Wow! 100 reviews? Sending a quick shout out to everyone who has supported this so far and I'll reward it with a new chapter. Also, I just want to make one thing clear. Just because I'm writing about a psychotic, thrill seeker, serial killer, that doesn't mean that this is a reflection of me. Well…yes, I am the one who is writing and making this happen but…I…...oh forget it! I'm not a serial killer and don't ever in this life or the next plan to ever become one. Also, beware this next chapter as more torture is taking place. You have been warned.
Disclaimer: Still don't own The Outsiders.
Ponyboy opened his eyes slowly and moaned in pain. His teeth were chattering from the wet clothes and the evening air that was blowing through the cracks of the old barn. Ponyboy looked around the old barn and at the little 'display' in front of him before letting out a sob.
"Pony?" he heard Johnny mumble. Pony took a deep breath and let out more sobs from his mouth. He leaned over as much as the short chains would allow him almost like he was about to get sick gasping for air. He continued to hyperventilate for several minutes while staring down at the hard ground littered with some stray pieces of hay. Johnny could only watch as his friend struggled to take in a full breath of air. Suddenly, Ponyboy started tugging and pulling away from the wall ignoring the excruciating pain in his wrists and the rest of his body; but the chains would not break free. He kept trying, jerking his body faster every time the chains didn't break free.
"Pony, stop it. You're hurting yourself," Johnny said weakly but Pony didn't listen. "Pony!" Johnny shouted. This time Ponyboy stopped struggling and just looked at Johnny in the dimly lit room. Johnny just looked at him ignoring his shaky breathing. The two friends continued to just look at each other until Ponyboy laid back against the wall hiccupping while staring back at the 'display'.
"You think they're lookin' for us?" Johnny asked. Pony didn't answer but he managed to take one huge breath before letting it out slowly.
"I d-don't know," Ponyboy said in a quivering voice.
"I bet Darry and Soda are lookin' for you," he said. Ponyboy looked over at Johnny for a moment and then rested his head against the barn wall looking up at the ceiling.
"Yeah," he said closing his eyes picturing his older brother's faces. He remembered Soda grabbing him tight after he found him at the hospital and talking about his bleached hair only weeks ago. He remembered Darry crying and when they both held him with all their might. Pony let out a soft chuckle and he very slowly started to grin as he imagined his brothers holding him close.
All of a sudden, his daydream was interrupted by the latch of the farm door opening beginning to unlock. Both boys tensed up as the door opened and Lynched walked in wearing a pair of jeans, tan boots, and a black shirt. With him, he dragged a barstool and carried a black notebook and a pencil in his free hand. "Hello, boys. I apologize for the wait but my other job ran late," he said. "But don't worry, I'm feeling much better than I was yesterday. I've had a long day at work today and I think I deserve some fun right about now," he said and put the barstool down next to his display table. "Now that we've gotten better acquainted with one another, we can get started on our scrapbook!" he announced with a gleeful tone.
"S-scrapbook?" Johnny stuttered.
"Oh yes, Johnny-boy. You see, I want to make sure I remember all my guests that I capture and what I put them through; it'll almost be like I'm reliving their pain all over again. See?" he said and showed both boys one of the pages. It was several photographs of what looked like a sixteen-year-old cowering girl chained to a pole in what looked like some kind of basement. As soon as they saw the photographs, Johnny looked away while Ponyboy shut his eyes and looked down. On the next page was the date and a long paragraph
"Yes! I remember Rachel Boswell. I have to admit that her voice was the most beautiful out of all my victims," Lynch said and began to read the little entry next to the many pictures on the first page.
August 11th, 1966,
What a beautiful canvas I painted upon this day.
My Rachel's voice was just beautiful, like a canary singing its heart away.
I can't describe the amount of joy she has brought to me these last few nights.
No woman sleeping by my side or carnival ride can take away the love I feel when my guests come to stay.
Or witness a mother weep as I continue to play.
She begged and begged for me to stop as I painted, but I couldn't stop now as my masterpiece wasn't just right.
"I could go on for hours, but this is all about you boys; not a girl that's been dead for months. Let's get started!" Lynch announced and went over to the box he had brought in when they first arrived and pulled out a camera. He quickly checked the camera for film and then went over to the chained Ponyboy who still had his eyes closed.
"Open your eyes Ponyboy. Darry and Soda wouldn't want a picture of you with your eyes closed now would they?" he asked but Ponyboy didn't comply. "Ponyboy," Lynch warned. That's when Lynch came over and smacked his check making Ponyboy grunt but still didn't open his eyes.
"Yes! I just love it when they don't listen," he said and went over to his display. He reached into his box under the table and pulled out a brass knuckles with short but sharp spikes on top. Johnny saw this and watched as Lynch made his way back over to Ponyboy after he picked up his camera.
"Pony! Open your eyes!" Johnny begged but he didn't listen. Lynch walked over to Ponyboy, set the camera down, and punched him hard in the check leaving three long streaks across his right cheek. Ponyboy shrieked but still didn't open his eyes. Lynch then held the spikes against Ponyboy's throat drawing a tiny bit of blood.
"Are you afraid of what I might do to you Ponyboy? Because we haven't even gotten started yet!" Lynch said chuckling with a wide grin. He then slowly ran the spike across Ponyboy's right cheek leaving behind a faint red streak behind. It wasn't until Lynch led the spike near Ponyboy's eye that he opened his eyes.
"AHH!" Ponyboy gasped in terror. Lynch quickly grabbed his camera and snapped a picture. The camera then spit out the photo which Lynch immediately took, and started waving the black image back and forth.
"That was excellent Ponyboy. Well done!" Lynch applauded and took the brass knuckle away from his eye. Thinking fast, Ponyboy kicked Lynch in the chest which made him lose his balance and fell a little before catching himself, and made Lynch drop the camera. Lynch then stood up and stepped on Ponyboy's chest with all his weight. "Now that was rude Ponyboy. Your parents should have taught you better manners," he said.
"Get off of him!" Johnny shouted.
"If you say so Johnny-boy," Lynch said taking his boot off of Ponyboy. He then went over to grab the whip and walked over to Johnny while unraveling it.
"No. Nononono," Johnny cried as Lynch got closer leaning as far up against the wall as he could. Lynch raised the whip and hit Johnny.
"AHHHHH!" Johnny screeched.
"YES! Oh how much I've missed this feeling!" Lynch said and hit Johnny again harder.
"S-STOP! PLEASE!" Johnny begged but Lynch went faster and laughing hysterically.
"Johnny!" Ponyboy shouted once again moving back and forth trying to escape his shackles.
"Figured you'd be used to this Johnny-boy but I guess not being so sheltered and useless," Lynch said continuing to whip him multiple times faster than the last.
Lynch didn't stop whipping until the only thing coming out of Johnny was a soft whimper.
"W-why are you doing this?" Ponyboy asked. Lynch looked at Ponyboy and gave a small chuckle.
"Because I can," Lynch said and went over to put the whip back on the hook.
"Are you gonna kill us?" Ponyboy whimpered.
"Of course not. It's much too early and I'm still having a great time. Very rarely do I let my guests live, but I just couldn't wait to get my hands on you both; the two heroes of Windrexville. That's why I ended my fun with Scott Gregory so soon. I saw how nervous Sodapop was getting with each day and I couldn't wait anymore," Lynch explained. "Now then Ponyboy, I believe it's time for a little flashback," he said pulling off the large wooden basket. He moved to Ponyboy and put the basket down right in front of him. After that, Lynch went back outside the barn and grabbed two heavy buckets hulling them over to the bucket and poured the water inside.
"No," Ponyboy mumbled shaking his head no back and forth.
"Yes! I bet Bob had a great time when he tried to drown you and I wanna see if I get that same feeling," Lynch said and grabbed Ponyboy's hair and thrust him underwater. Johnny could only watch in horror as his friend desperately tried to get out of Lynch's grasp. Water was spilling everywhere and Lynch was getting drenched with water but he still continued on.
"You could use a bath greaser. And we got all night to do it," Bob said.
"NO!" Johnny screamed and fought to escape his chains just as Ponyboy had tried to do. He tugged and pulled but neither the chains nor the wall made any movement. Lynch grabbed Pony's hair again and pulled him up from the water as he started choking. Then Lynch pushed his head back underwater. He continued to struggle around with Lynch holding his neck down tight into the water.
All of a sudden, Ponyboy's struggles started to get slower and slower until finally, he stopped moving all together.
"You ain't gettin' away from me that easy Ponyboy Michael Curtis," he said.," Lynch said and thrust Ponyboy back out of the bucket. His eyes were closed, his face was pale and showed no signs of moving. Lynch threw him on the ground and started doing chest compressions. Meanwhile, Johnny's pupils grew large and his mouth wide open and couldn't bring himself to face away from the scene in front of him. Each compression Lynch did, caused some water to leak out of Ponyboy's mouth. After a solid minute of doing compressions, Ponyboy started coughing out the remaining water in his system and began breathing on his own again.
Break*Break*Break
Meanwhile, Darry was driving back home after their long search had found nothing. The Sheppard gang and Randy had all since gone home, but the gang had all continued their search; even Steve who joined them after the station closed for the night.
"It's getting late Curtis. Why don't you all go home and grab a bite? You've been at this all day," Agent Carlos told Darry.
"No. The longer we wait, the less likely the chance we'll ever see them again alive," Darry said not missing Soda's flinch.
"I know Curtis and I promise you, that Agent Helms and I are going to do everything in our power to find him, but we've done enough for one day. I'm going to report back to Agent Helms and then he and I can regroup from there. I have both of the boys' pictures and I can start passing them out and make missing posters. We'll call tomorrow because from what I've observed already, you all aren't going to follow the 'leave it to the professionals' advice are you?" he said.
"The hell we are," Two-bit said.
Now Darry was pulling into the driveway after already having dropped off Steve and Two-Bit. Darry went inside the house and looked back to find Soda wasn't coming in. He went back outside to see Soda sitting in the back on the truck looking up at the almost completely set sun. Without saying a word, Darry climbed in the back with him, put his arms around him, and watched the sun finish setting. Soda rested his head against Darry's chest struggling to keep his red eyes open. It only took a minute for the golden sky that had just danced across the Tulsa sky to disappear completely.
"It was too quick. We have to do this again…with him," Soda mumbled.
"We will little buddy," Darry said and placed a soft kiss on his brother's head. "How about I get started on dinner and you jump in the shower? It'll feel really good after being in the sun most of the day," Darry said.
"I guess," Soda said.
Phew! That was hard, believe it or not. I guess it's just because it's kinda hard to write about someone getting tortured by a serial killer because most of us should know that that kind of act is unacceptable. It's weird that I have certain scenes that I know will be in the story somewhere, but it's just how to write about getting there is tricky. Anyways I hope you enjoyed this and see you next time.
Review
LaurenHardy13