The Watcher

  She points to the wall and I stare at it. It’s blank. There’s nothing on it.

  “I’m hanging some hooks, and you two are going to help me finish the collection. Then, I’m going to give my father the grand finale he deserved, by taking the scalp of the one who got away.”

  Her eyes flicker to me.

  My stomach twists, but I control my disgust. She will not see me weak.

  “Oh, there’s one more thing.”

  She stands then disappears out of the room for a few minutes, locking the door behind her. Kaity and I stare at the scalps on the bed, and Kaity whispers, “I never understood it, Marlie. I could never truly fathom how it must have felt. But now, now I’m starting to understand the horror you lived through.”

  I squeeze her hand. My wrist is pounding. My fingers are beyond painful. My stomach hurts from the pain. I know I’m probably not strong enough to overpower Hannah, but dammit, I’ll find a way out of this. “We’re going to get out of here, I promise. Just do one thing for me, keep your mouth closed and trust me. I’ll get us out, but I need you to let me talk.”

  Kaity nods. “Okay,” she whispers. “Marlie?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I don’t want to touch those.”

  I look to the scalps. “I know, honey. I know.”

  The door swings open and Hannah enters again, only this time she’s not alone. A small, fragile girl is bound and gagged in her grips. She couldn’t be any older than eighteen, maybe nineteen. She has the most incredible-colored hair. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. It’s so blonde that it almost has a silvery tinge. Like a damned angel’s hair. It’s the most beautiful hair I’ve ever seen.

  “I decided,” Hannah says, tossing the girl in, “I was going to finish my father’s collection with the most unique colors I could find. Yasmin here is the first on that list. I picked her up a few days ago.” She shoves Yasmin in and she stumbles forward, not being able to catch herself because her hands are bound. She falls facefirst onto the ground and squirms. Poor girl.

  “Now,” Hannah continues. “Get acquainted with her. Because you two are going to be removing that gorgeous hair for my first masterpiece. I can’t wait to watch. Won’t that be fun?”

  My stomach twists.

  Kaity gags.

  Yasmin whimpers.

  “Us?” Kaity squeaks.

  “Yes, you. Now, clean those scalps. Tomorrow, the fun begins. I’m so excited!” She claps happily, then disappears out of the room again.

  I carefully let Kaity go and climb down to help Yasmin up. I untie her hands and remove the gag from her mouth. Poor girl is terrified.

  “I’m Marlie, and this is Kaity. Please don’t worry. I’ll get us out of here.”

  “I’m so afraid,” she whispers, her voice so soft.

  “It’ll be okay,” I say, glancing at the door.

  I hope.

  TWENTY-SIX

  Hannah returns with big tubs of water, shampoos, conditioners, creams, and oils, as well as brushes, hair dryers, and straighteners. I say nothing as I take in the straighteners. Those generate heat, a good amount of heat. She’s giving us a weapon, even if she doesn’t realize it. She requests that we have them all cleaned and dried within two hours, because she has a surprise for us later.

  Nobody argues.

  She’s delusional and we need to keep her from hurting us as long as possible.

  She locks the door, and we all stare at the scalps on the bed. Nobody wants to have to do this, but it’s starting to look like we won’t get a choice. Yasmin has been sobbing on and off. In addition to being terrified, she appears to have broken fingers, too. I don’t ask how Hannah did it, but I suspect it was the work of her father’s baseball bat.

  Kaity has fallen silent, her body worn and tired. It’s up to me to get these girls out of here, but right now I just don’t know how I’m going to do that. Hannah has a weakness. I just need to figure out what it is.

  I take the job of washing the scalps. The other girls find it too difficult. Somewhere inside me I muster up the strength, swallow down my horror and pain, and I wash them. I dry them, I straighten them, and then I put them back in the bag so I don’t ever have to look at them again. As I’m stuffing the last, brown-haired scalp into the bag, it hits me.

  Clayton.

  Hannah’s weakness is Clayton.

  If it weren’t for him, she would have never done what she’s doing. If she didn’t want to make him proud of her, because she loved him so much, she wouldn’t be here. That’s her weakness. Finishing the game. Making it perfect for him. If I make her doubt herself, if I weaken her and throw her off, we might just be able to find a way out of here.

  It’s a risk, though.

  But it seems like my best option. A plan starts to take shape. I turn to the girls and whisper, “Listen, I need you two to do something for me.”

  They both look to me, eyes wide, maybe even hopeful.

  “What’s that?” Kaity asks.

  “I need you both to let me do my thing here. I know that isn’t going to be easy, and Hannah may react in such a way that you’ll want to help me, but I’m begging you to trust me and not do anything. Even if she hurts me.”

  “Marlie,” Kaity begins, but I cut her off by putting up a hand.

  “No, you need to trust me. I know Hannah’s weak point, I’m the one she wants. You need to believe in me, and let me do this. It’ll be the only chance we have of getting out alive.”

  They both look wearily at me.

  “Please,” I say softly. “Just let me do this. I’ll get us out of here.”

  They both nod, hesitantly.

  “When you get the chance, and I’ll make sure you do, run. Don’t look back. Don’t wait for me. Just run. Go and get help. Promise me you’ll do that.”

  Yasmin nods. Kaity hesitates. I shuffle over to her and take her hands. “Promise me, Kaity. I need to know you’ll do as I’m asking.”

  She holds my eyes, then she nods.

  “I love you,” I whisper.

  “I love you too.”

  The door swings open and we all turn to see Hannah strolling in. She’s got a bunch of dead squirrels in her hands. She’s holding them upside down, and she has a massive grin on her face. “Hello, my pretties. I have wonderful news. It’s time to start practicing. I can’t have you ruining my work because you do a terrible job. My dad and I used to skin squirrels all the time, he taught me how to do it. Now I’m going to teach you.”

  I snort.

  Her eyes flick to me. “Have you got a problem, Marlie?”

  “Not at all,” I say. “It just seems … never mind.”

  She drops the squirrels to the floor. “What?”

  “I just think Clayton would have taught you a little better than that. He was so skilled at what he did. So precise. Squirrels seems … well … amateurish.”

  Hannah’s eyes flare, and I know I’m right. I know that her father is indeed her weakness.

  “He’d be proud of me. He taught me this. You know nothing. Now shut up and do as I’m saying.”

  “Whatever,” I mumble beneath my breath.

  She lifts her shirt and pulls a massive knife from her pants. The sight of the blade is so familiar, and my stomach turns when I realize it’s the same kind of knife Clayton used in the videos he made me watch. Hannah runs her fingers over the sharp edge. “Who’s going to go first?”

  “No,” Yasmin whimpers.

  I glance at her, and her face is ghostly white. I know how terrified she is. But if she freaks out, and Hannah is indeed anything like her father, she’ll make her suffer.

  “It’ll be okay,” I say to her, trying to catch her attention, but she’s staring at the squirrels with horror in her eyes.

  “I think Yasmin can go first,” Hannah chirps, stepping forward and pulling another small carving knife from her pants. She hands it to Yasmin.

  Yasmin stares at it.

  “I’ll go first,” I say, but Hannah
points her knife at me, stopping me when I try to step forward.

  “I said Yasmin will go first,” she says, her eyes turning cold.

  “I don’t want to,” Yasmin wails. “No. I won’t do it.”

  Hannah turns back to her.

  “Yasmin,” I try again, but she’s got tears running down her cheeks.

  She’s going to freak out.

  I can see it coming.

  “Yasmin!” I try again. “Please.”

  She leaps to her feet and stumbles backwards, then she makes the fatal mistake of trying to scurry past Hannah.

  Hannah steps in front of her, and drives the knife into Yasmin’s arm. The sickening squelch has my stomach turning and Kaity making a pained, whimpering sound beside me. Yasmin stumbles backwards, and blood pours from her arm as she starts to scream.

  “Stop your screaming!” Hannah yells. “Or I’ll cut your fingers off.”

  “Let me go,” Yasmin sobs, her hand covered in blood as she clutches her arm. It’s deep. I can tell that from here. “Let me go.”

  Hannah steps forward again and raises the knife.

  I have to think fast. The door is locked and I don’t trust our ability to fight Hannah in the states we’re in. So I do the opposite. I laugh.

  Hannah stops, her body going stiff.

  She turns towards me. “What are you laughing at?”

  I press my good hand to my mouth, as if trying to smother it. If only she knew inside, my heart was pounding so hard it feels like I’m going to pass out.

  “It’s just you think you’re like Clayton, but you’re not. He was so in control. So calm. So collected. He didn’t need to raise a knife and stab people randomly to get his way. Hurting them was an absolute last resort. I’m sure he’d be rolling in his grave if he could see how pathetic you look right now.”

  Blood rushes to her cheeks and her eyes flash with hurt, before turning into red-hot anger. She storms towards me, leaning down and picking up a squirrel on her way. “Don’t you dare tell me I’m not as good as him. He taught me everything I know. I’m making him proud. You shut up.”

  I keep my hand over my mouth.

  She shoves the squirrel at me. “Skin it. Now.”

  “No.”

  Her eyes flare, and her fingers tremble around the knife.

  “Now, Marlie. Or I’ll—”

  “What?” I cut her off. “You’ll stab me? You’ll chop my finger off? What? What are you going to do, Hannah? You’re making your father ashamed. Hell, I’m ashamed.”

  She flinches, and then she lunges forward.

  She lands on top of me, taking my hair in her hands and jerking my head back. My scalp burns, but I don’t fight her. I just pray I’m on the right path. Kaity whimpers, Yasmin sobs, but as promised, neither of them interrupt. Hannah presses the knife to my throat, and I can feel the blade cutting into my skin. The burn radiates through my throat.

  “I could slit your throat and make them watch you bleed out.”

  “Do it,” I snarl.

  Her hand shakes.

  I feel like I’m going to pass out from fear, but I don’t let it show.

  “Well,” I yell in her face. “Do it. Ruin all your father’s plans. You’re doing a fine job of screwing them all up right now, you might as well add to it.”

  Her hand continues to tremble.

  Then she shoves off me and charges out of the room, hastily locking the door once it slams.

  The carving knife is still on the ground.

  She fucked up.

  My plan worked.

  * * *

  “I know it hurts,” I say softly to Yasmin.

  I tear the sheet off the bed and use the carving knife to cut a piece off to wrap around her arm. I was right, the wound is deep and it’s nasty. Her fingers are so swollen they’re painful to look at. But there is little I can do for her in here. I know. I feel the same pain in my own fingers. I have to focus on getting us out. To do that, I have to enrage Hannah. I have to make her lose it. I have to distract her long enough for these two girls to run. The only way I can do that is to do something extreme. Something that’ll make her flip her lid.

  “How are we going to run, Marlie?” Kaity says, looking weaker by the minute. “She has those explosives around the house. She would come in here and tell me all about them so I wouldn’t try and escape.”

  “I could be wrong, but I set those explosives off and I don’t think that she’s had time to replant them all. I think you should be safe, but you’ll see them. If you’re looking for them, you’ll see them. She’ll have a line set up. You step over it. Then you run. If you see any kind of weapons, you take them. If, for some reason, you can’t get out through the door or a window, you find a weapon and hide together. Yasmin’s hands are no good, so Kaity, it’ll be up to you to keep Yasmin safe. Again, if you can’t get out of the house, you hide and you don’t move until you know it’s safe. She’ll be focused on me. I’m her priority. If anything happens to me, you need to take her by surprise and attack. Understand?”

  Kaity nods.

  “I know you’re weakened, but you have to find your strength to get out of here or you’ll never get away. Promise me you’ll do that. Promise me you’ll do anything you can, that you’ll fight strong, to get out of here and to make sure Yasmin gets out too.”

  Kaity nods again. “I’ll fight.”

  I smile.

  “Please don’t get hurt, Marlie. I can’t live without you. I don’t want to lose you.”

  “Trust me,” I say, smiling even though my insides are screaming with fear. “I know what I’m doing.”

  Do I?

  God, I hope so.

  “So what’s the plan?” Kaity asks as Yasmin whimpers again in the corner of the bed, clutching her arm.

  “I’m not going to use the knife to attack her, I’m going to use it taunt her. She’s going to come in here, and I’m going to be standing at the door with the scalps and the knife. I’m going to cut them. If I have read her right, losing the scalps her dad worked so hard for will destroy her. I’m hoping she’ll be so distracted by it she won’t shut the door behind her. You two run. And don’t look back.”

  Kaity nods.

  I look to Yasmin.

  She nods, too.

  I stand and walk over to the bag of scalps Hannah didn’t take after her last exit. I lift them out, cringing. I hold the hair part in my hand, so I can hang on to all of them. That’s the part they love the most. That’s the prized part. Hannah will do just about anything to protect the hair. I’m sure of it. I hold the hair in one hand, and the carving knife in the other.

  Then I stand by the door, just far enough back for it to be able to open without hitting me. Kaity and Yasmin sit to my left, both of them holding hands, both of them ready to run.

  Now I wait.

  And pray to God this works.

  TWENTY-SEVEN

  It feels like I stand at that door for hours. My legs ache. My knees hurt. My wrist burns. My fingers throb. But I don’t move. I stare at it, just waiting for it to open. After a while, it does. For a second, Hannah doesn’t enter, and I wonder if she’s heard our plans, but then I realize she’s pushing the door wide open so she can wheel a television in. She’s going to play movies. I know exactly what kind of movies she’s going to play.

  I’ve seen them all before.

  But it works out for the best, because she’s had to open the door wide to get the television through. She turns just before she wheels it in, and her eyes catch sight of me with the hair and the knife. She freezes as all the color drains from her face. The exact reaction I wanted. I don’t focus on Kaity and Yasmin, I just take a few shaky steps backwards. “What are you doing?” Hannah says. “Put those down. Now.”

  “No,” I say. “No. I’m not playing your sick little game anymore. It’s time to destroy these.”

  Her eyes flare and she takes a step towards me, not once glancing at Kaity and Yasmin. She’s leaving the door wide open for
them.

  “Don’t,” Hannah says, her voice cracking. “Don’t you touch those. They’re his. They’re not yours.”

  “That’s exactly why it’s time they got destroyed. Your game is over, Hannah.”

  She takes a step and I press the knife to the hair, cutting enough so that a strand falls to the ground.

  “No!” she shrieks. “Don’t. Don’t cut those.”

  I slice off another piece.

  “Marlie!” Hannah cries. “Stop. Don’t do that. Don’t cut his hair. Don’t touch those. Don’t.”

  I see Kaity and Yasmin move slowly towards the door. A few more seconds and they’re out.

  Holding the scalps, I cut the hair again. “He really loved these. Imagine how disappointed he’d be that you let them be destroyed because you’re so careless. You think you’re good enough to continue his game, but you’re not. You’re not good enough. He’d be so disappointed in you, Hannah.”

  As I slice another piece, she lunges at me. Kaity and Yasmin disappear out the door. They’re safe. Thank God. My relief disappears when Hannah lands on me. I lost my concentration for a second, and now I’m toppling backwards and she’s making a grab for the hair. I hit the ground hard, and my wrist twists beneath me, causing me to scream out in pain. Hannah takes the hair and rolls off me, clutching the scalps to her chest, her eyes frantic as her fingers run over them.

  “You ruined them!” She screams.

  I push up, as pain explodes up my arm. I reach for the carving knife, but Hannah finally realizes what’s happened. Her eyes dart to the door, to the empty room, and to my hand.

  “You little bitch!”

  She lunges for the knife, getting to it quicker than I do. She drives it into my broken finger, pinning it to the ground. I scream out in agony and automatically pull back, only to drive it deeper. My screams turn to strangled sobs as I try to free my finger. “I’m going to make you wish you were never born,” Hannah snarls. “You’re going to suffer for letting them go. I’m going to torture you for ruining my dad’s hard work. Fuck you, Marlie.”

  She jerks the knife from my finger, pulls out her massive hunting knife, and stands, curling her fingers into my hair and jerking me to my feet by pulling so hard I have to get up. She drags me out of the room and into the living area. She pulls me over to the table and barks, “I’ll stop your pathetic escape attempts. You say I’m not as good as my dad. Why do you think he cut those girls fingers off? How many doors can you open with no fingers?”