The Haunted Traveler Vol 1 Issue 2

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and Doctor Ryans nodded.
“Please. Whenever you feel like you are
ready.” Jen took in a deep breath, and the words, thick,
heavy, came pouring out.
“The man that grabbed me was strong, but I
couldn’t get away. I hadn’t transformed yet. I couldn’t
see how many men there was. I was too scared, the
panic too real. They had Susan, so little, tied up in the
corner, gagged, and they had Stephanie on the ground.
They were doing things to her, sick things, and they
laughed. So much laughter. I screamed for a while,
but they threatened to hurt Susan, cut her up, so I
cried in silence. They talked about killing Stephanie,
in between their perversions, and when she stopped
fighting them, stopped moving, I think they got bored.
They cut out Stephanie’s eyes first, made me watch.
They used one of Daddy’s steak knives, one he bought
from a traveling salesman out of Nashville. I’ve never
seen so much blood, and I threw up once, on one of
the men, and he beat me. That was the last real painful
thing I suffered. I could feel it then, beneath my skin.
It was a strange feeling. You ever had sunburn Doctor
Ryans? Sunburn so bad it feels like your skin is pulled
tight, stretched thin. That’s what it felt like, like my
muscles were gone and replaced with the shell. I could
feel the wings, between my shoulder blades, and as the
men took turns sawing at her neck, I felt them moving,
almost fluttering, like I’ve seen dragonflies do.
They stopped paying attention to me while
they hurt Stephanie, but at that point, after all the sick
things they’d done, I think she was ready to die. While
they watched away, I began to shed off my skin. It