MY BEST FRIEND WAS JUST RAPED AND STABBED — I AM NEXT
I shouldn’t have been there: A Halloween Tale
I should not have been there. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Now I’m tied up in a chair staring at my best friend bleeding to death. How can a human being be so cruel? He beat and raped her…then rammed a spike into her skull.
Background
This is a graphic work of fiction, written by Emma Eva Harvey. Any similarities to actual persons and/or events is purely coincidental. The main character — and narrator — Carmella Simmons, is a twenty-two year old single girl, sharing a two bedroom apartment with her best friend, Lara Daniels, in Seattle, Washington.
I shouldn’t have been there…I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Now I’m tied up in a chair staring at my best friend bleeding to death. How can a human being be so cruel?
He beat and raped her…then rammed a spike into her skull. What can I do? Nothing. I struggle to break free, but he glances up at me and sees me…he’s coming towards me, oh my God. Please, somebody help me…
Where should I start? It was October 31st, me and my best friend Lara went to a party to celebrate Halloween. It was a big deal for us, as this would be our first Halloween as adults. Being best of friends, we went as Wilma and Betty, the female leads from the Flintstone, the American animated sitcom. Yeah we looked kinda childish but we had a lot of fun making the costume.
That night we danced, drank and smoke all night. By the time we said good night even the “designated” driver was drunk out of her mind. Thank god the party was not that far from our apartment, so we decided to walk. We each took the traditional “one for the road” shot of tequila and headed home.
Our neighborhood is bright and beautiful during the day, but in the early hours of a late October morning it looked like a scene right out of a horror scene. We were almost to our apartment building when we heard a noise in the alley. It sounded like a small cat crying for help — Lara being a cat person, she just went looking for it. With little choice in the matter, I staggered after her.
We walked for several blocks, rounded a few corners and got completely lost. Just as we were about to give up and head back, we saw a small cat lying on the ground, bleeding. It was gruesome. We were rightfully freaked out. I reminded by Lara’s sides suggesting we were in the middle of nowhere, staring at a cat bleeding to death. I wanted to get the hell out of there.
We didn’t know what to do so we just started yelling at each other. I finally said,
“Listen. I know you love cats and shit, but there is nothing you can do for this one. It’s dead. We should get the hell out of here and maybe call the SPCA when we get home. We should go…C’mon. Let’s go!”
We didn’t know it, but there was someone standing behind us with a baseball bat. Before we could turn around, I heard this horrific sound, like a watermelon falling on a concrete floor and exploding. I looked at Lara and saw the back of her head cave in and explode. Bits of hair, flesh and brain matter splattering on the side of my face.
I turned around and came face to face with a man wearing one of those horror themed masks. The kind you find at any dollar store this time of the year. I let out a long scream and started running. I kept yelling for help, running as fast as I could but he was much faster than me. I felt a blow to my head and blacked out….
I woke up tied to a chair with tie wraps around my wrist and ankles. There was a long rope looped around my chest, against the chair. It was really tight and made breathing really hard. It sneaked around my stomach, up and down to my knees to my ankles. I could not move my arms or my feet. I was trapped.
I looked around for any sign of my friend. She was in a corner, chained to an old radiator by wall, but still unconscious. I was stone silent, not wanting to draw attention while I figured out a way to try and escape; but luck was not with my that day.
As soon as I tried to move a bright white light came on blinding me, bathing the whole room in a warm yellow-ish light — I could not see anything in front of me, but I could see a bit of my surroundings. We were in a basement, it had a bunch of objects…like torture devices. I looked at my best friend and saw that there was blood seeping from the back of her head. Pooling and coagulating on the concrete floor.
I looked up at the stairs and there was the man. The one with the mask. All I could see were his eyes, they were piercing blue. I swear I’ve seen those eyes before, but I couldn’t remember who. He started walking down the stairs very slowly, one step at a time. I struggled to move and find a way out, but it was in vain, I was glued to that chain and wasn’t going anywhere.
When he was halfway down, he pulled out a knife. I started sobbing, but I could not make a sound because of the gag and duct tape in my mouth. My cries sounded muffled — nobody outside this room would have heard me. He was getting closer and closer and there was nothing I could do. When he took the last step he paused. He looked straight at me…then moved towards my unconscious friend.
I watched him as he cut off her clothes. Slowly, without any hint of hurry of worry. Layer by layer, stopping only to admire her when she was fully naked. I yelled and screamed, trying to break free from these damn restraints on my body. I could do nothing but watch as he started raping her. Half way dead, a part of her still recognized what was happening — she opened her eyes in terror and tried to scream…
I wished it was all a nightmare. That I could just wake up and find myself safe at home. That I could run to her room and find her there sleeping…But instead all I saw was her eyes..my best friend’s eyes were filled with fear. He took his time…the horror went on for hours…
As soon as he was finished, he started carving her with the knife. She was still alive — barely. She started to moan in pain, trying to speak as her mouth filled with blood. I imagine she was pleading with him to stop.
I could hear the knife slicing open the skin. Cutting flesh, muscle…sinew. He stepped back to admire his handy work. He had carved the words ‘YOUR NEXT’ into her chest so that I could see it. She was drenched in blood..in pieces…I couldn’t look anymore...
I watched as my friend tried one last time to move, to fight back. Maybe I imagined it, but it looked to me as if she summoned all her strength to beg for her life one last time…but he simply pulled out a gun, aimed it at her and pulled the trigger. I saw the flash before the sound reached my ears. The bullet leaped off the barrel and slammed into her forehead. She was dead at last, no more pain.
I had no time to react…it all happened so fast. I watched as her body went limp. She was gone. My best friend was gone. This man killed her…and I was next. He took a step toward me, and hesitated…and waited, trying to decide something.
He turned around and grabbed a needle and stitches. He removed my gag and I started begging, crying, pleading for him to leave me alone. To no avail, he started stitching my mouth shut. I tried to bite his fingers but he was wearing thick gloves — it did nothing to him. He finished his stitch and removed his mask.
I was my psycho ex boyfriend, Daniel…that’s who it was. I left him because he started acting weird…asking if I’d kill for him or if I’d be mad if he killed someone. I left him and moved away. I thought I was safe…apparently not.
He cut enough of the the ropes to free my arms, then hooked each to a long chain. He did the same with my legs, snapping shackles to my ankles. The chains were connected to some kind of motorized gizmo that pinned me down.
This man knew my weaknesses and started using them against me. I watched as he stripped me and forced himself inside me. I thrashed and kicked at him but it was too late. After he had finished, he walked away to get the knife. When he came back, he kneeled down and whispered,
“You are mine and only mine! No one else will EVER love a stitched-mouth bitch like you…”
I started crying. He wasn’t going to kill me. He was going to use me…I was to remain shackled, chained to the floor in a dark, dirty basement…until the day he would kill me…
