Chapter 1 – Only For Entertainment
"This story…this whole retelling of my past deeds and personal revenge are a glaring and unending vortex of my mind that I wish to silence and fade, because the more I think about those days, the more my mind goes blank with no emotion. I was a simple, ordinary man, who did nothing wrong…a person who minded his own business, until everything was left to pieces…everything was ruined. I will not share everything now, though…for as you are reading those lines, will soon understand the whole picture, being it gruesome and at times too brutal to handle…but that is life, and life can be brutal. That being said, this is the start of my story, about personal revenge…about a "scientific" project, I liked to call, "Nothing Personal".
Chapter 1."
Once he opened his eyes, he made out that…he was not in his car. In fact, no one was. Not his daughter or his wife. They were in a basement of sorts. The first thing he saw was his family; all tied up to two pillars, front facing him. He himself was tied in a matter in which he could not move his body. Only his right hand was extended also via pole, and was tied in a way where he could move his wrist as he pleased. Livia was asleep, while Joanna looked around with a glare of fright.
-Honey, are you okay? – asked the tied man, looking at Joanna.
His wife fixated her sight on him and immediately started crying rivers.
-Oh Mark, tell me this is some kind of prank! Please! – She cried out, startling little Livia in the process.
-Mom? – She muttered as she started waking up, - Where are we? What happened? – asked the girl looking around.
Mark was not sure either, but answered honestly. The last thing he remembered was that they got in the car all together, and a minute inside…they suddenly fell asleep.
-Don't worry honey, it is all a prank, you will see – replied the father and started trying to break free from the tight ropes that carved more and more into his skin with each pull.
Joanna looked around as well, but the only thing besides the two large wooden poles, was a chair and a large hammer.
-I could try ripping the rope and taking the hammer, with it, I could break the poles, and we could escape! – said the mother and attempted to free herself.
It was not as easy as it seemed though. The ropes were not those regular ones where it was a single piece of string. It was a big batch of twisted textile, which wrapped around their bodies almost perfectly. She still tried. The rope did not give up so easily as she thought, making that plan rather redundant. Mark tried to break free, but the hard materials of the rope only made him feel more pain.
-Daddy I want to go home! – Cried little Livia.
She was struggling to get out as much as she could, but alike her mother and father, her results were not blissful. She was close to freezing and that itself was bad news. Old memories of her being scared resurfaced in his thoughts, but now was not the time for that. All they could do, was stand there, all tied up…to the wooden poles, thick and unbreakable.
-Mark, do you know who could be doing this? – asked Joanna while trying to calm down the little girl.
His brain raced but none of the people he knew could have possibly done this. There was no need, he did not have enemies, nor did he care if he did. His job was to sale cars, what kind of enemies does a car salesmen have?
-No dear, I do not think someone we knew did this…- he replied running through all the people he knew once again.
Both their eyes locked into a hopeless stare down, as if it was going to be the last time they would see each other. Her hair was brushed to the side revealing her young and kept face with no wrinkles or freckles or any kind of abnormality. Maybe now, in this situation a large slit over her forehead was formed from stress. Her eyes greenly reflected himself, staring at her anxious body. It was not his thing to be scared of something bad happening, but right now, Mark did not feel lucky. His mind then turned to his little girl that looked as if she was numb and almost unimpressed by these strange matters. She was frozen in fear, and it was clear it was going to take some time before she goes back to normal. Her swollen eyes were bluer than before, making her raven strands glow in this dark place. If not for himself, Mark was more afraid about them. They were his everything, and he did not want to lose them. Not that he was going to; his brain was only giving him thoughts about something bad happening. That sort of mindset was not going to lead to nowhere.
-Okay, let us stay focused on the task of escaping this place, we do not know where we are, I do not believe we have a way to contact someone, so I suggest we start screaming for help in an attempt to bring someone to us! – suggested the father and looked at both of the girls.
Only the mother nodded, and he counted to three, as their voices combined into a siren that could even wake up the dead. They screamed with all they had. Now the only thing they could do…was wait…and they did not wait long, in fact, they did not wait at all.
-Ah, so my stars have woken up, huh? – said a voice, coming from behind a door leading to somewhere.
A man dressed in a red suit entered the room. His leather shoes shined with a red hue as the light of the bulb illuminated a small amount of things in the room. His trousers, shirt, vest and coat were red. His tie was even red. As the man came closer to the others, they could see that his hair was red. That bright nuance of the color. Everything was matching; the only odd thing was his slight smirk.
-Well, now that all the players are awake, we shall commence the game; - He stated and clapped his hands.
Joanna immediately started asking him tons of questions, questions he said, were pointless.
-Look people, we are all here to have some fun! I know I took you guys by force, sorry, but for the fun games to be actually fun, they need to be kept secret! – explained the man gesturing towards the place.
-Why are we all tied up!? – continued Joanna.
She was viciously trying to force her way out of the dilemma. The red man chuckled and sat on the chair that they saw before. He crossed his legs and then his fingers on top.
-Look. You are a part of a…experiment of mine. I cannot explain the details, until it is proven right or wrong. Until then, I suggest you all to behave and do your parts as instructed, okay? - He stood up and grabbed something from the pocket of the jacket.
It was a gun. His eyes, darkened by the sight of it. He then turned to Mark, and placed the firearm in his extended hand. It was sticky and it glued to his skin perfectly.
-Now, we can finally begin. Mark here has a pistol. It contains one 9mm bullet in a perfectly functional Luger. The task is simple. I have to ask him a question, and if he answers me correctly, he can move on to the next round and so on and so on. However, if he chooses wrong, he has to make a really important decision, and pay attention because this is the most important bit. He has to decide whom to shoot between Joanna and Livia! – explained the red man, gesturing as if he was in TV show.
-WHAT?! – yelled the parents, almost in sync.
-You cannot fucking make me do this! – exclaimed the father.
-This is illegal release us, this instant! – demanded the mother.
They tried with all their might to free from the chains that were the ropes, but no one managed to untangle from this twisted vise. Mark even tried pointing the gun at the man, but his wrist could extend only soo little.
-Now, now…please, do not be like this, I am only trying to question the stability in a person's mind and see how would they perform in certain scenarios, nothing more! – He said, but could not help but chuckle.
-Screw you man! I do not even know you, why do not you just let us go! – Mark shouted at the man, trying fiercely to do something.
-But that is the most important thing. You do not need to know the person you are going to be examining. The more you do not know about them, the better the results from their actions.
Mark tried forcing his hand to unleash the gun, but it was way too sticky, and the surface was already fused with him.
-We will not be in this game! Leave us alone and we will not press charges or call the police, just leave us here! – pleaded Mark, looking at his daughter.
Joanna tuned in too, trying to make the red man believe and release them from this strange place.
-I am sorry, this is mainly for science! I will not let you go, without my results…so, unless you want to speed up the process…- he said and took the large hammer from the ground, - I suggest, we start now! – explained the man in a deeper, scarier than before voice, taking a step towards Livia, who still did not believe this was actually happening.
-Okay, okay. Do not hurt her; please, I will play this game! – accepted the tied father and felt as if everything was going to end badly.
The red man brushed his hair backwards and smiled.
-Well then, let us begin! – announced the well-dressed fellow and pointed at Mark.
He took two steps and was now in between all three of the tied participants.
-We will start with an easy one. Mark, do you sell cars? – asked the red man.
He nodded, but the man continued looking at him, waiting for a proper answer.
-Yes, I sell cars in town, working for a dealership specializing in 4x4's mostly "Range Rovers".
The red man nodded and asked another question.
-Do you love your work? –
Mark felt stupid answering those things, but looking at the hammer and the hopelessness he was in, there was not another way.
-Yes, I do. There is not a day in which I go there miserable – he answered, trying his best to sound honest.
The suited fellow seemed intrigued by his answer, yet continued with a hand holding his chin.
-Mark, do you love your family? – He asked, still holding his chin with his palm.
-Well of course I do! – answered the man instantly.
There was not even a slight hesitation in that.
-Yes, but they are here, aren't they? If you truly loved them, you would have made it so to not let them be in danger! – pointed out the man.
He…well, he was right. If Mark had done better in terms of protection, they would be doing something better right now.
-Don't listen to him Mark, he is playing with your mind! – Agitatedly said Joanna, who was watching all of this with pure dread in her stomach.
The red man told her to keep quiet.
-Now, Mark, one last thing and we might be closer to the finish line. What do you think; the future will bring to your family? – asked the red man and looked at him directly, intensely, as if he was waiting for something to happen.
Feeling uneasy, he tried answering.
-I strive to bring happiness and positivity into my family. The future cannot be imagined, it can only happen. I do want to make sure that everything is fine, that my girls are safe and happy with my job and the stability we have in our community. Which is why I would say, I would like the future to be as is the present now – said the tied man and looked at the red fellow.
He was smiling. Not smirking or anything, smiling as if he was remembering something special.
-This is where you are wrong Mark…you cannot change the past, but you can try to alter the future. Yes, sometimes things are written one way, and trying to do them another, often leads to nowhere…but now, I shall like to confuse your future and ask you to choose the fates of your two girls – calmly explained the red man.
-Wait, why?! Didn't I answer correctly? – He asked looking at his wife and daughter with a scared look.
Joanna started crying, while Livia remained untouched. She was petrified from fear and did not move at all. She used to do that when she was little, and had not frozen like that in a long time.
-You answered correctly, but that is the entire point in this game. You said what you thought was right, only for me to throw a curve ball and make everything mess your head up. So, which one shall you shoot?! – He asked again, this time griping the hammer with both hands.
-I will not shoot anyone! You hear me! I will not do it!
Mark was yelling but that did not seem to do the trick. The red man got behind Livia, who was still frozen, and extended the hammer in the air.
-Do not make me choose for you Mark, this is your game not mine!
The tied father could not bear to watch. His fingers were all sweaty, and his hands shaking. Thinking about shooting one of his own was a thing that could break a person. Thinking of shooting anyone at that matter was exhausting. However, having to pick one, seeing what would happen if he didn't, made it worse. Joanna was pleading with the red man to let her little girl go, to pick her, to hit her with the hammer and not harm Livia.
-Mark make him stop, shoot me, do not let him harm her! Please! – She yelled and cried from the hopeless position she was in.
-You are a freak!!! Making us go through this! A goddamn freak! – shouted the tied man and let the tears stain his sight.
The hammer ascended even more. If he struck her with that inertia, her head would explode from the impact. Mark knew that, which was why he pleaded for him to stop. The red man wasn't going to though. His patience was gone. The hammer started collapsing downwards, going through a course for the head of little Livia. A loud bang followed, echoing in the small basement, stopping the hammers flow. A bit of smoke came out of the old Luger, with a single 9mm bullet, shot, directly in the heart of Joanna. Mark was broken. So was the heart of the mother, having a bullet stuck inside it. She quickly faded away with pains she would not ever imagine having to feel. The red man saw the shock, yet acceptance of her death, over her daughter's, and respected that. Yet, he still wanted to see if everything was correct. The hammer was once again lifted, and then smashed, into the girl's pretty head. The cracking sound it made when the large chunk of metal collided with her skull and pierced the brain was amazing for the ears of the red man. The shock and screams of the father further fueled the suited fellow's imagination of having to understand a person's mind. It made him feel whole, made him feel like he was right about the universe, and how it operated. Mark however was hysterical and could not believe the things he was seeing. Not only did his wife just die, but also his little girl was killed brutally. His clothes were covered in her brain, blood, and parts of the skull. Where her head once beautifully graced everyone was now a bloodied old hammer, fractured into her body like a sight from an old medieval movie.
-What did you do? – Only managed to ask the tied man, - What did you do? – His voice got higher and higher each time he asked him that, - What did you do? What did you do? What did you do?
The red man wiped his hands and smirked at the poor soul. That was all he needed, nothing more, nothing less. The experiment was a success. Now he only needed live footage of the process, and all would be considered a huge development into the matter of pain and breaking a person's existence.
-What did you do? What did you do? What did you do? – continued asking Mark, not being able to say anything more.
His heart was crying, so was his brain. The only thing he could do was watch the outcome of his actions. The only thing he could do…was cry.
-What did you do? What did you do? What did you do?
The red man walked besides the two bodies and waved goodbye to Mark, who was still asking the same thing repeatedly.
-What did you do? What did you do? – He asked over and over again.
Once out of the small basement, the climbed the stairs up and left the small wreck. His head was now covered in a red hat. A full red coating, for a red devil as he was. Smirking, he walked towards his brand new "Range Rover" and once again managed to hear the haunting gurgled scream of the same question "WHAT DID YOU DOOOOO!?" The man now laughed and started the engine.
-Nothing personal…only for entertainment – he whispered and sped off, leaving the cries of a defeated man to echo in the vast nothingness in the middle of nowhere.