Gertie pulled at the bars of the cage, so blinded by rage and terror that she thought the burst of adrenaline might let her bend steel. Of course, it didn't. And there wasn't a damn thing she could do to stop those psychos from hacking up Charlene.

* * *

The wound stung and Charlene could feel the blood running down her neck, but with her arms bound she couldn't touch it to see how bad it was. At least she could still breathe.

Ken looked furious. He smacked Jared on the back of the head so hard that his son dropped the knife. Jared spun around and for an instant Charlene thought the two men might come to blows, but Jared backed away, rubbing his head.

"What was that all about?" Jared asked.

"That is not how we do it. You don't just slash out at her like you've gone feral. How long do you think she'll live now?"

"I thought the whole point was to kill her."

"Not like that! If you want to slash somebody's throat, find yourself a prostitute and do it behind a Dumpster. That's not what I'm trying to teach you. Look at all that blood."

"I didn't slash her throat. It's tiny little streams of blood. If we put a Band-Aid on it she'll be fine. I didn't realize you were so concerned about her well-being."

"This was a mistake," said Ken. "Your mom was an idiot for bringing you here."

"Don't call Mom an idiot."

"I didn't call her an idiot. I said she was behaving like an idiot."

"No, you called her an idiot."

"Don't you dare argue with me. I know the circumstances are weird, but I'm still the father and you're still my son. As long as you live in my house and eat the food that I buy, you will respect me. Do you understand?"

Jared seemed to realize that he'd crossed the line. "Yeah, I understand. I've been waiting for this for so long that I got excited. I shouldn't have cut her neck. I'm sorry."

Ken placed his hand on Jared's shoulder. "It's all right. I shouldn't have snapped at you."

Charlene couldn't believe she was witnessing this fucked-up display of father/son reconciliation. They looked like they were going to hug, burst into tears, and tell each other how much they loved them.

"I'm going to check on your mom," said Ken. "I'll only be gone a minute, but you can do anything you want to her. I take that back—nothing sexual. Anything else is okay."

Jared picked the knife up off the floor. "Can I jab out her eyes?"

"If you want. It means she can't see what's going to happen next."

"Seems like that would be scarier."

"No. It's scarier if she can see the knife."

"Maybe I'll only do one eye, then."

"It's totally up to you. Don't touch Gertie."

"I won't."

"Have fun."