Two Page Shorts by Nick Venom (best books to read for students .txt) 📖

on the ground, beaten to death or with their throat slit. The bodies of the men littered the courtyard, frightening Helen and the others. It was a gruesome and revolting sight, even for the guards; most of them turned away or looked down at soil not yet tainted by innocent blood. 

“Welcome everybody!” Steven announced as he entered the courtyard. “Welcome to a… demonstration of sorts. A demonstration of my power. Since, apparently, many of you believe that I’m powerless without my father, I’ll show how much power I truly retain.” He said before brandishing a whip. “The first volunteer gets it easy, so… who’s taking it first?” He asked with a devilish grin on his face. 

As soon as he finished talking, many women spoke up to become the first victim in the demonstration. They raised their voice to trample on others - they all feared to be the second victim.

“Disgusting,” Beverly spat. “This vile beast!” 

“I guess that’s why demonstration begins with ‘demon’,” Beo muttered to himself, being overheard by Beverly and Helen. They nodded their heads in agreement. 

“Woah, he looks like Catman!” Cat said.

Helen and Beverly looked at Cat with raised eyebrows. Even Boe and Isaan jumped into the conversation, unsure of what they heard.

“You… You mean Catwoman?” Isaan asked.

Cat furrowed her brows. “Catwoman? Who’s that?” She asked. “I’m talking about Catman! The popular DC character.”

“No, that’s Catwoman,” Beverly said. “Well, whatever, let’s focus on what’s-” She was interrupted as Steven whipped the first victim, a petite brunette some distance away from them. The sounds of flesh being torn into by the whip made a few guards tear up and some of the prisoners throw up. Nobody enjoyed what was happening - only Steven.

“Am I weak!” He shouted at the first victim as the whip tore into her skin. She let out blood-curdling screams that echoed around the prison and brought many more to tears. However, the tears that Steven saw erupting from the guards and prisoners didn’t stop him. He continued to whale on the first victim until he was finished with her. He then sat down the second victim in front of him, who had already begun shouting and yelling, and started to whip her. 

“Come on! Tell me that I’m weak! Tell me that I need my father! Come on, you hellish woman!” He shouted before erupting into laughter. The tension in the courtyard grew more and more suffocating - some of the prisoners even passed out due to their nerves acting out. 

“We need to leave now,” Beverly whispered to Helen.

Helen nodded her head before glancing at Cat. She winked at Cat, giving her the signal. Cat winked back, officiating the plan. She grabbed her collar and ripped it off her as Beverly and Helen did the same. They quickly spun to face their escorting guards, ready to fend them off, but it wasn’t needed.

“Don’t kill us, just leave already,” Beo told them.

“We’re sorry that we couldn’t help,” Isaan said. “We’re not going to stop you… leave before they grab you.” 

Beverly frowned, unsure if they were telling the truth or not. However, they had a small window of time before it was known all around the courtyard that they had their collars off. She couldn’t waste it on the guards that refused to fight them.

“Let’s go.” She instructed Helen and Cat before turning around. “Stick to the plan and we can escape!” She whisper-shouted. They nodded, following her as she led the way. Without a collar, they had access to their powers. And, fortunately for them, Beverly’s powers allowed her to control fire - even though her control wasn’t as stable as she would’ve liked. 

She sprayed fire out of her palms, alarming everybody around them. The fire didn’t attach onto anybody but moved them out of the way. However, her lack of control was apparent as the fire stretched out with different lengths and at different temperatures; it was going everywhere. Even so, it did its job. With the fire keeping the guards that wanted to fight them, which wasn’t a large amount, and the other prisoners from attacking them, they were able to approach the closest wall that connected with the outside. 

Meanwhile, Steven stared at them in shock. “T-They… W-What? How? No! NO!” He shouted. “Get them or I’ll have you all killed!” He ordered the guards. Some rushed forward, but most lingered behind. They already knew of Steven’s despicable ways, but the demonstration had put them into a moral debacle that saw one side winning over the other. 

“What are you waiting for!” Steven screeched. “Get them! Damn you all!” He shouted before rushing forward to reach Helen and the others. He had a few guards that were in front of him, trying to snatch one of the girls before they could escape. They wanted to please Steven. 

Unfortunately for them, Cat used her ability. She pressed her palms against the outside wall, muttering something to herself. The wall began crumbling, but in a weird fashion - almost as if time was being reversed. 

Once the wall reached a point where they could escape, now at five feet in height, Cat stopped her ability. Beverly jumped over the now tenth of a wall in front of her, entering freedom on the other side. Cat followed her, jumping over it with great height, for no real reason, and landed on her butt harshly.

“Why?” Beverly questioned.

“I thought we were landing into water.”

Beverly stared at Cat strangely before pulling her to her feet. “Leave! Head to the forest!” She ordered, receiving a nod from Cat as a response. The strange girl sprinted into the forest as Beverly turned around to assist Helen. 

Helen grabbed the top of the wall, which was jagged (since Cat hadn’t perfected the ability), and pulled herself up. However, the guards that wanted to please Steven now reached her. They grabbed her legs and tried to pull her down with some results. 

Helen kicked at them but found fewer results. Instead, she dropped to the ground and grabbed at their arms, her palms heating up and cooling down. Her right hand melted into one guard’s arm while her other hand froze the other guard’s arm. The guards staggered backward, clenching their arms, with a third guard refusing to be mutilated by Helen. 

Helen glared at them before turning around, picking herself up to the wall. She looked onto the other side and saw Beverly waiting for her.

“Let’s go, we need you to lead!” Beverly shouted. “Let’s go before-” She was interrupted by a gunshot ringing in the air. The sound lingered for several moments and without neither girl understanding where the bullet went - until Helen looked down at her stomach. A small exit wound was present; several things clicked into place for Helen. She glanced over her shoulder at a grinning Steven wielding a pistol. 

“You hellish woman… I did say you were going to regret rejecting me.” He told her. “Oh, fall over and die already. I’m bored with you.” He then turned to the third guard. “Send her body to the morgue with the others.” He ordered.

His words didn’t sit well with the guards and prisoners watching him. They looked at him with anger and frustration. However, none of them dared to take any action… except the first and second victims. Their skin was bleeding and torn and their minds were deteriorating far past normal. Resentment filled their hearts and now they had the best opportunity they would ever have. They both charged him, catching him off-guard. 

Steven fought both frail and starved girls with relative ease, throwing them to the side. He pointed his pistol at them, chuckling to himself. “And get rid of these two. I-” Another gunshot rang out, but this one didn’t belong to Steven. It belonged to Beo who was done with Steven’s words and jumped at the first opportunity presented.

Isaan, who stood next to him, pointed his pistol at Steven and pressed the trigger. The bullet exited his pistol and entered Steven’s stomach, putting a total of two bullets into him. This caused a rift between some of his organs and allowed blood to spurt out, now weakening him.

The other guards glanced at Beo and Isaan, but none of them scolded either man for their actions.

“Kill them!” Steven shouted in between gasps. He looked up at the several tens of guards in the courtyard in hopes he could see one of them act on his order. Unfortunately for him, none of them did. Instead, they dropped their guns on the ground as a protest. None of them were going to follow his orders anymore.

“What… W-What the hell a-are you doing!” He shouted. None of the guards responded, looking away from Steven. 

The first and second victims charged a now defenseless Steven and began beating on him. Steven attempted to fight them off, but he was losing large amounts of blood and couldn’t fight as well as he usually could. This motivated the other marked and unmarked women to swarm him, all taking turns kicking him in the gut, torso, legs, and head. They were kicking to kill him. 

Just like how he treated women he was bored with, they decided to dispose of him. He was slowly killed by being kicked in the head repeatedly, his screams filling the prison. Several strong kicks caved his head in, ending the vicious bastard of a son. He was dead and all of the prisoners and guards were free.

 

Sometime earlier, Beverly helped Helen down and avoided having her fall back into the Vault. She held her by her arm and dragged her away from the prison. As she reached the forest, some distance away from the prison, she heard the cries and desperate pleas of mercy from Steven as he was being kicked to death. It brought a smile to her face.

“Where are we going?” Helen asked, applying pressure on her gunshot wound. 

“To somewhere safe,” Beverly said. 

“My house?” Helen questioned.

“Anywhere that isn’t the Vault,” Beverly responded.

“Arcadeland?” Cat chimed in, appearing from behind a tree. “Can we go there?”

Beverly let out a deep sigh before motioning her over. “Let’s follow the road and see if we can find a town. I need you to go ahead and scout for anything. We need bandages for her.”

Cat nodded before sprinting alongside the road, keeping a considerable distance to avoid being seen by Vault Security or a returning Warden, though he wasn’t due for some time now.

Beverly, satisfied that they were leaving the prison, turned to Helen. “We’ll get your help as soon as we can.”

Helen nodded. “Thank you. Thank you so much.” She muttered as a tear escaped her eye. It was a tear of fear, pain, and hope. Mostly hope.

***

 

“I couldn’t get a hit on them. They’re free… I’m sorry, sister. I failed you.” Milly reported, crouching down next to the wall of the courtyard that Helen and the others went through.

“I knew you would. I will send someone to pick you up… your punishment will be waiting for you.” The grim voice remarked. “We’re disappointed.”

A beep sound alerted Milly that she was hung up on. She expected this. She failed her sister and her family.

“I will die… all because they caused this. They created my death. I will soon do the same to them. I promise that. She thought to herself. I swear my life on it.”

Unbeknownst to her, Eagle was watching her from a hallway down. He heard bits of her statements, but not the entire affair. Even so, he strained his ear more and more to hear as much as he could. 

She’s planning something… I need to contact those girls about her. I need to warn them before she makes her move. She’s going to hurt them… but for what reason? I heard another voice, but it wasn’t the Warden. Somebody in the government, maybe? Or the president himself. No matter what, reaching those girls first and warning them is my first priority. He thought to himself as he lightly tugged on his collar. It refused to release