THE BTRK KILLER

Submitted into Contest #182 in response to: Start your story with a home alarm system going off.... view prompt

4 comments

Crime Horror Thriller

This story contains themes or mentions of physical violence, gore, or abuse.

WARNING: This story involves an onslaught of violence, sexual torture and gore. If you are squeamish, stop right here.

I had just come home from my usual workout at the gym when the alarm at my house was sounding and I noticed a window in the back of the house had been pried open. This was a very frightening finding since everyone was on edge due to the activity of a serial killer in our town. 

News reports described this serial killer by a self-proclaimed acronym: the BTRK Killer. BTRK apparently stood for Bind, Torture, Rape and Kill.

At least 16 victims had been found in our town, all showing a similar type of death. They were all bound by heavy black duct tape, often in vulnerable sexual positions. There was evidence of rape in all the victims, fourteen of whom were women. Yes, that meant that two victims were young men, also with evidence of rape. 

The victims were killed by a variety of methods, some strangled with a piano wire, some suffocated with a plastic bag, and some stabbed. One was found hanging by the neck from a light fixture.

Several women were found lying naked on their backs with their legs spread widely apart, held in place by the duct tape, strung from each ankle then attached to either a door knob or piece of furniture corresponding to the side of that ankle. The two men were found in similar repose, legs taped widely apart, but face down with their buttocks up in the air, supported by pillows. 

Because of the sickening way the bodies were found, and the inability of the police to capture the maniac, everyone was extremely agitated and scared. Many women were in the process of purchasing their first gun and signing up for self-defense courses. Many families were putting in new or expanded alarms and security systems in their homes. 

As a young woman, I was also nervous about this lurking menace, although I had two secrets that I felt gave me a certain level of protection. Therefore, when I returned home from my workout and found the open window, rather than call the police immediately, I simply closed the window and set about preparing dinner.

I chatted for a few minutes on the phone with my younger sister, who was away at the State University. She seemed to be doing very well. I then took out ingredients for cooking. I had decided to make pasta, so I prepared the pasta in a large bowl, cracking the pieces in half. I also placed some garlic cloves and mushrooms on the kitchen counter in preparation for sautéing.  

As I began to fill my pasta pot with hot water, suddenly I heard a strange noise behind me. I turned around, only to be face to face with a guy holding a large hunting knife to my neck. 

He was a relatively ordinary-looking guy, middle-age and balding. He was dressed in very plain clothing, just a pair of khaki pants and shirt. But the knife was certainly not ordinary. It had a leather handle, a gleaming 8-inch blade with large serrations on the blunt side. It looked perfect for gutting a deer or wild pig. He held it in his right hand, directly over my left carotid artery and larynx, just under the lower jaw.

“I’m sorry for startling you,” he said, in a very bland, unemotional voice. “I am the BTRK Killer. I’m sure you’ve heard news reports of my recent spate of murders,” he calmly stated as he pressed the knife against my throat.

I said, “Yes, I’ve heard of you. In fact, I’ve been waiting for you.” My heart pounded in my chest, but not for the reason you would naturally assume. Remember, I mentioned that I have two secrets.

The serial killer continued, “I have been watching you for a few weeks. I don’t know if you have heard details of my life, but I have certain compulsions and fantasies that I must carry out. I’ve had these compulsions since I was a teenager. I’ve been dreaming about being with you. Now, I’m going to bind you with heavy construction tape. And you’re going to enjoy it. I want you to start by taking off your clothes.”

One important factor in self-defense is not telegraphing your moves. In other words, when you initiate a maneuver, you must do so with no premonitory warning motions or extraneous movement that could tip off the assailant of the coming technique. 

With this in mind, I took one quick step back with my right foot to put a little distance, just a few inches, between the knife and my neck. At the same moment, all at once, and with as fast and sudden a movement as possible, I quickly swept my left hand up and across my body, grasping the maniac’s right wrist below the knife.

Continuing the motion, I turned to the right, in support of my left hand that was now gripping the guy’s right wrist. The twisting motion of my body gave leverage to my left hand, which now moved the assailant’s right hand, along with the knife, away from my body and towards my right. The maneuver also destabilized his center of gravity, causing him to lurch slightly forward and to his left. 

Immediately upon the twisting movement, with the serial killer now off balance and leaning slightly to his left, I used my right hand to double-grip his right wrist and quickly turned back to the left, while twisting his wrist over in a counter-clockwise direction and pulling his arm forward. The momentum of the counter-clockwise torquing action of his wrist along with the turning towards my left caused his entire body to flip over and slam to the floor. At this point, I stepped forward over his body and twisted his right arm further, while applying some downward pressure, until I heard a nice, deep, satisfying snap and crack. With this, he screamed in agony. 

With the BTRK Killer now writhing in agony with a fractured arm and dislocated shoulder, I slammed my right fist into his solar plexus with as much force as I could generate. This caused his diaphragm to spasm such that he couldn’t breathe. Then, I smashed his face with a straight right hand, bloodying his nose and knocking him semi-conscious. 

I mentioned to you that I had two secrets. The first is that I am a master of krav maga and jiu jitsu. I have been in training since I was ten years old. My father and older brother were both heavily involved with self-defense, and made sure I was well-equipped to defend myself as a young woman.

As the Killer was now barely conscious, I grabbed him by one ankle and dragged him into a room that I had prepared specially for people like him. Once he was in the room, I hoisted him up and placed him on a large ottoman, face down. Then, using his own hunting knife, I cut off all his clothing and used the duct tape he had brought with him to tape his wrists and ankles, spreading out all four limbs in a spread-eagle configuration, securing them with the tape to special latches I had installed. I’m sure his dislocated shoulder certainly didn’t feel good being spread out like that. But the positioning would have made Da Vinci proud.  

After securing him to the ottoman and taping him down, I pulled up a chair and spoke with him. He was just regaining consciousness and was in a lot of pain. Although clearly in agony, he was able to tell me that none of his other victims was capable of fighting back, or even tried. He had never encountered any real physical resistance, especially in that he knew how to handle his knife effectively. He admitted that he was very surprised to be in his current vexing position. 

I proudly told him about my martial arts training, and that my martial arts style was tailor-made for the type of approach he used. I also mentioned to him that he was about to undergo corrective re-educational treatment that was going to involve quite a bit of physical punishment and torture. 

Starting the corrective treatment, I went to my storage cabinet and grabbed some equipment, including my set of probes and wires, along with some Vaseline. I decided to set the Killer’s first punishment with electricity. I favor electricity as a punishment since, when used prudently, doesn’t leave much evidence.

After inserting a 4-inch probe into the Killer’s anus, I hooked it up to my special intermediate-voltage batteries that I had assembled. They generate only around 50 volts. It’s not enough to kill or maim, but it certainly produces a nice blast of pain. The set-up has a nice on-off switch. He tried to resist the probe, but with the application of a little Vaseline and some tweaking of one buttocks cheek, it was no problem to overcome his sphincter and slip the probe in.  

The other electrode was in the form of a clamp which I like to apply to the tongue. Sometimes I would use the lips or ears, but the tongue is nice because it is moist, so it conducts electricity well. 

After strapping a piece of duct tape over the Killer’s mouth to muffle any screams, I turned on the electricity, letting it run for a few minutes. The Killer really didn’t like it. His body flapped and gyrated, not unlike a tuna on dry land. 

In case he would refuse to open his mouth to allow for the clamp in the future, I had two fishhooks standing by. When a fishhook is placed in each nostril and pulled upward, it more or less guarantees the subject will open his mouth.  

After the re-education session, I finished the teaching with a swift kick directly to the exposed testicles. I like to do that as a finishing touch, something I know the perpetrator will remember. Men never forget a swift kick to the balls, even in later life.  

On subsequent days, I administered similar teaching techniques. I also used a red-hot spatula which I heated up on the stove. I generally don’t like to use heat because it leaves evidence of torture, something the police could observe. But I always took care to finish each session with a good swift kick to the guy’s balls. 

After five days of corrective punishment, I sat down with the BTRK Killer, pulling up a chair right by his head. Of course, by this time, he was utterly exhausted and could barely lift his head from the ottoman. It was then that I admitted my second secret, something I was sure he would appreciate, in view of his self-proclaimed acronym. My secret was that I was known as the DTED Killer. Those letters stood for Defeat, Torture, Electrify and Decapitate. 

I discussed the amazing irony of two serial killers meeting the way we did. Obviously, one of us was going to win. This time, it was me. I wished him better luck next time. 

The next morning, after finishing the job on the BTRK Killer and burying him in my backyard, I decided to go back to the gym and resume my workouts. It’s important to stay in shape, remembering to work on muscle strength, flexibility and aerobic fitness. Those are the three important parts of overall fitness. And, of course, remember to eat in a healthy fashion, if possible having organic food, and avoiding excessive saturated fat and carbs. 

January 21, 2023 05:50

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4 comments

Russell Mickler
20:56 Jan 27, 2023

Yeah, a difficult piece … in my mind, violence in response to violence is problematic. I get the fantasy of the story and can acknowledge there’s some who would want to see this kind of revenge killing over the justice system. Still, I’m left with a Dexter-like revulsion for the protagonist … makes sense given the ending. Myself, I can’t identify with a psychopath, and justice for the 16 other victims was thwarted. I did like the play by play on the fight scene! Sections read a wee bit BDSMy … ouch! … but hey you warned us at the intro ...

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BRUCE MARTIN
00:22 Jan 28, 2023

Hi, Russell, Thanks for your comments. Yes, it was a difficult piece to write, and I had a feeling that many people would not like the graphic violence. My sister told me she couldn't even get through it. Well, now that it's out of my system, I'll go back to writing much more genteel pieces.

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Russell Mickler
00:44 Jan 28, 2023

Laugh - sometimes that'd what it takes! Just getting it out of your head and on paper :) Right on, look forward to the next one :) R

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Wendy Kaminski
16:03 Jan 21, 2023

What a twist ending, Bruce! I am sure so many of the (BTK's) victims would enjoy visualizing this immensely. There's something so satisfying about revenge, and I loved that you made a killer to kill a killer. The line "But the positioning would have made Da Vinci proud." made me chuckle in all of this, very visual! But I think the funniest part was the mundane ending, as if it was a chat with your workout trainer. Nice touch on an original piece!

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