{"id":1746,"date":"2023-10-29T15:41:49","date_gmt":"2023-10-29T14:41:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alexisveenendaal.com\/?p=1746"},"modified":"2024-07-15T17:27:21","modified_gmt":"2024-07-15T16:27:21","slug":"fingers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.alexisveenendaal.com\/index.php\/2023\/10\/29\/fingers\/","title":{"rendered":"Fingers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>Reader discretion advised.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>*PLEASE NOTE: This is a short horror story containing violence, explicit language, and torture.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI want to know what you\u2019re thinking.\u201d<br>I held her hand in mind like a lover might, stroking each of her soft fingers between mine. She trembled under my touch.<br>\u201cPlease, tell me what you\u2019re thinking.\u201d<br>Her blue eyes shined with tears.<br>\u201cI want to know you,\u201d I whispered.<br>When she didn\u2019t speak, I gripped her index finger and yanked it back. The bone cracked and she screamed.<br>Heart hammering, I moved to her middle finger, shushing her as her sobs subsided.<br>\u201cYou need to be better at communicating,\u201d I said, my words hasty now. \u201cYou talk, and I\u2019ll listen. All I want is to listen.\u201d<br>\u201cFuck you,\u201d she spat and sobbed again.<br>I brought the finger to my mouth and kissed it gently. Then I twisted, eliciting a sweet, popping chorus.<br>Her scream came out as a coughing gasp, choking her words.<br>\u201cWhat was that, dear? I didn\u2019t hear you.\u201d<br>\u201cG-go to hell.\u201d<br>She sweated, but it was a cold sweat in the damp, stony basement. The walls practically dripped with moisture from the week-long rain. I loved the rain. It smelled so sweet. It didn&#8217;t smell as sweet as she did.<br>I bent and lay my tongue against her temple, dragging it up her brow to taste the salt and blood. I smacked my lips and dipped a finger into her dewing tears. \u201cYou don\u2019t need to be afraid, my darling. I don\u2019t want to do this.\u201d<br>At her silence, I shifted to the next finger. The ring finger. Slowly, I wiggled that thin band free and lay it over her chest. She gave a panicked wheeze as I took the unburdened finger in my hand. \u201cHe couldn\u2019t give you what I can give you.\u201d At that, her white-stricken eyes shifted to look over the table she was strapped to, to the bloody mess in the corner. Hardly any limbs to distinguish. \u201cHe couldn\u2019t protect you. But I can protect you.\u201d<br>She blubbered something too quiet for me to hear. I moved my ear to her lips.<br>\u201cWhat did you say?\u201d<br>\u201cI s-said,\u201d she hissed, her breath hot and minty against my cheek, \u201cyou\u2019re a ps-psychopath.\u201d<br>She lashed out, then, like a viper, hissing and spitting with teeth all bared. She tried to snap at me but the hound was leashed and I was faster. I danced back as she gnashed at the air.<br>I smiled, then; stepped forward. I took her hand, with the two broken fingers. I snapped it back in one clean motion.<br>Tiny twig bones splintered all at once like a foot fallen on crisp autumn leaves.<br>Ignoring her agonised screams, I walked around the table and took her other hand. The pinkie first, this time. I stuck the tip of it in my mouth\u2013just a quick taste\u2013then held it up where she could see it.<br>\u201cLet\u2019s try this again, my love.\u201d This time, I reached for the knife. \u201cI want to know what you\u2019re thinking.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>*PLEASE NOTE: This is a short horror story containing violence, explicit language, and torture.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1747,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[341],"tags":[337,229,335],"series":[],"class_list":["post-1746","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-scary","tag-halloween","tag-horror","tag-scary"],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/blog.alexisveenendaal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/hand-1299163_1280.png","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/blog.alexisveenendaal.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/seriously-simple-podcasting\/assets\/images\/no-album-art.png","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"amazon":{"key":"amazon","url":"https:\/\/music.amazon.ca\/podcasts\/09c34bbc-b359-49af-a286-31830ed5634c\/short-stories","label":"Amazon","class":"amazon","icon":"amazon.png"},"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/short-stories\/id1621456328","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"google_play":{"key":"google_play","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.google.com\/feed\/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbGV4aXN2ZWVuZW5kYWFsLmNvbS9mZWVkL3BvZGNhc3Qvc2hvcnQtc3Rvcmllcw","label":"Google Play","class":"google_play","icon":"google-play.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.google.com\/feed\/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbGV4aXN2ZWVuZW5kYWFsLmNvbS9mZWVkL3BvZGNhc3Qvc2hvcnQtc3Rvcmllcw","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/0lcQCRs52MfYlKs35lVX4K","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"},"itunes":{"key":"itunes","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/short-stories\/id1621456328","label":"iTunes","class":"itunes","icon":"itunes.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/blog.alexisveenendaal.com\/feed\/podcast\/default-podcast","embedCode":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"NkoVZRMWml\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.alexisveenendaal.com\/index.php\/2023\/10\/29\/fingers\/\">Fingers<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.alexisveenendaal.com\/index.php\/2023\/10\/29\/fingers\/embed\/#?secret=NkoVZRMWml\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\" title=\"&#8220;Fingers&#8221; &#8212; Alexis Veenendaal\" data-secret=\"NkoVZRMWml\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n\/* <![CDATA[ *\/\n\/*! 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