“Okay. What’s the bucket for?” I headed over to it and grabbed the goggles and sick mask.
“When you vomit, do it in there. We can’t have you drag blood into other parts of the house to run to the bathroom.”
I shook my head. “I-I won’t throw up. At least. . .I don’t think so.”
“You will. We all do the first couple of times. It just means that you’re human.”
“Ebony.” Wyatt rolled on the ground. “Ebony, please.”
“Sorry.” Yoshiro gestured to Wyatt. “I should’ve duct taped his mouth, but I didn’t want to.”
“Why not?” I asked.
“Because I wanted to hear him scream.”
Wyatt whimpered.
Stunned, I stared at Yoshiro.
He gave me a sad smile. “Was that TMI?”
“Maybe not TMI. Just scary as fuck.”
A trickling sound came from the floor. I looked down at Wyatt. He’d pissed on himself.
Fuck you, Wyatt. You caused this on yourself. Blame no one, but you.
I placed the goggles over my eyes and the sick mask over my nose and mouth.
God, I’m sorry. I don’t know, if you want me to do this or not. But I did my best to keep it from coming to this.
I headed back to Yoshiro.
“How are the kids?” Yoshiro handed me the shotgun.
“Their good.” I took the shotgun from him. “I sent them to bed.”
“They’re not suspicious?”
“They wouldn’t be my kids, if they weren’t suspicious. But they went off to bed anyway.” I gripped the shotgun hard. “Poppy. . .”
“Yeah?”
“Poppy told me that she loved me.”
Yoshiro beamed. “Those are good new words for the day.”
“They are.”
“E-ebony?” Wyatt cried from the floor. “I . . .I’m so sorry.”
I turned his way and walked over to him. “What are you sorry about, Wyatt?”
“I’ll. . .I’ll stop.”
I tilted my head to the side. “Stop what, sweetheart?”
“I’ll stop coming for you. I-it was just. . .I missed you.” Tears left his eyes. “I-I missed the kids.”
“You did?”
“Yes.”
I frowned. “But I thought you wanted to rape me?”
“W-what?” Wyatt frantically shook his head. “Where did you get that? Never. Never.”
“I read it in your journal.”
Wyatt opened his mouth in shock and then went back to begging for his life. “Ebony, p-please. This isn’t you.”
“It is now.”
“You’re good.”
“If I was so good, then why did you beat me?”
Wyatt’s trembled. “Because. . .b-because something is wrong with m-me, but if you let me go—”
“I won’t.”
“I-if you let me go, I’ll get help.”
“You won’t. You said that before.”
“The kids will miss me. I’m their f-father. . .”
I lifted the shotgun at him. “You’re not. You stopped being their father when you raised your hand against me anger. When you raised your filthy abusive hands to my daughter and traumatized my babies. No, you’re not their father Wyatt. You’re their monster. The one that haunts them.”
“Ebony! Please!” Wyatt scooted away like a snake but didn’t get more than a feet from where he’d been.
Yoshiro got to my side and stared at Wyatt. “Last chance to step outside, Ebony. I won’t think badly of you.”
“I already told you that this was my problem.” I swallowed and aimed at Wyatt. “What next?”
“Shoot him. Aim for the head. Or. . .”
“Or?” I kept my gaze on Wyatt as the shotgun trembled in my hands.
“Or you can get some closure. Tell him all that he did. That sort of stuff.”
“Fuck that.” I stepped forward and shot.
The bullet hit the wall next to Wyatt.
He screamed in horror, “Ebony! Ebony, I swear I’ll leave you alone. I-I. . .”
“You won’t!” I pulled the trigger again. The bullet lodged into his neck. Blood spilled out of the hole. Wyatt’s body spasmed. I stepped forward and shot him in his crotch. Wyatt went still with his eyes and mouth wide open.
Yoshiro nodded in approval. “That’ll work. Remind me to not piss you off.”
I lowered the shotgun and blew out a long breath. “I did it.”
“You did.”
“He’s dead.”
“Long gone.” Yoshiro took the shotgun from my shaking hands. “Unfortunately, the real work is just beginning.”
“Okay.” I turned away from Wyatt’s dead body. “W-what’s next?”
“Grab a chain saw.”
My hands trembled. I blew out another breath. “Okay.”
“You don’t have to do it.”
“I’m doing it.”
“Ebony—”
“I’m doing it.”
“Stubborn woman.” Yoshiro grabbed one of the chainsaws and headed Wyatt’s way. “Don’t worry about undressing him. The hogs will eat it all up.”
My stomach twisted. “I think I’m done with eating bacon for the rest of my life.”
“That tends to be the consequence after feeding a dead body to hogs.” Holding the chainsaw, he extended his arms, turned it on, and lowered to Wyatt’s body. As soon as the blade hit Wyatt’s neck, blood splattered. A metallic scent filled the air. His neck oozed dark liquid. It pooled around his body.
My stomach knotted and then flopped.
Yoshiro continued, easily slicing into Wyatt’s skin like a butter knife slipping through butter. Bile rose in my throat. When I heard the cracking of bone, I set the chainsaw down and ran to the bucket. Everything that I’d ate left me. It all spilled out to the soundtrack of Yoshiro’s chainsaw and Wyatt’s neck bones being broken apart.