Page 57 of Unhinged Kallie

“What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“Wrong question Chester?” I leaned in close to his ear. “The correct question is, what am I?” Pushing myself back, I ran my gloved hand down his cheek and loved the shudder of fear and goosebumps that followed with the simple touch.

Gripping his chin, I squeezed hard. “Scream for me,” I said, but Chester just stared, his mouth hung open, but nothing came out. “I said scream.” Quickly, I shoved the blade up through the soft tissue of Chester’s lower jaw until I could see the silver in his mouth.

“Ahhh!”

I closed my eyes and soaked in the sound. Fuck yes. “So much better. You’re a bad boy, Chester.”

Pulling the knife free, I smiled as I stared at the blood left behind.

“You’re fucking crazy,” he said, voice shaking.

“You have no idea how true that statement is.” With quick and precise jabs, the blade sank hilt deep into the soft tissue of his squishy belly. It was so pale it could compete with the moon, but it wouldn’t be for long. Soon he would be coated in bright red.

He screamed and thrashed around as I slowly dragged the blade along his arm to expose the bone. “These are so beautifully sharp. Don’t you think so, Chester,” I asked as he wailed in pain. Tears and drool were dripping off his chin. “No?” He didn’t answer. “It’s rude not to answer me, Chester.”

I now fully understood why my dad forced me to become ambidextrous as I switched the knife to my other hand and created identical cuts on the opposite side of his body. Chester screamed like he was trying out for the role of a banshee.

“I knew you were a little bitch. Probably why you think picking on other people is fun, isn’t that right, Chester?”

“Please don’t do this, please,” he begged as blood ran in steady streams down his skin, looking like red rivers. If I had more time I would sketch out how this looked in real life. It was far more vivid than my imagination had been able to conjure.

“Do it again,” I whispered and locked eyes with Chester.

“Do what,” he asked, the words trembling on his lips.

I smiled. “Beg.”

He screamed and cried instead, and I ate those sounds up just as eagerly.

“Maybe your corpse will deter other bullies from fucking with girls, and if not…well, I can say that I’ll have fun eliminating every last one of you,” I said as I carved the word bully across his chest.

“No, no, no.”

“Have you ever wondered what you would look like with no skin on your face? Let’s find out, shall we?”

I didn’t think he could scream any louder, but he surprised me.

* * *

I finished cleaning off my blade and put the rag in the plastic bag to take with me. I stood up straight and took one last look at my work. It was beautiful. I didn’t have my dad’s artistic talent, but I was very good at playing the dismemberment game.

“Well, Chester, this is the best birthday gift you could’ve given me, so thank you for acting like a worthless piece of shit and screaming so enthusiastically.”

Chester was no longer recognizable and mumbled something, but the extreme pain made him delirious. Bending over, I picked up the sharp axe I’d brought just for this occasion. Using both hands, I lifted the blade over my head and slammed it into the middle of his chest. The metal lodged like he was a tree, and his body jerked. Less blood than I thought sprayed out around the sharp edge. Horror movies had it all wrong.

It was late, and I needed to get going. There were rules to follow, though, and I did one last sweep before scooping up my bag and swinging the strap over my shoulder. I marched for the mouth of the trail but spotted something on the ground and bent down to see a peacock feather.

This was an odd place for a peacock to wander around. Picking up the single feather, I held it up in the moonlight. Chester’s chest seemed the best place to leave the feather, so I stuck it in the sticky, already drying blood.

Smiling, I pulled the night vision goggles on and sprinted off into the darkness for the car. It was where my dad said it would be, and even though it had been three hours, he was still sitting there wide awake, reading a book.

I hopped in the front seat beside him, and unable to help myself, I cheered. He gave me his ‘What the fuck is that’ look, and I laughed as the overwhelming ecstasy flowed through my body.

This was what I was born to do. I was the daughter of an apex predator, and like a blindfold had been ripped off my eyes, I could see my path. I knew who I needed to become.

Chapter Twenty-Two