Page 26 of Cole
Daniel straightened and sighed. “This is no fun for her. Let’s wake her up.” His dad retrieved a vial and waved it beneath the woman’s nose. She flinched, gasped, and jerked awake.
“What… where…” Her voice slurred a bit as she looked around, confused and disoriented. Panic gripped her when she realized she was bound and naked. “What’s going on?” she cried and fought against her restraints. “Let me go! Let me go!”
“Sorry, love,” Daniel crooned. “I can’t do that.” He dragged a fingertip along her jaw. “You’re going to help me show my son who he is.” Daniel picked up the knife and dragged the tip down between her breasts, lightly scratching her skin. “What he is.”
The woman screamed and thrashed. Daniel chuckled and began undressing.
“No…” Henry gasped, his frightened eyes darting between his dad and the woman. “No… don’t… please…” He covered his face and burst into tears when his dad started raping the woman.
“Watch!” Daniel demanded, panting hard. “Look!”
Henry slowly lowered his trembling hands and cried sharply when his dad took the knife and began cutting the woman while violating her, then stabbing her… careful not to kill her too soon.
Stumbling back, Henry tripped over his own feet and fell to the floor, shaking and crying.
It felt like hours passed before the horror scene ended and his dad stepped away from the mutilated woman, his naked body smeared in her blood. Except the horror wasn’t over, it would never be over.
Daniel approached Henry and squatted down, looking deep into his son’s tearful, terrified eyes. He smiled chillingly and rubbed a bloody thumb across Henry’s damp cheek. “Now you know what I am,” he murmured. “Now you know what you are.” He looked over his shoulder at the woman. “Finish what I started.”
“Huh?” Henry choked on his sobs. What did he mean—
A faint, wet gurgling sound sifted from the woman.
She’s still alive…
Daniel stood and walked up the stairs. The cellar door banged shut, snapping Henry out of his paralysis.
“No…” he cried and scrambled up the steps. “No! Don’t leave me here! Let me out!” He beat on the door, but it didn’t budge. “Let me out!” he screamed, crying uncontrollably. But he knew—his dad wouldn’t let him out until…
Finish what I started.
Henry wilted against the steps, crying harder. He could hear the sounds of the woman slowly dying… suffering. Henry slid down the stairs, one step at a time, until he reached the bottom. He looked around the wall that separated the stairs from the cellar room.
Blood bubbled out of the woman’s mouth as her chest randomly hitched. The bloody knife lying next to the woman caught Henry’s attention.
I can’t… I can’t…
The woman’s bulging, watery eyes darted back and forth, then suddenly locked on Henry. Her jaw worked, opening and closing her mouth, until a single word formed, barely audible. “Please…”
Henry covered his face and screamed into his hands, clawing his hair.
Please…
His hands dragged slowly off his face, and he crawled to his feet, breathing rapidly, sucking short gasps of air as he shuffled toward the woman. Blood dripped from the table, splattering in pools on the floor. Her legs were still spread, and Henry looked away as his shaky hand closed around the bloody knife handle. As soon as the blood squished between his fingers, he cried and dropped the knife. It struck the floor with a dull clank.
Henry gasped, trying to breathe as he stared at his smeared hand.
“Please…” the woman whimpered. “… kill… me…”
Henry sank to his heels, sobbing, and sat for a moment hunched down, staring at the knife resting in a puddle of blood. He reached out with a trembling hand, closed his eyes, and picked up the knife, retching as his fingers closed around the slippery handle. Nothing came out as he gagged forcefully. He grabbed the table's edge with his free hand and pulled himself up.
The woman stared at him, eyes bloodshot, barely reflecting life… begging him.
Sobs shaking him, Henry put the blade to her throat. He closed his eyes, crying loudly as the knife hovered in place.
I can’t-I can’t-I can’t!
“Please…”
