The Collector’s Tree
THE COLLECTOR’S TREE
TW: Abduction, descriptions of violent or unstable behavior, references to dismembered body parts.
GIDEON
“You’re a lucky man, Gideon,” someone whispers in my ear just as I blink my eyes open. I feel a tongue run over my cheek and flinch, making the woman laugh next to me. “Such a jumpy boy, cute.”
When she comes into my view fully, I frown. Who the hell is this woman?
The corner of her lip twitches as she leans in, placing her hands over my forearms and whispers, “you don’t remember me, do you?”
I shake my head slowly. If I could remember whoever she is, I’d call her by her name, wouldn’t I?
“Silly and forgetful, as always,” she mutters and pushes herself away from me.
While the woman starts circling me like a predator, I look around. Clearly, I’m not in my home, which I could probably still be pretty calm about, but when I look down, all color drains from my face.
Holy shit, am I really strapped to an electric chair?
“And it works,” she purrs next to my ear suddenly, as if the crazy bitch can read my mind. “I purchased it a couple of years ago. Never thought it could become more than a prop in my living room, but it turns out this thing is quite… handy.”
“Lady, whoever you are,” I choke out, but she quickly slaps her hand over my mouth.
“Shh, Gideon, don’t waste your voice on useless words. Just watch,” she whispers in my ear and presses a rather aggressive kiss to my cheek before she pulls her hand away from my mouth and walks towards a Christmas tree. “Look, I want you to see my most prized possession.”
I want to laugh at her, but can’t find it in me.
Truth be told, I’m terrified out of my mind. Not only do I sit on an electric chair, strapped to it, mind you, but also, there’s a completely unhinged woman in close vicinity to me. God knows what she’s capable of.
To my utter horror, she starts dragging the tree closer. “I can’t drag the chair closer to the tree, so I need to get the tree closer to you. I want you to see the ornaments. You’ll love them, Gideon.”
She grunts and hisses under her breath until the tree is close enough to her liking. I can’t look away—I’m trying to understand what’s so special about it, but I can’t figure it out.
It looks like every regular Christmas tree. Green, prickly and loaded with ornaments. What’s so special about it? I just can’t understand why I’m trapped with this madwoman just to look at a fucking tree.
“Foolish, just like every man who has walked this planet,” she grumbles and rolls her eyes. “You couldn’t notice something beautiful even if I slapped you with it.”
My eyes focus on her. “Who are you, again? Must I remind you that what you’re doing is called kidnapping and that’s like very, very wrong and illegal?”
“Do I look like I care?” She huffs and takes a step closer, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “Look at me carefully, look closely, Gideon. Tell me my name.”
I don’t want to, but I still listen. There’s something very unsettling about this woman, but also… surprisingly familiar? I’m not sure how that’s possible, but I feel like I know her from somewhere.
“That’s right, just like that. Think carefully, Gideon. Where do you know me from? Where have we met?” She asks and the next moment, she drops to her knees in front of me and looks up.
My breath catches in my throat. No… I know those eyes—I know the look in them. The only difference between them and now is the hatred in the gaze that wasn’t there before.
“Tell me my name, Gideon,” she whispers.
“Selene,” I choke out without thinking.
“That’s right, Selene. Now, do you remember me finally?” She asks and flashes me what I could describe only as a maddening smile.
“I do,” I choke out and pull at the belts around my forearms. I wish for nothing more than to escape this predicament, but looking into her eyes, I know there’s no escape. Selene won’t allow me to walk out of here alive.
“Awesome!” She suddenly shouts and stands up, then rushes to the Christmas tree. “Now, back to my most prized possession. I want to show off everything before I tell you more about the plans I have for you.”
I swallow loudly. Her excitement makes no sense. Worse, the excitement makes her sound more deranged and people like that aren’t just unpredictable—they’re dangerous.
My eyes don’t leave Selene as she drags the tree just a little closer, then stops and grins before she rounds the tree a few times, adjusting the ornaments.
Now that it’s so close, dread and fear finally settle within me for good. Those aren’t ornaments…
“This right here, see,” Selene laughs and removes the so-called ornament to bring it closer to my face. “This is Josh. The ringleader. I got him first.” She laughs even louder, like she told me the best joke ever. “That fool thought that I forgot what you guys did to me. Can you imagine that?”
I can’t speak and it seems Selene doesn’t mind as she busies herself with hanging the thing back in its place, casually explaining everything.
“He asked me on a date. Just slid in my direct messages, acted like there’s no stain of the past, gave me some compliments thinking I’ve forgiven and forgotten him long ago. ”
She looks over the tree branch and meets my gaze, “I never forgot.”
I swallow again and try to speak, but no words escape me. I can’t even come up with the words that could be enough to explain to Selene how sorry I am about what happened, how much therapy I needed to get over it and how fucking much I regret not doing anything to help her.
I was a kid, I didn’t know better and even if I had tried to help her—there was nothing I could’ve done to stop them. I’ve carried the guilt all my life, I never forgot, and now, regardless of how much I wish what happened wouldn’t be true, she still blames me.
“And this one,” Selene mutters and brings another ‘ornament’ to me, something that resembles a finger.
“Do you remember Peter? The one with black hair and blue eyes? He was the easiest one, a drug addict nobody missed. With Josh, there was some commotion—his family tried to find him, but with Peter… nothing.”
Selene places the thing back on the tree and runs her fingers over the branches until they stop on what looks like an ear and I feel like I’m about to projectile vomit all over the place.
“Ah, can’t forget Stefan. He screamed the loudest, you know.
Good thing I lured him into the woods and nobody could hear his screams, his pleas and his cries.
The same as mine, remember? Nobody could hear me call for help.
The difference is that I didn’t hold a hand over Stefan’s mouth.
I let him scream until he could no more.
See, I’m not half as vicious as they were. ”
The corner of Selene’s mouth twitches and her voice drops to a barely audible whisper as she turns her attention back on me, “and then, there’s you. The only one who didn’t do anything, but watched and never helped me. You’re as guilty as they were.”
Selene pulls her hand away from the tree and walks closer, her focus on me so intense, I can’t look away even though I really want to.
When she reaches me, she drops to her knees in front of me, places her hands on my thighs, sinks her nails into my flesh and whispers, “You’re the last piece of my collection. ”