Stockholm Syndrome

Chapter Seven

"You want me to do what?" I asked in disbelief. That sly smile was still slapped on his face. The person who called had just set up another job with Zero, and he just asked me to come with him to help bury the body. I didn't want a single f*****g thing to do with his killing jobs.

"It's not like I'm asking you to kill her, Pansy. You don't even have to touch her. Just help me dig a hole and shove her in there." He stuck out his bottom lip and c****d his head to the side in a fake pout. "Don't wanna get your little pretty hands dirty?"

"Oh yeah, I'm afraid I might break a nail." I scoffed at him. When I had offered to help, I meant like putting away dishes or doing his laundry or something. Not f*****g burying a body for him. "You're sick."

"C'mon. We only have until tomorrow and we gotta go to Monroeville. I won't make you help but you gotta at least come with." He decided and then disappeared back into his bedroom. It was the only room in the house I hadn't even got a glimpse of. He returned again in a few minutes in his regular black attire, and a duffle bag. I had assumed he'd packed another set of clothes to replace when the ones he's wearing get bloody. Bile rose in my throat at the thought of it, him covered in so much blood that he had to put on a new set of clothes. A shiver ran down my spine, and I decided to just forget about it. I noticed that Zero also had a few items of clothing in his other hand, which he handed towards me.

"Ya stink." Was all he said before shoving the clothes to my chest and walking to the kitchen. I caught the clothes before they fell to the floor, and looked at them. There was a pair of black jeans and a black hoodie with a white wolf and other almost unintelligible white letters on it in some metal band font. I pulled it on over my white t-shirt, and then looked at the jeans. I decided I should probably get changed in the bathroom, so I obliged to that idea. When I was done, I exited the bathroom, just leaving my old pyjama pants on the floor. The new pants Zero had lent me were incredibly tight, which didn't really surprise me 'cause they're all he ever wore.

He was already at the door when I returned, holding a folded up garbage bag, his knife, and some duct tape. He kicked a pair of old ratty black converse towards me, to which I happily pulled onto my feet. I hadn't worn shoes in days. I then followed him out the door, repeating the ritual of watching him lock all three locks and then waited for him to unlock the car. At least this time I didn't have to stand on the cold concrete while I waited. I swung open the car door as soon as I heard the click of the automatic lock, and got in, while Zero threw the duffle bag and other supplies into the back seat. I thought he was forgetting something until I recognized the knife sitting in his waistband.

"So... Monroeville," I mumbled. That was at least a 5 and a half hour drive from Belleville. We had to drive through New Jersey, and basically all the way to the other side of Pennsylvania. It was literally half an hour away from the border with Ohio, which was a really long f*****g drive from here. Adding to that, it was already nearing 3pm, so we'd probably get back at like, 4 or 5 in the morning depending on how long it takes to find the girl and finish the job. "What did she do to piss of your guy?"

"He caught her sleeping with someone else. And now she won't stop accusing him of abuse and s**t an getting the court involved to make him seem like the bad guy. Fuckin' hate liars. And cheaters. So, I'd be happy to slit her throat and watch her bleed." Zero explained, and I nodded slowly. I was a little creeped out by his dark eyes and tone of voice, and I'm definitely exaggerating when I say 'a little'.

"Reasonable," I said, with little to no truth behind my words.

"Yeah... We should stop to eat on the way. Maybe get somethin' before we leave town." Zero suggested, which sounded like heaven to me. An actual meal.

"That would be lovely." I agreed, leaning back in the car seat and staring out the front window as he drove.

"Ya feelin' more fast food or sit-down?" He asked, which kinda shocked me. It was strange how he could go from being so dark and creepy, to completely normal in a matter of seconds.

"Fast food probably, My face is kinda all over the news."

*****************

It was nearing nine o'clock p.m. by the time we got to Monroeville, and my back was aching and I no longer had feeling in my ass from sitting for so long. The majority of the car ride was spent blasting Zero's collection of Misfits and NOFX cassettes, just staring out the window, looking at all the different colours that appeared in the sky as the sun sunk below the horizon.

"So... what's the plan?" I asked, the stereo now playing at a moderate volume. The sun had gone down hours ago, so I knew we weren't gonna have to wait around for a good time to kill her, as Zero would put it.

"Well, I'll just go to her house and bring her to the car, then we'll drive somewhere and kill that fuckin' b***h. That's usually how it goes." He explained, causing me to shudder slightly, still reasonably unnerved by the whole situation. Being involved in something this vile had never crossed my mind in my entire 18 years of life. Everything was happening so f*****g quickly and I gotta admit, I'm beyond stressed out over it.

"Sounds good..." I replied sarcastically. My remark was followed by silence, which I didn't mind because I much preferred quiet than talking about killing people. We pulled up to a rather small house with a keyed car in the driveway, most likely an act of revenge from this chick's now ex-boyfriend or husband or whatever he was to her. Despite what she did, I couldn't help but feel bad. I remember exactly how terrified I was every time Zero had that knife to my throat. It was not a pleasant experience for me and it would probably be just the same for her.

"Wait here." Zero ordered before reaching into the back seat to grab his packed supplies then stepped out of the car and locked it, leaving me stuck inside. I watched him approach the house as he shoved the bags and other things in his back pocket, pulled on a pair of leather gloves over his fingers and knocked a few times on the wooden door. It opened shortly, and a pretty looking girl with long brunette hair, maybe in her late 20s was standing in the doorway with a confused look on her face. It looked like Zero had come up with some story, because her confused look turned into something more of sympathy and she opened the door wider, allowing him to step inside. That's where she went wrong. I saw him advance on her before the door even closed completely.

In no time at all, a text appeared on Zero's phone. It was in plain sight so I just looked at it and read it.

'Hey kid, I hope you can drive cause I need you to take the car out back -Z'

I sighed, knowing that was Zero. He was most likely texting me from that chick's phone. Luckily, I did have my learner's license so I knew how to drive, I just wasn't legally allowed to. Laws didn't really concern me right now though, so I didn't care. I mean I could totally just hi-jack his car and nope the f**k out of here but I decided against it for various reasons. I climbed over the middle console into the driver's seat, put the car in drive, and drove around the block until I was in the alley behind the house. I could see the dark outline of Zero holding a motionless human body, walking towards the car. I climbed over the console once again until I was in the passenger's side. The back door swung open and she was shoved inside, splayed across the back seat in some ungodly position. I turned away to look out the front windshield to save myself some emotional trauma, as Zero closed the door and opened his, getting into the driver's seat.

"Alright. Now we gotta find somewhere to do this." He said, running a hand through his hair before gripping the steering wheel. I really hoped he hadn't lied and that I actually don't have to help. It was already unsettling to have to sit in a car with a dead chick. "We gotta go quick before she wakes up, though." Zero stated.

"Wait, she's not dead yet?" I turned around and looked at her, seeing fresh blood drip from her nose and forehead where a large gash was. She just looked so lifeless, but now that I was paying attention, I could see the slow, unsteady rise and fall of her chest.

"Nah. Unconscious." He replied, as he pulled out of the alley and started driving towards the edge of town. I just nodded and stared out the window, which seemed to be something I was doing more than anything else. There wasn't really much to look at, it was all just dark and gloomy, with a light fog clinging to the earth almost like it was painted there to fit the eery picture of what was about to happen.

Zero turned down a gravel road that wasn't very obvious from the main road and pulled over to the side of the road after driving down it for a few minutes. It was almost pitch dark, the city lights no longer in sight to illuminate the area. I didn't seem to see any buildings or farms anywhere either, so the chance of someone coming across this scene was very low. All of a sudden, I heard a rustling behind me and then a sharp-

"What the f**k?"

Zero just sighed at the sound and I turned around to see the chick slowly sitting up in the back seat, a look of confusion on her face quickly turning into more of a look of horror, and then pain as she gripped her head with her hands. The wetness seemed to surprise her as she stared at her bloodied hand, which had come from the gash on her forehead.

"What the f**k!" She repeated, looking at me with wide eyes as Zero slid out of the car and slammed the door, leaving just me and her inside. She kind of looked at me confused for a second. "Wait.. you're... I've seen you somewhere." I mouthed the words 'i'm so sorry' to her as Zero opened the back door of the car, reaching in and grabbing her wrist. "no... no! no!" She cried as she was dragged out of the car, the pain in her head probably long forgotten. I could see her kicking and scratching and even biting at Zero's arms, and I couldn't help but feel bad. It was worse than that, I felt absolutely horrible. And there was absolutely nothing I could do to help her.

"Why are you doing this? You're- did Derek do this!?" She cried, and because Zero never bothered to shut the back door, everything they said was clear.

"It's my job. Now, I suggest you shut the f**k up. You're upsetting her." Zero said simply, reaching back into the car and locking eyes with me for a split second, a look of sympathy and sorrow on his face. I knew the look was for me, though. I knew he didn't feel a shred of guilt over what he was about to do to this poor girl.

"I'll do anything... please! I know that's Francis Bos-...tic? Bosto? I don't know but I know she's that missing kid from the news. Why did you keep her alive? What can I do!?" I could hear her cry from outside. Zero quickly grabbed the things he needed before turning to face the girl, delivering a kick to her side.

"See, the difference between you and Francesca," He corrected her attempt at saying my name. "...is that you're a cheating f*****g w***e. Frankie's innocent, I was just hired by an asshole to kill her." He said, and I watched from inside the car in horror as he pulled out his knife. "And plus, I kinda like the kid." I had to shut my eyes before he drove the knife into her flesh. But oh, that sound... the f*****g sound of the knife plunging into her was enough to make me want to throw up. I felt tears prick my eyes after I witnessed what I just did, and I couldn't take it anymore. I reached back and pulled the door closed, yet that f*****g sound still rung in my ears. And oh god, she was screaming. I quickly turned the keys in the ignition only to the point where I had access to the radio and pressed play.

"-missing for three days, and there are still no leads on where 18-year-old Francesca Bosco is," And with that, I started up the cassette player. I needed something to drown out those horrible sounds that were coming from right outside the car. That was short-lived when I nearly jumped out of my skin as Zero opened the car door on my side, out of breath and sweaty, with blood on his hands and face. I just looked at him with wide eyes.

"I need help." Was all he said. There was no question there.

I soon found myself with a large shovel in hand, standing in a freshly dug 5-foot deep hole with sweat and probably tears dripping from my face. I was still going at it though, Zero also digging with another shovel. The misshapen garbage bag wrapped in silver tape on the ground three feet away from my face was throwing me off. I knew there was a dead body in that bag and I knew I was digging a grave for her. I couldn't get the look on her face when she woke up in the car out of my head... she looked at me with pleading eyes, and that f*****g sound... it was like there was a broken record player in my mind just playing it over and over as I aimlessly dug.

"That should be deep enough." Zero stated, and I let out a sigh of relief and wiped my sweaty forehead, then climbed out of the hole and looked down into it. I cringed as he carelessly kicked the bagged body into the hole without a care, and wondered how someone could even do something like this without the bat of an eye. He began shovelling the dirt back into the hole, burying her. I began to help, not really thinking about what I was doing, my body seeming to just take over as my mind wandered elsewhere. When the hole was filled, Zero started to kick all the dead grass and shrubbery from around the area over the fresh dirt, making it blend in a little bit more.

"Well, that's that. I'ma change and then we can go." He stated, and I walked back to the car and climbed in. The music was still playing, and it happened to be Die, Die, My Darling by the Misfits. Fancy that. Zero only got in the car to grab his extra clothes, and then he went back outside to change into them. I looked at the time on the dash, and it was already almost midnight. It didn't feel like it took us three hours to do what we did. My thoughts were thankfully interrupted when Zero finished and came into the car again, throwing his bag of bloody clothes in the backseat and then facing forwards and turning the key in the ignition until the car started up again.

"Midnight... damn." He noticed the time too before turning the car around and driving back up the gravel road. When we were nearing the highway again, he stopped.

"I think uh, it's getting pretty late, we wouldn't get back to Belleville 'til bullshit o'clock in the morning. I'm fuckin' exhausted. Let's just crash in Monroeville." Zero suggested, and I nodded in agreement. He'd probably fall asleep at the wheel and that wouldn't be much fun for either of us. "Let's just go to some motel. I'm gonna have to go in first and get a room for myself, though. No f*****g way I'm letting them find you. You can come up to the balcony and I'll let you in." He decided.

"Yeah, that's probably best.." I was a little bit too traumatized to care about anything right now. I was taken up again by staring out the window at the black nothingness that was the outskirts of Monroeville. Within 20 minutes, Zero was pulling up to some sketchy looking motel right on the edge of town, but it was one of the ones where the rooms were separate to the reception area, which fit our plan perfectly. Zero checked himself in the mirror for any remaining blood on his hands and face, before exiting the car and making his way to the front door of the motel.

He emerged again in a few minutes with a key ring in hand, then beckoned me with his finger. I hopped out of the car to which he locked, and then I followed him to our room. I peered inside, the first thing I noticed was the single bed in the middle of the room. One bed. I sighed as I kicked off the too-big ratty converse shoes that Zero had lent me, and crossed the room.

"I'll take the floor," I stated. I didn't really mind sleeping on the floor anyways.

"You're willing to sleep on the floor when there's a perfectly good queen sized bed? Wow. you must really hate me." Zero chuckled before throwing his bag down and looking around the room at the random decorations and things the motel staff had set up.

"Well I mean... wouldn't that be kinda weird?" I spoke awkwardly, it wasn't even him being a dude that bothered me, it was kinda the fact that I had just witnessed him stabbing someone to death and that doesn't really make me want to sleep in the same bed as him...

"I don't think so, but if you wanna sleep on the floor then go ahea-"

"No, I'll uh... sleep with you." I blushed when I realized what I had said. "In the bed, I mean..."

"You're cute when you're flustered." He chuckled "Don't sweat it. It's a bed made for two people and we're two people, that's it."