Barking Mad [FICTION]

Time: ???

The disheveled young woman grinned and stared at Blanc with wide, manic eyes. “Ripped her open like a present on Christmas morning!” She tossed her head back and barked out a laugh. “It was beautiful, art!”

Blanc worriedly jotted everything into his notebook.

“I always wanted to be an artist, y’know, but Cheryl was the one with all the talent. I was so jealous. She was a-l-l-l-ways the better sister. Y’know, I’ve always believed there’s a special beauty in symmetry. I-dent-ic-al twins. Should have been perfect, but no balance at all. She got all the looks and skill and I got all the useless brains!”

“Miss…” Blanc started.

“Wallace!” the girl exclaimed with glee. “Taylor Wallace at your service!” She thrust out a bloodied, shaking hand at Blanc and held it out for a few moments before pulling it back with a look of offense.

“Miss Wallace, can you tell me what happened?” Blanc asked as calmly as he could, before noticing the girl was staring out into space, oblivious to the sirens and lights that washed over the area, lights that made her red face even redder. She smiled as a tear rolled down her cheek.

“Miss Wallace…?”

“I killed her. She’s dead. She’s gone. Killed her. My fault.”

…

Time: 8:43 pm

“I don’t like this, Cheryl,” Taylor whispered anxiously, squeezing her sister’s hand hard enough to cause Cheryl pain. Taylor’s eyes darted back and forth as she futilely tried to make out her surroundings from the darkness of night that clung to and smothered them like black tar.

Cheryl squeezed her hand back. “You’re gonna be fine, Tay-Tay. A little night on the town isn’t going to kill you.”

“That’s not what I meant, and you know it,” she murmured, her growing sense of unease working overtime. She almost wished they were back at the club, because despite all its faults, it at least had lights.

“You really need to loosen up!” Cheryl laughed with a giddiness that almost seemed forced. “That one boy was eyeing you like—”

“A bird of prey,” Taylor mouthed, her stomach tangling itself in knots. Couldn’t they walk faster?

“—you were some angel descended from Heaven!” Cheryl stepped in a puddle, splashing water on Taylor’s foot. Taylor squirmed in discomfort.

“I-I’m impressed you noticed, what with all the boys who were swarming you,” Taylor said, laughing unconvincingly in an attempt to match her sister’s bravado. “Are we almost there?”

…

Time: 6:50 pm

“You lied to me, Cheryl,” Taylor growled indignantly, crossing her arms. Her blue eyes flashed as a scowl contorted her heart-shaped face.

“If I told you where we were really going, would you have come?” Cheryl asked nonchalantly as she rummaged through her purse.

“Of course not!”

“Which is why I fibbed. Taylor, this’ll be good for you!” Cheryl finally fished out a shining necklace of cream-colored pearls, letting it hang from a delicate finger with a perfectly manicured nail.

Taylor’s expression changed from one of righteous fury to confusion. “Where…when did you get that?”

Cheryl grinned. “A very good friend.”

Taylor frowned.

“Well, a former very good friend. C’mere, Taylor.” Cheryl motioned with her free hand.

“Why?”

“Because it’ll look better on you than me, silly!”

“No. No. No. No. No.” If Taylor started walking now, she could make it home before nightfall—a tug on the back of her blouse kept her from going any farther. “Cheryl!” Taylor turned around to give her sister a proper glare but couldn’t go through with it when she saw the look on Cheryl’s face.

“Taylor, I’m worried about you,” Cheryl said gently. “You never go out and do anything. You can’t spend your whole life with your nose buried in a book.”

“But—I…isn’t going to a club a bit much for a first step?”

“No ‘buts,’ Tay.” Cheryl shook her head. “I promise this’ll be good for you. Some of my friends might even be there and they all like you. Besides, you might make a few friends of your own!”

“On the first try?”

“Please?”

Taylor gritted her teeth.

“For me?”

Taylor groaned. “Fine.”

“Yay!” Cheryl’s eyes sparkled with joy. “I knew you’d see reason! Now sit still so I can put this on you. You’ll look just divine!”

Taylor crossed her arms and sighed.

…

Time: 7:20 pm

It hadn’t taken long at all for Taylor to melt into the background. While her sister was probably having the time of her life, Taylor found a table in a mostly empty corner and sat quietly, squinting or covering her ears when her environment got to be too much for her.

After about an hour of aural and visual hell, Taylor felt the heat of an intense stare prick into her back. She tried to ignore it, but curiosity eventually got the better of her, so she hazarded a look. Seated several tables away from her was a boy with well-trimmed black hair and cold blue eyes. He stared at her intently.

Feeling her cheeks redden, Taylor put a hand on her face and turned away, hoping and praying he’d stop looking at her.

She could feel the needles burrow into her ever deeper, making her empty stomach flop around like a dying fish. She tugged at the collar of her blouse, the pearls on her necklace suddenly feeling much heavier. She turned around again and saw the steely-eyed young man was smiling and pointing at her.

…

Time: 8:24 pm

Taylor weaved through the crowd of partygoers, hoping she was making herself harder to find as she looked for Cheryl. It took her a good twenty minutes of wandering and apologizing to the persons who inadvertently collided with her to find her sister, who was having a roaring good time, judging by her flushed cheeks, giddy laughter, and wide smile.

“I was wondering where ya ran off to, Tay!” Cheryl exclaimed, taking Taylor’s hand. “Are you having fu—?” Cheryl’s smile disappeared when she saw the look on Taylor’s face. “You okay, Taylor? You look like you’ve seen a ghost!”

The crowd parted momentarily, which Taylor used as an opportunity to point in the direction of the boy, who now seemed to be looking away. Just then, the boy turned and looked Taylor right in the eye, sending a cold shiver down her back. He smiled warmly and waved, winking at her exaggeratedly.

Cheryl grinned knowingly. “Oooooh, you luck-y duck!” she whispered in Taylor’s ear. “How’d you manage to snag a cutie like him?”

Looking at him made Taylor feel queasy. Something just felt…off. Maybe she was just imagining things? She smirked humorlessly. As if.

“I want to leave,” Taylor said, her soft voice barely audible over the loud club music.

“What?”

“I said I want to leave—!” Taylor covered her ears in a vain attempt to shield them from a sudden guitar riff.

“No, I heard you the first time!” Cheryl shouted over a loud drum solo, making Taylor grimace. “I meant, why do you want to leave?” Cheryl followed Taylor’s eyes to the boy at the back. “Him?”

Taylor crossed her arms and anxiously nodded.

“But he seems nice.”

Taylor felt his eyes burn into her back again, the discomfort commanding her to look at him one last time. He wasn’t smiling.

“Please,” Taylor mouthed, her eyes widening urgently.

“But I’m still having fun.”

The crowd closed again, hiding the boy from sight. Taylor gave Cheryl a pleading look.

“Fine…”

…

Time: 9:15 pm

“About halfway there now, Tay,” Cheryl sighed. “So…you didn’t have any fun at all?”

Taylor shook her head, then realized it was probably too dark for Cheryl to see it. “No,” she said softly. Cheryl stepped in another puddle, but at least she didn’t get Taylor wet this time.

“Meaning that that huge admission fee I paid for the both of us could have been spent on something else? Or not at all?” Irritation was in Cheryl’s voice.

“Y-yes?” What was Taylor supposed to say? Another splash.

“Taylor.” Cheryl let go of Taylor’s hand. “Did…did you even try?”

“W-what do you mean?”

“TO HAVE FUN, DANGGIT!”

“I…I…I don’t…Yes?”

Cheryl scoffed. “Oh, really? I guess I didn’t notice. You’re such a freaking buzzkill, Taylor! I was looking forward to this!”

Taylor froze in place, feeling her fingers twitch into fists. “I’m not like you, Cheryl,” she said as evenly as the swelling fire in her chest would allow. Splash.

“And what does that mean?” Cheryl asked resentfully, not breaking her stride.

“Nothing!”

“Then why bring it up? If it doesn’t mean anything, then why can’t you bring yourself to like the things normal people like me do?”

“This isn’t about you!” Taylor screamed.

“So it’s about you, then? Huh, I don’t know why I bother worrying about you.”

Taylor felt the fire spread through her body, lapping at every scab on her pride, turning her face red, burning her eyes. “CHERYL!”

No reply. She had the gall to ignore her. “Cheryl!”

Splash.

“Cheryl, come back!”

Splash. What happened? Why did they always argue like this?

“Cheryl, please…please come back. I don’t wanna argue with you.” Taylor’s tears now flowed freely. “Please…” The fire streaked down her legs into her feet; she started running, not noticing the part of the sidewalk on which they’d been walking was completely dry. Splash.

“Cheryl, I’m sorry!” Why was she always the one who had to apologize?

Splash. “Cher—” Before Taylor could react, a thick, gloved hand clamped over her mouth and a strong arm crushed her arms to her side. Though she writhed, she simply wasn’t a match for the man’s strength. Her tears rolled down her cheeks onto the man’s glove as her heart beat a frenzied tattoo.

“Shhhh…” a voice she didn’t recognize whispered. A tall, thin man strode into view, his boots slapping against the pavement ominously. He locked eyes with Taylor and smiled. “I’ll have my friend here remove his hand if you promise not to scream. Can you do that for me, little lady?” he asked in an unnervingly jovial tone.

Taylor nodded her head as much as the big man’s hand would allow, her eyes never leaving the tall man’s face. He smiled, and the man removed his hand. Taylor let out a choked gasp, then cried aloud when the big man wrapped his other arm around her. She started screaming in earnest but stopped when she felt something cold and sharp prick into her neck. She looked down and saw the moonlight dance on a silver knife. Small drops of hot blood beaded around the tip of the weapon.

The perverted sham of friendliness melted from the man’s voice, though he still smiled. “Now, now, you promised.”

Taylor whimpered, the shallow cut on her neck beginning to sting. “I don’t have any money…”

“Oh, I know that.” He flicked the blade back, snapping Taylor’s necklace, scattering the pearls. “Just like I know that wasn’t yours, Miss Wallace.” Hearing her name made her heart stop in her chest.

“What…what do you want from me?” The thousand awful thoughts that then ran through her head made her sob all the louder. “Please don’t…I’m a virgin…”

“Oh, that’s a laugh!” the tall man said grandly, cocking his head. “We just have something you’re going to watch.”

Another figure slowly emerged from the darkness, dragging something heavy behind him. Taylor’s blood froze in her veins. No, no, no, no, no, this was too nightmarish to be real. The last man let go of Cheryl’s hair, letting her fall to the ground. The side of Cheryl’s head was bleeding as though it had been viciously struck.

“Miss Wallace, it seems to me that you do not have a firm grasp of the concept of cause-and-effect. You broke a certain someone’s heart and then you ran off with that certain someone’s possessions.” The tall man waggled his finger. “Very naughty, little lady. As you can imagine, that certain someone is quite upset. So upset, he’d like you to feel a little of the pain you caused him.” He gave Cheryl a swift kick to her side, making her choke. “You, Miss Wallace, are going to watch your sister suffer.” The tall man grinned at Taylor, then turned to the last man. “Kill them both if she doesn’t keep her eyes open.”

“I haven’t hurt anyone!” Taylor wailed. “I’m begging you!”

“Cut out her tongue if she screams.”

“Don’t do this!”

The tall man shook his head with fake sadness and thumped his chest with his hand. “Miss Wallace, as utterly heart-wrenching as your pleas for mercy are, I’m afraid I have a job to do.”

He started with Cheryl’s fingernails.

…

Time: ???

The tall man cracked his knuckles and stretched. He looked down at the quivering mess and smiled with the utmost satisfaction. “I believe I’ve made my point,” he yawned. He put a hand to Taylor’s tear-stained face and stroked it tenderly, his fingers streaking trails of blood. “You can let go of her, John.”

The big man merely loosened his grip on the trembling girl, who fell to the ground limply. “I think you broke her,” he stated flatly.

“Well, that won’t do!” the tall man said, giving Taylor a hearty kick to the stomach.

Taylor gasped and vomited. “Why…?” she whispered abstractedly, involuntarily curling into a ball.

“I already told you, little lady!” he said as though he were speaking to a small child. “Oh, by the way, you might want this.” He dropped a dented red flip-phone at her feet. “If you hurry, the paramedics might just arrive in time!” He turned and started walking away.

It took all of Taylor’s strength to reach for the phone and sit up.

“Feel free to tell everyone about this! In fact, we encourage it!”

With shaking fingers, Taylor slowly punched in 9-1-1 and held the phone up to her ear.

“A pleasure doing business with you, Cheryl! I do hope Taylor makes it!” he chirped, then vanished into the night.

“My name…” she stuttered, “my name…” Her whole body shook violently as the awful realization dawned upon her. “I’m-m-m n…ot Cheryl…” The phone slid from her hand and Taylor convulsed with manic laughter.

Submitted July 17, 2018 at 05:13AM by ohaychbee https://ift.tt/2NnWH2z