“How about you?”
“I have to contain David. If we leave, so will he.”
“But we’ll be safe.”
“He needs help, Bill. I owe him that.”
The look he gave her was priceless, a cross between bewildered and resigned. He was such a good guy. Maybe when this was over…
She pushed the impulse away. Theena couldn’t think about happily ever after. She knew she didn’t deserve it.
Bill let out a long breath. “What do you have in mind?”
“We can tie him up. There are jump ropes in the gym.”
“Lead the way.”
They jogged down the hall and turned left. Blood was spattered over the floor and walls, and many of the overhead fluorescent tubes were smashed. The remaining lights flickered and hissed, erratic strobes throwing crazy shadows. A portion of Theena’s resolve eroded with every step. Her sense of responsibility was slowly being overtaken by her fear. David seemed to be hiding in every corner, ready to leap out and mutilate all of the people that hurt him.
And she was the last one.
The gym was a decent replica of a modern health club; too bright, completely encircled with mirrors, and crammed with stacks of machines that looked like torture devices. For some insane reason, the equipment locker had a padlock on it. Theena shoved the gun in her pocket. She unclipped the overhead T-bar from a lat-press and wedged it in the latch. She twisted, her muscles bunching with effort. The lock was bending… bending…
SNAP!
Theena tugged open the locker door and snagged five jump ropes, shoving them under her armpit.
“Theena!”
She turned at Bill’s voice, followed his frightened gaze.
David was in the room with them, leaning on the ax like a cane. He grinned.
“Is the Stairmaster free?”
Theena drew the gun.
“Drop the ax, David.”
“This ax?” With a violent jerk, David thrust the ax into the mirror alongside the doorway, smashing glass with an ear-bursting crash.
He shifted and swung in the other direction, shattering a reflection of himself, droplets of his blood peppering the glinting shards that fell at his feet.
Theena took careful aim and shot him in the leg again. There was a small eruption of blood, and his knees buckled, but he somehow managed to stay on his feet.
She shot twice more, the first bullet missing, the second taking off part of David’s calf.
He still didn’t go down.
“Hold your fire!”
Bill threw himself at David, a fifteen pound barbell in his good hand. He connected solidly with David’s chest. There an audible thump, and both men toppled over.
Theena was there in three steps, kicking away David’s ax. He was flat on his back, arms and legs akimbo. His eyes were open but unfocused.
The time to act was now, but she didn’t want to take the gun off of him to tie him up. Bill managed to get to his feet, wincing. Unfortunately, he wouldn’t be much help in the knot-tying department with a broken shoulder blade.
“Take the gun.”
Bill hesitated, then accepted it. Theena wasted no time, winding a jump rope around David’s ankles, cinching the knot so tight her arms burned.
“Theena!”
Bill’s warning came too late.
David jackknifed into a sitting position and batted her across the face. She fell to the side, just as David was rolling in the opposite direction.
Towards his ax.
Her vision cleared in time to see David grip the handle, lift it back to swing at her.
“Bill!”
He fired.
The gun offered an anticlimactic CLICK. There were no bullets left.
The pain was as blinding as it was sudden, an explosion in her right side just above her hip. Theena stared down at the thing buried several inches in her side, unable to fathom what was happening.
An ax. She had an ax sticking out of her.
She touched it, fingers trembling, blood bubbling up and swallowing the blade.
There was a sucking sound, and suddenly the ax was out. Theena watched her life spill out of the hole in a gout of blood.
She stared at David, lying a few feet away from her, lifting the ax for another blow.
Then everything went black.
Jack Kilborn
Disturb
“You killed her!”
Manny had been watching everything happen in mute terror, unable to stop it. He was a passenger in his own body, unable to control his muscles, his actions, his intent. David had banished him. All he could do is scream out his feeble protests to deaf ears as one atrocity after another was committed by his hands.
But when the ax hit Theena, the balance of power shifted.
Manny’s rage inflamed his brain like a fever, forcing David back. He stared at the ax and willed his hands to open. They did, the ax falling to the ground.
His eyes scorched Bill, the cords in his neck bulging. He forced out the words.
“Pick… up… the… ax.”
Bill remained rooted, jaw agape.
“Give it up, Manny.” David’s voice echoed in his head. “You can’t win. I’m going to bury you so deep in our mind, you’ll never come back out again.”
Manny pleaded again. “The ax…”
“Look! Theena’s still breathing! Why don’t we crawl over there and finish the job?”
Manny rolled onto all fours against his will. But his voice was still his own.
“The ax!”
Bill bent down and took the ax in his good hand. He held it away from his body, as if it were a poisonous snake, a stricken look on his face.
“We’re going to snap her neck.” Manny began to crawl to Theena. Every inch was a struggle, and it was a struggle he was losing. “I’m going to let you feel the bones break beneath her soft skin while you’re squeezing.”
“Kill me!”
Manny’s hand shook, but he couldn’t hold it back. It was reaching, reaching for Theena’s throat. Manny felt himself being pushed back again, back into the dark space, David muscling him down and taking over.
“PLEASE KILL ME!”
His hands reached Theena’s thin neck, and began to squeeze.
THUNK!
The ax hit him in the small of the back, pinning him to the floor.
There was no pain. Just a spreading warmth that was almost pleasant.
The struggle was over. The conflict in his mind and body seemed to have ended. David’s voice had lost its anger. It was quieter now, almost peaceful.
“You finally did it.”
