A Collection Of Shorts by ArtL Nightshade (poetry books to read txt) 📕

nodded vigrously now frightened as her babysitter stompped back to her eat and pointed at Sylvia's food with her own fork as a demand to eat it all or else no food for a week.

 

***

 

After slapping Sylvia across the face, Gertrude had a tingling sense, she wanted more, she wanted to abuse Sylvia more. Summoning her children down into the living room while the Liken sisters were sleeping. Her youngest son was still sleepy so he was being carried by her oldest daughter.

 

"Mother, why did you call us down for?" John, her oldest son asked, yawning a bit as he stretched his body. Gertrude scowled at his additude and slapped him across the face, her nails grazing putting a scratch on him and a few drips of blood.

 

"I want you all to beat and torture Sylvia, convince her sister that she is a worthless whore meant to be punished for being a prostitute cause that's what Sylvia is. We all must cleanse her if she wants to be free and the only way to do that is by fire and razors," Gertrude explained recieving multiple gasps and shaking heads. Straighting her back to look more intimidating, she gazed down hard and coldly at her children. "Fine, refuse to clean Sylvia with me and I will kill you all."

 

The Baniszewski children had no choice.

 

***

 

With all his might and dignity, no matter how much it's going to hurt him and her, John punched Sylvia in the stomach and yelled, "wake up you whore!" Sylvia woke up with a start and stared at John dumbstrucked. He had been so nice to her, why would he punch her?

 

Quickly getting out of bed, Sylvia kept quiet and started to head for a shower but before she could, Paula, the eldest child of all grabbed her by the hair and threw her down face first and laughed as the others did. Still on the floor, Sylvia did her best not to let tears fall. What was wrong with them?

 

"Now you can bathe you slut," Paula growled kicking her at the ribcage, sending Slyvia down at the floor more. Paula turned her attention to Jenny with a smile. "Oh Jenny, come, we must keep you away from the devil. You're sister has been possessed by the sin of lust. She must be cleansed."

 

Jenny looked up at Paula then at her sister who was still groaning in pain. Jenny shook her head and went over to her sister and hugged her. Scowling Paula and Stephanie both pried Jenny away from her older sister and both glared hard at her and showed her a knife then explained, in a whisper, what they would do to her if she doesn't do what Gertrude said. Sylvia's sister's eyes widen then she looked down at her older sister and mouthed, "I'm sorry" before slapping her across the face.

 

***

 

Feeling her stress and depression level rising, Gertrude immeditately ran to one of the drawers of her bedroom and took out a cigar and a lighter and began to smoke to calm her but now, it wasn't enough, clenching her free hand into a tight fist, she waited impatiently for Sylvia to get done.

 

As soon as Gertrude heard the shower go off, she made her way towards the guest bedroom where Sylvia and her sister stayed to sleep and get dressed. Rage, stress, and depression filled her mind as she clenched her free hand into a fist, the smoke of the cigar drifting off into the air as she opened the door to see Sylvia putting her pants on. She had on a shirt but her thighs and private part was still bear.

 

"You little slut." Gertrude growled slapping the girl across her face along with the cigar. Sylvia cried out in pain from both the slap and the burning of the cigar. That gave Gertrude a cruel, sinister, sadistic idea.

 

***

*five days later...*

 

 

Sylvia had no idea what she did wrong or why everyone was now turning against her, what confused her the most was her sister's betrayal, she had joined the gang of abusers and they promised each other at a very tender age never to harm one another, to always be together.

 

"Why?" Mouthed Sylvia as Jenny glared coldly at her. Dropping her head, Sylvia began to cry as all mocked her while Gertrude phoned some friends to join in all the "fun". Tears streamed down her face but she made no effort to stop them, having her sister become one of her abusers was just too much and for five days, five days, Jenny had abused her, tormented her, laughed at her.

 

When will the torment end? Was this all just one big nightmare? A punch and a kick in her stomach and thigh answered her question as once again, Sylvia was lying on the floor, curled up in a fatal ball.

 

No, no, this was all real...

 

***

 

Hours went by and Gertrude did not let Sylvia rest, burning the girl's thighs with her cigars, having her children and Jenny punch, slap, and kick Sylvia while crying out "slut" with every hit and spit. The torture was too much for Sylvia to bear and no matter how much she begged and begged for mercy or medical help, her tormentors increased their abuse.

 

"Ah, they've arrived," Gertrude said with a cruel smile, turning her attention to two boys from the neighborhood, Coy Hubbard and Robin Hobbs. "You've arrived just in time, it wouldn't be a party without you two here."

 

The boy, Robin Hobbs, looked to be about sixteen while Coy looked to be about nineteen, Sylvia looked up at the two boys, shaking vigrously, tears streaming down her eyes, she was black, blue, and red all over. She mouthed "help me".

 

One of the boys, Coy, knelt down and smiled a kind smile, at first Sylvia thought that the boys were here to save her, that she was going to get out of this and take Jenny with her as well.

 

She was wrong...

 

***

 

*one week later*

 

"Get her down into the basement and hold her down!" Gertrude yelled as a weak Sylvia thrust about frantically as Coy, John, and Robin all carried her down into the basement where all of Sylvia's nightmares from the past and now come together.

 

"No, no, please!" She begged but all laughed or spit at her, calling her a "slut" as well. The three boys dropped her on the cold concrete floor of the basement not caring if it hurt her or not and they all held her arms and legs down.

 

"You know, maybe Gertrude will be kind enough for me to rape the slut." Coy taunted as Sylvia screamed bloody murdered, thrashing about but she was no match for the boys. They were taller and stronger than her, she was small, meek, and weak from all the torture.

 

Gertrude came down into the basement to join her children, Sylvia's sister, and the two neighboring boys, a grin curled up on the woman's face as she took out her lighter and lit the needle she had in her other hand. Waiting for what seemed like hours to Sylvia, she began to quiver in fear as the woman walked towards her and knelt down by Robin's side.

 

Taking the heated needle, Gertrude guided the sharp end where it was burnt the most and started to carve onto Sylvia's stomach. She cried out in pain and thrashed about again as the woman yelled at the boys to hold her down with more force while slapping Sylvia across the face to silence her.

 

Gertrude finished carving her victim's stomach and stood up to admire her work.

 

"I'm a prostitute and I'm proud of it!"

 

"Tie her up on that collum over there, make sure the wood is stabbing against her backside and why don't all take turns beating Sylvia with this." Gertrude said, taking out a wooden basball bat. Coy was the first to take the bat and a cruel smile appeared on both his face and eyes as he and Robin tied Sylvia against the collum.

 

***

 

With her backside aching in pain, restrained, helpless, and hopeless, Sylvia made no effort to cry out for mercy, she knew now she'll never recieve mercy, only torture. As the two boys, Gertrude's children, and Jenny all took turns hitting, burning, touching, and mutilating Sylvia, she began to see white spots in a distant as their taunts became a distant as well.

 

"Wait," Gertrude commanded as she walked over and untied Sylvia then threw her down onto the floor face first, the floor busted her nose but they could all care less, even Sylvia, she just wanted out, she didn't care how, she just wanted to get out of this abusive torture chamber. Feeling herself being lifted up by the hair, Gertrude guided her to a table. "Write, write to your pathetic parents about you as a slut and sleeping with six boys, willingly. Do it!"

 

Taking the pencil from her hand, Sylvia started to write. Her hands shaking vigrously as she tried to stay awake to do as Gertrude had said. With every moment Sylvia had tried to fall asleep, she was either slapped and shaken but soon, Sylvia could not write another sentence.

 

"You little bitch, write!" Gertrude screamed when she saw Sylvia's head drop and the pencil fall off from her hand, she slapped her across the face with full force sending the girl flying off the chair and onto the cold hard floor. "Pathetic slut."

 

***

 

*one day later*

 

Paula, Robin, and Jenny all walked downstairs into the basement to torment Sylvia some more but once they got their, they saw the face and body of Sylvia Likens, unmoving and eyes widen. Relazation hit them all. Sylvia was dead.

 

As the rest of the Baniszewski children came down along with Coy, Marie, the third daughter of Gertrude Baniszewski shook her head, tears running down her eyes as she and the rest of the children all crowded around the dead body of Sylvia Likens not wanting to believe one bit of what they had done to her.

 

"Enough is enough." Marie sobbed as she ran upstairs to phone the police. This ends now and as Jenny knelt down at her sister's side, crying for her spirit to forgive her, Jenny had a thought, if she couldn't safe Sylvia she could catch her killer.

 

***

 

When the police arrived, already they could smell the foul stench of death but before one of the officers could go in along with the rest, Jenny came out of the door, tears still running down from her eyes.

 

"What happened?" The police officer asked with concern.

 

Sobbing and wiping her eyes, Jenny looked up at the police officer with guilt, regret, and sorrow. Taking a deep breath, the girl looked into the eyes of the officer.

 

"Get me out of here and I'll explain everything."

 

***

 

*two weeks later*

 

"We find, Gertrude Baniszewski, guilty, of first-degree murder." The jury said announcing what Gertrude is at the face of the court. Everyone agreed, some were still mourning over the death of Sylvia, others were angry at Gertrude and wanted her to burn in the deepest parts of Hell.

 

Taking her away, Gertrude had recieved a sentence of life-imprisonment with parole. Sitting in her jail cell, a flash of light blinded the woman as she used her arms and cuffed hands to cover her eyes from the blinding light.

 

A few seconds later the light dimmed down and the spirit of Sylvia Likens, without all the bruises, cuts, and burnt marks were all gone but torture was still in her eyes as Sylvia stared directly into Gertrude's own eyes.