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His body nothing more than a carcass now, but the old woman continued to stab him until her arms grew tired.
Varias Caras shoved the lighter into his mouth and then, before Ray could react, let go of his wrist and punched him in the mouth.
Ignacio and el Monstro fell fast asleep.
The socket was crusted with a mixture made of the same grotesque ichor and blood. Parts of the optic nerve hung out from the hole like small little tentacles, like a small squid or octopus was trying to climb out of the man’s head.
There was something beautiful about it. It had a certain innocence about it. Like the man had ended up here, hurt and covered in blood, but it wasn’t his fault. Or at least, not all of his fault.
“But that’s how this cruel, cruel world works. It gives you things you love and then takes them away without warning. And when you try to fight back, when you try to not let the world push you around, they call you a monster.”
“It’s strange that it took me moving into these isolated woods to run into someone like me.”
She’d done some crazy things in her life, but following Ignacio had to be up there with stabbing her husband to death.
She’d taken care of him. Nurtured him back to health. Killed some of the people who might’ve gotten the best of him the first night he’d returned to the woods. Was the reason he was standing here, alive, really. But he didn’t feel anything as he stared down at the old woman’s still body.
The enemy of my enemy is a friend.
Gregorio Olmos always wanted to make things square. And there was a certain cannibal whom he owed a few bullet holes.
The only thing that would stop these nightmares, and these endless nights, would be knowing the cannibal was dead.
Ignacio’s mother had been beheaded. Just like Judy.
One way or another, he or the cannibal would be dying out in those woods.
if it feels wrong and works in your favor, it’s probably against the law.
No one told you when your loved ones died, that they would die and die again in your nightmares.
He could almost hear the girl’s thoughts as she ran, as her body began to slow. Could almost hear her wondering if this was the last day she’d be alive. It most certainly was.
hunting animals wasn’t anywhere near as thrilling as hunting down humans.
When the masks were off, the weak personality would be active. That personality would interact with people at work, at stores, and do all the mundane things needed to live among the civil world.
Varias Caras couldn’t feel or hear Ignacio. He’s all but dead.
The monster was in the driver’s seat with full control.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are…”
“Ignacio... is not here. Ignacio is dead.” Papá let out a small laugh. “No, mijo. You’re just reborn.”
This is like going to Disney World for weirdos like me.”
There was her, a girl who hallucinated. A depressed former sheriff with endless sadness. A guy who was a DJ at a rave for goth kids. And now a strange girl who wanted to be called “Raigeki” had joined the squad. The only one with any sort of normalness to them was Gavin, which in some way made him the oddball for being associated with this group at all.
All roads lead back to the camp.
“Big weapon. Very dangerous. Stay away.”
“You won’t stop until one of you is dead. You or the cannibal.”
“The cannibal’s responsible for my constant anxiety, the sleepless nights, the nightmares, the guilt…
“I’m in this because the cannibal killed my daughter. And you two are in it for adventure.”
“I’m not a boy,” Ignacio said, standing up. “I’m a monster.”
Mask on. Weapons equipped. It was killing time once again.
The whole time, his hands would be itching to grab the machete from his back. But this was a different Ignacio. A more patient Ignacio. And as he would come to find out, a more ruthless one, too.
On the wall, near the window where his little brother’s head had been lying, was a poster of The Fifth Element starring Bruce Willis.
Staring at the spot where his little brother’s head had been, his stupid shaggy hair drenched in blood and flailed out on the floor like a mop top, he knew he’d made the right decision to come out here.
It seemed at least one person was planning to escape. But tonight, Varias Caras wouldn’t let there be any survivors.
Ignacio clapped his hand over his mouth to stifle his giggle. He was pretending to be strong and brave, but Ignacio knew the truth. The old man was scared and hurt.
The head and part of the spine completely detached from the rest of the body’s skeleton.
It was a strange feeling to want a crazed cannibal to run after her, but she needed to lead him right to where she wanted him.
The innocent part of Ignacio Calderon, the naïve part of his mind that collected women to make them his playthings didn’t quite understand the meaning of the word “pride.”
“Was… was Ignacio… a bad guy…?”
The last one standing. Not the final girl. No, this time she hadn’t just survived the cannibal. This time, she’d bested him. This was it. The final slaughter.
It was time to go home. Alone. But that was better than being dead out here.
I know there are likely lots of questions left unresolved, but sometimes I think the best stories are the ones that remain enshrouded in mystery even after they’re over.
