The Eyes of a Murderer (Watty Awards 2013)

Chapter 16: Guns and Noises

 My eyes would not leave the small white door. The very reason we traveled here and prepared to fight was so that we can get her back, and here she is, just a couple feet away from me. Of course I wanted to kill Vulture and I knew Mystic wanted to kill him too, but what if I could just get Kelse out of harms way first?

The door to Vulture's room was closed, I could hear him talking to someone else as I continued creeping up the stairs. The hallways were completely quiet. All that could be heard, aside from Vulture, was the teenager downstairs who seemed to be playing video games.

My hearing became slightly impaired as my heartbeat took over my nerves, beating hard against my rib cage. I took a slow and steady breath as I walked past Vulture's door.

My movement was interrupted by the creaking floorboards. My heart stopped occasionally when Vulture's voice was no longer a distant sound, then I breathed out a sigh when I heard it again. As long as he is unaware that I am even in here, getting Kelse, shouldn't be that hard. 

I made it safely to the small white door and slowly turned the nob, sliding it open.

A light creak echoed through out the hallways momentarily paralyzing my hands. I peeked through the crack in the door and saw the most brutal thing.

There was a trace of blood running down her neck, chest and thighs. Her hands, feet and mouth were tied with a strong rope and they held her securely to a wooden chair in the middle of the empty room.

Her eyes held nothing but confusion and fear.

This wasn't Kelse.

The poor girl didn't look a day over sixteen. What brutal animal would do this?

I slowly made my way in to the room and carefully closed the door behind me. The dark skinned girl began to sob and kick. Her eyes pleaded with mine, as she shook her head from side to sid

"Shh." I cautioned sympathetically. "I'm not going to hurt you."

Her eyes widened as I took another step towards her chair. "Relax." I said putting up my hands. I continued moving closer until I was less than a foot away from her chair.

She was shaking. The poor girl.

It was at least 40 degrees in this room and she had on nothing but her underwear. Her frail and bruised body appeared malnourished and her face had taken on a gaunt look. She had definitely been here for a while.

They haven't been feeding her.

Though she had lost a massive amount of weight and was dirtied with blood, I could tell she was a beautiful girl. Her soft eyes and full lips aided in the look of her innocence.

I watched her slowly as I went to pull the rope from her mouth. "Don't scream." I cautioned. "I'm not going to do anything to you."

She closed her eyes and allowed me to pull the tight rope down to her small neck. The rope had left the sides of her mouth red and blistered.