A Life Traded My Life for Hers I had lived in the Philippines with my wife and daughter for five years and loved every minute of it. With my daughter now ten, we decided to move back to the US in the spring after school so that my daughter, Amy, could enjoy her teenage years in the culture of my birthplace. It was now March and my company was working on a huge deal that would have given one Filipino company a Billion dollar contract. Two other companies were bidding also. There were very tense negotiations and some hard feelings. The other companies were probably going to go out of business depending on how the deal broke. On one meeting late into the evening, as one of the VPs left the conference room, a body guard gave me a strange look and then said something to the VP. The VP nodded in approval. I didn't think anything of it the rest of the week. The next monday, I saw my daughter off to school, kissed my lovely wife and went on to work. At about 10:00 AM, my wife called in a frantic voice and said that my daughter had not shown up at school. She was crying. The driver was found dead and the vehicle had been abandoned about two blocks from the school. I rushed home and she was calling the police. I grabbed the phone and said, "Don't do that yet." My wife did not understand my hesitancy in calling them. This was all my fault. I began to cry. My wife looked at me strangely as I was forced to admit that I had taken a bribe of nearly 250K to help swing the deal in favor of a certain company. She slapped me as I told her that the deal was not going my way and that the other partners were leaning toward the opposition. There were only two companies left. She just yelled at me and told me to get my company on the phone and convince my coworkers to chose the Cintron Group. She just didn't understand. The Cintron Group was headed by a reputable CEO, but it was just a front for a Filipino mafia group. I knew about it and my partners suspected it. I was wrong to get so close to them. Now I was in with the devil and there was no escape. We were alone in this. If we called the police, I would be arrested and we would have no chance of getting Amy back. Angelina, my wife, was just sobbing screaming for our daughter. At about 6 PM, the phone rang and a voice said, "Check your front porch so that you know we are serious." I quickly opened the front door and saw a box. Angelina asked, "What is it?" "Nothing," I said. I opened the box and fell to the floor in shock. As Angelina rushed in my direction, I gazed upon a child's finger on a bloodied bed of cotton. Angelina shrieked as she saw the orange fingernail polish that my daughter liked. We both just hugged each other on the floor. When I dropped the box, a note fell out. It said that if I ever wanted to see my daughter alive, I would have to seal the upcoming deal in their favor or barter for my daughters life. They didn't want the money back because the deal was worth millions to them. I had already spent the money on our new house anyway back in the US. I did not know where to turn. The note said that I had 24 hours to comply or she would die and to not even think about calling the police. They were to call me again. I didn't know what to do. Angelina was filled with growing hate for me at what I had done to our family and despair for Amy. She just wanted me to call the police. As the time passed and what had happened sunk in, Angelina became increasingly hysterical. She just yelled at me into the night in between sobbing. All I could do was apologize. "What are we going to do?" she would ask me over and over again. I didn't know, but I was going to get my daughter back no matter what I had to do. They had mentioned that we could barter to get my daughter back, but I had nothing to give. We had no money to speak of, no jewels, nothing. I was to blame for all of this and I realized what I had to do to get her back. My wife would never forgive me even if Amy was harmed. I would barter all right. I would trade myself for Amy if they would have me. They could do whatever they wanted to me as long as she was returned safely to my wife. Would I truly give up my life for my daughter? Any father would. I couldn't bare the thought of anything happening to her. The question was, do I tell my wife what my plans were or just do it? I decided, in that instant, that when they called back, I would offer them the deal. I would not tell Angelina. I would simply tell her that I was going to get Amy back and bring her home and that I had found a way to deal with these people. I had all night and the next day to ponder my fate, but if this is what I had to do to get Amy back, I was committed to do it. I couldn't imagine what they would do to me. Would they shoot me, hang me? I began to sob in silence. At around 6 PM, the phone rang and the person asked if I had done what they asked. I said no, but I had a deal for them. They could have me in place of my daughter if they would just let her go. There was silence on the phone. Suddenly, the voice said, "Agreed." I was to drive to a landfill outside of Manila and wait for a pickup truck to take me to where they were keeping Amy. I didn't dare tell my wife of my plan which was certain to result in my death, but would save my daughter. I have always wanted to live a long life and my fate frightened me to the point where I was shaking uncontrollably. Angelina asked if I was OK. All I could say was, "No, not at all, but Amy will be home soon." I kissed her one last time and hugged with for all I was worth. I left in the car and drove to the meeting point. Once at the landfill, I waited in my car for a short time. A pick up drove up along side of my car and the driver said to get out and take off my clothes. I seemed surprised and he pointed a gun at me. I stripped down to my shorts and then he said, "All the way." I'd never been naked in front of a man, but if it meant getting my daughter back, I would do it. Even at this moment, the most trivial thing seemed important. This was sure to be less of an ordeal than what they had planned for me. We drove for a short time, but I was blindfolded and couldn't tell which direction or where we were going. The car stopped and I was taken into a building with an echo. It was obviously a warehouse type of building, but empty. I heard my daughter cry out and for the first time in 24 hours, I felt some relief. The blindfold was taken off and I was allowed to see and touch my Amy. I was naked, but that didn't seem to matter to either of us. I was so relieved to hug and kiss her. I held up her hand which had been bandaged and asked if she was OK. She just smiled and said yes. "That's enough." A man shouted and I was pulled away from Amy. I struggled as four men lashed me to a table. It was stainless steel with a lip and numerous tie down points. There was a cushion under my head and lights around. There was a hole in each side for some kind of drainage. There was another identical table next to the first one. I screamed as someone gagged me. I looked over at Amy and she was being tied to a pole about 6 feet away from me. She looked so scared as they gagged her also. Dear god, what did they plan to do? I kept hoping that this was all a bluff and that these people were not as evil as I now realized they were. A man in a white coat walked up to me and introduced himself as a Dr. He said I would be given a drug that would anesthetize my body, but allow me to remain conscious throughout the procedure. I asked him in a terrified voice, "What procedure?" "Why, your total dismemberment and bisection. Don't worry, you won't feel a thing and I am a skilled surgeon. My assistants will careful cauterize your blood vessels so that you will be alive and conscious until we have finished. This is the deal you have made to get your daughter back unharmed." I shrieked and struggled against the ropes. Amy screamed and tried to get to me. I begged them to just shoot me. I couldn't bare the thought of what they were about to do and forcing my daughter to watch was beyond any conceivable cruelty. An IV was started into my arm and I felt warm inside. Within seconds, I could not move my legs or arms. One of the assistants raised my head with another pillow. The Dr. said it was so I could see the procedure. "We are going to test you now for any pain." said the Dr. He opened a briefcase and laid out a dozen tools on a separate table. There were scalpels, larger knives and a saw. A machine was wheeled over to me. He explained that this was the cauterization machine that would apply heat to my blood vessels and arteries as they worked. He didn't want me to bleed to death as that would defeat the purpose of the procedure. I was to be fully conscious at the end for a special visitor. I could not imagine what he meant. My body no longer shook with fear since I was completely paralyzed except for my eyes and breathing. I could only look over at my daughter and down at my body. Amy was shivering and crying. She looked so sweet and innocent. This was my punishment for what I had done to her and my wife. I deserved to die, but not like this. This couldn't be real. They were not really going to take me apart piece by piece. All at once the Dr. place a scalpel against my belly and made a small incision. I flinched, expecting the worst, but felt nothing. "That's fine", he said. "We are ready to start." Two woman were working with him and he told them we would start with the right foot. I cried uncontrollably as he began to cut a circular incision around my right shin. There was no pain, but the thought of being cut to peices before my eyes and then seeing it happen, made me gag. He was quick and as he worked, the nurses sealed the wound to prevent bleeding. He was down to the bone in no time and grabbed the saw. I couldn't watch my body being destroyed. The sound and vibration of the saw was horrible. Within seconds, I watched my right foot fall to the side and he picked it up for me to see. I blacked out as I heard Amy scream. When I awoke, he was working on my left foot and it also was off. He place it next to my other foot on a table identical to the one I was on. He said that before I died, I would see virtually all of my body on the other table. He picked up my right arm and began to cut around the bicep. Again, I felt no pain, but could feel as he hit the bone slicing through my soft skin and muscle. He used the saw like a butcher to cut through the bone. The nurses raced to seal the blood vessels. The stainless table was now coated with a layer of my red warm blood. He placed the arm on the adjacent table and quickly moved to take off my left arm. I looked at Amy who was simply shivering and crying. I couldn't imagine the horror for her. I prayed she would block it out someday. I looked down at my body with no arms or feet. I looked like a corpse. It was finally setting in that I would be dead soon. The pure gruesome horror was more than I could stand. The Dr. picked up a large scalpel and said, "Now we will remove your legs." I tried with all my strength to move and resist the knife, but my body remained still as he made a huge cut into my upper thigh. He cut deeply into the muscle and tendons as the nurses sealed me up as best they could. Blood spurted out with each beat of my heart as he hit one of my arteries. They scrambled to seal it. The IV was constantly giving me fluid to keep my blood pressure up to make up for any blood loss. As he used the saw to cut into my femur, I again blacked out. It seemed like only a second, but when I looked down, both of my legs were gone and the nurses were busy sealing even the smallest blood vessels. The table was covered in blood. I looked over at the other table and could see my dismembered pieces lined up, but only missing my torso and head. It was me over there and on this table. If this were a dream, I could be put back together, but it was not a dream. The Dr. said, "We will now wait a short time for your body to stabilize before we disembowel you and remove your hips." I began to cry seeing my body in this condition and realizing that soon I would be dead and never see my wife or daughter again. Amy was still and in shock blankly staring at me. After 30 minutes, two more nurses came in and the Dr. made a large incision in my waist from under the left side to the right. He cut so deeply that his hand disappeared into my bowels. He was struggling to find my main artery. As he pulled it up, a nurse clamped it off tightly. I was in shock from seeing my body laid open. One nurse put some smelling salts under my nose to rouse me. I was forced to watch as the Dr. and the nurses clamped off all of my arteries and then he began to cut at my backbone with an electric saw. The sound was deafening and bone chips were flying out of my body. The smell from the cauterizing machine was indescribeable. I heard the saw blade hit the table. Two of the nurses lifted my hips up off the table and placed them in the proper spot next to my other parts on the other table. I looked in horror as there was now more of me over there than here. I couldn't believe that I was still conscious or even alive. Another nurse pulled out my bowels and snipped them off leaving only the flap of now loose skin just under my sternum left for me to see. My bowels were thrown in a trash can. It was like a long bloody rope had been pulled from me. The other nurses feverishly sealed all remaining vessels and arteries to keep me from bleeding to death. I did fell weak and was obviously going into shock. They added something to the IV which brought me back to full consciousness and then they began to wash me down and the table. When they were done, the table was gleaming and I was nothing more than a partial torso with a head. I looked over at Amy who was still in total shock. She obviously didn't believe what she was seeing. Her father was a blob of flesh and all of my parts were lined up on the other table. A man walked over to me and said my daughter would soon be freed to my wife, but he wanted to bring in a special visitor first. He said there was on last thing that I had to do before Amy would be freed. In my present condition, I could only hope to die soon and to know that Amy would be set free and that she and my wife would live out a long and happy life. I heard a door open and someone was escorted in with a hood over their head. The person was walked up to the other table with their back to me. It was a woman. Her hands were tied behind her back. A man removed the hood and the woman shrieked as she gazed upon my parts on the table. To my final horror, it was Angelina. She collapsed as they held her and told her that I was not dead. She just screamed uncontrollably and struggled to get free. All at once, they turned her around to see what was left of me on the table and then to see Amy still tied to the pole. Her eyes opened wide and she fainted. All I could do was cry and hope they would not harm her or Amy any more. I couldn't stand the thought of her seeing me this way. I was not a man. I was something out of a gorry movie. A monster. When she came to, she was wailing and they slapped her face. The man I recognized as the security agent from Cintron told her that she must do one thing before Amy would be freed. "What?" she screamed as she looked at me in disbelief. "You must kill your husband with this knife or we will do to your daughter what we have done to your him." "No, I can't." she screamed. Two men immediately began to untie Amy. Angelina looked at me and begged for help. I had very little strength, but told her that it was OK and this was the only way and that I loved her and I was sorry for bringing this on. "You must finish this within the next five minutes or Amy will suffer the same fate." said the agent. They handed her a large knife. "One deep thrust through the heart will end this." he said to her. All I could say to her was that I loved her and to not be afraid. I was in no pain, I told her. They walked her over to me and said, "four minutes left." She just looked at me crying. I told her to feel for my heart and place the knife there. If I still had arms and hands, I would hold the knife in place for her or do it myself. She was in disbelief and looked at the men holding Amy and then back at me. "Three minutes." another man said. Angelina looked at me in a loving way for the first time, but with pity and placed the point of the knife between two ribs. She leaned over and kissed me and said she loved me. Her tears were streaming down her face. I didn't think she had the strength to do this. She had to know that I would be dead within hours anyway and that this was the only way to save Amy. I just cried and told her to hurry and push as hard as she could and that Amy would soon be free. As if a nightmare was taking place, Angelina grabbed the handle of the knife with both hands and I could see the strength building in her body for what she had to do. She looked into my eyes one last time and then focused all of her energy on the knife and pushed as hard as she could slicing between my ribs. I felt nothing as it penetrated through to my heart and sunk 6 inches into my chest. She let go in disbelief at what she had done, looking down at the knife in my chest and the horrible remains of her husband about to die. Her hands went over her face and she sobbed. I felt waves of blackness moving through my brain and eyes. Blood gurgled out of my chest. I coughed up blood. She had found my heart with the knife and it was straining to beat its last beats. I looked up at her and over at Amy and smiled. This was my pay back, but they would be free. I struggled to remain in this world, but the blackness was overpowering. I was looking at into Angelinas' eyes as I slipped into the final throes of death. She smiled at me.
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