A Little Insane: Building A Monster

Chapter Seven - Building A Monster

“Meet me downstairs in the basement,” he added.

Before Riley could respond with actual words, Hart kissed him. It wasn't a big kiss, like a peck but with more desire. He did it because he wanted to, and Riley felt that in the kiss. He didn't have time to kiss back, to savor the moment or to taste Hart's lips, because the man pulled back and left, leaving Riley dazzled in front of the staircase.

Riley went to the basement immediately after that. In the time he had been here, he noticed Hart changed the little room a lot to accommodate the way he was going to kill someone that day. For the past week and a half the room had been empty, no surgical table. He now pinned people against the dark walls or hung them by their hands in the dark room.

Hart had given Riley one of the guest rooms so he wouldn't have to sleep in the dark room anymore, and he was mildly thankful for it, but not entirely. Why should he be thankful? Because Hart kidnapped him and he had the kindness in him to not make him sleep on blood anymore? He wasn't going to praise the killer, he wasn't going to bow down and be thankful.

The only positive thing about having his own room was that he didn't have to see Hart kill people. He didn't have to hear their screams or see the blood splatter across the walls. The horrendous cries for help still managed to sneak into his room sometimes. That was when he would hide under the blankets, close his eyes, cover his ears and pray it would stop.

He still remembered the day he tried to stop Hart, how could he forget?

The weather that day had been boisterous. The rain was heavy and blinding. The sky growled every few seconds with few lightning bolts. It was as if the sky was having a war with itself. And not even the sky's battle cry helped mute the sounds of the screaming happening in the basement.

Riley had seen the victims of the day. They were a couple, no doubt. The way they looked at each other as Hart dragged them inside, tied and helpless. They both had fear in their eyes, not caused by Hart, but the realization that they were going to lose each other.

Riley couldn't take it after twenty minutes had passed. He was shaking, his blood fueling with anger as he listened to the sounds of what seemed like a person being choked to death. He ran down the stairs as fast as he could, jumping over a couple of steps and nearly tripping as he rushed down to the basement. He didn't pause to stare, he ran to the man whose back faced him unknowingly and he pushed him as hard as he could. Hart fell and looked surprised as Riley mounted him and started furiously punching him.

The woman, who was pinned against the wall with something in her mouth, looked almost hopeful with her eyes wide and tears streaming down her face. Her boyfriend wasn't in such a good state, he was still alive but barely. Her boyfriend was unconscious on the table with blood pooling under him and dripping slowly on the floor.

Riley became distracted by the woman's sudden muffled scream, thinking somebody was behind him, and Hart took the opportunity to push Riley off. Riley knew if he didn't get up he was done for. Hart quickly grabbed Riley, pulling him up on his feet and punched him in the face over and over until his nose broke and his eye ached like crazy.

The woman tried screaming, urging Riley to get up after he had fallen with barely any energy left. But he was losing, Hart always seemed to be better in every way. How could he defeat someone who was never meant to lose?

“I'm- I'm sorry,” Riley managed to speak up, spitting out blood as his vision became blurry.

When he woke again, there was no woman pinned against the wall, no boyfriend on the table, and he almost believed he was alone when suddenly Hart appeared, picking up Riley and forcing him against the nearest wall.