Menu Seven

Beast

"And so, I told Raina that she's crazy if she thought I would ever sleep with Community Dick Mitch. But of course, she didn't believe me."

Summer has talked nonstop since we left Hawk. She told me about her sister and mother. She even talked to me about her best friend Trina.

I don't think anyone has ever talked to me this much. Most people assume I'm not listening or interested, but Summer doesn't seem to care if I respond or not. She just wants to talk.

She finally pauses in her ramblings when we get to the assisted living facility.

"How are we going to get in there? It's almost midnight. They aren't going to let us just walk through the front door." She points to the glass doors that I know are sealed up tight.

I don't answer her. Instead, I go around the side of the building to what I know is the staff entrance. She follows. Using the key card I made earlier today, I scan it and step inside holding the door open for her. She walks in and looks around at the stark white walls and linoleum floor.

"Just to be clear," she says with a deep sigh. "I'm not helping you in here. You know I can't stomach that shit."

"Don't worry, you have a very important role this time," I say.

Her gaze narrows. I step over to the nearest storage closet. Using the same key card, I open the door and shove her inside.

"Stay here until I come back."

"Gabe, wait."

It's the second time she has called me that nickname and the tight feeling it causes in my chest has been the same.

"Can't I just wait outside the room. I told you, I'm not going to try to run." She folds her arms across her chest.

"I'm not putting you here to keep you from running. When I do this, I let her in my head. I don't want you near me when she's in my head."

I didn't like to admit that—not in front of Summer. Only Priest truly knows where my thoughts go when I kill. Telling this secret to her makes my face hot and my chest tighten. I shift my gaze away from her.

A soft touch on my arm has me looking back down at her. The smile I'm starting to crave grows across her face.

"I get it."

The only person I thought that truly might understand my plight is my brother Lucien. He too deals with a darkness that takes over him. However, standing in front of Summer with her dull skin, sunken eyes, and frail body, tells me she has demons too. Ones she's trying to exorcise.

Dipping my chin, I take a step back. Her hand falls to her side. She walks into the closet, and I shut the door. I stand in front of it for a moment staring at the barrier between us. My breathing quickens and my chest tightens.

Before I can think about it, the keycard is back out ready to swipe over the sensor to let her out.

"Get ahold of yourself,"Mother taunts. "You have work to do." She's right.

Stepping away from the door, I hoist my bag on my shoulder and put distance between me and Summer. Slowly I allow myself to fade into the background and allow the dark part of me to step forward.

"You will punish the world for their evil, the wicked for their sins. You are the wrath of the Lord almighty. You are his burning anger. Do what you were born to do, Boy."

"Yes, Mother."

I don't worry about the cameras. I cut those off before we left the apartment. I've learned a lot from watching Lucien over the years. I've picked up traits from all my brothers. I use my memory of the layout of this place to find the administrator's office.

He usually wouldn't be here at this time of night, but a message about a potential client needing a lung will have him rushing back to his office. And when you make the kind of money he does selling body parts and anything else you can take from the elderly on the black market, you don't wait around.

Placing my bag on the desk, I take out the tools I'll use for this kill. Part of me wants to make this quick, but the dark part of me—the one my mother helped create—needs to be fed. It is this part most people see when they look at me.

Not her.My unbridled thoughts taunt.

I catch my reflection in the blade of my hacksaw. A smile lifts one corner of my lips. Summer thinks I'm handsome.

"The whore is a liar. Do not allow her to corrupt you," Mother warns.

Shaking my head, I ignore mother's words. The sound of footsteps nearing has my attention drifting to the door. I make my way across the room to stand on the opposite side of the closed barrier.

James Tillbury walks into the room. He heads straight to his desk. He's so focused on his task he has yet to recognize my black bag in the chair. I use his distraction to close and lock the door.

He finally looks up and notices me. Immediately, his face pales and his eyes widen. He doesn't speak for a moment, just stares at me.

"Sit," I demand.

He drops down in the chair behind his desk. Walking over to him, I pick up the roll of duct tape off the desk.

"What….what do you want?" James asks in a shaky voice.

I don't answer. Unlike Seth, I don't like to do much talking when I work. I don't desire or require a confession from my victims. By the time I've gotten here, I've already proven their guilt. It is not my job to give them absolution, it is my job to send them to seek it.

"Is this about the girl?" James continues to ask as I make my way behind his chair.

I grab one of his hands and tape it to the arm of his seat.

"I didn't know she was thirteen, alright. I thought she was older than that." He goes on to admit more of his sins.

"For the wages of sin is death. Send him to the pits of hell."

I tape his other arm down to the chair, ripping the end of the tape with my teeth.

"This isn't about the girl," he says more to himself than to me. "Then, what is this about?"

"His sins are so plentiful he doesn't even know why he's here. He is wicked, just like your whore." Mother snarls.

"No," I say out loud. "He is nothing like Summer."

James starts to squirm in his seat. The panic is starting to set in.

"Help," he calls out. "Someone help."

I thought it peculiar when I studied the floor plan and realized the director made his office so far away from everyone else. It made sense when you found out he was killing his occupants and harvesting their organs. However, now I bet he wishes he didn't isolate himself from everyone else.

Tearing off one last strip of duct tape, I take the stress ball off his desk and stuff it in his mouth before taping over it. His screams are muffled, allowing me silence to work in peace.

Glancing at the clock, the time reads 12:10 am. I attach my 2in x 3.5in Forstner bit into my drill.

I walk behind James' chair. He fights against the tape, trying to get out of his restraints. Placing one hand on his shoulder, while holding the circular drill to the back of his neck, I hold him still.

"Don't move," I say, as I drill a hole into the base of his spine.

By the time I'm finished with James and the red haze has officially lifted, the clock reads 1:30 am.

My thoughts go immediately to Summer. I hurriedly pack my things and call the cleanup crew.

When I get to the janitor's closet, I quickly swipe the card. My heart races in my chest at the time it takes for the lock to turn green and the door to open.

Summer is still here. She's sitting on the floor, her knees pressed to her chest. She's shaking and sweating profusely. She looks up at me, and her face looks even more pale than before.

She wipes at her running nose. "For a moment I thought you forgot about me," she says, with chattering teeth and a weak smile.

"Put her out of her misery. There is no cure for her sickness. The whore must pay for her sins." Ignoring Mother's voice, I help Summer stand.

"We should go."

She nods and obediently follows me out of the building.