twisted // colby brock

chapter seven

My body and mind felt heavy. The world was spinning around me while I sat still. My hearing came back to me first. I could hear muffled breathing and one voice humming.

I could feel something rest against my mouth. I tried to speak, but I couldn't. I went to remove the thing from my face, but my hands couldn't reach. They were stuck behind me. I pulled my arms and felt ropes around my wrist digging into my skin. My eyes slowly opened. My gaze landed on my legs, bound together to the cold, metal chair I was in. I lifted my head, squinting my eyes at the light. When they finally focused, I could see Sam and Colby in front of me.

We must have been in a basement of some kind. One light hung over us, brightening only us three and making the rest of the room covered in shadows. A chair and desk were off to the side of Sam. A set of stairs stood behind them both.

I could see they were in chairs too, tied up with a cloth over their mouths. Their eyes were darting around, until they finally landed on me. Colby sat up trying to reach for me, but barely budged in his seat. Sam's eyes glanced at Colby and then at me, and then to something behind me.

"Oh... you're finally awake." A voice rang out happily. The person walked in front of me, stopping to smile and stare at my face.

Smitty.

Everything came back to me suddenly. The writing, the camera, him knocking me out. My heart began to bang against my rib cage. I started shaking as short breaths came from my lungs. Tears escaped my eyes, blurring my vision.

Oh my God... I'm gonna die.

"Hey, hey, hey. It's okay. You don't need to cry." Smitty shushed, cupping my face sweetly.

Behind him, Sam and Colby struggled against their chairs. Their eyes were angry and filled with worry as to what Smitty was doing to me.

"I'm gonna take the gag off, alrighty? If you scream, I'll hurt them." He whispered, his voice harsh and calm.

I nodded shakily. Smitty smiled and untied the gag from around my head.

"Are-are you gonna hurt me?" I stammered, my voice barely above a whisper.

Smitty shook his head, shock plastered across his face. "I would never hurt you! I could never hurt one of God's angels."

"What?" I mumbled.

Smitty smiled softly and went over to a desk he had in the corner of the room. "Have you read all of my stories?"

"Y-yeah." I trembled.

"Well, then you know I love angels. I believe they exist, both here on earth and in heaven." He turned back around to me. "You're one of them."

I exhaled, no words leaving my mouth.

What was he on about?

"I'm sorry I lied to you, but I don't have a niece. I probably would have had one if my sister wasn't killed." Smitty hissed.

"Aggie..." I murmured.

His eyes brightened up at her name. "Yes. She was an angel too. Did you know her?"

I shook my head. "No."

Sam grunted against his gag, shoving himself forward.

All eyes turned to him.

The smile that was once on Smitty's face dropped. His glare hardened onto Sam as he grabbed him by the throat, strangling him. "Move another fucking muscle and I'll snap your goddamn neck!"

Fuck! FUCK! "Smitty!" I exclaimed.

"What?!" He snapped.

"How-how was Aggie an angel?" I asked desperately.

He unclenched Sam's neck, Sam coughing against his gag as he dropped his head down trying to catch his breath.

Colby leaned towards Sam, trying to make sure he was alright. Once he knew, his eyes landed back on me.

Smitty's hands twitched for a second as he took a breath and relaxed. "Originally, my father owned this place. It was a bed-and-breakfast back then too. He always hated me because I killed my mom when she gave birth to me. He would always beat me and hurt me. Nothing I ever did was good enough for him. But my sister didn't think of me like that."

"One day, she took a beating for me. And then every day after that." Smitty bit his lip, his hands clenching into fists. "My father got a kick out of it and would make me watch him hurt her. Most times I wouldn't be able to sit through it, but I had to otherwise he would make it worse for her."

He stared at me, stepping closer to me. I nodded my head, doing my best to keep his eyes on me.

"She would tell me to pray. Momma, when she was alive, used to tell Aggie to pray for good things, so that's what I did. I would pray until the beatings would stop. But it never did anything." He hissed. He turned his back to us, mumbling something to himself.

Abruptly he turned around again. "She died when she was twenty-two. Just like your age."

Breathlessly, I asked. "How did she die?"

He shook his head violently. "My dad had everyone fooled! No one in town knew he was abusive. He caught her with George. He's the reason my sister is dead!"

My calm voice wavered at his pitch. "What happened?"

"My dad caught them together. And then when George left, he beat my sister until she died." He cried.

He choked back tears, his voice heavy with sadness. "He didn't want to get caught. So, he took her in his old car and drove to the forest. He made it seem like she died in a car crash. He told me that if I ever spoke a word of this to anyone, he would do the same to me."

Silence fell over all of us. None of us moved.

Unexpectedly, a maniacal laugh burst through Smitty's lips. He wiped his tears away with his sleeves, laughing almost louder. Goosebumps rose up on my skin, a nauseous feeling over taking my stomach.

His laugh slowly died down, turning into giggles. "I killed him... buried him in the forest."

His eyes almost glazed over as he bore down at the floor. "I told everyone he up and left. I was old enough to be on my own, and then I finally was. No one ever questioned. No one ever asked."

Smitty fixated his eyes back on me. "Aggie always told me to be nice to him, but I just couldn't. And I thought killing him would end my suffering, but it didn't." His voice changed into a pleading tone, waving his arms around like a child. "I feel so dirty now. I killed someone! But he deserved it! He killed my Aggie!... but now God doesn't love me anymore."

He rubbed his hands over his face vigorously. Taking a deep breath, he relaxed for only a second.

"But that's why I need you, Angel."

~~~

TLDR: Angel wakes up to see that her, Sam, and Colby have been kidnapped. They are in the basement of the house. Smitty tells them that grow up, his mother died giving birth to him so his father always hated him. He would abused, but then his sister Aggie started to take the blame and the abuse. She would tell him to pray during her beatings. Their father caught her with George and killed her. He made it seem like she died in a car crash. Years later, Smitty murdered his father and told everyone in town that he left. He tells Angel he needs her to make him clean again (this will be further explained in the next chapter).