He moved closer, fumbled with his already done scotch glass which he tried to lay on the sink with Angela’s other smutty crap. The glass fell crashing to the floor but Vince was not concerned at that apparent moment as he reached into the basket and pulled out something that would make him adamant in his convictions.
Not one…but two used, filthy wet condoms! It’s for her pleasure; Two dicks for the price of one!
He went back downstairs furtively almost in a trance wondering what the situation was here.
Drinks are on me, he snickered ,almost wondering who was talking for him at that moment as he grabbed his scotch and began to drink large swigs from the bottle.
Vince walked toward the kitchen and exited the backdoor to his backyard with his great big oak tree, lush green lawn, and large azalea bushes that kept the confines of property from the neighbors somewhat private. He stood in the rain for a second listening to the thunderous howls before advancing to the tool shed. He opened it up for the first time in five years. Most times he had help that would come by and do most of that menial work that he forbade himself the privilege of doing.
It was dark inside.
He flicked the overhead light and took a mental note of his inventory, also at the same time wondering what he was actually doing right now. This situation; this circumstance; about that mean evil little bitch of a wife he married happily seven years ago!He did not know where Angela had gone, but he sensed she had not gone far. He could only imagine she was hiding somewhere; sensing any moment she would be caught by her beloved husband.
He tried to remember what had happened today. The phone call at the office with Dr. Marlin who said he needed to urgently speak with him about Angela. The mere thought of Angela angered Vince all the same. He was not happy anymore. Nothing he did mattered anymore, not to Angela, and certainly not for him.
He saw the garden shears in the corner of the shed. He instinctively grabbed them and walked back out of the shed leaving the door wide open.
He started toward the Azalea bushes and began fiercly cutting away cursing under his breath. The wind howled behind him like some banshee but he did not care at that moment, all the time cutting and cutting, trimming away the pain, the feeling of despair in his body, the days and nights he could never sleep, where Angela would ignore his needs.
* * *
The door opened. Marlin shouted through the entrance waiting for a response.Nothing but pure silence. Marlin entered quietly closing the door behind him. " Vince. I know your here. I saw the car outside. Why won’t you answer me?"Lights flickered then dimmed. The storm was raging. And it seemed the whole neighborhood was experiencing the same problem. Marlin wiped his forehead and began to proceed through the house cautiously, all the while, still calling out to Vince who was somewhere in the house.Thunder crackled. There was a door slamming at the the back entrance somewhere and Marlin followed the noise.The floor was dirty and wet with footprints.Marlin closed and latched the door. He surreptiously eyed the kitchen looking for anything out of place. He was hoping Vince was okay. No Angela anywhere in sight as well.He was surprised by the call earlier today he received from Angela at his office. She was upset over the phone and continually said there was something wrong with Vince. And that he needed his help. He said he would stop by. Angela said she would wait; now, though, it felt like there was nobody home. And that made him start to feel a little concerned.A shadow wisped by him.Marlin turned, to see Vince by the entrance to the kitchen, opposite the pantry; Vince was barechested; He was frowning in the dark. His eyes looking into Marlin; investigating his motivations as to why he was here, and trespassing at the same time.Marlin tried to smile. And just feign that curiousity got the best of him, and could not help but be a concerned friend. “Hey, why didn’t you answer? Didn’t you hear me bang on the door there?”“Why are you here Marlin?” Vince said reluctantly. The words stressed for emphasis to make Marlin know that he was not welcomed. “My wife and I are having some serious discussions right now,”Vince paused. Then added, “did she call you too?”“Yeah. How did you know?”“She does that all the time Marlin. She is a hoot — a practical joker.” Vince laughed a bit, trying to hold in the sarcasm. Marlin didn’t seem to get it and gave an inquisitive look. He didn’t get it.“Where is Angela?”“Why?”“Is she okay?”“Of course. What did she tell you Marlin? Ask you over for a cocktail or something.”Marlin crouched back a little not sure where the conversation was going, but he didn’t like the insinuations. There was something wrong here. Vince grimaced at him. He acted much like the outrageous jealous type who couldn’t get a hold on reality.“I think it’s best, if you let me see Angela real quick and then I will be on my way.”Vince pulled out his whisky canteen and took a large gulp, savoring the burning sensation, then the spark of warmth as it hit his stomach. He smiled.“Sure. Let me get her for you.” Vince closed the space between him and Marlin and closely looked him in the eye. “You wait, right here.”Vince lurched back into the flickering dark. The surges were strong tonight. It seemed like every ten minutes the lights would turn back on, and as suddenly as it had came, would go right back out.Marlin waited as he kind of fumbled around in the dark. He went to the sink and got a glass of water. He didnt think anyone would mind. He was a little nerve-racked by Vince; being the strange bed-fellow that he was and never thought Vince could act in such a neurotic sort of way. It put Marlin on edge. With the storm outside it seemed that much more ominous in such crazy discussions.Marlin walked around the house kind of feeling his way around.The cell phone rang.Marlin reached into his vest coat and pulled out the phone to answer as he continued to walk around in the dark trying not to fall down flat on his ass. He looked at the screen but did not recognize the number.“Hello?”There was gurgling in the background. Static. It was a woman’s voice he thought he could hear.“I’m in the basement. Please help. He’s trying to kill me!”“Angela?”There was more static. Then the cell went dead.Where is the basement he thought to himself. Not sure of what to do at this point. Call the cops would be the best thing to do, but he did not know how long it would take for them to respond on the scene since the storm was raging outside. He might not even be able to get a hold of him; even if he did, Angela would be hurt or something worse.He could hear water pipes running from in the walls. They seemed to be coming from upstairs. The smell of faint roses in the air. Whistling or something. Marlin walked to the backend of the south hallway. There was a little laundry niche there; a large basin, with a washer and dryer; the smell of faint bleach and iodine; Marlin opened the door; it did lead down to somewhere. He pulled out his lighter to see where the steps descended to; he was pretty sure this was the basement, but there was no sound or noise; no muffled voice he could decipher in the dark; no sound of movement or scratching; no sound of desperation below. Only the smell of damp wetness on concrete cinder blocks. He called out into the basement, “Angela, are you there”?There was shuffling. Like plastic. Then small squeals.Dozens of them it sounded like.Marlin looked behind him to see there was still no Vince in sight.He took a deep breath and started heading down the stairs, testing the steadfast of the surface as he descended the steps.The flame went out.Marlin cursed to himself. Put on his glove. Flicked his lighter again hoping not to burn himself with what little light he had left.The basement was freezing.Marlin could barely make out the images in front of him as he neared the bottom of the stairs. There was some paint cans stacked together on top of what used to be a sink — there was a vinyl tarp covering a shelf with some old christmas ornaments in brown paper bags. There were hand tools — what looked like they were hanging on the wall with nails hammered in to hold them in place. Boxes were stacked in the corner; mostly wet and ready to come apart due to all the water coming in from the storm cellar that was straight ahead. Marlin could hear the soft pounding of those cellar doors as the wind outside tried to rip away at it, as if there was an elemental fist grabbing the handles and pulling to get in; the only thing holding them, were the chains on it.There was more shuffling. Like paper moving across the ground. The soft squelching told Marlin, there was nothing living down here; only things non-human, that paraded in the dark with red-beady eyes in search for the smallest morsels of scraps. As Marlin walked, he could hear the soft crunching under his feet; a few at first then more as he pursued noises in the dark.As he walked further into the recesses of basement, he could feel heat coming from somewhere; heat like an incinerator.Around the bend, the darkness blended into things real and imagined. A strong odor struck Marlin in the nostrils. His impulse to gag came suddenly. The smell was sour and acrid. He held his hand to his mouth. He knelt down to the floor to get a closer look and could see crimson ooze with white speckles; only the white speckles were not speckles of paint or even dust.There were maggots. Millions of them all over the surface.The lighter burnt out again.Marlin wanted to run but was lost as to how. He continued forward and within a few paces tripped over something soft and squishy. He felt his knee go down hitting something that easily cracked under his weight. He felt cold wet slop. And he could feel it going through his pants, soaking his fabric with the vile fluid. Feeling what he tripped over for the first time made Marlin go cold all over.He felt the remnants of a nose. A caved in chest. Parts of the arms where they should of been.And he could almost feel the hand he was touching holding him down in a death grip as it caressed his exposed skin.Oh, God, Jesus Fucking H. Christ.The rats were there. Gnawing away at the eye sockets. Eating at tender sinew and cartilage.He didnt’t need to see that to know. He sensed it like any frightened child that screamed at the top of their lungs at the movie theatre, watching some madman jump out at you and then slit your throat for good measure.Marlin screamed.Instinctively, Marlin pulled himself up. Puked on himself with no time to clean it off.The lights were flickering again in the house. And from what Marlin could tell, there were several bodies as he charged for the cellar door. Some were covered in plastic. Others were seated like mannequins on bench tables. One was seated in a chair in the niche of the corner; sweetly dressed with a blue bonnet dress with a pink bodice. The face was covered in makeup like an overgrown, grotesque doll with a blonde wig. Maggots squirmed over the body eating slowly away at the carcass. The rats had already made their home inside the carcasses, what-used-to-be, it’s stomach.They squealed joyfully in their new home.Marlin tried to tackle the cellar door open, but it would not budge against his weight. He whimpered and started to feel himself cave in.The door to the basement slammed shut. And he could hear a high pitched laugh. A female he heard.He pummelled in the dark running for the stairs, and then to the door. Fortunately, it was not locked, but Marlin felt no relief as he was back in the kitchen; he smelled perfume in the air, light and sweet; almost aromatic and sickening at the same time. Marlin wanted to throw up again, but resisted the urge.In the corner of his eye he could see someone turn the corner; a slight giggle—as they did.“You sick fuck!!” Marlin yelled.He turned the corner to the kitchen and rushed for the back door.The door was locked. He used his arm and smashed through the glass. As Marlin tried to reach for the outside door knob shards of glass ripped through his hand. Blood dribbled on the white tilled floor. He pulled back and ran for the front door in the living room murmuring in grief.“Vince, what have you done, dear God!” Marlin wailed. He tripped again stumbling on the rug. The storm was electric. Winds cried in unison as it came through the cracks of broken glass warning Marlin to flee for his life.The sound of footsteps quickly came. Soft. Barefooted, but lightning fast.The power kept going in and out.Marlin looked up and saw something running from out of the shadows. Long hair, red lipstick, sharp fingernails in a white lingerie dress with slit stockings up to the waist. Angela he thought, but there was something strange, because the form was too burly and way too masculine.“Vince?” Marlin whispered but he was not heard.“Did you miss me Marlin baby?” The knife came down hard. Marlin yelped in discontent as his final fate would be slowly drawn out by pain and devastation. The blade hit bone; tearing open flesh. Vince began to gut Marlin like a pig, making “oinking” noises as he did. Blood gushed. Marlin could not struggle or scream. His demise was imminent. Vince got wet with excitement as he delighted in the fresh kill.Marlin tried to creep to the door but just crawled on the ground reaching in the darkness.Vince continued to viciously stab at Marlin; the pretty dress he wore turning red from splatter like a tye-dye job on a white t-shirt. Vince straddled Marlin from the back and then finally slashed his throat, holding Marlin’s head high, looking into the eyes as they slowly dimmed out into nothingness.Vince watched the blood as it stained the carpet. And figured he was going to have to clean up the mess. He dragged the body toward the basement and then threw the body down the steps watching it fall like an oversized potato sack.Bone cracked on the way down. Vince smiled at the thought. Happy landings.Vince picked up the cell from the floor and dialed Marlin’s office and left a message on his secretary’s answering machine. Disguising his voice as a woman, he simply stated Marlin would be driving to Mr. Olgethorpe’s house and doing some research there for the next day or two. He then dialed the wife’s number and then did the same —at least that way, he could cover his tracks for right now until he could get rid of the dodge outside somehow. He would drive it into the river somewhere nearby once he had the chance.looming in the dark, in the basement, in the walls; yellow chesire eyes ablaze; cracking and chaotic moans. They slowly moved from the basement. To the stairs. On the steps. Angela awoke them. And she cackled and growled.
“There hungry.”
Snip! Snip!
Vince tried to run. All he could do was fall and flee. They were coming. The shears grabbed his rump like a meat hook and quickly sliced leaving Vince to howl in agonizing pain; The blood gushing in soft spurts and running down the length of his leg. It was warm and wet. The shears came again and pierced him. This time in the small of his back.
[Snip, snip]
They came faster. Angela’s body hovering behind him. Ripping at him. Biting at him. He managed to turn the corner but fell down the stairs losing himself as he did and feeling the wet crack of his shoulder as he hit bottom. Vince giggled at himself thinking how he felt like a little pig in the slaughter house coasting around in his own blood. Angela stood at the top of the stairs; enjoying this moment. They were closing in and Vince could feel acid in the back of his throat. He could hardly speak. The bile oozing within him. The crimson river before him like some abstract expression on a dark canvas. The eyes were all on him. All there just for him…and all Vince could think of as they closed in on him with those prowling claws before he lost it.
Yes. He knew. [Snip!]
Comments
That was a bit scary!! ha ha.