Long
Time No Sea
by
Kathi Deavers
Markus
tossed the suede pouch on the table, carefully unwrapping it's contents.
The stainless steel glistened beneath the solitary light bulb.
Markus picked up the first of the scalpels, pressing it gently against
his thumb. Effortlessly,
it sliced his skin causing a few drops of blood to run down the length of his
hand. Examining
the fresh blood, he brought his thumb to his mouth, eagerly sucking the liquid
his body offered him.
In the far corner of the room, a girl was chained to a chair crying.
Her wrists were bleeding from where she had tried to pull her arms free.
Markus heard her struggling, a smile swept across his face.
"You might as well stop trying to fight it.
There is no way you can break free from those bonds.
I tied them very tightly."
Looking at the other tools in his collection, he continued, "Why
don't you just relax, my dear?
I promise you, we'll be starting the show soon enough."
Momentarily, she stopped struggling.
With red desperate eyes she pleaded, "Please let me go!
I won't tell anyone about this, I promise!
Pleeeeeease!"
Markus faced his victim again.
"Now just how stupid do you think I am?
Do you really expect me to
believe that if I were to let you go, you wouldn't tell anyone that I kidnapped
you? That
I brought you to my basement and tied you up so that I could get my rocks off in
what some would say is a very sadistic way?
You know, some people would call me mad.
Of course, they know nothing of the pleasures of the flesh.
Oh sure, they may think they do, but I've crossed boundaries that few
have crossed. I've
tasted the forbidden pleasures and once you've been there, there is no going
back." Markus
laughed for a brief moment.
"Oh, but that's right, I forgot, you will be going there very soon
because I'm going to take you there.
Let you go?
I don't think so!
Today, you're my party girl,"
He picked up some of his tools of torture, showing them to his unwilling
partner. Her
eyes widened in fear.
"That's right, we are gonna have one hell of a party!"
Markus pushed the little wooden table beside his hostage.
She began screaming and trying desperately to free herself.
"You'll never get away with this!
They'll find you and you'll pay dearly!"
"I don't think so.
I've been doing this for a very long time and I haven't been caught yet.
Why do you think I live so far outside of town?
It's certainly not because I enjoy the scenery.
One of the advantages of living in an isolated area is that no one can
hear you scream.
Oh sure, I could put a gag over your mouth to muffle the sound but that
would deprive me of the pleasure of hearing your agony.
The sound of suffering is oh so sweet!"
He picked up a metal pick and gently hugged it to his cheek.
"You're sick!
I hope you burn in Hell!
I hope you burn in Hell!"
She wept uncontrollably.
Markus frantically began searching through his tools.
He became noticeably distressed.
"Oh no, no, no!
This just will not do!"
He looked at his hostage, barely able to see her face in the darkness.
"I'm terribly sorry but I am missing a very important item.
Please forgive me, I'm going to have to go back to the warehouse and pick
it up. Don't
go away. I
won't be gone long."
He started to leave but stopped halfway across the room.
"You know, I could do a little something before I go, just to tide
me over. What
do you think?"
"Screw you, you bastard!"
She yelled in a fit of rage.
"My, my, my, quite a feisty one, aren't you?
Well, this changes everything!
You hold on to that anger until I come back; you're gonna need it!"
He turned and ascended the basement stairs.
She heard his car pull out of the driveway.
All she could do now is wait.
Markus
had hurried at the warehouse.
He softly stroked the torch as he pulled back into his driveway.
He was lost in thought, considering all the body parts he could burn on
her before she would die.
He could feel himself growing with anticipation.
As he entered the house, everything was quiet.
He locked the front door and went immediately down to the basement.
Taking his time, he stomped loudly on each step, hoping to accelerate her
fear. All
was quiet. "I'm
coning for you, dear.
I'm coming to get you now.
I've got my little surprise with me!"
Still, he heard nothing.
He came to the bottom step.
As his foot reached the concrete floor, he slipped in a puddle of water,
landing on his back.
The salty stench of rotting sea water filled his nostrils.
He studied the water, noticing a trail that led to his hostage.
The light bulb wasn't working anymore so all he was able to perceive was
the shadow of a figure, bound in a chair.
It was very dark now but not too dark for him to see that his victim
looked somehow different.
He could see water dripping off of her body, splashing into a pool
beneath her. His
instincts told him something was seriously wrong and fear began to emerge from
deep within him.
Ignoring all his senses, Markus stood up and slowly made his way towards
her. "I
don't know what you've done but you're going to pay dearly!"
He thought he heard her laugh.
"If you're trying to scare me, it's not gonna work!
How about if I start by cutting bits of your tongue out and making you
swallow them!"
She spoke.
Her voice was gurgled and gritty.
It sounded like her lungs and throat were filled with water.
"What about this, loverboy?
Why don't I stand up and give you a great big kissssssss.......?
Or even better, how about I help you with that pistol in your pants, huh?
After all, wasn't it I who gave you that bulge in the first place?"
She stood up as the ropes dropped to the floor.
The light bulb came back on.
Standing before Markus were the remains of a girl he had murdered more
than a year earlier.
She was almost unrecognizable but he knew who it was.
Her flesh was green and gray.
Her hair, at least what was left of it, was intertwined in a mesh of
seaweed. She
stared at him through empty sockets, where her eyes used to be.
And her smile, that hideous smile of blackened, moldy teeth was enough to
make him vomit on the basement floor.
"What's the matter, loverboy?
Don't you want me anymore?"
She took a step towards him.
Turning back into the girl he had kidnapped earlier, she continued,
"I know what you want.
I know what you like.
I've spent every hour of every day since my death studying you and what
it is you like.
I've worked very hard, but it all paid off when you snatched me from that
parking lot last night."
She was laughing now.
"You know, it was all worth it just to see your face right
now."
Terror, revulsion, and anger were all running through Markus now.
Hannah stepped towards him as he reared back in horror.
"Stay away from me!
Go back to whatever hell it is you came from!
Leave me alone!"
Hannah took another step.
"You're right, you know, I did come from Hell.
I spent so much time in that freezing ocean that I welcomed Hell when
it was offered to me and guess what, Markus?
Hell wants you to come home, and it's letting me bring you!"
She turned back into her hideous form, grabbing his arm.
He couldn't break her grasp.
He couldn't get away.
The following day, two teenagers found a string of clothing leading to
the ocean. It
was obvious to everyone who saw that area of the beach that someone had been
forcibly dragged into the water.
An impromptu search was conducted but no body was discovered.
The only thing the residents did manage to find was a massive clump of
seaweed sitting at the water's edge with two different types of hair in it.
As a local was walking away from the scene, someone overheard him say, "I don't know what all the fuss is about. To me, it just looks as though somebody had one hell of a party."
The End