“Because you’re good at it,” Jay said with a chuckle. “Why fix what isn’t broke?”
Rye shot a dirty look at Jay. “In the future, one of you assholes is going to go to the morgue for a change. Dead weight is heavy.”
Jesus fucking Christ. Was there a dead body in that bag? Just like in the movies? Was I starring in my own horror film? I blinked away the shadows threatening to take over as panic made my head spin. Was this really happening?
Rye stopped dragging the body bag inside and looked at me. “Did you tell her what’s going to happen?”
“Enough,” Jay countered. “She knows she is going on a trip with us.”
Satisfied with Jay’s answer, Rye kneeled down and unzipped the bag. I could see there was a woman with blonde hair and pale skin inside. When he uncovered her fully, and removed her limp form from the black covering, I could see she was of similar shape and size to me.
“See?” Jay said with a chuckle. “You are good at this. She looks just like Goldie.”
“Lucky find, I guess,” Rye mumbled as he reached into his back pocket and pulled out what appeared to be pliers. “You want to come down here and do this shit for a change?”
“Nah, I got the gun,” Jay said as he jabbed my ribs as a reminder. “You pull them.”
Pull them? Pull what?I thought, my head spinning.
“With how many fucking teeth I’ve removed from dead bodies, I can give any dentist a run for his money,” Rye complained as he opened the dead woman’s mouth and began pulling out her teeth one by one with the tool in his hand.
“Oh my God,” I whimpered as I realized exactly what he was doing.
I started to collapse to the floor, but Jay took a hold of my arm to keep me standing. “Don’t get all weak-kneed on us,” he said. “We didn’t kill her. Just stole her.”
“Why? Why? Why?” I said more to myself than to him.
“Well, we have to make it look like she’s you. When we burn this store to the ground, and that woman’s body is in it, they will assume it’s you. No reason not to.” Jay yanked me up some more. “We’re doing you a favor. You don’t want any loved ones or friends to be worried about you and spend the rest of their lives searching and wondering. They’d never find you, of course. We won’t be anywhere they can. But this is having mercy on them. This way, they can just grieve for you and then move on.”
The sound of a tooth being torn from flesh made my stomach convulse, and I vomited all over the counter I was propped up against by Jay.
“Fuck,” Jay said as he pulled me away from the mess.
“Yeah, it’s a pretty gnarly sound and sight,” Rye said as he continued to yank each tooth out. “Don’t you worry your pretty little head. Flaying her skin to peel her fingerprints off will go faster. There’s only ten of those.”
I struggled to make any sense out of what I was witnessing, hearing. Teeth… flayed skin… fire. Oh God. Fire. They were going to setGiGi’s Gardenon fire… My body gave up, and Jay allowed me to fall to the floor as I started to keen. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a bottle and a rag.
“I don’t think our audience is appreciating your skills,” Jay said as he poured the liquid inside the bottle onto the rag. “Time for you to take a nap then. And when you wake up, this entire scene will just have been a nightmare. Next stop… Barrett’s Mountain. We will be deep, deep in the forest.”
As the rag was placed over my mouth and nose, the last thing I saw was my vomit dripping from the surface of the counter. The last thing I heard was the sound of cartilage being ripped in pieces. The last thought I had was that I was being kidnapped by three beasts and taken to a forest, and everything about my life was about to change forever.
8
Goldie
It was the sound of the ringing in my ears I focused on first. A dull buzz—low and eerie. My eyelids were still too heavy, and something deep within my being resisted the urge to open them. There was a dark reality on the other side I didn’t want to wake to.
Dark memories washed in. Grotesque visions knocked on my soul.
So, I’d rather focus on pushing it all away.
Denial.
All a twisted nightmare.
A Grimms’ fairytale that I’d eventually get my happily ever after and all would be good.
My fingers ached. I couldn’t move my arms. I couldn’t pull my wrists apart. My shoulder blades stung with any attempt of movement. I was sweaty and yet icy cold.