The Lost Video

THIRD PART

OWEN groaned as the man held his shoulder with a strong grip, his other hand pressing a knife against his throat as they walked downstairs to the living room again.

Every time Owen swallowed, his flesh pressed farther into the blade against his skin, and pierced it in a way that made him grit his teeth.

When they reached the living room, Owen was relieved to find Winnie, but angered to find that she was tied to a chair in front of the television with the woman from before standing beside her. The woman had her hand on Winnie's shoulder, tilting her head to the side with her eyes glittering through the eye-slits in the mask.

Owen shook his head, his eyebrows furrowed in anger.

"I don't know who the fuck you guys are, but you both better- ah," Owen hissed through his teeth when the man walking with him made a knick against the flesh covering his throat with the knife. The wound stung and Owen felt the blood rush down his neck as he was forced into a chair beside Winnie.

Owen looked over at Winnie, who's mouth was covered by a thick rag that had been tied around her head. Her eyes were wide and tearing, her eyelids swollen from crying out of pure fear. Owen felt sorry that he had forced her to stay when she was going to leave before.

Owen sat still as the man wrapped a thick rope around his body, securing him to the chair that sat in front of the television screen. He then groaned when the man wrapped a similar rag around his mouth, preventing him from speaking.

He watched tiredly as the woman stepped away from Winnie and turned the television on, static instantly filling the screen. The woman looked over at the man, before they stood on both sides of the television.

The noise sounded again, and the bald man appeared on the screen again. This time, instead of just staring, he was dancing around the dark room. Twirling, leaping through the air, flailing his arms and moving his body in fluid motions. Then, the film cut to an image of Owen sleeping on the couch, while the bald man started dancing beside the couch, moving his arms around in a terrifying way.

Owen looked away from the screen in fear, biting down on the rag as he shook his head.

The bald man sat on the couch beside Owen in the video, while Owen was sound asleep and unaware. The bald man waved to the camera, a large smile on his face that met his eyes, as he then began to caress Owen's legs while staring at the camera.

Owen felt extremely uncomfortable, as the piercing screech grew louder and louder.

There was another clip of Owen in his room, taking his shirt off and changing into the other one, but it looked as if the camera had to be right in front of him. Owen felt confused, as he did not ever remember there being a camera in front of him while he was changing.

The clip cut to the bald man staring into the camera again, before the image of the woman in the crying baby mask began to flicker on the screen again.

The piercing noise grew louder, filling Owen and Winnie's ears in the worst way possible as the noise began to drive Owen insane. Owen groaned and struggled to break free from the restraints, crying into the rag that was clenched between his teeth.

The bald man stared into the screen. Then the baby mask flashed on. Then the bald man, then the baby mask, all flickering on and off the grainy screen in quick intervals.

"Help!" Owen cried out into the rag, his chest aching as he pressed it into the frayed rope around him. "Stop it! Please!"

The noise was as loud as ever, filling Owen's ears and rattling his brain until he couldn't handle it any longer. He shook his head and closed his eyes, feeling blood begin to fill his ears and drip down the edges of his neck as he begged and pleaded for the noise to stop.

He looked over at Winnie who was just staring at the screen, her eyes glittering as she seemed completely hypnotized.

Then, the film cut to the bald man making facial expressions into the camera. He smiled, then frowned, then smiled, then frowned, then stuck his tongue out, then crossed his eyes. And then, the bald man held what looked like a human arm to his mouth, and began to tear his teeth through the flesh.

The piercing, monotonous screech turned into another layer of somebody screaming for help. The yelling was so ear-piercing, that Owen screamed with it, his eyes filling with burning hot tears that pricked the rims of his eyelids.

"Please stop! Please stop!" Owen cried out, shaking his head rapidly as he closed his eyes tight and struggled to break free.

The man and woman in the masks stood there, watching the both of them through the masks with their hands on their hips and their knives glistening in their grips. Owen's body was overheating as he pleaded for them to release him - sweat was soaking through his clothing and his hair was matted and stuck to his face. Blood was puddling on his shoulders, cascading down his ears until he felt he could no longer hear anymore.

Then, the video stopped, and it cut to a final clip of the man, the woman, and the bald man all carrying a body out to the backyard. Owen instantly recognized it as himself - he recognized his thick dark hair, his green shirt, his denim jeans, his bloody ears, everything pointed to the obvious result of this experience.

Owen swallowed hard once the ringing and screaming stopped, before he slowly looked towards Winnie whose head was flopped to the side, resting on her shoulder. Her glasses had fallen off, and her beautiful blonde hair was matted with thick blobs of dark blood.

Owen lifted his head to stare up at the man and woman who brought themselves to their knees in front of him. Owen's saliva was thick and the taste in his mouth was atrocious as he continued to watch the man and woman with a tired gaze.

They used their knives to slice through the thick rope around him, before the woman reached over to press his knife against his flesh again. Owen closed his eyes in defeat, resting his head against his shoulder as he felt completely exhausted.

He had no desire to fight back. The noise continued to play in his head, and it drove him absolutely insane. He knew that it had to be done.

The man in the baby mask stood up and he trained his eyes on Owen, standing over him in a powerful position. The man then bent down to Owen's level, before he brought the cold edge of the knife against the heated flesh of Owen's face.

"We warned you not to watch the video," the man in the baby mask spoke.

Before Owen had time to react, the knife was dragged across his throat.

THE END