Craig could only watch as the sharp end of the long needle came down towards him. He shut his eyes, but knew that would give no respite. He felt the needle sink into the corner of his socket.
He thrashed and yelled, but evidently this was music to the family’s ears. They laughed as they ate. The woman even danced around, wrapping some of his innards around her shoulders like a shawl.
The needle went in farther, then angled itself, and pulled back again in an effort to pop the eyeball free.
The pain was excruciating, but the needle slipped free without success.
‘Damn it,’ Henry said.
‘Try again,’ his mother told him. ‘You’ll get it. Second time lucky.’
He did try again and, as his mother had promised, the second time was lucky.
Craig felt the eyeball dislodge and slip from his skull. He opened his remaining eye, but his vision was split. There was a further pull, accompanied by a stinging sensation inside of his head. Something snapped and his vision again became whole.
No, not whole.
Halved.
Henry had pulled the eyeball free.
Craig could see the red tendrils of the optic nerve dangling down above him.
Henry studied it, then held it up for his mother to see. ‘I see you,’ he said, laughing.
His mother broke into hysterics. ‘Oh, Henry, you’re so funny.’
Henry nodded, clearly in agreement. He then popped the eyeball into his mouth, like a piece of candy, and began to chew. Craig heard a squelch as the monster’s powerful jaws clamped shut.
‘Juicy,’ he said and let out a moan of satisfaction.
And so the horror carried on.
Craig’s screams eventually died off after the mother had done something with his Adams apple. Craig couldn’t see exactly what, but he knew his throat was a mess. His jaw still worked though, moving up and down, trying to let loose a noise, a release, that would just not come.
His vision began to blur, and a lightheadedness started to take over. After being so alert through all of the torture, an alertness probably caused by the searing pain, it was a relief to know that it was clearly coming to an end for him.
His horrific injuries were finally bringing death.
Craig felt the needle plunge into the corner of his other eye, ready to rob him of his sight completely.
Come on, he prayed to any God that was listening. End it now. It’s time. End it now.
A small part of him was actually thankful they seemed to be devouring him so completely. If there was nothing left of him, it meant his family would never know what had happened.
At least they would be spared that horror.
Unless, of course, Kim and Ashley had gotten away.
And he dearly hoped they had. He couldn’t stand the thought of them, especially Kim, going through this agony and torture.
It was a small mercy that she wasn’t here to see him like this.
Then, as if God was quite happy to shit on him further, he heard it.
‘Craig!’
Craig felt the pressure on the needle release, and he was able to turn his head. Through blurred, unclear vision, he managed to make out the shape of the person who was screaming.
No. Please God, no.
It was Kim.
One final fuck you from whatever twisted karma was orchestrating this whole weekend.
He tried to call back to her, but could make no sound.
Finally, death claimed him.
The sight of inhuman carnage inflicted on her boyfriend when Kim entered the room was enough to make her drop to her knees.
It was monstrous; absolute desecration. The metallic smell of blood filled the room, bathing her in its stink.
The other members of the family stood around a great stone table. All of them smeared in blood and gore, chewing noisily.
Feasting on him.
As if what they were doing was the most normal thing in the world.
As they ate, Craig’s body twitched and moved very slowly, as if it were about to give out.
Blood flowed steadily from every part of his ruined torso, bubbling free in multiple streams. A bloody stump indicated one of his arms was completely gone, and she could see another stump beyond, where a leg should be. His stomach was pulled open all the way up to his chest, revealing what was left of his insides, and also part of his rib cage.
The hideous sight was too much for Kim, and she couldn’t help but call out Craig’s name. Henry was doing something to his face, but upon hearing her yell, he smiled and stepped back.
Craig turned his face towards her.
One eye was completely gone, leaving an empty pit in its place, and the other was bulging from its socket unnaturally, almost like a sickening cartoon. He tried to say something, but his jaw simply moved, like a fish devoid of water. Then he slumped back, unmoving, dying before her eyes.
Kim began to scream and scream and scream, pulling at her hair in absolute terror.
Through it all, she managed to hear the words from the man who held her on a leash.
‘You fuckers, you started without me.’
He couldn’t believe it. The greedy pieces of shit couldn’t have waited just a little while longer, just held out a little bit so that they could all eat together, like a family should.
‘You and your sister were taking too long,’ Father told him. ‘Besides, we got two more to go at.’
He pointed to the two women Ted had in his charge.
‘Not the point,’ Ted said. ‘You should have waited.’
‘It’s done now,’ his father said.
‘Ted?’ Mother asked. ‘Where is your sister?’
Ted chuckled. ‘Funny story. This one here,’ he let Ashley flop to the floor from his shoulder, ‘has something about her. She managed to get free of Sis. Ended up driving Claudia’s own knife into her skull. If it weren’t for me, this one would have gotten away.’
‘And what about your sister?’ Mother asked.
‘She’s still out there, but she isn’t in a good way.’
‘You left her?’
‘I couldn’t bring them all back on my own, Mother,’ he said defensively. ‘If it weren’t for Claudia, we would have been back by now. Her fuck up nearly cost us these two little rabbits. Anyway, she’ll pull herself round. Eventually.’
‘But she’ll miss all this,’ Mother said, opening her hands to the man who lay dead on the table.
‘And that’s her fault,’ Ted said.
‘He’s got a point, Adela,’ Father said, cutting in.
‘But it’s been so long. If she doesn’t get to eat this time, how will she cope? Who knows how long it will be before we get to do this again.’
‘Then she shouldn’t have fucked up,’ Father said. ‘We all have our jobs to do. And we all need to do them well for this to work. Sounds like she got sloppy, so she needs to understand the consequences of that.’
‘But she’ll be a nightmare to deal with,’ Mother said.
‘Then we’ll lock her in the basement. I’m sure Henry can help straighten her out.’
Henry smiled and nodded, still too preoccupied with eating to talk. He had plucked the boy’s remaining eyeball free and shoved it into his maw.
‘Well,’ Ted said, ‘I might have half an idea about that.’
‘What do you mean, son?’ his father asked, genuinely curious.
Ted kicked out at the redhead who, he noted, had rolled over and was looking at what was left of her friend. Her face was unreadable. She wasn’t howling and screaming like her frantic companion.
‘This one,’ he sneered. ‘She has something about her, like I said. Not like most we get who are only good for food.’
‘Are you saying what I think you are?’ Father asked. Ted shrugged.
‘Not sure,’ he replied. ‘But figured it was worth, you know, seeing what you thought. And...’ he trailed off.
‘And what?’
‘And, if you thought the
same, maybe we could go see what Grandpa thinks too.’
His father fell silent and began to run a hand through his beard, now coated red with blood and flesh.
‘That’s a lot of mouths to feed,’ Mother said. ‘Can we handle another?’
‘I don’t think we can,’ Father said. ‘It’s hard enough as it is now.’
‘So then,’ Mother asked, ‘what is there to discuss? More food for tonight. That’s all there is to it.’
But Ted could see his father mulling it over and had a feeling the old man was coming to the same conclusion he had earlier.
‘Ted might have a point here,’ Father said.
‘What kind of point?’
‘Well, it’s been a while since we’ve changed things up,’ he replied. ‘Timothy has been the runt for too long. It’s about time he got the chance to get what he’s owed. Only way to do that is to bring someone new into the family. Take in a new child to cover his role and let him move up. And this one looks pretty enough to be good bait. Hell, even with that gash across her face I bet she could bring us lots of fresh food. This might be a good opportunity, if Ted is right about her, that is.’
‘But we’ve just said we can’t take on another mouth. Are you implying what I think you are?’
‘Maybe.’
‘Are you serious? Are you really saying that we just cut one of the children loose? How can you say that? They won’t be able to cope or survive on their own.’
‘We don’t cut them loose, we take em’ down to see their Grandpa.’
‘That’s even worse,’ Mother said. ‘You’re talking about killing them. And who would you suggest?’
‘Well, Claudia got sloppy, and it’s her fault that one of them nearly got away. Everyone knows there are consequences for failure. It might be good to make an example. Show that the rules aren’t to be broken.’
‘But she’s our daughter,’ Mother said, ‘how can you be so careless?’
‘Not saying it’s an easy decision, but the right ones rarely are. We gotta do what’s right for the family as a whole. We’re stagnating here, Adela, you can see that. And the man downstairs won’t allow that forever. This could be what we need.’
Adela approached the redhead, who had pushed herself up to her knees. The girl stared back at the older woman with a look of disgust and defiance. Adela grabbed the younger girl by the chin and tilted her head up to inspect her face.
‘Fuck you,’ the redhead said, drawing a chuckle from Ted.
‘Looks to have fight in her. Thought she was the quiet one?’ Adela asked, looking over to Timothy.
He shrugged. ‘I thought so too.’
‘You can all go to hell,’ the girl said. ‘Do you really think I would want to be part of your fucked up family? After the things I’ve seen you do?’
‘Oh,’ Adela said, ‘that won’t be a problem. If we think you’re Webb material, then you’ll join us after you see the old man. No question about it. It’s not exactly a choice, dear. Do you think we’ve always been like this? Fuck no. I was a good, church-going young lady once. But if Grandpa sees a certain something in you, a certain... quality, then he can grant you things and show you things you never dreamed possible. Things you had no idea existed. That’s just how it works. Choice don’t come into it. He just turns you. If you’re lucky.’
‘Bullshit,’ the girl said.
Adela laughed and let go of her. ‘You’ll see in time, my dear.’
‘So,’ Father said, ‘you agree?’
Adela cocked her head and Ted could see the contemplation on her face. ‘Maybe. She might just have it. Though only the old man can know for sure.’
‘So we take her to see him,’ Father said with finality.
‘And if he agrees, and she becomes one of us? What do we do with Claudia?’
‘We wait till she gets herself back here,’ Father said. ‘Then take her down to see Grandpa as well.’
‘What’ll happen to her?’ Timothy asked.
‘Doesn’t matter,’ Father said. ‘If he agrees with this, then after we take Claudia down we won’t see her again. No need to worry ourselves about what he does with her.’
‘What if he doesn’t agree?’ Henry asked, still picking bits from the body left on the table. He pulled chunks of meat free from the open stomach and slipped them into his mouth. ‘What if she isn’t one of us?’
‘Then nothing happens,’ Father said. ‘We carry on as we are.’
‘With Claudia around?’ Henry asked.
‘Of course,’ Father replied.
‘Don’t think she will be too happy, though, when she finds out what we were thinking.’
Father shrugged. ‘She’ll learn to deal with it. She’ll have to. And she should let it be a lesson not to fuck up. But, I have to say, I have a good feeling about this one,’ he pointed to the redhead. ‘Might be just what we are looking for.’
‘So, what do we do first?’ Ted asked. ‘Do we finish up with her?’ He pulled at the leash, making the Asian one yelp, a small break in her sobbing. ‘Or do we take the redhead down to see Grandpa first?’
Father though about that for a moment before finally deciding.
‘We take her to Grandpa,’ he said. ‘Timothy and Henry can stay up here and clean up. They’ll need to get rid of the leftovers and set the table again, anyway. The rest of us will go down and see what’s what.’
‘Sounds good to me,’ Ted said, then he leaned closer to the redhead, close enough to smell her. ‘Good luck. If all goes well, looks like I’ll be calling you sister soon enough.’
Chapter 30
Ashley knew these people were insane, that much was painfully evident, but seeing what had become of poor Craig, a sight which turned her stomach, was enough to prove the family was completely and utterly unhinged.
Craig’s body had been totally ravaged and mangled.
It was an inhuman sight.
The blood that ran from the ruined corpse drained from the table, which Ashley saw had small holes along its surface. His lifeblood slipping away to God knows where.
It was sickening.
In some respect, considering their mental state, the Webb’s talk of getting her to join them, to become part of their nightmare, shouldn’t seem that crazy. But did they really think she would ever allow that to happen? Even if it proved to be the only way to save her life, living like them was not an acceptable compromise.
She would rather die.
The man who had carried her back here, Ted, began cutting at her bonds.
‘You’re going to need a bit more movement,’ he said. ‘Getting down there isn’t exactly easy.’
She’d expected him to perhaps free up her legs, but to untie her completely surprised her. She looked at him warily.
‘You’d be advised not to try anything stupid here, girl,’ the father said and folded his arms over his chest. The tone he gave off was scalding, almost... parental.
She felt Ted grab her from behind. He wrapped one arm tightly around her chest and brought up his knife to her throat.
‘I’d listen to him carefully if I were you, sweetheart,’ she heard him say, feeling his rotten breath on the side of her face.
He pushed her forward and the older man, Benjamin, pulled a key from his overall pocket and walked to the corner of the room, where he squatted down. As Ashley passed the table where Craig’s remains sat, she saw Benjamin fumbling with something on the floor; a thick, iron grate, roughly about three foot by three foot. He unlocked it and placed the key back into the pocket on his chest, then opened the grate, which was hinged at one side.
A trap door.
So that’s how they proposed to get her down there. Ted then pushed Ashley over to his father, who grabbed her by the throat.
‘Ready to go see the old man?’ he asked with a sneer.
‘Wait,’ a voice shouted, echoing around the small space. Everyone turned their attentions back to Kim, who had been forgotten. She was in a sitting position on the floo
r, pulling her tied hands under her butt, before bending her legs and looping her arms from under them. She didn’t seem to be in any kind of rush.
‘You got something to say?’ the father asked, chuckling.
‘Take me instead,’ she said, standing to her feet.
‘Take you? Take you where?’
‘Down there,’ she said. ‘Wherever you are going. Take me. Let me join you.’
Benjamin threw his head back and let out a bellowing laugh.
‘You? Join us? Oh, my dear, I’m afraid that isn’t how this works,’ he said.
‘And you wouldn’t fit in, anyway,’ Adela added. ‘You’re eyes are too slanty. Not really our sort.’
She laughed as she spoke, and Henry chuckled along with her.
‘Besides,’ Benjamin went on, ‘you don’t just get to ask. You need to be chosen.’
‘Then choose me,’ she said, taking a step forward.
‘Why should we do that?’
‘Because,’ she said, still walking forward. No one seemed concerned by her, merely curious. ‘I have what it takes. I can be one of you.’
Ted quickly walked over to Kim and took a strong hold of her.
‘Wait,’ Benjamin commanded, seemingly intrigued. Ted released her and stepped aside. ‘So,’ Ben went on, ‘you think you have what it takes to be one of us? Well, I have to say, in all my years, never have I heard anyone say they actually want to join us. Like I said, it’s never a choice.’
‘But I want to,’ Kim said.
Ashley couldn’t believe what she was hearing from her so-called friend. Surely what they’d done to Craig sickened Kim’s as much as it did her? Surely she could have nothing but contempt for these people? Then, Ashley thought back to Kim’s earlier eagerness to leave her behind, and figured this was just another display of desperate selfishness. She was doing it for one reason and one reason only: so she didn’t have to die.
‘No, you don’t want to. You just don’t want to die,’ the man said, as if reading Ashley’s thoughts. ‘And it isn’t going to work, I’m afraid.’
The Extreme Horror Collection Page 15
