Page 16 of Shattered Souls

Once at my feet, she sits back on her heels and awaits her next instruction.

I run my hand through her long black hair.

“Such a good little scarecrow.” I run the pad of my thumb across her bottom lip. She bats her lashes at me innocently before her teeth snap forward, caging in my thumb. She bites, and hard.

I grip her cheeks with my other hand. I squeeze right where her teeth meet until her eyes water and she has to release my digit to relieve the pressure. Even after I remove my thumb, I keep my other hand on her cheeks. She claws at my wrist but I don’t move.

“You’re going to learn quickly. You will do as I say.” My face is mere inches from hers. “If I tell you to fucking bend, you bend.” I shove her backwards, and she has to plant her hands behind her to keep from hitting her head.

“Is that understood?” I remained crouched in front of her, ready to pounce.

“Yes, sir.” She massages the abused skin, looking at me like I’m a crazed killer. Oh, you just wait, little scarecrow. Her voice isn’t nearly as tough as it was just a moment ago.

I turn and leave her room, taking her blanket with me as her punishment.

“Hey!” One of the buddies that works with me on the ambulance slaps me on the back as his form of greeting. “Took you long enough to get your ass here.”

When I’m not at Shattered Souls, I work as an EMT on an ambulance. Even though we get to live there for practically free, we still need money to eat and buy our supplies to deal with our—hobby.

Especially now that there’s going to be a third mouth to feed for the foreseeable future.

The work keeps me busy. And the money that I’ve been able to save is going to come in handy one of these days, when our facade comes crumbling down. With her in the picture, I have a feeling that’ll be sooner rather than later.

“Long day so far.” I reply blandly and continue to restock the supplies we used yesterday.

“So,” Daniel is a newer member to our station, so he hasn’t had the chance to learn that I’m not one for small talk. “You seeing anyone, Lowe?”

I bend down and fill the small compartment with fresh gauze. “Don’t really see how that could possibly concern you.”

“Ah,” he laughs. “Not one for sharing personal info?” Wow, wonder how he got to that conclusion.

“Can’t say I am.”

“Hey,” He really doesn’t stop talking. “I heard you have a brother that does tattoos.”

Hyde is a hog butcher three days a week. It’s the easiest job for him since he doesn’t have to talk to anyone. But, with the job, he brings home skin from the hogs to practice his hand at tattoos.

I have a couple of his on my body, and I can say they’re my favorite pieces.

“I have a brother, yes.”

“And he does tats?”

“Supposedly,” Damn, how many tubes of Narcan did we use yesterday?

“You think he could hook me up with a cheap sleeve?” Daniel rolls up his shirt and starts flexing his arm at me.

“He’s busy with a new project.” A new project that has a taste for violence.

Daniel goes on and on about that tattoo he wants to cover his whole arm. All the while, my mind is stuck on the fiery prisoner I want to get back home to.

“Hyde?” I shout into our empty home. I got home with only an hour to get ready for tonight’s horror night. I passed a few fellow scare actors getting their more complex makeup applied on my way down here, but I didn’t see Hyde.

I toss the bag of clothes and other treats that I got our little scarecrow on the table before walking around the rest of the house to find the quiet fucker.

No wonder he’s Hyde and I’m not.

I reenter the kitchen area when the hidden door to the maze bursts open. Hyde, wearing his muzzle, walks in with a pleased expression on his face.