Chapter Five

 

By the time I woke up, I had a bandage on my forehead and the room was lit very bright. So bright that the walls almost look like a lighter hue of blue. I saw George on some kind of surgical table, strapped down. I looked to my left to find Kita standing with her arms above her head, chained to some kind of torture mechanism. When I looked over to my right, I saw Amber, in the same type of chair I was. I had noticed that everyone besides myself and Chase had tape over their mouths. When I resumed consciousness, I realized the pain on my forehead and on my hand. Fingers broken, a gash above my eye, a few ribs felt cracked and my body felt bruised all over.

 

“Chase?” I looked at her as she was making final adjustments by strapping George to the surgical table better. She had a surgeon mask, glasses, coat, and gloves, socks, but she kept her hair in the messy bun. She had surgical and non-surgical tools all around her.

 

“Tymithie.” She replied in a calm manner, Georges feet faced Amber and I, he was absolutely naked. No cloth, no covering at all. She took a scalpel and started to dig into his chest.

 

“Why are you doing this?” My voice trembled with fear, Amber sobbed next to me, struggling in the chair. Kita was unconscious.

 

“Knowledge, health.” She continued.

 

“Why couldn’t you have just went to school?! You could be a surgeon, just like you’re failing to be now.” Amber bumped my chair with hers, I looked over at her sobbing. Her eyes fixated on me, she shook her head no. Chase laughed at my mockery and continued.

 

“I’m no regular surgeon. I don’t need to go to school to learn, I was taught all I know.” She took off a piece of George’s exterior chest, opening him up more.

 

“Are you selling body parts on the blackmarket…” My stomach dropped, my body felt numb and my mouth watered like I was about to vomit.

 

“That would be a good idea, I mean, I do sometimes because I like nice things but for the most part. Toby and I like to catch and kill our own dinner.” Amber screamed under the tape, her tears seeping underneath the tape. She wiggled and moved but the buckles were too tight, her wrists started to bleed. I had an idea to remove the tape from her mouth but I need more answers.

 

“You’re a cannibal…” She nodded smiled happily as she took George’s heart out. “You’re… A cannibal… Were you raised this way? Who taught you to do this?!” I shouted as she started the extraction of George’s lungs.

 

“My pa, he taught me everything I know, I remember the first night I helped him. We had a perfect involuntary volunteer. She was cooking a normal people dinner, that’s when pa took the knife and slit her throat. Right in front of me, he gave me the knife, I licked the blood off from the handle to the point.” She was looking down at the scalpel, turning it and admiring the blood glistening from it. A few strands of hair dangling in front of her face, I saw a large grin. Amber stopped moving, her head was down and her loud cries turned into soft whimpers, the tape falling from her lips.

 

“He…Murdered your mum?!” I shouted in shock, my body shaking from adrenaline. She started laughing, “You watched your mum be killed and all you could do was clean off the blade…With your mouth none the less?!” I started maneuver myself under the shackles, rubbing my numb wrists on the rusty cuffs.

 

“And it was the best meal of my life, ever since he taught me how to make such superior meals I decided to pay him back. He took care of me when I was young, now that he’s old… I take care of him. Pa, the girl by Tymithie needs more tape.” I turned my head every which way to try and spot the old man I figured would be waddling in here with a cane. Instead, he came from the doorway behind me on a motorized wheelchair with Toby purring on his lap. He rolled up beside Amber, she was looking down with wide eyes. Fear illuminated off her, I wiggled my chair trying to get out. My wrists started to bleed and my khaki’s started to tear on my ankles.

 

“Don’t you touch her! I swear to god when I get out of this chair�"“ the old man backhanded me, surprised by his strength in his weakened state. I sat with my face away from him, a pain tingled against my cheek. I looked over at him as he ripped the rest of the tape from Amber’s face.

“Please…” She whispered in fear, “Please let us go…” she was still looking down, her eyes closed with tears escaping her eyelids. She squeezed her eyes shut as the old man grabbed her by her chin and raised her head.

 

“She’s a cute one, maybe we should save her.” His laugh was raspy, “Hm, but perhaps she has too much fight left in her.” He took a new piece of tape and attempted to place it on her lips, she bit his finger and Toby raced off his lap hissing. He pulled his hand away, a piece of flesh peeled from the bite. “How’s the taste?” He raised his hand and sucked the blood dripping from his finger, “you little b***h.” He grinned and backhanded her as well, she groaned and looked at me.

 

“Tymithie…Why the hell did you get into her car…” Her voice trembled, her eyes looked into mine.

 

“I got nervous…I didn’t know how to turn her down and I got scared…” She looked at me, tears bubbled from her eyes. The man just sat there listening to our conversation.

 

“I’ve got the liver out, Pa.” Chase looked over at us, Amber and I looking into each other’s eyes. “Humph, bullshitter.” She murmured to herself.

 

“Tymithie, if we’re going to die tonight, I really just want you to know that I love you, I have since sixth grade…” She looked down at our hands.

 

“I know, I like you too, Amber. I love you, I’ve always loved you. I’m sorry I didn’t get to say it earlier…” She poked her pinkie on mine and we held pinkies. I leaned in, her already leaning in. I placed my lips softly on hers as much as I possibly could. She kissed me back and started crying more.

 

“Well, would you look at this, we got a couple o’ lovebirds here! That just makes this a better tasting feast for us, my little Chase.” She giggled as he laughed until he coughed.

 

“Yes, Pa. I can’t wait to dismember them. Perhaps I should let Amber watch the love of her life become a pile of empty flesh.” She took a large knife and walked away from George’s lifeless body and towards us, running the sharp end on her tongue, making it bleed faintly. They both grinned.

 

“Dear, not them. Not just yet.” Pa said as he put his hand in front of her.

 

“Mhm, whatever you say Pa.” She walked up to Amber and dragged the knife across her forearm. Pa took a scalpel and stabbed it through Chase’s hip. She screeched in pain, her hand shaking as she felt the scalpel in her hip. She looked at Pa and started laughing as her aggressively shaking hand pulled it from her skin.

 

“You do this every time, Chase. You get too excited and don’t follow the rules I’ve laid out for you. How many scars do you have now? Hm? You should know better.” He growled as he took the scalpel from her bloody and shaking palm, “Go get yourself cleaned up now.” He started moving away from Amber and me.

 

“You’re all kinds of fucked up…” I muttered as they both went in different directions. I heard Pa scoff at what I said, Amber just held my pinkie tighter with hers. Her forearm not cut to deep but it was bleeding still. She looked over at me, I looked at her lips as they quivered. I leaned my ear close to her lips, I felt she needed to say something.

 

“The blood will lubricate my wrist so I can get my arm out from this thing…” I looked down, feeling her wrist wiggling as our pinkies were intertwined. “It will hurt but I don’t care right now, I need to save you… I need to save Kita and me…” Her breath on my ear sent shivers down my spine. I nudged her softly with my head and she put her ear to my mouth.

 

“What about your legs… they’re held down too…” I spotted a few tears drooling from her eyes.

 

“They’re loose… It’s not a tight hold, I could kick them off.” I nodded and sighed heavily. Accidentally catching Pa’s attention.

 

“Saying your sweet ‘I love you’s again? I guess I shouldn’t expect anything less due to the fact that you’re soon to be dead and then cooked deliciously and consumed.” He laughed soft, he examined George’s empty body, covered in blood from head to toe. I couldn’t see his face and I was afraid that if I got a chance to I wouldn’t. Pa stabbed the scalpel into George’s thigh, leaving it there as he examined deeper into George’s chest cavity. I watched Pa until I felt Amber’s left hand squeeze mine, I jolted. She was basically free now, she just needed her other wrist and to kick off the shackles. We both looked at Pa as he then stared at the both of us, Amber pretended her hand was still stuck in the cuff. He looked over his shoulder to see Chase walking in holding her hip with a slight limp.

 

“I’ll finish them after I’ve dealt with this Kita here, is that fine by you, Pa?” I observed her cautiousness, she grabbed a surgical saw that was plugged in near Kita. I could hear Amber breathing quickly, I shook in horror of what I was about to witness. Chase took the saw to Kita’s collarbone, Kita opened her eyes. Amber shook the chair as she screamed at Chase, tears filled my eyes as Kita started to wiggle and shriek in terror.