Chapter Nineteen: Building Steam with a Grain of Darkness:

Miki twirled around in the abandoned apartment. “I love you so much, Katsumi-kun!”

Katsumi lay on their futon with beer in his hand. “I love you too, babes.”

“You saved me. Without you, I would’ve killed myself.” The dim moonlight shone like a halo upon his girl. “You are savior.”

“That’s poetry, Miki-chan,” Katsumi said.

Miki walked over and crawled on top. “This is fate!” He placed his arm around and waist. She giggled and kissed him on the lips.

“What do we do with her?” Miki asked. The couple turned to their victim across the room. She lay bound and gagged staring at them big-eyed.

“Oh yes,” Katsumi said. “What should we do first?”

“I don’t know where to start,” Miki said. “We can do anything to her, right?” Katsumi gave her a quick kiss.

“Yes,” he said.

“Can we cut her face?”

“Go ahead.”

“Ooo! I love you so much.” Miki climbed off and picked up his knife. The shiny col metal made her shiver. Miki eyed her victim. She sneered at the girl’s trembling.

“Your face is too pretty,” Miki said. One slash across the nose made the victim scream. Katsumi sat up grinning. Miki snorted.

“Shut up,” she said. She took the blade across the victim’s left cheek. Blood ran down the blade.

“Who knew skin cut so easily?” Miki asked. Another cut spanned from the victim’s forehead to chin. Her cheeks, nose, and eyelids stained her face red. Miki sat back, frowning.

“Now I’m bored,” she said. Miki started stabbing the victim in the forehead with the tip of her knife. Katsumi wanted to rush forward and kiss his girlfriend as the victim gave off a muzzled scream.

“Hey, baby,” he said. Miki turned her head.

“Yeah?” she asked. Her boyfriend rose to his feet.

“Let me have a turn at her!” He held the beer bottle in his hand. Miki stepped aside.

“Hit it!” she shouted. Katsumi broke his bottle. The victim shut her eyes, shaking. She felt the broken glass ripping across her skin. Katsumi and Miki laughed at her pain. When cutting and poking lost its appeal, Miki picked up a baseball bat and beat the other girl in the head. Her blood splashed onto their special box. Miki lowered her bat.

“Is she dead?” she asked. Katsumi put his fingers to the victim’s neck.

“Yep. She’s dead.”

Miki dropped her shoulder, frowning. “Already? That was boring.” The couple froze when they heard a soft click in their room. They whipped around to see their beloved box creaking open.

“What the hell?” Katsumi asked. A deep purple fog crawled out of the crack and snaked over to the body. It made gurgling noises as it transformed into a jelly-like substance. Miki’s jaw dropped.

“Katsumi-kun!” she said, gasping. After fifteen seconds, the purple jelly darted back into the black box. With one click of the lock, all that remained was burnt bones, liquefied insides, torn clothes, and duct tape. The couple looked at each other.

“Katsumi-kun, did it just…?” Miki asked.

“Yeah,” he said. They had to see that again.