The Family (VOL. 1)

Chapter 11

Matt gripped me to his chest and I buried my face into him, holding on for dear life, not ready to let go. Bubba's fingers roughly tangled into my hair and jerked me from my boyfriend's arms, ripping out handfuls of hair from my scalp while at it.

"Don't touch her!" he screamed, straining to free himself from the shackles binding his hands and feet.

He gave a swift kick to Matt's ribs sending him curling into the fetal position clutching his stomach. Blood was flying left and right with each strike of his fists. It poured from every orifice of Matt's face and flecked across Bubba's mask.

"Bubba, stop it! Leave him alone!" I cried, grabbing his fist in mid-air and digging my heels into the floor attempting to stop him from killing Matt who was lying there taking each blow as still as if he were already dead.

His hand cracked across my face, the impact as loud as a clap, snapping my head back with the force of his blow and leaving me reeling with stinging pain. A startled gasp escaped my lips as I wiped away the blood that poured from my mouth.

He released Matt from his death grip upon realizing what he had done. His eyes were wild beneath his mask. I took a step back, frightened by the crazed look on his face. I've never seen him like this; something tells me the look in his eyes can't be good.

With a growl, he lunged forwards and I turn to run but slam face first into one of the hanging bodies. Stumbling backward, not expecting to be face to face with a corpse, I bump right into a Bubba's brick wall of a chest.

It's fight or flight now and considering I'm pinned between a rotting corpse and a crazed butcher who would probably love nothing more than to make me into a corpse, I choose to fight.

I started swinging blindly not caring who or what I hit. He caught my wrist and squeezed it so tightly that I feared it would snap like a twig. Before I knew it, his arms were around my legs and lifting me up, he threw my body over his shoulder as if I were nothing more than a rag doll.

Aw crap, this is it! He's going to kill me! It's my turn to be beaten senseless! He's going to butcher me and hang me on a hook like the other bodies! I don't want to die! Please, God, don't let me die!

"Don't hurt her!" Matt screamed, choking on the blood gushing from his nose and pooling into his mouth.

Bubba ignored him and carried me out of the room. I caught one last glance of Matt's feeble figure curled up on the floor with his arms outstretched in my direction before Bubba slammed the door closed behind us.

"Put me down, you jerk! " I yelled, beating at his back with my fists which might as well have been marshmallows considering he didn't even flinch.

If I'm going to die, I might as well go out fighting. Time for a little payback. Let's see how much he likes having his hair pulled. I grab a hold of his mask's dry matted hair and yank it off his head.

He wailed and dropped me to the floor, knocking the breath out of my lungs. Despite the ache in my body and the throbbing headache, I snapped my head up and caught a glimpse of his real face.

Shaggy black hair fell into his eyes covering faded pink scars discolored from the rest of his face. It seemed his lips and cheeks had been unevenly and jaggedly stitched back together leaving him with a cleft lip and permanent snarl. Even what little bit of a nose he had left was mangled.

This must have been the outcome of the 'accident' Nubbins mentioned when we first met. He hid his face behind one hand and snatched the mask from me with the other. Tugging it back on he, adjusting it until it fit perfectly over eyes and mouth.

He paced about the room huffing and growling, eyes shooting daggers in my direction, and his hands balled into bloody fists at his side. The intense stare was accompanied by slow deliberate breathing as if he was trying to contain his rage and losing big time.