His Murderous Smile

The Masked Man

"Just another wine for the lady and I." I say winking at Grace.

The waiter went to get the wine, and Grace whispered to me, "You know we shouldn't be drinking wine. We're not of legal age..." That sentence was followed by a giggle.

"Shhh... No one has to know," I whispered right back to her, grinning.

She kicked my feet from under the table. I chuckle in response. Three drinks in and Grace and I lightly stumble out of the restaurant.

"Hayden you want me to drive?" She asks.

"Sweetheart, you had just a many drinks as I did." She giggles and resides in the passenger side. The drive up to my apartment is quiet. Not an awkward silence, but a peaceful one. We pull up to the apartment parking lot. To be a gentleman, I drunkenly stumbled over to her side of the car, and open the door for her. I took her hand and helped her out of the car, smiling the entire time. 'Gosh... she's beautiful...' I thought to myself.

"Why thank you sir," She says in a mocking tone.

"You're very welcome ma'am," I laugh.

That's when it all happened. The perfect moment with my perfect girl was torn. Something hit my head with excruciating force. I hear the shrill murmurs of Grace's screams, and then pitch black. The darkness seemed to last for an eternity. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't wake up. But the screams... Grace's screams... I still felt like I could hear them echoing in my head.

----

I open my eyes and immediately shut them. The glare of lights burnt my eyes. After a few blinks I finally open them. I noticed that I was tied to a chair, and in a barren room, nothing but me, myself, and I.

"Grace...?" I said, my voice coming out raspy from my dry throat. I had a pounding headache, and being tied to a chair didn't make it any better.

There was no reply from Grace.

Suddenly a shrill noise comes from God knows where. I try to cover my ears with my shoulders but miserably fail. I hear someone clear there throat and then a tap on a mic.

"Hello, sorry for the informalities, but if I told you my name this scheme would be pointless." He chuckled and continued on.

"What do you want from me?!" I demanded, anger lacing my every word as I struggled against my restraints.

"It's not you that we need. It's the girl." He says, I can hear the smirk on his face.

"Leave Grace the hell alone!" I yell, knowing it's not going to do any good.

He laughed manically, as if I were a child telling an adult what to do. "I don't believe you're in any position to tell me what I can and can't do," he said. I looked around the room, desperate for an escape. Desperate to find Grace and make sure she was okay.

The room was made of four walls, and a post in the middle for structure support and that was it. Nothing else. I flinched when I heard the door slam from behind me. (Well I guess there are more than four walls)

"Will you stop it?!" I hear a man yell. I then crane my neck to the side. I hear muffled screams and a figure being thrown around. No...

"Grace!!!" I cried out immediately, trying to break loose. But all I managed to do was knock over my chair, with me still tied to it. Great.

The scruffy looking guy who was 'handling' Grace walks over to me after putting her in a chair.

"Pffff, fall over mate?" He says with the deep Australian accent. I nod and he placed me up right again. 

"Wouldn't want to miss this." He says a grin plastered across his face.

I glared at him, gritting my teeth. "Miss what?"

"If you hurt her I swear I will put an end to your life!" I shouted at him.

After trying but failing to get untied, I looked toward Grace. Her face is stuck in a horrified expression.

"Grace, what did they do to you?!" I half scream.

"Nothing. Yet." She says the suspenseful tone in her voice making my heart drop.

"You'll be okay," I promised, though in reality I really had no idea if she really would be alright. "I'm so sorry, Grace..."

"Why are you sorry?" She asked me. I saw that she was shaking.

"I'm sorry that I can't break free and help you. I'm sorry that I can't do anything to save my girl..." I said, my voice small and worried.

The familiar door slams. My body tenses up. -Not good-

"Well, well, well." A man says. I can't see his face because it's covered by a strange looking mask. I swallowed hard, just staring at the masked man. His fists were clenched, he looked menacing.

"If it isn't Hayden Alexander." The masked man sneers.

"Who are you and what do you want with Grace and I?!" I say through clenched teeth.

He simply smirks, and walks over to Grace. He tangles his fist in her hair and yanks. Her violent scream floods the room. 'I can't do anything about it', was all I was thinking over and over again. That's what saddens me the most. He's hurting Grace, and I can't save her. I can't be her hero.

"Leave her alone!!!" I shout uselessly.

His stern eyes glance at me. He moves towards one of his hench men and whispers a few things. He then glides towards me. "You see Hayden. I've never liked you. Those billboards with your face on them used to aggravate me. But look at you now. You're helpless!" He laughs in my face. "So guess what Hayden. You screwed over my family. Now I'm going to take what's most precious to you. My eyes widen as I glance over to Grace. Her mouth forms words. 'I Love You'.

"No, no, no!!! Don't hurt Grace!" I scream, desperate to break free from my restraints.

The man chuckles evilly. "Don't even try to escape. It won't work."

One of his hench men makes his way towards me. His hands grip my shoulders, restraining me further.

"I'm going to make this as painful as possible." His grin almost touches his eyes.

Tears fill my eyes. I have never been one to cry in front of people, but this time I can't help it. "I love you, Grace..." I say.

The man walks over to one of the four walls. He pushes a small red button and the wall flips, revealing horrid weapons. He browses through them, until he settles on a nine tailed whip with spikes drilled into each individual strand.  They un-shackle grace, she tries to fight against them, but her small frame is quickly retrained. They tie her to the post in the middle of the room. 

"Remove her dress," The masked man states. His hench men quickly strip her of her attire leaving Grace in only her under garments. I cringe as I see Him pull back. Grace turns to me and smiles. I close my eyes. I hear a crack and Grace screams. Six more cracks follow. I open my eyes and stare blankly at the scene in front of me. Her back is completely torn. Blood oozes out of the deep cuts. Her small body shakes as the man returns to the wall to pick out a new torture device.

I can hear Grace sobbing. This entire time, she's been trying to be strong. But now it's too much for her to bare. "STOP!!" I shout. "Don't hurt her anymore!!!"

"Hummm let me think. No. This is so fun Hayden!" He states. "Why would I stop now? I haven't even begun the good part"

"Please I'll do whatever you want, just don't hurt her," I beg.

First chapter done and many more to come. i hope that you thoroughly enjoyed this chapter, even though it was a bit gruesome. Fair warning if you cannot handle scenes of intense violence i suggest you do not continue reading this book.

Thank you all so much for reading and i hope to see you all in the next chapter ;)

~Julia