Chapter 21 Tortured

Kevin left the hospital without informing Mrs. Lena—or the Inspector. Made sure not to mention anything about what Landry had said to either of them, especially Lena. He was more worried about how she would react to the news.

When he arrived at the park, he spotted a small crowd that had gathered. Heart pounding against his ribcage, he shuffled towards them, eyes bulging as he got closer. Struggled to move past the throng. As he walked up to the front, his hairs stood on end when he saw Mirabel’s body, lying naked in her pool of blood, her face hideously disfigured and burnt. She had multiple stab wounds on her chest and several cuts on her face.

Kevin felt a cold shiver go down his spine, his body trembling, knee buckling. His lips were shaking as tears escaped his eyes, sliding down his cheek softly. He looked down at her little face.

It wasn’t supposed to end like this.

Mirabel’s face was bruised and covered with great blotches. Her thighs and abdomen had been lacerated. Her mouth frozen in an open scream and her eyes shut tight with trails of dried tears beneath them.

She must have cried so much that she got tired of crying. From the anguished look on her face, one could easily tell she died a painful death. He knew the blotch of a different colour was an inflamed mark caused when the skin has been exposed to a boiling surface.

He immediately recognized the marking to be very similar to the one he had seen on Loretta’s neck right after T-Rex poured the acid into her mouth to burn her throat and prevent her from screaming any further. He looked over at the little girl more closely and noticed that three of her ribs had been broken. Every wound and markings on her body shared eerie similarities to the wounds T-Rex had inflicted on Loretta.

It’s definitely T-Rex. It had to be.

His tears fell painlessly down his cheek and then dropped on her blooded forehead. He folded his finger into Mirabel’s hand. Most of the hairs on her head had been pulled off as a result of something hot pouring on it. Looking over the burnt hairs hanging above her head brought back painful memories—memories of a year ago which he longed so much to forget.

T-Rex walked over to the table. After he had gently dropped the spoon on the table, he put on some plastic gloves and picked up a bowl full of burning fluid from the burner. Then he looked at Kevin, an ugly smirk crossed his lips. “You want to know what this is? Then observe closely.” He held the hot bowl carefully as he walked towards Loretta.

He stopped in front of her to watch her whimper in pain from the acid he’d given her. Blood dripped from her mouth as she sobs. T-Rex could see her tongue; it had been burnt off completely, leaving blood to flood inside her mouth.

T-Rex gently raised the bowl to empty its content over her head. Loretta was shaking terribly as hot oil rained down on her. The oil hissed after it touched the hairs on her head, burning them off. Her skin shrank from the hot oil that trickled over her. Her eyes bulged out in pain. She opened her mouth wide as though she’d wanted to scream but no sound came off, not even the slightest breath, only bubbles of blood formed within her throat. Her voice box had completely been damaged.

T-Rex looked over at her with a satisfied smile on his face as he watched her suffer in pain. Some of her hairs were burning off and dropping to the floor. Blood trickled down her forehead.

The top layer of her head had become so soft. T-Rex grabbed the remaining portion of hair and forcefully pulled them out—with little effort, dragging off her skin along with it. Her head became totally exposed. He could see her milky white skull as blood rushed in to cover.

Loretta’s head vibrated from the enormous amount of pain she felt. The hot oil which rolled down her face had blinded her left eye. Her face was sore and completely covered in blood. T-Rex looked over at Kevin, a wicked grin on his face.

For a moment, Kevin sat to watch what had become of the lady he had once fallen in love with. He had fallen in love with her beauty. He had fallen in love with her cute smile. He had fallen in love with her tender voice, but all these things were now gone. And left behind was a hideous creature.

“Imagine the pains she feels right now.” T-Rex grinned, turning to him. “Imagine feeling this much pain and not being able to express it.” he laughed with so much excitement. “Isn’t this beautiful?” he jabbered.

Loretta faded away, her eyes slowly closing. Her head dropped. T-Rex quickly rushed to her and cupped his fingers over her jaw, taping her cheek gently. “No! No! No! No!! No!!!” He kept tapping her chin repeatedly as if trying to wake her from a deep slumber. “You can’t die just yet.” he fretted.

Loretta slowly opened her eyes, staring blankly at T-Rex with weak, lifeless eyes. She was slowly dying.

T-Rex let out a loud sigh of relief. “Phew, for a second there I thought you were going to die on me. Never scare me like that again. You almost gave me a heart attack.” he berated.

Then a sinister thought hit him and he turned sharply to look at Kevin. “Have you ever wondered what her heart looks like? Have you tried to imagine how it would feel if you hold it up in your hands?”

Tears dropped from Kevin’s jaw and spilled on the chair in which he sat.

“I’m dying to know how her heart looks like when her chest is torn open.” T-Rex simpered, walking over to the table. Gently placed the bowl on the table, picked a scalpel, and returned to where Loretta stood. Standing over her, holding the scalpel in his hands, he gently sliced her chest open.

Loretta let out a soft, inaudible gasp as T-Rex tore through her skin, her hands shaking as the blade travelled down her stomach slowly and painfully.

T-Rex dragged the blade to tear through her skin, stopping just above her belly button. Then he pushed his fingers through her chest, reaching for her heart. Blood trickled from her chest as his hands travelled deeper. Her eyes were wider than ever as pain tore through every nerve in her body.

When he finally found her heart, he held it in his hand. T-Rex was puzzled when he did not feel any heartbeat. Then he looked at her face. He was utterly disappointed to see that her eyes were closed. T-Rex gave her a gentle slap on the chin. She felt lifeless and cold. She was already dead, and it devastated him. He forcefully dragged her heart out and left it to hang from her chest.

Kevin just sat there, staring blankly at her body. Didn’t utter a word. Only stared. Tears flowed down his eyes. He appeared broken, eyes bloodshot. T-Rex took the gag off his mouth, and Kevin slowly looked up at him, eyes blurred by the tears.

“T-Rex…” he called out to him, his voice weak—and almost inaudible.

T-Rex smirked at him.

“Please… kill me.” he begged, “I beg you.” His voice had no trace of life.

“I can’t do that. At least not yet.” T-Rex leaned towards him, whispering in his ear. “I made a promise to your mum not to kill you until you finally turn eighteen.” he whispered.

A knot formed in his throat. “You knew my mum?”

“I killed your mum…” he whispered in his ear. “Just as I killed your dad… and your brother too. Killed them all, every single one of them. None was spared.”

Kevin felt his throat burned. “I had a brother?” he swallowed hard.

“You didn’t know?” T-Rex ranted. “Oh, of course, you were still a baby when I sliced your mother’s throat open.”

He swallowed hard. “What do you want from me?” he asked, his eyes fixated on Loretta’s lifeless body.

“… to see you suffer.” T-Rex whispered coldly in his ears. “Everyone you love dies.” Then he stood up and left. Stopped when he reached the door. Without turning to look at him, he said. “You are seventeen now, a year from today you’ll turn eighteen. I’ll be back. Be ready when I return.”

Kevin’s expression was numb.

Light penetrated the room as he opened the door and left. Kevin heard the door closed. T-Rex was gone, leaving him tied to the chair to watch Loretta’s remains. His head dropped, and that was the last time he saw T-Rex.