The Killing House

20

Rico Herrera broke down, sobbing in relief. Being mildly dehydrated, he could produce only a few tears.

Marie smiled. ‘I brought you something to drink,’ she said, and placed the bottle of Gatorade on the floor, directly in his line of vision. ‘Look.’

She stepped back, shining the beam of the flashlight on the bottle. Rico stared at it. He swallowed dryly several times, but didn’t dare move without permission.

‘Go ahead, honey. You’ve suffered enough.’

Rico rolled on to his stomach. Having little food and almost no water for the past three days, he crawled to conserve his strength.

Marie smiled when his grimy, shaky hand clutched the bottle. He nearly cried out in triumph.

Rico cracked open the cap. He had started to roll on to his back when she said, ‘You need to sit up and drink it… Here, let me help you… There, isn’t that better? Now drink it slowly, or you’ll throw it up… That’s better. Take your time.’

All the while Rico sipped it, crying, Marie knelt behind him, rubbing his bony back and reassuring him that his mother was waiting upstairs to take him home. When Rico tilted his head back to drain the last of the liquid, she wrapped a rope around his throat.

Rico didn’t have the strength to mount a fight. When his arms went limp, she kept twisting the rope. She had to make sure his brain was deprived of oxygen for just a few more seconds.

Marie had no intention of killing him. She just needed him unconscious. Strangling required more effort, but it was much easier than trying to administer an injection. She had tried that with the first few, and every time they saw the needle it triggered some sort of adrenalin reserve. They fought back and screamed. She wanted them to sit still; too much of the sedative in their weakened condition could potentially stop the heart.

Finally, Rico slumped to the floor. She didn’t require Brandon’s help with this part; she could easily lift Rico herself.

Cradling Rico in her arms, Marie stood and carried him out of the room, the length of rope tapping against her thigh.