Thrills

Awakening

I woke with a jolt. I let out an exhausted sigh and wiped the cold sweat that formed on my forehead. It was the same nightmare that I always have. I was a little child, maybe 8. I look around and I am in my childhood room. The room was dark and there was nothing that even hinted that a child lived there, no little toy cars, action figures, not even a badly drawn picture on the wall that was used to cover up a crayon mark. In the dream, I look down and see the familiar bruises on my arms and legs. When I try to walk, I feel a sharp jolt of pain in my hip; lifting up my shirt, I see a bruise that was starting to turn purple, in the shape of a shoe.

Exploring the room, suddenly there are loud staggered thuds coming from the outside the door. They are far away but gets closer and closer with every breath I take. I anticipate the unknown predator, as the door flies open and bangs against the wall, breaking loose dust that came to rest there over the years. In the doorway stood my drunk and angry father cursing and hiccupping waving two beer bottles in the air. He throws one bottle, which smashes into the wall and shatter on the floor like rain on a windowpane. Shocked by the shatter, I look back to where the bottle crashed. There's a sudden rush of footsteps coming towards me and I turn to see my father charging towards me with a half-shattered bottle. I always woke up right before he leaped on me like a lion on its prey.

I walk over to the window and open the shades, blinding myself with surprisingly bright sunlight. It must have been after twelve because the sun was pretty high up in the sky, I thought. I walk past the bathroom and the scars from my childhood, which covered my torso gleam in the mirror. The floor was cold against my bare feet as I walk to the fridge. The events that occurred last night flash in my head like a HD movie; Sally knocked out on the floor, me going to get my car from around the corner, putting her in my trunk and driving to my house, then I tied her up in my basement. At that moment, a faint muffled scream came from the basement.

"Hello Sunshine," I say, smirking at Sally as I walk down the stairs. The wooden stairs creaked under my weight and seemed to plead as I went further down. Sally's response was cut off by the bandana that I tied around her mouth.

"What's that?" I say, placing my hand to my ear. Laughing, I walk over to the other side of the basement. The basement was a medium-sized room, lit by a single bulb. There wasn't much down here except for a chair that Sally was tied to, a table with various tools on it and a window just below the ceiling. I ran my hand over the tool son the table. There's a hammer, knives, drills, and other fun things like that.

I remove the bandana form Sally's mouth and she let out an ear-busting shriek. I backhand her to make her stop.

"Why are you doing this?" She asks, crying from the slap.

"For the thrill," I say as I walk back to the table. I touch the tools again, trying to make a selection. Picking up the hammer and banging it against my hand, I walk away from the table. Sally stares at me horrified, as she starts to plead.

"I haven't felt that thrill in while," I say taking menacing steps towards her.