A/N: I'm going to update this every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday until the story is complete. I don't know what inspired me to update on a Tuesday but whatever went through my head yesterday just means that you got two chapters two days in a row! ;o) And to clarify once more and to ease your minds, I really don't kill Hardys, so don't freak out too much...I do mercilessly torture them at times, though. ^.^ I know, I'm evil.

Thanks to Ozma, BlueEyes444, and MCR-1993, my ever-so-loyal reviewers, for reviewing the last chapter! Enjoy and review this one, too! :D

Paradise Broken

Chapter Eight

A Cavern Deep Beneath the Monastery

June 3, 2010

Billy smiled. This story got better and better! Something deep inside of him reared its head, telling him that he was going too far.

It's just a story, Billy told himself firmly as he allowed himself to continue writing in the evil, wonderful world he had created. Around him, the other children of the monastery, all thirty-seven of them, wrote with fervor.

There was a scream from somewhere in the distance. Billy froze, his pen hovering over the book.

Then he continued writing.

Frank screeched into the small church parking lot and raced as fast as he could to the churchyard, hoping beyond hope that he wasn't too late—he hadn't heard another peep from his brother since that strangled, choked scream.

As he rounded the church, the sight that he beheld made him skid to a stop and his knees became weak. Joe was tied up a position that had to be excruciatingly painful—his arms and legs pulled awkwardly behind his back and tied together, hanging belly-down from a noose by his neck, eyes squeezed shut in agony, taking short, shallow breaths and sweat coating his forehead.

They're lynching him, Frank realized feeling sick to his stomach.

"Joe..." he gasped and his brother's eyes cracked open. The pain in Joe's gaze made Frank want to kill Marsuvees Black then and there.

He heard a low chuckle and saw Black standing behind the tree that the free end of the noose was looped over, single-handedly gripping the scratchy rope with one hand as if it were nothing, keeping Joe hanging by his neck. A huge burly man stood beside him.

Then Frank noticed the others—it seemed that the entire town of Paradise had come to see the execution. He saw Sally Drake, Paula Smithers, and Steve Smithers snarling at the brothers. In their eyes were a mad gleam of blood lust and perverse excitement. Frank realized that Black had complete control of these people—a supernatural control.

"Let—him—down," Frank gritted, barely holding his anger back.

Marsuvees Black smirked and handed his end of the rope to the huge man standing next to him. "Here, Claude, take this." The man had to hold the rope with two hands, his muscles straining just to keep Joe in the air.

"Let him down?" Black said, shocked. "I don't think so, Frankie-Poo." He examined his perfectly manicured fingernails as if they were the most fascinating things on the earth. In a bored voice he said, "Get him."

The next thing he knew, Frank was being descended on by the inhabitants of Paradise. A few good punches and a black eye later, Frank was tied hand and foot, dumped unceremoniously at the foot of the tree with a promise that he was after Joe.

Joe let out a strangled cough and Frank knew that his brother didn't have much time left. He looked at his baby brother and saw a lone tear streak down his cheek, from fear or pain, Frank didn't know. "Joe, I'm here," he said softly, wanting his brother to know that he wasn't alone. Joe didn't answer. He couldn't.

Frank watched warily as Marsuvees Black circled the tree, an utterly evil gleam in his predatory eyes. "I wonder," he said darkly, studying Joe as if he were some sort of specimen of a demented bug collector, "what would happen to the innards if the stomach is sliced open at this position..."

"NO!" Frank screamed. Another tear streaked down Joe's cheek but he was in too much pain to protest.

Black snapped his fingers and suddenly there was a knife in his hand. He grinned at Frank. "That's what I call power, baby. Wanna trip?"

With that, he descended upon Joe with the knife like a bird of prey.

A/N: This last scene, the last four paragraphs especially, were inspired by something that happened in another one of Ted's books that are related to the Paradise novels but are not a part of that series. It was one of the Lost Books series, but I don't remember which one exactly...I'm thinking Renegade or Chaos, though. ;o) Anyway, please REVIEW, and expect an update sometime on Friday. :D Sorry to leave you hanging like that...nah, actually I'm not. I'm evil remember, lol?

~Emachinescat ^..^