Chapter 70: CCK (13)
Chapter 70: CCK (13)
Miles away, in the middle of nowhere, a girl was struggling to be let free. Her eyes were blindfolded while her hands were tied to her sides. Her feet were spread like a cross and she was lying on a soft mattress which was covered with a plastic casing.
The girl was scared and confused as she tried to scream but her lips would not move.
What's happening? She thought in a panic. She was in her late twenties, a working woman at a small office. Her work ended around 8 PM and she took the last bus which dropped her near her home. The woman was walking up the street, hurrying towards her house where her children were being cared for by a babysitter. Her husband had been dead for many years and she was raising them on her own.
At that moment, all she could think of how her children were at home, wondering where their mother was.
Help! She screamed in her mind. The woman tried to move her lips but they would not even twitch. No sound would come out of her mouth and her wretched body was as still as stone. Her mind was panicking at the thought of her children.
God please help me! She prayed. Please! My babies must be waiting! Please
She could not figure out where she was. The air around her was very cool despite it being summer time. Moreover, she could hear the running of water somewhere. Was she near a waterbody? But she was having difficulty in breathing as if she was kept captive somewhere high up.
Suddenly she heard footsteps approaching her way. They were heavy and slow. The woman listened intently, realizing that the person was probably a man. The sound of the soles brushing the ground sounded similar to the shoes her late husband used to wear.
The man stopped right in front of her. The woman could not even move her neck to face him, her heart pounding with fright.
"Lim Mimi," he stated. That voice! She knew that voice! Mimi racked her head to remember but her mind was drawing a blank.
"How badly do you want to see your children?" the man asked quietly. Mimi tried to beg for her life but the drug he had injected into her was too strong. She wanted to plead with him but it was impossible.
"You must be missing them," the man concluded. "It's obvious. A mother always thinks of her child first when she is in danger."
Mimi was not truly scared. The man was going to kill her and there was nothing she could do.
Was this the end?
She felt the man's cool finger stroke her cheek. Mimi wanted to flinch but her body just would not move. Move! She yelled inwardly. Move!
"Do you want to hear a story?" he asked. "My story?"
Mimi heard the shuffling of a chair. The man had probably sat down somewhere nearby, observing her.
"My mother and father were very kind," he narrated. "And loving. They loved me a lot, you see."
What was he talking about? Mimi wondered. Why was he saying all this?
"I had a happy childhood," the man went on. "I really did. They gave me everything I have ever wanted. They really were the best."
He let out a laughter as if remembering a very amusing memory.
"One time, my father brought a large turkey for Thanksgiving," he mused. "My mother was delighted. You see, we never celebrated Thanksgiving before. It was our first time celebrating it."
The delight in his voice was growing, making Mimi shudder in fright. There was something sinister about his story which was scaring her. The looming darkness beneath his smile was terrifying.
"The turkey was quite big," he went on. Almost the weight of a...human being."
Mimi's eyes flickered a little under the blindfold. The index finger on her right hand twitched slightly but the man did not notice.
"I saw them tie her up," he said gleefully. "My mom turned to me and gave me the knife and said"
He cleared his throat to mimic his mother. "Today our precious angel will cut the turkey," the man imitated.
Mimi felt the effects of the drug starting to wean off but she remained very still, pretending that she was still paralyzed. Her muscles were still numb so she was waiting for the right moment.
"So she gave me the knife," the man continued gleefully. "And I cut the turkey! It was my first time so it bled clumsily. My father used to do a cleaner job carving up the live birds he brought home. And he didn't even have to pay for them! He simply used to...let's just say he used to pick them off the road."
"Every night at exactly 11:59 PM, we used to sit together and have dinner. It was my most favorite time of the day. My parents and I used to pray before digging in. We only used to eat the heart while the rest of the parts were buried under our porch. You see, the heart was the juicy part."
Mimi felt something cold and metallic touching her chest. The man was tracing her left breast with a scalpel but not cutting through her skin.
"My father used to cut from right beneath the collarbone," he said, tracing the scalpel as he spoke. "And cut until the lower boob."
Mimi wanted to cry but tears would give away the fact that the drug was wearing off. With great difficulty, she kept her tears under control.
"So let's start the meal," he announced. "I am starving."
The scalpel began to pierce her skin, causing a little blood to come out.
"AHHHH!" Mimi screamed, startling the man. On an instinct, she grabbed his hand, twisting it hard before snatching the scalpel and blindly hitting him somewhere. It seemed to have worked since he let out a loud cry of pain and staggered backwards. Taking her chance, Mimi took off her blindfold and dashed for the open door, without looking back at the man who was lying on the floor in agony.
"STOP!" he yelled but Mimi kept on sprinting. She did not know where she was running but instead, followed the sound of the running water. The man was following her but he was too slow due to his injury since she had cut his thigh.
Mimi ignored her numb muscles, focusing only on her children as she ran until she saw the opening. As soon as she exited, she realized that it was a cave situated on a hill. At the bottom of the hill was a river.
The man was still on her tail. She could hear his screams and curses. He was about to close in on her any minute.
Mimi looked down and back towards the cave. She had to make a quick decision.
"COME BACK YOU BITCH!" the man roared as he lunged at her but Mimi jumped into the river. The man missed her by inches as she fell. He gasped and looked down to see where she had fallen but she was nowhere in sight.
"I'LL FIND YOU BITCH!" He swore. "I'LL FIND YOU!"
His angry screams echoed through the hills, as the scared woman fought her way through the strong currents to reach her children.
The memory of the unknown man would haunt her. Forever.