Demigods

Uncle Adam

Disclaimer: This chapter contains intense gore and violence.

Four teenage boys sat on the curb, whistling and sucking on lollipops. Four bicycles laid sprawled behind them on a freshly-cut green lawn. Brandon, a blond kid with braces, had a pair of binoculars hidden behind him. Every once in a while, he glanced at the grey bungalow, a few feet away at the other side of the street.

“How long do we have to wait?” Louie asked. The pale, stout boy wiped the sweat off on his shirt.

“He should be leaving anytime soon.” Brandon replied.

Seth scoffed. The skinny dark-haired boy rolled his eyes before rising from the curb. “This is so dumb. We could be doing a million other things right now.”

Brandon quickly shot him a glare. “I’m telling you, there’s something up with my Uncle Adam.”

“Yeah, we know. He bought that nice blue Cadillac that your Dad couldn’t afford.”

Seth laughed as he shook Reece’s hand. Reece chuckled— pushing back the strands of his long curly dark hair that had covered his left eye.

“You both are just idiots.” Brandon fired weakly, struggling to hide his embarrassment. “I told you I had seen Kevin at his house the night before he went missing.”

Reece rose to his feet to join Seth. “I guess it all makes sense that the terrible Crownsville Childhunter is your uncle.”

“Let’s chill out for a second.” Louie jumped in. “There is a chance his uncle could be the Childhunter.”

“And it could be that he really hates his uncle and sees him as a monster.” Seth objected. “I mean, take a look at the guy. He is way too cool to be a psycho.”

“Until he’s actually one.” Brandon blurted.

“He probably just goes around, picking up kids in his Cadillac.” Reece responded again.

Brandon bit down on his lower lip. He couldn’t think of a witty reply but he remained certain that there was something weird about his Uncle Adam. The front door of the grey house opened, a handsome young man stepped out. He held up a trash bag which he dumped into the trashcan in front of his house.

“Hey guys.” He called out, waving at the boys.

“Hey, Mister Adam.” They all chorused in unison, beaming with fake smiles.

Adam wasn’t exactly a large man but he appeared to be fit. His sleek brown hair almost turned gold under the sun’s beam. He had an exceptional white smile and was a very cheerful person. He walked back into the house which drove the boys close to the threshold of impatience.

“This is taking way too long.” Reece complained

“Anytime now.” Brandon said as he stared intently at the house.

A few moments later, the garage door pulled open and the blue Cadillac slowly rolled out into the driveway. It pulled up further into the road and zoomed off in the opposite direction of the boys.

“Hurry!” Brandon yelled.

The four boys took off for the slowly closing garage door. Brandon got through first, Seth followed almost immediately, Reece slid through next and Louie barely managed to slither in. The boys chuckled excitedly, feeling very proud of their little stunt.

“Let’s go in.” Brandon signaled to the others and they made their way into the house.

Even in that bright hot afternoon, the hallway remained poorly-lit with a few sun-rays perforating the darkness. The boys cautiously walked down the hallway until they came into the living room. The room laid bare and somewhat unkempt with a single couch, a flat screen television and a small table covered in empty beer bottles.

“So your uncle is an alcoholic.” Seth muttered.

“Which means he is probably not kidnapping children in his spare time.” Reece remarked.

Brandon spotted a bunch of keys lying on the TV stand and he picked it up. The boys gawked at each other in silence as though they were waiting for someone to come up with a suggestion on what they ought to do with the keys.

“Let’s check out the doors in the hallway.” Louie spoke, unfreezing the group.

They all crept back into the hallway in a single file. Brandon tried the first door and it creaked open. They peered into the bedroom— finding nothing of interest, they moved onto the next room.

This time Seth turned the doorknob but the door didn’t bulge. Brandon stepped up and jammed a key into the keyhole. After three attempts, the door finally gave way. The putrid stench of urine hit them just before they could peer into the room. There was a large wet map that soaked the carpet. A much larger table sat by the wall— containing a pair of handcuff, some empty pizza boxes and a hammer. The boys remained quiet— not knowing what to make of the scene.

They moved on to the next room but the door remained still. Brandon stabbed the key in again and this time it opened once. The room was filled with a red beam and a rope line that had several pictures clipped to it. They walked into the red room and began unclipping the pictures out of sheer curiosity. Their eyes widened in horror as they stared at the several photos of dismembered bodies of little children.

“Holy shit!” Seth yelled. “What the hell is this?”

“I told you he was a freaking psycho.” Brandon replied.

“I think…I think we should leave.” Louie stuttered.

“No way!” Reece blurted. “This psycho probably has Kevin stashed somewhere in this hellhole.”

Brandon spotted a door at the corner of the room. “There is a door right there.”

Everyone rushed over except Louie who was getting really nervous about being caught.

“Guys, let’s get out of here.” Louie reiterated.

Everyone ignored him and Brandon opened the door. The entrance yawned with a deadly enigma. Brandon felt around the walls, a bulb lit up. The light beamed on the stairwell that led into a basement. Brandon swallowed his fear and slowly descended into the basement. The others followed closely behind him.

As they descended, the sickening stench of decay grew stronger. When Brandon got to the foot of the stairs, he immediately retched. The gore that settled in the basement made them all cringe. Suddenly, the basement had became very  hauntingly frigid.

A large steel table was smeared with an dreadful amount of blood and a pale torso laid on it. There were two shelves hanging on the wall, a deep freezer and a covered barrel by the stairs. The shelves were almost filled with human skulls.

There was a creak at the top of the stairs and heads quickly shot towards the stairs. Two feet stood at the top of the stairs and they slowly began to descend. Adam came into view— he had a wicked smirk across his face and his eyes shone with malice.

“Hey, kids.” He said. “It’s kinda weird finding you here.”

“Back the fuck up!” Seth roared. “I have a knife.”

He pulled out a penknife and took a bold step forward. Adam’s smirk stretched wider and he took two more steps forward.

“You guys got a little too curious.” He spoke even calmer. “You all fully understand why I can’t let you leave now.”

“I’m serious, man. If you take another step, I swear I’ll slash your face open.” Seth threatened.

Adam took two more steps and cracked his fingers. Seth charged at him with a roar. Adam grabbed his armed hand and punched him square in the face. Seth fell to the ground and instantly Reece charged as well. Adam grabbed him— slamming him into the wall. Adam pulled off the lid of the barrel and the pungent smell filled the room. He grabbed Reece and threw him headfirst into the barrel. The acid sizzled, hungrily consuming the flesh off his skin. Reece’s muffled scream stopped and he sank further into the barrel.

Seth tried to reach for his penknife again. Adam’s foot came down hard on his fingers. He let out a deafening shriek before Adam slammed his head into the ground. The dull thud resonated, leaving Seth unconscious.
Adam’s glare turned to the last two boys. Brandon inhaled deeply, sucking up courage before rushing at Adam. Adam rammed his fist into Brandon’s groin. Brandon gasped for air as he slowly crashed to the ground. Louie saw a window of opportunity and tried to race out of the basement.

Adam quickly grabbed him, slamming his head twice into the wall. He threw him to the ground and with brute force he stomped his head until there was gory mess of blood, brain matter and skull fragments.

Seth suddenly dived unto Adam’s back and sank his penknife into his shoulder. Adam roared in pain before pulling the boy off him. He pushed him against the wall and began to choke him.

Brandon rushed at him again. This time Brandon pushed unto the stairs– pummeling his face with powerful punches. Adam eventually caught a fist and head-butted the enraged boy. Brandon’s head shot backwards as he heard the sickening crunch of his own nose. He threw Brandon across the room right into the steel table. A meat cleaver fell right onto Brandon’s back.

Adam walked over to where Seth laid, he stomped his foot hard against the back of his head. Bone popped out of his neck with a gush of crimson. Brandon backed into the wall as Adam approached him.

“Saved the best for last.” Adam said. “You never really liked me, did you?”

Brandon pulled out the cleaver and shoved it into Adam’s thigh. The handsome maniac crumbled with a pained roar. Brandon leapt over him and dashed out of the basement. He rushed to the living room, unlocked the door and pulled it open.

Just before he could step out, he felt an arm on his shoulder. A force pulled him back into the house and slammed the door behind him. No one heard the muffled screams that came from Adam’s house neither did they hear the gurgling sound that came afterwards.

The door suddenly flung open.

Brandon stumbled out into the street, covered in blood and armed with a bloody meat cleaver. He knelt the middle of the road, muttered something incoherent and fainted.