Mona: December 25, 2014 10:36 p.m.
Neither of us expected anyone to be searching into the night. I wasn't expecting to be woken up by something clawing my chest. I wasn't expecting Beth to be peering out into the darkness, her body in an attack position. I wasn't sure who was out there and through my sleepy haze, I wasn't able to comprehend what was happening.
"What the fu-" I manage out as I push Apostasy away from pawing my skin, though Beth is hushing me before I can finish my curse word.
I sit up, suddenly very aware of my situation. What time was it? Who's out there that has Beth wide awake and watching through the two trees we had fallen asleep next to?
*-*-*-*-
November 24, 2014
Beth was leaning forward, her face upturned to look at the top of the stairs.
"What's wrong?" I asked, shuffling myself closer to her in the dark basement.
She didn't even glance at me before she answered. "I thought I heard something. I just don't want anything bad to happen to you guys while you're asleep."
"Have you been awake all night?" I asked, taking her hand and holding onto it tightly.
She smiled sheepishly, now struggling to avoid eye contact. "It's hard to sleep through the nightmares lately."
I eyed her face, taking in the dark circles that rested beneath her eyes. "What are they about?"
"Everything." she whispered quietly.
I wasn't sure what to say anymore, so I leaned into her shoulder, draping one arm behind her back to give her a hug. A hug to show that she wasn't alone. A hug to show that everything was ok.
*-*-*-*-
I crept my way through the dirt to where Beth was on guard, her green eyes a vibrant color in the moonlight. "What's going on?" my breath was less than a whisper, coming out as light as the breeze.
"Apostasy was growling." she informed me, still searching through the trees.
A sudden low grumbling sounded behind us, causing us both to snap around quickly. Apostasy's back was to us, his ears down and his tail stick straight and motionless.
Beth got to her feet, moving through the shadows of the trees that moonlight cast around us. I moved after her, much slower as the throbbing and pain in my leg hadn't let up since it happened.
There was a clear click! and a glint of metal in the white light before Apostasy pounced.
"Apostasy!" I screamed as a loud poong! sounded into the air accompanied with a flash of fire.
I held my breath, searching into the darkness and impatiently waiting for the echo of the shot to quiet again so I could hear what was going on.
There was a bark and a short scream followed by a loud thump and a whimper of pain.
"No!" I screamed, attempting to run forward, but my leg wasn't working at all, which made my chest seize in self worry.
Beth ran for me, her legs much quicker than my run.
She disappeared into the shadows, forcing me to walk forward so I could keep an eye on what was going on.
Whack! Whack! Whack!
Beth grunted as another person let out cries of pain.
Apostasy suddenly appeared out of the shadows, running in my direction with his teeth bared. I stumbled back, fearing he would attack me.
That was when I bumped into something that let out a heavy "oomf!"
I froze, knowing that our situation wasn't good now.
A sudden flash of dark whipped past me, the dog's body slamming into the person behind me, sending there body away from my own.
The man began screaming as I listened to Apostasy rip into his flesh.
I was still frozen, terrified to turn around and watch my new companion kill the man. Terrified to stare into the shadows ahead of me and possibly witness Beth being killed.
"Mother fucker!" I heard Beth scream followed by a different female grunt.
I decided Beth had her situation handled and turned to check on Apostasy. I wasn't prepared to see what I did.
It was Jarek, holding Apostasy by the throat. He was going to kill him. My eyes fell on the gun at his feet, my mind knowing what to do. Before Jarek could react, I dove for his weapon, my body slamming into his legs and knocking him backwards.
Apostasy fell to the ground, shook his head, then pounced again, quickly recovering to protect me.
The gun was in my hands, the safety off. The German shepherd was on top of Jarek, attempting to bite into my kidnapper's throat, though his forearm was raised and pushing against the dog's chest. I had never shot a gun before. If I shot now, I'd risk killing the dog.
Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes, listening as Beth made threats to the person behind me.
*-*-*-*-
October 31, 2014
"It's Halloween." Beth informed us, her eyes closed.
"Beautiful. Jarek doesn't need to dress up." Jenna sasses.
I see Kaila roll her eyes in the fading afternoon light that filled the basement. "He's not scary looking. He just has a terrifying personality."
"Oh please." Jenna bites back, her sweaty hair clinging to her face. "He doesn't have a personality. He's not even human and I would have no problem at all with shooting that bastard in the face."
"I think we would all prefer to beat the shit out of him with a hammer and nails." Zoey spoke up, causing us all to giggle a little.
"Maybe Aiden would do it. You seem to have a lot of faith in him." Beth laughs lightly.
Zoey only shrugs, having nothing to add.
Everyone is quiet for a moment, each of us taking turns in looking the other in the eyes.
"I swear to god. If I ever get my hands on a gun, I will show that bastard no mercy." Jenna growls into the silence.
We all nod, silently agreeing that Jarek would regret even blinking in our direction.
*-*-*-*-
I cocked the gun, shoving it straight out in front of me.
"Apostasy!" I called followed by three short whistles.
He perked up, jumping away from Jarek and running to my side. Without hesitation, I fired the gun, resulting in the bullet lodging itself into his thigh.
He let out a gutteral scream, sitting up to model his bloody face. Apostasy must have bitten into him at some point.
"You fucking bitch!" he screamed at me, his hair disheveled for once in his constantly neat life.
I smiled and cocked the gun again, limping over to him.
He glared up at me. "Do it. I don't think you have the spine." he challenged.
I fired the gun again, this time into his shoulder which caused him to fall onto his back with a cry of pain.
Beth suddenly came up behind me, a rifle of some sort in her hands. "Jarek?" she cried incredulously, her breathing labored.
"Where'd you get a gun?" I asked without thinking.
Beth rolled her head on her shoulder to look at me with an expression that said "are you serious?'
"I suppose I could ask you the same thing." she grinned.
I was about to reply when an odd sound caught me off guard. I wasn't sure what it was until Beth stumbled into me, knocking me to the ground.
I let out a cry of pain, which was followed by a bark to my right.
Something sharp was pressing into my stomach, but through the darkness and my own discombobulated perception, I wasn't sure what was going on.
Someone was gasping in my ear. Beth? She was the only one on top of me.
"Beth, get off of me." I groaned, unable to move her myself as her body has pinned my arms to the ground.
She let out a small squeak before rolling off of me, inwardly curving her spine away from the ground.
"Beth?" I asked, sudden fear striking me like lightning.
She didn't answer; she only let out small gasps as her eyes widened.
Apostasy made his way around me, prancing over to Beth and sniffing her face before licking her cheek and nuzzling her jaw.
"S-stab. H-h-he stab-bbed m-me." Beth gasped out.
That was the sound. Jarek had shoved a blade through Beth's skin. Probably in her back since she refused to lay on it.
*-*-*-*-
September 25, 2014
I was slowly growing sick of the ropes that bound my arms behind my back. They felt numb and my skin burned.
"You know, being down here isn't so bad." I heard Kaila remark, much too ironic for my previous thoughts.
"Yeah, being fed like dogs and forced to bleed all over ourselves every month and tied so we can't get away from this freezing ass cold floor is just fucking peachy." Jenna sassed to no one's surprise.
Zoey snickered and Beth rolled her eyes.
Kaila narrowed her eyes at Jenna before elaborating. "I mean, it's better than being raped every day or beaten on the hour."
"It's really funny you think everyone is so lucky when you practically had your knee mutilated." Jenna snapped back.
Kaila only smiled and sat up straighter. "But at least I have you guys. I would have gone completely insane down here. And, Jarek is down. He can't bother us for a while. And Damien is way too nice. We're safe for now."
Jenna only stared at Kaila like she had two heads.
"I think what she's saying," Beth cuts in to rescue Kaila. "is that considering the circumstances, we're pretty lucky at this point in time."
Kaila nodded her agreement, a grin plastered on her face.
Jenna only shrugged and leaned into Zoey to go to sleep. Seeing her do so, I lied down in Beth's lap and she did the same on Kaila. Kaila only leaned back against the wall, a small smile still playing on her lips. "I love you guys." she whispered.
"We love you too." Beth whispered back, her voice already laced with fatigue.
*-*-*-*-
I jumped to my feet, ignoring the screaming pain in my leg, and clutched the gun in my hands tightly, pointing it at Jarek who was sitting up and holding his shoulder, a sadistic smile on his face.
I'm not sure why I chose to do what I did, but it felt good.
Jarek fell on his side, a red mark the shape of the butt of his own gun rising on his cheek. I had slammed the gun into his face and it felt good.
Jarek was on his feet quicker than I anticipated. How was he standing with a bullet in his leg? How was I standing with my thigh mauled?
These questions would have to wait since Jarek's fist was colliding with my face now.
I cried out, stumbling to my right though clutching the gun to my chest in an even tighter grip.
I felt another blow to my left rib cage, which forced the air out of my lungs.
"Get away from her!" I heard Beth scream.
My head snapped up, looking in time to see Beth slam the end of her rifle into Jarek's nose, hard.
Blood immediately gushed from his nose, causing him to cough and sputter the blood into the air.
Beth didn't hesitate like I had. She lunged forward, now in front of me as she repeatedly slammed the rifle into his face, screaming the entire time.
As she attacked him, I was able to spot the hilt of a knife that protruded from her back. How in the world were any of us able to put so much into harming each other?
Adrenaline. Something informed me.
With my question answered by my subconscious, I lunged forward, stepping up to Beth's right side and taking aim with Jarek's gun. He can't get both of us at the same time.
As Beth beat Jarek's face with her gun, I felt everything going in slow motion. I felt everything around me.
We were going to kill Jarek tonight or he was going to kill us.
The grass and dispersed underbrush scratched my exposed ankles. A bug was inching it's way into my shoe. Shadows stretched as a gust of wind blew against the bare branches of trees. Jarek was screaming cuss words, the sound leaving his lips with the wind and disappearing into the empty night air. Apostasy was slowly walking around us, his dark eyes trained on Jarek as his teeth bared menacingly at our attacker.
This was it. After almost a day of running and losing Kaila and Jenna, this was it. After nearly drowning and being attacked by a dog, this was it. After being shot at by 4 different people, this was finally it. We may have been separated, but we found each other again. We were sticking together now to get out of here alive.
*-*-*-*-
December 25, 2014 3:12 p.m.
"So what happened to you?" I asked Beth through my labored breathing.
She was dragging Jenna's dead body with her, her arms hooked underneath Jenna's stiff under arms. With a grunt and a final haul, she came to a stop, her cheeks tinged pink from the effort in hauling a dead body around along with the traumatizing situation.
Her eyes looked up at me, the sun set's light reflecting the intensity in her eyes. "I ran into the factory." she said simply, readjusting her hold on Jenna and attempting to take another step backwards. "I took the gun that bitch had. It was a girl, by the way. After I took her gun, I ran back downstairs, hoping to catch Aiden and Zoey. They escaped in the car that guy drove up in. But I was too late. So I ran around the back of the building after you guys. I didn't see where you went, so I just kinda followed the general direction I saw you go. I wandered around for a few hours, finding an easy way to get across the river without getting wet. I then heard the dogs and started running until I heard someone scream. It was Jenna. You know the rest."
I thought this over, still struggling to walk. The dog nudged my good leg, whining a little at my physical state. I pet his head a few times to console him. "You could have followed the tire tracks. You could have gotten out of here." I whispered.
Beth shook her head, her eyes glassy with unshed tears. "You were more important. I had to make sure you were ok."
*-*-*-*-
Adrenaline coursed through Beth's veins, no regret in her eyes as she viciously attacked Jarek. I could almost see the fire in her eyes as she let out the months of anger and pain on our kidnapper. She was going to kill him.
Until he caught the gun and ripped it from her grasp. He didn't have time to attack her with it in turn because I was already shooting his gun once, twice, three times.
He stumbled backwards as the close range shots buried themselves in his pelvis and abdomen.
Beth lunged forward, obviously not fazed at all that she no longer had a weapon. She didn't let that stop her. Her fists and knees collided with his bullet wounds in no apparent rhythm. He was coughing up blood now as I watched completely paralyzed in fear and horror.
"Beth." my voice came out as no more than whisper. I didn't want to watch this. My body wouldn't move and my arms ached from holding the heavy gun at attention. My stomach clenched as I watched Beth beating Jarek to death.
He deserves this. He deserves this. He deserves this. I kept repeating to myself. He deserves this. It's his fault Jenna is dead. It's his fault Kaila is dead. It's his fault our families are probably wasting away not knowing what ever happened to us. It's all his fault. He's killed more than two. He's done this before.
I tried persuading myself that Jarek deserved every moment of this as Apostasy pounced and ripped into his stomach. Deep down, I knew my persuasion was correct as the dog ripped through flesh and muscle tissue. Yet, there was something screaming at me that it wasn't enough. He deserved worse than the dog now ripping his organs out. His gargled screams couldn't even pull me out of my daze. I could only lower the gun and feel robbed of satisfaction. This man deserved to be tortured for hours. Not slowly killed in 10 minutes.
I hadn't noticed Beth slip to the ground beside me, gasping for air as her fingers slipped behind her back and gripped the hilt of the knife. I fell to the ground beside her, dropping the gun at my feet and listening to Jarek's inhumane screams of agony.
I had to turn my head completely away from the scene as his body twitched and writhed in the dirt. I had to focus on Beth who might be the next to die.
"Beth? Hey, Beth, look at me. Don't pull it out. It's keeping the blood in you. If you pull it out, you'll bleed out. We need to go. We need to just leave, ok?" I said softly, placing my hand on her forearm.
Her eyes met mine, her lids heavy and wanting to slip shut. Her lips were quivering as she tried to speak to me, but she soon abandoned the idea and nodded, wincing as she tried to stand.
"Did you kill the other one?" I asked her as I helped her to her feet, ignoring the agonizingly painful wound in my thigh.
She nodded, her arm wrapping around my shoulder.
We trudged over to Jenna's body, still blocking out Jarek's dying screams. I bent over, grabbing her stiff arm and forcing it above her head as it made a sickening crunch sound.
I closed my eyes, gulping down the bile that burned its away up my esophagus. With strength I didn't think I had, I dragged Jenna's body away from the screaming and mutilation occurring only a few feet away. It was too late to go back for the gun. We had to leave right now before someone came to inspect the very audible screaming.
"Apostasy!" I called for the dog, my voice sounding like I had gargled rocks. When the dog didn't stop, I let out three short whistles. That did the trick.
I looked over my shoulder in time to see his head perk up and his body jump away from our kidnapper, though Jarek's agonized screeches never let up.
Apostasy followed us silently, blood dripping from his jaw, his tongue occasionally licking away the crimson liquid. I guess the dog wasn't as opposed to his ways as I had originally thought.