The Recruitment of Seth Norwick [On Hiatus]

Chapter 4

I wake up to darkness. I blink a few times, letting my eyes adjust to the sim light. I stare up at a ceiling, trying to remember what happened. I don't recall much. It's a little fuzzy.

What concerns me is that I'm never tired and never pass out. I can't fall asleep properly and I have extreme insomnia. So why was I unconscious??

I rub my eyes and look around, hoping to remember what I was doing and why I was lying on the floor of the bar kitchen.

I wish I had just stayed unconscious.

The first thing I see is blood. Lots of it. Everywhere. The counter, the floor, the walls, and on various pieces of furniture. Where did this much blood even come from?!

Then, I see two people.

I quickly make my way over to the person closest to me. Lying down, their face is turned away from me. I kneel beside them and immediately recognize the fluffy brown hair. It's definitely Casper. My stomach flips and I quickly check to see if he's breathing. My whole body exhales in relief when I see that he is.

Various wounds cover his body, dried blood crusted around the edges of some. His face is twisted up in pain, and rightly so. Something twists in my stomach and I can feel the vengeance beginning to form. I carefully scoop him off the floor and gently lie him on the couch, which should be more comfortable.

I go to look at the other person, lying near the stairs. The sickening feeling in my stomach builds when I recognize my best friend. Erin appears to be in the same shape as Casper. How did he get here? I thought he was somewhere else...

I pick him up as well and trek to his room. I push open the door with my foot and carefully lay him down on his bed.

I pull out my phone and with trembling fingers, I dial 911.

"911, what's your emergency?"

"I just found 2 of my friends unconscious and badly wounded in my friend's basement."

"Okay, and how old are you?"

"I'm 16."

"When did you find them?"

"Maybe a minute or two ago."

I answer a few more questions while pacing the floor of Erin's room.

I don't know how much time has passed but I stand up from the couch at the sound of sirens. I had sat on the couch after the call, vengeance brewing in my blood. I still don't remember what happened before I awoke on the floor of the kitchen.

A thought slams into me.

Did I do this...?

But I would never do this-

And then I remember. I did do this kind of thing before. 8 years ago. On that night.

I sighed and tossed his body aside. He wouldn't be too useful anymore. At least I was able to get some good screams out of him.

Margaret shrieked and thrashed around. "Y-You bastard!" Big, fat tears rolled down her face. Losing her precious firstborn would be hard on her, but I'm sure she'd never think twice if I were killed.

I smiled and said, "Really, you brought this on yourself. Treating your child in such a way? It was bound to come back to bite you in the end, or in this case, kill you."

"I should've never have birthed you, you murderous psychopath!"

"Aww, but you did! And now you have to deal with it," I sang, grinning. "Are you scared? Because you should be!"