Masks (boyxboy)

15. Flashes II

*Trigger Warnings*

Edward - Flashback Continuation

I watch the numbers go down, the tightly packed houses are not numbered coherently, so I run and run through every street, past every corner of hurdled drug addicts and past every man looking like he wants to murder me.

I never find it, number nine.

Instead, right as I run past number eleven, a broad chested man grabs me from the waist and presses his hand against my mouth as I try to scream my lungs out of my chest. He drags me inside one of the tiny houses.

The man chokes me with a tightly knotted cloth around my head and over my open mouth, I try and try to kick and punch as he easily grabs my hands and ties them together behind my back. He punches me in the stomach and I fall down on the floor, a heavy thud resonates as my bottom crashes against the cement.

The man opens the bag and his eyes go wide when he registers the amount of cash inside, he grabs some money and slides it around his body lustfully, his face contorted in ecstasy as he stares at me with a wicked grin. The woman then walks inside, the one I gave the money to just minutes ago, with her three little kids trailing behind her.

The man grabs her by the waist and kisses her filthily. I gag a little as he squeezes her breast with too much force, causing the woman to wince.

" 'Been a good girl, babe." The man says into her mouth.

"Does this mean you'll treat me better tonight?" She asks timidly, eyeing me carefully. The man slaps her, leaving behind a knot of red, inflamed skin on her cheek.

"Put the kids to bed and wait for me, I'll take care of this idiot." He says turning to me. The woman nods and moves further into the house. There is nothing in here but cement, no furniture or kitchen ware, not even a television. I look around, thinking that this will probably be the last thing I ever see. I can taste the saltiness of my own tears as they run down my face and wet the cloth that is gagging me, I watch in terror as the man takes a broken piece of glass from the corner of the room and approaches me.

I gulp as he stretches my legs far apart, my jeans ripping at the seams with the force and he presses the glass to my inner thigh. The denim rips first, my skin takes a while longer and a bit more force to break open. The edge of the glass is dull, but the man's determination is sharp. I let out a high pitched muffled scream and I can faintly hear as one of the children cries in fright at the sound.

I've never experienced this much pain before, my brain can't manage to make sense of anything as it begins to shut down. I can feel myself drifting away when my shallow breathing doesn't grant my body enough oxygen to stay awake.

The pain is even more unbearable after the piece of glass is removed and it stings with the night air. Blood rushes down my leg, making it look as if I just pissed myself with blood.

"Shut up that bloody kid!" The man roars as he stabs my thigh once more with more anger. The bleeding begins instantly this time and it coats my jeans almost completely. I let out another scream, the child screams louder.

The torture goes on for what seems like hours, opening up my legs one cut at a time, at some point, he grabs a bottle of disgusting smelling rum and takes a sip from its dirty mouth every time he opens another wound in my legs, as if in celebration.

The man never grows tired, I never manage to black out.
I stay awake every second, with the sounds and smells permanently etched in my brain. For a few seconds before the pain begins again I wonder why he's doing this, why he won't just kill me.

"Your life is so fuckin' perfect innit?" He growls at some point. "You deserve to go through a bit of the pain we've had to swallow before you die."

I wonder if my sister is still alive, I wonder if my parents are worried, I wonder if Lou will be searching for me. I wonder if i'm allowed into heaven even if i'm in love with a certain boy. Of course, Sophie always told me that God loves everyone, it's the people that come up with the hate.

My legs never become numb and even as the sunlight begins to crawl across the man's scarred face, I scream and scream into the now spit and tear wet cloth.

A loud bang echoes through the house and in the blink of an eye, the man splatters across the floor, his limp body gargling on red dark blood. As he dies i'm happy. I'm happy he got what he deserved, a disgusting worthless death.

"Sorry kid." I barely recognize the voice from hours earlier when he spoke to me on the phone, but as he twirls the gun in his finger I realize that he is the one who asked for the money. His voice is a higher pitch than it sounded on the phone, he sounds funny but with enough authority to keep tears running down my cheeks. He must be their boss, though he is not nearly as big as the others who walked in behind him, his lanky frame could be easily taken had he not carried a gun.

Two other bulky men walk in, search the house for other people and return with nobody. The woman must have fled from the back when she heard the gunshot.

The boss who shot my kidnapper speaks again: "We don't appreciate people stealing our money," he toes the dead body of my kidnapper and kicks him hard, "Took us all night to find you. We'd been watching you since you came into our territory but lost sight of you all of a sudden. This idiot deserved to die." I don't question that.

The man takes the long forgotten duffel bag and begins to count the money, after he is satisfied with the amount, he motions for another man to come inside. This man is skinny and very tall, his eyes look crazily around as he carries my sister in a bloody heap. Her eyes are rolled back but I can faintly see her chest rise and fall slowly.

"She's not dead." The new man says as he throws her on the floor, she lets out a faint whine. The man who carried my sister in approaches me, but stops for a while to take the half empty bottle of liquor and chug it all in one go. "You're really pretty." He says to me.
The boss rolls his eyes but stands up, not taking notice of the psycho trying to untie my bindings.

"Just let them go and join us for a party." The boss instructs.

This man nods, but the glimmer in his eye terrifies me to the bone. There is no way that this man is just going to let us leave.

My hands now free, I push the man away with every bit of strength I have left, which is not much, but he stumbles backward a little before he launches at me and pins me to the floor. His free hand roams over my jeans and squeezes my thigh. The jeans crunch with dried blood and my thigh stings with reopened wounds, as I scream at the top of my lungs, Sophie seems to have woken up and tries to lunge at the man. She is clearly not strong enough as the man turns to her and grabbing her shoulders, he smashes her head against the ground. I cry and cry as blood trickles down the floor towards me, I hear her gargled scream and watch in horror as the light slowly leaves her eyes.

The man kisses her lips. I vomit. He lunges at me. Police sirens. Alcohol. Screaming. My mother holds me. My father holds my sister. I continue to vomit as an ambulance takes me to the hospital. I run away when we get there. I jump from the ambulance and kick whomever tries to get in my way. Adrenaline rushes through me as I look for Lucas, for his arms to hold me together as I fall apart. I need my best friend. I find him at the football field, looking somber and I wonder if he's heard and if he has why isn't he holding me right now?

"I'm in love with you." He says, never looking into my eyes.

Though the back of my mind registers those words as the ones I always dreamt he would say to me, it's too much to be able to handle right now. I run back to the hospital and wait for Lucas to arrive.

He never does.