The room becomes quiet and still except for the clicking of the strobe light as it continues to flash its periodic illumination on the gruesome scene and soft sounds coming from Suzie who is sitting off to one side with her hands clasped over her mouth, perhaps to keep herself from screaming, or sobbing uncontrollably. The sight of this kind of brutality changes a person in damaging ways that never fully heal.

After a while, Suzie moves closer and leans over me timidly. "Are you all right?"

The absurdity of her question brings me out of my stupor a little and almost makes me laugh. "Do I look all right?" The pain is overwhelming .There's no telling what internal damage that club did to me. My head feels like a smashed pumpkin and my side hurts like a mother fucker where he kicked me. Moving my left arm brings blinding pain from where the club hit my shoulder. It doesn't seem broken but those spikes cut me good.