MasukThree months later, Jack and I jolted awake when we heard someone hammering on our door one morning."It's the police! Open the door!"Jack and I exchanged glances with each other.It seemed that our actions had finally caught up with us.I inhaled deeply before heading toward the door. I turned to look at Jack before I opened the door and noticed that he was wearing an odd expression.It wasn't fear or resolve. Instead, it was a complicated emotion that I didn't quite understand.Two uniformed police officers were standing outside the door along with a few other officers in casual clothes.The officer at the front of the group showed me his ID and said, "Ms. Hailey Langdon? We're from the municipal police station. We need you to cooperate with us to solve a terrible crime."I nodded and shifted to the side to allow the officers to enter the house.Jack stood in the center of the room. The color had drained from his face.The next few hours were like a hazy nightmare.Time t
Surprised gasps erupted among the crowd.An old woman with gray hair suddenly sank to her knees and let out a wail. "What a terrible tragedy… I already told them that they would get their comeuppance…"Jack retrieved a metal box from his bag. There was a stack of yellowed photos inside. He distributed the photos to the women.I could see their hands trembling.The color drained from a young woman's face as she stared at the photo. Her husband was with the other men in the photo, doing terrible things to Sarah, who was strung up in a tree.Another woman suddenly whipped around and began dry heaving. Her eyes were shining with shock and fear.The photo that she had been looking at showed a group of men surrounding a naked woman. They were grinning cheerfully as the woman kneeled on the ground with a terrified, pained expression.I remembered that woman's face. The woman holding the photo was the mother of the woman in the photo."He told me that our daughter went missing. He told
That night, the rest of the men gathered in the hall, keeping the lights burning through the rest of the night.I carried a pot of stew that I had spiked with a "special ingredient" into the hall and said softly, "All of you have been working so hard. You should have some stew to keep warm."They gratefully accepted the bowls of stew from me and began scarfing it down.Meanwhile, I stood in a dark corner and watched as they collapsed one after the other. They foamed at the mouth while their limbs twitched erratically.Finally, only one man was still breathing. He pointed at me with terror shining in his eyes. "You… The stew…"I kneeled down next to him and whispered into his ear, "Remember how you killed Sarah Langdon five years ago? She's my sister."Jack was waiting for me outside when I left the hall. He was carrying two bags with him."Is it done?"I nodded and stared at the silent forest in the distance. "Sarah can finally rest in peace."I turned to look at the corpses t
Jack and I snuck into the village when night fell.Having infiltrated the village five years ago, we knew every nook and cranny like the back of our hands. We first cut the phone lines before spiking all the wine barrels in the only wine cellar in the village.The drugs weren't lethal, but they were made from herbs that were strong enough to paralyze a person's entire body.Jack and I went over our plan again.Jack nodded as a cold glint flickered in his eyes.…Chaos erupted in the village the next morning.Dozens of men had suddenly become paralyzed. They became bedridden and could only stare with wide eyes.The village doctor was at a loss for what to do. He blinked his hazy eyes as the villagers pressured him for an answer. Finally, he sank to his knees and exclaimed that the divine tree was exacting its punishment on the village.…That night, Jack and I put our revenge plan into motion.Our first target was David.We carried him to the divine tree and treated him the
I screamed as the excruciating pain yanked me out of my memories and back to reality.The men continued torturing me. One of them even used a branch to hit me, staring at the red welts on my body with a manic glint in his eyes."Why is this bitch so quiet now? She was moaning so wantonly earlier!" one of the men spat in irritation.Another man approached me and placed his finger under my nose, checking to see if I was breathing. "We can't let her die so easily. I haven't had my fill of fun with her yet."I bit down hard on my lip. The metallic taste of blood spread across my tongue. I couldn't die here. I hadn't taken revenge for Sarah yet. I was determined to make these beasts pay for what they had done to her!The man breathed a sigh of relief before he grabbed my breast with a wicked grin. "She's still breathing. We can still have fun with her."Just then, a piercing whistling cut through the air.The men paused and exchanged glances with each other.David buckled his belt a
Before I could figure out what was happening, a rough, masculine voice reverberated in my ear."This woman is even sluttier than I expected!"My eyes flew open. The blood in my veins froze when I took in the scene before me.The vines weren't actually part of the tree. They were just elastic props that were wrapped in tree bark.About eight men stood around me. Their lower halves were exposed as they grinned at me wickedly.The concoction made my thoughts sluggish. My voice trembled as I stammered, "You… What are you…"David stepped out from behind the tree. He slowly unbuckled his belt as he said, "The divine tree isn't real. It's just an excuse we made up to trick you stupid women. "For the past two decades, every woman who married into our village has been forced to go through this. You should thank your lucky stars that you were fortunate enough to be selected to serve us."A chill ran down my spine. I finally understood why the women who were sent to the divine tree alway