Witches Tales 7

Monsters under your bed are real. So are the ones in your closet.  Or the ones that hide under the stairs in your basement.  Every time you hear a creak from the attic or a door slowly opens, that is probably a monster.  Something evil and gross that feeds off of your fear and madness.  They crave the terror you have at putting your feet down off the bed, or when the power goes out and you have to go down into the basement.  They might eventually try to kill you, but what gives them the most joy is the moments that lead up to it, the game of it.  And I’m the one that brings them to your house.

It’s me and my partner Slade, actually.  And this is our job.  

I decided to write all of this down.  It’s important for whoever finds this to know where they came from.  I’m sure it’s already too late, they probably have already accomplished their mission.  But, maybe this will help you fight.

We are currently on our boat coming back from the island.  It’s the new one that came from Antarctica after it broke off the continent.  You remember the stories, I’m sure everyone does.  All the talk of global warming and melting ice caps, well something happened and new islands started to appear in the ocean.  It was a mad dash to explore those islands, maybe discover something new to exploit. The last one that floated into the ocean was claimed by the company I work for.  No one talked about what was on the island, but the company started sending crews like mine to it.  It was a few months after that when crazy stories started to pop up on the internet about monsters.  They were dismissed as hoaxes. Except, I have a cargo hold full of proof under me right now.

The business that Slade and I run is for those that might need someone who won’t question much and won’t mind getting their hands dirty. We’ve never been picky on what we chose.  If you needed someone fast and knows how to stay under the radar, we’d be your choice.  Our boat has seen its fair share of bloodshed.  Maybe that is why they chose us, because we weren’t too worried about transporting unholy things across the ocean.

I’m still not questioning why we are doing it.  But, something was different about this trip.  I can see it in Slade’s eyes.  She seems more determined.  She has been disappearing more than normal and questioning our usual tactics.  Especially when it came to how we treat the lizard men. I remember her saying, “Chase, can we change the way we bring them over?  We don’t need to dope them up.  Can’t you see how intelligent they are?”

I didn’t care.  I still pumped them so full of drugs that they were beyond tripped out.  It was hard not to laugh as they spun around spitting fire at nothing.  I told her if they were so smart, why were they letting us drug them?  I avoided the fact that we had been spreading small doses of the drug around so that they would become addicted and do just about anything for another hit.  However, now I am wondering if I should have noticed the change in Slade sooner..  

The first night off of the island as I was laying down to sleep I heard a creak on the boat.  I know what you are thinking, a boat on the ocean is going to creak and moan.  But, if you’ve been on a boat, a boat that you’ve owned for years, you recognize all of the purrs your precious makes. This sound was different.  It was a soft padding, as if someone was creeping around the passageway.  I sat up and peered into the dark, wondering if it was Slade, but saw nothing.  I couldn’t fall to sleep after that.

We landed on the island in the same spot that we always did.  One of the first trips to the island we discovered a freshly built dock; it made it a lot easier to transport the cargo onto the boat. Each mission directed us to a different part of the island and to a specific type of monster.  The island could be considered a paradise. Sandy beaches, lush jungles, a few mountains, and gorgeous inland lakes.  You just need to ignore the horrors that call it home.  We walked away from our familiar hunting grounds near the dock and dug into the jungle.

Strange and unusual noises in the jungle surrounded us.  No matter how often we had been on the island, the noises were unsettling.  Yet, we learned how to fight the fear.  For instance, there are strange goat things that roam the island and fill it with the sounds of a human baby.  I had a buddy that used to come to the island as well, and he told me a story about how one of his members ran into the jungle to save a baby.  They never made it off the island.  As we made our way through the jungle, we ignored the baby cries, we’ve brought enough of them off the island.  I was looking for the ones that talked like we do.

The company usually paid us on the more demented or haunted a creature was, but every once in awhile they would put in a special request.  It always seemed random on why they asked, and I never thought question their needs.  I just assumed that maybe they had someone they really wanted to frighten.  Usually the specific monsters were the ones that could really drive you mad.  There is a bat like thing that could literally drive you insane if you heard its siren call for too long.  I watched as someone clawed their ears to block out the sound; while they were distracted, the bat snatched them up and they disappeared into the jungle.  This time the company was asking for the lizard-men.

The second night on our way back, I heard new sounds. I was in that strange stage between being asleep and awake, where dreams mix with your rational thoughts.  A noise came from above me, on the deck of the ship.  It was a strange clopping sound, like hooves on wood.  Before I could investigate it, I heard my closet door open.  I sat up, looked at the closet and thought I saw a shadow move.  I grabbed my knife and jumped up, but there was no one in my room.  

Something is happening on my boat and I don’t know what it is.

After a sleepless night I asked Slade if she heard anything the night before, but she said she slept like a log.  I asked her to investigate the cargo, to verify that the box was locked tight.  There was something strange about the way she looked at me, but she went down without question. A long time passed before she came back up.  I’m not sure what kept her down there that long, she never told me.

Our days on the boat are pretty quiet.  Besides our daily tasks of boat maintenance and watching the radar, we don’t have much else to do.  Our passengers are locked in a large box, even though they are so doped up they wouldn’t do anything if the box was wide open. Slade usually wanders around the boat, working out or reading.  I sit in the bridge and navigate, but we’ve been on this route so many times I could almost do it with my eyes closed.  This trip though, I’ve barely seen Slade.  

Fog began to follow us and slowly envelope our boat that day.  I’ve never seen that much fog on the open ocean before.

After our first visit, we found a bunch of large crates scattered throughout the island.  They were not like the usual shipping crates you might have seen in a shipyard.  They were made of some sort of wood I’ve never seen before.  And there were bizarre words carved all over the surfaces.  I assumed they were from the company, to help us bring the monsters to the states. I asked Slade if she had ever seen markings like this before.  She traced the carvings with her finger, as if they were some sort of holy text.  When she looked at me, her eyes were distant.  She mumbled something about them being shipping directions. I thought about asking her how the crates got there, but figured she had no idea.

We were hiking deep into the jungle, heading toward the lizard-men village when I was attacked.  I was being an idiot, careless and not as vigilant as I usually am.  I should have noticed the markings on the trees, the way the ground had been trampled, and the quiet.  Slade was ahead of me, chopping at the overgrowth when a blur jumped at me from the side and knocked me on my ass.  It was one of the demon stuffed animal penguin creatures.

The monsters on this island are perfect for haunting bedrooms.  Some are absolutely terrifying and don’t need any tricks.  But, I think the ones that look cute or normal are worse.  They are can put you at ease and lower your guard.  Once they reveal themselves as monsters, your defenses are useless and your mind can’t comprehend what is happening. I remember seeing a cute lion cub at the zoo playing with a ball.  The zookeeper came in and brought it a live mouse, the cub played with it for a moment before tearing it apart.  The penguin monsters are worse because they look exactly like a stuffed animal you would have on your bed.

I had enough of my wits to not scream.  Screaming around these things just get them excited.  I was told by my buddy in one of the other crews about a time one of their members came across a pile of rocks that moved, it caught him off guard and he screamed.  Within an instant a group of the rock snakes came out of nowhere and he was gone.  So, there I was sitting in the dirt watching this toy penguin thing coming at me with it’s razor sharp beak.  It’s so hard to look at it and think that it is going kill you, but it is.  With no sudden movements, I reached into my back pocket and pulled out my knife. I don’t think they are used to anything fighting back because it waddled closer to me, savoring the look of fear in my eyes.  Once it was in reach, I slashed at it, ripping open its stomach.  For a second I thought literal stuffing was going to puff out.  But, black blood squirted out, staining my shirt.  It stammered back from my attack.  I finished it off with another slash, this time hitting its neck.  

Slade had gone ahead while I was busy fighting the demented toy.  As I exited the jungle, the village opened up in front of me.  I’m still in awe at the way their village: the wood huts, dirt padded down into a road, and a village center.  It was like walking into the past.  For being strange lizard monsters, they had progressed a lot further than I could have imagined.

I found Slade sitting down talking to one of them. It nodded toward me and they wrapped up their conversation.  I should have known then.  I should have killed her on the spot.  But, I was too worked up from the attack and was distracted.  I asked her what she was doing.  She avoided the question and instead asked me not to bring out my drugs.  The other lizards had started to come out to see me, seeking their fix.  I was happy to oblige them, giving them extra so that we could take a couple of them.

After I had delivered my drugs, I took Slade aside so that we could prepare a crate.  We stood in the shade and watched the lizard people dance around, high as kites.  Slade asked me if I knew anything about them.  I told her that they were monsters, on an island full of monsters.  

She told me that they were more, that they were an intelligent species, maybe something had split in the evolutionary chain and created these creatures.  We needed to peacefully interact with them, so that they didn’t think we were the monsters.  This was a dawn of a new age, we were not the only ones in this world that showed real intelligence.  It could be an amazing discovery that might help us understand our past, and maybe even our future.  This was a good test for if we ever discover something from another world.  Do we really want to introduce ourselves as terrible people that will capture you and force you to attack those we don’t like?

I remember it all, everything she said.  It was unbelievable.  I was scared at what it could mean.  She had lost it.  She had either snuck into my drug stash, or had been in the sun for too long, or they had somehow poisoned her mind.  I told her she was nuts.  They were not something to be studied, and even if they were, it is not our place.  Our place is to do the job that was put in front of us.  That is how we work, we don’t get involved with the politics or problems our job might cause.  We simply take the money and do the job.  And then I went and ruined everything.

The leader of the lizard men was sitting in front of his stick building watching the others.  They were continuing to roll around and dance in their drugged out depravity.  I left Slade in the shade and walked over to the leader.  He looked up at me as I pulled out my revolver and shot him in the head.  The bullet whizzed through his skull and embedded itself into the ground next to him.  He followed the bullet’s trajectory and landed with a thud.  Green blood oozed out and mixed with the dirt.  Slade ran at me screaming.  The other lizards didn’t notice, too high to know what was real or fake.  As Slade came at me I pointed the gun at her.  

I told her that I saved her by lifting the curse it had cast on her.  I wanted to give her an out, so I said that it had to have been a curse because there was no way she would question what we were doing.  We both knew that it was crap, but I’m not completely terrible.  She has been with me for a long time and I wanted to giver her a chance to save face.  She nodded, her face red.  I could feel the daggers her eyes were shooting at me.  But, I assumed she had enough professionalism to shake it off and get on with her life.  

We silently picked up a couple of the passed out lizards to put in a crate.  Then we rounded up a couple of the other monsters. Finally we dragged the box to our boat.

I’ve lost track of the days we’ve been out on the ocean since we left the island.  After those first two nights of strange noises and missed movements, I’ve had a hard time sleeping.  I’m noticing more things happening at night.  More noises, the feeling that something is touching me, doors opening and closing.  I might have only slept a few hours in a week.  Or maybe a month.  I’m sure we should be close to land, but so far I’ve seen nothing but fog and ocean.

Slade has almost completely disappeared.  I haven’t seen her in the galley, the passageways, or out on the deck.  Since I’ve been writing this and looking back, I should feel remorse at what I’ve done.  I think she saw away out of our past and I ruined it for her. She kept telling me how smart they were, maybe she was hoping she could use our discovery for good. Instead, I shot that lizard in front of her. I know I can’t fix it now, she’s hidden somewhere in the boat.

I started sleeping in the cockpit of the boat.  The last time I was in my room, I found strange claw marks on the floor next to my bed.  I don’t remember hearing anything while I was laying down.  But, when I rolled over and looked down, I found the new scratches. Goosebumps popped all over my arms, and my hair stood at attention.  Something told me that there was more underneath my bed than my boots and an empty bottle of whiskey.  Like a child, I sat up and hugged the blankets close to my chest. The thought of putting my bare feet on the floor in clear view of whatever was under there filled me with dread.  And so, I jumped off the bed, landing as far away from the space as I could. The door to my room slammed shut behind me as I ran.  

I’m afraid that I’ve lost control of my boat.  And I’m afraid that there is something loose roaming the passageways.  I will check the crate in the morning, to verify that the feeling in my bones is right, that the crate is indeed unlocked.

I need to write this quickly.  I want to finish my story but I’m afraid that I don’t have much time.  Hopefully you’ll read everything that I have written and do something with it. It sounds crazy, all of it, but you have to know it is true.  

The fog had found its way into the boat and seeped into the halls.  Everything is wet and the light reflects strange shapes in the mist.  I woke up this morning and headed into the bowels of the ship to search for the crate.  I thought I could navigate my ship with my eyes closed, but this morning, with the fog, the ship seemed brand new.  I found myself struggling to get to the cargo hold to find the crate.

I could hear the ocean lapping at the hull of the boat as I roamed the passageways.  The noise was more comforting than the other sounds I heard echoing of the walls.  Strange sounds that reminded me of the island surrounded me as I tried not to get lost.  The passage twisted me around, taking me to the galley and staterooms.  Behind me I heard the clicking of hooves, similar to what woke me up the first night.  Ahead of me I swore I could hear the silent cry of a baby.  All of the sounds mixed and swirled in my head, drowning my thoughts in an ocean of madness.  I held my head, fighting against the sound.  There was too much noise on my boat cramming into my brain.

The only thing I could do was laugh at the insanity of it all.

I remember sticking my hand out to hold the wall.  I knew that if I followed one wall around my ship, eventually I’d come to the stairwell that lead down to the cargo bay.  With my other hand against my head, I ran through the mist and noise.  

I tripped on a pile of rocks and fell face first into a demon stuffed animal.  The pile of rocks began to roll, crushing my feet.  The stuffed animal slashed at my face.  Warm blood dripped down my cheek.  I struggled to pull my legs out from under the weight of the rocks, like squeezing out of death’s grip.  At the same time, I swung out at the stuffed monster, flinging it out of my way.  I limped away from the monsters and continued my mad dash toward the stairs.  

The dark mouth of the stairwell loomed in front of me.  At the bottom I could see the dance of a lamp.  Before I could make it to the first step, something swooped down at me, hitting me in the back of the head.  I lost my balance and tumbled down the stairs like a toy soldier tossed by a child. Consciousness floated away and I drifted into a sea of monsters.

When I woke up, I was face to face with Slade.  She was wearing a sleek metallic grey suit and holding a cell phone to her head.  She said something to the phone, nodded and winked at me, then hung up.  When she spoke, I knew I should have killed her instead of the leader of the lizards.

Slade’s smile was cruel and twisted.  Her hand clamped on my shoulder as she dragged me into the cargo bay and in front of the crate.  The lid of the crate was leaning against the box.  She then started to talk.

(I’m doing my best to remember everything she said, I apologize if it is not exact)

You are a fool Case.  Do you know what is going on?  Of course you don’t. You follow your stupid rules thinking that you can hide behind them.  That if you don’t know the terrible things we are accessories to, then you aren’t apart of them.  But, we both know that isn’t true.  Every murderer we ferried across the ocean, every load of guns we delivered, or drugs we moved.  We are just as guilty as the people who requested them.  In fact, I think you are worse than they are, because you know what is happening, and you don’t do anything to stop it.  Well, now it is finally going to bite you in the ass.

I know that you didn’t meet anyone from the company.  That all you got was a call and a point on the map.  Did you ever stop to wonder why a company would want a bunch of monsters haunting houses?  Maybe you had an inkling that it was to hurt certain people.  Maybe to scare them into doing something.  Which you were right, but you probably had no idea who the people were, did you?  It didn’t matter right?  As long as you got paid.  You are so predictable.  Which is why we chose you.  

The people we haunted was definitely picked for a reason.  They were leaders, generals, CEOs, innovators.  Anyone that had some control of the world.  No one knows it yet, but they are now completely useless, or dead.  Now, think about it, who would benefit from the collapse of the world?  You can’t be that thick, can you?  How about this, where did the crates come from?  Why couldn’t we pick up any monster?  Why was there a certain type of monster that we waited until just now to pick up?  

I knew they were too smart.  That there was something about the lizard men that I didn’t like.  

Exactly, the lizard men. They came from under the ice, and they have been watching and waiting.   We signed our death warrant with the melting of the ice.  You have no idea what else is hiding in that world.  Are minds would crack if we saw what else was under there.  And the lizard men are the keepers of those ancient monsters.

The islands that are coming from the ice are full of the monsters.  There are other ships like yours, delivering the legion of death on the world.  They are going to clear the world of us and reclaim it as their own. It’s too late to stop it.

We would have allowed you to live.  I tried telling you that they were smart, but you didn’t listen.  And then you went and killed one of our chieftains.  

That was about all I could listen to. I was glad that my revolver never left my side, hidden away in my back holster, which she never thought to search. I let her talk as I reached back and pulled out my gun.  I just wasn’t quick enough.  

I lifted my gun, pointing the barrel at Slade as time slowed down and exploded into a flurry of action.  The crate slowly shook as monsters jumped out.  A crazed lizard monster spewed fire, catching Slade’s hair on fire. A bat demon fluttered its wings and lifted into the air. A goat monster leaped out of the box and started to charge toward me.  

The clock unfroze and everything played out in fast forward.  I fired my gun at the lizard, exploding its head in fire and blood.  Then I leapt out of the way as the goat charged past me and slammed into Slade, knocking her to the floor.  I got up in time to see the goat trample Slade on its way to me.  My hand cocked the hammer on the revolver and blasted the goat before it got to me.  Its baby voice gurgled in death.  Slade moaned and writhed on the floor.  I walked over to her and put her out of her misery.  I left the bat monster to roost in the ceiling and I walked up the stairs, locking the door behind me.

So, now you are all caught up.  I’m sitting in the bridge, writing this on paper, with an empty whiskey bottle next to me.  I am going to tell you what I am going to do, then stuff this paper into the bottle and toss the bottle into the water.  I really hope someone finds this and that it isn’t too late.  I’m going to assume by the time you found this that most of the leaders of the free world are dead or insane.  So find someone who will listen and tell them to find someway to bomb the islands coming off the frozen continent.  Tell them to find a way to freeze it back up and set guards.  Or prepare to fight.  They can be killed, no matter how frightening they look.

I can see the islands floating in the distance, thousands of them.  Full of demons and monsters ready to destroy the world.  I know I can’t stop them.  But, you can use this letter as a blueprint to fight back.  

There is one thing I can do, however.

I am turning this boat around.  I am going to do my best to make it back to the island.  When I get to the island, I’m going to set the boat and dock on fire.  Then I am going to be the monster they don’t expect.  I am going to be the thing that hides under their beds.  The thing that makes the closet door creak while they try to sleep.  The monster that takes their kids, the one that takes the person walking to their car late at night.  I am going to give them something to fear.  And maybe, just maybe, they will be too afraid of us humans.

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Witches Tales 6

The image of bricks came back to her as she sat across from her date.  Light crept in through the spaces between the stone, letting her know that light still existed.  It was cold in the hole, which didn’t bother her at first, but as time passed the temperature freezed her bones.  When they removed the stones and let her out she could barely walk.  Six weeks later and she was at a restaurant with an exposed brick wall and she couldn’t concentrate on the man on the other side of the table.

“Do you like your beer?  It’s from that new brewery downtown.  I love that they are already supporting them.” Max said.

Shelly smiled at him and tasted the beer for the first time.  She studied him over the pint glass. He was a little older than her, but he dressed and acted much younger. Brown unkempt hair sat on top of his head in a perpetual state of shock.  His usual wild beard had been trimmed before their date.  A wrinkled blue plaid shirt finished his slacker appearance.  He emptied a quarter of his beer under her gaze.

“It’s great.  I usually go for fruity drinks, but there is enough sweetness in this to be good.” Shelly said.

“I’m glad you like it.  I come here quite a bit.  Wait till you try their pretzels, you are going to get addicted.  I swear they put an addictive drug in them to make them haunt your dreams.”

Shelly laughed.  It was a deep belly that parted her red lipsticked lips, and crinkled up that spot under her nose.  Max’s blue eyes sparkled when he heard her laugh.

Max had built up enough nerve to ask her out a few days ago.  They worked together in the same office, for a company that does finance for other companies.  For the last five weeks Shelly worked as an admin for Max’s manager. As soon as he saw her behind her desk all he could think about was her smile, blond hair, and green eyes.  After a few days of spying on her, he had finally worked up the courage to stop by her desk and talk to her.  From that point on, her desk was the highlight of his days.  That is, until tonight.

“You know, I’m really glad you asked me out tonight, Max.  I wondered if you would ever man up, or if I was going to have to be the one.” Shelly said with a smile.

He blushed and looked down, “Ha ha.”

“I’m serious.  You’ve made work a lot more enjoyable for me.”

“I know how it is coming to a new place.  And some of the people at work can be a bit stuck up.” Max said.

“Seriously, what’s the deal with that?”

“They are just people who drunk the corporate kool-aid.  I don’t even know what they talk about besides work, it’s crazy.”

“Who knows?  But, at least it’s fun to talk about them.”

The waiter came with a basket of pretzels.  Max grabbed a small blue plate and put a couple on it, then handed it to Shelly.  She took it and brushed his finger.  He almost blurted out an apology before he saw that she was smiling.  Red blossomed on his cheeks again.  His stomach flipped at her touch.  She sat the plate down and took a bit out of the pretzel, pieces of salt stuck to her mouth.

“What did I tell you?  Amazing, right?” He said, trying to recover his coolness.

“Oh yeah, I’m totally addicted.” She said through a mouth of the bread.

They sat at the table eating the pretzels in silence.  Shelly watched him eat a pretzel before taking a bite. She wanted to take another one, but wanted to make sure he ate more than her. Flashes of past meals came to her mind.  She thought about a meal she had with another man so long ago, how much he had eaten.  Then she wondered if the others had dinner dates like this.  If they all had mixed feeling about their dates.

“So, you know, we haven’t really talked about what you did before you worked at the office.” Max said.

“You never asked.” She said, “But, I don’t know if there is much to talk about.  Probably just the usual past everyone has.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

Max knew he was reaching for something deeper from her.  Their conversations usually revolved around discussing their co-workers or other surface topics.  He wanted to know more about her.  There was something different with her that he couldn’t put his finger on.  And he didn’t want to seem like he was only interested in her because she was the new girl.  

“Can I tell you something?  I’m terrible at these first date things.  I never know the right things to say.  So, if I ask you something that makes you uncomfortable or seems weird, please know that it’s just me being really awkward.” Max said.

“It’s okay, I’ve had my fair share of bad first dates.  And this one doesn’t even make the list.  Besides, we’ve haven’t even had our dinner yet.” Shelly said.

She pointed at the plate of pretzels, “You can have the last one, I’m saving room for dinner.”

Max took the last piece before he let out a breath and pretended to wipe his forehead. “That’s a relief.  Though I am a little concerned about you having a lot of first dates.” He said with a wink.

“Well, I wouldn’t say a lot.  I guess I should clarify and say that my roommates and I have had a collective of bad dates.  And we sat around afterward talking about how bad they were. After that, it felt like we’ve been on the dates ourselves.” Shelly said.

“Your roommates, right.  I don’t think I know too much about them. You live with another girl and a guy, right?”

Shelly thought about the other two.  They were back at their house; the one that called herself Betty waited expectantly for her return.   

“I do.  Betty and Stephen.  We’ve lived together for a long time.  They are probably my closest friends.  We are kind of a support system for each other.  I don’t like sharing too much about my past, only because it kinda sucked.  Which is the same for them.  I guess you could say that through our pain, we’ve become family.  So, as a family we sorta share everything.”

“That’s great.  It’s pretty awesome that you have them to fall back on.  And I’m sorry you had a crappy past.  I wish I could say I also did, but I don’t know if it was the same as yours.”  Max said.

“It’s quite alright.  Don’t worry about it.”  Shelly said.

She played with the utensils on the table and looked at the brick wall behind Max again.  He seems like a pretty nice guy.  Way better than the others we’ve brought home.  

“Remember the other day, when we were laughing about the food on Bob’s shirt? God, it was so gross!” Shelly said with a laugh, changing the subject.

“Ha, yeah.  I can’t believe he didn’t notice it!”

“We have a really good time together, don’t we?” Shelly said.

Before Max could answer, their food came to the table. Max had ordered a personal pizza and Shelly got a raw cheeseburger.  He stared at her while the server asked them if they had everything they needed.  He wanted to tell Shelly, yes, to tell her that every day at work was better with her in it.  There were words he had practiced in his mind for just such an occasion, but now that the occasion was here, they froze on his tongue.

Shelly cut into her burger, the red juices oozed out onto the plate.  The sight of the blood excited her, making her forget where she was.  She dabbed her finger into the juices and licked it clean.  An image of a man trapped with her behind a wall flashed through her mind.  She was much different then, more ravenous and feral.  Her wrinkled fingers had clawed into that man, tearing bits of flesh from him, sticking them into her drooling mouth.  The blood from the cheeseburger wasn’t the same, but it was enough to satisfy her.

They sat silently at the table, Shelly devouring her meal and Max dumbfounded watching her.  It felt like seeing a predator eating its prey.  Grease smeared her chin and lips.  Her eyes glittered in ecstasy. He tried to remember if he had seen her eat before.  Nothing came to mind.  But, seeing her now, he was repulsed by what he saw.

“Uhm, is it good?” Max asked.

Shelly shot him a look that reminded him of interrupting his family’s dog during dinner.  Then her eyes lost the glare and sparkled with joy, “Oh yeah, this is great. You didn’t tell me they made great burgers here.”

He traced the grain in the wood table and avoided her eyes.  There was a storm in his stomach, a clashing of nervousness and queasiness.  It was strange, because he still couldn’t believe he was actually out with her, but she was still a mystery to him.  Why was she so mysterious?

“Max, are you okay?  Did they screw up your order?  I hate when places do that, it’s always so tough to ask them to take it back.  You never know what they are going to do with the food they bring you.  Betty told me one time about a place that would just pick the stuff off you didn’t like with their bare fingers, it sounded disgusting.” Shelly said.  

“I’m okay.  I just, well…” Max said.

“Yeah?”

“Well, I don’t know.  I really like you.  I’m just really nervous, sorry.” Max said as he picked up a slice of pizza and tried to eat it.  

Shelly’s plate was spotless, giving her nothing to distract her while she watched him eat.  She needed him to finish the pizza.  He had ate a few more pieces of the pretzels than she did, but she didn’t think it was enough.  She guessed that he was a bit overweight, not huge, but definitely wasn’t in shape.  It was part of the reason that she had continued the conversations with him.  So, she watched him and tried her best to will him to eat more.

“It’s okay, actually it’s a bit flattering.  But, don’t worry about it.  I like you too.”

His heart skipped a beat.  This was it. She likes me. His hand shook as he took another bite of pizza.  A smile spread across his face and he felt like singing.  The part of him that had worried about not knowing her shrunk to a small corner of his mind.  I don’t care that she seems so mysterious, I have plenty of time to learn everything about her.

“Oh thank god!” Max blurted out.

He composed himself, finished chewing the food in his mouth and continued,  “I was a little worried to say that.  I mean I know it seemed pretty easy for us to become friends at work, but sometimes it stays that way and never goes anywhere. I wasn’t sure if you were just humoring me, like I was a nice distraction.  But, when you said yes to coming to dinner with me, I was super excited.  Then I was worried that maybe you just thought it was something else.  And well, now I’m just rambling.”

Shelly laughed.  A deep laugh that felt like a warm spring evening.  Max vowed to take this memory and lock it away forever.  Shelly settled down and they both took in the moment. Max studied her face, noting how one of her eyes seemed to be half closed as she smiled at him.  He put his hand on the back of his head and rubbed his hair, then looked down at his empty plate. Shelly reached across the table for his hand.  He watched as his hand closed around hers.

The rest of the restaurant seemed to disappear and it was just the two of them.  There was no one else around. Time stopped. They held hands and all felt right with the world.   Her hand was soft and gentle. Max felt like he was in high school again, going out with the hottest girl in school.  He was willing to do anything she asked of him, as long as they could continue to hold hands.  Shelly felt the spark between them and knew that she had him.

The moment continued while they finished their drinks and Max paid the bill.  Shelly wrapped her arm around his and they walked out into the night.  It was a cool night with a clear sky, the moon hung bright in the blackness.  Before Max knew what was happening, Shelly pushed him against the brick building and kissed him.  Her lips were full and soft on his mouth, he could taste the burger on her tongue.  They stayed frozen like that, with their lips locked and his knees buckling.  She released him from her grip with a smile and lifted a shoulder up in a half apology.

“Uhm, that was amazing.” Max said.

She smiled again, then started walking toward his car, leaving him stunned.  He trotted up behind her and searched for her hand.  They walked hand in hand to his car.  Max opened her door for her and helped her into her seat.  While she waited for him to get in, she tried to mentally send a message to Betty.  She knew it probably wouldn’t work, but it was worth a shot.  

They talked nonchalantly on the ride to her house, she didn’t pay much attention to what they were saying, she was focused on the next steps and what she was going to have to say to her co-workers on Monday.

Max had also been not paying attention to their conversation, he was thinking about whether he should kiss her when he dropped her off.  She pointed out her house on the barren street.  It was an old Victorian house in a deserted neighborhood.  Dead trees swayed in the overgrown yard.  The moonlight shined on the street, replacing the broken streetlamps.  He pulled his car up to the curb in front of the house and put it in park.  They faced each other, both with hopes on what was going to happen next.

“So, I had a great time tonight Shelly.”

“Thanks, I did too.”

“When do you think I can see you again?  Besides at work, of course.” Max said.

“Well, I was wondering if you wanted to come in?  You have to see the inside of this house, it is amazing and totally creepy.”

She smiled at him and her eyes flashed, reminding him of when she was eating her cheeseburger. A small warning alarm beeped in the back of his head, but he ignored it and focused on the fact that a girl had invited him into her house after a date.  It wasn’t something that happened very often for him, but when it did, it usually meant the date went well.

“That sounds great.  I’d love to come in and see it.” And then he found himself saying, “But, I don’t have to if you don’t want me to.  I appreciate it, but I don’t want to ruin anything between us.”

Stupid, stupid, stupid, he thought.

“I want you to come in.” Shelly said.

They walked up the cracked cement path to the house.  The wood of the front porch was splintered and creaked with each step.  Shelly fished in her purse for her keys, while Max tried to calm his nerves.  

Inside the house, it was dark and quiet.  

Shelly guided him into the living room and pushed him onto a couch.  She didn’t turn a light on as she laid on top of him and they started to kiss.  Max’s hands crawled over her body, feeling the fabric of her dress, the straps of her bra, and the curve of her butt.  He couldn’t believe this was happening, it felt like a dream.  She got up after a couple of minutes.

“What’s wrong?” He asked.

“Nothing, I have to go the powder room for a moment. Stay right here.” Shelly said.

He watched her silhouette walk out of the dark room.  A curtain was drawn over the window, letting in a tiny bit of purple light.  He sat up and adjusted his pants, then smelled his breath.  He tried to calm down his breathing and heart rate.  This is happening, now don’t mess it up.

The little bit of light didn’t allow him to see very much, he could make out a coffee table and a couple of chairs, but the rest of the room was shrouded in darkness. The silence in the room took on a life of its own, pressing down on him.  His skin began to tingle and he wished there was more light in the room.  He crawled over on the couch to feel for a lamp.  A loud creak to his left froze him like an intruder caught in a light.

“Shelly, is that you?” He asked quietly.

A shadow peeled off the wall near the source of the sound.  Max squinted in the darkness to try to discern what it was.  The shadow was low to the ground.  Does Shelly have a cat? The shadow moved silently toward him, distracting him from the sound of footsteps quickly coming up behind him.  Before he realized he heard a new noise, something whistled in the air and cracked him in the back of the head.  Fireworks exploded in his vision and he crashed to the floor.

Four pairs of feet filled his view as he woke up.  One of the pairs was his shoes, another pair he recognized as Shelly’s.  There was one in a dirty pair of yellow boots, and the other was a pair of wrinkled barefeet.  They reminded him of the time he saw his great grandmother’s feet at the hospital, they had been shriveled and looked to be drained of all liquid.  He tried to lift his head to see who was attached to the feet, but his head felt as heavy as stone.  With difficulty he was able to bring it up and was face-to-face with a man in a green lucha libre mask.

The three stood in front of him in a semicircle studying him.  The two he didn’t recognize were horrifying.  His mind tried to comprehend them being next to the beautiful girl, but it couldn’t process it.  The man in the mask drooled and gawked at him.  He was short, but bulging with muscles.  The other one was a living corpse, dressed in black robes.  Her face looked like a melted candle, the chin and nose too long for a normal face, as if they had froze in a perpetual drip.  And Shelly stood there smiling next to the two, with a hammer slick with blood in her hand.

His tongue was too big and slow for his mouth.  He tried to speak, but it came out sluggish, “What is this?”

The one in the mask cackled an ear piercing laugh and slapped Max on the cheek.  “Oh poor little rabbit, don’t you worry about what this is.”

“He’s perfect Shelly. You were right, he’s just what I need.”  The old woman said.  

She pawed at Shelly with her ugly yellowish hands.  Max wretched at the sight of her touching the woman of his dreams.  He looked at Shelly with pleading eyes.  Her appearance seemed so different than what she had been.  She stood taller and exuded an air of confidence that he never noticed before.  She vibrated with a presence he couldn’t understand.  Her face had taken on a sharper edge and her eyes were that of a wolf.

“Why are you doing this?  What is happening?  Shelly help me.” He pleaded.

“Shut up.”  She said and then broke his kneecap with the hammer.

“You bitch! I’m going to kill you!” He struggled and realized he was tied to a chair.

The man in the mask jumped up and down clapping his hands.  He raised his yellow boot and kicked Max in the chest, knocking him and the chair onto the ground.

“Ooh, he’s got some fight in him!  Good, he’ll give me some sport in the hole.” The witch-like corpse said.

Max twisted his head while on the ground and saw the hole in the wall above him.  Blackness reached out of the gap in the wall.  Next to it he saw a pile of bricks neatly stacked.  Shelly stepped over him and sat down on his chest.  He could feel her lack of underwear through his clothes, his male mind cracking at the thought that he lost his chance with her.  She wickedly smiled knowing what he was thinking and squirmed on top of him.

“I’m sorry Max.  You were a great guy, are a great guy.  I would say I hate doing this, but I don’t.  I’m sad to lose my partner at work, but I think it’ll be okay, I won’t be there much longer.  I had a lot of fun with you, but I have to share you.  You know how I said we share everything here in this house, well it’s true.  And Betty seems really interested in you.  So, I’m going to let the two of you play seven minutes in heaven.  It’s going to be hard, you were a great a kisser.” Shelly said and then looked over to Betty, “He’s a great kisser.  So nervous and timid, it’s like he’s never kissed a girl before!”

They all laughed.  Shelly bent over and kissed Max on the forehead.  He spat on her, hitting her in the face.  She laughed harder and brought the hammer down on his shoulder, shattering the bone.  He screamed as she got up.  

Betty walked over to him and slowly got down to his level.  He could hear her bones popping at the exertion and strain she was putting on them.  The smell of rotten meat wafted over him as she opened her mouth licking his cheek with her sandpaper tongue.  Partially digested pizza crawled up his throat and filled his mouth with acid.  She winked then shuffled over to the hole.  Shelly helped her into the hole while taking her robes, leaving her naked in the darkness.  

The flash of a large blade blinded Max.  The man in the mask roughly cut the rope holding Max to the chair, slicing at Max’s skin as it slid through the fibers of the rope.  A big drop of drool fell onto Max’s face as the man stood staring at him on the ground.  Then he prodded Max in the ribs with his boot.  

“Aren’t you going to try to run?” The man asked.

The man backed up and lifted his arms up gesturing toward the stairwell out of the basement.  Max rolled over, his brain doing a couple of more flips, spinning the room around.  He tried to crawl, but his shoulder and knee were busted, any pressure he put on them floored him with agonizing pain.  The man laughed behind him and kicked him in the butt, busting Max’s nose as he fell face first into the floor.  Max dragged his body toward the stairwell, doing his best to ignore the pain.  He could hear the woman laughing and Shelly’s exasperated breath, “Just grab him already.  I don’t think I can stand looking at him anymore.”

His heart and mind gave up.  He laid there, sobbing.  Blood and tears mixed on the basement floor.  The man in the mask sighed and picked him up like a wounded animal.  He flopped him on his shoulder.  When they got to the hole, he tossed him in.  Max fell into a pile of desiccated corpses.  In a corner of the hole he saw the naked old woman crouched down, breathing heavy, watching him like a fighter waiting for the bell.  Outside of the hole Shelly and the man piled bricks on the wall, blocking them in.  

“Betty, we’ll check on you in a couple of weeks.”

The light was almost gone as the woman crawled over to him.  Her mouth hung open revealing rotten teeth.  She felt for the buttons of his shirt and stuck her cold hands in, ripping the shirt open.  He had one last urge to fight and tried to push her face away from his stomach, but his broken shoulder made him useless. He felt her dry lips on his stomach, her teeth pressing into his skin, eventually breaking the skin.  The sound of sucking and heavy breathing filled his ears as his world slowly tunneled away into darkness.

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