Chapter Twenty - "Ex This Bitch"
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Hunter scooped Raven up and carried her limp body down to the basement where he chained her among the other captives. As he was double checking the security of her bindings, his eyes fell on her peaceful face. For a fraction of a second, he questioned his own decision. In that split moment, he wondered if he should follow through with his plans. Then, he remembered; she sees herself as one of the victims and so she should be with them. With an audible sigh, Hunter turned away and went to find his comrades upstairs.
Shadow and Ghost were waiting outside the basement door, both curious and confused as to what just transpired. When Hunter reappeared, Shadow put his arms out at his sides in a, "What the hell?" fashion.
"Dude?" Shadow puzzled.
"What? You said to share before I kill her." Hunter replied blankly.
"Uh, yeah. But, this morning you were all cozy love birds and not even ten minutes later you're deciding to kill her. Just seems... Odd, I guess." Shadow shrugged.
Hunter shook his head slightly to dismiss the thoughts bombarding him and pushed past his friends to reach the fridge. He wanted a beer, but only because the alcohol would affect his judgment and, possibly, make it easier to go through with his own plans. Quickly he downed the contents of the bottle with the fridge wide open, and reached in for a second.
"Umm... Dude?" Shadow asked again.
"Look," Hunter snapped, "Shits complicated right now. I just- I'm running out of ideas. She's convinced that I'm making her life so horrible that she wants to die. I- I need her to see how good things really are for her. If she gets a taste of the victims side then maybe she'll stop comparing herself to them."
"So, now I'm confused", Ghost interjected, "Are you killing her or not?"
"Well, kind of... Sort of... Maybe? Ahh, hell if I know." Hunter answered while slamming the fridge shut.
Ghost sighed and decided to get the only information that really mattered, "What exactly is needed from us?"
"Nothing. Just do your normal thing. Ignore her. I just need time to think about this." Hunter replied.
Shadow sighed, "That's the problem. You never thought about it at all. You just, DID, like you do. I will admit though, you've never left anyone alive before... So, I don't know man. Maybe that means something." he shrugged before leaving the room.
"That's not overly helpful." Hunter grumbled after him.
"Its the best he can do." Ghost replied, "That's some deep shit out of him. Maybe you should think about that."
Ghost nodded slightly and followed Shadow to the other room. Hunter wasn't willing to let the conversation drop though; not after being left with some cryptic dumbassery to mystically decipher.
"Hold on," Hunter raised his voice as he followed them in the living space, "What the fuck are you saying? How is any of that helpful? Yeah, I left her alive. Guess I could have tried having a dead girlfriend but somehow, I doubt it would have worked. I felt the conversations might become too bland and decided against it."
Shadow nodded as his impatience with Hunter's indecisiveness began to kick in. Sure he wasn't Raven's biggest fan right off, but she wasn't the one annoying him. It was Hunter's illogical, emotion driven, crazy split personalities that would drive Shadow insane. It didn't really matter to him anymore what happened to Raven, he just wanted the old, emotionless, logical Hunter back.
"Keep up like you are you ignorant ass and you'll be able to find out if dead works better for you!" Shadow spewed with venom.
"Oh, yeah. You're one to talk! You treat women with so much respect." Hunter spat sarcastically.
"At least I'm not pretending to love my victim! Let me tell you something bud, I have been in love, and I never did so much as raise my voice to her!" Shadow countered.
"She's being an antagonistic, evil, little bitch! What am I suppose to do? Let her disrespect me?" Hunter yelled back.
"Man, women aren't rational." Ghost replied with a chuckle, "A chick will say ANYTHING to get under your skin when you piss them off. Most of it they don't mean, and you can get them to admit it after the makeup sex. Just don't focus on the words and focus on her mood. Make it go from bad to good. I mean, what does it really matter if she slaps you in the face? She can't do that much damage and it's not like you could feel it if she did. Let her explode, she'll calm down once it's out of her system. Seriously, this is like 101 crap."
"Damnit," Hunter muttered "it was so much simpler just killing them!"
Hunter bound up the stairs yelling, "Fuck you both!" over his shoulder.
"I have an idea." Shadow whispered to Ghost.
"Hmm?"
"Well, what if Raven could do some damage?"
Ghost raised his eyebrow at his friend before glancing towards the stairs.
"Later." he mumbled.
-
When Raven regained consciousness the first thing she noticed was how stiff and sore her muscles were. After she opened her eyes and took in the dim area surrounding, she realized she was chained to the basement wall; counted among the female captives and centered in the row. She tried weakly to twist her wrists in the cuffs above, but they were tight and secure. Her ankles were shackled to the floor, but her legs were so wobbly from the extended, stiff standing position that she wouldn't have gone far even if free. She tried escaping only for a moment before she finally began to cry, but only because she knew what had to be done to survive.
"I'm sorry," Raven whispered, just loud enough her sad voice could be heard by all around, "I'm sorry for trying to escape. If I would have just stayed here and accepted my fate, none of you would be here. I'm sorry I asked for your help. I know now I had no right getting you involved. I'm sorry about what they did to Jane- and... And Barbara. I'm so sorry about what I had to do to John... And I can't be sorry enough for what I did to that woman earlier."
Raven's voice broke with her tears, and the remaining campers shifted unsteadily in their chains, unsure of how they should react to her apology. They all feared it was a psychotic trap, but they listened none the less as her words echoed softly off the concrete walls.
"I have no good excuse. The drugs they made me take... It wasn't real. It wasn't like that. I wouldn't have... I'm sorry that they're monsters. I'm sorry I can't stop them. I tried to stop them. I tried saving Jane, I did. But I- I couldn't stop it. I can't stop it."
Raven was babbling by the end, a mixture of words, sobs, and gasps. Finally, one of the male captives decided to speak.
"Shh, it's okay. We know it's them, not you. It's not your fault."
"Yes, it is." Raven continued, her voice slightly stronger, "It is my fault, but it gets so much worse because; I'm sorry for what I'm going to do. I'm sorry for what I have to do to survive here. I tried to leave, but I can't. I have to be here. I'm sorry for what I will do. Please, just- just know this wasn't me before being here. Know that I was a nice, shy girl who just wanted to belong to a nice, normal family. I'm sorry, but not all of me can die because of them. Usually they kill life, but for some reason, they killed my soul instead. They can't have both. I'm sorry but, you have more to sacrifice than me."
Everyone stared at Raven, shocked by what she said. They didn't have time to feel anything else, as the basement door exploded open.
Shadow appeared in the doorway, and did some happy, jazz-like skip down the steps, sometimes even heading back up to make the tune work. Something clearly put him in a good mood. When he finally hit the concrete landing he came straight for Raven.
"Hey sis, how ya feeling?" he asked.
"Sore." she replied cautiously.
Shadow nodded his head and pursed his lips, "Look, I'm sorry Hunter's an ass. He insists you're to stay down here indefinitely, and that we have to ignore you. However," Shadow paused to smile maliciously, "He also told us to go about our usual business. Usually, we have an hour of alone time. Want out of those cuffs?"
Raven nodded eagerly and Shadow went to fetch the keys on the wall. As he began undoing her wrist shackles, Raven began asking questions.
"How long have I been down here?"
"Four hours. Honestly, I'm surprised you don't have brain damage from all your head injuries."
"Where is Hunter?"
"Umm, he went to town. Said all the pretty girls in the house were already dead."
"Ghost?"
"Keeping a lookout for Hunter."
"And, us?" Raven asked, finally free and rubbing her wrists.
"I'm going to teach you how to punch really, really hard." he smiled, "but you have to trust me."
Raven nodded and Shadow led her to a male hanging on the wall.
"Now, I know your joints are a tad sore but do your best. Show me how you would punch someone. Use him." Shadow instructed while pointing behind him.
Raven nodded, formed a fist, and punched the man in the stomach. He barely grunted.
"Wow. That was pathetic. Hey, wasn't that pathetic?" he jested towards the man. When he didn't answer, Shadow added seriously, "I asked you a question."
"Yeah, kind of." he answered nervously.
The comment made the whole scenario seem casual, and Raven was able to dismiss any lingering doubts on following through with her actions.
Shadow walked behind Raven and kicked her feet apart, "You need to widen your stance. Keep your feet in line with your shoulders."
He then set to redoing her fist,"You'll break your fingers holding your hand like that, and keep your wrist straight. Don't let it bend."
Shadow stepped back to examine her new stance, "There, better. Now when you hit him step into it. Throw your entire body into the punch, like your trying to go through him."
Raven did, and the man groaned loudly at the impact. She also gasped in pain. Looking at her hand, she saw her pinky finger was bent awkwardly downwards and to the outer side.
"Shit. Let me see." Shadow said immediately.
"Ah, good," he sighed after a moment, "just dislocated."
He popped the finger back into place quickly before laughing softly, "See? Don't need Ghost for everything."
Their eyes met briefly, and Raven felt herself relax. Shadow could be a giant pig of a man, but she realized then that she did trust him to some extent. At least she knew he didn't intend to hurt her, just everyone else.
Shadows cleared his throat, "Okay, so. That was bad. When you hit something try to use these two knuckles," he massaged the pointer and middle fingers joints, "Avoid these two." he tapped her ring and pinky knuckles, "Remember, these ones hurt them, those ones hurt you. Try again."
-
Two hours passed with Shadow teaching Raven the basics of hand combat. Her punching bag was badly bruised, and with her improved blows there were a few gashes along his face where the skin broke. Raven refused to feel any emotion towards the individual. She focused only on following Shadows instructions, and nothing more. The lesson only paused at the sound of heavy boots on the staircase.
Ghost appeared, and shook his head slowly once in view. Shadow glanced at Raven before asking, "Well, what are we gonna do about it?"
"Nothing." Ghost answered, "He'll be home when he's home. Until then, there's no reason for her to be chained up. Come upstairs. Pick a movie."
Ghost disappeared back upstairs, but left the door open. Shadow jerked his head in that direction, signaling for Raven to go first. Once in the living room, Shadow took his usual spot in the chair, and Ghost and Raven sat on opposite couches.
Raven dug through the movie pile next to the couch she sat on, "What are we watching?"
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"I can't believe I once thought these graphics were good." Raven commented.
They were halfway through some obscure slasher horror, the killer chopping up a woman with an axe, but the gore was all wrong.
"I know. Hollywood is never realistic." Shadow replied.
It was their second movie. After the first the guys contemplated texting Hunter to see where he was. Shadow mentioned the police scanner next to his chair hadn't come up with anything relating to Hunter. They decided against it after Ghost pointed out it might prompt him to come home sooner than planned. They had no reason to believe him in trouble, so assumed he needed more time.
A terrible actress attempting to escape, ran past the killer. He caught her and slit her throat. The "blood" from the wound was so watered down, it almost looked pink.
"Ahh!" all three of them yelled at the same time, "Fucking bullshit man." Shadow added.
The door slammed shut behind them, "You're right. This is fucking bullshit, man."
The group turned to see Hunter, clearly enraged, with a gorgeous blonde clinging to his arm. He glared at each of them in turn, but lingered on Raven.
"Sweety," Hunter cooed as he turned his attention to the blonde, "Would you mind sitting on the couch right there," he pointed next to Ghost, "This should only take a moment."
The blonde smiled, as if she knew what was going to happen next, and sauntered over to the couch. Hunter stepped forward and took a deep breath, clearly trying to choose the words used in front of the stranger.
"Who wants to tell me what she's doing up here?" Hunter asked, glaring daggers at Raven.
Raven didn't notice. She was focused on the other woman in the room, who scoffed in Raven's direction. Was she challenging me?, she thought.
"She's here because we think you're overreacting." Ghost spoke up.
"Thats right," Shadow added, "You two need to work this out." he nodded sarcastically while puckering his lips.
"There's nothing to work out." he spat, "This is over. Take her back."
Hunter went to collect the blonde girl, and started up the stairs.
"If it's over between you two then you won't mind if one of us try to move in?" Shadow taunted him.
Hunter turned slowly, thoroughly caught of guard by the comment. Shadow's grin became impossibly large as Hunter marched purposefully back down the steps, the blonde always two steps behind.
"That would be a very hazardous mistake." Hunter warned once he was within feet of Shadow.
"Come on baby. Ignore it." the blonde spoke up.
"And who the fuck are you to have a say?" Shadow asked.
Hunter opened his mouth to tell him off, but the blonde was quick at the tongue.
"I'm the bitch that's replacing that slut, and we don't have time for exes." she replied.
A surge of anger swept through Raven, and she glanced at the table to see Ghost's pistol laying within reach. She stood quickly, jacked a shell in the barrel, and aimed for the blonde.
"Ex this bitch." she said before squeezing the trigger.
The gunshot momentarily defended the household, which gave everyone a chance to comprehend the event. All were shocked Raven had just committed a murder of her own free will, including her. Shadow recovered first, and began clapping slowly.
Raven smirked slightly at the sight of gore splattered wall. She was in control. She felt powerful, and she liked it.
"What the hell are you doing?" Hunter screamed before coming at her.
Raven turned and pointed the gun at his head, making him stop dead in his tracks.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Go ahead and fuck her now!" she yelled back, "You took everything from me, and then tossed me in a basement to rot! How dare you bring that bitch into my house-"
"Your house!" Hunter yelled in a fury.
"Yes, my fucking house." Raven continued, "and let that bitch disrespect me! We may be over, but I still live here. It's like you said, "We're all stuck with each other." and that's your doing, not mine."
Raven tossed the gun to the ground, and went towards the basement door. As she surrendered the weapon, Hunter stepped forward and grabbed her by the arm.
"The hell if you do live here. Your dying tonight." he snarled before noticing her knuckles.
"Who's blood is this? What happened?" Hunter growled as he shook her.
"Raven, show Hunter what you learned today." Shadow interrupted.
Raven's whole face lit up like the sun at remembering her extended lesson and she swung her free arm, colliding with Hunter's face. Before he could realize what happened she punched him again in the kidneys, and then his face again. Hunter fell down, but caught himself with his hands. He didn't feel the blow, but was stunned to find himself staring at the floor. By time he stood up, Raven was already slamming the basement door shut.
Hunter nodded slowly as he stood in the middle of the living room, allowing himself to fully soak in all that transpired.
"Who taught her to use a gun?" he finally asked.
Ghost raised his hand shyly.
"Of course it was." Hunter sighed, "and who taught her to use her body weight when she punches?"
Shadow eagerly raised his hand in the air and waved it around, "That and a whole lot more."
Hunter nodded once, "Your both fuckers."
As he headed after Raven, Ghost asked what he was doing.
"Ending the mistake that was Raven so we can go back to our lives." he replied nonchalantly.
Both Shadow and Ghost raced to stop him, and blocked the path to the basement door.
"Can't let you." Shadow stated.
Hunter raised an eyebrow, "Stop screwing with me and get out of the way."
"Seriously," Ghost spoke, "You can't kill her now. It's too late for that."
"Why the hell not?" he asked the two blockading his path.
"Because she's not a pet or toy anymore. She's our fourth now, which is exactly what you wanted to begin with." Ghost answered.
Hunter pinched the bridge of his nose, clearly exhausted from the situation.
"You guys don't get to make that decision." he finally said.
"On the contrary, you're out voted." Shadow challenged.
Hunter nodded one last time, before heading past the now dead blonde, and upstairs.
"Rock Paper Scissors on who cleans the mess?" Ghost asked.
Shadow didn't answer, but held up his fist. Both chose paper.
"Looks like we're in this together." Ghost declared.
Shadow only nodded his head and went to work cleaning up the gory staircase, with Ghost right behind him.
-
Raven had been in the basement for three hours, littering the previous punching bag with blow after blow. The man had died roughly half way through the second session, but still she attacked his corpse.
Thoughts plagued her mind. Raven didn't understand where all the anger inside came from. It was although something snapped. Her fists reflected her internal anguish, her rage, and frustration. She found some sanity in the idea of a goal; perfect the art of hand to hand combat. Hit them harder and faster. Hit them. Hit them. Hit them!
"Umm, that one's dead." Ghost interrupted her.
Raven spun around, and nodded knowingly while huffing from exertion, "Yeah, he doesn't complain so much anymore."
Ghost shook his head in humor, and Raven noticed a couple chairs in his hands. He sat them on the ground and told her he'd be right back. Moments later he reappeared with a table and chess game on top.
"So," he started, "plan on getting any sleep tonight?"
Raven sat down and sighed, "Why?"
"Because if you are, you're running out of time." he chuckled, "It's almost five in the morning."
"I wasn't." Raven answered.
"Yeah, didn't think you were. You'll hate tomorrow though."
After a moment Ghost pulled something out of his pocket. Raven looked over curiously and saw what appeared to be a clear glass pipe. Raven recognized it, as she'd seen the household use it before.
"This here is called Methamphetamines, and it's useful for when you're avoiding sleep." he informed while dumping clearish white rocks in the side hole and offered it to Raven.
"No thanks, my minds already frayed. I don't think I need any crazy trips making it worse." she declined.
"This is different," Ghost assured, "I promise, you'll find this one useful."
Raven took the pipe somewhat unwillingly and held it to her lips.
"There, now," Ghost began, "When you light it keep the flame at this distance, so it's barely touching."
He flicked his bic lighter and lit the bottom of the pipe for her, watching both her face and the bowl carefully.
"Inhale... There you go. Twist the pipe slightly. Don't want to burn it, that tastes gross."
Raven began coughing uncontrollably as the solid chunks became liquid and then smoke. Ghost quickly retracted the lighter and pipe. He laughed as she choked on the foreign fumes, and watched closely when she stopped.
"Holy shit," she finally said, "My heart's racing."
"Tired?" He asked.
"No." Raven replied while shaking her head.
"Good, let's play some chess."
They played four games down in the basement among the captives. Ghost won all of them. They laughed at jokes and tales of previous lives as they battled each other on the tiled board. Both hit the pipe laid out on the table occasionally; him more than her. As Ghost defeated Raven's king with his bishop he announced his departure.
"I've got some stuff to go deal with. I'll leave this," he pointed to the freshly loaded meth pipe, "here in case you want more. But umm, if you do decide to try and sleep you can go ahead and use my bed." he said.
Raven didn't respond, but looked down at her lap and fidgeted with her hands. It wasn't so much who's bed that made her uncomfortable, she feared the nightmares to come; the regret and guilt.
"Look," Ghost added, "Just because this is where Hunter left you, doesn't mean you have to stay down here. I know you may not want to use his bed, like you usually do and just thought you should know, we'll, you don't have to."
"Thanks." Raven replied softly.
Ghost nodded and stood to leave. Before disappearing upstairs he turned to give Raven some final advice.
"Get some sleep today. You're body will thank you."
Raven thought about accepting Ghost's offer, but found herself reaching for the pipe instead.
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