Die Steven Die

"Where ... Where am I?" Shaking his head, he glances around, trying to recall the recent chain of events. The last thing I remember I was dangling from the ceiling in one of my nets. And Penny was stomping around the barn below me, threatening to do me in for killing Beth. So how did I end up here, like this, completely stripped? Where am I, anyway?

He quickly scans his surroundings and finds he's lying on his old work table in the barn. Why did she leave me here? Did she get scared and run off? She's too looney to be scared away. The townspeople used to say she was a full sack of fries short of a happy meal or that her elevator never made it out of the basement floor. A horrid thought suddenly comes to mind. Maybe she's getting what she needs to do me in. Either way, I'm not sticking around to find out. Steven tries to get up but soon discovers his body wouldn't budge. What's wrong with me? He tries again and gets the same results. A realization suddenly sets in. The bitch paralyzed me.

A sharp, stabbing pain shoots down his arms traveling down his legs. Steven winces and then thinks, I'd have to have some feeling in my body for it to hurt like that. Closing his eyes, he pictures his hand in his mind. Steven then wills it to move. His fingers wiggle. His hand moves back and forth. I wouldn't be able to do that if I were paralyzed. Steven tries to force his hand down to his side. A course object gouges into his skin. What the hell was that?

Steven looks up to find a thick cord wrapped around his wrists, binding the two together. The rope trails across the room to the outer wall and is tied to a large eye hook screwed into the frame. He looks toward his feet to find a second restraint wrapped around his ankles. Like the first cord, it runs the length of the room, attaching to a similar hook on the opposite side. He then remembers what Penny had said. She is gathering some things. I've got to get out of here before she gets back.

Steve tries to wiggle free but soon discovers his restraints tighten with every move. He tries to pull his arms down, hoping to tear the hook out of the wall, but the hardware doesn't budge. Maybe I'll have better luck with my legs. He starts pulling on the restraints with his feet when he hears footsteps stomping behind him. He turns to find Penny heading his way, his butcher knife in hand. The same tool he sharpened a few days back. Of all the time not to put something off, he thinks. His neighbor was constantly hounding him about getting lazy with his chores. So a few days ago, he decided to catch up on his work to show his neighbor he was serious about making the farm work. That it wasn't a hobby, a way to pass the time the way he claims.

"You woke up just in time," Penny says as she continues toward him.

Steven licks his parched lips. "In time for what?" he asks, staring at the shiny blade.

She runs her finger across the serrated edge, smiles, and says, "I just finished sharpening your knife, and the pigs are squealing because they're ready to be fed. The good side to all that noise is that I know nothing will be left for the cops to find. Not that anyone would bother to look too hard. You're like that Earl guy in the Dixie Chick's song. You'll be a missing person that no one is going to miss at all. Now that I think about it, I bet half the town will be glad you're gone." She shakes her head. "Poor Steven, no real friends to speak of, but I guess that's what happens when you step out on your wife and beat her to a pulp."

Steven sees a wild gleam in her eye as she gets closer. It's the same look she had right before she was shipped upstate. "Please don't hurt me," he begs, trying to wiggle free.

Penny laughs. "You're loonier than I am if you think I'll let you go." She slowly strolls around him. Her fingers gripped around the handle of the knife, ready to strike.

"I'm sorry I did what I did. I'm sorry." He bawls.

"Is that what Beth said before you killed her? That she was sorry for making you mad. For not being the wife you wanted her to be?" She continues to circle him. "Well, is it?" She lunges toward him. He jumps. "Did my baby sister plead for her life? Beg you to stop as you beat her to death? I bet she did, didn't she, but you didn't listen. No, you kept hitting her, again and again, no matter what she said." Grabbing the crowbar beside her, she pounds his chest. She hears a loud whoosh as air escapes from his lungs. "Only this time, the beating went too far, and now she's dead, dead, and it's all your fault." She slams the crowbar across his legs.

Pain radiates throughout his body. Steven screams. "I ...I didn't mean to kill her, honest I didn't. I was only going to rough her up, show her who's boss."

"Yeah, I bet just like you didn't mean to break Beth's arm or leg. Imagine how painful it was for Beth with her cast, working and trying to care for you." Penny smacks him again. She then pounds her weapon on his legs, his arms, then his chest.

"Please, I beg you, please stop before you do something you'll regret."

Glaring into his eyes, she spat. "The only regret I have is not doing this sooner." A sober look crosses her face. "Beth would still be alive today if I had. But she's at peace now and away from you." She pounds his chest again. "Besides, you wouldn't stop when Beth begged for her life, so why should I stop for you?"

"Because you'll be sent away for the rest of your life, and I know you don't want that, right?"

Penny shrugs. "I'm looking at a life sentence no matter what. So unlike you, I have nothing to lose."

"Please don't do this. Please. I won't hurt another woman ever again. I promise I won't," he begs as tears run down his bloodstained cheeks.

Raising the crowbar, Penny whacks him in his ribs. Steven screams in pain. She smacks him again. "I bet Beth pleaded for her life the night she ended up in ICU."

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I never meant to send Beth to the hospital. I didn't. I swear that wasn't my intent." Steven cries.

"You don't even know what the word sorry means, you lying sack of crap." She thrusts the crowbar into his groin."That's for every time you forced Beth to have sex with you."

"She wanted it."

"That's not what she told me. Beth said you'd tie her to the bed if she refuses." She shoves the metal bar into his privates again. "How many miscarriages did she have, huh? How many?" Raising the crowbar, she strikes his midsection.

"I didn't cause her to lose those babies. I swear. The doctor said she could never carry a child to term because of her APS." he bawls.

"My sister was healthy as a horse. She only had the miscarriages because of you." She holds her weapon like a spear and thrusts it into his chest.

"I ...I can't breathe," he wheezes, gasping for air.

"That's going to be the least of your worries soon," Pulling a knife from her pocket, she scans his rounded body, looks at him, and asks, "Where should I start?"