Free Family Night by Tim Miller

breaths, the man finally spoke.
         “Ok, this one is no fun anymore. Plus he’s starting to stink. Sweetheart, I want you to take care of him for me. Can you do that?”
         There was no answer, so Ben figured she was nodding.
         “Ok, great honey. Use this knife. Now, you’re going to want to cut his throat. You will get blood on you, it’ll squirt everywhere. You’ll want to cut from here, to hear.” He felt the man touching his neck on the right side, and then the left showing the girl where to cut. Ben was actually glad he was finally going to die. He wished he could help Julie and her friend. He wished someone knew where they were, or who this guy was, but he couldn’t. All that was left for him was pain and death.
         “Go ahead sweetie,” the man said. “You can do it.”
         He heard the girl getting closer to him just before he felt the knife. The girl was good. She made one quick cut right through his trachea. The pain was quick and sharp as he felt the air rush out of his windpipe while filling with blood. He gagged and choked for air as he felt his body twitching, fighting for air. The girl was sure not to hit any arteries, so he wouldn’t bleed to death. He had to go through this last bout of suffering before he was free. He struggled for a minute as dizziness set in, no air left in his body as he finally stopped struggling. Death began to overtake him, as the pain subsided. Finally, he was at peace.
     
     
     

Chapter 21
     
         Sarah groggily woke up, both her knees throbbing in the worst pain she had ever felt. She had been dreaming that she was at the beach in Port Aransas, Texas with Julie. They were running through the surf, jumping through waves and splashing each other. That dream seemed a million miles away as her reality set back in. They were still trapped in this hell, slowly being killed.
         Looking around, she saw Julie still asleep. Ben wasn’t faring nearly as well. He was hanging upside down, his throat cut with a bucket full of blood just under his head. Sarah felt her stomach lurch, as she placed her hand over her mouth. After a few deep breaths and looking away, she had regained her composure. In some ways, Ben was the lucky one. He was free of this place. She wanted free too, but not the way he went if she can help it.
         She couldn’t straighten her legs at all. Both her knees were swollen to the size of softballs. Even the slightest movement hurt like hell. Doing her best to ignore the pain, she scooted across the floor over to Julie. Placing her hand on Julie’s head, it felt hot, real hot. Shit! She began shaking Julie trying to wake her.
         “Jules! Wake up! Julie, come on. It’s me! Please wake up!” Sarah said. Julie started to look around, but was obviously disoriented.
         “Mom? Where are you?” Julie said.
         “It’s me, Sarah!” Sarah patted Julie’s face, shaking her by the shoulders. She stopped when the door slid open. Standing in the doorway was the girl, still wearing her mask. Sarah waited as the girl stepped in, but she was alone.
         “What’s going on? Where’s your dad and little brother?”
         “Sleeping,” the girl said. It was the first time Sarah had heard her speak.
         “Julie has a bad fever. She’s burning up.” Sarah said. But the girl just stood there.
         “If she doesn’t get to a hospital, she’ll die. Look at Ben here. You think this is ok?” Sarah continued.
         “I’m the one who killed him. My dad taught me how,” the girl said.
         “How old are you?”
         “Fourteen.”
         “My God. And he’s teaching you to kill like this? You think this is ok? If you help us, I can get you help. I can get you away from him. Julie is a police officer, she can help you.”
         “I don’t want to be away from him. He’s my dad. We’re a family.”
         “What’s your name?” Sarah asked.