Chapter 27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
TEMPERANCE
Iwoke to the feel of something cold and soft pressed to my forehead. It took me a second to get my bearings, but then my vision cleared and I shot up, the quick movement making my head spin.
“Hey now. Careful, sweetheart.” Carl’s face came into focus, and I scurried backward to try and get away from him. “Stop squirmin’, Tempie. I need to check that cut on your head.”
He moved to press the damp cloth to my forehead, but I flinched back, baring my teeth as I hissed, “Don’t touch me.”
Carl’s arm fell, but he didn’t move back. Hurt crawled across his expression as he stared at me. “I’m just tryin’ to take care of you. You were out for a while. You probably have a concussion.”
My skin prickled with terror, but I somehow managed to keep it out of my voice as I spit, “If I do, it’s because you bashed my fucking head into a wall.”
He stood and began pacing, and for the first time I took a look at our surroundings.
The ramshackle shack wasn’t much bigger than my bedroom back at the farmhouse.
There was no drywall or insulation just old, rotted wood that was barely holding together and covered almost completely in mold.
The roof was riddled with holes, and there were dead leaves and puddles of water all over there floor from where the rain and snow had come through.
In spite of the horrible conditions, there were signs that the place had very recently been lived in.
Cardboard boxes of nonperishable foods were lined against the back wall.
Empty bottles of water and energy bar wrappers were strewn about, and there were books piled on the floor just a few feet from me and the ratty old cot I was currently sitting on.
“W-where are we?” I stuttered. My teeth began to clack together as chills racked my body, but I couldn’t tell if it was due to fear or the freezing winter temperatures.
He moved, crossing the small space so fast that I shot back, bumping against the wall. “You don’t recognize it? It’s our place. Our special place.”
Oh God. It took a while, but recognition finally dawned, making bile crawl up my throat.
I’d never seen this shack from the inside.
In all the time Hayes and I had snuck out to these woods, I’d always refused to go into that scary shack yards away from where we considered our spot.
The place had always given me the creeps, and now that I was inside for the first time, I found that my instincts had been spot on.
My heart was beating so hard, my ribs began to ache. “Carl,” I started, careful to keep my tone soft and neutral, “we don’t have a special place.”
He laughed hysterically, like that was the funniest thing he’d ever heard. “Of course we do. Our special place in the woods.”
“No,” I replied. “Hayes and I had a place, not you. Never you.”
His eyes were completely manic, and I could just tell that what I was saying wasn’t penetrating the crazy. He’d completely snapped. I wasn’t sure what had caused it, but the Carl I knew was gone, and this new Carl was terrifying me out of my mind.
“Yes we do. It’s here, Tempie. Right where I told you to come in that note.”
“The note,” I whispered, my stomach twisting and turning violently. “The note was from you? But... How?”
When he reached up to stroke my cheek it took everything in me not to vomit.
Just the feel of his fingertips on my skin revolted me.
“I had to keep you safe, sweetheart. I had to protect you, so I watched you. I watched you for so long I got to know you even better than you knew yourself.” Something sick washed across his expression.
“God, baby, you’re so beautiful, but when you sleep, how peaceful you look?
” He let out a low hum of appreciation that made me whimper.
“I used to love sneaking into your room at night and watching you sleep. My Tempie, so beautiful.”
Holy shit, this guy was completely off the reservation. The knowledge that someone I’d cared about, someone who I’d considered a friend, had violated my trust and my privacy so completely froze me from the inside out.
“I had to watch you so I could take care of you. It was how I learned about the baby, how I learned your parents had to pay.”
My lips parted on a gasp so sharp and hard it was painful. No. No, no, no, no.
A choked sob burst past my lips. I was going to be sick. Hunching over, I wrapped my arms around my stomach and began to rock as a fresh wave of tears began pouring down my cheeks. “Oh my god,” I cried, my heart breaking into a million pieces. “You killed my parents?”
“Shh,” Carl tried to console me as I sobbed, pouring out all the pain and heartbreak I was feeling, all the fear and betrayal. “It’s okay,” he whispered, reaching out to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. “It’ll all be okay.”
“Why?” I croaked as the lump in my throat grew and grew until I thought it might suffocate me.
“I had to do it. I’m so sorry, but I had to,” he replied frantically.
“You don’t understand. You were always supposed to be mine, Tempie.
Always. It hurt when you gave yourself to him, but I forgave you because I knew it wouldn’t mean anything once we were finally together.
But when I found out you’d gotten pregnant…
.” His mood flipped like a switch, going from soft and placating to wild to furious in the blink of an eye.
“I couldn’t forgive that. You were a child,” he seethed, his fingers clenching into fists so tight that his knuckles turned white.
“You were just a fucking child! You didn’t fully understand the consequences of your actions, but they knew better and they just let you whore yourself out like it was nothing!
They had to pay. Don’t you understand? A parent is supposed to protect and nurture.
They’re supposed to keep their children safe and teach them right from wrong.
But they just stood back while you allowed yourself to be defiled! ”
“You’re insane,” I whispered as the shock of everything he’d just said seeped into my bones, leaving me feeling brittle. “You’re fucking insane!”
His hand whipped around in a blur, the back of his knuckles connecting with my cheekbone so hard that it felt like fire shot straight through my temple. And just as soon as he landed the blow, that switch flipped again.
“I’m sorry,” he cried, cupping my cheek and forcing my face back around to his. “I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry. But you can’t talk to me like that, sweetheart. Not after everything I’ve done for you.”
“W-what you’ve done for me?”
He leaned in so close that I could feel his breath on my face, and it made my skin crawl. “I’ve made them pay, Tempie. Anyone who’s ever hurt you, I’ve made them pay. Harley, Lance, Martin. They all paid.”
“Carl.” I shook my head in bewilderment. “They never hurt me.”
“Of course they did! Lance stole from you. Harley humiliated you. And what Martin did to Buddy?” He shook his head. “That was unforgivable. But I made it right. I made it all right. Don’t you see?”
“Oh my god. Carl, please,” I begged. “Please listen to me. I didn’t want you to do that. I didn’t want any of that! You weren’t saving me or protecting me. You killing them hurt me.”
He stood from the cot, his shoulders setting in determination. “I’d never hurt you. Not ever. Everything I’ve done was for you. You don’t see it now, but you will. You’ll understand. And I have a surprise for you.”
I sat on the cot, frozen in terror as he disappeared from the shack, returning moments later, dragging a body behind him. He grunted with exertion as he hefted it into the middle of the room and let it go. The moment the body hit the floor, it let out a pained groan and rolled to its side.
“Oh god,” I gasped. The sunlight outside was waning, and I knew it wouldn’t be long before darkness fell completely, but there was still enough light coming through the slats of the dilapidated building for me to see who it was lying on the ground before me. “Perry?”
His terror-filled eyes shot to mine as he squirmed on the floor.
Carl had him hogtied, bound with duct tape and gagged.
He was filthy, covered in cuts and bruises.
His skin was cracked and peeling, clearly from being exposed to the elements for too long, and from the looks of him I’d guess that Carl had taken him and held him hostage for days.
He grunted and yelled from behind his gag, his eyes pleading with me as he thrashed around on the dirty floor.
“What are you doing?” I asked, my words frantic as Carl reached around and pulled a big knife from the waistband of his pants.
“Carl, no. No! Please, please don’t do this,” I pleaded, screaming over and over as Perry thrashed harder.
Even through the gag, his muffled screams clawed at my ears like nails on a chalkboard.
“Please,” I tried again as he lifted his arm in the air.
“I’m begging you, please don’t.” Then that arm came down. “Carl, nonono!”
My words broke off into a blood-curdling scream as he kneeled over Perry and buried the blade into his side.
The sounds of agony coming from Perry were the most horrifying noises I’d ever heard.
Carl pulled the blade out and stabbed again and again, over and over.
Blood sprayed all over the walls, on me, on the floor.
It ran down his body like crimson rivers, but Carl didn’t stop, not until Perry was unrecognizable, not until long after Perry’s noises stopped.