by S J Lomas
Kiss of Death
By: S. J. Lomas
Dedication:
To Jeff, even though you aren’t a fan of the helmet.
This short story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2011 by S.J. Lomas
Cover Illustration © 2011 by Sean Ashby
Kate had never been a big fan of Halloween. She didn’t mind the costumes and candy but the air on Halloween night always felt alive with a pulsing malice that made her uneasy. She would rather spend the evening watching chic flicks with her stepmom than at a Halloween party, yet here she was in her angel costume trailing around behind her girlfriends as they wandered farther from the bonfire.
Lizzy had a plastic cup of beer in one hand and her arm around some guy she’d just met. The glittery nylon wings of her dark fairy costume kept poking him in the back but he didn’t seem to notice. She took turns sipping from her cup and laughing too hard whenever the guy said something.
Shelby wasn’t in a much different position than Lizzy, except she had a guy on each arm. One of them actually held her beer cup for her and would slosh some into her mouth from time to time. All of them would laugh as it dripped onto the exposed flesh of her chest and down between her breasts. Shelby had chosen the skanky red riding hood costume that left little to the imagination.
As Kate picked her way along behind them, with no cup in hand and no guy, she wondered how she’d let them talk her into coming. She wanted nothing more than to leave, but Lizzy’s big brother had driven them all and he’d disappeared once they got out of the car. By now, Kate decided, it was better to go unnoticed but she didn’t want to get separated from her group, which was heading toward the woods.
Before they reached the edge of trees, she tripped over the hem of her angel gown and fell. Surprised by the sudden noise, the drunken group turned around. “Are you still here?” Lizzy gestured at Kate with her cup and sloshed a foamy mess down her arm. “Shit, I don’t have anything to wipe it off with.” She held her arm up and stared at the dripping trail on her bare arm.
“I got it!” said her guy as he leaned in and licked the beer from her arm causing everyone but Kate to erupt in wild laughter.
Having forgotten about Kate again, they continued walking, in a more crooked manner, toward the woods. Shelby turned around to glance at Kate one more time. “Quit being such a prude,” she yelled over her shoulder. “Find yourself a guy or get lost.”
One of the guys threw an empty beer cup at her, hitting her squarely in the chest, which resulted in more laughter. So much for BFFs. Kate stopped walking and watched as the group moved into the woods. She didn’t really want to know what they ‘d do in there but now she was alone. Turning back toward the bonfire, it looked so far away. The laughter and shouting of the revelers sounded distant.
Kate sighed and lifted the hem of her robe, preparing to run back to the fire. At the same moment, a cloud slid across the face of the moon and a chill breeze made her shiver. She wished the thin, gauzy sleeves of her robe were more substantial as goosebumps rose on her skin. The dread she’d felt all evening intensified like an icicle dripping down her spine. She sensed her attacker before she saw him.
“Alone at last, Angel?” purred a drunken voice behind her. She whirled around, heart pounding. The moon did not emerge from cloud cover.
“Get away from me,” Kate tried her best to sound firm but there was no hiding the tremor in her voice.
“Aw comeon, don’t be shy. Why let your friends have all the fun?”
She couldn’t see him clearly but she could tell he was bigger than her and dressed like a football player.
“I’m meeting my boyfriend at the fire now,” she hoped she could outsmart him since there was no way she could physically match him. He took a step toward her.
“I’ve been watching you all night, Angel. The only boyfriend you got here is me.” He took the football helmet off and it thudded into the grass beside his feet. She couldn’t make out much of his face but he didn’t seem familiar.
“No, I-” Kate hesitated for just a second which was enough encouragement for him. In an instant, he lurched at her, clamping his fermented breath over her lips, one arm around her back and the other groping toward her chest. He felt solid as a brick wall and she couldn’t even wriggle one of her hands between them. His beer soaked tongue plunged into her mouth, so far it made her gag. He wasn’t dissuaded. True panic set in as his fingers deftly tugged the top of her gown a little lower. That’s when he landed on top of her. He tore his lips from hers, the wind knocked out of them both. Before Kate could figure out what was happening, he was lifted off of her.
An enormous masculine figure held her attacker up with one hand. The startled football player tried to squirm away but was held fast. The moon emerged from the cloud and Kate gaped in horror as the light illuminated her helper. He was easily 6’6”, made to look taller by a metal helmet with shining chrome horns. His face was concealed by a skull mask with deep set, dimly glowing, red eyes. His broad frame held up a dark robe similar to the Grim Reaper. One sleeve fell to the crook of his elbow, revealing the most muscular arm she’d ever seen. His skin seemed to be painted a dark blackish red. Terror induced paralysis kept her pinned to the ground.
The monstrous savior pulled his arm back and hurled the football player toward the woods behind him. The boy hit the trunk of a tree with a sickening crack and slumped to the ground. The impact, although easily twenty feet away, reverberated in the ground and Kate could feel the tremor in her own bones. The boy’s bones, she imagined, were pulverized now. In the instant it took for her to think this, the monster was upon him like a lion to his prey. The roaring of blood in her ears did little to drown out the hideous noises coming from the tree.
The churning sensation of nausea began deep in her stomach but before it could take over, someone was at her side, shaking her.
“Are you ok? Let’s get out of here.”
The note of concern in the voice became Kate’s anchor. She turned to see where the voice was coming from and looked into the vaguely familiar pale face of a young man. He offered her his arm and helped her to her feet. Slipping his slender arm around her waist, he guided her in the direction of the bonfire. Behind her, where the gruesome attack had been in progress seconds before, nothing but silence remained. She didn’t look back.
As they returned to the party, Kate’s pulse began to slow and the heaviness of dread lifted. Her companion seemed to sense the change in her and attempted conversation.
“What were you doing out there all alone?”
“My friends ditched me.”
“Great friends.”
Kate nodded vaguely. She could deal with that issue later.
“You’re freezing,” said the guy. “Let’s warm up by the fire.”
Kate wrapped her arms around herself, remembering that she was, indeed, cold. He easily maneuvered her through the crowds of costumed partiers until they were close enough to feel the heat of the fire. Kate took the opportunity of the orange glow to examine her companion.
First, Kate noticed he wasn’t wearing a costume. His dark chin length hair fell around his pale face and obscured one of his green eyes. He wore a black leather jacket and skinny black jeans. Even the outfit seemed familiar.
“I’m sorry,” Kate said, “You look so familiar but I can’t quite place you.”
“Dorian Mansfield,” he replied. “We don’t have any classes together, but we go to the same school.”
Now she remembered him. Dorian was one of the stoners. She’d noticed him a few times in the cafet
eria. His girlfriend, what’s her name, was usually draped all over him. Kate had wondered what that girl ever saw in such a scrawny loser but, up close, she had to admit he was sort of cute. She pushed the thought away immediately and turned her eyes back to the fire.
“Now I remember. We have the same lunch period. I’m Kate Bronson.”
“I know,” Dorian said.
“You do?”
Dorian screwed up his face like he’d just made a mistake.
“Yeah, well, you do have a…”
“Have a what?” Kate demanded.
“A reputation,” Dorian whispered.
Kate shook off Dorian’s arm, which was still around her waist and turned on him.
“Excuse me?”
Dorian held up his hands in surrender.
“No, no, not that kind of reputation. I mean everyone knows you’re super smart and super pretty, they just can’t figure out why you don’t date.”
Kate folded her arms.
“It’s not me!” Dorian said. “I don’t care what other people want to do with their lives. Live and let live, right?”
Kate realized she might be reacting a little harshly so she eased up.
“Sorry, it’s just been a really terrible night.”
Dorian nodded. “Yeah, I hear ya. Do you need a ride home or something? I’m about ready to get out of this place.”
Kate doubted her ‘friends’ would be looking for her and she’d rather not explain to her parents why she needed a ride so she accepted Dorian’s offer.
As they got farther from the fire, Kate couldn’t contain a shiver. In one smooth move, Dorian removed his jacket and draped it across her shoulders. It was warm from his body heat and smelled of old leather, cigarettes and musky cologne. She was surprised by how comforting its feel and smell were to her.
Dorian was left wearing a faded Pink Floyd tee-shirt and Kate noticed his thin arms quickly developed goosebumps. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans.
“I hate Halloween,” he mumbled.
“You and me both,” Kate answered.
“Yeah?” Dorian asked. “So how did you wind up at this stupid party?”
Kate rolled her eyes. “My ex-friends talked me into it. They thought it was going to be the party of the century and we couldn’t afford to miss it. I knew it was all crap but I came anyway. How about you?”
Dorian shrugged. “Well, my girlfriend asked me. What she should have mentioned is that she wanted me to come so she could dump me in front of her new guy.”
“No way!”
Dorian nodded grimly. “Oh yeah. She always had a flair for drama.”
“That’s rotten. I’m sorry.”
“It’s no big deal. I should have broken up with her myself months ago. I was just too lazy.”
Kate was beginning to think the girl was smarter when she’d been all over Dorian.
“Her loss,” she said.
“Hell yeah.”
Finally, Kate and Dorian reached the car-lined street in front of party central.
“My car’s up there on the right,” Dorian gestured. “It’s the shitty black Prism with classic rock stickers all over it.”
Kate smiled. She’d seen that car in the parking lot at school. Her friends had always made fun of it but Kate had thought it was cool. At least the owner had the courage to be an individual. Now that she knew, she liked that it was Dorian’s.
Dorian helped her into the car and got the heat going full blast as they sped away from the party.
They drove in silence for awhile before Dorian finally started the conversation.
“You know, I never expected to have Kate Bronson in my car.”
Kate cocked her head. “What does that mean?”
“You know, we’re from two different worlds.”
“How do you figure?”
“Well, you’ve got it all together, looks, grades, a normal life.”
Kate snorted. “Where did you hear that?”
Dorian chanced a sideways glance at her. “What? There’s no denying you’re beautiful. You won the science Olympiad this Spring so we know you’re smart-“
Kate felt the heat rise in her cheeks. How many times had he alluded to her being pretty already?
“Well first, thank you, but that’s as far as I can let you go. I’m the farthest thing from normal.”
Dorian looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “You got nothing on me.”
“Yeah?” Kate challenged.
“Well, for starters, I’m a love child.” He said ‘love’ in a cheesy faux-sexy way that made Kate smile.
“Come on, seriously?” she said.
“Yes ma’am. It’s the age old story of the dirty old businessman and his young secretary. It even features that tired cliché that he offered her money for an abortion but she refused. Lucky me, huh?”
“Geez, she told you that?” Kate pulled Dorian’s jacket tighter around her shoulders.
“We’re pals like that. Granted, we were both high at the time she mentioned it and it seemed a lot funnier then.”
“What?” Kate was glad Dorian’s eyes were occupied with the road so he wouldn’t notice how wide her eyes had gotten.
“Huh? Doesn’t everyone get high with their folks?”
“Um,” Kate said for lack of a better response.
“Don’t worry, it’s only pot,” Dorian explained. “Mom wouldn’t advocate anything hardcore. Anyway, she works two jobs to pay for our apartment so I don’t see her much.” Dorian stole another glance at Kate. “I bet you’re feeling a lot more normal right about now.”
Kate looked out the window at the trees going past. For a moment she thought about the monster and her attacker near the woods. Had anyone discovered them yet? It seemed like another lifetime ago. She shivered.
“Smoking pot with your mom is a worthy attempt but I can compete with that. My dad met Brenda in college and they dated on and off until she got pregnant. Dad, being an upstanding guy proposed, but while Brenda was pregnant he discovered she’d been on pills to control a mental illness she hadn’t told him about. She couldn’t take them during the pregnancy because it wouldn’t have been good for me. She had some sort of complete mental breakdown and my dad had to trick her out of any parental custody and he broke off the engagement. She hates him and all men to this day.”
“Harsh. Do you ever have to see her?”
“Dad has never allowed any visitation but she writes sometiems,” Kate admitted. “For my 13th birthday, she sent me a card to say she’d cast a spell so any guy who got too close to me would die so they could never do to me what my dad did to her. That was a pretty special birthday for me.”
As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Kate started shivering hard.
Dorian pulled the car over to the side of the road and put the hazards on.
“You’re not warming up yet?” he asked, concern strong in his voice.
Kate bit her lip and tried to stop the shaking. “I don’t feel cold,” she said.
“I didn’t want to pry, but did something happen to you out there by the woods?” Dorian asked.
“Are you serious?” Kate couldn’t believe he hadn’t heard the brawl.
“Sorry, none of my business.” Dorian put the car in drive and pulled back on to the road.
“That’s not what I meant. I can’t believe you didn’t notice the guys fighting. It was pretty intense.”
Dorian stared straight ahead.
“Did they hurt you?” There was a hard edge to his voice that Kate didn’t expect.
“Well, one of them tried but the other-” she couldn’t go on. Her mind replayed the crack of the guy against the tree and her stomach started twisting.
“Assholes!” Dorian pounded the steering wheel and stepped down on the accelerator. “Do you need to go to the hospital? Should we call the police?”
Kate stopped shaking and rested her hand on Dorian’s arm. “No, no. He didn’t actually get a chance to d
o anything, except kiss me. Then the other guy attacked him really bad. He probably needs a hospital.”
Dorian slowed back to the speed limit and relaxed his shoulders. “I saw you leave with your friends, I knew I should have followed you then. Something just didn’t feel right about that party.”
“It’s not your fault,” Kate said. She drew her hand from his arm and slid both of her hands under her knees. No one said anything for a long time. As they passed cars on the opposite side of the road, the white headlights illuminated their grim faces for a moment before plunging them back into darkness. Kate felt like she was in a slow motion strobe light.
“So, um, your mom really sent you that freaky card?” Dorian asked.
“You can’t make that sort of thing up.”
“That is messed up,” he said. “Is that why you don’t date?”
Kate took a deep breath. She didn’t know why she’d told Dorian this much in the first place. No one knew about that card, not even her father.
“No, the reason I don’t date is that my first boyfriend did die.”
A car passed and the headlights made Dorian’s face look even whiter.
“What?” The question sounded more like the gurgling of a drain than an actual word but Kate couldn’t stop now. The stories had been locked away for so long, untold, but Dorian made her feel like he could understand her. No one else ever had.
“Yeah, we were only thirteen and he lived on my block. We’d hung out, as friends, a few times but we got ice cream and walked to the park one night. We just talked and held hands and stuff like that, but when he walked me home, he kissed me on the porch just before he left. He only lived nine houses down but he never made it home.” Kate’s voice was thick with tears. “Murder.”
Kate wiped at her eyes with the cuff of Dorian’s jacket. If she had looked, she would have noticed the goosebumps reappearing on Dorian’s arms.
“I had no idea,” he said quietly.
Kate inhaled the safe scent of Dorian’s jacket and her tears subsided. “Nobody does. You’re the first person I’ve told.”
Dorian shook his head slowly as he turned down Kate’s street. “So you think your mom really gave you the kiss of death?”