The Man in Black

TW: suicide

"End her life...or I'll end yours."

Carla looked at the girl on the floor, her hands covering her face. She was covered head to toe in blood and dirt.

Carla shook her head. The man in black leaned across her shoulder and whispered, "Do it."

She gripped the knife tighter. How did she get into this mess anyways?? All she was doing was walking home from school on a Friday afternoon and the next thing she knew, the man in black stepped out of nowhere and knocked her out!

She woke up in a damp, dark cellar. She gagged. The place smelled like mold. She looked around frantically. There were no windows. It was too dark to see anything else. Not too far away, was a small green light.

Carla stood up, her whole body shaking. She felt around the wall. Suddenly, her hand brushed against something soft and wet. She stifled a scream and continued on.

She followed the wall, trying to go to the eerie green light.

The light was coming from a keypad on the door. Carla tried to turn the handle but it wouldn't budge.

She hugged her arms. Where am I? How did I get here?

All of a sudden, the lights came on, blinding Carla with the sudden light. The door beeped and flung open. Carla quickly took a step back. In walked her kidnapper and a lady in a white uniform, her hair tied up into a tight bun. She was pushing something.

Now that Carla could see, she looked about the room. The walls were covered in mold. In the middle of the tiny room was a metal chair and, next to it, a metal tray with tools doctors would use.

The man moved out of the lady's way. The lady went around him and parked what she was pushing by the chair.

To Carla's horror, it was a bed with a white sheet covering something on it. The sheet wasn't fully white and, as Carla looked at it closely, she realized that it was covered in blood.

The lady dramatically lifted the sheet off the thing and threw it on the ground.

Carla stumbled backwards. It was girl. Not just any girl, however. The girl looked remarkably like her sister, Janie who has been missing for two weeks. She looked the same height and, from what she can see, the same age, six.

The girl was hugging her knees so she couldn't see her clearly to be sure it was her sister.

The girl was covered in blood and dirt. Her blonde hair was knotted and dirty.

The lady leaned down to the girl's ear. She whispered something to her. The girl winced and slowly sat up. She looked over at Carla, who nearly fell to the floor.

The little girl was her sister!!!

Janie's eyes were filled with fear. Her whole body shook violently.

The lady leaned down again and said, "Get off the bed."

Janie got off the bed. She wasn't wearing her school uniform, the black and white checkered skirt, black shoes, and white long sleeved shirt with a black jacket.

Instead, she was wearing a dirty hospital gown. She had no shoes on her feet and, to Carla's horror, the nails were missing too.

Carla tried to ask her sister, "What did they do to you?" But her lips wouldn't form words.

The man nodded at the lady, ignoring Carla. The lady nodded too and pushed the bed out of the room.

After a few minutes, the man in black started talking.

"Your probably wondering where you are and how you got here, correct?"

Carla opened her mouth but still no words would come out so she nodded her head yes.

The guy chuckled. "I'm afraid I can't tell you that...Carla. But what I can tell you is that neither of you are making it out of here alive."

Carla's knees buckled. What does he mean? How does he know my name? Who is he??

Choosing the most important question, she said, "What do you mean?"

To Carla's surprise, her voice sounded strong and confident. She gave a sigh of relief.

The guy chuckled again. "Your not going to ask me who I am or how I know your name?" Without waiting for an answer, he said, "Doesn't matter, I wouldn't tell you anyways. But, you will soon find out what I mean."

He turned towards the door.

"Wait, who are you?!"

They guy kept walking. At the door, he pressed the buttons on the keypad. The door flew open and he walked out.

Carla waited for a few minutes, just to make sure he was gone.

She rushed over to Janie and looked her over.

"Are you okay? What did they do to you? I was so worried, Janie!"

Janie winced. "I'm alright. Just wounded, I think."

"We have to get out of here. Do you know the password?" Carla said, pointing at the door.

Janie looked at her lap. "We can't get out. There's too many people; we'll get caught. We're stuck here."

Janie looked up at her sister, tears flowing down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry," she said.

Carla shook her head. "There has to be a way out!"

"There isn't."

Just then the door opened again. The man in black walked through but his mask was gone. He had a narrow face with black eyes.

Carla looked at her sister in alarm. Janie stared at the man, her whole body tensed up.

"Carla, we're going to play a game, alright?" he said.

"What kind of game?" Carla asked, turning back to the man.

Not answering, he walked over to the metal tray and, after examining its contents, he picked up a scalpel. He walked over to Janie's chair and knelt down in front of her.

With the scalpel in one hand, he raised the other and stroked Janie's face. Janie flinched away. He laughed maniacally and showed her the scalpel, its blade gleaming in the light.

"I want you to kill your sister."

Carla felt like the breath was knocked out of her. He wants me to kill my sister?!

The man stood up and walked over to Carla. He picked up her hand and placed the scalpel in her sweaty palm.

"End her life....or I'll end yours."

Tears swelled up in Carla's eyes. She couldn't kill her sister. She just couldn't. She started breathing heavily, panic creeping up her body.

There's only one thing I can do.

Carla brought the scalpel to her own neck. She looked at her sister, who's eyes were wide, pleading for her not to do it.

I'm sorry, Janie. I love you.

Carla sliced her own throat, blood squirting out of her neck and onto the white floor, forever staining it red.

Darkness surrounded Carla. Somewhere in the murky black, she could her her sister crying, calling out her name. And somewhere, she could hear a laugh that will forever haunt her dreams.