The Killer's Rose

The Face of Evil

"Take them back in now!" Luca ordered as I watched three men come out of nowhere, leading the girls back to a room.

He had just killed the other guy moments ago, as if it meant nothing.

His footsteps grew closer as he walked past my room's door, but my breath seized in terror when I noticed a halt in his footsteps, his gaze turning in my direction. I retreated my sight away from the door window, crumbling down as I drew myself back slowly to the bedside. My eyes remained fixed on the door.

Everything was silent, except for the footsteps I heard getting louder and louder.

"No, I hope he isn’t coming here..." I jolted, biting my fingers, my legs shivering with my back pressing against the wall.

A creak at the door made my heart skip a beat. My face went downcast immediately as they gazed upon a footstep.

Was it him? Was he here in my room? Why? What did he want? Why did they have me here? That old man, him, those girls... what's going on?

"Hey, look up..." A snap. I heard Luca’s voice. Should I really...?

Gently raising my eyes to meet his, I never got a proper glimpse of him, but now staring at those bloodstained face from the other guy's corpse, those darkened narrowing eyes that weirdly seemed to seduce the devils of all.

What was wrong with me? Had I forgotten where I found myself and what he had just done? He killed someone.

"You must be new here, aren’t you?" He questioned, bending a little closer with my back pressing harder against the wall with no way to escape or retreat from his side.

"I... I don't know... Please, I just want to go home..." I pleaded, not knowing when those tears had begun pouring out. I felt something warm on my cheek; it was his hands slowly wiping away my tears.

"Home... this is your home..." he replied, reminding me of that old man's words.

I watched him stand to his feet, his eyes still fixed on me, before he finally turned and left the room, shutting the door at his back.

I released a breath I never knew I had been holding up for a while, managing a proper relief as I approached the door side, checking through the window. He was gone, and I caught no sight of anybody at the side. Only the silence persisted on for a while.

I returned back to the ground. Who knows if I would ever be free from this place? My mom... She must be awaiting her daughter back at the hospital. How many days has it been since I've been stuck here? What condition might my mom be in? The doctor had mentioned the days the treatment must not exceed before it begins.

“Mom... please be alright, Mom. I can’t lose you too,” I whispered to myself, my voice caught up in my throat as those tears flowed out uncontrollably. I crumbled, laying on the floor.

Why does fate hate me so much? First, I have no idea where Jessica is or if she is alright, and my Mom is on her deathbed, and yet there is nothing I can do about it.

“Dad! I wish you had never left us!” But he was innocent. My dad was innocent; he would never murder anyone. We were one happy family. We had it all. Until the very night, the police came knocking at my father’s door...

“Mr. Martin Ravenwood, you are under arrest for the murder of your friend and his family. You have the right to remain silent, or it shall be used against you in court.” Those words that escaped the detective’s mouth as they handcuffed my father’s hands.

Now, he was sentenced to life imprisonment. Those tears that came pouring out of my mom’s eyes, a broken side of her I had never seen before.

But I can’t give up now. I have to leave this place, wherever that is. I need to escape and return back to the hospital. I can’t let Mom die. I can’t...

I looked around the room, hoping to find something, just something that could surely help me escape this place. But all I could gaze upon were walls, except for the rotten bed I found near my side.

There were no windows either, only the ones on the door.

I stood up hastily only to fall back down as my legs screehed. Gently forcing my steps, I tried the door handle, hoping it would budge and just open. Maybe I would be able to find a place to escape.

I tried harder and harder, my hand swelling as a creak left a smile lit up on my lips, but what emerged led me stumbling back.

It was two men wearing masks. In their hands were gadgets, with one holding a handkerchief.

“Who are...” I trailed off, watching one of them approach me hastily. I turned, aiming to run, but where was I going to run to?

I felt a grasp on my hand, my lips hoping to part and leave a scream, only to be silenced as something came covering my mouth. It was the same handkerchief I saw one of them hold.

“Mmmm... let...” I struggled, my words caught up in my throat as my vision blurred out. Everything went black. When I came to, my eyes flickered open, and I found myself in a different room, with no idea how I got there. My hands were tied against a chair.

Beside me, I caught sight of some other girls tied down to chairs. Sobbing echoed through the room as some began weeping profusely.

I witnessed a man walking in from the shadowy area, clashing some sharp metals against each other.

“Now, let’s start, shall we?” he sneered, his lips curling into a smirk.

Who was he, and what did he mean by "let’s start"? What’s happening? Are they finally going to kill me?

“Ah!” A scream burst out as I watched a girl being dragged in.

“She just tried escaping...” one of the men said, leaving a heavy kick on the girl’s stomach, which persisted for a while.

“Enough!” The man holding the metals snapped, and the men paused, their eyes downcast.

“Leave now; I will take it from here,” he said, as the men turned, leaving the girl who lay there gushing out blood as she tried crawling some distance away.

I was relieved that his attention had shifted away from me for a bit, but what good did that do? It was only a matter of time before they were back at me, and he kills me.

“Please...” A silent whisper returned my attention to the girl gasping for breath as she crawled further.

“I just...”

The man gripped the girl's legs as I watched him drag her back, her bloodstained clothes staining the floor. “Let me go!” The girl retorted, trying to free herself from his grip, kicking and kicking. A slam followed by a moan of pain echoed as blood splattered.

I felt a lump in my throat, which left me puking all over the floor.

My gaze fixed on the girl’s left feet, which had just been detached from her body, as the man held up a blood-stained machete in his hand.

“Now try and fight back,” he sneered.

What was he... he...? My face paled, the girl's cries echoing through the room.

The man's eyes raised to meet mine in an instant. I could feel my pulse seizing at that moment, taking in his half blood-stained face as he dragged the girl into a room.

The girl's fingers scraped against the floor, a sound that almost left my ears bleeding, as he shut the door behind him.

“Ah! Please... no!” Screams burst out, followed by the clash of metals.

"What was he doing to her?" I wondered in my thoughts. I can’t let him get back outside; who knows what that monster plans to do to me?

I have to. I struggled, trying to free myself from the ropes, but it proved futile.