"Luke, meet Faith. She'll be prepping you. Now don't go anywhere! I'll be back!" The woman erupted into shrill laughter once again and slammed the door behind her.
The little girl jumped at the loud bang, then carefully stepped towards Luke.
"Faith? What are you doing here? Is Ashton here?" He half-whispered in shock.
She shook her head, almost sadly.
"I'm going to get you out of here, but I can't yet. Not with her around."
"Why?" Luke pleaded.
"If I do it too soon, she'll kill me. If I wait too long, she'll kill you. But she won't kill you yet. She likes to have some fun first."
Luke raised an eyebrow. All the while, Faith had taken a bottle of pills from the table and was pouring some into her hand.
"What are you doing?" He asked.
"I'm not supposed to be giving you these, but I think you're gonna need them. They're painkillers. Open your mouth," she instructed. He did as he was told and she popped a few pills in.
"I think she's in a good mood today. You might be in luck. But then again, you can never tell with her."
Luke swallowed and took a deep shaky breath, trying not to let the tears flow from his eyes. He was so confused, so panicked. He didn't know what to do.
Suddenly, the door creaked open once again and the woman walked in. Faith quickly hid the bottle of pills behind her.
"I trust that you two have made acquaintance," she said, approaching confidently.
"Now, girl, let's start out with the small one."
Faith grit her teeth and extracted a thin knife from the table next to her. She handed it to the woman, who gripped it in gloved hands.
She brought it to the point on Luke's stomach where she'd carved the "x", and shoved the tip in. Luke writhed in agony as she pulled it forward, effectively slicing a long gash.
The crazed woman laughed at his pain and dug the knife deeper. Faith averted her gaze from the sight.
"Don't be squeamish now, girl. Give me another knife."
She gasped and picked up another from her array of weapons. The woman took it greedily, and began to make another incision, when Luke glanced down. At the sight of his own blood, he blacked out.
xxx
amERICA
